Wrong Side of Time

by J. J. Green

  But as Carrie stepped across the chamber on her way to the entrance she caught her foot and tripped, falling flat on her face. Sitting up, she rubbed her nose. She turned to see what had tripped her, and her heart stopped. There was a raised bump on the floor. It was the same colour, which had made it hard to see. A coffin-sized bump. A bump the size of Dave.

  The robots had entombed him.

  Carrie immediately hit the surface, trying to break through the skin. But though the material was thin, it was tough, and her blows left no mark. She tried kicking the bump instead, with similar effect. Should she fire a weapon at the material? But that would probably kill Dave. She riffled through her equipment bag. She had nothing that might help.

  Harriet closed her lid with a click. She seemed to be waiting.

  “Harriet, my friend’s trapped again. Can you get him out like you did when you helped us before? Please open it up.”

  The silver robot didn’t react. Carrie pushed her towards the bump. “Please, get Dave out.”

  As if in reply, the robot’s underbelly opened and her tool cache lowered. But no tool appeared. Carrie peered at the machine’s undercarriage. In the container of tools that folded neatly away into its belly, there was an empty slot. One seemed to be missing. Harriet didn’t have the tool that would open Dave’s tomb.

  Chapter Eighteen – Drop Outs

  Thumping her hand on the surface of the lump, Carrie almost called Dave’s name but stopped herself just in time. There was no point in getting her friend out if she attracted the attention of the placktoids. The wall of her friend’s tomb was like fibreglass. Her fist didn’t even make an impression. The only result of hitting the bump was a sore hand.

  Carrie bent down and put her ear to the surface. No sound came from within. No shouting or calling. Not even a returning thump. Was the material soundproof? Or was Dave not responding because he didn’t realise it was her, or was he unconscious already? Panic seized Carrie and she hit the lump again. She winced and put her hand under her armpit. “We’ve got to do something, Harriet. He doesn’t have much air in there. He could’ve run out of oxygen already.”

  Harriet’s response was immediate. She glided around the bump to the other side.

  “You understand me, don’t you?” said Carrie. “Have you learned English through listening to me and Dave? Or did you scan our brains?” She shook her head. “If only you could answer me.”

  The robot had paused at end of the tomb farthest from Carrie. She bobbed up and down a few times as if trying to show her something. “What is it, Harriet?” Carrie joined the robot on the other side. As she arrived at the spot she gasped. A man-sized hole opened in the tomb there, surrounded by fragments of the wall. Bending down, she peered in. Inside was nothing but shadowy darkness.

  Dave had escaped.

  Carrie’s heart leaped. Somehow, her friend had managed to break through the wall and get out. But where was he? Now she had to find both him and the Liberator before their time was up. About to leave, she paused to pick up a fragment of the material that had sealed Dave in. How had he got out? He didn’t have anything with him that he could cut it with. Or did he? She looked at Harriet. Suddenly some things started to make sense.

  “Harriet, can you help me again? I need to find Dave, but if I go out there the placktoids will see me.” The robot’s lid popped open. Carrie deposited her bags and climbed inside. Harriet’s motion was smooth as she glided away.

  In a few moments they were once more in among the placktoids. The noise of their various methods of locomotion reverberated in Carrie's narrow hiding place. She thought the placktoids had come down a notch since the days of their predecessors. Harriet’s smooth, noiseless motion was far better. Even the gliding placktoids, such as the ones that resembled paperclips, vibrated loudly and put her teeth on edge.

  The placktoids probably thought themselves superior to their ancestors, the homogeneous, comparatively simple robots that maintained the mountain interiors, but in Carrie’s opinion the silver robots were the best. They didn’t capture and destroy other species, and they didn’t want to rule the galaxy.

  The noise of the placktoids grew quieter, and in a short time Harriet stopped. Carrie happily got ready to emerge from confinement, but Harriet’s lid remained closed. Carrie squirmed and pushed upward, but it was shut tight. She stopped pushing and tried to relax, thinking that maybe it wasn’t safe for her to get out just yet. Maybe there were placktoids or corrupted robots nearby.

  She tried to be patient, but inside Harriet’s shell the temperature was rising. Carrie wondered if the robot had stopped in a patch of sunlight. Carrie squirmed some more. She was wet with sweat and feeling light-headed. If Harriet didn’t open up soon she thought she might faint.

  At last the lid swung open and daylight streamed in. Carrie had been right. The were in full sunlight. If Harriet hadn’t let her out soon she would have been cooked. She would have to explain to the robot and ask her not to do that in the future.

  Raising her head cautiously above the edge of Harriet’s shell, Carrie peeked out. A hot wind ruffled her hair. On one side lay the opening to a dim, shadowy tunnel, on the other, empty air. They were high up. Below them the mountainside stretched several hundred metres in a sheer drop. Her stomach clenched at the thought of what would have happened if she had leapt out without looking. But why had Harriet brought her here? Where was Dave? She looked again into the tunnel. It was empty, though presumably minutes ago something threatening had been there.

  Through the whistle of the wind came a small sound. Something like a gasp. The noise came from below Harriet. Carrie sat up a little more, clutching the sides of the shell as the robot wobbled in response to her movement. Peering over the side, Carrie had to stop herself from crying out. Just below, clinging to the edge of the tunnel with his fingertips, dangling above the fatal drop, was her friend.

  “Dave,” she hissed, hoping the surprise of hearing her voice wouldn’t make him let go. He didn’t respond, though his eyes grew round. “Dave.”

  “C-Carrie?” he whispered, squinting upward at Harriet.

  “Yes, it’s me. I’m right above you. Can’t you see?”

  “I can hardly see anything. I’m looking right into a sun.”

  “I’m in Harriet. What are you doing?”

  “What do think I’m doing? I’m hiding from the—ahhh,” he exclaimed as one of his hands lost its grip. He swung for a second before managing to grab hold of the lip of the tunnel again. “I-I can’t hold on much longer.”

  “Harriet,” said Carrie, “quick, go under—” She gulped. Placktoids had appeared at the end of the tunnel, and they were heading straight for them. Carrie reached for her bag, her heart lurching as Harriet wobbled again. She fumbled for her weapon. The placktoids were nearly upon them before her hand closed gratefully around it. Pulling it out, she fired. The beam sliced through the leading placktoids’ armour, leaving a smoking trail. The acrid stench of burning filled the air. As the placktoids in front halted, the ones coming from behind ran into them.

  “Carrie,” called Dave, “I can’t...” He grunted with effort.

  “Just a little longer.” Carrie fired again as the still-mobile placktoids pushed the ones blocking them aside. The laser seared into the new assailants, sending more acrid smoke billowing. Strangely, the placktoids didn’t return fire, even though Carrie was a sitting duck in Harriet. But, whatever the reason, she was grateful for it. If she could just destroy the placktoids in the tunnel, she could save her friend and they could escape.

  The third wave of placktoids surged over the blackened remains of their comrades.

  “Carrie,” yelled Dave.

  She blasted the mechanical aliens apart. That was the last of them. But at the end of the tunnel more appeared. Carrie’s heart sank.

  “Ahhhhh...”

  Her gaze flew to Dave. He had finally lost his grip and was in free fall down the side of the mountain.

  “Harriet,” screamed
Carrie, “save him.”

  With a terrifying lurch, the machine sank through the air. Carrie held on with white knuckles as Harriet tipped and her speed of descent increased. “Dave, we’re coming,” Carrie called, but the hot wind whipped her words from her mouth.

  The wind whistled in her ears and the mountain became a blur as they dropped faster and faster. Below them an outcrop loomed. Carrie couldn’t breathe. Would they save her friend before he hit it?

  They passed him, spreadeagled, his mouth open and gaping. Then they were under him and travelling at nearly the same speed. Carrie grabbed Dave’s legs as Harriet slowed a little more. His boot was in Carrie’s face. She pushed it away and tried to guide her friend over Harriet’s open shell. Harriet slowed further and more of Dave was safely over Harriet, but the ground was approaching at a dizzyingly fast pace.

  “Stop wriggling,” said Carrie as her friend struggled and turned in the air.

  Harriet lurched. Dave bumped his head on the edge of her shell. He reached round and gripped it. Looking down, Carrie realised that though Harriet had slowed a lot the robot would never stop in time. She squeezed her eyes shut and sank her fingers into her friend’s legs as they hit the slope at the foot of the mountain. There was a whirling blur of hot sand, rocks and scree as the three tumbled down the mountain. Carrie caught a brief glimpse of Dave sliding to a halt. Harriet’s open lid caught on a boulder and bent, stopping her dead. Carrie broke loose. She felt a sharp pain in her head and saw sparks, then nothing.

  Chapter Nineteen – Light in the Dark

  “Carrie, Carrie.”

  As she opened her eyes Carrie found herself looking into Dave’s anxious face.

  “What a relief,” he said. “I thought you’d never wake up.”

  She was flat on her back on the sand in the shade of a boulder. She lifted herself onto her elbows and winced as a pain lanced through her head. “What happened? Is Harriet okay?” She tried to sit up, but everything started to turn black. She grimaced and lay down.

  “You hit your head. You were out cold. The placktoids started shooting at us, so I dragged you here. We’re not safe. We have to move. I can see some sort of opening in the ground close by. If we can make it there maybe we can get away.”

  “What about Harriet?”

  “I don’t think she made it. Her lid is open and her tools are scattered everywhere. Can you move?”

  Carrie sat up again, ignoring the pain that spread across her skull. “Yes, but we have to save Harriet.”

  “We can’t, Carrie. How can we? Anyway, she’s fine. The placktoids don’t want her. They were firing at us.”

  “She isn’t fine if she’s all twisted and broken. If we don’t take her with us, the scavengers will come and dismantle her to use her parts for other robots.”

  “Carrie, it’s only a robot.”

  “She isn’t only a robot. She saved your life. She saved both our lives. She isn’t like the others.” Wincing, Carrie lifted herself to a crouch and peered round the boulder. She caught a quick glimpse of the broken remains of Harriet a few metres away. Far above, placktoids were emerging from the tunnel entrance in the side of the mountain. “Come on. I’m sure between us we can carry her. I bet she isn’t that heavy.”

  “Carrie,” hissed Dave as she ran out from the cover of the rock. A second later he followed. “I can’t believe we’re doing this.”

  A laser beam hit the ground as Carrie reached the side of the stricken robot. Dave was right. Harriet was a mess. Her shell was dented and scraped and her lid was partially detached. The two Liaison Officer bags had survived the fall, tucked into her recesses. Harriet’s tools were scattered about, but Dave was scooping them up and pushing them into the front of his jumpsuit, which reminded Carrie of a bone she had to pick with him. But that would have to wait.

  The sand sizzled and melted in a patch next to her friend, sending a shock of fear through Carrie. “Quick,” she shouted, grabbing one end of Harriet’s shell. Dave grabbed the other end, and they ran, crouching, towards the hole Dave had seen. More laser strikes hit the ground around them. Carrie wondered at the placktoids’ inaccuracy. They were high tech. It should have been easy for them to blast her and Dave to frizzled, charred lumps. She shivered and shook the image from her mind. They were nearly at the hole. It was a crack that opened in the rocky ground, barely large enough for them to fit through. There was no time to check what was inside. They would have to take their chances.

  Carrying the disabled robot between them, Carrie and Dave leapt into blackness. Empty space opened out below them and, silently, the three fell. Carrie’s stomach lurched. There seemed to be no bottom to the hole, or at least no bottom near enough that there wouldn’t be a serious impact when they hit. She couldn’t hold on to the robot. Harriet left her hands and went sailing and spinning in the air, glinting in the sunlight that beamed from above.

  Carrie briefly noticed something shimmering below before she hit it and sank like a stone. It wasn’t water. It tasted sour and salty. It was the liquid that flowed through the mountain. Except this was a lake of it, or rather a river, for the current tugged at her. She kicked, trying to rise against its pull. She remembered with gratitude teaching Dave to swim only a few weeks before. If she hadn’t he wouldn’t have stood a chance. But what about Harriet? Would she fall to the bottom, the weight of her metal dragging her down? Or was her propulsion system still working well enough to take her to safety?

  Air was forcing itself from Carrie's lungs. Where was the surface of the liquid? Surely she must have risen enough now. But what if there was no gap between the river and the roof of the tunnel? What if there was only rock and no air for her to breathe?

  Carrie smashed into a rocky wall and bubbles were forced from her lips. With all her strength she fought the instinct to breathe in. Though her eyes were open she could see only blackness. Had she got disoriented? Was she swimming down or sideways instead of up? Her lungs were screaming at her to breathe in. Blood pulsed in her ears.

  Then there was air. Chill air on her wet face. Carrie breathed in with a great whoop, then out, then in again. As she caught her breath she trod water. Despite the total darkness she could feel herself being carried along. In the pitch black there was nothing she could do but allow the river to take her where it would, hoping that Dave and Harriet were being swept in the same direction. Dave. “Dave?” she called.

  “Carrie? “Where are you? Are you in the river?”

  “Yes, where are you?”

  “I’m on a bank. Over here. Follow my voice.”

  He seemed to be behind her. Carrie turned and began swimming upstream. “Where are you, Dave? I can’t see a thing.”

  “This way. Keep swimming. There’s a bank on the edge of the river. I brushed up against it.”

  The pull of the current was strong. Carrie wasn’t sure she was making any headway. She could even have been moving away from her friend. She worked her arms and legs harder, pulling through the water. “Keep talking.”

  “This way. Over here. Keeping going, Carrie. You can make it.”

  His voice sounded closer. Her fingertips brushed something solid. Sand. She kicked and pulled with her arms. More sand. A solid bottom. A few seconds later she was out of the water. She collapsed, gasping, on the wet sandy shore.

  She heard shuffling and a hand grabbed her arm. “You did it,” said Dave. “Quick, come this way. Away from the edge.” He tugged on her arms and she scrambled and crawled up the sand to where it was dry.

  After catching her breath a little, Carrie said, “Is Harriet here? Did she find her way out too?”

  “I don’t think so,” came Dave’s voice from beside her. “I’ll check.” The sand rustled as he crawled away. A minute later, “I found her. Or I think so. Unless it’s another robot that got beached here.”

  “There’s an easy way to find out. Feel around inside her. If we’re lucky, our bags will still be wedged in there.”

  “Did you say bags? Bot
h of them?”

  “Yes. Harriet found them and brought them to me.”

  “You’re kidding.”

  “Have a look. Or a feel. I mean.”

  Silence. The rustle of wet cloth. A gasp of exclamation from Dave. The clink and chink of metal and plastic devices. “Where is it?” muttered Dave. More scraping and rustling. “Is this it? Yes.” A click and a beam of light, which turned to Carrie.

  She held her hand before her eyes. “Point that away. You’re blinding me.”

  “I’ll be damned. We got our equipment back. Hang on a sec, I’ll bring you your bag.”

  A few moments later her friend was beside her and pushing her bag into her hands. In the light from his torch Carrie searched through it and found her own torch. She turned it on and pointed it at Dave, though angled away from his eyes. He was scraped, bruised and wet, and his uniform was torn. Carrie imagined she must look much the same. “Well, we’re still alive.”

  “Only just,” replied Dave. “The placktoids must have seen where we went. I wonder how long it’ll take them to find us down here?”

  “How much longer have we got?”

  Dave pulled the briefing device from his bag. “Not long.”

  “How long?”

  “Three hours.”

  Chapter Twenty – Harriet Unveiled

  A short time later, Carrie and Dave were slumped on the ground in the same spot. With the help of their torches, they’d searched the river bank. There was no escape. The bank they’d landed on was only a few metres wide and deep. Behind them the rocky wall was solid and stretched smoothly to the roof of the cave without any foot- or handholds, let alone any exit. Before them the turbulent river ran, glinting blue in the torchlight.