Dissonance (The Machina of Time Book 2)

by Daniel R. Burkhard

  "I knew it," Aldan said. "You came here to get me involved in this after a few years of me not being around. I don't want any part of this. I left the future fixers a few years ago."

  "It might have been a few years for you," Hannah began, "but for us it has only been a few hours." She glanced toward Wyatt. "We should get out of here now."

  "You say I'll see Jarod if I assist your earlier version?" Aldan said. He nodded and smiled for a moment before filling the glass from the tap and downing it. "What about Linda?"

  "You will see Jarod," Wyatt said. "You will see him. Maybe you can help us stop him. But I don't know about Linda."

  "Maybe I can get close enough to figure out why he does it," Aldan said. "Maybe he knows why Linda does some of it."

  Hannah laughed. "Somehow, I knew you would say that. We need to get out of here." She crossed the room to stand beside Wyatt. "Your earlier version is right out there."

  Wyatt nodded and glanced toward the side of the small house opposite the front door. "Do you have a backdoor?"

  Aldan laughed and raised the glass slowly to his lips. "No," he said. "The front door is all I have."

  "Then we'll need to take a window, and we'll need to do it quickly," Wyatt said, turning toward a hallway that ran perpendicular to the door.

  "Don't break a window," Aldan said.

  "I wasn't planning on it," Wyatt said and turned with Hannah to move along the hallway. Before he entered the hallway, he stopped and faced Aldan. "One last thing. I need you to tell my earlier version that Linda is important."

  "Important?" Aldan asked.

  "Those are your words that drove me to get this far," Wyatt responded.

  Aldan shook his head once and downed the rest of the water. That had to be good enough, Wyatt thought. He moved along the hallway with Hannah, relieved to see that it was not the same house she had taken him to before sending him back with the drone.

  They moved quietly toward the back right side of the house, and Wyatt found a room with a window in that side of the house. It was a small window, with a screen but it was simple enough to open. He pushed the screen through and tried to catch it, but it fell into the bushes below. That had to be the sound his earlier version had heard.

  He could have laughed at that thought if he wasn't drenched in sweat. The headache that would accompany messing up his previous versions experience would be too much. Outside the house, it was still dark as Wyatt helped Hannah slowly through the window.

  He didn't even pause in the dark room to look around. It was a bedroom without a bed. In the unlit darkness, it was just an empty, carpeted room. He hadn't even seen a closet door, but he hadn't looked.

  The dried grass outside the window crunched under his feet as he and Hannah made their way into the short trees and sagebrush that surrounded that side of the house.

  "Did you see us?" Hannah asked, with a slight laugh in her voice.

  "No," Wyatt said. "All I remember is hearing what I thought was a dog or other wild animal." He crouched with her in a small group of trees that might have just been overgrown shrubs.

  "What do we do now?" Hannah said. "You brought the drone I wasn't sure if I would see. But I don't know what else to do."

  Wyatt nodded and sat on his butt in the dirt. He felt the same way. Staring at the house, he knew that his earlier versions would be entering soon and relaxing until about noon.

  He turned back toward Hannah after catching his breath. The sweat that soaked his shirt chilled him in the freezing air of November. He wished he had remained a little calmer, but after a two-mile jog to the house, sweat was normal.

  Hannah seemed to be a little better off. Her shirt was also soaked in sweat, but she didn't seem to be shivering or noticing the cold as much as he did.

  "I think we need to get back to a place that is warmer," Wyatt said, stretching his shirt away from his stomach. As he released it, he realized that had been a mistake. The cold soaked through it back into his core.

  "Where and when?" Hannah asked. "Is there any place that is safe?"

  "Aldan probably thought this place was safe until we arrived here," Wyatt said, nodding. He thought back to all the location codes and times he could remember. In the week or two he had worked for the Machina, there weren't many. But he had written all the codes he knew on his notebook that the other version of Hannah had shown him. He let out a sigh.

  "What?" Hannah said, leaning closer.

  Wyatt shook his head and swallowed. "Have you taken anything from me?" he asked.

  "What would I take from you?" Hannah asked.

  That didn't sit well with Wyatt. He leaned back and tried to make sense of the rampaging thoughts in his mind. He really didn't know who he could trust, but he wanted to trust Hannah.

  "What did I take from you?" Hannah prodded.

  "I have a notebook," Wyatt said. "And the last time I saw you, you had it."

  "How do you know I had it?" Hannah asked.

  "The last time I saw you," Wyatt began his answer, "you showed it to me. Why would you take that?" The answer seemed to burn right there in front of his face. She had probably taken it because of this conversation, but he wanted to see how she would respond.

  Hannah placed her hands in her pants pocket, the cold seeming to finally affect her. He thought he saw her shiver.

  "I think you are worried about the wrong things," Hannah said after a moment. "You trying to get the others in your group back but worrying about why I would have that notebook won't help. Maybe you give that to me to help you."

  Wyatt rolled up onto his knees and watched her, but he didn't say anything. She was right. That notebook was the least of his worries. "I just don't know where to start," he said.

  "Okay," Hannah said, taking her hands out of her pants shifting to squat closer to him. "Let's go over the changes you have seen."

  With a lengthy sigh, Wyatt launched into an explanation of all he had experienced. He missed some but gave her what he thought were the important parts. Starting off with the special warehouse that had suffered a bit of a fire, he moved through his explanation as if he were a narrator of some awful documentary. He told her of the business park structure and the double memories of the sedan. He told her of the times he had seen Lenny wake and disappear with the other crew. He told her about Avery and Jeremy's attempt to get away from the Lindas and their apparently subsequent loss of their wrist terminals. Lastly, he told her about the way this version of Aldan had called out for Brooke and Jarod had taken her. "I think they must be connected somehow, but that's all I can come up with."

  Hannah nodded her head in silence.

  "I think they are all connected somehow," Wyatt said.

  "Well, they all happened around you," Hannah said.

  "That's the problem." Wyatt rubbed his hands together. "I want to fix it." He looked back toward the house in the growing light of the morning. He didn't want to stay in the area much longer for fear of one of the Linda's finding him. "Apparently, I gave you some direction, but I have no idea when or where that would be."

  Hannah nodded as a smile crept onto her face.

  "Have I already done that?" Wyatt asked, wondering at her smile.

  "No," she said, shaking her head. "Sorry. I was just thinking about how strange this time travel stuff is."

  "You've had a little more experience than I have," Wyatt said. "I thought for sure you would remember that notebook."

  "I haven't taken it yet," Hannah said. "Did my later version tell you how she got it?"

  "Two of your later versions have it," Wyatt said, shaking his head and calming himself. "I think Linda is after a copy of it. That's why Linda keeps finding me."

  "Let's go back and destroy it," Hannah said. "Seems simple enough. If they can't see where you have been, they won't be able to find you."

  Wyatt let out a sigh. "But that would just add to the amount of damage that has already been done to our timestream." He thought about it for a few seconds then added. "Every versi
on of you that had it said you got it from me."

  "That helps," Hannah said. "Why would you give it to me?"

  "Why would I suddenly appear where you were preparing for lunch and tell you I needed help?" Wyatt let that question settle in her mind for a moment. He had heard the older version of Hannah say that. But he couldn't quite make sense of the fact that the version of Hannah with him now was younger but was no longer in the warehouse.

  "How did you get out of the warehouse?" Wyatt asked after the pause drew on too long.

  "What do you mean?" Hannah asked and looked down at her left wrist. She didn't wear a wrist terminal.

  "How did you get here?" Wyatt asked. "Are you hiding a wrist terminal somewhere?"

  She smiled at him and worked her way to her feet. "It sounds like we need to start off with that notebook. When should we go to get that?"

  "I need an answer," Wyatt said, rising to stand beside her. "Did someone toss you through?"

  "That older woman dressed in a thick white coat found me," Hannah said, meshing her fingers together. "It was soon after you came back into the warehouse to visit me."

  "Did she seem familiar?" Wyatt asked, wanting to verify whether it had been an older version of Hannah or the version of Linda.

  "She was very familiar, and old," Hannah said. "Why?"

  "Back when you were nervous about someone following you?" Wyatt asked, ignoring her question. His brain struggled to stretch around the new thoughts forming with her statement. "You're from that time I visited you?"

  "I don't remember you visiting me that day," Hannah said. "Before I arrived here, I was in the warehouse on October 15, 2039. You had just left me there, so I went to find lunch. That older woman in white approached and gave me that tablet or phone." She held up the phone-like device she had used to control the drone.

  "Do you know who that was?" Wyatt asked, wondering if he should tell her that it was an older version of herself. He decided to wait and see how she responded.

  "She activated a portal," Hannah continued. "Before pushing me through it, she said the tablet contained an app for controlling a drone and that drone would open this location up for the Machina."

  "Wow," Wyatt said. This version of Hannah must have been taken before his trip to Hannah when she had taken his wrist terminal. His mind couldn't make sense of that. "The past may really be messed up."

  "And I think that woman could have been me. She looked familiar." Hannah dropped her hands to her sides. "So, are we going after that notebook now, or what?"

  "Give me a second," Wyatt said, knowing full well his mind would not process it fast enough. "It's just too much to think through. Everything is connected."

  "And you said if we stay in any one place too long, Linda will find us," Hannah urged. "We really should be moving."

  Wyatt nodded, and set his wrist terminal to R333PS, Tuesday, April 4, at 2:00 am. It seemed safe because that was the morning after he fell asleep for one of his longest sleeps. That may be the best time to retrieve his notebook.

  Hannah smiled at him as he looked up and activated his portal. "Wish us luck," she said.

  CHAPTER thirty-five

  DORMITORY ENTRANCE, R333PS,

  TUESDAY, APRIL 4, 2090, 2:00 AM

  The warehouse was warmer than the dirt road, but the odors of mildew and age were worse. Hannah supported him as he recovered from the resonance. The dizziness was the worst.

  "Are you okay?" Hannah asked.

  "Yeah," Wyatt said, scanning the darkened warehouse for any signs of anyone. Seeing they were alone, he turned back to Hannah. "Are you okay if I go in there by myself?"

  Hannah started to nod then pulled him close. "Just don't get distracted by anything. We don't know how long you have."

  "So far," Wyatt started, looking into her eyes, "my memories haven't been affected. But I was sleeping."

  Hannah nodded and let go of Wyatt's arm. He stepped around her and approached the door. The handle was cool, but quiet as he turned it.

  Inside, he heard the snoring and heavy breathing of the rest of his group. Looking at them, he felt a sense of loss. They had all disappeared because of him. As he scanned the darkened room, Aldan and Jeremy slept noisily on their side of the room. The bed near the door on that side was empty and perfectly made. So, Linda had not been there. That relieved him, until he saw the empty bed between Avery and his earlier version.

  Brooke was gone.

  He glanced back through the dormitory doorway, hoping he would see Brooke standing out there somewhere, waiting for him. It didn't make any sense. He remembered her being there. She had urged him to go and find Hannah, which he had done and returned without his wrist terminal.

  The only person he saw through the doorway was Hannah. She stood on her own, with her back to the shelving and watching him through the door.

  The snoring in the room had not changed. Everyone still slept. He moved quietly around the kitchen area and to the foot of his bed. At the last moment, he scanned under the closed bathroom door to see if any lights were on.

  It was dark. Where had Brooke gone? He didn't remember feeling any resonance, but he also didn't remember anything after he fell asleep. Even now, he could see how deeply his earlier version slept.

  After another look around the room, he stepped closer to the foot of his bed and the footlocker that resided there. He crouched and reached for the lid, ready to open it.

  "What are you after?" Brooke's voice asked from behind him.

  She stepped quietly out of the bathroom, holding the door, and guiding it closed as she watched him in the darkness. Her blue jeans and black shirt made her hard to see.

  "I didn't mean to wake you," Wyatt said, hoping she would think his earlier version was just a pile of wadded bedding. It would have worked if that had not been the time that his earlier version let out a choking snore as he rolled over.

  "What are you doing here?" Brooke asked as she stepped nearer. "If you were anyone else, I would wake them, so tell me why you are here."

  Wyatt shook his head and looked back over his shoulder at her. She stood within arm's reach, and he could smell the hint of her sweat. Her shirt clung to her as if it were wet.

  "Have you been running from something?" Wyatt asked.

  "We could ask questions all night, but eventually your other version will wake," Brooke said. "Are you here because of the changes?"

  It was so hard not to trust her. He struggled not to blurt out all that had happened. She had, after all, been keeping secrets from him. Sharing his memories with her, might be the wrong thing. "I'm going to keep asking the questions until I get an answer," he said.

  Brooke shook her head defiantly. "I had a place to go," she said. "And that is all I will tell you. Now, why are you here?"

  Wyatt rose to his feet and turned to face her. "What do you know of all the changes?"

  "Why are you here?" Brooke asked in return, with her voice barely above a whisper, but full of intensity. She folded her arms then unfolded them and stepped around him toward her bed.

  "I'm trying to stop the changes," Wyatt said. "Is that good enough?" He started to follow her, saw that she had reached for a long white tee shirt, and thought better of it. He turned his back as she started to pull off her black shirt.

  "You can look now," Brooke said after he caught her black shirt falling on the floor beside his feet.

  Turning to face her, he waited for her answer to his question. He didn't want to tell her too much about what he was doing.

  "What are you involved with?" Brooke asked. She stepped closer and kept her voice low.

  "Probably the same thing you are involved in," Wyatt answered, hoping to draw her out a little.

  "I doubt that," Brooke said. She smiled and folded her arms. Her eyes were hard to read in the darkness, and although she smiled, he wasn't sure if that smile filled her face like it had so many other times.

  "Listen," Wyatt said. "I need to get something from my footlocker and get out o
f here."

  "Of course," Brooke said. "I don't want to hold you up, but are you certain it will help?" She still smiled, and this time her face caught the light enough to show the smile filled her face.

  That relaxed Wyatt a little. He turned toward his footlocker and dug through the clothing. All the while, another fear grew inside him. If he showed her what he was after, she might come back earlier and find it. He hoped the notebook would still be in the footlocker.

  His fingers brushed it, but he left the orange shirt over it.

  "Did you find it?" Brooke asked.

  "What do you think I'm looking for?" Wyatt asked.

  "It's gone, isn't it?" Brooke asked.

  Wyatt looked from her back into the footlocker, trying to make sense of what she meant. She began to say something else when he realized what she meant. "My contract is gone."

  He rolled back onto his heals and stared up at her.

  "Yes," Brooke said. "They are dangerous things." She leaned down. "No one should have their contract until they are ready to retire."

  "Did you do something with them?" Wyatt asked.

  Brooke shook her head. "No," she said. "But Lenny has spoken with us about the need to keep them safe." Her smile faded for a moment as she looked away.

  The white tee shirt hung almost to her knees over her blue jeans, but it was large enough that it hung away from her body as she bent over.

  "I don't like this," Wyatt said. "Where is my contract?"

  "That's why I am awake," Brooke said. "I've been trying to see where Lenny might have taken them."

  Wyatt tried to remember if this version of himself that slept had realized Lenny was lost. Looking back at Brooke, he figured that was what she referred to. When Lenny had left, had he taken their contracts?

  It didn't seem like Brooke knew.

  He bent back over his footlocker, stuffed the notebook into the orange shirt, and pulled it out. The shirt was larger than the palm-sized notebook and seemed to cover it well.