Hiding
All content and characters are ©2002 Evan H.

In an old science lab inside a drab, warehouse-like building, a skinny man with jet-black hair flipped through pages of diagrams and equations. I don't know, Miles, he said, this just doesn't look like it's going to work.

It'll work, Steve, Miles, a young Asian in his late teens, said. See, over here we compensate for the earth's magnetic field, here we–

I mean well, look at this, Steve said. He passed a diagram to Miles. Where are we going to get a power source with this much energy?

We can– Miles stopped and hid his face for a few seconds, then continued. I'm working in theory right now. If we're going to build a gateway that can reach parallel universes through the fifth dimension, we've got to use a little theory.

Steve nodded slowly. All right, fine, but you and Matthias have been here for a whole week and you still haven't told me where you learned this stuff, or even where you guys are from.

Miles grinned. Wish I could tell you, but it would go against my better judgment.

You don't trust me?

I can't trust anyone.

You're not going to get very far with an attitude like–

Steve was interrupted by a tall, athletic man popping his head in the door. he said quickly, then added, Miles, can I see you out here?

What is it? Miles asked once he and Matthias were out of earshot.

Goldman found us.

Miles shook his head in disbelief, his eyes wide. How do you know?

Matthias reached in his pocket. I found this on a telephone pole. He handed Miles a wrinkled piece of paper. On it was a picture of the two of them and a notice:

WANTED

Name and ages unknown. Ethnicity: Caucasian, Asian. Genders: both male

These two travel together and are attempting to blend in with the populace. They are carrying a stolen indigo gem and will most likely kill to protect it. They are considered armed and extremely dangerous. Report all information to your local authorities.

It doesn't say anything about where we're from, or who we really are, Miles muttered.

Do you really think Goldman want normal people to know that? Now, chances are he knows we're somewhere in this state, but he doesn't know exactly. We've got about two days to leave and that's pushing it. Matthias said.

My, someone's unusually serious, Miles remarked.

Hey, I don't want to get caught. That guy sounds like he thinks we're murderers or something.

to him we are. I mean, if you look at things from his point of view, we're rebelling against people in authority. To us, it's just war, and we were perfectly within our inalienable' rights. To him, we were resisting arrest, and that act led to murder of a public officer

After a few seconds silence, Matthias said, his voice laced with sarcasm, Thanks for reminding me about that. I feel so much better.

Miles threw up his hands. I'm sorry. He heaved a huge sigh and said, Guess I better spill the beans on Steve.

Woah, why're you telling him?

It's the only way we'll get out of here without being traced. Miles walked back into the room where Steve was sitting.

What was that all about? Steve asked.

Miles hung his head for a few seconds. When he finally lifted it up, he spoke with a tinge of sadness. I don't have much time to explain, so I'll give you the quick version: Matthias and I are political refugees from a parallel universe. We had to come here to escape a situation, and we need this gateway– Miles motioned to the diagrams on the table. –to get out of here.

Steve's eyes grew wide. P– I– What?!

Miles groaned. Matthias and I are from another universe. A parallel universe. Understand that much?

You mean like the one's I'm trying to discover with this gateway?

I think discover is the wrong word, but yeah. Anyway, we've been fighting this dictatorship for the past couple of years, and we hadn't gotten much help from the other nations. This guy's regime was getting tighter and tighter and we eventually had to decide between stay and be martyrs or fall back and regroup. I think you know which one we chose.

Steve tried hard to understand. Too much information was coming all at once and he couldn't sort through it all. So what are you doing here? he finally managed.

Miles grinned. Well, we couldn't exactly go anywhere on our own planet, since he would have found us and gunned us down in the streets. I had been working on a gateway like this for the past few years, so it was just a matter of building, testing, and escaping.

With nothing more than the clothes on your backs?

Not quite. Miles reached through the bag in the corner of the room and pulled out a shining, dark blue gem. This is the insanely huge power source I had in all those diagrams.

Steve couldn't help but grin.

Look, boss, I need to ask you a pretty big favor Steve said into his telephone. Well, the Gateway project's coming along pretty well, in fact Yes, sir No Well Sir, I can show you some tangible results, but I need parts

Miles, who was at the other end of the room building a very basic frame, perked up.

Steve continued. Okay, I'll e-mail you the list, but I need them, um, now well, I've received some assistance from someone else in the field, and he needs to be out of here in two days, so we'd like to run the first tests while he's still here no, I don't think you'll have to worry about paying him

Speak for yourself, Miles mouthed.

Steve grinned. Yes, sir, I am aware of the cost of overnight shipping Yes, I know that Well, thank you, sir He flashed a thumbs-up to Miles, indicating that the parts were on their way. Yes, sir, thank you very much. This means a lot Yes, I'm sure it means a lot to your wallet too, sir

The parts arrived that night, and Miles and Steve stayed up all night with the coffee maker putting the pieces into play. Matthias, never one for technical work, went to bed early and was now taking an early morning jog. It was all he could do to keep from sprinting, but he had been a famous athlete on his home world. If he did anything abnormal here, than his and Miles' cover would be blown. He circled the block like he had done the past couple of days, but this time something caught his eye.

Off on the horizon, Matthias saw what looked like a line of helicopters. No big deal; probably just the national guard or something lovely like that. Still, something about them didn't seem right Suddenly he realized what it was: the helicopters had no rotors. They were more like hovercraft than helicopters. Did they exist here? No, Miles had said specifically that this world hadn't developed antigravity yet. That could only mean

Oh, snap, Matthias muttered. Throwing caution to the wind, he bolted with all the speed he had back to Steve and Miles.

In polite terms, the gateway Steve and Miles had built was minimalist. In layman's terms, it was ghetto. Bare wires were everywhere; five rolls of duct tape had been used, and the entire contraption was hung from the ceiling with a combination of string, twine, yarn, and heavy-duty dental floss. The one back home looked so much better, Miles said, but, of course, I had more time to make it look good.

So tell me again why you've got to go so suddenly? Steve asked.

Miles sighed. It's this Admiral Goldman guy. He's the chief security officer for the dictatorship, and he's had a personal grudge against Matthias for a long time back since he was still working for the king

Miles choked up, but Steve pressed on. The king?

Wouldn't be fighting an evil dictator for no reason, now would we? Miles had tears in his eyes by now. Goldman was actually the chief security officer for the king before he helped the General take over He connected a few more wires then stopped. Yeah, Goldman's big, arrogant and he's–

The door flew open and Matthias ran in, panting. He's here, he said, gasping for breath with fear in his eyes.

Miles yelled. He ran over to his bag and pulled out the gem. Where'd you see him?

Line of hovercraft don't make those here, do they? Matthias panted.

I don't think so; not last time I checked, Steve said. Where'd you see them?

Looked like they were coming in over the harbor.

Miles snapped some wires loudly into place. I've got the gem hooked up, but I need a car battery, he said quickly.

What for? Steve asked.

I need to put a five-second delay on the power grid. That way we can power the gateway, grab the gem, and run through before it collapses. We can't leave the gem here for Goldman to get. Period.

Steve nodded and left to go pull the battery out of his car. Matthias looked hard at Miles. So what are we going to do once we walk through, huh? he said.

Miles said nothing and continued to plug equipment in. We're not going anywhere if this thing doesn't work.

You're sidestepping the question.

Miles turned to look at Matthias. I've got it all planned out, okay? We open the gateway, grab the gem, and walk through before Goldman gets in. Simple as that.

But what about after that? How are we going to get back home? What if we end up in some universe that isn't as advanced as this one? I mean, it was a close call coming here and helping them build a gateway. What if we end up somewhere where you can't even build one?

Miles plugged in a keypad. I've thought of that. Trust me, okay?

Before Matthias could reply, the Steve rushed through the door carrying his car's battery, a look of genuine fear on his face. I think he's here, he muttered, handing the battery to Miles.

You may need a new battery after this, Miles said, taking the battery and cracking a smile. He shoved the last few wires in place, hooked up the battery, and typed a set of cryptic numbers on the keypad.

Are we just going to burn our bridge behind us? Matthias asked critically.

It's all right to burn the bridge if you don't cross the river, Miles replied cooly. Think about it, but don't tell it to anyone, he added to Steve.

The gateway flickered to life. The doorway it generated looked somewhat like a rip in mid air. Matthias was the first to go through. Miles pulled out the emerald and ran through the gateway right after him.

As soon as Miles was through, a large man in an army suit ran into the room and jumped towards the rip right as it closed. Lacking any support, the man landed on a pile of spare parts. He swore, got up, swore, brushed off his uniform, and swore again. he yelled, glancing down at the keypad.

Another army man hurried through the door. Yes, Admiral?

They've gone to 235.462. Ready a transport; we're going to have to make another dimension hop.

Yes, sir. Did you catch them, sir?

The admiral said nothing except a few more curses on his way out of the room. He seemed not to notice Steve standing off in the corner.

They're wrong, Steve thought. Miles said you can burn the bridge if you don't cross the river. They burned the bridge by taking the gem but they never crossed the riverThey're still somewhere on this planet.

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