Millennium Crash

by James Litherland

  She certainly had a lot of reasons he should be holding her—but none of them the right one. Then he heard voices in the corridor and the squeaking of shoes on the waxed floor.

  Matt whispered softly. “I don’t think we have a lot of time left.” He wrapped his arms tight around her, glad she couldn’t see him blush.

  “Grab the purse straps. I can’t hold this bag and do the watches at the same time.”

  He hardly thought the money was important at this point, but she was clearly determined to take it with them. Hopefully it wouldn’t decrease the odds of their actually Traveling.

  He didn’t want to argue, though, so he snaked his right hand through the straps and wrapped his arm around them and pressed it back against Page. They couldn’t be any closer than this. Matt held his left arm up so she could do what she needed to do with the device.

  He took a deep breath. “Alright. I’m ready.”

  “Let me take both of the watches and have them turned over, ready to remove the batteries, before you turn on the light.”

  He paused to take another deep breath, trying to ignore the sound of the searchers in the hall. “Let me know when and I’ll hit the switch.”

  “I’ll try and get us back to your time, Matt, so this can all be over for you.”

  Page didn’t waste any time slipping the watch off his wrist. She removed her own, flipping them over fast. She rested her arms on his as she looked at the devices in each hand. “Go.”

  He reached out a hand to flip the light switch, immediately returning it to hold her tight, and her purse. He watched her quickly snap the back covers off and swap the batteries. She strapped both their watches back on.

  He was watching the crack under the door as he heard the cry from the hallway outside. “I see light under the door of the supply closet. I think they’re in here.”

  Matt closed his eyes and rested his cheek on the top of her head, enjoying the scent of her hair. One way or another, it’d be over soon. Too soon.

  He felt her hands moving against his as she fiddled with the watch. He heard her heart beating. Racing.

  He heard the door knob rattle, too, and wished she could finish already. Hoped it would work.

  “They’ve locked themselves in. Somebody get the key.”

  Matt kept his eyes shut and focused on listening to the beating of their two hearts. Two rapid beats falling into synch with each other. In allegro.

  Page became his entire world—the feel of her in his arms, the scent of her in his head, and that loud drumbeat in his ears. He could even feel the rest of the world shift around them and disappear.

  Leaving only Page.

  Chapter 12

  The Blood-Stained Pavement

  July 3rd, 1991 Little Piece, NY

  SAM stood on the grass in the median of the divided interstate as she viewed the left-over bloodstains on the shoulder. She failed to find any other remnants of the accident. Standing behind her, Bailey kept his hand on her shoulder, probably so he could pull her to safety should any of the fast moving traffic veer in their direction.

  Their own experience had been bad enough, but it could have been much worse. She could imagine only too easily what must’ve happened here—and was grateful that the physical separation had landed them somewhere else. She also thanked God their taxi had been slowing when Kirin had Traveled.

  Sam and Bailey had found themselves tumbling across a vinyl floor inside a cheap club in the Bronx. Usually, people failed to notice Travelers arriving—they’d unconsciously assume someone had already existed there the previous moment and they simply hadn’t noticed. This time though, their landing had created quite a commotion. Thankfully Bailey was big and strong and knew from his days in enforcement how to cow a crowd.

  Once they’d extricated themselves they’d had a short talk. Both of them had realized how Traveling out of the moving cab must have affected how they came through. The kinetic energy they couldn’t feel inside the taxi had transferred with them and sent their bodies flying just as if the taxi had suddenly braked—only without the inside of the cab to crash into. It didn’t require much imagination to know how it must’ve been for Kirin.

  The person generating the main Travel field always arrived in the same physical location they had left from, which meant Kirin would have landed at speed in the middle of a busy highway.

  Sam looked away from the bloodstains. “I bet no one considered what would happen if you Traveled from inside a moving vehicle. Or if they did, they failed to mention what it would be like.”

  “Kirin never thought it through either. She was in too much of a rush to get away.”

  “Are you saying it’s my fault?” Sam believed it was in a way. Her relentless pursuit of Kirin had led to this result.

  “No, that’s not what I’m saying.” Bailey shook his head. “It’s hard to believe she really survived.”

  Sam didn’t have any difficulty believing it—she simply accepted the reality. But what do I do now?

  Unless and until Sam could come up with a way to stop her, the woman would continue doing horrible things. Once she recovered, she’d return to her perfidy. Wouldn’t she?

  Sam couldn’t allow that. And it was still only a matter of time before Kirin Traveled away from her pursuers once and for all. Given half a chance.

  Sam wondered if Harold would consider what had happened sufficient repayment for the loss of his life—even though she knew things didn’t work like that. She needed to go to the hospital.

  She’d been grateful to have even an idea where to start searching for Kirin. Back in the Bronx they had found their locator apps pointing to each other rather than the leader device Kirin wore. Bailey had guessed it was because of the distance involved but had said it was something that hadn’t been covered in orientation. Another thing.

  Sam hadn’t paid much attention herself, figuring Harold would tell her what she needed to know. A fine joke that was. But Bailey had conscientiously listened to it all and understood enough of the basic principles to surmise that there was a limit on how far the watches would detect each other. Or at least a limit to what information they’d display.

  Anyway, they’d been too banged up and tired to spend much time theorizing, and only had enough money left for several hours rest at a cheap motel, but not enough for another taxi ride far out into the suburbs. The following day, they’d visited a public library to figure out exactly where they’d been when Kirin had Traveled. They’d also checked the newspapers for information about an accident, but there had been nothing.

  Last night they’d slept in a stairwell, in a building with poor security, so that they could afford to pay for a bus ticket out to Chickadee County, where they’d Traveled from, their starting point to find out what had happened to Kirin. This morning the bus had dropped them just outside a diner.

  Kirin’s fate might not have made the news, but the people at the diner were full of the story. After all, it wasn’t every day that a beautiful woman wearing an evening gown and a load of jewelry tumbled across the interstate. That Kirin hadn’t been hit by some speeding vehicle and killed they considered a mercy. Sam wasn’t so sure. Anyway, she and Bailey had heard the details, including the hospital Kirin was at, while devouring their breakfast.

  Sam had insisted on first visiting this scene of the accident. She needed to see it, and she didn’t know yet what she’d do at the hospital. Keeping her hand on Bailey’s arm as they walked off the freeway, she wondered how Kirin was reacting to what had happened. Did it change her?

  The hospital was a fair walk from here, but Sam didn’t mind. Her ankle was strong again, despite all the rough treatment and the relative lack of real rest or proper meals. She could do what was needed.

  She squinted into the distance. “I believe I can convince them I’m her sister. Since it hasn’t been in the papers yet, how else would I know? It should be enough to get me in to see her at least.”

  Bailey kept his eyes moving in every direc
tion. “I don’t know. I think they tended to be fairly strict about hospital visitors.”

  She bared her teeth at the man. “Don’t I look like her sister?”

  Bailey looked at her long and hard. “There is a resemblance. There’s also your size.”

  “My size?” She wasn’t sensitive about her short stature, but it wasn’t like Kirin was a giant.

  “It’s an advantage. You look like a lost waif. It gives you credibility. Just don’t bare your teeth and squint your eyes like that. Give them a weak, trembling smile and open your eyes wide and be a little breathless, and they’ll likely let you see her.”

  Sam tried not to squint. “I suppose you picked up on this kind of thing in enforcement.”

  Bailey sighed. “Doing what I did, you learn the hard way that you can’t always go by appearances. That shy, vulnerable slip of a girl that looks like she wouldn’t hurt a fly might slip a knife in you as soon as breathe.”

  She nodded. Kirin wasn’t shy or vulnerable, but you couldn’t tell what she was on the inside just by looking. She could seem warm and kind, but butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth.

  Bailey returned to the present. “Since the truth about the wealth she was wearing doesn’t appear to have circulated, scammers probably haven’t shown up. So they may not be extra vigilant. Yet.”

  “So if we get there quick enough, we’ve got our chance. Why didn’t you say so sooner?” She had to get in to see Kirin, one way or another.

  “If what they said about the shape she’s in has any truth to it, she won’t be leaving the hospital any time soon. And it’s not like she could imagine that we came through with her. Not at that distance.”

  That brought up an interesting topic. Sam increased her pace and hoped he could keep up with her and talk at the same time. He might not know how to breathe like her. She suddenly realized how little she really knew about her new partner. It was time to find out more.

  “I’ve got good eyesight.” Sam knew that was an understatement, but she tried to be modest. “And I know distances. We were at least a quarter of a mile behind Kirin—and that was before the taxi started slowing down to let us out. I don’t care how much of a fudge factor might’ve been included. There’s no way we should have Traveled.”

  Bailey shook his head slowly. “Obviously there was a way. It happened. We just don’t know what it was.” He was keeping up with her and talking. That was a good sign. “But a quarter of a mile would put us at about four times the purported range. I agree something else must be going on, and we should try to figure it out—it might be useful if we knew. But I paid attention in orientation, and I’ve no clue what in the world might account for such an effect.”

  Sam smiled. He’d done the math easily in his head and recognized the crux of the problem right away. That must’ve been part of his training. She wondered if his pessimism also came from his former career. She wasn’t a scientist or engineer, but she felt sure they could solve the problem. Maybe she’d even come up with the answer before him.

  She started power walking to push her partner, then set her mind on the mystery of the expanding Travel field. Kirin wouldn’t have made a mistake. The woman would have learned what she needed if she’d had to worm it out of Harold.

  If Kirin hadn’t messed up the operation of the Travel device, there must have been some unknown factor at work. Sam let that question rattle around in her brain and focused on increasing her pace to a light jog. She paid close attention to how her ankle was feeling. What’s the unknown factor?

  After a bit, she felt more confident and would’ve started to run except she didn’t want to leave Bailey behind. He was too big and blocky to run with her. Or is he? Surely he’d been made to run in enforcement, and he seemed in good enough shape.

  Sam glanced over at her partner. “I don’t suppose you’re up to running?”

  Bailey gave her a rueful grin. “I couldn’t run to catch you, I’m sure—but I can manage more than a jog. If you’re sure about your ankle?”

  For an answer, Sam broke into a run. Let’s see how he does when he’s chasing me.

  She didn’t look back. She was enjoying the feel of the wind rushing past her too much to see how he was doing—her feet pounding against the ground, and the sweat. It was glorious to run again. So she ran.

  Focused on getting to the hospital in good time, she didn’t know how long she’d been running when the answer popped into her head. She didn’t understand it, but she knew it was right. Perhaps Bailey could explain it to her.

  Sam glanced back and saw he was thirty yards behind her. Not bad, but of course she hadn’t been going full steam herself, since she had her ankle to consider—and Bailey. She’d have to ask him about the answer later. Right now dealing with Kirin was more important than anything else.

  Looking ahead, Sam could see the hospital now looming up over the other buildings before it. Easing her pace so her partner could start to catch up, she thought it looked just like the old pictures. Why so big? Can there really be so many sick people to need such huge hospitals? Maybe it explained why so many had died.

  By the time they reached the main entrance, her partner had caught up but he was seriously winded. She had slowed gradually and wasn’t even a bit out of breath—she would have to fake it if she were to follow her partner’s advice.

  She stopped in the courtyard and immediately began stretching. Her partner needed to exercise more—he just gasped to a halt and leaned over and put his hands on his knees.

  Sam watched him for a minute. “You need to do some cool down stretches. And rest for a bit. You can settle yourself on one of those benches while I go in and see Kirin.”

  Bailey stood up and shook his head. “I should stick with you.”

  Sam stared. “It’ll be easier for them to believe me if I’m on my own. And though Kirin knew I was pursuing her, she shouldn’t know about you, hopefully. If she doesn’t, we want to keep that advantage if at all possible.”

  Bailey frowned. He seemed at a loss for what to say. “What if you need my help?”

  “Surely you don’t think I’ll be in danger.” The thought popped into her head that he might have a different concern. “Or do you think she’s in danger from me? Are you worried about what I might intend, or what I might do without thinking?” Sam went ahead before he could respond, “You just stay here while I go do what I have to do.”

  He looked her in the eye for a minute, then nodded before turning and walking over to one of the wooden benches. Her partner resisted her leadership less all the time. She hoped he’d know when not to obey her.

  Turning her gaze away, she ran her mind over the advice he’d given her. She tried to get into the right frame of mind—she would be frantic to find out about her sister, what condition she was in. She took a deep breath and ran into the hospital, darting into the lobby and looking around wildly.

  She grabbed the first official-looking person to come within reach. “Help me. I’m looking for my sister. I think she may’ve been in an accident.”

  The woman in pink scrubs frowned but put her hand on Sam’s arm. “Calm down, now. It’ll be fine. Let’s go see.” And she steered Sam through a pair of large swinging doors back into a little office area with a window out onto the lobby.

  Sam thought she should talk more. “I’m just so worried. She was supposed to stop by so we could have dinner last night, but she never showed and I wasn’t able to get in touch, and no one seemed to know where she might be and then this morning at the diner I heard about someone who sounds just like my sister being in an accident and having been brought here. Is it her? Is she alright?”

  The woman in pink scrubs and a larger woman in a flowery dress who sat on a swivel chair in the little office shared a long look.

  The office lady then turned her piercing gaze on Sam. “What’s your sister’s name?”

  “Kirin. Does that mean it is her? She was well enough to tell you her name? From what I heard it sounded so bad. I dread
ed to think how horrible a shape she’d be in—that she couldn’t tell you who she was and she never carries ID on her.”

  The woman in pink scrubs nodded, but flowery lady didn’t look convinced. “Do you have ID? Anything to prove you’re her sister?”

  Sam took a big gulp of air. Her effort to talk fast had made her short of breath in truth. “Oh my gosh. I rushed over here so fast I forgot to go get my ID—what will Kirin say? I’m always ragging her about that kind of thing and here I am. I’d just gone to the diner for breakfast. Of course I hadn’t bothered to take my purse and look at me. I was just so anxious that I ran over without going home even—it would have been quicker to get the car and drive over anyway, but here I am in such a state, I’d probably have forgotten my ID even if I had gone back for the car and then where would I be?”

  The woman held up her hand. “Alright. I suppose it’s okay. Mildred here can take you up to your sister’s room.” She turned her stare on the woman in pink scrubs, who was presumably a nurse. “But make sure it’s alright with the sister first.”

  “Of course.” And Mildred took Sam’s arm and led her out of the office and down the corridor further into the hospital.

  Sam let herself deflate some. “I’m sorry for being so flustered—I just can’t believe something has happened to Kirin. How bad is she? It can’t be too bad if she’s able to talk? Can it?”

  Mildred shook her head. “I really shouldn’t discuss her condition with you—not until we know for sure you’re family. But she can talk for herself.”

  Sam smiled, and it was genuine. She needed Kirin awake and able to understand everything Sam had to say.

  Mildred led the way to an elevator. Inside, she pushed the button for the third floor. Sam would have thought the lift was only for the patients since it was only a five-story building—her effort to seem out-of-sorts must’ve made more of an impression than she’d intended.

  Sam held her watch in front of her face, checking the time in an obvious fashion. “I feel so silly. At least I’m wearing my watch and my shoes.” She tried a weak, trembling smile as Bailey had suggested. She held the watch out for Mildred to see. “Can that even be the right time?”