by Nick Cook
Ethan turned to me. ‘Why haven’t we jumped?’
‘My guess is that we’ve never tried teleporting so close to a portal to the Void before,’ I replied. ‘But if we focus with everything we’ve got, we might succeed – we almost nailed it just now.’
Ethan nodded and his eyes became slits as he concentrated. The wind’s howl rose to a scream and we had to brace ourselves against being pulled towards the singularity of dark energy.
I screwed up every gram of concentration within my mind. If Ethan had a way to stop this, however crazy, we had to get out of here.
The light flared again and once more I saw the brick building of the Ellis Island Museum wavering as if through water. But I clung on to that image, willing it to stabilise, ignoring the storm of my fear raging inside me about what would happen if this failed to work.
Then, like a camera’s autofocus kicking in, the image of the island sharpened and I was standing at the jump point on Ellis Island. A Chinook had landed nearby. Fresh hope surged through me, because that meant the L3 Waverider must have arrived.
There was another flash of light and Ethan appeared by my side.
‘You made it,’ Sentinel’s voice said though our eBuds.
‘Just,’ I replied.
We both turned to stare at Long Island on the horizon, where a huge dark sphere of fog was rapidly expanding from the destroyed Brookhaven Laboratory.
Gem came racing out from the museum, along with Mayor Kildare and his agents.
The mayor raised a shaking finger towards the expanding mushroom cloud. ‘What the hell happened?’ he asked.
‘Dark Sunset, that’s what’s happened,’ I replied. ‘And we need the L3 online now – it’s the only way we can save your city.’
Kildare stared at us. ‘Did I just hear you correctly?’
‘You did. It’s why you have a Waverider here in the first place.’
The mayor looked at me, ashen-faced. ‘But what about all those people on Long Island?’
‘You need to organise the immediate evacuation of Long Island while we get the L3 online. That’s our only hope to save the rest of the city.’
‘Oh, sweet lord,’ Kildare said.
Gem grabbed my arm. ‘But we haven’t finished calibrating the sensors yet. Chloe’s still got a good ten minutes of work to do until it’ll be online.’
‘But at the rate all that dark energy is spilling into our world, we have nothing like that long,’ I replied.
Ethan nodded. ‘Jake’s right. ‘We’ll be swamped long before then and New York will be lost to the Shadowlands for good.’
‘This can’t be happening,’ Mayor Kildare said, his hands on his head.
‘Unfortunately, it is, but it’s what we do next that really matters.’
‘Then let’s just pray we can get the L3 calibrated in time,’ Gem replied before rushing back inside.
Kildare was now pacing up and down. ‘OK, we need to kick our emergency evacuation plans into action, people,’ he said to the group gathered round him. He rushed off with his agents towards a waiting helicopter as many of them barked orders into their phones.
‘We’d better go see if we can help Gem and Chloe,’ I said to Ethan. I started to head inside but Ethan grabbed my arm.
He looked at the museum door and then back to the island. ‘Hang on, Jake, about that plan of mine. If it works, it will give them enough time to get the L3 online.’
‘How exactly?’
‘You’re going to need to trust me on this.’
‘I’ll always trust you, but…’
‘Just work with me and you’ll see. The first thing we need to do is teleport to right outside the Brookhaven site.’
‘You can’t seriously want us to head back into that nightmare again?’
‘It’s what needs to be done.’
‘Any chance you’ll tell me what your plan is before we do this?’
‘No chance whatsoever.’ He pulled out his phone and opened a map of Brookhaven’s immediate area. He tapped on the screen and scrolled sideways towards a small cluster of suburban houses to the west of the facility. ‘OK, that should be far enough away from the singularity to teleport to safely. When we get there, I’ll fill you in.’
‘But those houses will be overrun at any moment.’
‘That’s actually part of my plan…’
Before I could ask what he meant by that, he sent me a link to the aerial map and disappeared in a flash of light.
I had a bad feeling about this – knowing Ethan it was bound to be something stupid and reckless, but also totally heroic. And I had no choice.
I focused on the aerial image of the suburb now displayed on my own phone screen. The world blazed with light and once more my vision wavered – this time between the view of Ellis Island and a typical American suburb of white wooden houses.
The harder I focused, the more the view bounced between the two locations. Come on, damn it… I dug my fingernails into my palms as a burning sensation filled my mind…and then I was standing next to Ethan on a suburban street.
A car horn blared and we leapt aside as an SUV sped past us. Inside, a family was staring out at the expanding dark mushroom cloud behind us.
Ethan turned to me and rolled up his sleeves. ‘OK, time to fill you in on the details. You know that gift of mine with time?’
‘Of course I do – we wouldn’t be standing here without it.’
‘So…I need to ’fess up about another element of it I’ve been working on.’
I narrowed my gaze on him. ‘Go on.’
‘It turns out that peering back through time is just one aspect. You see, I’ve been working on something secretly with Sentinel. I didn’t want to tell you about it until all the kinks were ironed out.’
‘Just tell me already.’
‘You know that time the chicken kebab vanished off your plate back in the mess tent?’
‘I assumed that was Domino.’
‘Actually, it was me trying out a new aspect of my ability, something that Sentinel suggested. Sentinel thought, with the right training, that I might be able to create a time stasis field. With his help, we soon discovered I could freeze a bubble of time for a short while. But unlike what Sentinel did at the Hopworth Science Park to free your dad from the explosion, this was a stasis field I could also move around while everything else remained frozen within it.’
‘Seriously?’
‘Yep. So back in the mess tent I literally froze time around us. I strolled up to you, even waved my hand in your face, as I swiped your kebab and ate it. It seemed like as good a test as any.’
‘Which is amazing, if also a tiny bit annoying as you didn’t tell me sooner. So how can it help us now?’
‘I’m pretty sure if I throw everything into it, I can expand a stasis time bubble to stretch at least several miles across, although I won’t be able to maintain it for long. That’s what Sentinel believed I was capable of anyway.’
‘Hang on, you’re not saying you’re gonna throw a time bubble over the entire Shadowlands fog bank that expands out from the singularity?’
Ethan shoved his hands in his pockets. The air was growing chill enough to make our breath steam as the fog bank rolled towards us. ‘I have to give it a go.’
‘But surely you have to be in the immediate area to cast the bubble…?’ My words trailed away as I realised exactly what Ethan was thinking. ‘You’re talking about heading into the fog yourself, aren’t you?’
‘It’s the only way this is going to work, Jake. It’ll give Chloe enough time to get the L3 online. It will also give Mayor Kildare the chance to get as many people off Long Island as possible before the Shadowlands swamps it.’
My eyes searched his. ‘But you can’t be sure that you can even pull this off.’
‘Not at all, but I have to try – think of all the lives that will be saved if I give us even a little breathing space.’
I sighed. ‘I’ll cover your back for as long
as I can by holding off the Shade inside the Shadowlands.’
‘No, you can’t – you have to survive to carry on the fight and this is almost certainly going to be a one-way ticket.’
‘If you think I’m going to let you head in there alone, you’re even crazier I thought.’
Ethan raised his hand. ‘I’m really sorry, Jake.’
‘Sorry for what?’
‘Sorry for having to do this.’ Ethan turned his head slightly away, his eyes tight shut. A blazing spark, way brighter than normal, erupted from his palm.
Immediately my vision whited out and I stumbled back as I shielded my eyes. I heard footsteps running away fast.
My vision started to clear in time to see my friend sprinting straight towards the fog bank that reared up over the houses. ‘Ethan, stop!’ I shouted, stumbling half blind after him.
‘In another life, Jake.’
I headed after his blurred form as he approached the creeping dark fog.
‘Sorry,’ he called as he glanced back and gave me a wide smile. Then he turned away and rushed straight into the fog bank, swallowed up as if in a dark sea.
I kept running as dark shapes swirled through the fog, stopping where Ethan had entered. He didn’t stand a chance in there. But then a pulse of brilliance erupted within the fog bank, illuminating it from the inside like lightning in a thundercloud. Static washed over me, tingling my skin and then the surface shimmered into something glasslike as the entire fog bank froze.
My stomach churned as I headed towards the glistening surface and placed my hand on it. Solid, just like the stasis field that Sentinel had created around the original portal.
I peered through into the frozen fog and a movement snagged my eyes. My heart surged as Ethan appeared on the other side of the barrier, beads of sweat dripping from his forehead. His left hand was raised in the air and light-lines crackled out from it into the fog.
He came to a stop on the other side of the translucent wall. ‘Holy crap, it’s only bloody worked,’ he said through gritted teeth, his voice muted by the shimmering wall of time between us.
‘But you’re trapped in there with Archios and all those other bloody Shade.’
‘I know, but the important thing is that we’ve given the rest of New York a chance to survive this. I should be able to maintain the field for a while longer, although I have to say this is seriously knackering.’
‘And what happens when you can’t keep it going, Ethan?’
‘Then all hell breaks loose and it’s time for me to bow out of this game.’
I stared at my friend, not really believing this could be happening. ‘I won’t let this be the end. There has to be a way to get you out of there alive.’
Ethan shook his head. ‘I wish there were, Jake, but life is such a bitch sometimes, especially when Chloe and I have only just found each other.’
‘Ethan, you can’t give up like this.’
‘This is the very opposite of giving up, Jake. This is about making a difference so that all the millions of people in New York get to see another tomorrow. While people like you, Chloe and Gem are still fighting, along with the other Awoken, there’s still hope for this world, whatever the Shade throw at us.’
‘But I can’t let you die alone, Ethan.’
‘You have to, Jake. Your fight isn’t done yet. You and the others need to do everything you can to protect as many people as possible. Most of all, whatever happens, never let the Shade win.’ He pressed his right hand to the other side of the time bubble.
A lump filled my throat as I brought my hand up and splayed out my fingers to match Ethan’s. ‘I promise you, we’ll never give in.’
He gave me a weary smile. ‘Glad to hear it.’ He paused, then added, ‘Jake, you need to do something else for me. Tell Chloe just how much I love her.’
The back of my eyes stung and I nodded.
‘Good. Now get out of here and do what you need to do before I start losing it. But please don’t tell Chloe what I’m up to, at least not right away, otherwise she’ll teleport straight here and try to talk me out of it. And that’s something we haven’t got time for. Just tell Mayor Kildare I expect a statue in Central Park to commemorate my heroic gesture.’ Ethan gave me a crooked grin that cracked my heart wide open.
My friend, my mate, the person that was going to leave an Ethan-shaped hole in my life. ‘We’ll never forget what you’ve done here, Ethan.’
‘You’d better bloody not.’ His smile widened and then he backed away into the fog and disappeared from view.
I stared for a moment through the wall in time between us. How could I not tell Chloe about this straight away?
His words looped through my mind… While people like you, Chloe and Gem are still fighting…there’s still hope for this world, whatever the Shade throw at us.
Fresh determination burned through me to do exactly what Ethan had asked of me, however hard, and to never give up.
A car sped past containing another family staring open-mouthed at the frozen fog bank. They had no idea they’d just been saved by a guy who once lived on the streets.
My thoughts crystallised. This was what we were fighting for. Even if people didn’t realise our whole world was at stake, we’d fight to save every last one of them.
I summoned every dot of concentration, trying to find the calmness from all those sessions of staring at bloody candles. It felt like a lifetime ago.
The houses faded away and Ellis Island shimmered into view, but once again the locations shifted backwards and forth. With every scrap of focus, it still took a good couple of minutes to finally teleport away in a flash of light.
Chapter Eighteen
As I materialised, I saw helicopters filling the skies as they flew to and from Long Island. Countless ferries, along with smaller boats, were also evacuating people from the island. It seemed that Kildare had been as good as his word and was emptying Long Island of people as quickly as possible.
I glanced at my watch. Five minutes had passed since Ethan had first created the stasis field and we needed every extra second he could give us.
‘Jake, are you there?’ Sentinel said in my eBud.
‘Yes, what’s happening here?’
‘The others are inside setting up the L3 now.’
‘Good.’ I sprinted into the museum to see Chloe and the other Awoken clustered round the unpacked Waverider. A metal torus ring was already humming next to it, with large pipes connecting it to a steam turbine device. That would convert the heat from it into steam in order to generate the power that would be needed. From that, a large power line snaked across to a huge polished-chrome sphere that reflected the room like a funhouse mirror. A seat and a smaller sphere were mounted in front of it – where an Awoken would place their hands to stabilise the energy field that the Waverider sphere would produce. Months and months of planning had come down to this.
Near the L3 fusion generator, Gem had her hands extended over Carl wounds. I could see they had mostly vanished thanks to her efforts.
I sprinted across the room, everyone turning towards me.
‘Where have you been?’ Chloe asked. ‘The Shadowlands will overrun this place at any moment and we need to seriously consider making a last stand or getting the hell out of here.’
‘We’ve got longer than you realise, thanks to Ethan, so keep going.’
‘How?’ Chloe replied, her expression suspicious.
‘He’s created a temporary time bubble to stop the Shadowlands expanding from Brookhaven – at least for a while.’
Chloe gawped at me. ‘He did what?’
‘There’s no time to discuss it – he won’t be able to continue much longer before the time bubble collapses and the Shadowlands carries on expanding again.’
‘But won’t he be really close when that happens?’ Gem said.
Chloe’s gaze tightened on me.
Please don’t tell Chloe what I’m up to, at least not right away…
I shrugged. ‘Ethan’s got it covered. He’ll teleport straight back to Culham when he’s done.’ The lie felt bitter in my mouth.
I broke eye contact with Chloe before she sussed me. ‘I’m heading outside to keep an eye on what’s happening,’ I said.
I felt her eyes burning into my back I ran out of the door.
Outside, the Shadowlands mushroom cloud still hung frozen over Long Island behind a shimmering curtain of energy.
I heard footsteps and then felt a hand on my shoulder. Here it came… But instead of Chloe, I found myself looking at Gem.
‘What’s the real story, Jake?’
Grief crowded my throat. ‘Ethan’s basically inside the Shadowlands. That’s how he’s creating the stasis field around it to freeze time.’
Gem peered at me. ‘So what happens when he can’t maintain it any longer?’
I hung my head to look at the floor. ‘I tried to stop him, Gem, but he pulled a fast one.’
Her face paled, a hand on my chest. ‘You mean there’s nothing we can do to save him?’
‘Nothing.’ I stared at the ground, grinding my foot as if I were stamping out a cigarette butt.
Gem gently raised my head to make me look at her. ‘That’s so bloody Ethan.’
‘Isn’t it?’ I had to turn my head away to fight the tears back.
‘I’m so sorry, Jake.’
‘It should be me, Gem.’
‘But it couldn’t be. This is something that only Ethan can do.’
When I didn’t reply, Gem took my hand but didn’t say anything. Together we turned to look in silence at the frozen Shadowlands above Long Island.
A ferry’s horn blasted out as it sped away from the island, its decks packed with people.
‘Every one of those people escaping Long Island owes their life to Ethan,’ Gem finally said.
‘Too much the hero for his own good,’ I replied.