A Hellish Twist

[WP] Your military experiment accidentally tears a portal open to Hell. However, instead of the demon hordes pouring through, you discover that they are frantically trying to close the portal from their side.

*****

The scientists sat down at the table for the hearing. Though their work had been done under a military committee earmark, the ramifications had led Congress to call a special committee, so the lead researcher realized he didn't recognize half the members of the panel.

After the mandatory introductions and swearing-in, the chair of the committee directed his first question to the lead researcher. "Well, Dr. Maro... this experiment seems to have had an odd outcome... care to enlighten the panel as to the events in your words, starting with what the experiment was supposed to achieve?"

Dr. Maro nodded. "Certainly. Our project initially was initially focused on developing a new form of propulsion. It's a design based on the hypothetical Alcubier Drive - warping space in front and pushing it behind both to propel the ship and shorten the distance traveled. We were modifying the theory for use within atmospheric conditions."

The chair nodded. "So... what happened on the day of the incident?"

"We were working out on a field test of our prototype, just to see if the effect could be sustained in normal aerial conditions - we'd tested it in isolation labs before, but we wanted to judge its actual propulsion potential and see what effect it had outside the vehicle. We loaded it into a drone and elevated it just above the ground using conventional helicopter rotors, before turning the device on to see how it affected motion. For 6.25 seconds, it seemed to work normally; however, it then hit something invisible in the air."

"What did it hit, exactly?" said another senator. "I mean, we know what it turned out to be, but what EXACTLY was it?"

Dr. Maro nodded, understanding the question. "Well... scientifically we're not one hundred percent sure what it is. It's something that the lab techs are still trying to account for theoretically. But the effect, as you said, leads us to presume it was a barrier in a passage to another world. The top theories are that it was a block covering a wormhole to another planet, a "thin spot" between universes, or somehow "unwound" a conduit to another spatial dimension folded up and out of sight."

The committee began to grumble at the implications, but the chair kept them in order. "Well, continue with the description of the events."

Dr. Maro nodded. "The drive created a bubble around the drone." He hit a button on his laptop, and a video started to play for the committee; he silently thanked whatever God there was that it worked on the first try and wasn't like his old college systems. "This first video is from in the lab, so you can see what it SHOULD look like." He tapped another button, and the video changed to the desert start-up test, showing the same effect as it moved the drone up to a stopping point. "And here's where the incident occurred." As it hit that object, the bubble seemed to become dented, and then tore apart like a balloon popping as something in the air was ripped open. "As the field hit the... opening point, it ruptured the warp bubble, to borrow a term from sci-fi, and the drone careened to one side. But the other object was moved in some way, and the opening was made as a result."

As the drone was thrown off course and the drive was shut down by the killswitch, the air seemed to tear away at the spot that the bubble dented. Behind that aperture, a burning wasteland with a smoke-filled reddish sky seemed superimposed upon the landscape. The part of the air that tore off now looked like metal facing the camera.

"Our team investigated, and took some samples from the object, but we were interrupted by a figure who approached from the world on the other side of the opening."

A congressman chimed in with a southern voice, "Your report described the figure... tall, blood red skin, potbellied, with horns and cloven hooves... is that correct?" As the doctor nodded, the representative continued. "I don't know about you, doc, but that sounds like the devil to me."

The question was finally asked bluntly, and the doctor sighed and said, "I agree."

The congressman continued, "And that OTHER WORLD looks and sounds like Hell, all fire and brimstone."

Dr. Maro could only nod in agreement. "Yes, it seems to be. It did smell sulfuric as well. Like rotten eggs."

The Congressman then said, "So then why aren't we sending some soldiers to defend against a demonic invasion? The report here indicated no further action needed, but if we've got a door to Hell, shouldn't we be watching it at least?"

Dr. Maro sighed and shook his head. "I see your point... but no." The video continued, with the figure yelling something at the scientists, but without directing violence toward them. He then reached over and pulled shut the metal slab, with the air returning to normal.

"You see," he said, "I think that we found something out there... but not an invasion threat. We couldn't understand his language at first, but our linguistics team worked on his statement. And we think we know what he was saying - it was in a form of Aramaic." He looked down at the notes, and said "Based on the translation, the figure in the video wasn't really angry with us in general... the situation was just inconvenient."

"Inconvenient? Like he didn't have his armies yet inconvenient?"

"No, Congressman," Maro stated. "He was upset because we left the door open and he was afraid all the heat would get out."

*****

THE END.