Free Phase Shift by elise abram

Tobin
told him.
    Molton clapped Tobin on the shoulder. "Nice
to see you again, old friend."
    The men smiled at each other. Molton bolted
the door behind them and lead Tobin to the meeting room, located in
the cellar of the building. On their way, a resident or two gawped
at their passing. "Don't mind them," Molton told him, "they will
not remember you were here come morning."
    "What is this place?" Tobin said.
    "Various things to various people." They
arrived at a darkened stairwell. "Our business is down here."
Molton lead him down the steps to where a corner of the cellar had
been cordoned off with soundproof barriers stretching from floor to
ceiling.
    Gathered around a table sat Sobal
Meteorologist, Morsinth Engineer, Borsnook Engineerson, Samkin
Tailor, Nynat Marinebiologist, and Sandeep Cooksmate, the members
of Tobin's team, each of them Seekers in their own right, who
regularly gathered to discuss the seemingly insignificant
peculiarities in weather conditions which, when properly analyzed,
wove a detailed tapestry depicting a single event: the most likely
location of the next random shift in a small pocket of the planet's
phase resonance. They greeted Tobin as he pulled a chair to the
table. Each member of the team readied his or her respective
Gaia-link handset to report on their activity over the past month.
Sobal Meteorologist was the first to speak: "I have run the data
several times and it is confirmed. In exactly," he paused to
examine the countdown displayed on his Gaia-link handset, "one
hundred twenty hours, sixteen minutes from this moment hence, a
random shift in the planet's phase is likely to occur approximately
three hundred units above the planet's surface, ten and one-half
units southwest of Western Sanctorum." He rested his handset on the
table before him. "The most likely way to successfully access the
pocket, short of a free-fall from above (which is highly unlikely,
seeing as there are no buildings taller than Western Sanctorum in
the immediate vicinity thereof) is to use a craft with the
modifications we discussed during our last meeting."
    "Were you able to make the necessary
modifications to the craft since last we met, Morsinth?" Tobin
asked.
    "Thanks in no small part to my offspring,
Borsnook, yes," the man answered. "Tell him of our accomplishment,
my son."
    "My father and I were able to fortify the
hull integrity and boost the propulsion system to withstand
altitudes exceeding that of the norm," Borsnook Engineerson
replied. "The hover mechanism was over-clocked in order to optimize
maximum attainable and sustainable altitude. In addition, the
vehicle was equipped with phase detection technologies which
provide constant global positioning feed in order to quickly and
efficiently detect and surmount the transition between this world
and the next.
    "I envy you, Tobin. I wish I were able to go
along."
    "Your time will come, my son," Morsinth told
him. "Your time will come."
    "Thank you, Borsnook," said Tobin.
    "My father was able to install a
water-cooling system for the hover mechanism. It was one of his own
devise," Borsnook said, proudly.
    "Thank you Morsinth," Tobin said.
    "I have retrofitted the satellite locator
with a receiver through which we may monitor atmospheric tendencies
in the moments before, during, and after the shift," Sobal
Meteorologist told the group.
    "Well done, Sobol," Tobin said. "Samkin? How
did you fare?"
    "I have fashioned three containment suits to
the travelers' measurements. Each suit is able to withstand
elevated radiation levels to Borsnook's parameters."
    "Well done, Samkin," said Tobin.
    "Here, here," Borsnook echoed. "Nynat?"
    "I took the suits of Samkin's design and
outfitted each with a breathing apparatus."
    "My lungs thank you, Nynat.
    "And lastly, Sandeep."
    "I have prepared an array of simple, yet
tantalizing meals to nourish you on your journey. Each is packaged
so as to remain hot or cold, whichever need be, for the duration."
The man wrung his hands