by Dirk Patton
“And?” Packard asked when she didn’t immediately continue.
“Allow me to preface my comments with the fact that I do not have an understanding of why the Major feels this is important, but that doesn’t factor in to my opinion. I believe there is a very great risk of significant disruption to events that have occurred between the redaction point and now.
“Beginning with the event itself, and taking into account the series of events that have subsequently occurred, many of them influenced by the original, the possibility that we would be facing the same set of circumstances today is extremely remote.”
“What does that mean?” I asked, frowning.
“It means that you have made decisions and taken actions since they were killed that you would not have, had they remained alive and at your side. The result of that would almost assuredly be that your current reality would suddenly be drastically altered. Perhaps you, or one of your surviving companions, would have been captured or killed. Perhaps dissenting voices, that are currently silenced by death, would have convinced you to take a different path.
“We are dealing with the Law of Unintended Consequences. There is no predicting the outcome. All that is certain is that if we were to redact the event, things will be drastically different for the current point in space-time. This could be favorable or unfavorable from your perspective. There is no way to know.”
I stared at the phone, then looked over at Lucas who was gazing at the floor with Dog’s head in his lap. Glancing at Rachel, I could tell she’d understood the concepts Anholts had relayed better than I had, but she didn’t seem to be inclined to offer an opinion. Reaching down, I pressed the mute button.
“Do I push the issue?” I asked, looking between Rachel and Lucas.
“We need the help,” he said without hesitation. “And if it brings Nitro back…”
“Think about this for a second,” Rachel said. “The SEALs were after you when everyone died. Ready to return you to Hawaii, by force if necessary. That woman’s right. The only reason we’ve made it this far, positioned to stop this, is because they all died.”
I looked at her and after a moment she looked away.
“I’m just saying,” she said in a subdued voice.
I turned to Lucas, who stared back at me then shook his head and shrugged.
“Major?”
Patterson’s voice.
I took a deep breath and unmuted the phone.
“Is it possible to stop the SEALs before they intercepted us?” I asked.
It was quiet for several minutes as I assumed they reviewed the data.
“Possibly,” Anholts finally said. “There appear to be opportunities within our window of time, but it is closing fast and I feel I must remind everyone of my objections. Simply preventing one part of the group that was killed from interfering with the other does not mitigate any of the risks I have already laid out.”
“I’ve heard enough,” Admiral Packard said before anyone else could respond. “Major, we are not going to take the chance. We have an opportunity to stop the kill team, even if you are at a disadvantage in numbers and weapons. Without knowing what might be triggered by changing past events, I cannot sign off on your request. I’m sorry.”
“Understood, sir,” I said, tightly clenching my jaw so I didn’t say anything else.
“I’ll be placing that call you asked for as soon as I hang up. Now, if there’s nothing else…”
“Thank you, sir,” I said, tapping an icon to end the call.
While my finger was still on the screen, Dog suddenly leapt to his feet and growled loudly. I snapped my head in his direction, seeing Lucas scrambling to his feet. Whirling, I grabbed for the rifle that was slung across my back, then froze in surprise for a beat before holding out a staying hand in Lucas’s direction. Across the room stood Agent Bering, grinning at me.
“Heard you needed some help,” he said.
47
Ten hours later, we were all in a fleabag motel room that had only one redeeming quality. It overlooked the ADF armory. According to the data files Bering had provided, it was still several hours before the kill team would show up to steal the equipment and munitions for their raid, but that was the point. Get in place well ahead of time so you’re not wandering around with your dick in your hand when the bad guys arrive.
We weren’t there to stop them, the ADF was going to take care of that little detail. We were there to identify them, then follow them back to wherever it was they had set up their base of operations. Jessica was backing us up from Hawaii, keeping close watch via satellite surveillance. The only potential fly in the ointment was if the team decided to proceed and risk an all-out battle with the men the Australians had positioned to protect the armory.
It was Lucas’s turn to sit beside the grimy window, keeping watch on the facility with a spotting scope that had come from the safe house. We’d pulled a battered end table and a chair with fraying and stained upholstery into place for the watcher to use. None of us enjoyed the job, but it was necessary.
Rachel sat on a rickety wooden chair in the corner behind Lucas, computer on her lap and the power cord snaking across the matted carpet to an outlet. She was still poring over all the data on the jump drive. Dog was the only one of us who seemed relaxed. He was stretched to his full length on one of the double beds, snoring like a freight train. That was fine with me. I’d seen the faded comforters and had no interest in even sitting on them.
Bering’s sudden appearance at the safe house had been a surprise, to say the least. It had also cemented the truth of what he’d told me as he’d just arrived out of thin air in a corner of the room that was nowhere near a window, door or hallway. It was absolutely impossible for him to have pulled this off unless he really was who and what he claimed.
We’d talked for a few minutes, but I’d shut down the conversation, as well as made Lucas hold all the questions he wanted to ask. All of us had been awake for a long time. Running and fighting. And we needed to be prepared for what we were going to do in a few hours. So, feeling a little like a stern parent, I’d sent everyone to bed.
Well, not everyone. There were only two bedrooms, but that worked out okay as Bering claimed he was well rested and wide awake. He had volunteered to scout the armory while we slept, which I agreed to with some trepidation.
“What if you disappear like last time?” I’d asked.
He’d shrugged his shoulders.
“Can’t tell you it won’t happen. But sitting here on my ass while you sleep isn’t going to make a bit of difference, so I might as well make myself useful. If I’m not back in six hours, then I probably got yanked home. Otherwise, I’ll bring some food when I return.”
So, we’d gone off to bed. Rachel had something on her mind other than sleep and it had been an hour before we’d managed to drift off. Truth be told, we’d probably kept Lucas awake, but like a true friend, he hadn’t complained. Seven hours later, we were all up, though I would have been happy for some more time in the sack.
The safe house had a postage stamp sized back yard with a tall fence and I’d stepped out into the afternoon sunshine with Dog. Lighting a cigarette, I’d watched as he thoroughly inspected every square inch before finding the right spot. Then, he’d had to mark every corner and several scraggly bushes before he was content to go back inside.
Bering had brought sandwiches, which disappeared almost as quickly as he had the other day. Hunger satisfied, we each showered, rinsing away the last of the cobwebs of sleep, then loaded every single item from the safe into the Rover. Bering made a point of studying the damaged push bar on the front end, nodding in appreciation when I told him how the vehicle had gotten banged up.
Ready to go, we’d driven through heavy traffic, crawling our way across Sydney. It had taken an hour to arrive at the motel even though it was less than ten miles. Bering had already checked in and had also gone shopping. Several large canvas duffels were in the back of the Rover and they let
us carry our weapons and gear up the stairs to the dingy room without freaking anyone out.
Once inside, the first order of business had been to set up the spotting scope and I’d volunteered for the first watch since I wanted to get an idea of the layout of the armory. I’d watched as three large trucks arrived, each disgorging a heavily armed squad of soldiers who spread out in the interior of the compound. Lucas and Bering had both taken brief looks as the defenders moved into position.
“Bloody wankers are too obvious,” Lucas said when he saw them. “If the kill team sends a scout before they try to make entry, which I would, then the bastard will drive by, see all the swinging willies and call off the raid. They won’t come close and we’ll never know who they are.”
I nodded in agreement, but didn’t have a good idea of how to solve that little problem. Fortunately, one of the NCOs below was sharper than the average tool in the shed and pulled the men back into concealed positions. After that, things got quiet and all that was left was for us to keep watch.
“How is it you were able to come back?” I asked Bering. “Thought you said the machine was malfunctioning, or something.”
I was seated in the only other chair, which was positioned near the bathroom. A tiny, fly specked window over the equally disgusting tub was open, venting the smoke from my cigarette. Bering stood on the other side of the room, leaned against the wall.
“It is. Or was,” he said. “But Doctor Anholts worked some magic. Don’t ask me what she did, but she was able to bypass something and increase the power on something else and make it happen.”
“That was the lady I was talking to just before you showed up?”
“Well, yes,” he said. “To me, it wasn’t just before I showed up. It was close to twenty-eight hours before that.”
I shook my head, now convinced this was real, but unable to completely wrap my head around how things worked.
“What did you do about Ray?” I asked.
“Ray? What do you mean?”
I frowned, trying to figure out if he was serious or playing a little joke. He didn’t look like he was kidding.
“We had a long talk about him the last time you were here,” I said.
Rachel had taken note of our conversation and looked up, also frowning. Bering stared back at me in confusion, shaking his head. Slowly, his expression changed to concern.
“Are you being serious? You’re not fucking with me?” he asked.
“Totally serious,” I said. “We sat at the table in the safe house and I warned you about him.”
“I have no memory of that,” he said, pushing away from the wall and grabbing his pack off the floor.
He produced an iPad and went to work, tapping furiously for several seconds. He paused in thought, glanced at his watch, then made some adjustments and peered intently at the screen. A moment later, I recognized my voice coming from the small speaker and stood, going to stand behind him to see what he was viewing. Rachel quickly joined me.
We watched the screen as I spoke directly into a camera, telling the story of how Ray had screwed himself with Delta. I recognized the safe house in the background and the view frequently swung between me and Rachel.
“Body cam?” I asked.
“Something like that,” Bering said, stopping the playback and lowering the tablet.
“This isn’t good,” he said.
“No shit. None of this is good,” I said.
“No. I mean me not remembering that conversation. That can happen if something is done to change time so that the event is erased, but nothing’s been changed.”
“That you know of,” Rachel said quietly.
We turned to look at her, then Bering dumped the iPad in the pack and pulled out a phone. He dialed, then told whoever answered that he urgently needed to speak with Anholts.
“Speaker,” I said while he was waiting.
He looked at me, hesitating, then lowered the handset from his ear and activated the speakerphone so we could all hear both ends of the conversation. Dr. Anholts came on quickly and he filled her in on what we’d just discovered. She was quiet for a moment before responding.
“Oh, dear. This is quite disturbing, Agent Bering. I was afraid of this. I need to alert the Director immediately.”
“Afraid of what?” he asked, staring intently at the phone as if he could see her.
“This is most disturbing. It is likely related to the rogue gravitational waves that we have been monitoring, but things are worse than I expected. I was concerned that there may have already been changes that have so far gone unnoticed, but now I’m afraid our timeline may have fractured.”
Bering and I exchanged a glance and I didn’t like the expression on his face.
“What the hell does that mean, Doc?”
“Major? I didn’t realize you were listening in.”
“Sorry to surprise you, but what the hell did you mean by our timeline being fractured?”
She hesitated for a long time before answering.
“It means that past events may change, spontaneously, without our intervention. This could be catastrophic.”
“What the hell do you mean, ‘change spontaneously?’ ” I asked.
“Exactly what it sounds like, Major. If I’m right, our history is now in flux. Fluid, if you will. What was, may no longer be, and what didn’t happen may be the new reality. I’m sorry, I must go!”
Before I could stop her, there was a click and the call ended.
“What the fuck?” I asked, staring at Bering.
Rachel and Lucas were also watching him. Waiting for an answer.
“Don’t look at me,” Bering said, holding his hands up in front of him. “I’m just the blunt object, here. She’s the brains. But if she’s worried, we should be too!”
“What do we do?” Rachel asked.
“I wish I knew,” he said, shrugging again.
48
“Rock’s in the sock!” Lucas said several hours later.
We’d rotated frequently so none of us was having to stay focused on the armory for more than an hour at a time. Lucas had been back on watch for less than ten minutes when he called the warning. All three of us rushed to cluster around him while Dog raised his head off a pillow, looked at us briefly then put it back down with a deep sigh.
“What’ve you got?” I asked.
I checked my watch, noting it was ninety minutes before the break in was supposed to happen.
“Two guys in a car. Saw them drive by a couple of minutes ago, but didn’t get a good look. It just came back past and I saw the driver’s face under a streetlight. Definitely one of them from the video!”
I unlocked the iPhone and hit the speed dial button for Jessica, who answered on the first ring.
“Got activity,” I said without preamble.
“Silver Hyundai sedan,” Lucas said after I activated the speakerphone. “Two male occupants.”
We could hear her clicking on a keyboard for several seconds.
“Got it!” she said. “System is locked on the target. We won’t lose them.”
“Lucas, have they spotted the ADF troops?” I asked.
“Not sure,” he said, eye still pressed to the scope. “They were definitely giving it a close look as they… Hold on a mo. They’re coming back.”
We all remained quiet as he watched intently. I was itching to know what was happening, but didn’t want to distract him. After a couple of minutes, he spoke again.
“Okay, they circled the armory twice more. I could see two of the defenders, so I’m pretty sure they did, too. They’re exiting the area now, heading east.”
“We’re going mobile, Jessica,” I barked into the phone. “I’ll call you back when we’re on the road.”
Lucas was already breaking down the spotting scope and I called Dog as I grabbed one of the duffels.
“Why are we not just letting her track them?” Rachel asked as she packed away the laptop, getting ready to go.
“We’re in a city,” I said, waiting for Lucas. “If they go into a tunnel or a garage and change vehicles, she’ll lose them. Have to stay close enough to deal with it if that happens.”
Everyone was ready and we hustled through the door and down the stairs. Piling into the Rover, Lucas took the wheel and I joined him in front. Dog was all the way in the rear cargo area, hanging his head over the back seat to keep an eye on what was happening.
With a screech of tires, Lucas accelerated out of the lot and onto the street. Dialing Jessica, I made sure my rifle was ready to go but not visible to a casual observer from outside the vehicle.
“Two blocks ahead, turn right,” Jessica said the instant she picked up the phone.
Following her directions, we closed on the target vehicle, finally catching a glimpse of its taillights a few blocks ahead. Lucas hung back, staying far enough behind that we wouldn’t be noticed but close enough to surge ahead if for some reason the satellite surveillance lost contact with the Hyundai.
We circled two separate blocks as the driver performed counter surveillance maneuvers, but with the eye in the sky we were able to recognize them for what they were and steer clear so we weren’t detected. After half an hour, Jessica notified us that the silver car had turned into an auto repair garage and driven through one of the large rollup doors. Surging ahead, we relied on her bird’s eye view to find a cross street where we could park close to the location, but remain out of sight.
“Tell me about the building, Jessica,” I said once we were stopped.
“Structure is stand-alone and large,” she answered. “Four hundred by one hundred feet. There are a series of skylights running the length of the building, but I don’t have the right angle to see anything other than a concrete floor. Eight rolling doors on the front with matching doors in back. Front lot faces the street, rear is completely fenced with chain link. Looks like they picked a place that was out of business. All the signage has been removed. Stand by while I switch to thermal and I’ll get you a count on what you’re facing.”