* * * * *
Dana had just finished her Wishbone Special. She did some thinking for a minute or two. Then, she looked at her camper (where Ray was still asleep), and whispered:
"I wish for him to discover why the Sitmobita is going to such lengths to kill someone for merely knowing the truth about the Kecksburg UFO."
Then, she snapped the bone in half.
* * * * *
"Ray? Raymond Venn! Time to wake up."
Ray opened his eyes, and immediately noticed two things. There was a very tiny woman hovering in front of his face, like Disney's Tinkerbell. And, just behind her, on the Murphy-bed? He saw his own body, still asleep!
"Am I dreaming?" he asked (mostly to himself).
"Not quite. My name is Tina. I'm a time-traveling mini-goddess. And, I've induced an astral-projective state in you, as part of a wish I'm granting to your friend, Dana."
"What kind of wish?"
"You'll see."
The next thing he knew, the two of them were traveling through what might have been an ordinary crosstime warp. Except for the fact that Ray could partially see through his own arms!
When they finally stopped, it was in a torch-lit cavern.
"Where are we?"
"In the caverns beneath Brown Mountain, in Burke County, North Carolina, on Earth-07052009-A. It's one of several parallel-Earths where the American Civil War was won by the Confederacy, under the leadership of a GTS-goddess named Gabrielle. And, the date is April 30, 1897."
A quintet of gray-clad soldiers entered the cave and arranged a wooden table and, directly opposite each other, two armless wooden chairs. A candelabra was set in the middle of the table and lit from one of the torches via willow switch. Then, five more men came in. Two officers; two enlisted men; and one black hooded civilian being dragged in between the latter.
The civilian was forcibly seated before the opaque hood was removed. The older of the two officers (a general who appeared to be in his mid-to late fifties) sat down in the other chair.
"Professor Nikola Tesla? My name is Lewis Cross. General; Confederate States Army Reserve. This is my aide, Capt. Echota Riordan. Formerly, with the Eighth Texas Cavalry."
"I wish I could say I am pleased to meet you, General. But, that would be a lie. Considering the circumstances behind my 'arrival,' here (wherever that might be)!"
The general chuckled: "Perfectly understandable reaction. There is a reason for it, however. Men?"
Half a dozen soliders came in, carrying a coffin from which the lid had been removed. Three-fourths of the coffin's interior had been filled with crushed ice. The remainder had been kept clear, so on-lookers could clearly see what the ice had been preserving.
Tesla initially thought it was a medium-sized ape that had been shorn of all its hair after apparently starving to death. That is; until he saw that its folded-together hands had six fingers apiece!
"What on Earth...?"
"Correction, Professor. This being is not---and probably never was--of this Earth. His body was recovered from where his airship crashed, near Aurora, Texas. A little under two weeks ago."
"His airship?" echoed the startled inventor.
"A heaver-than-air craft, to be precise. With an outer shell composed of a metal so hard that not even a steam-powered drill with a diamond bit could penetrate it!"
"Incredible!"
"But, true. And, you have been brought here to examine the technological items salvaged from within that vehicle. Examine, analyze, and hopefully duplicate (to be even more precise)."
"I am almost flattered beyond words that you think so highly of my genius, General Cross. But, why all this melodramatic secrecy? You know I would have said 'yes,' if approached and asked, conventionally. Not even Edison, himself, would have refused such an opportunity!"
"True. I assure you, however, that the 'melodramatic secrecy' is all too necessary. Tell me, Professor. Do you know what it's like to be a twin?"
Tesla shook his head.
"All through the War 'tween the States, my biggest fear was that my brother and I would wind up in the same battle, and unwittingly kill each other. We got lucky, though. We both came back to Tonkawa Springs! I became commanding officer of nearby Fort Pecos. And, Clark was told 'yes,' when he popped the question to his childhood sweetheart, Lauren Findlay. There was only one problem. They had an old-fashioned Christian service, instead of getting married in _her_ name. And for that? Clark...and Lauren...were swallowed alive...on THEIR WEDDING NIGHT!!!"
Everyone waited in polite silence for General Cross to regain his composure.
"I beg your pardon, Professor. It's just that I've waited thirty years for an opportunity to avenge my brother's death. And, the Good Lord has finally provided it! That's why I had my men smuggle all these things here, while Gabrielle is preoccupied with her war against Katie Carroll and the Canadians. I may not live to see the completion of Operation: Nacre. But, with your help, and the Good Lord's blessing, it will come to pass, never-the-less."
"What will come to pass, General? What is Operation: Nacre?"
"Why, the liberation of America from _her_, o'course! As to the significance of the code-name? Necessity is the mother of invention. Nacre is better known as mother-of-pearl. And, today would have been Clark and Lauren's...pearl anniversary."
"I understand, General Cross. And, I am completely at your service."
Ray turned his astral head to look at the mini-goddess.
"So, Tesla invented a death-ray on this world, too. Big deal! What's that got to do with the Sitmobtia trying to kill J-Rog, so obsessively?"
"I'm trying to show you that one's lust for revenge can be just as blinding as love. And, twice as self-destructive."
Ray's eyebrows arched: "Wait a minute! Are you saying that the occupants of the Kecksburg Saucer were related to some high mucky-muck in the Sitmobtia? And, that he's plotting some kind of major retribution?"
Tina smiled, and placed her right index finger on her tiny nose. Yet, when Ray subsequently asked her for a specific name, all she did was return him to his corporeal body.
And, when he woke up, he could see by his Grolex watch that he had been asleep for twelve hours!
tbc
Giantess World
Author's Chapter Notes:
The Aurora Incident is a documented fact.