Fate (Wilton's Gold #3)

by Craig W. Turner

  “Wait – am I being trained as the guide or am I the participant?”

  Lowenstein stopped and looked at him. “I don’t understand, sir.”

  “You don’t have to call me ‘sir.’”

  “Yes, sir.”

  Jeff paused for a moment. “You’re talking to me as though I’ll be accompanying someone on their time travel mission. I actually want to be trained as though I’m the traveler. Like it’s my mission that I paid for.”

  “Well, those are really just the tests that you’ve already done. The physical examination. My recommendation is that you get at least a snapshot of our training program.”

  “So participants in the program don’t learn self-defense?” he asked. Lowenstein shook his head. “Alright, now I understand a little bit more. Let’s do it, then. I guess it couldn’t hurt.” He really did think the training would be useful, but his first purpose here was to get a good understanding of how they trained the paying customers. The fact that Dexter was debilitated by a decrepit old cancer patient continued to raise questions for him – he’d assumed that Kane had at least had some rudimentary training on how to take someone out, but he supposed it must have come from elsewhere.

  The soldier walked around him and guided him into an attack stance, the way Jeff had seen karate students stand facing each other in a tournament. “There will be levels of danger that you’ll have to quickly assess should anything arise,” he said. “There will be those who simply don’t want to do what they’re supposed to do, and there will be those who wish to do harm – either to you or to someone else. Let’s start with the easier of the two.”

  Jeff copied Lowenstein’s moves as he led him through a basic curriculum in what he called chin na, which he of course had seen in movies a thousand times. It involved gaining control of your attacker’s arm at either the forearm or the wrist, and then quickly bending it in a way to cause enough pain to control him. Lowenstein’s first demonstration against Jeff’s simulated attack sent a wave of excruciating pain up Jeff’s arm and into his shoulder, making the point very clear to him that the move, if mastered, was undeniably effective. After about a half-hour of practice, Jeff was nowhere closer to believing that he could actually pull the move off in the heat of the moment, but he at least understood the logic behind it.

  “The second case will be where you have to actually put someone down,” Lowenstein continued once the chin na lesson was adequately complete. “If you sense life-threatening danger, you’re going to want to act decisively because you won’t necessarily know what you’re up against. You don’t want to get caught in a drag down fight because the other person might be well-trained, as opposed to your hour of practice here in the gym.”

  “I’ve been there,” Jeff said, remembering his altercation with Ekaterina. She’d made short work of him.

  “You also may not want to kill the person, if indeed the attacker is a client of the program.”

  “That makes no sense if you’re fighting for your life,” Jeff said. “Just an observation.”

  Lowenstein ignored him. “What you’ll be doing is thrusting your fist into the person’s neck. You may have read about the effectiveness of an open hand, but you’re only trying to disable the person. But you’ll be using your fist. And it has to be quick. A surprise. It’s very easy to block the neck. Hitting someone in the jaw hard may daze them for a moment, but it won’t be enough. A solid punch to the neck will disable them long enough for you to reestablish control and trip the time device. Think of how a rattlesnake bites. You never see it coming. Has to be that quick.”

  Jeff wasn’t surprised that the move Ekaterina had used on him was exactly what he was about to learn. Lowenstein stood in front of him and demonstrated. Then Jeff emulated him, lunging forward and thrusting with his fist, slowly and repetitively, but increasing intensity until he was feeling like he could actually use it to do some damage. After a few minutes, Lowenstein moved him over to the bag, where he continued his reps.

  He’d gotten three or four punches in at the bag when the main door to the training room opened. Jeff allowed himself to be distracted for a moment – probably a faux pas that would get him killed later – and saw the hulking figure of General Carr standing in the doorway. He was immediately intrigued.

  Carr sat down in one of three chairs lined up along the wall. He said nothing for several minutes as Jeff punched the heavy bag repetitively, Lowenstein prompting him, “Again. Again. Again.” While Jeff felt like he was getting it, he also felt like his arm was about to fall off.

  Finally, Lowenstein gave him reprieve and he looked over at Carr, who was sitting back with his right leg crossed over his left, casually observing. “Dr. Jacobs, I don’t trust you,” he said.

  Jeff laughed. “Well, hello to you, too.”

  He didn’t smile. “And I know that you and I don’t like each other. I know you think that your vast knowledge of time travel gives you some kind of advantage. But I want to warn you not to underestimate the rest of us. Especially Dr. Bremner.”

  “General, sir,” Jeff said, shaking his head as Lowenstein tossed him a towel, which he used to dry the sweat from the back of his neck. “I don’t know you. So I have no reason not to like you. I am aware that you and the other Jeff didn’t get along, but knowing what I know of myself, I would guess that it was nothing personal.”

  “Oh, yeah?”

  “That’s my guess, yes,” Jeff said. He hadn’t yet figured out General Carr’s involvement in everything that had transpired, or where he stood within the organization, so his showing up in the gym was opening a new line of thinking for him. “I would think – because I’m feeling the same way – that the other Jeff was nervous about taking a very tenuous technology and putting it in the hands of people he didn’t trust. I’m sorry, that’s not fair – I don’t mean to imply that the USTP team is untrustworthy. I meant people he didn’t know.”

  “Dr. Jacobs, the other Dr. Jacobs, was at the center of building this program,” Carr said. “That was never a concern he expressed.”

  “Well, c’mon, sir,” Jeff said, knowing he was probably pushing it with the general. “Jeff wasn’t at the center of the program because he chose to be. He was forced into it. Am I wrong?”

  “As a matter of fact, yes, you are.”

  Interpreting the intentions of someone they couldn’t speak to was a debate he wasn’t going to get into, especially with someone he didn’t know or trust. “Is that why you’re here, sir?” he asked. “To tell me you don’t trust me?”

  Carr stood. “That’s exactly why I’m here,” he said, walking toward him. Jeff looked around for Lowenstein, who had disappeared. He immediately wondered if he was going to have to use his new technique right away. But Carr stopped a foot from him, hovering over him like the stereotypical drill sergeant from the cartoons. “Don’t get cute,” he said. “Everything about your arrival this week is mysterious, and the USTP does not like mystery. Neither does the U.S. military or the White House. You get me?”

  “I get that you’re trying to scare me,” Jeff said, surprised at his own fortitude in the face of such a powerful figure. “What I don’t get is why. I’ve been nothing but upfront with you. Hell, I even volunteered for a psych exam. What do you have to be afraid of?”

  “Son, you know how this technology works. Don’t test us.”

  “I have no intention to, sir,” he said, though wondering if the general was actually saying what he thought he was saying. He took “how this technology works” to mean that Carr was in on whatever Bremner was doing, as Fisher had asserted. Which meant that he’d been discussed as a threat.

  He didn’t have much time.

  Jeff looked past Carr at the clock, which now read 3:30 p.m. “I’m supposed to move onto the next phase, but Captain Lowenstein left,” he said. “I’m not sure where to go.”

  At this, Carr relaxed his body and took a step back. “Go shower and change,” he said. “I’ll take you to Dr. Schmidt when you’re
done.”

  Jeff realized that he’d relaxed his own muscles, which had been tightened during the altercation, for what it was. “General, sir,” he said, “I don’t know what happened between you and the other Jeff, but there’s really no reason why you and I can’t get along.”

  “Just go take your shower,” he said.

  He nodded, continuing his charade of being frustrated that Carr didn’t want to be his friend, and moped to the shower. After he’d showered and changed back into his original clothes, Carr walked him through a set of security doors where Dr. Arlen Schmidt and Dexter were waiting for him. He gave Carr an over-enunciated goodbye as they parted, in hopes that it was the last time he’d ever have to deal with him.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Dexter arrived back at the USTP just in time to meet up with Jeff again, having accomplished both items on his to-do list. Not having time to stash the things he’d collected anywhere, he felt the weight of the battery in his left pocket and a roll of 1930s silver certificate $20 bills in his right. He felt an inkling of guilt, but had already talked himself into believing it was actually just a fear of being caught. In his heart and mind, he was doing the right thing.

  When he arrived, he realized that Dr. Bremner had decided not to be present for Jeff’s introduction to the time devices. It was odd, but not unexpected. He took it to mean that the chief didn’t want to appear to have any concerns about Jeff, but he was surely tuned into the training somehow, from somewhere.

  Instead, he’d sent Dr. Schmidt, with whom Dexter had always gotten along very well. In truth, for his own benefit, Schmidt would likely be spending a great deal of time with Jeff, as he’d been the one to take on leadership of the research component of the program when he’d left. Although, “leading” the research team hadn’t amounted to much beyond making some practical and aesthetic changes to the time device, integrating the new composite casing and upgrading the touch screen. Schmidt was a brilliant astrophysicist, but he didn’t have the benefit of Jeff’s foundation in time travel research. He couldn’t build off of his own knowledge, while Jeff had been continually doing so.

  There were extensive security measures surrounding access to the time travel devices, which were stored in a recessed area of the USTP one floor beneath the surface. Admittance required double key locks, biometric entry requirements, and passcodes that changed every 20 minutes. Meaning that, at any given time, it was possible that no one had access. For someone to enter the secure room, the codes had to be pulled from the system, given to the person with authorized entry, and the whole process completed within 20 minutes – or else the codes would reset again. Two codes needed to be entered to gain access, and two people were needed.

  In reality, the only time anyone entered the room was when there was a mission. As part of the purchase price, the participant was able to see the secure room under heavy surveillance. It was very cool. Training on the device would happen right in the room, and typically it was Dexter and another rep from the USTP that would administer it. It usually took about ten minutes, and was the last item in the preparation process before the person would be ready for his or her mission.

  The hallway leading to the high-security area was non-descript, with white walls and burgundy carpeting. They’d taken elevators from the atrium to the server level, then a special set of secure elevators back up to the right floor. It was the only access to the devices, and only a very select group of USTP employees had the appropriate rights.

  As they approached a seemingly impenetrable heavy metal door, the details of the security system came into view. On each side of the hallway was a portal containing a hardcover book-sized screen and a key pad. Dexter and Schmidt went to each side of the hallway and placed their hands on the respective screens. The computer scanned their hands and accepted, sending them to the next step – the codes. Each of them took out their smart phones and copied onto the keypad the code that had been given to them 14 minutes before.

  “Ready?” Dexter called over his shoulder.

  “Yep.”

  They hit enter simultaneously and two previously unseen panels on each side of the doors slid open bottom-to-top.

  “So, it takes two of you doing everything simultaneously to get into the room?” Jeff asked.

  “Yes,” Dexter said. “The security measures are intended to make sure that no one person could control the devices without anyone else knowing about it.”

  “Interesting,” Jeff said. Dexter looked back at him. What was on his mind?

  Now, he stepped to the panel with Schmidt to his left, pulled a digital key from his pocket, and inserted it into the slot in the panel. He glanced at Schmidt, then said, “On three, two, one...” They both turned their keys and the metal door slid open to the left, disappearing into the jamb.

  “Here we are,” Dexter said, stepping into the room. Jeff and Schmidt followed him. Once they were in, the door slid closed behind them.

  Jeff turned as the door locked. “Wow, I do have to say I’m comforted by the level of security,” he said. Dexter noticed him look to the ceiling, which was, of course, covered with cameras. “How do we get out?”

  “Biometrics,” Schmidt said, motioning to similar panels on either side of the door.

  “Good to know,” Jeff said. He stretched his arm out in circles, wincing as his muscles unwound, presumably from his session with Captain Lowenstein. “You go through this training I just had?” Jeff asked, to which Schmidt shook his head. “No? I’d recommend it.” Dexter smiled to himself, thinking Lowenstein must have really worked him out. He thought it was good for Jeff. Toughen him up a little.

  While it was cool for the participants to see the room, there really wasn’t much to it at all. It was circular, with an eight-foot table in the center. It was lit from a lamp hanging overhead. Beyond the table was a credenza-like fixture, which held twelve cream-colored devices resembling old household cordless phone charging stations. Eleven of them were filled.”

  “There’s one missing?” Jeff asked.

  Dexter turned and looked at Schmidt, who shrugged. “Maybe it’s out for repair or testing.”

  “Is there any significance to having twelve devices?” Jeff asked.

  “You know what?” Dexter said. “I’m not sure. I know the reason for having multiple devices is that, in the instance something goes wrong, there’s the capacity for rescue. Why twelve, I don’t know. Arlen?”

  Schmidt shook his head and laughed. “I think it was you who said there should be twelve. So you’d know better than any of us.”

  “Great,” Jeff said, walking around the table to the devices. “May I?”

  “That’s what we’re here for,” Dexter said.

  He watched as Jeff picked up one of the devices and inspected it. He held it close to his face and took it in from all angles. “Fascinating,” he said, then looked up at Dexter. “I can’t believe how far it’s come. Mine was a metal stick with some buttons on it. I’m assuming the technology is pretty much the same?”

  Dexter followed him around the table. “It is, except there’s no more need to enter coordinates. All you need to do is enter the destination and the chip in the device figures out the coordinates.”

  “So you’ve incorporated Abby’s software into a chip? That’s outstanding,” Jeff said. “That would’ve saved me some hassle in Russia. Might not’ve ended up here.” He laughed, so Dexter laughed along with him. “Okay, what happens with the training? We get to program the device?”

  “Well, not exactly,” he said. “But I’ll show you how the destination input works. The important thing is that the participant knows how to use it so that if anything happens to me, or whatever USTP rep is with you on the mission, you know how to get back. Or escape, in the case of an emergency.”

  Jeff nodded. “Fair enough. Alright, let’s see,” he said. “So I just enter my date and time here – say, the day I was born...”

  “... you would then hit the enter button and the device
would be set.”

  “Seems pretty basic. I would think it would be more extravagantly detailed.”

  Dexter shook his head, feeling like Jeff was acting a little elementary. Perhaps he was doing it for Arlen’s benefit. “No, it has to be easy. Just in case. Don’t want anyone making haphazard trips even in an emergency.”

  “What about the future?”

  “The future? You mean, can the device send someone to the future? Arlen?” Dexter looked to Schmidt, but Jeff spoke up again before he could answer.

  “Well, it’s a question – I know you can do it, otherwise people wouldn’t be able to get back to where they started from,” Jeff said. “I mean, have you tried it?”

  Schmidt was still standing by the door, which remained open. “Well, no,” he said. “We’ve only focused on specific destinations in the past.” He set his hands on the table and leaned forward. “Is there a reason you think we should be exploring the future?”

  Dexter thought the question had an edge to it, especially with Schmidt’s body language in delivering it. Though he didn’t think Jeff’s question was out-of-line. He considered Schmidt’s perspective, having to “train” the expert he’d succeeded. Probably wasn’t easy.

  Jeff shrugged. “Not at all. I’m just trying to get a handle on everything. Actually, it’s just the opposite. I’m relieved that you’re not using it to explore the future. Though, while it’s horribly dangerous, it’s always been a possible branch of time travel science.” Schmidt relaxed his pose.

  Dexter, feeling as though they were in the midst of an undiscussed ruse, was trying to keep up with him – almost as an improv comic would, being paired up with an especially gifted humorist. He reached to the table and picked up a device for himself. He flipped it over and showed it to Jeff, changing the topic. “Here’s where the battery pack goes,” he said, pulling it out and then replacing it. “As I mentioned, we no longer allow four trips per battery pack. Each battery contains just two.”