The Basement

Part 3

A few seconds later Taylor had to shield his eyes as an electric blue plasma ball materialised in the middle of the room. At first it was no bigger than a basketball, but then its rippling semi-opaque surface expanded. Its rapid growth stabilised when it reached about five feet in diameter, however this only lasted a few seconds before the centre of the plasma ball imploded.

A blast of air shot out and Taylor turned away as his hair and clothes flapped about.

When he looked back, the ball had disappeared. In its place was a pulsating ring of blue plasma that produced a fluttering wind that continued to agitate the air in the room.

Inside the ring was a man, and whilst his hair was longer and he lacked the facial scaring, he was identical to Taylor. This other Taylor stood in an apartment that was bright and modern. He looked through the portal as if he was surveying a view from a balcony.

"Good, they placed you in the basement," the other Taylor said. "It looks like out Intel was spot on."

"Yeah, so far it's been accurate," Taylor said, "except there's no door between the rooms, just this glass window." He pointed at the painted glass.

The other Taylor craned his neck to look at the window.

"Yeah right, hang on a sec." He walked past the edge of the plasma ring and disappeared.

"I've also got this massive chain wrapped around my ankle," Taylor said.

"I saw that." The other Taylor said when he reappeared with an old crowbar in his right hand.

"I don't think that's going to help."

"It's for the window." He threw the crowbar through the ring towards Taylor, who caught it. "You can sort that padlock out once ODU1783 arrives."

"Yeah, I guess, it's just going to take time."

The other Taylor looked at his watch, it was identical to the one Taylor had on his wrist.

"You've got time," he said. "But it looks like mine is up."

Taylor looked down at his own watch. The green line around the outer ring was moving clockwise towards the 60 second mark. When the circle was complete, there was another gust of wind and the plasma ring collapsed in on itself and disappeared.

"What the hell was that?" the Professor screamed.

The words 'Time To Next Portal' appeared on Taylor's watch and the green ring ate into itself as it counted down the time. He walked to the window and wedged the crowbar under one of the wooden planks and yanked it off the wall.

"Everything's ok Professor."

"But all that noise. Someone will have heard it."

"We're fine," Taylor said as he continued to remove the planks.

"Oh, we're fine are we? Sure, because everyone upstairs is deaf."

Taylor yanked the last of the planks from the wall.

"Professor, I need you to step away from the glass."

He lifted the crowbar behind his shoulder, then swung it towards the window. The glass shattered into tiny fragments that fell to the floor.

Taylor used the crowbar to clear out the remaining glass around the window frame.

The Professor had his arms raised to protect his face from the flying glass. As he lowered them Taylor noticed he was a lot paler than the photos they'd shown him. He was also more gaunt.

The Professor stood in a room that was several times larger than the one Taylor occupied. Unlike Taylor's side though, this room was well lit. An old wooden workbench sat in its middle. It was covered in tools and coils of electrical wire, but it wasn't the main feature in the room, because behind it, up against the far wall was a machine unlike anything Taylor had ever seen. It squeezed into the space below the ceiling, and its modern design and clean facade were in start contrast to the rundown nature of the basement.

A massive cylindrical glass chamber made up the bulk of the machine. It was rotated ninety degrees so that the tungsten caps that enclosed each end faced sideways. Through the glass Taylor could see a dozen metallic spheres linked by titanium pipes. Connected to the right side of the machine were several groups of thick electrical cables and these fed into a series of smaller machines that stood nearby. In front of all this, on either side of the main chamber, were two smaller chambers which stood vertically, and inside each of them was a giant red crystal. Another two crystal chambers were visible at the rear of the machine.

"You don't have to worry about anyone hearing us," Taylor said and pointed at his watch. "It's creating a dampening field that prevents anyone outside these rooms from hearing what's going on."

The Professor stepped closer, broken glass crunched under his feet.

"And all that noise before, you were talking to someone. What was that?"

"It's a portal."

"A portal?"

"A portal to a parallel universe."

The Professor scoffed. "Sure, a parallel universe. Of course it was."

Taylor raised his hands in a calming gesture. "I know you don't know me and you have no reason to trust me, but I'm here to get you out, and the people in these portals, they're here to make sure that happens."

"And how are they going to help us escape? I mean you're tied up." He pointed at the chain wrapped around Taylor's leg.

Taylor looked down at his watch. The green ring had almost disappeared.

"Don't you worry, I'm about to take care of that."