Prologue

Prologue

What do you think of when you hear the words another world? Floating islands? Rainbow-colored skies? Maybe triple moons?

It’s supposed to be a world different from our own. In other words, you expect something that makes it clear that this other world is a different place. Otherwise, you can’t be sure that it isn’t the world you grew up in. That’s what we’re used to encountering in fiction: places that are obviously different, with characteristics that mark them out immediately.

However...

“Welcome to the other world,” I said with a smile to our U.S. soldiers as they got off the elevator.

The commander saluted. “Emergency Duty Unit Burrows reporting, sir, one hundred and seven men, of the Fourth Marine Regiment, Third Marine Division, Third Marine Expeditionary Force.” The hundred-odd soldiers behind him likewise saluted. They were all attempting to maintain neutral expressions—every good soldier knew to keep personal chatter and even emotions to a minimum during an operation—but it was clear how uneasy most of them felt. I knew because we’d felt the same way when we arrived.

It was night now, a curtain of blackness upon the hill where the hyperspace tunnel let out. A few bonfires were burning, but they were far too weak to banish the darkness entirely, and what’s more, it was a cloudy night, depriving us of even the light of the moon and stars. The ridges of the mountains were visible as dark shapes in the distance, but that was the only really notable thing in the area. From up on this hill, there was nothing to draw the eye. The grass around our feet wasn’t even an unusual color or anything.

Thus, the soldiers’ first thought about the other world was presumably: Is this it? From the American perspective, someplace like Africa or East Asia, with their distinctive weather and cultural practices, probably seemed more alien than this place.

But it didn’t matter. “First, have everyone put these on,” I said, handing a case to a subordinate. “It doesn’t matter which finger. Then we’ll talk.”

The case contained a collection of rings, one for each person. They were made of metal and covered with complicated engravings, but there were no moving parts; to all appearances, they were inert jewelry. But they were magical.

The soldiers hesitated for an instant; they didn’t know anything about these rings. But this was the Marine Corps, and they weren’t known for being intimidated by some accessories. Each silently slid the ring onto a finger.

“You there. Get out of the way. We’re going to close the lid.” Some men appeared from the shadow of the tower from which the elevator was suspended. (To our surprise, the tower on this side was made of wood.) The men were dressed in light armor and carried swords at their hips and spears in their hands. They looked roughly medieval.

The newly arrived Marines caught their collective breath, but it wasn’t because of the men’s outfits. They were surprised because, although these soldiers of the Holy Eldant Empire could clearly be heard to be speaking an unfamiliar language, the words were being translated into English in the men’s minds.

“Sir...” the commander said.

“It’s magic, or so I hear,” I replied. “Something like a universal translator.”

“Magic,” the commander mumbled, furrowing his brow. I didn’t blame him. “Are they wizards, then?”

“No. The rings are magical.” I watched the Eldant soldiers as they came closer. They kept an eye on the elevator that connected our world with this one. Something like border guards, you might say, making this roughly equivalent to an immigration checkpoint. It was possible that some among their number could use magic, but they didn’t look any different from the others.

“I see... So we really are in another world,” the commander said, probably voicing what was on the minds of all his men.

Magic. Yes, magic. A technological system that didn’t exist in our own world. Something that could produce an item that fits on your finger which could automatically translate anything anyone was saying, regardless of the source or target languages. It wasn’t flashy, but it got the point across. I couldn’t imagine how it worked, but... well, that was what made it magic.

“Get moving. Lid’s coming down.” The Eldant soldiers sounded a little more emphatic this time. Behind them, a massive cover was suspended from another tower. It was a single, semi-translucent convex panel. I didn’t know how they had built it, but I guess that was something else the technology here could do. Or maybe that was magic, too.

“Let’s get moving. We don’t want to upset them,” I said to the regiment.

The Eldant Empire didn’t seem to have an especially favorable view of the American military—not of the Marine Corps, and not of me and my bodyguards, who had been admitted as special envoys. Then again, it wasn’t that shocking. We were used to this sort of reception when we arrived as peacekeepers.

The commander nodded, and the men began to march away from the hyperspace tunnel, away from the hole in the ground. The Eldant soldiers immediately started operating the crane attached to their tower. It lowered the cover, on chains, onto the hole with an awful racket.

As I watched the cover come down, I nodded discreetly to the commander. He nodded back, and patted one of the Marines beside him on the shoulder. The big man pulled an M9A1 pistol from his leg holster and released the safety all in a single flowing motion. Then he put it back in its holster—and pulled the trigger.

The gunshot echoed across the hilltop, followed by a muffled scream.

“Wh—What the hell?!” The Eldant soldiers turned to us, startled. Several more came running over.

“This man’s gun exploded! Somebody help him! We don’t have any medical equipment with us!” I shouted, pointing to the Marine, who was holding his leg and writhing on the ground.

The Eldant soldiers looked at each other in confusion for a moment, possibly not understanding what it meant for a gun to explode. As incredible as the magical translation devices were, they faltered if the person you were talking to didn’t have a word in their language for whatever you had said.

They might not have understood the words, but they certainly understood the soldier groaning and bleeding on the ground, and they couldn’t just leave him. The Eldant soldiers suspended the work of lowering the cover, several more coming over to us. The remainder headed for the guardhouse, presumably to get first aid supplies.

“Thank god!” I said, smiling at them. It was a real help to us. They were so hospitable.

The Eldant soldiers surrounded the wounded Marine, while the other Marines surrounded them. A human wall, if you will. And because so many of the Marines were quite large, the Eldant guards couldn’t see what was on the other side of that wall.

I delicately extricated myself from the circle of Marines and looked over toward the portal. The cover was still about a meter off the ground. And I could see figures slithering through the gap, crawling on the ground like lizards. They wore dark camo to help them blend in with the night, and they hadn’t come in via the elevator like the Marines. They had rappelled across the divide using ropes hung between the two worlds. CIA agents. I’d left some cloth pouches on the ground for them, containing magical rings (which I’d obtained, let’s say, unofficially) and clothing like the locals wore. The agents silently picked up the bags and just as silently made their way away from the portal. Perfect. The Eldant troops never noticed them.

“The wound is worse than we thought,” one of the Eldant soldiers said, coming up to me at length. “We’re only equipped for basic treatment here. This man needs to see the doctor in town.”

“Right, of course. Thank you, I’ll make sure he does.” I nodded and smiled. The wounded Marine was able to start walking away leaning on one of his comrades. Nearby, a horse-drawn carriage (well, in this world they were pulled by giant birds) furnished by the Eldant Empire was waiting for us. We just had to load the Marine in and head for the temporary barracks, and tonight’s operation would be complete.

The commander and I exchanged another nod. Everything had gone perfectly. The Eldant soldiers went back to lowering the lid. The two of us had to fight to keep from smiling.