(Untitled)

[gone_byebye]

[OOM: On the plane to St. John's, Ray discovers exactly what they're dealing with.]

The door opens on the banal chaos of every North American airport of the early twenty-first century. Ray walks in, rubbing at his face with both hands. "If I have to go back to Miskatonic," he mutters to no one in particular, "I'm gonna plotz. Bar? I'm gonna need

Comments

[works_in_space]

Not long after, the door opens on the relative calm of a stateroom aboard a Constitution-class starship. Jim, carrying his all-weather jacket, enters and spots Rays.

"Hello, Ray. Any word?" You would almost think he was hoping to find the Ghostbuster-turned-diplomat.

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"Hi, Jim," says Ray, looking up. "We've got Great Old One sign. I'd stake what little professional reputation I have on the Russians lying through their teeth about that sub."

[works_in_space]

Jim gets that look of confusion so common when talking to Ray. "Care to explain that a little better? Specifically regarding the sub. Where is it now?"

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"They claim they haven't launched it yet," Ray says. "Supposedly it's still at anchor off Novaya Zemlya, or whatever the appropriate term is for a submarine that isn't on the move. They let slip the name, though. Tell me something-" He turns and faces Kirk a little more directly. "Does the Federation name vessels meant for peaceful exploratory expeditions after the sites of ultramassive weapons tests?"

[works_in_space]

"Is that where the Soviets tested the H-bomb?" He thinks because... "And no, we never named a ship the Bikini Atoll. I don't think even the Klingons think that way." This is what is called, in the parlance of soldiers and explorers alike, a bad sign.

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"You could say that, yeah," says Ray. "Novaya Zemlya is essentially Russia's nuclear bitch. Whatever they couldn't test in Siberia because it was too dangerous got tested on the islands of Novaya Zemlya instead- it's essentially the northernmost end of the Ural Mountain range. The submarine the Russians are sending to poke around an already dimensionally anomalous and possibly unstable area is named the Sukhoy Nos."

He takes a long pull at his Ovaltine.

"Sukhoy Nos is the portion of Novaya Zemlya where the Soviet government tested the 'Tsar Bomba' megaweapon in the sixties. As of January of 2008, the Tsar Bomba is the single largest and most powerful nuclear weapon in human history."

[works_in_space]

"So you suspect that this is actually part of some sort of test or effort to harness the energies inherent in such a dimensional rift?" Jim is far too aware that weapons dwarfing nukes are quite possible, and that sometimes all it takes is the combination of energy, know-how and willpower.

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Ray nods. "I wouldn't be surprised at all, honestly. Their denial of paranormal phenomena smacks of the kind of hysteria and deliberate recto-cranial inversion that you generally see in people who're about to do something they know is phenomenally dangerous but've almost completely convinced themselves is okay."

[works_in_space]

"I think that's common, unfortunately, in certain military and governmental circles. I've seen that once or twice." He remembers the disastrous results of the M-5 test. "I assume that any attempt to interdict the sub will be treated as an act of war at this point?"

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"Yeah, probably- especially given that the whole point of the expedition was to claim those waters as Russian territory. So it wouldn't just be an act of war, it'd be an act of war in sovereign Russian territory to their way of thinking." Ray pinches the bridge of his nose. "I'll tell you, Jim, I've been studying dimensional rents, cross-rips, and instabilities for decades now, and I still don't know how to close the darn things up once they get past a critical stage. We either have to stabilize the local dimensional superstructure, stop the rent before it starts, or put every nation in the civilized world on alert that not only is Santa Claus not coming to town this year, they'll be getting a nice hefty delivery of extradimensional gibbering horror straight from the Pole instead."

[works_in_space]

"I wish I could offer some help on that count. But my own experience with dimensional barriers is limited, and I was usually just a passenger.

"Is there any way to mount a mission to the rift beofre the Russians get there, without being seen? I know that stealth technology was in use or being developed in your day, but I don't know if it could be applied to submarines." And Jim doesn't have a spare cloaking device handy.

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"So far the only stealth technology that'd cover our butts adequately is still in development in Japan," Ray says. "I've been working on a similar technological premise on the grounds that I'd like to be able to shield myself from possible extradimensional mental influences while I work, but it's nowhere near field-ready, let alone being capable of being ported to a vessel. On the other hand, there might be someone here capable of pulling a stunt like that off- which is why I'm here and not banging my head against a wall in St. John's."

[works_in_space]

"Who do you have in mind?" And will Jim be able to go along, he thinks without giving any clue he's bored at home again.

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"Well, you already volunteered a while ago, so I'd sort of put you up on the top of the list," Ray says. "I've had one ex-Special Forces soldier from Britain volunteer, as well as my friend Garion and a young man named Tyler Marlocke. Optimus Prime offered to help if he was physically able, but he's not designed for Arctic travel."

[works_in_space]

"Prime...I think I met a compatriot of his, a robot named Ironhide? Rather...interesting being.

"But also not configured for this, I think." Jim thinks. "And which of these people is your ace in the hole?"

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"I've run across Ironhide once or twice. I don't think he likes me," Ray says. "I mean, I could be wrong, but I'm better at telling that with robots than I am with humans."

He rubs at the back of his neck. "Garion has a superior understanding of concealment capability compared to most of the rest of the gang," he says. "If he can make us unnoticeable, so much the better- but I do need to talk to the young woman who goes by 'the Flying Squirrel' first. She's got an array of paranormally-related technological devices that made my colleague Dr. Spengler blink twice. It's entirely possible that she might have something up her sleeve that'd do the job even better."