“
Look Rob that’s just water trickling down, we need to find shelter before it gets too dark” Mary turned
to leave but Rob did not move.
Bracing myself I stepped forward, I stared for a while tracing my hand over the bricks, it felt cool and
indiscernible, neither solid nor liquid and yet it rippled like liquescent silver, shimmering subtly.
“
Come on let’s walk on jus….” My words were stopped short by Rob taking a running leap, dissolving
through the bricks. Mary screamed as she tried to catch hold of him, but she too was dragged through. I stared at
the blank space where they had been, without looking back I too dissolved through the wall along with Dr
Lockwood.
We fell, a loud horn shattered the silence and we were thrust back against an iron railing. High rise
blocks of flats scraped the sky; colossal structures stretched before us, melting into a meandering, vast
metropolis. Vehicles hovered above the ground, identically uniformed people marched the streets, each with bar
codes emblazoned on their chests. Ahead the Great Wall of China still resided untouched, seemingly
infinitesimal in comparison with the infrastructure that was now enveloping us.
Screaming sirens appeared from every corner. We stood tripping back from the lines of guns pointed
our way.
“
WHAT ARE YOUR SERIAL CODES?” Voices shouted.
“
We went through the wall?” I replied stunned. As I stepped forward, three warning shots were fired
into the air, mutters rippled through the ranks.
“
TAKE THEM TO BE INTEROGATED” We clung to each other, as we were hustled into vans. I
jerked as nervous policeman smashed the butt of hid gun into my back. I shouted at him and the last image I saw
was the butt of the gun coming down on my head. When I awoke I stared into a mirror reflecting four tortured
faces, smeared with mud and blood.
“
Where are we? John, Dr Lockwood do you know? I shook Dr Lockwood. He extricated himself from
my grasp, whilst Mary clung desperately to Robert like a young child afraid of the dark.
Dr Lockwood stood up and cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, I brought you here, I crashed the plane, I
knew where to walk to get here I’m sorry I had to show you this, this….” John’s words failed and he let out a
pathetic whimper; all former traces of arrogance fell away and he sunk to the floor.
“
What are you talking about? John what’s he talking about?” I was interrupted by a serene
computerized voice.
“
You have entered the Heibi district, sector C365. We pride ourselves on being the beginning of
civilization within the collective constitution of universes. You have overcome our security system through the
wall that connects our two worlds. We therefore have no choice but to consult the Committee of mutli-
dimension universes. Until then you are prisoners as you may be detrimental to our plans. Your breaking
through the wall has proved our continuing efforts to be a success. Dr Lockwood, thank you for your assistance
in this operation but your efforts are no longer required.”
A white coated man emerged through a sliding door in the wall. Dr Lockwood backed away.
“
WAIT, NOSTRADAMUS WAS RIGHT, HIS PREDICTIONS WERE TRUE….THERE’S NO
STOPPING THEM. THEY WILL CONTROL THE WORLD.”
A single bullet was fired into his forehead. He dropped motionless, a trickle of blood slipped from his
mouth as he let out his last breath. The hissing noise of gas filled the room dropping us unconscious to the floor.
I awoke bound to a bed by tight metal restraints, I screamed, breathing in sharply, banging my skull against the
surgical table top. To my left a door opened smartly; three identically uniformed people in yellow protective
gear, filed in.
“
Prisoner 4235, we have already questioned your peers. However they failed to communicate
effectively. “
I cut their words short and screamed hysterically at them, caustic words filled with vehemence spat out
my mouth. I wretched, pulling my head up banging it down repeatedly; they held me down but I continued to
struggle. A jab in my left arm and I lay docile, a bleary image of the yellow clad officers smeared my vision;
their voices mingled; a jumble of tones and pitches, words forming and tumbling from their lips.
The tallest spoke first, “Quite a bit of work isn’t she. How long till the first wave breaks through the
rift? “
“
I heard a week. I am not sure why Lockwood’s hard drive deteriorated rapidly. He was instructed to
investigate through the multi-dimensional rift and discover other civilisations. Of course we did have to take
into account how a new world would affect the software but…” His words faded as the sedative dragged me
under, a suffocating vacuum that pulled me somnolent into a vegetative stupor, only vaguely aware of the sparks
beginning to fly outside.