Chapter Eighteen


"Don't you understand that we're dealing with an invasion force here?" the General shouted.

"Precisely, but the invasion force will continue to invade unless we close off their attack route." Peter replied coldly. I was surprised he was supporting me on this one.

"General Rathbone is correct," the bald man opined. "We need to take immediate action against the current threat."

"But our current threat isn't the most major concern!" The black woman retorted.

I slipped away the desk and opened the door, claiming softly that I needed fresh air. What I really needed was time to think.

Was the plan really all that foolproof? There were so many things that could go wrong... And deep down, I still had very little trust for the military. I had no choice but to work with them on this, as I didn't have the necessary firepower without them. And who knew? General Rathbone might be right. We might be forced to take desperate measures to eradicate the giantesses.

I stared at the landscape posted on the wall, of fir trees lined against a setting sun. Probably designed to offset the rather bleak interior of the facility. There was a noise near me, and I turned to see Chloe exiting the nearby restroom, dabbing at her eyes.

I placed a hand on her shoulder, stopping her as she tried to walk past. "Are you all right?" I asked.

"I'm fine," she said, not looking at me, keeping her tissue firmly in front of her face.

I turned her towards me. "No, you're not. And if you don't tell me why you aren't, it'll put stress on you, and consequently the whole team."

"Okay," she said, removing the tissue to show smudged glasses, behind which were eyes rimmed with red.

"What's wrong?" I asked in a more soothing tone.

Chloe fidgeted with her coat zipper, something I knew she did whenever she was nervous or distraught. It took her a while to answer. "My sister lives in London. She hasn't called yet."

I was slightly stunned. Right here, the tragedy outside was made real for me. Now the thousands of people at risk had a name and a face. Chloe's sister might be dead, I thought. And so might many others. I stroked her shoulder, repeating, "It's okay" over and over. In my mind, I seriously doubted whether or not this was true.

"There's so much that has happened today," Chloe continued. "I don't even know what to think about it all. Normally, I'm so together, but today I'm just..." She stopped then, staring into my face. Then she lunged forward in an attempt to kiss me.

I pushed her away, not as hard as I could have. She stumbled backwards, looking hurt. "Chloe, you know I can't do that," I cried. "I can comfort you, but I can't do that."

She was already walking away, hurrying back into the planning session. I had probably just hurt her feelings terribly, and at the worst possible time. I had no other choice, I told myself. I had an obligation to Sarah.

After waiting a few thoughtful moments, I went into her holding chamber. She was still staring intently at the viewscreen when I got her attention by smacking her on the foot.

"Ow," she said distractedly, but when she looked down and saw me her face lit up with a smile. "Oh, Eric. I'm glad you're here. Maybe you can help me get this whole thing straight."

"As to the plan?" I asked.

"Yeah. I'm not part of it, am I?"

"No, you can't be, Sarah. We don't have a portal large enough to allow you to cross through."

"That was my next question. Just to sum it up, you plan on entering my world, finding the portal and destroying it?"

"With a nuclear weapon." I confirmed.

"Isn't that a little... unnecessary? Crazy? Over the top? I don't even know what to think anymore. I mean... what is this going to do to my lab...?"

"Sarah," I said sharply, causing her to look directly at me once more. "This is our only option. We have to stop the giantesses, before they fully invade our world. And the only way to do that is to destroy the portal."

Sarah paused and took a deep breath before she responded. "I trust you," she said slowly. "And I love you. And I know that you have to do this. But Eric -" I saw her eyes were wet and shining. She was tearing up. "What about us?"

And in that instant, I remembered. Destroying the portal might mean that we would never see each other again. But just as quickly I remembered something else. "We'll still have my portal." I said soothingly. "I'll always be able to visit you, even if you won't be able to come back here."

"And how will I return home?" Sarah questioned, slightly hysterically.

"We'll build something," I answered, trying desperately to reassure her. "Just please, be calm. I don't like seeing you unhappy."

She frowned, turning away from me to gaze into the distance pensively. Then she turned back. "Just be careful." She said worriedly.

"I'll handle everything, Sarah. It'll work out fine. You'll even be in communication with us the whole time."

"Really?" she brightened. "How?"

"I managed to figure out away of rigging up the interstellar- er, interplanar communications unit so its somewhat portable."

"Great. Hearing you will make things a bit better." she said with a little more confidence.

"Okay, I've got to get going. We're assembling at the lab for transport." Sarah motioned to get up and follow. "You've got to stay here," I said quickly. "They'll provide you with the communications system. Just make sure General Crazy-Go-Nuke doesn't blow this world to smithereens."

She laughed at that, and I took my chance to slip out the door. I've never been any good at goodbyes, particularly not when I know they could be permanent.


There were ten soldiers assembled before me, as well as a Jeep carrying weapons and the communications tech. Peter was at their forefront; he would be leading one fireteam, I the other. Chloe, due to her fragile emotional state, was subordinated to a position in my team. I worried about how well she'd be able to work given the stress she was under.

Time to focus on the task at hand, I said to myself. I had instructions to give. "At my signal," I said loudly to the crew. "We will step into the portal, soldiers first, vehicle last. There are several odd sensations involved with transport, but do not be alarmed." Christ, I sounded like an airline safety video. "When we reach ground zero, form on me. From there we will divide into fireteams and commence with the operation."

The soldiers nodded their assent. They were good men, obedient, but I still was concerned about the task that lay before them. How would these people react to a world that was nearly infinitesimally larger than they were used to?

"Once the operation is complete we'll use the return triggers to transport us home without the use of a portal."

I still had nagging doubts breaking through my thoughts. No time to worry now. I was first up for transport.

I took a deep breath and stepped through.

The rushing sensation, the gravitational pressure... it was all growing routine by now. I would have chuckled, if I was conscious of having a mouth. Instead, I watched as the tunnel disappeared into blackness, and prepared to come out the other side.


I landed, chest heaving, struggling for breath, on Sarah's countertop. I was able to roll myself aside to assure that I wasn't in the way of the landing zone (although with quantum mechanics at work, I doubted anyone would land in precisely the same area). Then I struggled to regain control of myself.

The teleport had hit me much harder than I'd expected it to; my fault for underestimating it's effects. Third times the charm. I felt like laughing, and half did so, but it hurt my ribs so much that I was forced to stop.

Eventually I regained my strength, and the after affects subsided. All the soldiers had come through, and we were only waiting for the Jeep. Sure enough, the vehicle materialized before us. It was odd, seeing it appear dot by dot, like a computer image being filled in pixel by pixel.

Then we were all assembled. Peter was getting ready to brief, while I scanned the surroundings. There was only one problem.

"It's not here." I gasped.

"What?" Peter turned and faced me, his look slightly shocked. I wondered at how he grasped my meaning so quickly.

"The portal isn't here." I said urgently.

"Oh no," Peter said, his usual flowery language failing him. "What can we do?"

"It's over," Chloe said dismally. "It's all over, we're screwed."

The portal wasn't present, but something else was. One of the soldiers pointed, speechless. Then all of us stood there, bolted to the spot.

In the room was a three hundred foot tall black woman. And she was coming right towards us.

I was the first to break from the frozen position. "Tamyra!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, waving my hands. "Over here!"

A large grin was spreading over the black woman's face. I didn't like the looks of it at all. "Say, if it isn't Sarah's little boyfriend. And he brought some friends along, too." She leaned in close, until her mouth was practically level with us. When she spoke, tsunami waves of hot air pounded me. "This is going to be a lot of fun."

"Tamyra, don't!" I practically squealed. Way to maintain my cool under fire. "We're here because of Sarah! If you don't help us, billions of lives are at stake."

That brought a shuddering laugh which nearly bowled me over. I looked up to see two huge pillars of flesh bearing down on me, with pointed purple-red tips. Tamyra's nails pinced onto the back of my shirt and hoisted me roughly into the air.

I was suspended some 275 feet above the ground, staring into the face of a giant black woman who clearly didn't like me. The situation was as absurd as it was terrifying. Somehow, the novelty of seeing giants just didn't wear off.

"Little man, what the hell are you talking about?" Tamyra asked sharply. Her face filled my vision, allowing me to see every mountainous detail. And from what I gathered, my situation didn't look good.

"My world is in danger," I replied as bravely as I could. "There are women from your world who are trying to invade it. The only way to stop the invasion is to destroy the portal leading to it."

I was easily able to see Tamyra's river-sized lips press together as she contemplated what I had told her. It took her a minute to respond. "Little man, you don't know what I would give to do what I want with you right now." She ran an enormous tongue over those lips, and her eyes pressed shut as she imagined, her voice becoming throaty with a very strange passion. "You don't know what I would give to crush you under my foot, or squash you under a finger, or chew you to bits. I've wanted to have that kind of power ever since I was fifteen. And when I saw you, I knew how I could have that power."

I would've responded, but wisely refrained. I sensed a "but" coming, and indeed it did.

"However," she said, her eyes opening, her lips tightening again. "I have an obligation. Because Sarah is my friend, and I cannot betray her." She began to set me back on the table. "Prove to me that she wants you to do this, and I'll let you."

Luckily, Sarah chose that moment to radio over the communicator. "Eric? Eric, have you made it there?"

"Roger that," I replied into the microphone next to the communications box. "And you just saved my life," I added under my breath.

"I'm satisfied." said Tamyra, looking quite the opposite. She began to turn around.

"Wait," I said, switching the communications box so it would act as amplifier, preventing me from having to shout. "I need you to help us."

The black woman's hips swiveled as she turned, brushing a stray lock of hair from her face, her expression quizzical. I felt some physical attraction to her then, despite myself and her maniacal tendencies. I shelved the erotic thoughts quickly, however. There was work to be done. "How can I help you?" she asked doubtfully.

"Can you get us near the local military facility?" I asked.

"I can do better than that," she smiled toothily. "I can get you in." She flashed a military identification card. And with that, I learned how Tamyra and Sarah met.