Inside was a dense maze of office blocks, dark and foreboding. The silence was pressing, deafening. Every single small noise seemed magnified and sinister. It didn't soothe Angus' and Mike's nerves that the SAS men were sweeping through each room, fully kitted up and ready for a fight. It seemed surreal. The only sounds were the whirring of the computers in the offices they swept through, the gentle hum of the overhead lights that illuminated most of the complex, the footsteps of the group where each clang seemed like thunder and the SAS men's "Room Clear".

After more then 10 minutes walking through office after dark office, sinister corridor after sinister corridor, they reached what they had came for.

The door that stood barring their way was massive. Easily as big as a one story house. It was all steel, and with bolts as thick as two men laid side by side. The only way in was a small keypad, glowing an authoritative green. There was no way through without the correct passcode, currently not in the possession of Alpha Two Zero.

"Shit."

"Got that right mate."

"Lads, we are monumentally screwed."

Who knew what lay on the other side? Gold, jewels? It could be dangerous. Maybe the reason why the whole facility was abandoned lay beyond the door. A zombie plague? A mutation? It could be dangerous, we could destroy all mankind if we open it, we coul-

"Shut UP Nick." Tom said, scratching his chin. There was only one way through the door. Judging by the large smile on McTavin's face, he knew it too. "Say, John, do you happen to hav-"

"Save your breath Cap, I got this." John gave a chuckle of amusement. This was gonna be fun. He approached the door and started getting his charges out.

"Captain, you don't mean to blow through that door with that amount of charges?" Angus said incredulous.

"No I don't. You see, when you work for as long as I have in a unit like this, you learn each other's ways. John is going to blow through the wall next to the door, angling the explosion in at an angle." Tom glanced over to John. He had finished laying his charges and seemed to be struggling with the correct angle.

"An angle...I could help with that!" muttered Angus, striding over to the befuddled John.

Tom couldn't help but chuckle at the young Angus showing explosive expert John McTavin how to lay his charges. Tom glanced around the group. Nick seemed excited, ecstatic almost. Mike looked subdued, but interested. James however looked apprehensive. Tom shared that feeling. There was no knowing what lay on the other side, and as Nick said before, however jokingly, they could unleash something beyond their control.

Angus and John finally finished their adjustments, and stepped back.

“All set Cap! Ready and waiting. Just say the word.”

Tom hesitated. There was no way of knowing what lay on the other side of the door. But Tom had orders, and he followed them to the letter.

“Blow it.”

The resulting explosion sent a shower of dust over the group, sending each member into a hacking cough. Angus recovered first, and made for the hole that now resided on the edge of the door, but Tom grabbed him.

“Don’t…*cough* let me an- *cough* the boys go in *cough* first.” Thankfully, Angus nodded. Soon, all of them had stopped, and with a last equipment check, they headed into the hole, with Tom on point.

When he stepped through, first of all he became aware of the much louder hum of heavy duty machinery. It was almost a powerful hum that pressed in on him from all directions. Next he became aware of a blue glow. He looked up and swore.

They were standing in a massive room, with the ceiling easily 25m high. It was a mass of wires, lights and computers. Notes were scattered, and there were still white lab coats hung over chairs. But what was the cause of the oath was a large doorway in the centre. The frame was made of a black rock, which looked as though nothing could get through it. The centre of it was a swirling mix of blue. It was very eerie.

One by one the squad stepped through the hole, and like Tom, they stared agape at this thing that stood in front of them. Now, even though they didn’t understand what it did, they knew what the scientists had been working on. Tom shook himself out of his reprieve.

“Right, Angus and Mike, take a good look round on the computers and notes. They should be able to tell us more about it. Nick, you join them. John and James, secure the chamber. Hop to it!”

They jumped to it. Angus made for a computer immediately, while Mike and Nick started on the notes. James and John quickly scoured the room, and confirmed it secure, then returned to looking at the mysterious doorway with a look of awe on their faces. Tom meanwhile was talking on the radio to General Williams.

“General, we took out the perimeter guards, then entered the facility. There was no sign of resistance in the building. We gained access to the inner sanctum, and we found something.”

“Yes? By God man, tell me! What did you find?”

“Well sir, we found some sort of…doorway.”

“Care to elaborate?”

If only I could thought Tom. He turned to Mike, Angus and Nick.

“Well boys? You got anything for me?” said he.

Angus had a look of wonder, Mike a look of fear and Nick a look of excitement.

Angus approached Tom, still in a daze.  “It would appear from the notes…” He gestured wildely. “That they have made or discovered…a portal to other dimensions.”

Tom just stared incredulously. A portal to other dimensions? Angus had surely gone off his nut. He glanced at Nick, who just nodded.

Shit.

“You get that sir?”

“My god. Lads, I want you home right now for a debrief.”

“Be happy to sir. Alpha Two Zero, out.”

Tom relinquished his grip on the radio. He looked around at the group. Both civilians were pale faced, as was Nick. James and John however, had stoic expressions. They all looked at him. He cleared his throat.

“Well, you heard the man. We’re gonna head home.” There were some cheers at this. However, fate had something in mind for this little group.

Tom’s radio crackled to life.

“Alpha Two Zero! Do you copy! Come in Alpha Two Zero!” the voice was undoutably General Williams, except that he spoke urgently.

“General, I copy. What’s your sitrep, over.”

“Shit, we just detected a missile. It’s inbound, and scans show it to be nucleur. It’s going to hit that facility in 10 minutes. But launch was 8 minutes ago. You have two minutes until a live nuke hits that facility.”

Silence. Sheer silence followed that announcement. Everyone in the room knew the score. They were never going to get clear in time. None of them knew the correct route back, and even if they did, they would never manage to clear the blast radius.

“Damn it Tom! Get the hell out of there!” General Williams again.

Tom touched his radio with numb fingers. A sense of loss overcame him. “Sir, we’re never going to get clear in time. Even if we stayed here, in the sanctum, the blast would still vaporise us.”

Silence on both sides. No-one knew what to do. All the people at the facility were staring at Tom, waiting for him to make a decision. The General and his men were staring in horror at the radio, trying to comprehend what it meant. Alpha Two Zero were too vauluable to be lost at this stage of the war.

“Sir, there is one way.”

Eveyone waited to hear Tom’s plan.

“We’re never going to get out of here sir. You and I both know that. But there is a way. Sir, I’ll be off now. I plan to travel to worlds and galaxies unknown, which have never before had human presence, and may not ever again. I may be captured, even tortured. But I’m still going through General. I’m gonna go through that doorway.” Tom finished, and looked at the group. More then a few mouths were open.

Nick was the first to recover. “Sir, I’ll go with you.”

John and James followed.

“Count me in Cap!”

“Aye lad, I’ll go with you.”

Angus and Mike stared, before they both shrugged their shoulders.

“I’m with you.”

“As am I.”

“There you have it General. We’re going to go now, and explore the universe. You’re going to have to finish the war without us."

"I can't stop you, can I?"

"No sir."

"Then good luck. . Remember that you are now officially ambassodors to the human race. I expect that you act with manners that are appropriate. Uphold our values and beliefs. You are Australian. Be proud of that fact son, every second of every day."

"Yes sir. Thank you sir. And can I just say, it was an honor to serve with you, and an even greater honor to call you my friend, Patrick Williams. I thank you for everything you did for me."

And so saying that, Tom and the 5 others linked arms, and as one, stepped through the portal to a world unknown.

The General's radio to Alpha Two Zero suddenly cut to hash. He stared at it in shock. Alpha Two Zero, gone? Tom, gone? It was impossible. Tom always came back, no matter what the job, not matter how bad it turned. He always came back.

A few seconds after the group had gone, the missle struck. It burrowed deep and detonated. A white hot blast billowed out, the walls, offices and data all vaporized in an instant. After the smoke had cleared, there was no sign of the facility. The only sign of anything was the radiation, which would linger for a very, very long time.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If Tom had a mouth to scream, it would be wide open and screaming. Such is the nature of post dimensional travel, where every single atom is split down and whisked away. The process of being atomically split couldn't be described. It was beyond painful. It transcended agony. And it was driving Tom right out of his mind. What pissed him off was not the pain, per sea. It was more the fact that there was absouloutly nothing he could do about it. And so he surrended, and let himself be warcked by wave after wave of intense, relentless, pure, undurelating, torture.

After a while, it lessened somewhat. Then some more, until it finally it gave up altogether. Tom was too exhuasted to care. All he wanted to do was sleep, which was unfortunatne, becuase it was that moment when they arrived in their new world.

One moment he was in between dimensions, in a gaseous state, next he was lying face down in some dirt, thankfully solid. He spat out a mouthful of dirt, coughing and retching. He was amazed that he was still in control of his mind. During the transfer, he felt himself almost lose his sanity, driven out by the pain. But he was alive, in relative control, and with his sanity. THat was something to be grateful for at least. He heard the sounds of his comrades slowly getting up, obviously having experienced the same amount of pain, judging by their swearing and obscenities.

He opened his eyes, slowly. Everything was blurry, and the sun? was too bright, so he shut them again. He felt around blindly for his gun, finally finding it, and it's familiar prescence helped ease some of the anxiety he was feeling. Knowing he would have to open his eyes sooner or later, he cracked open an eyelid. The sun beat down on him, making him feel lethargic and drowsy. He knew this was dangerous. He needed to be alert and tense. He shook himself off, and slowly, with the help of both hands stood uncertainly up. The ground seemed to swim below him. He glanced up.

He apppeared to be in some sort of street, with houses on both sides. The houses seemed almost like the Tudor houses Tom had studied in high school. They all had hay for their roofs, and were bright and colourful. That, the presence of flowers on all of the windowsills, and the stall that was loaded with apples led him to belive that there were civilised...things that lived here. He quickly and briefly shared his findings with his compatriots.

They agreed, and there was a noticible lessening of tension.

And that was when all hell broke loose.