Ophelia stood and placed her hands on her hips. Her frame may have been slight, but her demeanour was still imposing; it was like being stared down by the Queen. ‘Your life up to now has been a mess of secrets and lies and we’re offering you a chance to find some answers. You help Erica, and leave me to search for Martin and Skye. Trust me to do that for you.’
She paused, sizing him up, trying to decipher his intentions but realising that the young man in front of her had become adept at hiding his emotions over the last few days. ‘So, what’s it to be, Evan – are you ready to save the world, or is it not your problem?’
He stood and placed his hands in the pocket of his hoodie. A determined look blazed in his pale blue eyes. ‘I’m ready. And you can call me Boyd, or Six.’
Make Them Pay
‘You’re very lucky to be here, very lucky indeed,’ Ravensbrook said with a nod and a gentle smile.
His guest said nothing, her eyes remained blank, giving nothing away.
‘Hornet saved your life. If she hadn’t put herself in between you and our aggressors, they would have succeeded in their plan and wiped out every last one of us, every trace of anyone or anything that could reveal the truth.’
‘And what is that, exactly – the truth, I mean?’ the guest finally responded. Next to her, Hornet leant over, her scarred face a mask of pain.
‘They saved Boyd and blew the place up. He even left his father here to die in the flames, a man I had called my brother for 10 years.’
The actual truth was that Skye had never been in the Barn and she would never know it had even existed. She had been unconscious when they had dragged her across the lawn from the helicopter and placed her in the basement of Lockmead House. Skye and Boyd had been kept apart, but she wasn’t to know that. As far as Skye knew, she had been locked in a room, there had been a battle and people had died. Boyd had been rescued, but no one had come for her.
Skye looked at Hornet, then at Ravensbrook. Her blank expression gave way to a rage that burnt like a thousand fires behind in her eyes. ‘I warned him what would happen if he betrayed me.’
God Speed, Six
‘Right, are we all set?’ Ophelia addressed the room.
After everything that had happened in the last few days, for the first time, Boyd thought he saw a flash of uncertainty cross Ophelia’s face. The good news was that Azima looked totally confident; in fact, she was struggling to contain her excitement.
‘I’ve studied the Sutter Watch and, thankfully, Erica included detailed operating instructions, and a set of plans.’ She tapped a pile of yellowed papers on the desk. ‘Mechanics aren’t my strong point, we may need to get Fitz in here at some point. In a nutshell, that thing on your wrist manipulates the tiny pieces of technology in your bloodstream, called nanos, and creates something called a wormhole.’
‘Sounds pretty straightforward,’ Boyd said sarcastically. He stood in the middle of the floor in the Toy Shop, holding his backpack, the team assembled around him.
‘And we’re sure this is safe?’ Harry asked, unable to mask his concern for the kid.
‘Oh no,’ Azima replied, matter-of-factly, ‘we can’t be sure of that at all. Sutter created this in the 1940s, can you imagine that? It’s insane how advanced this is – and as for the nano-tech, well…’ she turned to Boyd… ‘let’s just say your mother is a genius! It’s beyond anything I’ve seen, and if you do make it back there, it might well turn you inside out.’
They all stood open-mouthed, looking anywhere except at Boyd’s wide-eyed expression.
‘But you’ll have travelled through time, which would be, well, pretty amazing.’ Azima tried to smile.
‘Absolutely.’ Boyd nodded. ‘Let’s hope my eyes are still on the outside of my body so I can enjoy it. Shall we crack on before I think about this too much and decide it’s the craziest thing I’ve ever done?’
He put the pack on his back, shuffled his legs into a walking stance and raised the Sutter Watch to chest height. He brought his right hand up to it and suddenly realised that he had adopted the same position he took when he started a race: on his toes, fingers poised over the timer on his stopwatch.
‘We’ve talked through how it works: we’ve set the date, time and location on the watch. You just have to press all three buttons together, then each one in sequence, one, two and three,’ Azima said.
‘Then what?’ Ophelia asked.
‘Then we hope for the best.’ Azima exhaled through a strained smile.
Boyd didn’t waste any more time; he pressed all three buttons together and the face of the watch glowed blue. The date, time and location shone up at him and suddenly, he felt completely calm and relaxed.
It struck him that his mother had done this exact same thing, she had stood somewhere and followed the same sequence of actions he was going through now. He hadn’t known a single thing about her before today, but this was a fact he knew for sure, and that made him feel like he knew a little bit more about himself.
‘I’m coming for you,’ he whispered under this breath.
‘Sorry, what?’ Azima asked him.
‘I said, it looks like a great day for rock ‘n’ roll.’ He fired Harry a wink.
Boyd pressed the three buttons in sequence: one, two and three. The blue glow on the face of the watch grew brighter and everyone quickly reached up to shield their eyes; everyone except Boyd. The blue light began to spread out from the watch and up his arm.
Whatever it was, he could feel the effects; it was as if someone had injected ice into his veins and it was slowly creeping around every inch of his body. After just a few seconds it crawled into his head and his vision started to fade. Azima, Harry and Ophelia all seemed to be drifting into a blur. Then it happened; a sudden, crippling pain inside his head, like the worst ice-cream brain-freeze you could imagine, and Boyd closed his eyes and screamed.
When Harry took his arm away from his face, Boyd was gone. Azima and Ophelia withdrew their hands from their eyes, and they all looked to the same spot.
‘Did it work?’ Harry looked to Azima, a pleading in his eyes.
‘Let’s hope so.’
‘Godspeed, Six,’ Ophelia said quietly and bowed her head.
The pain had eased somewhat but Boyd’s vision was still blurred. He could still see the glowing outlines of Harry, Azima and Ophelia.
‘Crap, that hurts. Okay, it didn’t work but let me get over this pounding in my head and we can try again.’ He shuffled his legs and blinked hard.
‘Guys, why can’t you hear me?’ Boyd rubbed his eyes. He could see some movement, but the outline of the team was starting to fade from view; what was going on here? Was he losing his sight? Was he blind?
‘Qui es-tu?’ A voice erupted, sudden and sharp.
Boyd stumbled in shock, lost his balance and fell against a wall. What the heck was he doing next to a wall? He was in the middle of the floor at the Toy Shop, wasn’t he?
‘Qui veux-tu?’ The voice came again, more impatient this time. Then something poked him in the chest.
Boyd rubbed his eyes again and then opened them. The light around him was dazzling. The Toy Shop had gone; there was no Harry, no Azima and no Ophelia. As his eyesight started to return, he could make out snow, a lot of snow; and an angry man forcing him backwards with a gun.
They wouldn’t have to try again because it had worked perfectly well on the first try. Boyd was in France; it was 1986 and he had travelled back in time.
Acknowledgments
So many people have contributed to this book in so many different ways. My brother, Ken - who one night watching football turned to me and said, ‘You should write a book about a boy who can travel through time.’ My wonderfully supportive wife, Maria - who turned to me after I’d left my job and said, ‘You should write that book about a boy who can travel through time.’ My Mum and Step-dad who always call to make sure I’m writing and my best mate Humphrey, who has to put up with me trying out dialogue on him all day. T
o The Captain, for the feedback and inspiration.
To the brilliant Clem Moulaert; sorry about all the commas.
Finally, the ridiculously supportive and wonderful Liz Hawkins; who despite only seeing me every couple of years, has never not been there for me whenever I’ve needed a friend, an ear, an editor or, now a web designer. You’re truly one of the best, thank you.
About the Author
Benjamin Shaw was born in Hampshire, in the UK. After studying English at university, he worked in computers, despite not knowing much about them. He then went back to college, became a film journalist and was lucky enough to travel the world, interviewing people like James Bond.
After a decade in publishing, he decided to become an author and is currently writing the hotly anticipated Evan Boyd Adventures; the young adult fiction series about a reluctant teen hero.
Combining Mission: Impossible, with a dash of Indiana Jones and a healthy dollop of Back To The Future, the Evan Boyd books are bursting with action, stunts, gadgets and a little bit about the pain of growing up.
Benjamin lives on the south coast of the UK, with his lovely wife and his rather awesome dog, Humphrey.
Operation Hurricane: The Evan Boyd Adventures #1 Page 30