by Malhar Patel
His stomach felt sick and he was beginning to quiver, knowing what was at stake if things went wrong. Straining his ears he heard the pair say something about crisps, then breathed a sigh of relief at the sound of their footsteps trailing off.
After another second he slowly turned his neck a little and saw they were gone in the opposite direction. Without a moment’s hesitation he quickly paced down the corridor to Green's office, his mind racing and petrified. Finally he reached the door.
Jack's heart was pounding so fast it was emitting its own low pitched hum. In a rush of blind panic he felt around his waist for the blade. The handle felt cold. With the grim nature of his circumstances, it ran a trickling tremor down his back. His head snapped sharply; left then right, down the long corridor. There was no one around. This was it. He kicked open the solid mahogany door with his wet, worn shoes while trying to dislodge the six inch blade held in place by his jeans. Without so much as a word he pounced at the oncoming man and swung.
Arnold was bored as sin and his body lay limply slouched on the chair. Across the hall Bruce looked equally fatigued. Arnold sat up sharply as he heard a scratching sound chisel at the silence. Walking up to the door he could make out tiny metal clicks and chinks. The handle started wobbling and his mind snapped into focus. In a second he had his gun un-holstered and trained on the door.
As quickly as it had started, the clicking stopped. Arnold frowned in confusion, his bushy brown eyebrows bunching up in the centre of his face. Motioning to his partner, he walked even closer to the door now, until he could practically smell the pinewood. Still there was silence.
In a flurry of action the door swung open and a heavy fist crashed into his sternum, bringing the big man down to the floor with a whimper. The other guard began to get out his gun and radio at the same time and Frank threw the light tube at him. Bruce yelled as the shards of glass sliced apart his face, dribbling bright red blood onto the floor.
Frank wasted no time and threw a right hard hook. As his fingers dug into Bruce's ribs, he felt a sharp jolt in his stomach that made him screw his face up in pain. It was Bruce’s knee. Both men staggered in confusion and Frank collapsed to his knees.
With a demonic grin Bruce pulled up his elbow and waved it around Frank’s trachea, toying with the man before he finished him off. Frank’s eyes were hazy and Bruce knew he had won.
Raising his arm up, his chest became unguarded and Frank saw the opportunity he had been waiting for. Roaring, he pounced from his spot, spearing the man directly with his head. Bruce let out a wheeze and fell to the floor and Frank collapsed too, his head throbbing like someone was playing the drums on his skull.
There was no time for rest though, him and the girls had to move. Running across the corridor they got to the stairs and ducked down to a halt behind a pillar, checking below to see if it was all clear. It looked safe to proceed and Frank grabbed the banister, ready to go. He didn't even see the heavy baton hurtle into his neck, causing him to sprawl over.
Jack sat on the white couch in the same position as last night. The rest of his friends were gathered around him, downbeat from their failed escape attempt. There was a sick feeling lingering in his stomach and his eyes were still blurry from crying.
The lecherous fingers of guilt picked and clawed at him from the inside and he felt nauseous. None of his friends looked at him in quite the same way anymore, especially Frank, who had dedicated his life to catching murderers and was now staring at one.
Ortega stood in front of Jack, a morose look on his face.
“You've killed Green. Now once you destroy the components of the device, this will all be over.”
“What happens then?” he asked defiantly. “How do I know you'll let my friends go?” Kim began to sweat, scared at the thought of being trapped in this mansion forever…or worse.
“I won't have to,” continued Ortega. “I won't exist anymore. It's the Heinzberg-Grüber theory.
Once you destroy the machine's parts, it won't exist in the future. That means Michael won't start altering the world and that means I won't be forced to come back here, so you won't be held hostage. This whole situation won't exist anymore.”
Jack nodded along, thinking carefully about the message. This whole experience had made him think more about the consequences of time travel, and the extremely complex problems that resulted from it. As he reached into his pocket, Anisha stopped him and turned to face the aged man.
“What about Jack?” His eyes focused, and he realised he had forgotten to ask the most important question of all. Or maybe he hadn’t asked on purpose.
“What about Jack?”
“You showed us those photos of Jack dying. After this, does he live happily ever after?” Ortega frowned and paused for thought before answering.
“Without Michael's machine, the laws of time apply. You were killed a week ago, well the day after you go back to work technically,” he said before pausing, “and that can't be changed.”
“What about the Heinzberg theory? If you don't come from the future back in time anymore then doesn't it mean that you never shoot Jack?”
Jack's eyes glazed over into a pensive stare. Slowly he turned to her, all the pieces falling into place.
“It's the rules of time. Everything works out. Ortega didn't kill me. He must have hired the man who ended up causing my death in his version of the future.” He turned to the man and asked, “Is that right?” He simply nodded. “I'm going to die anyway. There's nothing anyone can do about it.”
Anisha began sobbing, water filling her deep brown eyes.
“You could use the device; stop it from happening.”
“I have to destroy it. We both know what happens if I don’t.”
“It'll mean killing yourself,” she cried, tears stream down her face. Kim's eyes were also watering and even Frank held a shocked look over his groggy face.
“I don't have a choice,” he finally whispered, before kissing Anisha lightly on her lips. Still sobbing she turned away, unable to watch.
Jack took the crystal out of his pocket and dropped it to the floor, then stamped on it until it smashed into a thousand pieces.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30