Escape from Helmira: The Great Civil War Prison Escape (Dyna-Tyme Genetics Time Travel Series Book 2)

by Fred Holmes

  * * * * *

  • Lida – He had a feeling that she was trying to steal RTSL but wasn’t sure why. Sell it? She probably could receive a fortune from certain organizations or even a few countries. She knew the horrible consequences of making major changes to world history. He didn’t believe she would take that risk. But, never say never. She had the opportunity and means, but the motive eluded him.

  • SS&G – They were after RTSL, no doubt, but they still lacked some important parts to make the system functional. They probably didn’t know the danger of releasing the system. Lack of knowledge and experience made them dangerous. All three were young, smart hackers only concerned with the money. He didn’t receive any ideological vibes from those three. Their motive was money, and their hacking skills provided them the means to get the software. But the opportunity to get the capsules and other parts of the system left them needing some help.

  • Nina – She was a paradox. Her job involved vetting employees and making security checks at his request and others. At first, he thought there was something between Lida and Nina. But the large “ℒ” on Lorraine’s sweater opened the suggestion for some emotional attachment or, at least, a close relationship. He couldn’t figure motive or means, even though she had the opportunity. Not Nina. She was up to something else.

  • Vinnie – He confused the issue with Rainey. There was no doubt in Mike’s mind that there was something going on there. Vinnie also seemed tight with Lida, but different. He couldn’t put Vinnie in the formula at all.

  • Bruno – Vinnie’s sidekick. He couldn’t see anything else there. Plenty of muscle. Bruno was just a thug. He was Vinnie’s backup.

  • Ralph – He was frightened of Ginger. Mike wasn’t afraid of her, yet intended to keep a close eye on her, as she could go off like a scud missile. Capable of destruction but impossible to direct. Something was bothering Ralph. He had been visibly upset the other day, ready to fire Mike. Worse than that, he hadn’t seemed to put much thought into the termination; rather, he’d seemed to be reacting to heavy pressure. He’d acted scared. Something other than RTSL was at work here. Ralph had the opportunity and means, but Mike couldn’t pin the motive on Ralph.

  • Ginger – His investigation showed that supporting her charities, her job as CFO of Dyna-Tyme, and an active social life should have limited her time to make trouble. But he suspected she could cause trouble in an instant and bore watching.

  • Carleton – Mike didn’t know him well. He did know that Carleton was the pioneer of RTSL time travel but now had limited involvement. He spent most of his time at Venable Farms, raising thoroughbred horses and selectively bred chickens. He was on the board of trustees of Dyna-Tyme and had a reputation for making thoughtful, carefully considered decisions. The community regarded him with high esteem. Mike didn’t think Carleton was part of the problem, but he could be part of the solution. Both Carleton and Doc Jamison had opportunity and means, but no motive … so far.

  • Doc Jamison – Doc stayed to himself and camped out in the RTSL lab, working on medical applications of the system. Mike met him at Carleton’s office. They seemed to be thick, and Doc might be of some help. He was an expert in all uses of the system.

  Mike settled back in his chair and contemplated his list. In general, he was satisfied with his character assessment. If he could tie Lida and SS&G together in a common motive, he could solve this case.

  He turned off the lights in his area and made the rounds, checking all the windows and doors. He stopped. He needed fresh eyes and ears. He pulled out his cell and called Ralph Bailey.

  * * * * *

  Ralph picked up the phone on the third ring.

  “Ralph, Mike Beasley here. I’m just leaving Dyna-Tyme and wonder if I could come by and run a couple of ideas through you?”

  “About what?” said Ralph.

  “This security mess surrounding RTSL. I’m having a problem putting the pieces together. Maybe you can see something I’ve missed.”

  “I can spare a few minutes. By the way, Carleton Venable is stopping by in a few minutes Carleton has a great deal of experience with the system as well as the people involved. He’ll be a great help.”

  Rainey stuck her head in Ralph’s office. “Do you need me anymore today?”

  “No. See you tomorrow. Have a nice night, Rainey.”

  * * * * *

  After she buckled her seat belt, she punched a number on her cell. Vinnie answered.

  “Yes?”

  “Vinnie, this is Rainey. Are you in 413?”

  “Yes. Coming by?’

  “You bet. Want me to bring anything?”

  “Just your gorgeous self.”

  She giggled. “That’s a given. I also have some information that you’ll find useful.”

  “Bring it on. I’ll have Bruno meet you in the parking lot.”

  “Don’t bother. I’ll be okay. Been there before.”

  * * * * *

  Nina pulled the receiver plugs from her ears and directed her car to the rear parking lot of The Airport Inn. She and Rainey had been there together before, and the parking in the rear was much more private. She arrived before Rainey, parked, and pulled a small flask of bourbon and a switchblade knife from her purse. She opened the flask and slipped the knife into a sheath built into her slacks. You never knew what you’d encounter in a dark parking lot.

  She settled back to wait for Rainey and took a long pull from her flask. The longer she thought about Rainey and that big fat goon Vinnie, the madder she became. She took a few more pulls from her flask. Shortly after, Rainey pulled her car into the parking lot, locked it, and walked briskly to the rear entrance.

  “Wait up, Rainey! Wait up!” Nina called. “Well, what a surprise,” she said when she finally caught up to her. “What’s going on here?”

  “Not much, I was going to have a drink at the bar.”

  “Not exactly on your way home, is it?”

  “No, but I like the ambiance.”

  “I’ll bet. Why don’t you come with me? We can find nicer ambiance at Lucy’s.”

  “No, I think I’ll pass. Besides, I’m meeting someone.”

  “Girl?”

  “Uh, no. No girl.”

  * * * * *

  About then, Bruno came out the back door and stopped a few feet behind Rainey. He listened as Nina’s voice, fueled by the contents of her flask, increased in volume.

  “No, Rainey! I think you’re coming with me!”

  “I don’t think so.” Nina tried to pull her away. The alcohol caused her to lose her balance, spin, and slam against Bruno.

  He wrapped a ham-like arm around her neck, lifting her off the ground.

  The man-handling infuriated her. She slid the knife out of her slacks and pressed the button to release the blade. She grasped the handle, slammed the point deep into Bruno’s inner thigh, and pulled the razor sharp, four-inch blade, across Bruno’s quadricep, slicing through the flesh, fat, and muscle until it ground to a stop against his femur.

  Bruno let out a loud grunt as instant pain flooded his brain. The response caused him to contract his huge bicep and wrench Nina higher, at the same time contracting the muscle and snapping her neck. With a soft sigh, she released the knife and went limp as he dropped her and grabbed his leg, now gushing blood.

  He unbuckled his belt, pulled it through the loops, and handed it to Rainey.

  “Put the belt on my leg. No, no, higher. That’s it. Now pull it as tight as you can and tie the end. That’s good. Now help me get in your car and drive as fast as you can to the hospital. I’m gonna call Vinnie on my cell.”

  “What about Nina?”

  “Nothing we can do for her. She’s dead.”

  As Bruno made the call, Rainey vomited in the parking lot. The smell of asphalt, mixed with the contents of her stomach, made her gag and vomit again.

  Vinnie burst out the rear entrance. “What happened?”

  Bruno tried to explain, but the pain reduced his
voice to a mumble.

  Vinnie finally pieced together the events from the gasped words that Rainey choked out. “Okay, let’s load Bruno into your car and take him to Leesburg General.”

  He picked up Nina’s lifeless body and loaded her into the Caddy trunk.

  “If you can drop Bruno off at the emergency room and drive on, do it. I need to take care of this,” he said, gesturing at Nina.

  “Maybe I can stand up long enough for her to drive away,” said Bruno.

  “Just get him some help, Rainey. Come on. We don’t have much time. Let’s go before we have two dead bodies.”

  She accelerated and headed for Leesburg General, while Bruno talked on the cell to Vinnie, who had driven the Caddy in the opposite direction. After a few minutes, he hung up and placed another call.

  “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I understand.” He turned to Rainey. “Turn this around and head to Legacy Woods.”

  “What’s going on?”

  He handed the phone to her. “Here; I can’t talk anymore.” Then he passed out.

  * * * * *

  Lida was on the other end.

  “I have a doctor meeting you at the Woods. He’s going to patch Bruno up, and we won’t have to deal with the police.”

  Rainey drove faster and, a few minutes later, pulled into The Woods and up to Lida’s four-plex.

  Vinnie pulled up in the Caddy just in time to follow the group into the room.

  Erik, Lida, Rummy, Bunny, and Artie Small carried Bruno into the room and hoisted him on the table. He was a big man.

  Charlie Small checked him over. “He needs a couple of pints of blood. Fortunately, the knife just missed the femoral artery or he’d be dead by now.”

  Vinnie told them that Bruno had type ‘O’ blood, which was pretty common. He rolled up his sleeve.

  “I match. Go to it.”

  “Positive or Negative?”

  “Positive.”

  After re-arranging the beds and stacking up the mattresses, they had a decent place for Charlie to work. He slipped on his gloves and worked to save Bruno’s life and then his leg.

  Chapter 26

  MIKE BEASLEY was the first to arrive at the Bailey Agency Real Estate Office, his car sliding into the parking spot.

  Ralph was alone when Mike arrived, and before they could get settled, Dr. Mark Jamison arrived, carpooling in Carleton’s Jeep. They gathered in the waiting area, chatting casually while the coffee finished perking.

  Ralph led them into his spacious office with a conference table to the right of his desk as you faced it.

  He joined the three men sitting around the table, and they sipped their coffee waiting for someone to start.

  “Carleton, I nearly forgot. I have a few eclairs that you like.”

  “Just one, Ralph, thanks.”

  “How about you two? Eclairs?”

  Mike and Doctor Mark turned him down.

  “Ginger has me on a no-eclair diet. She even keeps an inventory.”

  Carleton took a large bite of his eclair and turned to Ralph. “It sounds like you’re ‘chicken pecked.”’

  “Wouldn’t that be ‘hen pecked?”’

  “We try to be politically correct, even with our poultry.”

  Everybody laughed.

  “So what’s up?” Carleton asked.

  Ralph extended his arm and waved at Mike Beasley. “Fill us in, Mike.”

  Mike sat forward and pulled his yellow pads from his battered briefcase. “After combing through all the information and files of all the key people at Dyna-Tyme and investigating outside companies, I’ve have come to the conclusion that somebody is trying to hack into RTSL and steal the system. At first, I thought they were just hackers, messing up our system. Maybe one of our competitors. Then I realized that we didn’t have any significant competition. We were always ready to license the medical application to worthy research. So, I deduced that it had to be RTSL time travel, specificallly, that was the target of the hackers.”

  He set out his notes in order. “I pinned SS&G down. Their methods were carefully constructed to let them ultimately scoop up the entire system. The whole system would be necessary to make it worth a fortune. But SS&G lacked one thing. The ancient DNA that we have locked down tight. To get to that, it would take a physical burglary, which requires a login DNA and a passcode. And the only two that have that information are Ralph and me.”

  “So, what’s the problem?” Doctor Mark asked.

  “SS&G stole my DNA along with my passcode.” Mike summarized the con at the bar, leaving out the embarrassing parts. “They had my login info until Lida and her hoodlums stole it from SS&G. To top that off, she told me that she turned over the three-some from SS&G to the FBI.” Carleton raised his hand.

  Mike continued. “I’m ahead of you. I went as far as I could with my FBI contacts, and they have nothing on SS&G except a basic file with names, addresses, and miscellaneous info.”

  “No criminal activity?” Carleton asked.

  Mike shook his head.

  Doctor Mark claimed it was obvious that Lida had the system. “The question is, what’s she going to do with it?”

  “She can’t be using it for legitimate purposes,” Ralph added, “because the system is shut down for RTSL, and only medical applications are authorized.”

  “That leaves us with two reasons that she needs RTSL,” Carleton said. “She’s either traveling in time or she plans to sell the system.”

  “Then she must have a buyer because she has no other reason to go back in time,” Mike said.

  Carleton shook his head. “I hate to mention this, but there is one other reason for her to go back in time.”

  There was a long pause. In unison, the foursome exclaimed, “Rummy!”

  “We sure can’t let that happen,” Ralph said. “Mike and I will change the login DNA and PIN number. Can we use yours, Carleton?”

  “That’s no problem, but you might be better off using Mark’s, as he’s available without finding me on the farm. Is that okay with you, Mark?”

  “Yes, that’s fine. But we may already be too late.”

  “You might be right,” Mike added. “Things are happening that don’t add up. People haven’t been where I thought they should be, or they disappear without checking out. Not that we require checking in and out, but most employees take it upon themselves to stay connected in case something important arises.”

  “We need to set a trap,” Mark said. “I have an idea how we can lock up half of the system. Mike, let’s go to my office, and I’ll show you what I mean.”

  Ralph leaned back in his chair. “That’s a good idea. Keep us in the loop, and show us what you’ll have when you complete your changes.”

  Carleton added his approval, and the meeting adjourned with Mark and Mike anxious to set the trap.

  * * * * *

  Bunny and Erik were in Erik’s room, checking Traweek’s “Recollections” to get an idea of where the Federal Captain might have taken Dee.

  “I’ll bet the Union boys are still waiting at Mr. Rhodes place for their Captain. We need to be there before the Captain orders Dee shot.”

  “You might be right, Bunny. We can’t take a chance. We need to grab Lida and convince her to make the capsules.”

  They cornered Lida and, after much discussion and a few veiled threats, she agreed to make three capsules. She would use injections to send them back to Mr. Rhodes’ place and three capsules to bring them back with Dee. She was almost out of capsules and was saving the last three she had for an emergency. She had just enough of the ancient DNA to make it work. She also needed Dee because, since she was almost out of ancient DNA, she would require a burglary into DynaTyme’s secure room to obtain more. And Dee was the designated burglar. She kept that to herself, though. No honor among thieves.

  Now all she had to do was program the arrival instructions for the injections and the return location for the capsules. She sat down and soon had the RTSL program ready to download. Then
she stopped.

  We’re wasting time and taking too much risk following the Union troops to overtake Traweek, Crawford, and Rummy, Lida said to herself. His approach exposes us to capture or worse. I think we need to go directly to Jenkins Island and wait for our three-some to show.

  “Are you two ready to go?” Lida asked Erik and Bunny. “I’ve changed your arrival to Jenkins Island, and you’ll have them all to yourselves. Dee’ll be ready to return, and Traweek and Crawford’ll be happy to be rid of him.”

  Erik stood up. “I’ve changed my mind. I’m not going back. It gives me the willies, and I’ll freak out. I can’t even handle the idea of time travel.”

  She walked over and put her arm around him. “Why, Erik, I believe you. You’re shaking like a leaf.” She rubbed his shoulder.

  “Hey that hurt. What did you do—?” He shimmered and disappeared.

  She turned to Bunny. “Hurry; he’s on his way.” She injected Bunny, and they slipped into the past.

  Back in the past, Erik was freaking out. “I can’t take it! Help me, Bunny. Help me!” He stopped and looked at her lying on the ground a few feet away. It was still dark, but he could see her white skin clear enough.

  “Uh … Uh, Bunny we need to find some clothes. We’re naked.”

  “Of course, that’s the way it works.”

  “What now?”

  “Shh,” Bunny said. She heard the grunts and the slap, slap of paddling.

  Soon, Traweek, Crawford, and Dee pushed up the log they had used to cross the river. They immediately built a fire out of river weeds, using some matches they had in a glass bottle. Dee was naked, and the other two wore not much more than rags. It was intensely cold. Sleet had fallen that morning. Crawford was shaking so hard that Traweek gave him his little jersey jacket.

  He slipped on the jacket and, just as he stood up to pull the jacket down, the fire burned brightly, and an unseen squadron of Federal Cavalry opened fire from across the river. Crawford collapsed with the first fusillade. Traweek and Dee picked him up and carried him off some two hundred and fifty yards, scratched another hole in the sand, and started a new fire. Bunny and Erik caught up to them there.