by Holly Hook
"That's easy for you to say." Everything's closing in on me.
We're running into another open area. I realize that this used to be the library where we looked up the Titanic and Frank's role in our existence. But it's gone now. Instead, we emerge into a claustrophobic room with a low ceiling and no windows. There are men and women in military uniforms here. Many of them sit and face computer screens lit up in blue. Some of the screens display the frigid plains of Antarctica outside with scrolling text. No one's talking. A man wearing a green general's uniform complete with medals and badges looks after us as we run through. Mulavi says something to him and the general steps aside. Beyond him, there's a doorway leading to a white, sterile area with several cots encased in glass cocoons. The medical bay. I hope that, since there's a war going on, they have good ways to fix violent wounds in a hurry.
"Simon, you're going to be okay," I say, running up to him. One of the medics yells something at me and shoves out of the way. "You'll be fine. They'll take care of you," I shout. The smell of blood is even stronger now and the air's almost hot in here. It's humid. There's a fan in the ceiling blowing down some kind of steam.
The glass rises off one of the cots.
They slide Simon onto it, complete with the canvas gurney. The glass lowers over him.
I want to hold his hand more than anything. I rush over and try to take it, but one of the medics pulls me out of the way. The glass comes all the way down over Simon, separating him from me and the others. One of the military men stands there, making demands of the medics in a language I don't know. I can guess from his tone what he's asking. Are these newcomers a threat? I think we should deal with them. But I don't want to argue right now and I don't care if they think we're agents sent by the dictator to steal the time lab or whatever. I just want Simon to be well so we can go make this world better for Arnelia. I won't let Chalmers or whoever get a hold of her and steal her technology. Or worse--kill her.
My chest hurts. We're back at square one. Frank's gone, forever in his own time, but Arnelia's still in mortal danger. We've accomplished nothing.
This isn't going to work.
Simon closes his eyes and breathes evenly, like he's going into a restful sleep. The inside of the glass cocoon lights up, making him appear radiant and angelic. One of the medics stands by and observes while the other three rush into another room, probably to control whatever's going on. Simon's gone under. I'm glad to see him out of pain, but the blood on his leg remains as bad as ever.
“Hurry,” Arnelia tells the medics. “Hurry.”
"Excuse me," Monica says.
"How are they going to heal him?" I ask Arnelia. I have to know.
"We use nanotechnology," she says.
"You use what?"
"Tiny robots," she says. "They will go in and close the wound and deliver drugs to stop infection. It looks like Simon will then need a transfusion of blood." She asks the medic something in her own language. He responds, and Arnelia translates for me. "The entire process will take about twenty minutes. After that, Simon will be healed enough to function normally."
"Thank you." I hug Arnelia and she returns it. "Thank you. After this, we will go back and make sure Chalmers never has the chance to terrorize you." We only have to deal with our huge mistake for another half hour or so.
Then, we have to return to 1912 and sacrifice those fifteen hundred people. It's not a thought that makes me feel good--and I know it's going to torment me for the rest of my life--but this reality is so much worse. If the Titanic sinks, none of these horrible mistakes will ever happen.
“Excuse me," Monica says, louder.
I face her. She stands by the doorway that leads back to the surveillance room.
"Why was the sky darkening outside?” Monica asks. “I noticed when we were passing through that second glass dome out there. Something didn't look right. It might just be me because I have no idea what's going on here, but I want an answer so I can at least breathe a big sigh of relief.”
Arnelia faces her. “What?”
"The sky was darkening,” she says, waving us back to where we came. “I'll show you."
I don't like the look on Arnelia's face. I face Simon. He lies there in the dome, unconscious. The light remains bright around him, bright and hopeful. I wonder if the tiny robots have gone to work on his leg yet. I don't see anything. Maybe they're so small that you can only see them with a microscope.
Arnelia says something I don't understand to the military guys around me. They back away as if to let me through. “We have to check this out. Come with me.”
I follow her back through the tunnel. Two of the military men follow us. I hate to leave Simon, but at least he looks comfortable now. And Isabel will just have to wait there for us to return.
We run down the metal tube. I miss the purple water that used to swirl around the walls. Yes, I miss the water. I can't believe I'm thinking that. It was a part of a world Arnelia was supposed to live in and enjoy.
We emerge into the lobby, the one with the glass dome that used to have the fountain. The glass dome is reinforced with metal that appears to be heavier than it was before the world changed. I don't remember that part being there.
“Oh, no,” Arnelia says, looking up. The two men stop behind her.
I remember the sky dimming before we even left the Time Lab. This is even worse now. There's a black cloud spreading over the sky above, blocking out the sun. If I didn't know better, I'd say it was some kind of black static, spreading over the sky and eating all the life out of it. But that doesn't make sense. It almost looks like a giant swarm of bugs.
One of the soldiers says something that must be a curse.
"What's this?” I ask.
Arnelia grabs my arm. She's shaking. “He's come for us. He's sent his own nanobots.”
"The what?”
“Just move!” She pulls me back towards the medical bay. "We have to get Simon and get out of here now!"
I brave one final look at the swarm right above us. Nanobots. Are those some kind of tiny robots, too?
There's a cracking sound right above our heads. I join Arnelia in running down the tunnel.
"They're trying to eat their way in,” she says. “We can't let them get us. Nanobots...they'll eat you alive. And make more copies of themselves from you.”
“What?” I explode.
“He's sent them. Chalmers.” She pulls at me with so much force that I nearly come off my feet, even though I'm already running. “We have to go. There's no time to let Simon heal.”
The cracking sound grows louder.
Tiny robots that eat you alive.
This isn't the way it should be here.
There should be happy people milling around and learning things and having great lives. Not this terror. Not this destruction.
We burst back into the medical bay, through soldiers who now stand and scramble and shout. The screens around us all flash red with warnings. I gasp for breath. Simon still lies inside the cocoon beyond the chaos. There's some kind of alarm going off though the whole complex, a loud, terrified beeping sound. Feet move. People run. Even the medics scramble out of the room. No one remembers Simon lying there in the bubble, encased in that glass. Isabel and Monica wait next to him, unsure what to do.
"Hey!" I shout at the last medic running out of the room. He faces me once, turns, and runs after everyone else, leaving us alone.
I have to break the glass and get him out of there. Those things are eating their way in right now. Because we screwed up. We have to get out of here and take Arnelia with us. The thought of getting eaten alive my millions of metal bugs far outstrips the terror of drowning or of sinking into a black sea to rest there for the rest of time.
Even if I have to die on the Titanic, it's a much better death than the alternative.
“Isabel. Monica. We need to grab Simon and run.”
“But he's still bleeding,” Isabel says.
“NOW!”
I search around
for something, anything to smash the bubble and get Simon out. The cracking outside grows louder. It's almost like the cracking we heard in the Hub. Everything is falling apart.
There's nothing I can grab to break glass with. The world Arnelia inhabits is full of smooth edges and sterile walls. I have to beat at the glass with my fists. I kick. Scream at Simon to wake. None of it works. Then I hook my hands underneath the bubble and lift.
To my shock, the glass rises.
“Simon!” I have to shout over the alarm. "We have to go. Wake up!”
“Huh?” He makes a face as if upset that I'm bringing him back into the world.
“UP!"
He opens his eyes and grimaces. The device hasn't had time to heal him. The smell of his blood is there as much as ever, just now released by the rising of the bubble.
Monica helps to push him up. He swings his legs off the table. Arnelia is practically jumping up and down. We're the only ones left in the area. Footfalls echo from down the corridor. Everyone's probably running for the Time Lab. It's our only exit out of here. If we're still here and those bots destroy it, we're dead. It's all over.
Simon staggers to his feet. “This still hurts,” he says. “Are you sure the technology here is still fantastic?”
There's no time to explain. “If we don't leave now, we die. Now run!”
I let him lean on my shoulder again, which protests with his weight. Monica helps him and we're dragging Simon as fast as we can through the surveillance room. The computers still flash in red and the alarm is even louder here. No one's left. It's all panic. The cracking sound grows worse, like those nanobots are chewing their way down through the complex. Somewhere, I hear screams. This isn't going to be a pleasant death.
Simon yells in pain. I can't stop. Arnelia runs ahead of us, waving us along. We can never come back here. Ever. Once we go through the rift, we have to go back to 1912 and take our chances there, no matter what they are.
“Come on!” She waves us along. Isabel joins her, asking what's going on.
We emerge back in the lobby and I look up again, wishing I hadn't. There's nothing but moving darkness outside in the Antarctic air. The dome is cracking and frigid air blasts down. Tiny shards of glass rain to the floor. I know that feeling all too well. It sends me right back to the night Simon and I fell to our deaths.
Maybe we should.
“Come on!” Arnelia repeats, even though none of us have stopped. The air in the lobby looks smoky and dangerous. A horrible buzzing noise fills the air, cutting over the cracking. It's the bots. Lines run down the walls them as if termites are eating holes in it.
Something stings on my back and I scream. A line of pain slices down my back. Blood drips. I can't die this way. It's too insane, too horrible. Too pointless.
Simon screams as well. Is it from his leg or something new?
We stagger forward into the tunnel that leads to the Time Lab. People are shouting from there. Someone must have turned on the rift by now. It's the only way out. I doubt there are any cars waiting to take us away and even if there are, there's no way they could escape this swarm.
There's another string of pain slicing down my back, and another. I can't stand much more of this. The pain is maddening. The walls form dark lines on them. Angry lines. It's almost as bad as those Chronophages. Those nanobots are going to tear down this complex and devour everyone here until that Chalmers dictator gets the technology he needs.
We clear the tunnel. The screen on the artificial rift is alive. Mulavi hits the buttons on the touch screen, which flash blue. There's a small crowd before the rift. The cracking sound is just as bad here and something tiny and black zips past my face. There are more of the bots in here and I delay going in. Simon groans. I hope he's unconscious for the most part. Monica screams and bats something away. So does Isabel. She's sobbing. A line of blood runs down her face.
Mulavi shouts something at us and jumps into the gray wall. He vanishes into it. He's safe on the other side. One of the medics jumps after him, followed by the soldiers.
“We have to move now!” Arnelia shouts. “The bots won't destroy the rift, but they'll destroy us!” She has spots of blood on her robe. They're little red splotches and it looks like she's broken out in disease.
Blood runs down along my scalp. Another slice of pain races down my arm. I hold Simon up higher. There's nothing but cracking and buzzing here. I'm going to have nightmares for the rest of time. This is the most horrible thing I've ever heard.
“Jump!” I shout, but Monica and Isabel have already beaten me to it. I hold my breath and lunge forward, taking Simon back into wherever the rift is going to take us.
Chapter Seventeen
We land in the middle of a small crowd. Red surrounds us. Fog. A soldier looks at me and back to his comrades, who huddle near one of the archways. Pain burns along my skin where the nanobots have taken bites out of me.
Now, at least, I'm in familiar territory again.
“So where is this now?” Monica asks. She holds her hand over her cheek, which is bleeding. There's blood on her hands.
I check to make sure none of those nanobots have come through after us. The air here is clear except for the fog. Two of the soldiers converse in low voices nearby as they study the corridor. I loosen my grip on Simon and allow him to sit. Why didn't we get the time to heal him? It would have helped us immensely. But at least we're here. My wound screams down my back and I can feel that my dress is sticking to me. It's my own blood, but it's not enough to make me bleed out—at least, not yet. Had we remained in 5052 for more than a couple more minutes, I don't want to think about what would have happened.
"Are you okay?" Arnelia asks me. She struggles not to let the pain show on her face.
"I think so."
"Are you okay?" she asks Isabel and Monica.
"I will be, once I know what's going on here," she says. She takes her hand off her cheek. A red line shines across it where the nanobot took a bite out of her skin. Next to her, Isabel's gone silent.
“I suppose I should let you use this,” I say. taking off the hair clip. "Put this on and just touch it. Then you'll remember everything." At least Arnelia still has her own device. That'll help.
And Simon...
"Simon," I say. "How are you feeling?" I eye his leg. At least the bleeding seems to have stopped again, but he's still low on blood.
'"Thirsty," he says. "Very thirsty." He looks up at me. "How did I get hurt? Do you have any water?"
"No. But we can find some." I look up and down the corridor. No one has any.
And Time is still sick.
Very sick. The walls are a dull red and the fog stinks as bad as ever. I feel like we've died and gone to Hell.
And everyone's catching their breath. One of the military men has blood running down his neck. We were all bitten by the nanobots, it seems. But at least none of them followed us through the rift. That would have been terrible if they started chewing at us in here. They'd multiply if Arnelia is right about them and we'd be dead in no time. Only one of the medics has made it, I notice.
Mulavi stands in the corridor, marveling as if he hasn't seen it before. I know why he hasn't. Up until now, there were Timeless here to wipe his memories of all these annoying trips he and the scientists ever took here. Now there aren't any. Mulavi says something to Arnelia and she shakes her head at him, saying something in their normal language. She's filling him in on what this must be. She gestures down the never-ending hallway and at the archways that contain rifts. Mulavi's face falls. I think he's just realized that he's never going to go home again, not unless he wants to be eaten alive. They'll have to settle in another time.
"Well, we have the whole gang here, don't we?” I ask. Monica's face lights up with recognition as she takes off the butterfly. But Isabel still stands there, doing the same as Mulavi and the military personnel that stand and crowd the corridor.
"What's happening?" Simon asks. "Who are all of you?"
“Me next,” Isabel says. “I'm taking it that's some high tech memory device. Are my memories on there, too?”
“They are.” Monica sounds sorry that she has to give them back.
Isabel wears the butterfly and flinches as it starts its work. I don't watch. I sit down beside Simon. “Well, that idea's for getting you better is out.” He conscious, at least, and not passing out. Maybe the fact that he's sitting helps.
He groans. There's new blood on the sleeve of his shirt and on the sides of his overalls, which have a narrow rip down the side. The nanobots have bitten him, too. It's the last thing he needs.
I ignore my own pain. “Isabel. Monica. Arnelia. We need to get Simon help. Even if I take us back to 1912 and ask for the third class doctor there, it's better than nothing. I'm not taking any more risks going time to time.”
Arnelia faces me. “You shouldn't have to die, Julia. Neither you nor Simon should. There must be a way for us to survive without the world falling apart and becoming so horrible. There must be. There was before. We must think of how that is. But now, I have no access to my library. I haven't since the world has gone so dark.”
I try to imagine what kind of dictator would kill people by such a horrible means. A monster. Someone even worse than Hitler.
Someone even worse than Isabel's father.
“We need to get moving,” I say. I won't bother to restore Simon's memory now. There's no time. I take the clip back from Isabel, who looks around at the corridor with recognition. “Everyone—stay together. I don't know what we're all going to do, but it's safer that way.”
Arnelia repeats what I've said to Mulavi, the medic, and the military people. They nod and the military guy pulls out a gun. I feel a lot better knowing that. If Isabel's father comes this way, we have some protection. I count. There are ten of us here.
We're the only survivors of the nanobot attack.
Everyone else in that complex either hasn't made it in time or they're in some kind of shelter. I don't see how a shelter would work, though. Not with the way those things liked to eat through walls and glass and flesh. Anyone left in the Science District is bound to die sooner or later to those things.