by Brad Raylend
“I know,” Todd interrupted. “You didn’t know if you could trust me.” He paused for a moment, staring up into the night sky. “I guess I don’t blame you.”
She looked at him with sympathetic eyes. “Do you trust us?” she asked. “Do you … trust me?”
Without turning towards her, he looked into her eyes on the small screen in his HUD. He could tell that she was truly curious as to what his answer was.
“I’m not going to lie … there were a few times when I was in the Old West that it crossed my mind that you were just using me.” He paused for a moment.
“What changed your mind?” she asked.
“Brian, when he told me about your father.”
Her eyes sharpened, then looked down. She sat in silence, watching the cars in the adjacent lane pass by and their taillights shrink into the night.
“I’m sorry,” Todd said softly.
“It’s okay,” she said, shaking her head. “To be quite honest, I cannot remember him.”
Todd’s expression softened and he rested his forearms on his knees, holding his wrist with his other hand. He looked up at the bright moon behind them, his mind faintly recalling his own father. “Seems like family is a rare thing in the future.”
“What do you mean?”
He shook his head. “The future seems like it’s full of nothing but broken families, and … I don’t know. When I was in the West, it felt as If there was something present there that was lacking in our time.”
“What?” she asked. She scooted closer towards him curiously.
He grinned. “I don’t know … something wholesome, something … genuine.”
She blinked, looking at him closely. Her fingers fumbled timidly for a moment. A question had lingered on her mind since he had returned and part of her was anxious to ask, yet the other part was nervous to try and pry.
“What happened?” she asked, her eyes dancing around him. “When you were there?”
Todd thought for a moment, the thought of York shooting Luke, and him turning the gun on little Jack, was still burned into his mind. He thought of the good moments, the moments of joy and the great experiences he had shared with the McWilliams. A smile slowly grew on his face. “I met this little boy, Jack.” He chuckled. “He was such a good kid, smart, headstrong. He reminded me of the little rascal I used to be.”
Kara smiled as she watched Todd’s expression lighten as he spoke. He continued to tell her about his time spent with the McWilliams, learning how to live on a nineteenth century ranch. He told her about Esprit Libre, and how he had broken in an untamable horse and forged a bond with the remarkable animal. He smiled and laughed as he recalled how on multiple occasions he had used modern day dialogue and had confused Jack. She laughed at this to his surprise, as he was most certain that she would disapprove of such carelessness.
“What did you say?” she asked.
Todd chuckled. “I called him ‘Dude’ on multiple occasions.”
She smiled. “Well, you know the word ‘Dude’ originated in the late eighteen hundreds.” She giggled. “Maybe you are the person who invented the term,” she said with her eyebrows raised and a canted smile.
Todd grinned, shaking his head. “Man … it was unreal. You would love it there.”
“I wish I could see it!” she said, staring off into the darkness.
“Maybe you will,” Todd said.
Her smile faded and she looked over at him. Her heart began to thump in her chest. A feeling of excitement began to rise in her. She wanted to embrace it, but part of her insisted she kept her bearing. Never before had a time traveler returned with such remarkable stories. Never before had she even wanted to visit the past. York had always returned with yet another piece of himself lost forever. She had hated the operation for what it had done to him. Yet here was Todd, who was essentially the same person, but had experienced an entirely different side of history, up until he met his other self. It made her question whether or not time travel was a terrible thing. Perhaps in the right hands it could be used to closely study the lives of individuals of the past in order to help create a better future.
Todd adjusted himself next to her, looking at the time on his wrist. “You better get some rest. I’ll stay awake in case we need to get off.”
“Are you sure? You could probably use some rest yourself,” she pleaded.
“I’ll be fine.”
She nodded and slowly lay down in the truck bed, curling her legs up and resting her head on her arm. She felt herself immediately begin to drift off. Through all the excitement, she hadn’t realized how tired she had become since the adrenaline had finally worn off. Before she turned in for good, she looked back up into the night’s sky, thinking of the exciting journey at hand. Although their goal was vital, and the consequences of failure were unspeakable and frightened her, she somehow was enjoying all this.
Two hours passed and Todd peeked over the cab of the truck to the front of the semi to see the city lights in the distance approaching. The buildings and street lights emitted a warm purple light that highlighted the city amongst the dark backdrop. He breathed in heavily, taking in the depth and reality of the task at hand. Reviewing the limited Intel on the MTX, he knew that his father was clocked consistently at a local night club in Miami Beach called The Palms. It was well known that drug money fueled the establishment, and big time traffickers and drug lords made frequent appearances to either flaunt their cash, discuss business propositions with other groups, or even threaten and/or intimidate competition. According to police reports and multiple futile cases, the establishment was a cesspool of coke-hungry hookers and thugs, spending their nights beneath the neon lights dropping cash on the irresistible white powder.
Before he could begin his search, he needed to get established, not only in the city, but in the time period itself. He needed a safe house, some place close to the night club yet far enough away to allow him to give a tail a runaround if he picked one up. He also needed money and clothing. Utilizing the MTX, Amber had shown him a way to hack into an older ATM. The more he thought about it, the more he realized having Kara with him was helpful, rather than a liability. She’d assist him in his cover story that he and Kara were newlyweds visiting Miami for their honeymoon. He had explained this to her while riding in the truck bed and she seemed to agree that it was a suitable explanation that could prove to assist them in the case of being questioned. They would pay for everything in cash and would use only first names. If Todd managed to get himself arrested, he would rely on Kara to break him out using her cloaking ability.
Kara rolled over and looked up at him. He was peering over the roof of the truck, his hands grasping the edge tightly above the rear window. From the inside of her helmet, she could see his body heat was burning a bright orange and red. He was uneasy about something, or perhaps he was anxious. She couldn’t imagine the amount of stress that was weighing heavily on him. So much was at stake, so much was resting on his shoulders. The repercussions of his death could prove to be far worse than suspected. He had been an exceptional soldier, not only in the sense of his elite status and position, but because being in such a well-respected unit would have landed him in pinnacle operations during early WWIII. Who knows how many lives had been saved by him alone. The thought of this made her feel for him. Regardless of what Bohden had proclaimed and had suspected, Kara refused to believe that Todd was undergoing this journey out of his desperate need to survive. Instead, she believed part of him cared for the father whom he barely knew. Maybe he wanted to know him, try and learn why he had turned out to be so distant and cold. Or perhaps it wasn’t his father who he was interested in. Maybe it was his internal struggle with knowing what York had done; seeing what kind of man he was, maybe he wanted to prove to himself that he and York were not the same man. Or maybe he wanted to see for himself that York couldn’t go through with killing their father.
The light from the city shone over the semi, and Kara rose to her knees ne
xt to Todd. Familiar establishments passed them by as they continued towards the skyscrapers. They passed the familiar arches of the McDonald’s sign and she watched as it shrank behind them. It was odd to be in a modern civilization again. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been in a city like this that wasn’t occupied by troops or that was cluttered from curb to curb with traffic of civilians desperately trying to escape the war. She continued to look around curiously, studying the pedestrians and their odd sense of fashion. She couldn’t help but notice how everyone’s hair was so long and puffy.
Most men had it swept to the sides and long in the back almost like a mullet. The women all had long hair that was wavy and large. Many had streaks of unnatural colors like pink and purple to match their brightly colored clothing and large earrings. Kara felt nervous as she began to worry that she would have trouble fitting in this time period with such short hair. She had yet to see a single woman with a bob or pixie cut. The thought of hindering Todd in any way made her feel uneasy. She looked over at him to see him tapping his finger on the MTX, switching in between screens.
“I’ll let them know that we’re here,” Todd said, as he began typing a message to send to Odin.
He switched off the device, and looked back over the front of the truck. “It’s weird …”
“What is?” Kara asked.
Todd shook his head. “They’re in 2016 now, even though they’ll get this message. They already know whether or not we fail.”
Kara bit her lip, looking back towards the city.
Todd looked over at her; he spoke firmly and without hesitation. “We need to clear something up right now … if anything happens to me … if Michael dies and I just vanish, you need to get in contact with them as soon as possible so that they can come get you.”
She looked at him in disbelief.
“Do you understand?” he said, his visor locked on hers.
She nodded reluctantly.
PARADISE LOST
The Spanish transmissions never seemed to stop squawking through DX-302 shortwave radio on the desk. The cables fed through the small gap in the window and led to the large antenna on the roof that could be seen from several miles down the beach. Michael had always loved the sound of the ocean just outside his window. It seemed to bring him a sort of peace which was scarce in a heavily populated city.
It had been a long day, meeting with employers and potential clients whose wealthy status was completely owed to illegal narcotics. Frankly, he had never understood the obsession with cocaine. Naturally he had tried it, as he had no shortage of opportunities; however, the numbing feeling it brought to his throat was unappealing as well as the feeling of snorting it in general. Seeing how dependent on it people became was a turn-off. He found their obsessive scouring for the powder as a pathetic weakness, but he welcomed it as it brought him plenty of revenue.
He considered himself a more modest trafficker compared to his colleagues and rivals. For simply picking up a shipment and driving it across town to the buyer he would make almost a quarter million. With several shipments a week he was doing very well for himself. Looking at his beachside estate you wouldn’t take him for a millionaire, but rather a young, wealthy blue collar citizen who most likely had inherited the perfect location for a home in Miami Beach. At only twenty-five, he was living in the ideal bachelor’s pad, making more than the state senator. Though he was living the life that many dreamed of, part of him disapproved of his work. He was well aware of the risks involved, yet the reward seemed to easily outweigh any doubt. Many traffickers had gotten cleverer with their methods, such as using tow trucks to transport loaded vehicles through town in order to ease any suspicion of their intentions and also give them complete deniability. Michael chose the more routine way of doing things. His car was his most prized possession, and its 7-liter V8 engine would outrun any police cruiser that made him. Of course, in his vast experience in the job it had never even come close to that. On a few occasions he had been stopped, only to detour the officer from conducting a search in his trunk by bribing him with the several thousand in cash in his pocket. All in all, he felt untouchable.
He cupped his hands over his cigarette and lit it, shielding it from the ocean breeze. The moon hid behind a few fluffy clouds, illuminating the back of his home with ambient light. He left his shirt unbuttoned, the humidity in the air overwhelmed by the consistent breeze over the crashing waves. He let out a long stream of smoke, staring at the glowing ember. A familiar feeling of loneliness began to set in. The feeling came and went on occasion. It was times such as this; completely isolated with nothing but all the money in the world, that he felt it. Something was missing in his life. He didn’t know what it was, but he knew there was something awry. His nights usually consisted of partying at night clubs or clinging to the bars at noisy strip clubs, throwing his money at loose women. He was constantly surrounded by people and he devoured the night life and all that it offered, Yet he felt as if he was searching for something that he didn’t quite understand, or perhaps deserve. His life was empty.
He checked his watch. It was nearly 3 a.m. on Thursday. His head was still spinning from the massive amounts of alcoholic beverages he had consumed earlier in the evening. The hangover would no doubt be vicious and would leave him immobile for most of the next day. Thankfully he didn’t have any work until Saturday night when he would meet with a big-time employer. Apparently, somebody in a high place had recognized his consistency and his hard work and was going to pay him a visit at The Palms. He was uneasy about getting in too deep with the people in charge of the operation. There were plenty of horror stories floating around about the types of punishments administered by the kinds of people he was working for. It was thoughts such as this that assisted in his overall decision on getting out of the city as soon as possible. All he had to do was this last big job, and he would call it quits forever, maybe move to someplace quiet in the Pacific Northwest. There he would use the millions that he had conjured to buy some untouchable property hidden in the pine trees.
He leaned back, flicking the cigarette off the porch into the white sand. Putting his feet up on the railing, he felt himself begin to doze off.
* * *
Todd had nearly emptied the entire ATM trying to figure out how to extract just the right amount. He had intended on extracting only a couple thousand, but was now stuffing a little over twenty thousand dollars into his pack. He and Kara quietly made their way down the graffiti-ridden dark alley, stepping over an endless amount of discarded newspapers and plastic bags. Overflowing metal trash cans lined the walls beneath the collapsed ladders of fire escapes. The two quietly made their way to the end of the alley where it led to the street. The traffic was as scarce as it was the early morning hours. Todd and Kara ran across the street beneath the orange street lights towards the dark store on the other side. The paint-decorated windows were concealed by the metal grates used to keep out muggers. Todd studied it closely, looking for a way inside.
“Any ideas?” Kara asked, standing behind him and watching the street for any cars.
Todd leaned down and pulled on the metal gate. It began to pull back slightly, revealing a small space to the front door.
“Here …” he said, bracing himself with his foot on the other side. “You can squeeze through, just get us enough to get us through the night.”
She nodded and dropped down, squeezing through the small gap. She rose up in between the gate and the glass door to the store. “I’ll be right back … okay?”
“Okay,” Todd replied. “Just get the essentials, enough for us to get a hotel without raising any suspicion.”
She nodded and turned, opening the door and disappearing into the dark store. Todd knelt down as a black Mercedes drove past. He could hear Kara through his helmet as she combed through racks of clothing on metal hangars.
“Everything okay in there?” he asked.
“Yep!” she said cheerfully.
Todd began typin
g on his MTX and pushed send. “I’m sending you all my sizes, okay? If you can’t find them don’t worry about it. We just have to make it a few hours in these clothes.”
“Okay,” she said. He looked back into the store and he could faintly see her frantically moving around through the store with her arms full of clothing.
He could hear her giggle on the other side of the headset. “I mean … don’t make me look like an idiot … please,” he said, peering back through the window.
“I got it!” she said.
She returned to the door several minutes later, holding two bags. She squeezed through the door and pushed the two bags through the small gap that Todd was holding open. She then crawled out and retrieved them.
“Good job,” Todd said with a smile.
Kara smiled and the two made their way down the street and ducked into the closest alleyway.
Todd scrolled through the 3D constructed map of Miami on his MTX as they walked. “Okay … there is a hotel on the east corner of the airport. That is only a few miles north of here. Let’s change then head over there. Maybe we can catch a cab along the way.”
Kara nodded. Placing her bag on the ground, she reached up and pulled off her helmet. She inhaled, breathing in the ocean air. She rustled her hair and set her helmet down. Todd did the same, setting his helmet on the top of a metal trash can. He then reached to his upper back, loosened the concealed airtight zipper on the armored suit and proceeded to squeeze out. He stepped out of it and knelt down in his briefs, digging through the shopping bag. He pulled out the jeans and t-shirt that Kara had picked out for him. He chuckled at the shirt.
“Well … I guess that won’t be suspicious,” he said, holding up the baby blue Miami Dolphins t-shirt.
Kara laughed as she began pulling her arms from her suit and pushing it down to her waist. She rocked her hips back and forth, pushing the tight suit down over her legs. Todd turned his back to her quickly to give her some privacy. He pulled the shirt over his head and began stepping into the stone-washed jeans. Kara put on a slouchy purple long-sleeved shirt that draped over one shoulder.