by Sharon Sant
When the fraught car journey was over, Tessa led Elijah to the encampment. After a brief but tense debate, she finally persuaded him to hide in the undergrowth a short distance away while she checked whether their plans had come to fruition. Every minute she was missing seemed like a day and Elijah’s thoughts became increasingly pessimistic with each second that passed. By the time Tessa finally returned to him, he had worked himself into a frenzy of misgiving.
‘It half worked,’ she informed him briskly. ‘They left one CMO man, he told me he had stayed on because most of the research team had been called away and he wasn’t sure about leaving the kids. There’s one member of the team left. But the kids are tied up, which I hadn’t banked on… and I couldn’t get near enough to help them get free.’
Elijah’s brow furrowed. ‘I forgot they were tied, I noticed that earlier. Perhaps I could create a diversion…’
‘No, you need to stay hidden so that you can get rid of the equipment while I keep the researcher busy. It’s risky, but your friends are going to have to hang on. We need to do that first.’
Elijah didn’t like the idea of leaving them, but he could see that there was no alternative. ‘Ok.’
Tessa strode away again, leaving Elijah enveloped by gloom.
Suddenly, he was gripped by inspiration and a recklessness borne of frustration and inactivity. It was worth a try. There was only one CMO man, who was occupied, and the camp would never be this empty again. He scrambled quickly and quietly through the undergrowth, over twisted tree roots and mossy stumps, skirting the camp boundaries until he spied his chance and stole into the nearest deserted tent. There was a laptop standing idly. He opened it quickly and found, with a leap of excitement, that it was still logged in. If he could find the right file he could delete it. He pushed a few keys vaguely, but he couldn’t find what he was looking for. Did he dare risk smashing the computer? Torn for a split second, he resisted the impulse. Smashing it may not necessarily get rid of the information. Even with his small experience of computers he remembered that. Everything had to be done in meticulous order - Tessa was right. Then something caught his eye. An email forwarded from Braithwaite’s inbox to Stein tagged: Contents of MOD vault 560. So this was Stein’s laptop? Elijah opened the email. It contained a short introductory paragraph:
Stein, what do you know of a 21st century physicist named Grace McKee? A promising talent but, apparently, she suddenly withdrew from the scientific community amidst controversy. I think I may have the answer to this riddle, something I am keen to pursue. Some of her papers have been found in an MOD vault and I’d like you to take a look at them at your earliest convenience. Needless to say, the strictest confidence in this matter is required.
MB.
Underneath was an older email that Elijah scanned. He didn’t understand it all, but it was from a man Elijah had never heard of recounting, in great detail, the discovery of some scientific papers in a vault that had been unopened for years, but had finally been undone because the time limit of their secrecy had now passed. The man, Tom Rudyard, clearly didn’t understand what was in the papers, but was asking Braithwaite if he wanted to buy them.
Papers? That was the answer. It hit Elijah like a bullet. Grace had stashed the plans for her project thinking no one would ever see them again, and Braithwaite had got them. How wasn’t important. It was tempting to think that all Elijah had to do was to get back, somehow, and destroy the plans before they ever got locked in that vault. And even as he began the walk across the tent, Grace’s warnings about meddling with time and the instability of the portal came back to him. The more he thought about it, the less it seemed likely that she would agree to them being destroyed, after all, she must have baulked at doing the job herself, even knowing the danger, if they had now been found intact. Even if he could get back, even if he could get hold of the papers, what kind of damage would he do by changing the past?
He returned to the laptop. The way he saw it, this far had already been decided, but the future was there to be shaped. The only way to stop the whole mess was to get rid of the files in the here and now. Annoyed with himself for taking such a pointless risk by breaking cover, he felt compelled to make certain he hadn’t wasted the opportunity. With increasing agitation, he tapped keys and scanned desperately for any sign of the file that he now felt sure would be on there, and that he needed to delete. Nothing seemed familiar. He had just made a hasty decision to take the machine with him when he heard voices approaching the tent. He was trapped, there was nowhere to hide and he couldn’t get out without being seen. The inevitable discovery taunted him as the voices drew nearer, and he knew where they would be heading, with a fatalistic certainty.
‘It’s very kind of you to let me use a machine, I just need to check my mail… something important for Mr Braithwaite…’ Tessa stopped dead in the opening of the tent, accompanied by a tall man, dressed in a long, rainproof coat with the hood thrown loosely over his head. Her eyes opened wide with shock, lips parted as she stared at Elijah. And all he could do was to stare back. He had the laptop under his arm; the man looked at it, and then at Elijah, with an accusing expression.
‘What the hell...?’ He turned to Tessa; it didn’t seem that he had made any connection between the two of them yet. ‘Go and get the guard. I’m going to call Dr Stein; he’s with Mr Braithwaite, isn’t he?’
Tessa nodded, thinking quickly. ‘Mr Braithwaite sent this boy back to join the other kids. I don’t know how he got free. You don’t need to call them… I’ll have to have a word with the guard.’
‘Actually, I’ll shout the guard,’ the man began. ‘And I think we should let Dr Stein know.’ He turned to stick his head out of the tent and call out.
Before Elijah had time to react, Tessa grabbed the nearest thing she could lay her hands on - a flame tarnished kettle - and whacked it across the back of the man’s head. It was a half-hearted blow. Despite the resounding clang of metal on bone, the man reeled back but stayed conscious, and turned with a look of confusion and fury as his gaze fell on Tessa with the kettle still in her hand. Elijah flew at him, his shoulder straight in the man’s stomach. The man heaved out a great breath, winded, and staggered as Elijah tried to grab his arms and hold him. Tessa danced around them desperately, trying to get another shot at his head.
‘Help me tie him with something!’ Elijah panted as the man began to recover and almost threw him off. Her eyes fell on a roll of electrical tape. Throwing the kettle to one side she lunged at it, ripped a piece off with her teeth and slapped it across the man’s mouth as his breath returned and he made to shout again. Elijah held on, but barely, it was thanks only to the fact that the man had just received a debilitating blow to the head. Even so, he soon broke one arm free of Elijah’s weakening grip. In the same instant, Tessa stooped down and pulled his legs from under him, sending him crashing to the ground. He struck his head on the corner of a desk and lay still on the floor.
Elijah bent down cautiously to check him, straining to catch his own breath and control his fear. ‘He’s still breathing.’
Tessa tore off strips of the tape and bound the unconscious man’s wrists and ankles tightly. She was shaking and flushed, and she worked in silence. They propped the man up against the leg of the table and his head lolled grotesquely onto his chest. There was an increased sense of urgency; this unexpected hitch had cost them valuable time. Stein could return any minute. Braithwaite’s body must have been discovered by now, and the hunt for the last two people to see him alive would be on.
‘Give me that laptop.’ Tessa held out her hands impatiently. ‘I was coming to deal with that before you messed everything up.’ With a few deft movements of the mouse, she had located a copy of the file. ‘It’s gone.’ She clapped a hand to her forehead. ‘We didn’t destroy the hard drive in Braithwaite’s laptop,’ she groaned. Without further elaboration, she located a screwdriver and pulled the laptop in her hand apart, wrenching out the circuits until they spilled out like
weird electrical intestines. ‘Hopefully, that’s enough damage.’ She thought for a moment. ‘I think we’ll have to change our priorities. We’re running out of time, we’d better get your friends out - they can help us.’
There was no time for subtlety now. They were making it up as they went along, but somehow, as if telepathically, they understood each other’s intentions perfectly. Tessa shouted the guard over as Elijah pretended to start running.
‘Hurry, don’t let him get away.’ Tessa nodded in Elijah’s direction.
The guard quickly caught up and held Elijah fast.
‘Thank goodness,’ Tessa panted dramatically. ‘We were trying to return him as Mr Braithwaite was finished, and the little monster broke free… I don’t know where the escort guard has gone; he was supposed to look for him.’
If the guard was suspicious, he didn’t mention it, though he certainly regarded her with a curious expression as he held Elijah roughly by the arm. Elijah, understanding his role, made a feeble attempt to shake free, complaining loudly to make the act more convincing.
Jimmy stole a confused and slightly betrayed look at Tessa as she followed Elijah and the guard back to where they were seated. It changed instantly into a quiet gasp of surprise as she turned her back to him and a small, silver object dropped from her hand and onto the ground nearby. He looked down and found a pair of vanity scissors, tiny but wicked sharp. She turned back to face him and surreptitiously kicked them across the grass so he could reach.
As Jimmy sawed secretly at the thin cord that bound him, Elijah was being tied up. Tessa strode over to the guard when he had done.
‘I need to speak to you in private for a moment. Over there…’ She indicated one of the abandoned tents. The CMO man looked uncertainly at the prisoners. ‘It’s about some important instructions from Mr Braithwaite and they mustn’t hear,’ she insisted.
A few moments of painful procrastination resulted in him following Tessa away from the group. Jimmy yanked his hands free, released his feet, and passed the scissors to Rosa who was next to him. Silently they worked together, the free ones trying to unpick the knots of others and whoever had the scissors frantically hacking at their own bindings. In a few tense, torturous minutes they were all free.
‘You lot go on. I have something to do here first.’ Despite Tessa’s assertion that the others could help, Elijah wasn’t going to put them on the front line. This was something he would deal with by himself.
‘What? Don’t be ridiculous, Elijah… let’s go!’ Jimmy ran a hand through his wet hair.
Elijah shook his head. ‘You don’t understand. I’ve discovered a whole lot of stuff since I last saw you and there’s no time to explain, but I have to try and put an end to it. Besides, I can’t leave Tessa now.’ He glanced nervously at the tent where he knew Tessa was trying to stall the CMO officer. He thought about Braithwaite’s body, maybe right at that moment being discovered. There was the man on Stein’s team in another tent – even now he might be coming round. Tessa was in as much trouble as they were.
‘Go!’ he hissed.
Sadie folded her arms. ‘I’m not leaving without Elijah.’
‘None of us wants to…?’ Rosa looked at the others for confirmation. There was muttered agreement.
Elijah stamped his foot. He was angry at them for being so awkward, and yet, there was a small part of him that swelled with the warmth of their loyalty. ‘You’re not exactly helping matters. We’re running out of time – Stein and his team could be back any minute now… it’ll be bad news for me if he does and I’m still here… it might be bad news for all of us.’
‘I’m not leaving you here,’ Sadie insisted.
‘What do you suggest, then?’ Elijah snapped.
‘We can help you, of course.’
‘But,’ he began with almost comedic vexation, ‘it’s too dangerous for you to stay here…’
‘And for you,’ Rosa reminded him.’ You need us, no matter what you say,’
‘They’re planning to kill us… all of us!’ Elijah strained to control his rising voice.
‘We guessed that much,’ Rosa stated coolly.
Elijah sighed, seeing that they would not budge. ‘There isn’t time for this.’
‘No, there isn’t. So tell us what we’re going to do.’
‘How about this…’ Jimmy suggested, ‘Most of us sit and pretend to be tied, two of us bunk off and lure that CMO guy away into the woods. That’ll buy us some time to do whatever it is we need to.’
Elijah considered for a moment. It was a risky strategy and the plan would be foiled if Stein turned up before they had finished. But it would avoid more physical confrontation and he really didn’t feel he had the strength left for another fight. The idea of a stealthy but non-violent assault was tempting. But the decision was taken out of his hands when there was a shout from across the encampment. Heads snapped round to see the CMO guard roaring towards them, Tessa hot on his heels with a look of angry bewilderment. Elijah knew why. She had detained the man as long as she dared and it must have looked like they were having a casual reunion. He felt angry with himself for letting it happen. He shouted to the others.
‘Scatter!’
No one needed to be told twice. They hared off in different directions, heading for the protective green twilight of the thick forest. The CMO officer didn’t stand a chance of catching them all, but it was only a matter of time before he called for reinforcements.
Elijah tore away into the gloom. He whipped his head round and saw that the CMO officer was gaining dangerously on Jimmy and Sadie, who were running together. Split up! Elijah willed them. To his relief they did. Their pursuer seemed to decide that Sadie was his best bet and turned his attention to her. Jimmy would be quick, there was no worry on that score, and Rosa was tough enough when it came to it. He thought uneasily of Sadie but there was no way and no time to help her. Elijah had to block it out and see the bigger picture. The diversion they needed had been created; there was no point in letting it go to waste.
Elijah circled back towards the encampment, hoping fervently that Tessa had managed to make a start on the seemingly impossible task of eradicating the portal. His breath caught, knife sharp, round his tonsils and his head throbbed. Fatigue was beginning to take its toll on his bruised body. He charged back towards the clearing, over wet, slippery tree roots and fallen branches which tripped him clumsily and snagged his skin. All sense of caution had been abandoned as he spied Tessa, as frantic as he was, dashing from tent to tent. He made for her, but she didn’t acknowledge until he was within hailing distance. By the way she yelled at him, she was clearly still alone, apart from their insensible captive.
‘What kind of stunt was that?’
Elijah didn’t have enough breath to respond, even if he had wanted to argue.
‘I’ve no way of knowing if I’ve cleared every copy,’ Tessa stated grimly. ‘I’ve done my best. The only thing to do now is get rid of that.’ She inclined her head towards the portal equipment.
Perhaps it was the daunting task of shutting it down, or at least destroying the equipment which made it seem so, but the portal looked more menacing and unpredictable than ever. It buzzed angrily whilst the atmosphere within shifted and shimmered in unruly directions, like a deep ocean current. Although it meant that Stein was closer to controlling it, which was definitely bad, Elijah couldn’t help thinking that the development of Stein’s stabilising device was also a good thing. The equipment represented something tangible, something he could focus his efforts on.
Two long, robust-looking silvery metallic stakes in the ground were connected to a sophisticated arrangement of computers and other devices. The best plan would seem to be the most straightforward. Elijah voiced his thoughts.
‘I think we should unplug all that wiring first. Then we smash everything up to make sure. I mean, really smash it up, so it can’t be put together again.’ Tessa nodded in agreement and started towards the tangle of black wires that co
nnected everything up. Elijah remembered something. ‘Wait,’ he called.
Out of his trouser pocket Elijah wrenched the incriminating soapstone figure that he had taken from the hotel. He tossed it forcefully into the portal. The air shuddered momentarily, turned the offending item into a miniscule black dot, and then swallowed it from sight.
He gave Tessa a thin smile. ‘It will be harder to connect you to anything now.’
The smile faded, replaced by a look of frozen fear as a familiar, oily voice issued from behind them.
‘Not irretrievable though, is it?’
They spun round to find Stein, his face sweatier and redder than they had ever seen it, contorted into a look of absolute rage. ‘What do you think you are doing with my equipment?’ Elijah and Tessa stared, open mouthed. ‘But it all makes sense,’ Stein continued, ‘You!’ He raised a stubby finger at Tessa, ‘You are responsible for all this.’
‘Leave her alone!’ Elijah yelled. ‘I tried to tell you about the portal, I tried to tell you and Braithwaite but you wouldn’t listen –’
‘So you murdered him.’ Stein interrupted.
‘NO! He tried to kill me… you know it. That was the plan all along.’
‘I knew of no such thing. Mr Braithwaite was a respected business man –’
Tessa squealed, a high-pitched, mirthless laugh, making Stein stare at her momentarily in surprise. ‘He made his fortune from other people’s misery. I killed him. He deserved it!’ she spat.
Elijah turned to Tessa. ‘Think what you’re saying.’ He looked pleadingly at Stein. ‘She didn’t do it deliberately, I swear, it was an accident.’
‘I don’t care,’ Tessa yelled with a wild look. ‘I’m not sorry. If you try and get in our way you’ll be sorry too. It makes no difference to us now; we’re in so much trouble already.’
Stein pulled a phone from his coat. ‘I’m calling the police…’