agents closed in on Marion, while several more walked steadily down the outer aisles toward Laslo and the makeup man. One agent spoke into his microphone putting the agents outside the building on alert. At that precise moment, Laslo stepped quickly to the rear door, rapped on it once sharply and then opened it, stepping behind it in the shadows. Two agents peered inside, one with his gun already drawn, having just been alerted. The makeup man heard the knock and turned just in time to see the agent, gun in hand, step inside. The makeup man let out a high-pitched screech, and bolted down a hallway to the right, arms flailing wildly. The two agents from outside ran after him yelling. The agents already inside turned toward the sounds, at which precise moment Laslo flashed out the back door and headed across the alley, completely unnoticed. By the time the agents were able to calm down the hysterical makeup artist and find out what had happened, Laslo had already located the makeup van and driven to another section of the city, where he promptly pulled to the curb and abandoned his ride. The swarm of agents who descended on it a few minutes later found no one inside.
Things did not go quite so smoothly for Marion. One of the first agents to get to her was Agent Bradley. He handled her more roughly than required, which brought a quizzical exchange between two of the other agents. Of course, they had no knowledge of Agent Bradley’s painful and embarrassing previous encounter with Laslo.
The on-scene interrogation was brief and to the point. The basic format was twofold. Where is Dr. Reingard? What do you know of his time spanning technique? Neither question nor their many variations resulted in satisfactory answers. She had no idea where Laslo would go, and, while she had listened to his explanations of Hangtime, she didn’t pretend to understand the technical aspects to it.
“Come on Miss Mulroney, spill the beans,” demanded Agent Bradley, who was still on point in the investigation despite having allowed Laslo’s escape twice now. Bradley was one of those government types the big shots love. He was fiercely loyal and blindly willing to carry out orders, much like a good hunting dog, which he factually resembled.
Marion displayed a defiance that hid the terror she felt. “I know it works, but you already knew that. As for details, you’ll have to talk to Laslo, if you ever find him.”
Bradley knew bluster when he saw it. “Your cooperation, or lack of it, will go a long way toward determining your future. And considering your implication in this whole affair, that future looks pretty bleak from where I’m standing.”
With that, tears began to flow down Marion’s face. The whirlwind of the last few days finally caught up with her. She had been an ordinary lab assistant with little to worry about beyond paying her bills, and finding a decent boyfriend. Now she was being held by the government and being treated as an enemy of the state. And the one man she truly cared for was the reason.
It didn’t take long for Agent Bradley to recognize she was little more than an innocent bystander. Nonetheless, she was turning out to be the only lead they had to Dr. Reingard. For that reason, Agent Bradley cuffed her and transported her directly to NSA headquarters in Fort Meade. Once inside, she was taken to an interrogation room on the third underground level of the high security wing. To any normal human being, she might as well be on the moon. Even getting onto the grounds of the NSA was next to impossible.
The file the NSA had already put together on Dr. Laslo Reingard was amazingly detailed, down to the brand of birdseed he fed his parakeet Fred. Bradley had a perfect capture record since becoming a lead field agent, and was determined to keep it that way. He had studied everything in the file on Dr. Laslo Reingard, and one thing was clear. He was a classic under-achieving loner, a theoretical physicist doing low-level lab work, who led a non-descript personal life with no social connections that could be found. Agent Bradley thought that might work to their advantage. Even though they could eventually find him with their live-time supercomputer surveillance programs, his time spanning ability, which was apparently evolving, made capture difficult, if not impossible. They would have to lure him into a controlled environment. Part of the loner profile included the fact that if he did bond with anyone, it would be a permanent bond including a strong sense of protective loyalty. If Reingard had taken to Marion the way she obviously had to him, perhaps he would be compelled to attempt a rescue. With that in mind, Bradley arranged for a Channel 9 news item stating that, after capture in their own studio, one Marion Mulroney had been taken to the NSA headquarters in Fort Meade for questioning regarding a potential national security breach.
The trap was now set.
Agent Bradley was right about some things. Laslo did have a fierce sense of loyalty to Marion, and he was determined to free her from the mess he had caused her. Yes, his Hangtime abilities were evolving. What Agent Bradley did not know was how far they had come. Laslo’s ability had expanded to being able to focus his time spanning onto another person. He had seen where Bradley had taken Marion, and was already headed to Fort Meade.
Laslo hitched a ride with several truckers—first up the 95 then onto Route 32—which got him close enough to the compound to go the rest of the way on foot. Getting through the guarded gate was easy. He found he could now span over greater time periods and, by concentrating on a shorter period simultaneously, move fast enough to avoid being seen. A series of flashes allowed him to get inside the building, then to snatch a series of security badges and leapfrog his way down to the secure underground level where Marion was held. He hoped he could do the same with Marion in tow on the way back out.
Detection of unauthorized entry was keyed to the security badges everyone wore. Any unaccounted for body without the appropriate badge would bring a security team running. Every time Laslo took a badge from someone, security responded, but he was one or two steps ahead. The wake of confused activity from security kept Laslo in the clear. While they were still sorting out who was who, Laslo had time to get the passkey from someone assigned to bringing Marion her meals.
When he opened the door his eyes met Marion’s, and he could see the pain she felt. Laslo grabbed her hand to lead her out but she threw herself into his arms. The relief was palpable as it washed over her. As much as he wanted to keep holding her, he pulled back and said gently, “We’ve got to go now.” She nodded and they headed out and down the hall.
They had one major hurdle and then Laslo could flash them out of the building. The only way to get up to the ground level was on one of two elevators at either end of the wing they were in. One came up toward the rear of the building and was the elevator they would be expected to take. The other came up right into the main lobby. Laslo flashed to the rear elevator and tossed in the security badge he knew they’d be tracking. He pressed the third floor button and stepped back out. He flashed back to Marion and they waited by the forward elevator. The rear elevator passed the main floor and continued upward. Agents and security men rushed up the stairs toward the third floor, thinking they would intercept Laslo and Marion there. Instead, Laslo and Marion rode the front elevator to the main first floor lobby. Their anticipation rose with the elevator. In just a few more seconds they would be home free.
When the doors opened and they stepped out, Agent Bradley was waiting, gun drawn. He pointed it directly at Laslo. More agents than they could count flanked them on both sides.
“I figured you for a grand exit,” Bradley said triumphantly. “There’s no way you two can get out of here. The building is locked down, and no doors will open until I give the say so.”
Laslo began to span, spreading his attention out across time and space. It seemed Bradley was right. However, there was something about Laslo’s algorithm, something he had missed.
Agent Bradley could see the strain on Laslo’s face. “Dr. Reingard, you better stop that. This has to end here, one way or the other.”
“End here, yes, end here,” said Laslo, deep in thought. There was something about limits.
Bradley could see that Laslo was not going to stop spanning. He was prepared to stop him,
at whatever cost. He aimed a kill shot at Laslo’s heart and prepared to fire. Marion threw herself in front of Laslo, just as Agent Bradley squeezed the trigger. His weapon echoed loudly in the marble hall as Marion dropped to the floor and lay still.
Laslo looked horrified at her limp body. “This can’t be, this can’t happen,” he mumbled. The idea that necessity is the mother of invention was certainly true in Laslo’s case. Seeing Marion lying there on the cold marble floor pushed his necessity out the roof. The answer he had been grasping for came flooding into his mind with crystal clarity. Einstein had made one major error in his space-time equation. There was no limit in it at all. Laslo now realized what he could do, what he must do. He spanned again, reaching farther than ever before. There was a sudden whoosh and then the distinct smell of ozone.
Agent Bradley’s hound-dog face drooped even more as he stared into the empty space where Dr. Laslo Reingard had just stood.
Laslo found himself standing near the corner where he had first encountered the mother with the baby stroller. The baby was wailing just as he had before. This time Laslo took notice of the man who was getting ready to film his family
Hangtime Page 4