One Way Ticket To Talenthar – Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Ludger stood there, mouth agape, looking at the scorched landscape surrounding him. It quickly dawned on him that he was no longer on earth. He recognized the countryside from the previous night’s dreams.

Over the horizon, in the east, two suns were rising. One was about normal sized and yellow, like it should. Down a way to its left was a small reddish one. It reminded Ludger of the hour hand on a clock. According to it, it was slightly past 09:00. The temperature was fairly cool.

Behind him was a large crater about a mile in diameter. It was filled with thick fog. In there, supposedly rested his house in an alternate reality. He was standing on the upturned rim of the crater. From this higher vantage point he could see, to the west, in the distance, an ominous looking chain of massive black mountains. To the north more mountains seemed to shift in a haze, as if a large body of water was present in its midst.

To the northeast stood tall snowy mountain peaks. Due south of him, on the horizon, he could discern hints of a dense forest on rolling hills. East of those hills he could occasionally catch the glimmer of the suns reflected on a large body of water.

Around the crater, stretching as far as the eye could see, was a desert. Escarpments of cracked blackened rocks protruded from its dark sandy surface. It was as if a mighty war had been waged and forces of cosmic proportions had devastated the area. It reminded Ludger of pictures he had seen of nuclear test sites, after an explosion.

For some reason he was strangely attracted to the area, in the southeast, where he had glimpsed the suns’ reflection in the water. Something was beckoning him.

Ludger decided that before exploring this new world, he should equip himself properly. As he was giving a last look at the panorama spread around him, he heard a sudden noise coming from above.

He looked up and saw four, greenish, winged, lizard-like flying creatures, circling high above him. They were making chuckling noises. One was looking straight at him.

Suddenly, that creature folded its wings and dove, mouth wide open, straight for Ludger. It let out and ear splitting unearthly scream.
Ludger had his eyes riveted to the toothed gap of the mouth. He finally realized that he had to do something to escape the creature’s attack. He shook up his stupor and dove back into the mist.

Instantly the screams of the creature were silenced, as Ludger rolled back in the sand.

“Glad to see you back.” Said the Guardian.

Startled, Ludger said. “Oh…, it’s you!!!”

“Who else did you think it could be?”

“Well…, a green, screaming, flying lizard.”

“Humph…, sorry to disappoint you. Are you well, Sir? You seem somewhat disturbed.”

Getting back to his feet Ludger replied.

“It’s ok. I have to get used to this new world. I’m going back home to equip myself properly to explore this fun place.”

“As you wish.” Responded the voice.

“Which way?”

“Any way you wish. Ahead as usual, Sir?”

Ludger walked out of the mist, back into his own reality. As soon as he appeared, Bacchus ran toward him shaking her stubby tail and yelping. She jumped and put her front paws on his shoulders. She licked him all over the face. He hugged her and said.

“Am I glad to see you. You won’t believe where I have been. You won’t believe, either, where we are going hunting. They have strange lizards that you are going to love.”

He realized that his sweat suit and his hands were covered in sand and dried blood. He continued.

“But first I’ve got to clean myself up and pack for the trip. Come….”

Ludger walked back to the house. He went in, with Bacchus following him. He went straight upstairs, to his suite, and quickly undressed. In the washroom, he put his head over the sink. He poured on his cuts and bumps some hydrogen peroxide that he had taken from the medicine cabinet. It immediately started foaming.

He took a quick shower, washing the blood caked in his hair. After he dried himself, he put on a rugged set of kaki battle fatigues and a sturdy pair of hiking boots. He packed a duffel bag with some spare clothes and took his hiking vest from the closet.

In the kitchen he put his bag on the counter. He packed a large, sturdy, cooler full of food for himself and the dog. He also filled two large collapsible jugs, full of water. He carried his supplies to the garage.

Ludger walked into his office. He finally notice that the generator was silent. Somehow, the Guardian was providing his house with water and electricity. He went to the workshop, by his office, and took a few leather-cased instruments from the bench.

In his other workshop, behind the garage, he opened his supply room. He rummaged around and chose some lightweight camping and survival equipment. He also took a large pair of rubber armoured binoculars. He laid everything out on a large table. He went to a thick steel door, set in the back wall. He punched in the security code on the keypad, in its frame.

Ludger unlocked the heavy door and slowly walked in his armoury. He let his eyes roam over the firearms lining the walls, while he was making his mind about what he needed.

A smile crept on his face. He was thinking that if he was here, his partner -Tony- who did not like guns, would have been glad that Ludger was a competitive shooter, a licensed gunsmith and an avid collector of firearms and military paraphernalia.

He went to one of the racks and chose a Heckler und Koch G3 rifle in 7.62 NATO calibre. It was equipped with a small, low power, telescopic sight with an illuminated reticle. He opened a wide drawer and took out an Ingram MAC 10 in 45 calibre, fitted with a Sionic sound suppressor. This compact submachine gun could come in handy.

Ludger put both guns on the storage unit in the middle of the room. He then opened its doors. He chose a UM-84 holster and buckled it around his waist, and tied it around his leg. He then clipped an inside-the-pants holster to his belt, in the small of his back. He walked back to the wall and took a Glock 21 in 45 ACP. This fairly compact, resin framed, high powered handgun with its 12 rounds capacity, would make a nice backup. He then looked for his favourite competition handgun. A compensated Combat Commander built on a Para-Ordnance 14 round frame. He found it on the cleaning table.

As he was carrying his small arsenal out of the room, he remembered the flying lizards. He grabbed his old Winchester 1200, 12 gauge shotgun. It was outfitted with a pistol grip stock and an eleven shells magazine extension. He put his guns with the rest of his supplies. He went back into the armoury.

Ludger selected, from a shelf, different metal ammunition boxes full of loaded magazines for his chosen firearms. He carried the heavy cans to the other room. He then loaded all of the guns. He put his comp gun, loaded in condition one, in his hip holster. The Glock was placed in the holster at the small of his back. He locked the door to the armoury and went into the garage to prepare his off-road truck.

It was another Suzuki Samurai. This one was a long body version outfitted for off-road work. It was equipped with special tires, electric winches back and front, search lights, and numerous other modifications. He first removed the soft top, folded it and stored it in a protective bag, that he stowed in the back.

Ludger made sure that the main and auxiliary gas tanks were full. He checked the other fluid levels and the air pressure in the tires. He then loaded his supplies in the back. He put the MAC 10 between the front seats. The G3 and the shotgun were held vertically, by a bracket, beside the driver’s seat, near the dashboard.

Finally, Ludger put on his hiking vest. He called.

“Come on, Bacchus. I’m ready to go.”

The tall, grey dog came running from the kitchen. She swiftly jumped in the back of the truck. Ludger made sure that the doors were closed properly. He climbed in the driver’s seat and keyed in the remote garage door opener. He started the engine and backed out. He fetched the other truck, that was parked in front of the house, and drove it into the garage. On his way out he keyed the security system, closed the garage door, and slowly walked to the idling truck.

He sat beside Bacchus, sighed and said.

“Here we go. Hang on.”

He started toward the mist.

As he approached the wall of fog, Bacchus started to yelp nervously. He looked at her and said.

“I know…, I feel exactly the same.”

When the truck touched the wall of fog, it started to shimmer. Ludger was back in the plain.

*

As soon a they exited the mist, Ludger stopped the vehicle. He stood on the front seat and had a good look all around. There was no signs of the flying lizards. He noticed that the suns were higher in the sky. The small red sun was now up and to the left of the larger yellow one. He mumbled to himself.

“I’ll be damned, a world where on does not need a clock during the day.”

He wondered if at night he would find a moon orbited by a smaller one to completed the celestial clock of the suns.

He grabbed one of the instruments that he had taken from his bench. He opened the leather case and took a reading. He let out a sigh of relief.

“Good, no radioactivity.”

Since he still felt drawn toward the southeast, he decided that it was as good an area to start exploring as any. He sat down and started driving.

*

After no more than 15 minutes, Bacchus started to growl and bark, in the back. Ludger turned and saw two of the flying lizards diving for him. He jumped on the brakes, stopping the truck. He grabbed the shotgun.

He had time to fire two shots. The first creature took a centre hit and plummeted to the ground, lifeless. The second one got winged. It fell in the back of the truck, knocking Ludger down.

His shotgun had become entangled with the lizard. He could not operate the pump. The creature suddenly lunged at him. Ludger grabbed the 45 at his hip, drew it out of the holster and thumbed the safety. Before he could bring the gun aligned with his intended target, he heard a powerful growl as Bacchus jumped on the back of the creature. Her powerful jaws were wide open. She sank her sharp teeth in the lizard’s neck.

The creature roared in agony and reared on its hind legs. Both the lizard and the dog rolled out of the back of the truck. Bacchus never let go of her grip of the creature’s neck. She struggled back to her feet. With one mighty jerk of her head, she snapped the hideous creature’s neck.

She let go of her spoil and sniffed at the dead creature. After a few snorts, she trotted toward Ludger as if pleased with herself.
Ludger was stunned. He was sitting with his handgun hanging limp in his right hand. He finally came back to reality. He slowly holstered his gun. He patted Bacchus on the head and said.

“Thanks pal. Without you I would be missing a good chunk of me shoulder.”

Ludger got out of the vehicle. He closely examined the grisly remains of his attackers. They looked like large, dog sized, greyish-green lizards, with thin membranous wings. At the front of the wings three long digits terminated by 6 inches claws hung limply. Their wide set small eyes were lidless and were black as coals. A wide mouth with an impressive armament of sharp looking triangular teeth finished that picture of an efficient killer.

Ludger wanted to examine the creatures in more details, later, at his own leisure. He threw the smelly carcasses on the metal rack, perched on the bonnet of the small truck. He grabbed a canteen of water and poured some on his hands to clean them. He then took a long swallow from it. He took a shallow bowl from his supplies and poured some water in it. He put the bowl on the ground for Bacchus. She happily lapped it up.

He reloaded his shotgun with fresh shells and put it back in its rack. He called his dog.

“Come on, drink up. We’re getting under way again.”

The dog effortlessly jumped in the back, holding her bowl in her jaws. Ludger put the truck in gear and eased forward into the unknown.

*

After many hours of driving through an unchanging, dreary desert plain, the landscape slowly changed. Wide based, rolling hillocks, just as scarred as the plain, were now appearing in front of the truck.

Ludger drove to the top of the highest of the rounded hills to take in the layout of the region. He parked the Samurai and decided to take a lunch break, first. He rummaged through the cooler. He put some ground meat on a plate for Bacchus. He made himself a sandwich with some assorted cold cuts. He poured himself some coffee from a tall thermal bottle and sat back trying to relax.

He wondered what was happening to him. Why was he lost in a strange world? Hopefully he would find some answers when he reached wherever he was being drawn to. Strangely he had adapted fairly well to the idea that he was on another world. He thought that subconsciously he had wished to escaped his daily drudgery, since the divorce, and this was the perfect opportunity. He laughed aloud and said to himself.

“An analyst would have a field day on me, now. I am glad that I don’t believe in all that B.S..”

He put away the food and gave some water to the dog. He climbed to the padded rollbar. He grabbed the binoculars and put them up to his eyes.

Through the magnifying instrument Ludger could see, on the horizon toward the southeast, the outline of a large city. A large fissure in the ground started a few miles northeast of were he stood. It widened and deepened toward the south with its end lost in some swampland that laid between him and the city. The fissure laid in his path to the city.

On the other side of the fissure, toward the east, was a muddy trickle of a river. On the far shore laid some dried farmland covered with a sprinkling of snow.

In the south, there was a large body of water. West of there, was the edge of a forest of gigantic trees. Ludger decided to drive north to bypass the fissure. He would then follow the river south toward the city.

*

As Ludger neared the edge of the fissure, the temperature sharply rose. He stopped by the outcrop of rocks where the crevice started. He got out of the truck. He looked at the mouth of an underground pit. A reddish glow was seen deep inside. Strange moaning sounds emanated from the pit. Ludger thought that the sounds were probably due to some sort of volcanic activity. Yellow sulphurous smoke confirmed that thought. Bacchus was nervous and pacing back and forth beside him.

They went back to the truck. Ludger drove to the bank of the river. At one point it must have been a mighty river at least half a mile wide. Now it was a weak muddy stream only a few yards wide. It lazily flowed south in the dried up river bed.

Ludger could feel some kind of strange power emanating from the river. He could not describe the sensation and soon forgot about it. It was probably only the anxiety of being in a strange land with no explanation for it, that was coming to the surface.

He followed the dry river bed toward the south. As he was travelling further away from the fissure, who was angling west, the temperature was dropping rapidly. After driving all afternoon over the bumpy ground, he decided to take a break, as he crested a small hill.

He put on a heavy woollen sweater, under his vest, to ward off the chill that was slowly creeping through his bones. The temperature was getting downright cold as the suns were nearing the horizon in the west.

Through his binoculars, Ludger observed, a few miles away, a gigantic rectangular block of blackened rock. It looked like a monolithic bunker, in a marshy area by the river, surrounded by burned down distorted trees. Ludger was fascinated by the structure. It was as if the strange force compelling him to travel south, was emanating from it.

Ludger quickly drove to the edge of the marshy area. He soon found a muddy path leading to the rock. He carefully proceeded forward, making sure he did not get bogged down in the quagmire. A large portal was cut into one of the narrow ends of the monumental rectangular rock. Ludger parked the Suzuki near it, on firmer, drier grounds. He turned toward Bacchus and said.

“You stay, while I go have a look over there.”

He grabbed the MAC 10 from the floor, between the seats, and exited the Samurai. He carefully walked to the monolith, making sure that nobody was around. He felt like he had found what he was looking for. But he was not sure of what to do with it. The suns were setting over the horizon in a symphony of colours.

Ludger relaxed slightly. He studied the towering doorway. It was simply carved out of the rock. A massive stone door blocked the opening. As he approached it, the door silently swung open on its hinges.

A tall, gaunt, elderly man, dressed like a butler, stood in the opening ramrod straight. He said in a mellow elegant voice.

“Good evening Mr. Morton, Sir. We were expecting you. Would you please come in.”

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From 1990: One Way Ticket To Talenthar

The Sass