Save Him

by William M. Hayes

  "Whose life?"

  John spun around to see Ben standing a few feet away with the others, all with their shemaghs covering the lower half of their faces. He could also see the unmistakable black circle of Ben's translator in his right ear. John shut off his translator, rushed over, and started to remove Ben's circular earbuds from his ears. "Fuck, Ben! No translators—I ordered!"

  Ben removed his translator. "You never gave an order about using our translators, sir."

  "Take them out!" John shouted at the others. Rydel walked past John, pointing at Lazarus behind him.

  "A close friend of this man, Lazarus, behind me is in danger. Will any of you help me save his friend?"

  John was on Rydel before he could say another word, spinning him around so that the others could not see, and gripped Rydel's throat, eliminating his ability to speak. "Please, Rydel. Don't make me do something here I do not want to do." John tightened his grip. "We are friends. Don't make me hurt you."

  Panicked by the lack of air, Rydel closed his eyes in defeat and nodded. John loosened his grip on Rydel's throat and walked him away from the rest.

  Colonel Adams was having a hard time with his emotions. He cared for Rydel. He was a true friend, a good man—a very good man. But Rydel had completely lost his way, speaking of this miracle he had been shown by his sister. John's loyalties rested with the American people he cherished. They were his family in his heart. That was the way he felt about the people of America; they were his only offspring. He’d never wanted a family of his own, never needed a steady companion. He lived to protect each American life as best he could.

  Breathing normally now, Rydel gave John a sideways glare, sweat and tears running over his face.

  "I'm here for a reason, John. You're going to have to kill me, I guess."

  __

  On the path down the mountain, John trailed behind Rydel and the two men Rydel had injected with S-7, while the members of Ray's Unit led the way. As they were reaching the end of the trail, John tagged Rydel's shoulder with his Smartround gun, even though they could track him by his chip, just to be safe. He was uneasy because he knew they were being followed. The unknown person laughing at them from above on the ridge, regardless of what excuse he had given to Jack and the rest of the team for the sound, was definitely close—and following them.

  Ray, with Sal and Todd standing behind in the distance, waited at the bottom of the mountain, where the colonel had told the three to meet them.

  The rest of the Unit walked up to Ray, then past him as he nodded for them to join Sal and Todd. Rydel walked over and stood in front of Ray with Clopas and Lazarus behind him.

  "Hello, Ray."

  Ray stared at the two men with Rydel. He then looked at John. "Who are they?" Ray asked John.

  "Commoners from the city. But—"

  John stopped what he was about to say to Ray and snapped his fingers at Todd to get his attention. "Todd, eyes on Rydel and the other two while I talk with Ray for a minute."

  "Yes, sir."

  John approached Ray, put a hand on his shoulder, and led him away from the rest, walking him toward an olive tree, the roots of the tree twisted and gnarled, protruding from the ground. Standing by the tree, John glanced back to make sure the others were far enough away and wouldn’t overhear.

  "The one standing to the left of Rydel, yeah, Rydel said his name was Lazarus. Some in your Unit had an odd reaction hearing that name. What you need to do right now is get this one simple thing through their heads: our mission here is now over. We are to stay away from the people of this time and wait to be taken back. Understand, Ray?"

  Ray took it all in, standing stoically as John barked off his orders. Ray replied to John like a grunt, not like a brother-in-law.

  "I understand, Colonel. And all in my Unit will understand as well once I can sit them down alone and talk to them. Can you watch over Rydel and the other two while I do that?"

  Easing up on Ray, John put both hands on Ray's shoulders and changed his tone.

  "Sorry, brother."

  "Not a problem."

  "Before you talk to your Unit, I need you to take the two men that Rydel is controlling away from here and hit them up with S-7 again so you can control them. Have the two forget this day in their lives. Then meet us back at the camp."

  "Understood," Ray replied without emotion, like a good soldier.

  Sweat beading on his face, John wiped it away with both hands and let out a weary breath. He loved Ray for what he was doing right now—for easing the pressure. Not being a brother-in-law, just being a soldier and not asking any more questions.

  "Thanks, Ray."

  __

  Ray walked with the man named Clopas to his left, trailing a little behind, and the one claiming to be Lazarus walking right beside him. The overhead moon lit the small hill they traveled on. Ray walked without speaking or making eye contact, his face hidden by the hood of his cloak and shemagh.

  Ray pulled out his knife and placed the edge of the blade across the throat of the man named Clopas walking behind him. The man came to an immediate stop as Lazarus continued walking ahead, not noticing. Ray removed the blade from Clopas's throat and pointed his knife in the other direction. Picking up on the gesture, Clopas ran away. Ray watched Clopas for a moment, turned, tagged Lazarus with his Smartround gun, and caught up with the man walking without a care.

  Ray walked beside Lazarus, matching his every step. He turned his translator on and asked Lazarus a question.

  "Is it true what they say about you, Lazarus?"

  Without turning, continuing forward, Lazarus nodded.

  "So you were in God's Kingdom. Describe being there."

  Looking ahead, Lazarus stopped, smiled, laughed for a few seconds, and turned to Ray. "Describe it? No, I cannot. I still feel it, though, the Warmth of His Kingdom. I can still feel it inside of me."

  Ray could not help grinning a little as he listened to the translated words. Ray walked ahead of Lazarus, glancing up at the illuminated night sky above. Head tilted up, eyes on the stars, and his back to Lazarus, Ray spoke through his translator to the man. "I need for you to tell me—"

  Before Ray's words finished translating, Lazarus spoke. "Your way of speaking, where do you come from?"

  Ray turned toward Lazarus, grabbed the man's right arm, and stabbed S-7 into Lazarus's forearm, hitting him up with the drug again so he could now control him. Lazarus's eyes began to take on a glazed, hypnotic look.

  "Is Jesus far away from here?"

  Lazarus shook his head.

  "Go to Him. Tell Jesus of my ability of knowing things to come. Tell Him His life is in danger and that He needs to meet me at the top of the mountain behind us. If He will not come, force Him. Do you understand everything I have just told you, Lazarus?"

  "I do," Lazarus said confidently, eager to please his new S-7 controller.

  Ray pulled the needle out of Lazarus's arm.

  "Go. Run."

  Lazarus turned away so fast that he tripped over himself. Up on his feet quickly, he ran. Ray watched Lazarus to make sure he did not fall over himself again. He looked up at the sky once more and began the trek back to John and his Unit.

  In the time it took Ray to reach the camp—taking a different route to get a different view—his mind started putting together the pieces of the puzzle for his new mission. A puzzle in his head he always had to solve on previous missions in order to be successful out in the field. If one part does not fit, use the other pieces laid out before you. That was how his mind worked in the field and would be the reason he was given the under-the-radar missions to complete. The military's gem, Ray Catlin and the Unit he had selected personally, were 22–0. All missions completed. Ray felt they were actually 21–1. The one loss a big one: Martinez had died. They had completed their mission and were able to gather up a good amount of intel after the choppers blew the mountain to shit. But Martinez was gone.

  On the stomped-out path that led to the camp, Ray pl
aced all the pieces of the puzzle together in his head to determine what had to be done in this time he had traveled back to—the pieces of the puzzle almost placing themselves together without any effort.

  Ray could see his Unit seated around the camp's fire pit, with John and Todd in the distance, talking away from the group under an arched palm tree. Ray spoke to Ben through his headset.

  "Ben, it's me."

  "Hey, Ray."

  "I need you and Sal to bring Rydel over to me on the trail leading to camp—just you two. Right now."

  Ben spotted Ray on the mountain trail leading back to the camp and waved at him.

  Ben stood up, gently grabbed hold of Rydel seated next to Janice at the fire pit, and motioned for Sal to follow him.

  "Everyone else stay put, Ray's orders," Ben said.

  Ben and Sal led Rydel away.

  __

  On a hillock forty yards from the fire pit, an intense conversation going on between John and Todd caused the two men to take their eyes off Rydel and the members of the Unit guarding him. The two did not notice Rydel being taken away by Ben and Sal as they continued their heated discussion.

  "Some of the team, especially Adriana, haven't been right since we came across the man Lazarus. You and Ray need to get them back in line, Todd."

  Todd lowered his head, agreeing with John. "Yes, sir. I know."

  "I cannot emphasize how unstable this project of Rydel's is, especially if he's able to alter anything significant in the time we are in now. We got him fast, which could not have worked out better. But some of the others might want to help Rydel with what he had planned to do in this time—those that are Christian—hearing the name Lazarus and putting it together where we are now."

  "Yes, sir."

  John took out a slim black box and handed it to Todd. "If I'm taken down by a Smartround, use this on me—"

  "Shit!" Todd interrupted.

  "What?"

  "Behind you, sir."

  John turned his head to see what had alarmed Todd but didn't pick up on anything.

  "What is it, Todd?"

  "Not sure who, but two are missing along with Rydel, sir."

  John spun around, taking a head count below him.

  "Fuck!"

  __

  Ben, Sal, and Rydel met up with Ray where he waited on the trail, and Ray held up a hand for them to stop. "I need a moment alone here with Rydel. You two make your way back before John and Todd notice. I'll be there in a minute."

  Ben and Sal turned and walked away without saying a word.

  "You believe in what I'm doing here, don't you, Ray?"

  "You came back here to save Christ?"

  "Yes."

  "Tell me why."

  "I was shown a miracle by my sister that came straight from God. This is what Placement is for, why I discovered it, to be here right now, to save Him. Jesus never finished what He was sent on Earth to do. He needs to continue with what He was meant to do in this time. He has to be saved, Ray."

  Ray picked up on movement below, keeping John, Todd, and his Unit in view from the corner of his eye while he spoke to Rydel.

  John noticed that some are missing.

  Ray knew it before he got the call from Ben through his headset.

  "Ray—"

  "Yeah, I know—Rydel and I are coming down."

  Ray shut off his headset. He wanted no interruptions, having only minutes alone, if that, to talk with Rydel.

  "He touched me in an alley when we arrived, Rydel. I witnessed Him perform a miracle. I can still feel His…His divinity inside of me. Coming into contact with Him in the alley was not a coincidence. I know it in my soul."

  "We are here for a reason, Ray."

  "Causing damage back in our own time, back home? I know John and Will are holding back and are flat-out lying about most of it, but I have to be sure."

  Rydel almost seemed to be on the verge of tears. He began to speak, but his voice cracked and failed him. He looked down at the ground for a brief moment and then raised his head. "You think I would cause the death of thousands after all I do at the lab to save civilian lives and the lives of the military in the field? Does that make any sense to you?"

  "No, Rydel, it doesn't," Ray said. And he knew Rydel was right. This was an amazingly gifted and good-hearted person in front of him. Ray was sure of it, deep in his soul.

  "It is my work. I know it's safe, Ray. John just wants me back because of my knowledge of Placement. John has good intentions for my work. But it is not the reason why I was able to create it."

  "If one of us dies here?"

  "I believe you'll die. And everything about a person up to that point in the present will come to an end. If one of us dies here, someone from the present, when we return, would have to travel back to this exact week in time that we've breached to save the person. That's what I believe but cannot prove definitively."

  Rydel stepped closer to Ray. "But you know we have to do this, Ray. Don't you?"

  Ray heard the footsteps approaching and spun his head around, watching John run toward where he stood with Rydel. Ray mouthed the words say nothing to Rydel, and the two walked toward John. John reached Ray and Rydel, red-faced, breathing heavily.

  "Ray, what's going on here?"

  "Just wanted to get Rydel away from the others and ask him how much longer he thinks we will be here. Didn't think it would be a problem."

  "Well, it is! Come on. Back to the camp. Let's go. And get your Unit back in line like we talked about. Got it, Ray?"

  "I got it."

  __

  Two fire pits now lit up the camp. Members of the Unit stood and prepared the MREs they had packed for the trip with only a word or two spoken to one another.

  The group, with the exception of Todd, started to seat themselves around the fire pit on leftover logs they had found earlier. They all ate silently in front of the fire.

  At the other fire pit, about forty feet away, John and Todd sat with Rydel seated between them. From out of the dark, Ray walked over to where Rydel was being kept apart from the rest. Ray stood and stared at the fire for a moment. He then nodded for Todd to leave. Todd stood up, gave the colonel a slight look, and joined the others at the opposite fire. Now alone with Rydel, John and Ray stared at each other.

  "Okay, Ray, go talk to them."

  Ray stood where he was for a few seconds before following Todd back to where the others were seated around the fire. John turned to Rydel, and Rydel smiled confidently.

  "Some in Ray's Unit are having second thoughts already, John. And I haven't even had a chance to talk with them. To explain why I came here."

  "That's about to change. Ray is over there now, explaining that you most likely caused the death of thousands already by coming into contact with those two men."

  Rydel closed his eyes and shook his head. He then raised two fingers up at John and opened his eyes.

  "Two times out, John. The first two times traveling back with Placement had no effect on the climate—"

  "We didn't change anything the first two times out, goddammit!"

  John stood with his hands balled up into fists and stepped closer to Rydel. Rydel stared up at him, his face peaceful and warm-hearted as always. John took a step closer, and then another. A flashing thought ran through John's head to beat Rydel until he understood what he had done. Taking another step forward, he could see his right arm rising, ready to strike Rydel. His right arm seemed to be separated from himself, having its own agenda. John stopped and stared at Rydel, who still looked completely at peace.

  John shook his head, put his hands in the pockets of his cloak, and sat back down by the fire.

  "Sorry, Rydel. I don't know what that was. I'm tired. I told you before I do not want to hurt you. I would never strike you. You'd be dead if I did."

  "You striking me? No. But the one trying to control you now is another story. It would strike me with all your training on how to kill a man if it simply could. But I don't think it's
that easy for the Other to do."

  John shook his head, having no idea what the hell Rydel was babbling on about. He fixed his attention on the fire, trying to calm down and rid himself of the sudden anger that had taken over him. Feeling better after only a minute, John let out a breath, shook his head again, and looked up at Rydel. "Your mind is not right. You're my friend. I care about you and the work you can produce for humanity. However, this project of yours has probably caused damage you can’t even imagine back home and to the people of America."

  "You are wrong about Placement, John, and what it is meant for. We are here, aren’t we? Obliterating all physics as we thought we knew it. God wants us to save His Son. Us, the ones He loves most, the ones who let Jesus die."

  For the first time, John took in the starlit sky, tuning out Rydel's rambling for just a minute. Rydel did stop talking for a moment as the two looked up at the sheet of blackness above, pinpricked with beautiful, white, piercing stars.

  "You think it was just me finding a way to go back in time, John? It was more—it was divine intervention. God's hand was guiding me. My sister made it so clear. God was with me creating Placement all along."

  "No, Rydel, it was just you. This is just your spent mind talking to you now. All that we have been through at the lab…we are true friends. But we need to get you home and make you well again."

  __

  Ray's Unit sat around the larger of the two fires blazing inside the camp. Ray stood over the members of the Unit for a quiet moment. He glanced over his shoulder and could see John and Rydel still seated around the other fire.

  Sal reached back and placed a log beside him, and Ray sat down. Illuminated by the fire, the faces and the eyes from all in the Unit waited for Ray to speak.

  "The man Lazarus all of you came across? Yeah, well, Sal, Todd, and I met up with a woman by the name of Maryam. Mary, when translated, who has a Son. Her Son's translated name—Jesus."