The 4D Earth War

 The scent of pancakes was in the air as I awoke at around 7 am. Lisa greeted me as I arose and reached for the crutches. She helped me stand and told me the breakfast was ready. As I followed her to the kitchen, the old lab-room with a dozen sinks and an autoclave and microwave oven in one corner, it occurred to me that I was feeling much better.

  Not just physically, but spiritually, I felt more alive than ever before. Lisa had a lot to do with it. I was happy to be so close to her at last. The fact was we were sharing a relationship that I’d never had before but had always wanted. In my whole life, I’d never been cared for by a woman, nor loved so much. I sat down at the table and watched her as she served breakfast.

  “Pour your self some coffee,” she said, “The pancakes are on the way.”
  I saw the coffee pot on the table and filled a cup. She brought a plate of pancakes and sat down across from me.

  “You look much better,” she said.
  “So do you,” I admitted, almost forgetting the pancakes. ”It’s been a long time since I’ve had such a beautiful woman serve me breakfast.”

  She smiled and sipped her coffee.
  After a couple of minutes of quiet eating, I recalled the Warbird at the coliseum, and checked the time.

  “I’ve got to check on the Warbird,” I said, “it should be ready to fly.”
  “No rushing, Ron,” she said, “You still have some recovering to do. That reminds me, I’ve got your pills. You forgot them yesterday. It would be best if you took some. It’ll help speed your healing.”

  She handed the small container across the table and I swallowed two with my coffee.
  “I feel well enough to walk,” I admitted.

  “I’ll check your ankle,” she said, and had me put it on a chair. She removed the bandage and the ankle looked like it was back to its normal size, except for a slight discoloration.
I tried walking on it and felt no pain.

  “It’s fine,” I said, with certainty, and continued to walk about the apartment.
  “Just take it easy,” she advised, “take it slow. Don’t hurry about on it just yet. Give it some time.”

  After a talk with Leo and Laura, in which I enlightened then about the new system, I went outside and walked to the coliseum. The Warbird was on it’s pods, the valve was open, and Seji was inside. I checked the patch and wing, both had been welded and sanded to a smooth finish. It was an expert repair; it was good to be in the hands of professionals. I climbed inside and saw Seji at the pilot station. He turned about and spoke positively.

  “Well, Mr. Querzo,” he said, “it’s good to see you on your feet again. I hope you don’t mind, but I was compelled by scientific curiosity to study a vehicle of the lost planet.”
  “Of course,” I said, as he arose and left the station. “Is she all ready for the test-flight?”

  “Yes,” he said, as I went to the pilot station, “and the leaflets are ready also.”
  “Good,” I said, “we can fly over to the media guild and pick them up. If she does alright on that, we should be able to start the distribution soon.”

  As I prepared the bird for take-off, I saw John and George outside, apparently admiring the ship. I flipped on the external com-link and told them to climb aboard. When they entered the bridge I told them to take a seat, and that we were going for a flight. John took the co-pilot station, Seji took the science station directly behind me, and George took the sensor and defense station behind John.

  As I let the engine warm and the others got familiar with the alien consoles, I recalled an interesting bit of info from the crystal-records of the lost planet. According to those specific records, there had been over two-hundred ships of the ‘Warbird’ class during Tranqua’s evolution, after its independence from Mars. The particular ‘Warbird’ that the High Amplek Zondar owned during his station had a name, which he had given it.

  The name Zondar had given it was ‘Amalek’, after a mythical bird in the ancient tales of Tranqua. In the tale, Amalek befriended a young man who was bounded by chains in a tower, and helped to set him free. Thereafter, the man and the bird were friends for eternity and did many things together.

  “Alright men,” I said, “brace your self for the take-off.”
  I lifted it up a meter from the floor, and let it hover, to check for stability.  It seemed alright so I retracted the pods, turned it about, and sited the large hole in the roof above us. I eased on the jets and pulled back on the steering column. We lifted up through the hole and out into the open air. I performed a few short fancy maneuvers above the campus, and it seemed alright.

  “Okay men,” I said, “she passed the preliminary test, now we’ll see how she does when she’s wide open.”
  I lifted Amalek up to 100, then 200 meters, and blasted the jets. We darted northwest at 200 kph. As we flew, I lifted us at about a forty-five degree angle, higher into the atmosphere, and increased the speed gradually. The sensors detected radiation and we sited grey clouds ahead, so I slowed and prepared to turn about.

  “God,” Seji said, “That fall-out is closer than I thought. “Did we pass over the St. Lawrence already?”
  “I don’t think so,” I said, and flipped on the underbelly remote. The video-screen between John and I displayed the land below. I calculated the speed and in-flight time and understood his dismay.
  “By my calculations,” I said, “that should still be Vermont below us.”

  A red-lettered warning appeared over the picture on the screen. I turned us about on a wide curve, and headed back home.
  “Then, it is as we feared,” Seji said with disconsolation, “the fallout is spreading across the St. Lawrence. If it continues to spread, it may eventually cover us. Mr. Querzo, is there any way this ship can detect the rate of its dissipation?”

  “If I can get over it,” I agreed, “I could compare it with earlier analysis.”
  We both agreed that it was worth a try, and going that high was the ultimate test, so I flew Amalek about and headed back north.
  “Brace yourselves and take a deep breath,” I said, “we may have to go over twenty kilometers.”

  We flew up and up slowly, so that I could keep an eye on the structural integrity. Eventually, at thirty kilometers above sea-level, we were over it. I set the remote video to record and took it back after about two minutes. Amalek flew well considering it had a welded wing and a patch, and we all sighed with relief when we finally set down outside the media-guild (the old liberal arts building).

  Al met us outside with a box of leaflets and Tony carried out another. While George and John helped Tony with the leaflets, and started loading them on the Warbird, Seji and I gave Al the bad news.

  “How bad is it?” he said, hiding his disappointment with his usual cool attitude and reserved doubt.
  “Bad enough,” Seji said. “It’s the winds. Unfortunately, we just cannot predict how the winds may change course. Up until now, the winds from the Great Lakes have been keeping it in Canada. Apparently, there has been more wind from the north than the west can deflect.

  “What about the south? Is it also spreading?”
  “That is something,” I said, “we should check on. As long as we have to go south to distribute the leaflets, we can see about it along the way.”

  Al looked at me with the kind of seriousness he reserved for heavy work.
  “Ron,” he said, “Unless you need me, I think I should stay here, and make an inventory of our radiation ready status.”

  “I should also,” Seji said.
  “Sure thing,” I agreed, “but I’ll need two men to help dump the leaflets.”

  John and George agreed to help with the leaflet distribution. We went aboard the Warbird, I opened the top hatch, and showed then what to do when we were in the air.
  “One of you,” I said, “climb up the ladder, open the hatch, and throw the leaflets out, while the other hands them up. I’ll have minimum shields on to keep the air-pressure balanced, and we’ll be taking it slow, at cruising speed and a low altitude, unless I say different. When we’re over the cities, I’ll let you know. At that point, dump about twice as much as when you’re over the country. Got all that?”

  We took our seats and lifted off. Minutes later, we were flying east to Boston at 200 meters up and about 150 kph. I told them to start dumping. We dropped one box on Boston and headed south. We dropped half a box on Providence, zoomed across the edge of the sea to Manhattan, and dropped another box on it. Then we did the same for Trenton and the surrounding areas.

  When we reached Washington, and completed dumping another, we got a big surprise. The sensors detected radiation, much further north than it had been before. I told the guys to close the hatch and take their seats, so that we could go up for another overview of the weather.

  Amalek took us over it, recorded the fallout over the land, and we turned north again. At that point, it was obvious the fallout was being carried by the winds northward. If it continued to spread with the wind at the present rate, I estimated, it would converge on our home-base within a month. There seemed little point to distributing the leaflets after that fact, but we did so nonetheless, on the hope that the winds might change in our favor before it was too late.

  We returned to the base and I gave the bad news to Al and Seji. Seji’s calculations agreed with mine.
  “Then nuclear winter may be inevitable,” Al said, “things couldn’t be any worse. We’d better get working on the problem right away."

  “I’m going to review the Warbird’s records,” I said. “Maybe the lost planet can help us out.”
  I returned to the Warbird in its hanger and looked again at the sensory data and the pictures. There was no doubt about it; the radioactive fallout was moving to converge on our locality. It occurred to me that it might be possible to relocate, somewhere else on Earth, such as the west coast, or South America. Now that the Warbird was flying well again, I decided to go out and check.

  I went almost straight up with Amalek, to the edge of the atmosphere, and flew west. What I found was a dismal surprise; more of the same. Fallout was everywhere, not just where it had been before. Apparently the wind was scattering it out further away from the areas in which the original explosions occurred.

  I flew over the Pacific Ocean and headed to South America, only to find more of the same. Fallout was spreading from across the ocean from Asia. It was the same with Africa too. I could hardly believe it. All findings indicated that the planet Earth was entering a nuclear- winter. I cursed out loud, wondering just how responsible the evil Martians were for it.

  The situation appeared hopeless. According to the Warbird’s sensors, two more atomic bombs had just recently been detonated in Eurasia, and the changes in the jet stream and the wind were causing the radioactive fallout to scatter out everywhere. Already, about two-thirds of the planet was covered.

  Sensors indicated that within forty to sixty days it would cover the entire planet. It was unlikely that most life on Earth would survive a nuclear winter. I returned to the campus hanger and decided it might be time to pay another visit to AB4 Earth, if it was still there.

  Under the circumstances, it appeared the only answer. I typed in the proper code sequence and engaged the temporal engine. Twenty minutes later, Amalek decelerated and phased into the 21st century AB4 Earth garden. This time, I made certain the ‘pattern’ was recorded and secure from dissolution. I had a feeling I might have to stay longer and I didn’t want to have to leave in a hurry.

  I was fairly certain that most of the ‘info’ the Warbird had on the history of all parallel AB Earths had been downloaded from AB4 during our first visit. If the AB4 Earth could download that much info, it could probably tell me more. Possibly even the answer to the problem of the AB1 Earth’s nuclear-winter.

  After the engine disengaged, I looked out the main view-screen into the garden. A young girl stood gazing at the Warbird with wonder. She was dressed in a light toga, had flowers in her long brown hair, and held a small garden tool in one hand. She appeared to be some- what surprised. I checked the exterior atmosphere for intoxicants. There were some slight wisps, but appeared to be at a lower level than before. I took a pill to help neutralize any side effects. I grabbed the helmet in my hand and went outside. I walked to the edge of the court, stepped up and stopped.
 

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