It takes time for the after-image to disappear but when it does I notice that the Vortex has disappeared.
I stand, open-mouthed, staring at the place where the Vortex had been seconds before. Harsh gloved hands grab me from behind.
My escorts have returned. They shove me towards an open hydraulic door.
"Holee Jeezus Chris' on a fucking' rocking chair! What the fuck is that?" The younger guard had turned to look back at where the Vortex had been. My spine has electric fingers running up and down it.
The older guard and I both turn simultaneously.
In the space not too long ago occupied by the Vortex is a jet black non-reflective one dimensional disk. The diameter is roughly twenty-five feet. It floats twelve inches from the floor.
Slowly, a light mist begins to thread it's way from the disk.
"Holy Mary, mother of God. . . "
The younger guard is on his kness praying.
A daemonic laughter emmenates from deep within the disk. Somewhere, behind the laughter, in the background, the cries of millions of people in agony and the maelvolent cackles of their unseen inhuman oppressors can be heard.
The underground hanger begins to smell of brimstone as fire licks the edges of the portal. Yes, I can now see that this is a portal. Dear God, help us all! What have these idiots done?
For the first time in fifteen years he gets down on his knees and haltingly begins to pray. Half way through the "Our Father" the daemons begin to pour through the portal.
He has time for one scream.