“Out of the window, it’s the only way, we use the bedsheets for ropes and we can all climb down,” Jake was grinning, “It’ll be like some old-fashioned escape movie.”
“What about Piper? How do we get her down?”
“Strap her to a bed, then we can lower her down. We can do this Mary, but we’ve got to make a move now while we’ve still got plenty of daylight left for the drive to Naples. I’ll go get the General and the others and we’ll make a start.”
• • •
Piper looked across at Tom, she was totally confused, this was not the boy that she’d met at her High School Seniors Prom, one glittering June night. This was not the same dependable, but slightly boring Tom, who worked for the Parks department, her boyfriend for now, but not forever. He’d obviously become ill, unstable, but surely not dangerous, could she trust him to get her home, or should she start walking?
“I’m sorry Tom, even if it’s not a psychotic episode, something strange has happened to you and I don’t think you realise it. Perhaps we should go home now, forget the bowling, then, tomorrow, you should go and see Dr Sanford, it’s probably just some kind of virus and nothing to worry about.”
“Piper, I’m not worried, I’m ok, there is nothing wrong with me, if I have any problem at all, it’s that they’ve left me with my memories intact.”
“Who are ‘they’ Tom?” Piper asked, sarcastically, “you’re beginning to sound like one of the taken, perhaps that’s what’s happened Tom, you’ve been abducted by aliens from outer space?”
“Very funny Piper,” he said, dryly, “all I was trying to say was that I have a good memory, not like some other people that I could mention.”
Stepping back from the car, hands on his hips, he looked up into the night sky, exasperated at the way things were going. He’d planned this moment for years, wishing and hoping that one day he would meet this wonderful woman again. Now it was happening, here she was, in front of him and things weren’t going at all like he’d rehearsed. She was convinced that he’d lost it, that he’d suffered breakdown, he racked his brains for a way to turn the situation around?”
“Piper will you do something for me?”
“Like what?” She asked, sullenly.
“For the last time, hear me out, don’t run away, don’t scream, just stand there and listen, I promise I won’t keep you long.”
Piper didn’t speak, she shrugged, avoiding his eyes and began picking at the nail varnish on her fingers. Tom took that as a yes, he was desperate and beginning to feel that speed was of the essence. Someone or something was probably monitoring Piper now and was listening to their conversation in real time. He had no idea how much time he had left before they would decide to pull the plug.
“Think of this as a game Piper, I know I sound ridiculous, but hear me out, I’m going to say a few words and phrases, they’ll sound stupid, but humour me, see if they jog any memories. It’s the only thing I can think of that might sort all this out, if it doesn’t work, then you’re right, I’ll go and see Dr Sanford.”
He paused for a moment, looking for a reaction, some flicker of recognition in her eyes, but he was disappointed.
“OK, then, let’s do this,” he took a deep breath, feeling a little ridiculous and hoping that she wasn’t ignoring him, “Berlin, hiding in a stairwell from your husband, your picture as a terrorist on the TV, the Glock pistol that you used…….”
Piper was beginning to feel uncomfortable, there was a strange familiarity to some of the words, little memory flashes of another time, with another Tom. Her peripheral vision was distorting, bits of the street and the houses were flickering. Tom’s voice droned on.
“Blowing up planes, dodging Helicopters, running through the graveyard, ‘it’s not Space travel, it’s Time Travel’…….”
She suddenly started to remember chronologically, her childhood, schooling, college, graduation. The chapters in her life were flashing through her mind, becoming faster, clearer. Military service, training, Hong Kong, Berlin, Time Travel. Tom was still speaking.
“If there is away, I will come back and I will find you……”
“Tom,” she said, smiling, “how nice to see you again, what the hell happened and where am I?”
“This is Rapture Piper, this is where I live. I think that the Soul Taker has kidnapped you and tried to alter your memories. But I think that you’re back to normal now with your own memories intact and I just want to tell you how wonderful it is to see you again, I’ve waited so long time for this moment.”
“Oh Tom, I am so, so sorry,” said Piper, her eyes searching his face, “I can’t describe how miserable I’ve felt, worrying about you.”
“What for?” he asked quizzically.
“For leaving you on your own at the Belin-Tempelhof, I was so focused on the damn Mission, that I lost touch with what was really important. If I’d organised the whole thing a lot better, you’d have had more time, then you’d probably have got through.”
“Piper, stop the guilt trip, you had to go back, everyone was depending on you, you had no choice.”
“With the benefit of hind sight, the World would’ve been better off if I’d said, ‘to hell with it’ and stayed with you. By the way, what’s that mark on your forehead Tom? It’s looks like a silver coin that’s been stuck to your skin”
“As far as I know, it’s nothing, it’s been there since I first woke up. Everybody that I’ve seen has one, it’s nothing unusual, I’ve always secretly thought, that it’s probably a way of controlling everybody if there was ever a ‘situation.”’
“What do you mean by situation? A riot or revolt, violent uprising?” Piper was looking sceptical.
“It could happen,” Tom said, defensively, “this place is not perfect, there’s a lot going on behind the scenes, there are undercurrents, rumours, people disappear, things change.”
“I’m sure you’re right Tom, from what I’ve seen, this whole set-up is suspicious, this Soul Taker thing, the entity that controls everything, it has a blinkered vision of World domination, there’s no reasoning with it, it’s seems absolutely ruthless.”
“You’re right Piper, now that you know who you are again, we’re going to have to be really careful.”
“I know,” said Piper,” this whole Rapture business seems so surreal, even weird. Before you brought me out of that trance I was in, I had the perfect family, something that I’ve wanted all my life. I was happy, content and looking forward to tomorrow. It’s more addictive than drugs and if I’m honest, half of me is hooked on it, someone has built this wonderful new life for me. It feels like a big soft feather bed, all I want to do is snuggle down in it.”
“I missed out on all that, if I’d have got the full deal then maybe life would have been different. As it turned out, it’s been miserable not fitting in. I’ve been a loner, just hanging around on street corners, passing the time as best I could, hoping that someday I’d see you again. Another thing that bothered me was why did I wake up in Lawrenceville? I’ve never been here before, have you?”
“It’s my home town Tom, it’s where I went to school, the place that I grew up in, I’ve got good memories and bad about this place. My Grandparents were the ones that brought me up here, they were bastards, I had a lousy childhood, but, like I told you, the Soul Taker changed all that, it was great while it lasted.”
“I see, so it’s your dream world that we’re all living in. Strange, the weird thing is that I seem to be the only in this place that’s walking around without any kind of fantasy life. I stay in most days and watch TV, endless sit-coms that range from Dr Kildaire from the sixties to Sienfeld in the nineties.”
“I can’t help feeling guilty Tom, but now that I’m here, I get to ask you a strange question that’s troubled me profoundly since I was told that you’d died, I suppose it’s a question that no one in the World has ever asked before, well, not asked and expected an answer anyway.”
“Piper, I don’t think tha
t I need to tell you just how hard I fell for you, on that crazy, frightening, yet absolutely wonderful day that we shared back in Berlin, do I?”
Despite herself, Piper blushed as she shook her head.
“Then you’ll know that I’ll tell you anything, so what’s your question?”
Piper took a deep breath. “Your death Tom, I know that it sounds morbid, but I’ve got to ask, was it really bad. When I first heard that you’d died, my deepest wish was that it was painless, that you didn’t suffer.
“ There was very little physical suffering, thank God, the worst part is the fear of death, it’s repressed and pushed to the back of our minds, but it’s always there, we carry it with us all of our lives. Imagine a lifetime of pent up fear, released in one sickening moment, the dread of what might, or might not, come next, that hideous, heart thumping, throat tightening final panic. You’re stood on the edge of the precipice, time has run out and an endless fall into darkness could be all that’s left. That feeling, for me, was cut mercifully short, what came after was far worse.”
Piper was looking engrossed, she nodded absently, winding an old tissue around her index finger and glancing at the house across the street.
“It was pitch dark Piper and I was floating upright in a dark liquid that was denser than water, more like oil, there was no smell and I couldn’t see anyone else, but I knew that I wasn’t alone. I felt that I was amongst thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of people, all of them like me, floating in a black, bottomless Ocean.”
“My God, that sounds horrendous.”
“I was Unable to speak or move, but aware that there was something else, something indescribable, a long way out, but slowly, coming closer. I don’t know how long I was there, where I was or how I got there, then, with no sensation of travel or movement, I woke up here, without reason or explanation.”
“Well I’m glad that I asked now,” she said at last, “ your experience is important and it’s a privilege to share it, but we can’t discuss it now because, there’s someone watching us from that house over there.
“That’s it Piper, we’re going to have to make a move now,” he said, anxiously, “I thought that they’d be watching us, they’ll know that they’ve lost their control over you, that won’t please the Soul Taker at all.”
“You’re right Tom, we’ve got to get out of here, whoever’s watching us is acting strangely, they seem to be flicking across the window. They are there one minute, gone the next.”
Tom turned and looked at the house across the road, something black seemed to dart across the window.
“I don’t know what that is Piper, I’ve seen it many times in various places, I don’t know if it’s watching us or not. My guess is that it’s a psychic shadow, flotsam and jetsam with attitude, left over from when the Soul Taker created this place. You look around this town, there are areas, large and small, that are empty, black holes, full, of what I would call, psychic vermin, basic, but self-aware, shadows that live in the cracks.”
“Do you mean that the house is empty?”
“Probably, you go across there and go in the front door, there’ll be nothing there, just an empty black space, it’s the same all over town.”
“Well where are all the people?”
Tom shrugged.
“Right, well for now I’ve got to get back to my team,” said Piper, “they’re all at a Hotel near the Colosseum.”
“You mean Rome?”
“Sorry Tom, you don’t know where the hell I came from do you? Yes, we’re in Rome, the Soul Taker put us in a Hotel for the night, that must be how it got control of me. We were on our way to Naples, there’s a big American Base there now. Somehow, we’ve got to find a way of stopping this Soul Taker thing, before it takes over the World.”
“I know what you’re saying Piper and back in Berlin, I would have agreed, but right now, I’m afraid that without the Soul Taker I’m finished. I can’t leave Rapture now, I’m sure that you’ll have a body waiting for you somewhere, I don’t. So, I’m afraid that I don’t have much choice, I’m stuck here for the long haul, as things stand, I can’t see how I can ever follow you back into the real world again Piper.”
Piper stood looking at him with her hand over her mouth, her eyes wide with shock.
“Oh my God Tom, I’m so stupid, I never thought this through, did I? The Soul Taker wants rid of humanity doesn’t it and humanity wants rid of the Soul Taker and you my friend, you’re stuck right, slap, bang in the middle.”
“I’m afraid so Piper,” he said, dryly, “bit of a bummer, isn’t it?”
“There’s got to be a solution,” she said optimistically, “something out there that we haven’t thought of yet, some sort of common ground. I mean to say, you’re not the only one that lives here, are you? There must be thousands, if not millions of people around here somewhere, I don’t know the answer yet, but I’ll find one.”
Piper looked around her, it was early morning now, the street was deserted and Tom’s car and the houses that lined the road had vanished in the midst of a dense, swirling fog.
“What do we do now,” she asked, “how do we get off this road?”
“Hang on, I thought I saw something then,” Tom was peering into the fog, “yes, there it is, looks like someone’s coming.”
Piper looked in the direction that he was pointing, a figure was walking through the mist, towards them. Piper recognised the little pink man with the unblinking eyes.
“Henry,” she said, trying to be jovial, “you’ve grown legs and fancy meeting you here, have you come to take me back to my body now.”
“No, My Lady, I’m afraid not, now that Mr Tom Steeler has spoilt our little ‘welcome to Rapture’ scenario, it’s time to get down to business. I have orders to escort you to the Temple.”
“What happens if I don’t want to go Henry? I do have other things on my mind, just at this moment.”
“What does he mean, ‘My Lady’ and Temple,” said Tom cutting in.
“It was after I left you in Berlin and travelled back to my own time, that’s when all the changes that I made at the Airport, started to change my time-line. It’s all to do with the Chronos Drive, that’s the Gizmo that punches you through time. It was developed in such a way that none of my actions in the past could manifest themselves on the time fabric, until I had returned to my correct position in Time.
So, when I finally got back to where I’d started from, everything began to change, the Cities returned and so did what was left of the inhabitants. It was probably that same moment that you recovered consciousness, here in Rapture Tom. Cutting a long story short, everybody around here believes that I was instrumental in their re-birth, which is why they call me their Saviour and Creator. What’s more, they’ve built a big Temple in my honour,” she said, shaking her hand dismissively, “I’ll tell you all about it later.”
“You have to come now, Piper Reed, the Soul Taker demands it,” Henry was uncharacteristically curt.
“But what about Tom, Henry, is he coming with us?
“He must stay here, he will, of course, be collected later.”
Piper didn’t like the sound of this, it was all starting to sound rather sinister.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be ok, “said Tom, trying to reassure her, “but listen to me Piper, if I don’t see you again, don’t be taken in, Rapture is not the result of your mission. The Soul Taker, that has created all this, has nothing to do with this Earth of ours, he’s alien, and all this that you see around you has nothing to do with an afterlife, it’s simply a cruel trick, a holding pen and all of us that live here, are the livestock.”
“How do you know all this Tom,” she said, reaching for his hand.
CHAPTER 16
Tom stood alone in the thick fog, bitter tears stinging his eyes. This was the second time that Piper had left him behind and he knew it was the last, he turned, in what he thought was the right direction and began walking. He had no idea where he was going
, but it didn’t really matter, because he knew he wouldn’t get far, there was a reckoning due. He’d gone too far, overstepped the mark, or, Tom’s favourite saying , ‘crossed the Rubicon’, it rolled off the tongue nicely, had a certain ring to it and he felt it gave him an aura of intelligence.
The Soul taker wouldn’t let this pass, he was a liability, it wasn’t a matter of if he was going to die, it was simply when and how. The fog was so thick that he almost walked into a brick wall that crossed his path, he turned right to try and get round it.
“Hello Tom Steeler.”
The words ‘boomed’ in his head, full volume, he had to fight the impulse to put his hands to his head. He was in a square box of bricks, the top of which towered above his head, trapped and alone, he waited.
“I don’t want to kill you outright Tom,” it was the loud hectoring voice again, “I want to show you how kind I am, give you a chance to redeem yourself, I want you to become one of my helpers, say thankyou.”
“Thankyou,” said Tom, automatically.
“There, that just shows that you can do as you’re told. Now to business, your little friend Piper is helping me out in Rapture, but her unconscious body has been kidnapped by her so called friends. I want it back, she has no further use for it, so you and I will dispose of it when you bring it back to me.”
“Me? You want me to bring back her body?
“I can see that you’re a quick learner Tom, if you do this for me, I won’t kill you, fail and you’re dead, simple isn’t it?
“But I can’t go back, I don’t have a body.”
“I have a little soldier Drone ready and waiting for you, it’s speech enabled, just in case you have to reason with your friend Piper, because I know that she listens to you. Oh, there’s just one more thing, one more little request, a warning, before you go, I shall just taste your life force before we part, think of it as an aperative for if you fail.”
Tom began to scream as he felt the Soul taker touch him, the pain was incredible, it felt like he’d stuck a live heavy duty power cable into his chest.
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