In Times Like These Boxed Set

by Nathan Van Coops

  “Looks like it’s just the two of us, Avery.”

  “Would you like to view entertainment options, Miss Davis? Perhaps the highlights from the afternoon’s games?”

  “Not tonight. I think I just want a bath. Will you fill the tub?”

  “Bathtub will be filled in approximately eleven minutes. Would you like to choose a scent for your bath oils?”

  “What does Dom use?”

  “Mr. Del Toro prefers lavender and tea tree.”

  “Interesting. I’ll try that.” Emily took a sip of champagne. “And some music please.” The penthouse filled with soothing instrumental piano music. “Something from this century,” Emily said.

  She was still bickering with Avery about the music choices when she heard the elevator ding in the hall. A moment later, footsteps sounded in the kitchen.

  She opened the bedroom door and looked back out. “Dom?”

  Dom had his back to her, rooting through a drawer in the kitchen, but turned around at the sound of her voice.

  “That was fast,” Emily said. “False alarm?”

  He wasn’t wearing a tie anymore. He looked . . . tired. Like the few minutes he’d been gone had aged him.

  “Hello, Emily,” Dom said. He stared at her, looking her up and down. “You look . . . well.”

  Well? She was half-naked in his shirt wearing a brand new engagement ring and ‘well’ was the best compliment he could muster?

  “What happened?” she said aloud.

  “We need to go,” Dom replied. He strode across the room and grabbed her by the wrist.

  “What? Go where?”

  But he was already pulling her across the room toward the elevator.

  “Dom, I can’t go anywhere. I’m not dressed and it’s late. I thought we were staying in. Ow. You’re hurting me.”

  Dom’s grip on her wrist was like a vice. He dragged her into the foyer. The elevator doors opened and he spun her inside.

  “I don’t have my shoes,” Emily objected.

  “You don’t need them.”

  “Where are we going?”

  He didn’t reply. He was preoccupied with checking his phone. He studied the time, then shoved the phone back in his pocket. Emily stared at him but he seemed intent on ignoring her.

  His face was stubbled. Hadn’t he been clean shaven earlier tonight? Emily studied the shadow on his chin with confusion. How much champagne had she drunk? Things were getting strange.

  The elevator reached the garage level and Dom hauled her forward across the oil-stained concrete to a waiting car. It wasn’t his car, but Dom flung the door open without a moment’s hesitation. “Come on. Get in.”

  “I want your jacket.”

  “What?”

  “Give me your jacket. You’re hauling me off to somewhere you won’t explain. I’m not going in just your shirt.”

  “Why does it matter?” Dom asked. “We won’t be seeing anyone.”

  Emily held out her hand for the jacket.

  Dom sighed and took it off, then tossed it to her. He pushed her toward the car. Come on. We’ve got to go.”

  Emily climbed into the rear-facing bench seat and slipped her arms into the jacket. She wrapped it around herself and tucked her dirty feet up underneath her.

  “Why on earth can’t we just stay in the penthouse? What’s the big hurry?”

  Dom was glancing at his phone again. “You’ll know soon enough. Avery, take us to Section Kilo.”

  “The research division?” Emily asked. Gammatech had what seemed like a thousand departments on a dozen campuses around the city, but she’d made a point of learning them all.

  “Here. I need you to drink this.” Dom held out a glass bottle of bright blue liquid. “It’ll help you sober up.”

  “Then you drink it,” Emily replied. “You’re the one acting like a crazy person.”

  Dom shrugged, unscrewed the cap on the bottle, and took a swig. Then he held it out to her again.

  Emily glared at him, but then took the bottle. Her head was beginning to throb. Hydration wasn’t a bad idea. She took a sip and let the blue liquid course down her throat. It tasted like . . . What was it? Something she’d never felt. Like liquid lightning. Her throat tingled with it.

  She considered Dom seated across from her. He was simply staring out the window. She sniffed and wrinkled her nose, then tried to locate the scent she was smelling. It was coming from his jacket. She lifted the collar and held it to her nose. Cologne. But one she’d never smelled before. When would he have had time to get more cologne? The bathtub hadn’t even filled in the time he was gone.

  She looked at her fiance across the back of the car. His expression was hard to read in the shadowy interior.

  He had been clean shaven tonight. All those kisses.

  “Dom?” she tried softly this time. “What’s going on?”

  When he looked at her, his eyes were serious. “You’ll just have to trust me.”

  “But why can’t you tell me what’s happening? I’m getting frightened. You’re freaking me out.”

  “Emily.” He leaned forward and rested a hand on her knee. “In all the time you’ve known me, has there ever been anything I’ve done that wasn’t in the interest of keeping you with me? Of keeping you safe?”

  “No. Never.”

  “Then believe me when I tell you now. There is nothing I wouldn’t do to keep you from harm.”

  “Are we in danger?” Emily asked.

  Dom looked back out the window as the vehicle slowed. “Not for much longer. Drink the rest of that, then come on. We’re here.”

  2

  The concrete sidewalk leading to the research facility was cold on Emily’s bare feet. She shivered a little and wrapped Dom’s jacket around herself a little tighter. A security guard at the entrance tipped his hat to Dom.

  “Good to see you again, sir. Twice in one night.” He smiled and opened the door for them.

  The doorway traded cold concrete for cold epoxy flooring that was slick beneath her feet.

  Dom didn’t slow his pace at all as he guided her through several hallways to what must have been the back of the building. He finally stopped at a doorway that had been chained shut and padlocked. Dom entered a combination and unlocked it, then pulled the entire chain free. Emily noticed that the combination had been her birthday, 4-9-20. Dom took a glance down the hallway they came from, then pulled the door open. “Okay. Here we go.”

  Emily wasn’t sure what she expected, but the room they walked into wasn’t it. It looked like an oversized storage closet. Dusty metal racks lined the walls, home for a few outdated computers and forgotten hard drives. There was a window on the far end of the room but the opaque glass squares only let in the faintest glow from the streetlight. Dom flipped the switch and illuminated the room with harsh fluorescent light.

  He ran the chain through the door handles again and refastened the lock.

  “About time,” someone said. “I thought you said you’d be quick.”

  Emily located the speaker sitting in a folding chair in the corner. He rocked forward and stood, shaking out the length of his overcoat and stomping his feet. He was skinny, dressed in all black, and smoking an electronic cigarette. She hadn’t seen one of those in years.

  “Why are you just lurking here in the dark?” Dom said. “It’s creepy.”

  “You wanted me to stay here. I stayed. You didn’t say you needed me awake.”

  Dom turned toward Emily. “This is a new acquaintance of mine. What did you say your name was again?”

  “Axle.”

  “Well, Axle, did you at least prepare things for me like I asked you to?”

  “Setup’s all ready. Standard stuff.” He pointed to a rolling office chair and a contraption against the wall that looked like some kind of door frame.

  “Dom, what’s going on?” Emily said. “You really need to tell me what we’re doing here. Who is this guy?”

  “We’re getting away for a little,�
� Dom said. “I’ve got somewhere where we can go to get things sorted out. I’ve got a way to keep you safe.”

  Emily noticed that Axle was eyeing her bare legs and tried to tug the edge of Dom’s jacket a little lower.

  “You don’t mind me saying so, mack, you got a fine looking lady here. Lots going for you. You sure you don’t want to just forget this plan and go off and enjoy her somewhere? I’m thinking I would.”

  “Shut your damn mouth,” Dom growled at him. “I didn’t pay you for your suggestions. I paid you to do your job. Just get things ready. We’re wasting time.”

  Axle held up his hands. “Whatever you say, mack. You’re the boss.” He stepped over to the doorframe erected by the wall and started fiddling with a control panel attached to the side. A number of heavy-duty cables were running across the floor and were directly wired into the breaker box on the wall.

  “Emily, I need to tell you something,” Dom said. “I’m sorry to keep you in the dark about this but we’re almost safe. There is going to be a problem at the plant. The reactor core is growing unstable. It’s going to . . . It’s going to do a lot of damage. But I have somewhere to take us. I can fix things. I just need you to come with me. It’s all going to be okay.”

  “The main reactor?”

  As she spoke, the door frame against the wall started buzzing. The space between the posts began to shimmer, then erupted into a field of multicolored light. The colors swirled and twisted in an eerie sort of harmony with one another. Emily found herself transfixed by their beauty.

  “What is that?” she murmured.

  “Our future,” Dom replied. “Have a seat.”

  Dom wheeled a rolling office chair over and Emily sat, almost automatically, her eyes still glued to the luminescent doorway. She didn’t look away until something cold closed over her wrist. She looked down to find her arm handcuffed to the chair.

  “Hey, what the hell?”

  “Standard procedure,” Axle muttered from next to her..

  “Procedure for what?” Emily demanded.

  Dom shoved Axle out of the way and knelt in front of Emily. He rested a hand on her knee, then held up another bottle of blue liquid. “I need you to drink this.”

  “What the hell is that stuff, Dom? And don’t give me that ‘sober you up’ bullshit.”

  “It’s going to help stabilize your cells,” Dom replied. “The more we get into you, the safer you’ll be.”

  Axle wheeled an IV rack over to her chair and started prepping a syringe.

  “You have got to be kidding,” Emily replied. She snatched the bottle from his hand and threw it across the room. “I’m not drinking anything until you explain what you’re doing to me.”

  Dom closed his eyes for a moment, then grabbed her arm and took her hand between his. “Emily.” He opened his eyes again and stared into hers. “That machine over there is going to take us somewhere new. But in order to get there, we need to treat your body with a special sort of particle. It will protect you and enable you to travel safely. But only if we get enough into you to make it work.”

  “Why aren’t you cuffed to a chair? Why isn’t he?” She looked to Axle who was now wheeling some other contraption made of hollow tubing toward them.

  “We’ve already had our treatment,” Dom replied. He kissed her hand then laid her forearm against the arm of the chair. “Now I need you to stay still.” He wrapped a fabric strap quickly around her arm and fastened the Velcro.

  “Hey! No. Dom!” Emily tried to jerk her arm loose but it was strapped tight. She tried moving her other arm but the metal handcuffs only rattled against the chair. “I don’t want to do this. Let me go!”

  “There is no other way,” Dom replied. He grasped her face between his hands. “Your future depends on this.”

  “Dom.” She stared at him with her most no-nonsense expression. “I want to go home. Let. Me. Go.”

  But Dom simply strapped a band around her other arm and secured it tightly to the chair as well. Axle bent down with the needle.

  “Get that away from me!” she shouted.

  “It’s going to hurt more if you move,” Axle replied. He pressed on the inside of her arm, probing for her vein.

  “Don’t you touch me with that—” she began, but it was too late. He already started inserting the needle. She froze. When the IV was in, he taped the tube to her arm and stood up.

  She caught him staring down her shirt. She jerked against the arm of the chair but it was no use. Why hadn’t she used . . . more . . . buttons . . .

  She felt dizzy. Her head lolled slightly.

  “What else did you put in there?” Dom asked.

  “Just something to calm her down. Figured we may as well get a head start on the rest of it.”

  Dom frowned but didn’t object. He stood, and swayed with the rest of the room as it turned. It was all getting wavy.

  Emily’s pulse was throbbing in her ears with the rhythm of a clock but the men seemed to be moving in slow motion. She tilted her head as Axle wheeled the tubular structure overtop of her seat. It was a sort of framework, bolted together with space in the interior for her, and with what looked to be plastic sheeting around the edges. She felt like she was in a portable shower. A bright light illuminated the sheeting. It was clear, but difficult to see through. The room had been going blurry before, but now it was even more difficult to see. Dom was just a vague shape on the other side of the curtain.

  “Dom?” Her voice came out softer than she intended. She meant to yell at him but it only sounded like pleading.

  “Where are you—” the air crackled with static and blue light flickered around the curtain. She saw now that it wasn’t plastic, but rather some sort of conductive material ribbed with fine strands of metal. Electricity danced and tingled across her skin and seemed to burn through her veins. She cried out from the shock of it.

  Moments later it was over.

  The two men were muttering something on the other side of the curtain, continuing to ignore her, when a loud bang erupted near the doorway. A blinding light flashed, causing her to squint and blink, and then there were voices. The overhead lights went out. Her ears were ringing. Axle shouted. Something crashed to the floor amid a scuffle ahead of her.

  “Get her loose!” a man shouted.

  Someone collided with the curtain and she caught a glimpse of Axle, snarling and drawing a knife from his belt. The multicolored light emanating from the strange doorway behind her was barely enough to see anything, but she felt hands on her right arm, someone unwrapping the Velcro straps.

  “Dom?”

  But it wasn’t Dom. A face in a black ski mask appeared in front of her. They unstrapped her other arm.

  “Listen, you have to run!” It was a woman’s voice.

  “No! Don’t touch her!” Dom shouted as he flung the tubular framework aside and grabbed for the woman in the mask. She backed away and he pursued her, fist raised.

  Emily tried to rise from the chair but her left arm was still handcuffed to it. She wobbled and sat back down. What had they given her?

  She was about to try again, but then Axle was there, his leering expression illuminated by the eerie flickering light. “You ain’t going anywhere, honey. Except gone.” He put a hand on the chair arm, and the other over her handcuffed wrist. Then he pushed her, hard, toward the multi-colored doorway. His hand ripped the IV from her arm as he shoved. “Have a nice trip!”

  “No, wait!” Dom shouted.

  Emily attempted to plant her feet to stop her momentum but her bare heels just slid across the slick epoxy floor. The wheels of the office chair wobbled but her trajectory was true. She rolled right into the swirl of light and color.

  There was a fraction of a moment where she felt like she’d departed her body and was soaring through the cosmos.

  Then the wheel of the office chair hit something and she tipped, nearly spilling out of it onto the floor. The chair teetered, then settled back onto its wheels, planting her
in the seat in a room once again filled with fluorescent light. There was a medical table, some silver trays on wheels, and someone standing in front of her. She looked up to find a man in paper scrubs and latex gloves looming over her. He was wearing a paper mask and had a foot jammed against one of the chair’s wheels.

  “Well, what did Axle bring us today?” the man asked.

  Footsteps sounded from behind her and when she spun around in the chair she found a second masked doctor on her other side. He was holding a scalpel. “Not bad looking, this time,” he said. “Pity. Get her on the table. Let’s open her up.”

  3

  There was a some kind of drug in her system. It was making her dizzy. Added to the bottles of champagne from dinner and the chaos she’d been through since then, Emily was not feeling her best. But despite those limitations, there was no way in hell she was going down without a fight.

  As the masked doctor dragged her to her feet by her arm, she looked for options. She had next to none. She waited till the other doctor leaned over to unlock her handcuffs, then she kneed him in the face.

  Leaned over the chair, the man’s nose crunched as the top of her knee connected with it. The man holding her up scrambled to get a better grip on her but he was too slow. She used her planted foot and rammed backwards, knocking into his face with the back of her head. It had the desired effect. He let go of her to protect his face.

  That was as far as she’d gotten with her plan, but it bought her a second or two and enough room to move. Her timing with the kick had been off. She was still handcuffed to the chair. She grabbed the arms of the chair and lifted it, smashing it into the man she had kneed in the face. He staggered back, still holding his nose.

  An exit sign hung over a door on the far wall. She ran toward it, knocking over trays of instruments and a cooler full of ice packs in the process.

  “Get her!” the man with the bleeding nose sputtered.

  The other doctor had reached the wall and grabbed something from a shelf that looked like some sort of Taser. The crackle of electricity a moment later confirmed it. Emily wrestled with the doorknob while attempting to carry the office chair one-handed. She finally got the metal door to swing inward and was confronted with her next obstacle. Stairs.