19

Dark Passage

Dan had called everyone to assemble them at Andrew's bookshop. Trillion was there as well. Dan had a daring plan. And yet, his teammates had been unearthing their own discoveries to be explored. Jack mentioned that he'd found where the red boxes the redshifters used to entice and control people were stored. Mary had found previous portals they had opened and used. They would make time to explore these things later. Right now they were on the warpath and this time they all felt stronger. Dan could feel it around him, the energy around them was fed by fear, excitement and determination. Trillion showed them a new small technique for controlling their powers by working together. It involved touch anddeep concentration while working. They had not quite gotten the hang of it but Trillion had promised that after his business he would be training all of them regularly to use their abilities to the full.
"The time is close, it is the darkest hour. I can feel it. Good luck to all of you," he said."I'll see you soon."
"Good luck to you too, Trillion, and thanks you for bringing us together," said Dan.
"Where are you going?" Asked Mary.
"There is a convening of rebels at a secret location. preparation for the war that is coming."
They watched with trepidation as their mentor and protector left. Dan felt a chill run up his spine. Things now rested upon his shoulders to lead them. 
They were going to one of the major portals opened by the redshifters. It was revealed to him by the old blueshifter who went by the name Leonard, who had since lost his abilites through some tough, pitched battles. He'd met with the old man several times to talk and learn secrets since his return to the waterfront. 
Leonard once had powerful abilities when he was young, a stout fighter against the redshifters and as a result he'd sustained massive injuries and lost much of his powers because of this. He'd had reconstructive surgery and even had his fingerprints removed. He'd moved from state to state, even livingout of the country for a while to hide from the redshifters after dealing them a terrible blow as a resistance fighter in WWII. According to Leonard they had engineered the second world war just as they had engineered the first one.
He'd gone into hiding and had remained in hiding for the past twenty years. Leonard told him to come and bring his team. he a gift for all of them. "A passing on of the baton, so to speak, son," he'd said. Though he no longer fought, he remained vigilant and close to the fight,  observing while hidden.
When they'd reached Taylor Street and Third Avenue downtown Dan led them to a very old brick apartment building. It was four stories high made of brick and stone. it was a vestige of Portlan'd early days. but it was also rundown and in serious need of repairs. In fact form the outside it contrasted so much with much fo the rest of the buildings on the street that it looekd condemned. The other two gave him doubtful looks as if they had thought he led them to the wrong place.
"This is it, guys. trust me," he said. It was  a lock-out with an old telephone style call box. Dan pushed the numbers: 101.
"Looks like it came rihgt out of a 19th century dunghole." murmurred Mary, wrinkling her nose.
"Come on,  guys. Don't tell me a creaky old building is going to scare you off." The answer box crackled and buzzed with static.
"Yes?" Came a voice. 
"It's Dan." After some seconds that felt like minutes they were buzzed inside. Dan knew that though they couldn't be seen, there were cameras stationed at the front doorstep. There was a watcher who knew everyone coming and going from the building and fed this information to Leonard when it was necessary for him to know. The hallway was dark, and smelled of caked grease, years of tobacco smoke, urine, mice and mold. It had the heavy dank scent  that had become part of the  archetecture of the building itself. It was doubtful it would  ever come out. Dan marveled that it still stood where it did. They followed Dan all the way down the long hallway. At the eastern end, the opposite side, there was a door leading to the basement of the building and to the other side seven steps down. Here, there was one apartment unit with a red door. On the door it said: 101.
"Mr. Bing, he calls himself," whispered Dan. They heard a small dog bark briefly behind the door as he knocked softly. Then it was quiet for some minutes. So quiet that the entire building seemed abandoned. As if to dispute his very thoughts, a door opened and shut, the floorboards of the second floor  creaked and whined as they heard someone make their way down the hall above them. Finally the door to unit 101 opened. There was an old man with a balding head, thick white tufts of hair bristling out on both sides, no mustache and a bit of a beard. Dan thought he looked rather comical without his plaid hat.
"Come in. I sense your friends are much like you, Dan. I no longer possess them but I can still sense it in others. Beneficent and malicious." He guided them inside and locked the door.
The apartment was very small, spare and rundown but swept clean and the air had a slight fresh pine smell. The living space and the kitchen were essentially one room. The walls were cracked as if disheveled in an earthquake. The furniture was clean but threadbare. The little dog, a black Scottish terrier, sniffed at Mary and Jack, ignoring Dan, and satisfied that neither of them were a danger to him or his master, went to his little basket and tufted down the blankets. After having finally arranging them how he wanted, he plopped down and promptly dozed off.
"You said you had something important to show us."
"Right," said the old man.
"Sit down and relax at the table, if you want. Want some tea?" He asked. 
"No coffee?"Asked Jack. mary frowned at Jack.
"Sorry, kid. Coffee gives me the jitters." They all shook their heads. 
"Then I'll be right back." The man disappeared from the living room towards a closet door. Mary sat down at the little wooden table first. One of the legs was held up by sevreal folded newspapers.  A daddy-long-legs skittered across the kitchen floor. She folded her hands together looking about the place. she carefully placed her hands on the table and closed ehr eyes. Jack leaned agianst the wall and Dan sat down across from Mary. He reached out his hand to her and then to Jack. They all touched hands as they had been taught by Trillion; tapping into each other's powers , and in Mary's case, fleeting thoughts and feelings. It seemed to Dan that they could almost reach that pinnacle of zen where everything was warm light and energy flowing from and through each of them, but they needed a lot of practice so that this particular technique, which could be extremely powerful, could go smoothly. They had to work hard to tap into the weakest level of ability in each of them. Dan was looking forward to those lessons from Trillion. The man finally came back with a large cloth sack and  carefully placeed it on the table.
"These here are what I told you about," He nodded to Dan. Then he looked steadily at the other two. 
"These are special obects found near wormholes or were attached in some way to wormholes. Some objects such as these actually come from other places in the universe and have made their way to this world through. The history of those weird and wonderful objects remains unexplained. I have none of those. Mine are more mundane. This is a secret world of collectors and practitioners of enhanced abilites. Those of us who know of the portals often hunt for and find these things to collect and in some instances, trade. In other instances, people are killed for them. It's a dangerous business to possess them. These objects can even give one who is not gifted with abilites, power. They have residual energy in them if you know how to wield them, know their history when it comes to energy fluctuaions. What I have is only a mere fraction of what's out there. If the wrong person gets ahold of them, it can spell trouble."
"Objects empowered by coming through or being attached to wormholes and the energy fluctuations surrounding them?" Said Mary in hushed tones. Leonard nodded.
" People kill for them. This is an obscure, cult-like group. To wield them is dangerous for it is Nature you are dealing with. As unpredictable and controllable as the weather. Use them carefully."
"What makes them special besides that?" Asked Jack  The man opened the bag and poured its contents out and spread them about.
"On their own, unless they are truly alien artifacts, some are, they're noting special at all. It could be a pen, a cellphone, a Swiss army knife, a toaster a doll or a keychain. Anything mundane, to be honest. The proximity to these special alien made wormholes where they have opened up doorways and have affected the surroundings is what makes them special and powerful. They are imbued with cosmic energy. Take this knife, for example. When I was young I had the ability to  levitate myself or other objects around me. If you know how to use that energy it can enhance your powers,  whatever they may be."
"What a find!" Exclaimed Jack. Dan found the very idea of alien-made artifacts finding their way to Earth's black markets tantalizing. he was sure Jack did too. Jack was staring intently at Leonard, his eyes glittering with surprise. The old man sat down.
"Of course, the most powerful among the adepts, human or alien, can use the touch of other living beings as a way of extending their own abilities but that takes some time to hone. I saw you guys at the begiinnings of it, just now. It's good to see young people carrying on this fight. I  was robbed of my powers," he said sadly. The little dog gruffed softly behind them and shifted around in his bed. His ears were laying back on his head, however.
"Sammi's telling us there's something afoot."
"I would think it's very useful to have a pet around. Sort of like a familiar but without magic," said Mary. The man nodded. He motioned toward the objects spread out on the table.
"Please, each of you take one and I'll show you the passageway to the wormhole hidden beneath this place." Jack  took the knife, Mary the keychain and Dan took the pen. 
"Are we ready to go?" Dan asked his teammates.
"Yes," they both replied. The man grunted in approval, went to his call box and punched a few numbers, then listened as it rang. The bell sounded mor elike a loud, drunk buzzing bee.
"Adepts are coming down the doorway, Jackson."
"Right," said a voice through the speaker. leonard turned to Dan.
"Once last thing. You may think that Shafer Point is where you should be looking, but the real prize is right underneath this building. Good luck to you."
Dan led his team down through the basement door where they found another old man, a black man, sitting in a chair by the wall. He nodded to them and they nodded back. Dan hadn't seen him here before. It seemed as if he'd appeared out of the woodwork. Dan could feel the danger boiling and cooking around him in the air, unseen but felt he was sure by the others too. He could taste its bitter tang and it excited him. This was a hidden place the redshifters had built and had once moved in and out of frequently.
"You're the ones?" He asked. Dan nodded. The man lifted an arm. The basement passageway was narrow and very dim and as it continued to slope downward. What lay beyond was the unknown. When the man lifted and pointed his arm toward the direction they should go, the passagway seemed to suddenly grow longer, stretching out into darkness.
"Down there lies the doorway," the man said gravely.
"And how do we get back?" Asked Jack.
"The same way you came," said the man.
"Thank you," said Dan "Come on, guys. We've got work to do."

. . .

They had reached the edge, a vast, swirling of energy where they could see shifting views of different places in space, as if they were looking into a moving window of the cosmos. Its beauty was terrifying. This was far bigger and more powerful than the one he had encountered in the railyard. They felt the boiling energy shifting the air currents and the fabric bits of time around them. An abyss into space. Dan turned and looked at them and held his object tightly in hand. The other two did the same.  And then they held hands and walked through the portal.