Scrambled Read online

  Scrambled

  Pam Uphoff

  Copyright © 2018 Pamela Uphoff

  All Rights Reserved

  ISBN

  978-1-939746-03-0

  This is a work of fiction.

  All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional.

  Any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  One Too Many

  Chapter Two

  Tell us all you know

  Chapter Three

  Healing Potion

  Chapter Four

  Me? Escape?

  Chapter Five

  The Morning After a Street Party

  Chapter Six

  Earthquake

  Chapter Seven

  It’s a Trap

  Chapter Eight

  Rescuing Maidens, etc.

  Chapter Nine

  Where’s my Sister?

  Chapter Ten

  Wanted: Warrior

  Chapter Eleven

  The Battle of the Gate

  Chapter Twelve

  On Earth

  Chapter Thirteen

  Getting Strange

  Chapter Fourteen

  Search and Rescue

  Chapter Fifteen

  Escape to a New World

  Chapter Sixteen

  Boring Guard Duty on Earth

  Chapter Seventeen

  Red Zone

  Chapter Eighteen

  The View From Above

  Chapter Nineteen

  Search and Rescue—with teleportation

  Chapter Twenty

  The Black Horse Guards

  Chapter Twenty-one

  The Gang’s All Here

  Chapter Twenty-two

  The Ministry of War

  Chapter Twenty-three

  The Search for Water

  Chapter Twenty-four

  It’s a Gas

  Chapter Twenty-five

  Hunting

  Chapter Twenty-six

  Home . . . for now

  Chapter Twenty-seven

  Water World

  Chapter Twenty-eight

  Black Horse Round Up

  Chapter Twenty-nine

  Black Horse Guards

  Chapter Thirty

  A Warrior’s Duty

  Chapter Thirty-one

  The Presidential Tour

  Chapter Thirty-two

  First battle

  Chapter Thirty-three

  A Towering Pain

  Chapter Thirty- Four

  Twins!

  Chapter Thirty-five

  Not Expecting This!

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Medical Matters

  Chapter Thirty-seven

  Aren’t You On Our Side?

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  Razing and Raising

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  Not Your Usual Mass Murderer

  Chapter Forty

  What Have I Become?

  Chapter Forty-one

  Talking to the Multiverse

  Chapter Forty-two

  Building Homes in the Country

  Chapter Forty-three

  More Soldiers

  Chapter Forty-four

  Black Horse Plans

  Chapter Forty-five

  Penny for your thoughts?

  Chapter Forty-six

  Dentistry in the Wilderness

  Chapter Forty-seven

  Brigadier General Fu

  Chapter Forty-eight

  Don’t Do It Again!

  Chapter Forty-nine

  Bartering

  Chapter Fifty

  Priests and Ministers

  Chapter Fifty-one

  Adding Agents

  Chapter Fifty-two

  Allies and Plumbers

  Chapter Fifty-three

  Black Horse Recruiters

  Chapter Fifty-four

  The Warrior and the Princess

  Chapter Fifty-five

  Stay if You Want

  Chapter Fifty-six

  Old Duties

  Chapter Fifty-seven

  Magic Lessons

  Chapter Fifty-eight

  A Priest Awakening

  Chapter Fifty-nine

  Six Down, One to Go

  Chapter Sixty

  No Accounting for War Mongers

  Chapter Sixty-one

  Black Horse Rebellion

  Chapter Sixty-two

  A Battle, Warrior Style

  Chapter Sixty-three

  And then the Other Side . . .

  Chapter Sixty-four

  Done

  Chapter Sixty-five

  Six Months of Searching

  Chapter Sixty-six

  Best News Ever

  Chapter Sixty-seven

  Farewell

  Chapter Sixty-eight

  Poe Little Boy

  Chapter Sixty-nine

  A Mild Winter

  A Disconnected Scene . . .

  Other Titles by Pam Uphoff

  Chapter One

  One Too Many

  5 Jumada 1411 yp

  Ebsa eyed the new files on his comp. "Two Empires of the One? Does the Multiverse deserve that?"

  "Probably not. The other one was discovered by Disco, but they decided against exploring it themselves. They just asked all sweet and innocently if we'd like to check out a world recently split off from us." Director Izzo drummed his fingers. "Q said there was something weird going on, and that she'd check the other side of the weirdness."

  "And she didn't specify?"

  "Several membranes orbiting each other, she said. Caught in a whirlpool in the inbetween and getting pulled in deeper. The other One World is in deepest, with a recent split from Earth pretty deep as well, and several other worlds pulled in more recently. Whole membranes actually. We're not, thank the One, talking about cannibal miniverses, here." Izzo grimaced. "We'll wait for the in-depth study, until Q has something to show us. But right now all we have is forty-eight hours of vid broadcasts and two days’ worth of newspaper downloads. All now on your comp.

  "I want you to take a good hard look at what we have, then pop across and see . . . well, basically if we should ignore them or contact them. But just a few days, until we learn about the weirdness. I hope to Hell it's not a disaster in progress, or a third One World."

  Ebsa grinned. "Now that would be bad. One more One will be quite enough of a challenge. I wonder if any of my electronics will work there? Or cash cards. Guess it depends on when the split was."

  "Have fun. Let me know when you're leaving and who's going with you."

  The entertainment shows were all different.

  Ebsa watched two commercials for ordinary products, from companies he'd never heard of. Then a quick news break.

  Flooding, murder, weather forecast, government . . .

  President Agni was negotiating with Prime Councilor Akja over the details of the budget . . . then back to the silly situation comedy . . .

  "Oh dear." Paer shook her head at the screen. "That's our Agni, not someone with the same name. President! And Akja!" She shivered and leaned into him.

  "Remember, that's a different man." Ebsa checked the records. "Agni is a hundred and seventy, here, so whatever happened, happened in the last hundred and seventy years. Because everyone born since wouldn't have been."

  "Oh? And how about those books? The close parallel Worlds that are getting closer, not moving apart?" Paer rubbed her extended belly. "And you'd better get back here before the twins arrive."

  "I just need library access. Or if a normal cash card works, I'll just buy a couple of history books, download census data. Maybe the government personnel lists."

  On s
creen, the entertainment vid was back. Ebsa leaned on his elbows and watched an actor open a perfectly ordinary comp. "If our electronics mesh."

  "After a hundred and seventy years of random drift?"

  "Maximum. Could be less. Probably is, I'll bet it's since Agni was fairly high in government. I wonder if Endi Dewulfe would be a splitting point?" Ebsa bit his lip and didn't say "Or the assassination was successful." Because then Akja'd be president.

  Paer glowered at him. "They could have sent a different agent, I suppose."

  Ebsa frowned at the screen. "Except . . . if they're exploring like us . . . how come we haven't met them yet? I think . . . since we'll be using Disco's permanent gate I'll just slip across and find out about the electronics. Because if they don't mesh, we'll have to do a whole lot of groundwork before we can do much of anything."

  Paer pried herself out of her chair. "The clothing styles are close enough to pass. And the gate is in Paris? Your grey suit will blend right in. Let's get comps and cards with software from years ago . . . decades ago . . . You won't have Ra'd to watch your back . . . You'd better take the bubble with the pencil handles . . . "

  Ebsa grinned and followed her. One month to go. Holy One! I'm a father! A real father, changing diapers, and helping with homework.

  I'll just pop across, try a minor purchase from a vendomat. If that works, download a bunch of stuff, then come right back. Quick and easy. I'll be so fast the newsies won't even notice I've been gone.

  I hope.

  The newsies had been relentless in their determination to keep the newlyweds in the news. They'd hounded their house hunt, speculated about Paer's figure, howled vindication when they'd made the announcement about the twins' . . . now they were speculating wildly about names . . .

  His father-in-law had won the election handily. Thank the One.

  I'll be right back.

  ***

  A smelly alley. A big metal dumpster crowded the gate on one side, a puddle of oily water to the other. A persistent illusion concealed the permanent gate on the wall between them.

  The tiny antennae and laser relay were flat on the ground in the middle and unobtrusive. Azko was on the far side, an Empty World, with the crawler, recording broadcast news and entertainment. In theory the wiz kid electronics expert could come rescue Ebsa if he really fouled up.

  Ebsa eyed the dimensions of the alley and doubted the crawler could make the turn. Although he's getting a lot better at slewing the whole thing around.

  Ebsa stepped carefully around detritus and looked both ways. Busy street to the right. He headed that direction. He was a bit overdressed for the neighborhood. He unbuttoned the suit coat and, spotting tall buildings, headed that direction. A sunny brisk spring day, perfect for walking around, checking out the differences between his Paris and this one.

  The looks he got were of a predatory nature, but no one approached him. I guess I've got the "move confidently and no one will bother you" thing down.

  A corner vendo. He fished out a cash card and slid it in. Wrinkled his nose at the nasty selection and chose a pack of antacids. The machine kicked it out to him and returned the card.

  Excellent. Now I just need to sit down somewhere quiet and see if the comp will mesh.

  A few miles further on he was just one more man in a suit. And as the lunch crowd thinned, he found an auto café and settled down for lunch and research.

  I need to narrow down the time frame of the split. A hundred and seventy years covers too much . . . perhaps . . .

  He opened his comp and turned it on. It searched for a bit, flicked through several error screens, then settled down to download an updated grid connection program.

  And once ongrid, there weren't many changes. It was easy enough to hunt down census data.

  South American Region, Uruguay Division, Montevideo District . . . no Ebsa Clostuone Castellanos Montevideo . . . Taix Castellanos on the other hand was registered with her two daughters.

  Well, that worked. Whatever happened, happened between mom's birth and mine. 1354 to 1382.

  1354? The main things that happened after that would be . . . the loss of the Granite Peak Colony. Just a year or so after Mom was born . . .

  He tapped away.

  Granite Peak produced a load of hits, and a quick scan of the titles . . . he tapped the one about the nuclear weapon . . .

  "Holy One. They didn't get the gate closed in time. The Earthers captured the gate complex." Ebsa gulped and shut his mouth before someone heard him.

  We nuked our own city to stop them.

  "Well . . . that certainly changed everything." He tried to not hyperventilate, thinking about how desperate they must have been . . .

  Who was born before 1355? He checked the date. Before Ramadan.

  Not my generation, nor the next. But Ajha and Xiat. Izzo . . . but was he still on Homestead?

  Ebsa checked the status of the colonies . . . "Nothing. Holy One. Surely they have a gate working. It's been fifty years. Except, the colonies didn't split . . . probably . . . They're different membranes, after all . . . "

  He went back to looking for people.

  The President—my President Orde . . . is a district representative in the Eastern Europe Regional Council.

  He looked back at the picture of the destruction of Gate City. Damn.

  He sat back, blinked, and focused on a familiar figure walking through the door. Huffed in relief.

  Ra'd stepped over and eyed him.

  A bit more tanned and weathered, an old nick in one ear. Whipcord muscles, sharp cheekbones in an underfed face.

  And of course anyone stuck in a bubble wouldn't have been affected by the events of the split.

  Absolutely no sign of recognition, scrutiny turning into a decision . . . and not a passive or friendly decision.

  "Afternoon, Ra'd. Join me for lunch?" I wonder how many guns or knives he's carrying? And which he's planning on using?

  A pause. "So your people can get here?" A soft quiet voice.

  Very different from his Ra'd's razor-edged baritone.

  "I . . . don't have any people handy . . . and why . . . " Ebsa sat back and . . . kept his hands in plain sight. "I . . . take it you're in trouble? Of the legal or criminal variety?"

  Ra'd studied him for a longer moment. "You know my name. Why don't you know the rest?"

  He was standing balanced, the relaxed pose of a man prepared to kill him.

  Ebsa decided on pure honesty. "Because I'm an Exterior Agent, taking a first look at a newly discovered transdimensional world. One that apparently split off from mine about fifty years ago. On that world you are a friend, a fellow agent and frequent partner."

  Now Ra'd leaned and glared. "Not a Priest?"

  "Umm, my Ra'd has a rather . . . negative relationship with the One."

  "Well." Razor sharp smile and leaning well into Ebsa's space. "My relationship with them is extremely negative, after they castrated me and tried to rape my mind. I killed at least eight. I got too busy to continue counting after that."

  "Ah . . . " Ebsa blinked. "Riiiight . . . they didn't think they needed Warriors, then?" He looked back at his comp, the photo of the mushroom cloud over the central plains of the North American continent.

  Ra'd hand snapped out and spun the comp. He frowned at it.

  "That's the split between our worlds. We closed the gate in the face of their army, marooning most of the colonists. So my world was shaken by the loss of a colony, but continued exploring, hoping to find Granite Peak again, or better yet, the world that had attacked them."

  "And did you find it?"

  Ebsa subdued a twinge in his stomach. No wonder the high tones. They caught him at fifteen. For a High Oner, that's about when puberty starts.

  "It's not quite so simple. We found a world . . . well, before that, but you would have barely started exploring it. Umm, it was one of five Exile Worlds, where the Earth dumped all the genetically engineered people. The Prophets—as you well know—
were a marooned exploration team. The Exile was two years later, from their same world."

  "Oh? And you think I should know about it?"

  "I suspect your father and grandparents spoke of their origins. Those Left Behind—we found them." Ebsa paused as Ra'd stiffened.

  Ra'd finally leaned away, sat.

  "May I take something out of my wallet?"

  Narrowed eyes. Nod.

  Ebsa moved slowly, pulled out his wallet, the little vial of Joy Juice. "You'll find this useful. It's a Von Neumann’s, dope a bottle of wine, and yes, of course, test it on animals first. It's stuffed full of healing spells for damn near anything."

  Ra'd eyed it, pocketed it. "So . . . is there another you around somewhere?"

  Ebsa glanced at the comp and shook his head. "My mother was a baby when that happened. According to the census, she has two daughters instead of a single son. I was never born. Nor my wife. My father-in-law is a District Councilman, not . . . what he became on my world. A couple of my bosses exist. No doubt quite changed."

  Ra'd nodded. "Pity my introduction to the future wasn't as peaceful as my . . . alternate's." He leaned closer. "What are you going to do about it?"

  "Nothing. Not my world. Not my fight."

  Razor smile. "It is now."

  And he was out of his seat at Speed, curling into a ball as he hit the plate glass window, behind a hard punch and shield, and ran. Four men charging through the doors reversed course, ran after him . . . two coming in from the back service door had guns on Ebsa.

  "You touch power, you die."

  "Umm, right." Ebsa kept his hands very still. Play dumb? Or be honest? This is a dimensionally able world, closely related to mine. I think I'll start by introducing the concept of Disco to them.

  "Where's he going?"

  "I don't know. I just met him today."

  A fist knotted but did not swing. "What did you give him?"

  "A magic potion. It contains a couple dozen very powerful healing spells among other things."

  Glower. "We can make you talk."

  "No reason for me to not talk. But you'll probably want to Truth me right from the start, it'll save time and repetition."

  He was cuffed, searched, and marched off to a closed truck.

  Chapter Two

  Tell us all you know

  10 Jumada 1400 yp