Halcyon Days - Prologue

   It was a cold, clear night, the only light sources being a few stars beginning to appear in the sky and a thin crescent moon rising in the northwest. The country road was clear and empty, the occasional deer moving across seeking one last meal before heading back into the seclusion of nearby woods. The only sound to be heard for miles was the occasional chirp of a cricket or the buzzing of cicadas in the distance.

   That silence was shattered as an old black van made its way down the road, turning off into a nearby bypass. It made its way towards a large warehouse and slowly halted in front of it. The doors open, and two well-dressed men stepped out from the front seats. They swept over the landscape silently, and then looked to one another – the driver nodded, and the man who had occupied the passenger seat moved to the rear door and opened it.

   "We're clear, Mr. Canmore."

   A sour expression on his face, Jackson Canmore emerged from the van and looked out over the landscape. A thirty-something man with steely-grey eyes, his expression was sour and bitter – he wasn't eager to be here any longer than he needed to. "It's about time. We're lucky it hasn't woken up yet." He jerked a thumb towards something in the seat behind him and barked, "Take it and follow me inside."

   His associate complied and reached into the van and carefully removing a large object with a blanket draped over it. Holding the item in both hands, the man followed Canmore and the driver towards the warehouse. Waiting for them at the door was a keypad – the driver quickly keyed in the needed combination, and the door slid open before them.

   Waiting inside was a fair sized, well-lit laboratory, a number of lab coat-clad scientists working on one project or another. Their supervisor, a short-haired man with thin-rimmed glasses, looked up from his subordinate and tried to give his warmest greeting. "Mr. Canmore! This is unexpected – we're right in the middle of closing up, sir, we weren't…"

   "Skip the pleasantries, Donlin. Is it ready?"

   "Oh yes, of course – please, follow me." Donlin led the three men down a corridor, growing excited with each moment and totally ignorant of the cargo one of his employer's men carried. "I was amazed by those plans you sent, by the way – amazing technology. I'm not even sure how it works. Still, we had all the needed parts and programming, we had a more than adequate power supply, and I was more than eager to put it together and see if it actually did work. I don't understand why you wanted it out of the way, however – it's not as if this could explode…"

   "I value my privacy. Now, where is it?"

   "Just a little further, sir, these are standard precautions we had put in." They halted before a solid metal door, areas in nearby walls suggesting that it was meant to slide down into the ground, and following a swipe of Donlin's security card, waited as a second door slid up behind them. "We don't want a repeat of what happened to Jeff Goldblum, now do we?" He gave a nervous chuckle, which received no response. "Not big on movies, huh?"

   The driver shrugged. "I liked the original with Vincent Price better. Much less gory."

   "Yes, well, we're trying to avoid either scenario." The door before them then slid open, allowing them access. The four stepped forward, and Donlin raised his arms dramatically towards the project. "Behold – the fruit of our labor!"

   Separated from them by a transparent Plexiglas hatch was a second room, its floor and walls covered in steel and bright lights in place in its ceiling. Standing against the far wall was a pair of off-white bell-shaped devices, placed roughly five yards apart and large enough to hold an average-sized person, semi-transparent hatches visible on the sides facing them. A third room was at their immediate right, numerous computer consoles and status monitors visible inside and separated from both by a Plexiglas hatch labeled 'Control Room' in bold black lettering.

   "Actual teleportation devices – I never thought I'd see them in my lifetime." Donlin spoke of them in awe. "They work by scanning and recording the contents of one pod, say a box or a ball, then disintegrating the object as it is recreated in the second one. The scanners even allow us to determine the exact contents of the pod before transmission – if anything anomalous is found in the pod, the process is shut down and the anomaly can be safely removed before transport."
"Have you tested them yet?"

   The scientist looked at his employer in surprise. "We just finished installing the software today – we haven't even tried to transport anything."

   A cruel smile crossed Canmore's lips. "Then we need to change that. Wallace?"

   The driver reached under his jacket and pulled out a pistol, taking Donlin by surprise and pushing him against a wall.

   "Hey, let go! What's going-?"

   The scientist was interrupted as the object carried in the arms of Canmore's second subordinate started crying. "Mr. Canmore, she's…"

   "I know – give it more sedative. It shouldn't need much, Duff." Canmore turned his attention to Donlin and asked, "Now, doctor, if you'll be kind enough to open that door."

   The scientist's eyes went from the cargo to the pistol. He gulped, cowardice winning out, and then used his card to open the control room door behind him. "The controls for the door leading into the testing bay are right here." Canmore and Wallace followed him in, the door sliding shut behind them. A few keystrokes, and the second door opened, Duff carrying the crying object into the bay. A few more keystrokes, and the hatches opened slowly on the two teleportation units.

   As his minion carefully scooped his cargo from its carrier, Canmore gave a satisfied grin. "Consider yourself fortunate, Mr. Donlin – you're about to watch your first test."

   Held in the man's arms was a baby, barely a year old and loudly wailing at the top of her lungs. He quickly laid the baby out in the pod, and then pulled a small bottle from his coat. A few drops of a milky white liquid made their way into the infant's mouth, and the child slowly went silent. Assured that the baby was asleep, he stepped away, the carrier going with him, and the device's hatch closed softly behind him.

   "Mr. Canmore, do you know what you're doing? We haven't tested this, we don't know if it will even work!"

   "What makes you think I expect it to work?" His second subordinate joining them in the control room. "Turn it on."

   Visibly intimidated, Donlin did as told, a few keystrokes starting the pods' activation sequence. Monitors came alive as the device's built-in scanners swept over the contents, one screen labeled 'Pod 2' coming up blank while the other, labeled 'Pod 1', displayed the familiar double helix of DNA. Additional information came up below, prompting the scientist to note, "Anomalies present? What sort of…?" Feeling the tip of the pistol's barrel against his head, he returned to his work. "Right – not important." He prompted the computer to continue the procedure. "Teleportation in three…two…one!"

   A bright flash of light flashed out from the two pods, prompting the four men to cover their eyes. The light faded, and as he and his men attempted to recover, Canmore blinked. "Did it work?"

   Before Donlin could answer, the steel door that allowed them passage rose up. The scientist dropped to the floor while Canmore and Duff felt under their jackets for their weapons, Wallace pointing his pistol forward and hoping that his vision would recover.

   His hopes went unanswered – kneeling down at the other side of the door was a well-armed man in full body armor, an automatic rifle in his hands and four other pairs of legs beside him. Taking notice of the armed men, the soldier opened fire, automatic rounds shattering the glass door and striking the three hard. Canmore cried out in pain, then reached over and pressed hard upon the wound on his left arm – his two subordinates fell to the ground dead.

   His vision finally recovering, Canmore raised his left hand to fire back, only to find himself slammed hard onto the window. A vice-like grip locked down on his wrist, and his gun was taken away. He looked upon his attacker and growled. "You!"

   Holding him firm against the glass was a woman of forty-five, her long brown hair tied back in a ponytail and her blue eyes vivid with rage. She pressed into his chest, teeth bared. "What did you do to her? Tell me, now!"

   Out of the corner of the woman's eye, she noticed the hatches on the two teleportation devices open, thick clouds of mist escaping with a clear hiss. Releasing her grip on Canmore, the woman reached down and yanked Donlin's card from his neck, then rushed through the doors to check the pods, panic in her eyes. As two soldiers aimed their weapons at Canmore and Donlin, two more watched her as she looked through one pod. "Dr. Masters?"

   A baby's wail echoed out from the second pod, and the woman looked inside. Her face brightened immediately, and she reached down and plucked up the crying infant, her mouth splitting into a smile and tears beginning to form at the corners of her eyes. "She's alright!" In response to the baby's cries, she gently rocked the infant in her arms and cooed softly. "Shh…shh…Alex, it's okay, it's alright…Grandma's here…"

   While Canmore was dragged out by one soldier to the first security hatch, Donlin carried off behind him by another, Elizabeth Masters smiled as she cradled her granddaughter in her arms, the infant's cries fading and her brown eyes opening wide as she looked upon her grandmother. The baby laughed, pacified, while Elizabeth called to the soldiers over the sounds of the sliding doors. "She's alright. Crowley, call in – mission successful, objective retrieved safely. I want a pediatrician for Alex, and for someone to examine these things before we leave." Tears running down her face, she looked down at the infant. "You look okay, but I'm not taking any chances."

   Relief on her face and a baby in her arms, the older woman strode towards the door, gently rocking the child as she waited for her chance to leave. The nightmare was over.