Aldan chuckled and placed his hands on the table as if he were ready to push it away. "I'd demand to know how you figured out that location code," he said. "But I think I can already guess."
"How?" Wyatt asked, shifting his seat back a little. Sitting directly across from Aldan as Aldan held the table worried him. His brain seemed to prepare his body for a fight or flight response, regardless of how calm he tried to make himself. His pulse pounded in his ears.
"Brooke is one of the dangerous ones," Aldan said. "Whenever we have had trouble, she has been in the middle of it. Remember Jarod Whiting?"
"Yeah," Wyatt said. "But we stopped Jarod." He wasn't sure if should have said that much, but it was too late now.
Aldan's head moved back and forth as he looked down at the table. "Remember what I said about paradoxes? I think a version of Jarod may be stuck. How many versions did you send away randomly?"
"You sound like Brooke," Wyatt said, but answered the question anyway. "Three. The older one I sent to 2100, the younger one I sent to a random time, and the middle-aged one I stranded there. At least I think I stranded him there."
Wyatt stopped, stunned. "How would Brooke be dangerous if Jarod is also surrounded by paradoxes?"
"That is why she is dangerous," Aldan said. "Remember how she came to us before that last fight with Jarod? I don't think we ever saw the fight she came from."
"But we still had a fight," Wyatt said. Shaking his head. "It still happened."
"Without hurting her in the same way," Aldan said.
Wyatt realized the question he should have asked. "Do you think she caused a paradox?"
Aldan smiled and relaxed his hands from the table. "That has to be part of it," Aldan said. "We know we can change the past and the future. But I think your actions caused it more. If you came here with her, we need to get her and stop her before she gets too involved with trying to help him."
"You think Jarod is around?" Wyatt asked.
Aldan nodded and shrugged.
Wyatt found himself shaking his head, even though Aldan's words were plausible. He didn't want to believe Brooke was behind the problems, but he also didn't have a better explanation for the way she had woken him from his sleep in the dormitory. She had said someone had come through their room, but immediately took him back to the dirt road. Why had she stolen Aldan's wrist terminal.
He didn't know who to trust, but Aldan had made some good points. Maybe it would be best to see this version of Aldan collect Brooke.
"Okay," Wyatt said. "Let's go and stop her, but don't hurt her."
CHAPTER twenty-Four
DIRT ROAD, NEAR R720RS
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2040, 12:30 PM
The white pickup truck's engine didn't burst to life. It took the older Aldan several tries to get it started.
"I don't use it much, and it's old," Aldan said as he shifted into reverse and backed away from the small house.
After agreeing to help the older version of Aldan stop Brooke, the morning had gone smoother for Wyatt. He had dozed on Aldan's couch in the front room. He felt rested, but not ready.
Brooke was a friend. She was the one that he would trust more than the others, yet here he was, acting against that trust. Could Brooke really be the one behind the changes?
As the truck lurched over the last few bumps before reaching the graded dirt road, Aldan slowed. "When you saw me last, did you see anyone else with me?"
Wyatt shook his head. "You were alone." He glanced into the bed of the truck. The partially rusted steel looked like it would be cold.
Aldan nodded and stopped the truck. "Then I think you had better climb into the back and get down," he said. "I'd rather not cause any more changes than she has already caused."
The frigid air outside worried Wyatt. He shook his head and let out a sigh as he opened the door and climbed out. Stepping up on the passenger side tire, he climbed into the bed of the truck. The metal was cold against his butt where he sat, and Aldan motioned him to sit lower.
"Stay down, no matter what happens," Aldan said through the window at the back of the cab.
The way he said those words sent a chill down Wyatt's spine. Before he could react, Aldan drove onto the dirt road. Dust plumed behind them, swirling around the empty bed of the truck.
Wyatt watched the desert landscape of central Utah fly by on both sides. He scanned from that to the older version of Aldan in the driver's seat. Sitting on the passenger side of the truck bed, with his back against that part of the cab, he was protected from the wind. But it messed his hair and the cold bit through his shirt.
This version of Aldan seemed convinced Brooke was the one causing the problems. But this version of Aldan had also spoken about Linda, who Wyatt had never met. It seemed like he was somehow in a different place than he had started. Could he have slipped into an alternate reality of some kind? He wondered if he were helping the wrong person, or the wrong version of that person.
It would be awful if he were the reason Brooke was injured or lost. Rubbing his hands together against the cold, he glanced toward Aldan. That older version drove without looking back at him.
The truck bounced over a pothole at the same time the resonance hit Wyatt. It seemed to affect Aldan at that same moment also because he slowed the truck and coughed. It wasn't too bad since they were far away from where Brooke had come with Wyatt earlier.
In the distance ahead of the truck, Wyatt saw Brooke and his earlier version. They stood in the road, recovering from the resonance effects.
Brooke pointed to the inside of the road's curve as Aldan continued the approach. Following her arm, Wyatt noticed the same hovering drone. It wasn't large. He couldn't hear it humming over the noise of the truck. It hung in the air closer to Brooke and that earlier version of Wyatt, but it was clearly the same shape as what he had seen when he last arrived.
He counted that as a bonus. Seeing something from his past that had not yet changed, gave him hope.
"Get down," Aldan said. "Unless you want them to see you."
Wyatt took one last look through the windows of the truck as his earlier version and Brooke moved off the road into the drainage ditch.
Aldan stopped the truck near the curve in the road and cursed. It took a moment for Wyatt to register what he had said, but he looked up to get a slight view through the window. Aldan looked on the other side of the dirt road from where Brooke had raced into the drainage ditch with Wyatt's earlier version.
"What did you see?" Wyatt asked through the small window in the back of the truck.
Aldan spun around and looked at him, his face twisted in anger. "This isn't good," he said. "I think your activities here have brought Jarod's group back."
"Jarod's group?" Wyatt asked, remembering he had seen Jarod in the business park of 2089. "How could he be here?"
"That drone is not mine," Aldan said. "That drone shouldn't be here." He turned back toward the front of the truck. "You stay down back there, and I'll see if I can bring your earlier version and Brooke back this way."
Wyatt took a last look to the other side of the dirt road. He didn't see anyone standing there, but the drone seemed to hum more loudly as it approached. Hiding in the back of the pickup truck was not a good idea. As the truck shifted with Aldan's weight leaving it, Wyatt rolled over the passenger side edge. He fell onto the dirt road and marveled that he hadn't seen himself climb out during his earlier visit.
"Wyatt and Brooke," Aldan's voice boomed across the sagebrush toward them. "We need to talk."
Watching from his new position on the ground under the truck, Wyatt watched Brooke step over the lip of the drainage ditch. She stood timidly for a moment, before stepping closer to Aldan.
"Wyatt," Aldan shouted. "This is urgent, and we don't have much time."
Wyatt thought he heard Brooke say something, but whatever she said was short and too quiet. She stood directly in front of Aldan.
A little dizziness filled Wyatt. It was the same he had felt
earlier, and he knew it wasn't just because they were seeing an earlier version of Aldan. Someone else had traveled nearby. The resonance exploded briefly, and the drone landed in the distance. It might have crashed be he couldn't be sure.
"This is not right," Aldan told Brooke. "You are not supposed to be here. You have ruined everything." His voice grew as he led her around the front of the truck.
Wyatt had no time to move, and Aldan saw him first. He looked irritated as he tried to step in the way and prevent Brooke from seeing that an older version of Wyatt was with him. It didn't work.
"What are you doing?" Brooke asked, studying him for a moment. "How long have you been here?"
"There's no time for that," Aldan said, motioning toward the other side of the road. "They're coming."
Wyatt rose to his feet but remained in a crouch below the level of the side of the truck bed. He set his wrist terminal back to R333PS, Wednesday, April 5, 2090. He set the time for 1:00 am. It was the same time he set it to previously, before going back to visit the older Aldan.
Brushing the dirt and dust off his pants, Wyatt scanned the other side of the road, looking for any sign of his earlier version. When he turned back, three figures jumped toward them. Two of them were towering men, but the third one was the middle-aged Jarod he thought he had trapped in that New Year's Eve of 2099. They grabbed Brooke, and the older Aldan fought back. One of the men had a taser he used on the older Aldan as the other activated a portal and tossed Brooke through.
Wyatt hadn't felt any resonance before, so they must have been waiting for them.
"What are you doing?" Wyatt asked, as the middle-aged Jarod stepped closer. He wanted to fight, but he knew that would be useless. Any one of the two large men would be able to take him out easily. In his mind, he studied it out as Jarod stepped closer. The tall men, dressed in dark gray shirts and black jeans, came closer. He couldn't study them as much because Jarod drew his attention.
"Wyatt?" Jarod said. "We have to do this." He held up his right hand with a black taser in it. In his left hand, he held a device that looked like an old-fashioned television remote, if remotes had ever been made from black steel. It has a small analog display. That crude device tore holes in the reality, rather than simply split reality as if drawing a curtain back.
The resonance from the portal he had already opened made Wyatt's stomach sick. He felt dizzy and held the truck for balance as the two larger men dragged the older Aldan into the portal.
Only Wyatt and the middle-aged version of Jarod remained.
"Why?" Wyatt asked. "We didn't hurt you."
"And I won't hurt them," Jarod said. "But fixes must be made, and this is how it works. You need to stay out of this."
Wyatt scanned the small device Jarod held, trying to make sense of the time. It showed January 1, 2100. Like that older Avery's wrist terminal, it showed a time that was too far ahead. The Machina never allowed them to go beyond 2099.
Wyatt watched the inky blackness of the portal the others had vanished through as Jarod backed toward it. He wanted to dive at the portal. He wanted to save Brooke.
"Where have you taken them?" Wyatt asked, catching a little more of the detail on the analog display of Jarod's device. He only caught the first part of the location code. It showed A257, but he couldn't see the last two digits. Letting Jarod get away would ruin everything.
Jarod saw him looking and shook his head. "You need to step away from this, and never come back," he said. "This is bigger than anything you can resolve. This is necessary to preserve the world. Everything you know will fall apart if you don't stop."
"Where did you take her?" Wyatt asked as Jarod backed two more steps and started to turn toward the portal. With his right hand, still holding the taser, on the side farthest from Wyatt, it was the best chance Wyatt would have to see the device's settings. As he stepped closer, he thought he saw the next two letters, but Jarod rounded on him with the taser.
"Don't get involved," Jarod said. "You already ruined it once, stay away this time."
"I didn't ruin it," Wyatt said, but Jarod turned back toward the portal and stepped through. As the man disappeared, Wyatt almost followed him. The portal vanished and the resonance passed. He did catch the last two letters of the location code. It was A257KS. He had no idea what hour but wondered if the Machina would know.
On the other side of the truck, he heard his earlier version stepping onto the dirt road surface. Wyatt ducked below the height of the truck and tried to remember which direction he had gone when he had been his earlier self.
It didn't take long for his earlier version to climb into the truck. The hinges of the driver's side door squeaked in protest as he opened it, and the truck sagged on its worn springs. He heard that earlier version open and close the glovebox and the sun visors and knew his time was getting close.
The younger version of Aldan would be here soon, and that would disguise the resonance Wyatt's earlier version would feel. Getting back to the dormitory seemed his best option. He needed to see if he could find some answers. Maybe he could stop Brooke from taking Aldan's wrist terminal. Maybe he could prevent her from being taken into the future.
He felt the truck rise as his earlier version climbed out and slammed the door. Moving toward the front of the truck, he worked to keep the truck's shape between himself and his earlier version.
It seemed to work well enough. When the resonance started, signaling the arrival of the younger version of Aldan, Wyatt activated his portal and stepped through.
CHAPTER twenty-five
DORMITORY ENTRANCE, R333PS
WEDNESDAY, APRIL 5, 2090, 1:00 AM
The mildew odor hit him before the heat as Wyatt fell to his knees in the area in front of the dormitory entrance. His stomach turned and he remained on the floor, in the darkness, trying not to vomit. His head ached and he couldn't focus for several seconds.
Part of the struggle may have been the loss of Brooke. Things had fallen apart, and he didn't understand why. She had said someone had been inside their dormitory, but that now looked like a ruse to get him outside. He couldn't discount she had driven him to the future on purpose.
Too many issues and not enough understanding.
He realized he still wore his wrist terminal. Why would Hannah have left it for him?
It seemed like the answer to that question was hidden in the same place as the answers to all the other questions. He had no idea how older Avery, Jarod, older Hannah, and even the older Aldan fit together. Linda, who was probably that thin blonde woman, must fit in also.
They were all intertwined, but he had no idea how.
"Wyatt?" The voice startled him, and it took several seconds for him to realize who had spoken.
"Lenny?" Wyatt said as he rose shakily to his feet and scanned the dim area near the doorway that would lead to Lenny's office. "You're back."
"I haven't gone anywhere," Lenny said.
"That's not right," Wyatt said. "The others are gone right now, because we lost you."
Lenny laughed at that and stepped away from the doorway. "I bet that feels strange," he said. "But I've been busy following the Machina's directives." He pulled his black tablet out of his front pocket, waved it toward Wyatt, then moved slowly toward the dormitory doorway and stopped. "There are many things happening at once, subjectively, at least."
"You really think the others are in there?" Wyatt asked, interrupting Lenny.
With a smile, Lenny dropped the tablet into his front pocket, folded his arms, and stepped toward Wyatt. "What have you seen?"
Wyatt shook his head. "How much of what I have seen do you want to know?"
Lenny nodded and turned back toward the dormitory door. Wyatt felt a sudden urge to prevent him from opening the doorway, but as he stepped closer, Lenny rounded on him again.
"You don't want to come in this time," Lenny said. "This is an urgent matter that indirectly affects you. Stay out here."
That was an odd statement. Wyatt didn'
t understand and decided to press it further. "You can't just leave it at that?"
Pulling his hand back from the knob of the dormitory door, Lenny watched Wyatt over his shoulder. "How many changes have you seen?"
"Too many," Wyatt said. "I don't think I can count them."
"That's right," Lenny said, touching the doorknob again. "Time travel is being messed with by people who don't feel the resonance." He shook his head as he turned to face Wyatt again. "I don't feel it as strongly as you future fixers, but even I know things have changed."
"What have you noticed?" Wyatt asked. "You haven't been around." He remembered speaking with Lenny's earlier version. "Do you remember our visit to you years ago?"
Lenny's smile faded and he shook his head. "I remember that experience," he said. "But that is as far as it needs to go. Someone else is involved in this mess."
"Is it Linda?" Wyatt asked.
"Who?" Lenny asked, his voice seemed to crack slightly as if that name meant something to him.
"That's the one you mean, correct?" Wyatt asked, stepping closer to the door, and keeping his voice quieter. "She just suddenly appeared, right?"
Shaking his head, Lenny turned back toward the door. "I can't tell you much about that," he said. "I just don't remember exactly how she arrived. It seems like it wasn't all that sudden."
"Do you think that is because she doesn't belong here?" Wyatt asked, but Lenny waved him back from the door and turned the knob. Wyatt stepped back into the shadows and looked inside the room. Snoring, like what he heard when his group slept, came through the partially open door.
Lenny stepped through and Wyatt tried to get a view of the room. With the way the door opened, he saw into the back corner where his bed sat.
He couldn't tell if anyone was in it, but it appeared empty. Avery's bed, nearer the door, was occupied. But Brooke's bed was neatly made and empty as well. Before he could get a good look at who was in those beds, the door closed, and Lenny called out to the group.
Dissonance (The Machina of Time Book 2) Page 22