CHAPTER THREE

  "But now I'm in control, now I'm in the fallout

  Once asleep but now I stand

  And I still remember your sweet everything

  Light a Roman candle and hold it in your hand..."

  -Soundgarden

  ...

  The police that stood before him wore dark blue uniforms with three gold stars arranged vertically on the shoulder. Each officer had what appeared to be a metal box attached to a metallic sleeve that ran up their left arm. The officer closest to Carl raised his hand with the box on it. A snake-like metal jointed tentacle shot from the device on his arm and wrapped around one of Carls wrists.

  "Hey! What are you..."

  He yanked his arm back trying to free it. Instead he sent the officer attached to it, flying high up into the air. The man screamed as he was thrown through the roof of a house at the end of the street.

  "Oh my god! I didn't mean to do that...I'm sorry!"

  The officers started firing at him. His helmet snapped shut.

  "Nano...how badly could that man be hurt?"

  "With the distance he was thrown, he will have sustained critical injuries Carl."

  "No no no, This can't be happening..."

  Bullets pinged off his armor as he dropped to his knees and held out his hands.

  "I will go peacefully."

  The officers stopped firing at him, they surrounded him now. Their gauntlet guns trained at his head.

  The officers looked at each other nervously, finally one stepped forward and raised his arm. The long black tentacle wrapped around his arm again. He let it this time. It wrapped around the other arm and cinched them together. They pulled him up by his elbows and led him to the back of a car. An ambulance came rushing down the street, some of the officers directed it to the house with the hole in the roof.

  Carl sat in the back of the car, staring out the window. They were speaking to Frank now. He could just see the stretcher with the officer he had thrown. They had some kind of inflatable cast on the arm with the metal sleeve. Carl looked down at his hands. He still felt like shit, his head still hurt. Now he wanted to crawl in a hole and die.

  "I fucked up Nano. I'm supposed to be a hero...a protector. I might have killed that man...for what? He was just doing his job."

  "You did not know the customs of this world Carl."

  "It doesn't matter. This is why I wanted to be more like 26, he would have been more patient. I just...reacted."

  "Carl..."

  "No. This was my mistake, let me talk to them."

  Two officers entered the vehicle. The passenger turned and looked at Carl, Carl did not look away. The car was silent on the ride to the station.

  They brought him to a holding cell, they touched the tentacle restraint wrapped around his wrists with a baton and it loosened. It still held his wrists but now with slack. They put it on a hook on the wall. Carl stood there, staring at a concrete wall. A voice behind him.

  "I'm chief officer Drummer. I oversee our protectorate station here in Krembolt. And what do I call you?"

  "My name is Carl Maitland."

  "Well Mr. Maitland, I'm told you injured one of my officers. Do you care to explain yourself?"

  "It was an accident. I'm not from around here, I didnt know what your wrist snake thing was."

  Chief Drummer walked up to Carl, Carl shifted so he could look at the man.

  "They said you threw him the length of the street. How is that possible? Is this armor..."

  He tapped Carls chestplate.

  "...some sort of enhancement?"

  "Well...yes and no. My armor is nanotech, but I threw the man because I have superstrength."

  The chief squinted at him, as if he was trying to tell if Carl was lying or not.

  "Well, the report has already been sent down the wire. Gov-Tac agents will be here shortly. I suspect they'll want a closer look at your "nanotech"."

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  The man turned to leave.

  "The officer...will he be ok?"

  Drummer stopped and turned, Carl could just see him under his arm. He stared at Carl for a moment, as if unsure he should answer him.

  "He'll live. Though he will probably have a limp for the rest of his life."

  The chief left the room and Carl exhaled. He hadnt killed the man.

  He could relax.

  This was so fucked. He just wanted to go home, now he was going to be punished for an accident in another dimension. He hung his head and closed his eyes. He could rip the hook out of the wall, probably break the cuffs. He could punch his way through this station if he wanted to. Thats not who he was though...not anymore.

  Carl leaned his forehead against the concrete, his head was in pain. Serious pain. He'd been standing here for half an hour now. He could barely manage the sharp spikes of pain anymore, but he had to. He grit his teeth and tried to think of anything else. He still hadn't eaten anything yet either. Maybe the government guys would feed him. The door behind him opened, he heard three sets of feet enter. He twisted to look at them. They wore black armor, they also had the box thing on their arms. Their helmets had a thin red line where the eyes should be.

  They were silent. They took his restraints from the hook and touched it with a baton. It cinched up tight again. They led him to something that resembled a dropship. He was pushed into a seat, a belt wrapped over his waist and buckled. Two armored men sat on either side of them, two more sat across from him. He examined the armor on the men across from him, they carried no visible weapons, just the tentacle restraints on one arm and a raised bump on the other. The armor didnt look very thick, probably more for intimidation than function. He leaned back and closed his eyes. He had to stop this, without thinking about it he was sizing them up. He was the one in the wrong, not them.

  The trip was short. They landed on top of a building and he was escorted to another holding cell. This one had a table and a chair, they sat him down and attached the restraints to a hook on the table. A large glass window was on the wall across from him.

  They were watching him.

  They made him wait. One hour passed. He laid his head on the cool metal table and closed his eyes.

  A hand smacked the table, Carl sat upright. A sharp spike of pain in his head.

  "Please dont do that. I have a massive headache...do you have any ibuprofen?"

  The man that stood before him said nothing. He circled the table and tapped on Carls shoulder.

  "What are you doing?"

  "If I release you, can you take the armor off?"

  The armor disappeared and Carl was sitting in his sweaty black BDUs. The Sentinel 26 patch still on the shoulder, he'd never got around to removing it.

  The man jumped back.

  "Where did the armor go?"

  "Its a part of me."

  "What are you exactly Mr. Maitland?"

  "I'm human, if thats what you're asking."

  "Ok. Where do you come from?"

  "Missouri."

  "What country is that in?"

  "The United States of America."

  "Never heard of it."

  "Well, its not on this world...I am not from this world."

  The man ran his finger over the shoulder patch.

  "What is "Sentinel 26"?"

  "My brothers hero name, its his shirt."

  "Is your brother here on our world also?"

  "No, he's in space, headed for a planet called Tal-kit."

  "I see. Why should I believe any of this?"

  "Why would I lie?"

  "Because you are trapped. People will say anything to go free."

  Carl stared at the man.

  "I'm not trapped."

  "It certainly appears that you are Mr. Maitland."

  "Thats where youre wrong. I let you bring me in because I made a mistake."

  "You let us?"

  "Yes."

  "So if you wanted to leave, you could?"

  Carl stood and snapped the restraints apart.

  The man jumped to his feet. He made a fist and aimed it at Carl. Carl could see the metal sleeve with the bump he had noticed on the guards in the dropship. So they did carry weapons. Carls armor formed around him, his helmet snapped shut. The man fired an energy beam.

  Carl felt nothing.

  "What was that?"

  The mans fist shook.

  "How..."

  "Look. I dont want to hurt anyone else. Stop escalating the situation."

  The man slowly lowered his arm.

  "What are your intentions?"

  "My what? I dont have any. I just want to go home. I found your world by accident. I have a very painful headache and an empty stomach. So my intentions, sir, are to find some food, water, and something for my head. Can you help me with that? If so, ill stay and answer your questions. If not then I intend to leave. I'm not a goddamn science project. Do I make myself clear?"

  "Yes."

  "And?"

  "I can bring you those things...if you sit down."

  "Thank you. Oh, wait...I screwed up some guys driveway, can you get that fixed?"

  The man looked at him funny.

  "Someones driveway?"

  "Yeah, his name is Frank Masterson. Nice guy, gave me some water. When I entered your world, it was through an underground cavern. I had to punch my way out."

  "Uh...we'll see what we can do."

  The man left the room. Carl swept the broken tentacle restraint off the table onto the floor. His helmet snapped back and he laid his head against the cool metal once again. It helped a little bit.

  They brought him a glass of water. A dish with chicken and rice and three grey triangular pills.

  He ate, he drank, he popped the pills. Fifteen to twenty minutes later the pain in his head started to recede to a dull ache. He sat back and belched, at least some things were consistent across universes. Chicken still tasted like chicken.

  The man he had spoken to before entered, this time carrying a metal chair. He set it down across from Carl.

  "My superiors have questions they want answered. If thats okay?"

  He asked the question hesitantly.

  Carl simply nodded.

  "The world you came from, what is it called?"

  "Earth."

  "Did you come here on a ship?"

  "No."

  "Then how?"

  "I flew through a void...something like purgatory."

  "Whats a purgatory?"

  "Uh...like a space in between heaven and hell."

  "What are..."

  Carl cut him off.

  "Look, things are very different between our worlds. I'm not going to explain every little detail. There is a void between dimensions, I ended up in that void by accident and in trying to get back to my dimension, I ended up in yours. Ok? Is that clear enough for you?"

  "Yes, I suppose so. May we ask about your armor?"

  Carl sighed.

  "Ask away."

  "Where does it go when it disappears?"

  "Inside me. Nano, You wanna tell him?"

  "Im sorry, who are you talking to?"

  "The armor...keep up man."

  "I wrap around Carls bones."

  The mans eyes widened.

  "The armor is alive?"

  Carl shrugged.

  "In a manner of speaking. Its a.i.."

  "I do not understand."

  "Artificial intelligence. A machine created by humans that has been programmed to think and solve problems."

  There was a knock on the door. A man let himself in. The man questioning Carl stood up and snapped to attention.

  "Sir."

  "At ease Caldor."

  The man went to the side of the table and leaned down to eye level with Carl.

  "We understand that you are more technologically advanced than us. You also seemed to be enhanced, we would simply like to understand it."

  "I know you would. I will answer your questions, but dont overstep. My nanotech stays with me."

  "Mr. Maitland please try to understand this from our perspective."

  "I do. Unfortunately I dont have anything to offer you but words."

  "How do we know what you say is true?"

  "You dont. But it beats the alternative doesn't it?"

  "Whats the alternative?"

  "I carve a path of destruction through your world until I can escape and get back to my dimension."

  He put his fist on the table and popped his claws.

  "Do you doubt that I could?"

  His claws retracted and the two men stared at him. The man tapped Caldor on the shoulder and they left the room.

  "Nano, thermal."

  His visor shifted and he could see a crowd of men outside the two way glass. They appeared to be in a heated argument.

  "This is going to go on forever!"

  "They do not understand you or I Carl."

  "I know. Just to be clear, those were idle threats."

  "I know Carl."

  He watched the men outside argue for far too long.

  "Can you turn up my ears? I wanna know what they're saying."

  "I will focus a microphone, I do not want to damage your hearing Carl. There is now a dial on your wrist to adjust volume."

  He looked down, a dial appeared. He slowly turned it up.

  "...think he's a national threat. What do you say to that?"

  "I agree. He clearly has the capabilities to kill us all, but he hasn't."

  Carl recognized that voice, the voice of reason, as Caldor. Good, he got through to him.

  He got up and walked to the window and knocked. The men turned to him. One of them said,

  "He can't see us."

  Carl smiled in the helmet.

  "Dude, I'm looking right at you."

  All the men looked at each other.

  "How can he hear us?"

  "I just can. Now are you fellas gonna argue all day are can we move this along? I really want to get home."

  No one said anything.

  "Fine. I'm coming out."

  He walked to the door, it was locked, he simply pushed until the door gave way. His helmet snapped back as he approached the group of men that stared at him in horror.

  Carl sighed.

  He had to cut through the red tape.

  He had to find the boss.

  "Who can get things done around here?"

  A tall gaunt man stepped forward.

  "I run this division."

  "Do you have an office?"

  "Yes."

  "Good. Let's talk."