The Time Traveler

by Tej Pratap Singh

KC looked up at Jasmine and gave her a look.

  “Good,” she said, “I meant for it to hurt. Here take these painkillers. The water is in the fridge, help yourself to it. And, the next time when people are around to kill you and you are falling off buildings, don’t bother asking for help.”

  “Hey, I got some juice and fruits,” said KC. “Come on, Jasmine, I did it for your good, I was just trying to protect you.”

  “Oh really!” said Jasmine storming back angrily into the living room. “Well, don’t in future.”

  She opened the pack of juice which KC had got and poured some into a glass and took a sip.

  “I don’t even like apple juice,” she said.

  “Okay,” said KC sitting down on the sofa, “I’ll get pineapple next time.”

  “The room to your right,” said Jasmine, “that’s your room for now. You can sleep there. And, don’t you dare do the vanishing act on me again.”

  “No, never again!” he said holding his stomach. “I’ll see you in the morning then.”

  “Good night,” said Jasmine as she walked into her room still angry.

  KC bent over and picked up the pack of juice and took a sip from it, “Hmm… I don’t mind apple juice at all.”

  He got up to go to his room taking out the packet of money which Lurton had given him, he carefully examined the packet hoping to learn something about Lurton from it. There was a note inside. He took it out and read, “The Grand Palm 6 pm.”

  “Well, it seems like we’ve got a date tomorrow, Jasmine,” he said looking at Jasmine’s picture in the living room before walking into his room finally to grab some rest.

  * * *

  Early next morning, Jasmine came to KC’s room with a tray of medicines.

  “What! I am supposed to eat all of this?” said KC looking at the tray.

  “Yes, you better,” replied Jasmine taking out two capsules from the tray. “Unless you want to limp for the rest of your life.”

  “Fine, I’ll have it,” he said washing the medicines down his throat one by one with some juice.

  “You know I should be rewarded for eating all these medicines you keep giving me,” he said.

  “Really?” she said sarcastically.

  “Okay, let me rephrase,” he said keeping the tray aside. “Since you have been taking such good care of me, you deserve an outing.”

  “I’m listening,” said Jasmine.

  “So… how about… I take you out for dinner tonight, let’s say… at… the… Grand Palm?”

  “You are kidding, right?” said Jasmine. “The Grand Palm?”

  “Yeah, that’s right, The Grand Palm, why?” he said.

  “Well, because I don’t think you’ll be able to even pay for the parking there,” she replied walking out of his room. “It’s damn expensive. Why don’t you just buy me a Mercedes instead?”

  “Don’t worry, I’ve got it covered,” said KC as he followed her into the living room.

  Jasmine turned around and looked at him as he sat on the sofa in the living room smiling.

  “So, your new bosses paid you, isn’t it?” she said putting two and two together.

  “Yeah, that’s kinda it,” he said, “and there is more, they want me to meet them there at 6 pm today.”

  “And, I get to be your guest of honor? Is that it?” said Jasmine filling in the gaps.

  “Hell, you are a smart girl, Jazz,” said KC. “So, will you come?”

  “So, the guys who were trying to kill you until yesterday are now treating you to a royal banquet,” said Jasmine. “Why did I ever become a doctor, I should have just taken up a job as crazy as yours. All those years of studying all those books which weighed a ton wasted. So, what is it exactly that you do?”

  “I… ah.. you know,” he said.

  “No, I don’t,” said Jasmine. “I think I deserve to know now.”

  “I promise I’ll tell you tonight after dinner,” said KC.

  “Okay,” said Jasmine, “I’ll come along this time. I deserve a break anyway.”

  KC wondered what he would tell Jasmine. She was not prepared to hear what he had to say. He wondered how he was going to pull this one off. After Jasmine left for her clinic, he occupied himself by having a look at her collection of books and paintings. Accidentally he bumped into a globe kept on one of the shelves, he just about managed to catch it before it could fall to the ground. He looked at the globe, which was divided into hundreds of countries, there were so many of them. In the time period he belonged, there were only two. He wondered how things must have been in the 29th century. He sat on the sofa with his eyes closed, the globe still in his hands, he tried hard to remember something from his time but nothing came to him.

  He then remembered that the holographic projection shown by the time-com displayed all the oil fields and new elements that were not yet discovered. He jumped up and switched on Jasmine’s computer and quickly googled the names of the places that he remembered from the time-com projection.

  Most of the places didn’t show up on the Internet, they were just names, other places had schools and hospitals and vast open farms and deserts. Indeed the projection had shown an image from the future, these places were yet to be discovered.

  “That’s it,” said KC out loud. “That’s why the guys from MegaTech were after this info, if they can get to know this info, they can discover all these oil wells overnight. They would control the major chunk of oil in the world; they would literally control the world economy. That’s what it is all about.”

  He quickly googled MegaTech. He could see the vast weapons they had manufactured and superior robotic armaments they were working on. There were over a thousand articles on how MegaTech was dominating the world weapons, advanced machinery and military market.

  Crap! Thought KC, rubbing his forehead. A.P.U. used to be MegaTech, gradually they got stronger and became A.P.U. They are the founding fathers of the A.P.U. No wonder I was tricked by them into coming back in time and handing over all this data to MegaTech. If they are to discover all of this 200 years sooner than they actually did, then it gives them the advantage they need to crush the I.F. in the 29th century.

  KC realized that while he was deep in thought he had been resting his head on his left hand and the time-com used to show Dr. KC, in the 29th century resting his head on and occasionally scratching his head with his right hand.

  That’s got to be it, he said to himself, I must’ve been as tense as I am now, that’s why I was always resting my head in the time-com hologram message, and the very fact that I was using my right hand instead of my left hand, proves that I was trying to send a message to myself that something is wrong. That message was not being recorded by the I.F. but actually by the A.P.U.

  Dammit, I was tricked, he said to himself.

  KC kept searching the Internet to find any clues of the I.F.

  I’ll give this info to the I.F. instead, he thought. I just have to figure out which part of this world is going to turn out into the I.F in the future.

  He spent the whole afternoon on the Internet, but couldn’t find anything. He wondered whether he should call Kamal, he had saved him twice before and had proven to be a genuine and an intelligent guy, maybe he could help KC dig up I.F.’s past.

  KC picked up the phone and dialed Kamal’s number; he remembered the number by heart. But he quickly cancelled the call. Don’t get ahead of yourself, dammit, he said to himself. Relax, and do some more research first. You can’t afford to go wrong this time round.

  By now it was almost evening, Jasmine would be back home anytime now. KC deleted all the browsing history from her desktop and kept the globe back in its place. He changed just in time to greet her when she got back.

  “Wow. You are already ready,” said Jasmine looking at KC. “You really can’t wait to get to the Palm, isn’t it?”r />
  “Yeah, a man’s got to do what he’s got to do,” he replied somewhat distracted.

  “You don’t seem as excited about going to the Palm as you did in the morning. What happened? A change of heart?” said Jasmine, taunting KC.

  “No way,” he replied, putting on a fake smile. “I’m super excited. It’s been a while since I have feasted on some continental food. Let’s go.”

  “Okay, then give me 20 minutes, I’ll be right with you,” said Jasmine quickly disappearing into her room.

  Half an hour later they were ready to leave for the Palm. KC had called for a cab, the Grand Palm was a 30 minute drive from Jasmine’s house. Jasmine was really excited to be finally going to the Palm while KC’s mind was occupied with worries. He wondered if his life would ever get back to normal, he just wanted his life back.

  “Wow, look at that,” said Jasmine pointing towards the Grand Palm as they approached it. “It looks so beautiful.”

  Indeed it was, the Grand Palm was a seven star resort that was the very definition of luxury. This was also the place where all the big guys made their deals, mostly illegal ones. This was one place where the cops couldn’t get in. So, if you were a bad guy, the Grand Palm was where you would make all your business deals. Some very powerful businessmen owned the Grand Palm and the cops knew better than to trespass their property.

  The cab stopped at the entrance of the Grand Palm Hotel. The staff was quick, they rushed for the door and opened it most courteously, a smile running across their faces.

  Jasmine stepped out awestruck by the beauty of the place, the beautifully placed lights, the amazing landscape, the whole place was awake, there were beautiful white swans walking across the pathway to get to the water pools. It was a world in itself.

  KC got off the cab and saw the magnificent building; it was really big with a 100 stories or more. There were security cameras placed everywhere, leaving no blind spots. He quickly looked at the perimeter fence; it was at least 15 feet high. It looked more like a glorified prison than a hotel to him. He turned around and looked at Jasmine, she looked back at him. She looked beautiful in her red gown. KC had been so lost in his thoughts earlier that he had not even noticed what she was wearing. She looked marvelous. She had beautiful long hair, which covered her backless gown, only to reveal her beautifully sculpted back whenever she moved her hair from one shoulder to the other. Her long earrings were complementing her long neckline and her brilliant posture. She looked like a princess.

  “Jasmine,” said KC smiling at her, “come on lets go in, I am starving.”

  “Wow, this place is unbelievable,” said Jasmine holding his arm. “Thanks for getting me along.”

  “You don’t have to thank me, it’s great to have you around,” he said looking at her as she looked back at him with a gleam in her eyes.

  “Mr. KC,” called out the attendant, “we have been expecting you. Your table is at the Grand Retreat on the fifth floor, sir. Let me guide you.”

  The attendant guided them to their table, the Grand Retreat was on the 50th floor overlooking the city, it was an open-air restaurant where the guests could enjoy fresh air along with a breathtaking view of the city while eating their meal.

  “Wow, this is awesome,” said Jasmine again, in absolute delight. “I love it.”

  “Yeah, it’s great,” said KC as he stared at city lights. He wondered how the earth looked like in his time. How the cities were structured? Did they still use lights? Did people even need to go out or they had everything at their fingertips? What they did consume as food? How different would they be? What kind of clothes would they be wearing? Did it still snow?

  “Spellbinding, isn’t it?” said Jasmine with a giggle. “The ambience is just great.”

  “Splendid,” said KC as he sipped the wine and continued to look at the city.

  Jasmine looked at the menu card on the table. It was never-ending, it just went on and on!

  “What should we order?” she said, truly puzzled by the sheer variety on the menu.

  “Knock yourself out,” he said smiling.

  “Some help you are!” said Jasmine, handing over the menu card to him.

  “KC, I’ll just go to the washroom,” said jasmine. “Be back in five.”

  KC wondered what to order, the menu card was indeed very confusing, half of the things he had never even heard of.

  “I would order the chicken curry with jeera rice and some shahhi paneer with roti,” said a stranger as he pulled a chair and sat next to KC. “It’s my favorite Indian dish.”

  “Well, thank you, why don’t you sit down,” said KC sarcastically as he kept the menu card aside.

  “Sorry to drop in unannounced but I am sure you have been expecting to hear from us,” said the man.

  “Yes, couldn’t wait to meet you,” added KC sarcastically.

  “Ha-ha, you are a funny man, Mr. KC,” said the man. “By the way I am Adam. I’ll be your eyes and ears from now on.”

  “What can I do for you Mr. Adam?” said KC sipping his wine.

  “Do you see that massive city in front of you? Beaming and glowing in the night,” said Adam.

  “Yes, it’s visible,” said KC.

  “Beautiful, isn’t it when you look at it from this distance? That’s why I asked you to join me for dinner here, with this beautiful view,” said Adam.

  “So, you called me here today to the Grand Palm so that I could enjoy the grand view of the city from the 50th floor?” said KC.

  “Did I mention before that you are funny,” said Adam with a smile.

  “So what’s the point here?” asked KC bluntly.

  “Well we just want you to keep this city glowing as it is now, that’s all,” said Adam.

  “You are knocking on the wrong door Adam,” said KC. “I don’t do maintenance.”

  “Actually, I am not,” interrupted Adam. “You see, you and I can sit here and enjoy our dinner like countless other people in this city because everything in the city is in order. Everything is the way it should be. But there are other people who constantly are trying to spoil, interrupt our dinner. There are people who are trying to disturb the social order in this city, and in countless other cities.”

  “And you want me to?” asked KC.

  “We want you to take care of those people, simple,” said Adam. “There are three of them who are at the top of our list, they need to be taken care of first. I am going to share with you the first name, when you take him out I’ll give you the second name and then the third.”

  “So, who is the lucky winner?” said KC lifting his glass and smiling.

  Adam took out a slip and placed it in front of KC. KC kept his wine glass on the slip.

  “His name is Pin, Lu Pin. He is Asia’s biggest drug trafficker. He not only runs narcotics, but also smuggles arms in and out of several countries. He also heads a human trafficking racket. He has his branches in Asia and Europe. He is expanding fast so it’s important that we uproot him before he becomes unstoppable. He is responsible for all the explosions and terrorist strikes in this country, in south Asia and Europe. We want you to take him out.”

  “Wait a minute,” said KC utterly confused. “You want me to take out a bad guy. That’s weird, because I thought that…”

  “That we were the bad guys?” offered Adam.

  “Exactly,” said KC after a brief pause.

  “Well, it’s better to have one bad fish in a pond than to have two,” said Adam getting up. “There is order with just one guy at the top.”

  “Yes, now that tone sounds a lot more familiar,” said KC.

  “We have lost a lot of operatives to Lu Pin. He has got a deep network but we will watch your back. Just that you need to act fast. Lu has a sixth sense when it comes to anticipating trouble,” said Adam.

  “Yeah, well I have a knack of ge
tting out of trouble,” said KC as he saw Jasmine approaching the table.

  “Good evening, ma’am,” said Adam as he pulled the chair for Jasmine.

  “And you are?” asked Jasmine.

  “I am just leaving,” said Adam ready to leave. On his way out he winked at KC. “Sir, I hope you have a lovely evening and enjoy your meal.”

  “Who was that?” asked Jasmine.

  “Well that’s the guy paying for our dinner, Jazz,” said KC smiling.

  “What! So, he is Lurton’s guy,” said Jasmine. “What does he want then?”

  “Nothing, he just wants me to clean his backyard so that he can play uninterrupted,” smiled KC.

  KC looked at the slip under his wine glass. He knew that there were cameras all over the place. He smiled and pressed his glass against the table. He then lifted his glass for his last sip, the paper stuck to it and as he drank his wine he could read the slip through the bottom of the glass. It was a mobile number, he quickly memorised the number.

  After dinner, they explored the resort for a bit and then decided to head back home. Two hours and a long ride later they were back at Jasmine’s place. Jasmine went in to change her dress. KC took her cell to try the number that Adam had shared with him.

  “Hello,” said KC. “Who is this?”

  “Ah, Kid,” said Lurton. “You don’t waste any time do you? That was quick.”

  “What is it?” said KC.

  “Kid, you sound awfully angry when you talk to me, is it just me or is it just me?” laughed Lurton.

  “I will do what you want Lurton, just stay off my back till then and keep my path clear of everyone,” said KC.

  “Don’t worry, kid, no one is going to touch you. Just do what you do… your magic. And, I have transferred some money in your new account. You will get a text message with the details. Use the money to buy whatever equipment you need to take that bastard off my turf. You have a month to do this. Best of luck.”

  KC thought for a moment how he was going to pull this one off. He received the text message with his account details. Jasmine soon joined him in the living room; she sat on the couch and started working on her laptop. She caught KC looking at her.