The existence of parallel universes has been discovered over 8000 standard years ago,

but attempts to travel there have proven extremely dangerous. More than one space station

has disappeared in an impromptu black hole when the gate emitters were not perfectly

aligned

– MUX0815, AI lecturer in Galactic History.

Eventually, we reached the floor above the lobby and I called for a halt. Cycling through the surveillance cameras, I saw a strange tear in reality in one wall of the lobby. I guessed that was the gate where the Antithesis entered, which was very unusual. Normally their rifts were up high in the air. It was also unusual for a rift to persist this long, usually they closed again within minutes.

At the moment it was quiet around the gate. This might be our chance to sneak by and reach the shelter without another fight. There should have been two ways for us to the shelter, but in our stairwell the final stairs to the basement were blocked off. The blockade consisted of unused chairs and tables, and clearing the obstacle would take more time and make more noise than I was comfortable with.

The remaining option was through the lobby. We would have to cross a few meters of open space to get behind the reception. Behind that, stairs led directly to the shelter. A corridor extended to the left and right of the shelter entrance.

The group followed me through the back of the lobby and towards the stairs to the shelter. Ducking behind the reception desk, I pushed Techy MacTechnical before me. In my left hand, I held the Hummingbird. Jenna followed directly behind me.

Behind me, a long line of survivors followed. 48 of them. It still hurt losing John on the way down, but I had to stay strong for the rest of the group. Brad also kept his composure, despite losing his father. He knelt in the gap between the stairs and the reception, pistol pointed out into the lobby. The Foxteeth Acolytes guarded the rear.

Be careful. Antithesis downstairs.

I signaled Jenna to stop and turned Techy around so his gun pointed towards the stairs. Time to ask for war materiel again.

“Elya, I think I need some sort of grenade here. What can you recommend?”

The Nanowire Multi-Harpoon grenade from the Class I Esoteric Single-Use Explosive Devices catalog. 50 points for the catalog, 5 points per grenade.

That sounded interesting enough, so I replied “Catalog and one grenade!”

Class I Esoteric Single-Use Explosive Devices unlocked!

Points reduced to… 42

Purchased: 1 x Nanowire Multi-Harpoon grenade

Points reduced to …37

Here you are. Take care not to be within four meters of the activation.

A tennis-ball-sized sphere appeared on the ground in front of me. It was off-white and had a bright red button on top that screamed “Press Me”. Metaphorically.

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Of course I could not resist pressing it. Not that I wanted to resist, I had aliens to kill. All over the sphere little numbers appeared. 5… 4… 3.. I hastily threw the thing down the stairs. It had barely cleared the last step before it went off.

With a muted bang, hundreds of barely visible lines exploded from the device and ripped into everything. Then the lines became taut and pulled back. Each line had a multi-pronged barb at the tip that unfolded after piercing the target, looking like the seed of a dandelion but larger, sharper and infinitely more lethal.

At least half a dozen aliens tried to either attack up the stairs or flee deeper into the corridor. All of them failed to get away without leaving parts of their anatomy behind. They were either disemboweled or lost some of their legs. Green sap was flowing all over the place.

Of the four Threes that came up the stairs, only one made it to the top, where it was greeted with a few shots from Techy. That was its end.

In the meantime, the harpoon grenade had continued to pull in its harpoons and the barbs were ripped out of the walls one by one. Chunks of concrete crumbled to the ground, the shelter door had a deep cut in its steel plate and one ceiling light came down in a shower of sparks.

Wait until the harpoon grenade has finished retracting its barbs. Otherwise you risk being cut up by the nanowires yourself when entering the area.

By now, a bunch of people had bunched up behind the reception, including Alan who had the entry codes for the shelter. It was time to secure the final few meters of the way. I moved down the stairs and called for a volunteer to bring Techy.

Julian, one of the guys who had carried Techy most of the way, volunteered to transport him again. We got down the stairs without further incident, and the corridor was clear of further enemies. I called Alan down. He stated the shelter was weakened but still serviceable, and opened the door for us. Alan also informed us that he had managed to contact the military and they would send help.

At this point, most of our bunch of refugees opted to stay and wait for professional rescue. While they moved into the shelter, I worked on securing the place a bit better. First, I had Julian position Techy where our little gun trolley would be useful once more in defending the shelter. Also, I finally got around to ask Elya “Can the Hummingbird be reloaded?”

Unfortunately not. It was designed as a maintenance free self-defense weapon for inexperienced shooters. Extended gunfights were never its purpose.

The Hummingbird had served me well so far though, and my dominant right hand was still not fully recovered. So I figured that switching to something else might not be the best move at the moment. I spent fourteen points on a fresh Hummingbird and two fresh magazines for Brad. Which left me with 83 points. Enough for some more of the turrets, which had worked decently well so far.

“Elya, do those Death’s Hand turrets work upside down? Including the reload function? And can they handle the recoil of a Wolfbite?”

Yes to all of those questions. Are you planning to cover the lobby in turrets?

“Two of them, with Wolfbites and armor-piercing explosive ammo. As much as fits in the reloading mechanism.”

Purchased: 2 x Auto turret “Death’s Hand” Mk III

Points reduced to …43

Purchased: 2 x Wolfbite Mk II

Points reduced to …23

Purchased: 10 x magazine for Wolfbite (armor-piercing explosive)

Points reduced to …3

I assembled my assorted purchases and climbed on the reception desk, from where I could reach two suitable positions on an overhead concrete beam. After gluing the turrets there upside down, I had a total of seventy extra nasty bullets waiting for targets.

At this point, my curiosity got the better of me and I went to take a close look at the gate. Suddenly, the gate opened and a Six emerged, but this one was not alone. Half a dozen strange, six-legged robots the size of large dogs attacked it. With their pointed legs, they were stabbing at the Six. Behind me, the turrets opened fire, and both the Six and the robot dogs took hits.

One of the robots broke apart in a series of explosions. Another one came at me, and I ducked to the side. Unfortunately towards the gate, not away from it. Near me, the Six screeched in rage, even louder than its cousin on the 20th floor. It whirled around like a mad dervish, hit me from the side and sent me flying right into the gate. The Six followed me, badly shot up but still dangerous. I also lost my Hummingbird in the process.

I found myself in a strange sort of tunnel. Behind me the gate I had come through, and a pissed Six between the gate and me. From the other side more of the robot critters approached, and they showed an unhealthy interest in me. Finally there was a second gate to my left, through which I could faintly see what looked like the lobby I had come from. Fighting the Six and the robots seemed a losing proposition, so I fled into the unknown gate and hoped I would find less trouble on the other side.