Interesting Places (Interesting Times #2)

by Matthew Storm

  “I hope so,” Oliver said. “Don’t worry. You’ll know pretty quick if things worked out. Just wait for the timequakes. You’ll probably blink and suddenly be back in our house, wondering what I’m going to make you for dinner.”

  “Will I remember any of this?” the cat asked. “If it works, I mean?”

  Oliver didn’t honestly have any idea, but as always, Artemis wasn’t far away. “Yes,” she said. “You will each have another set of memories, but they will feel more like a dream than reality. You will remember a world in which the cyborgs came here and all of these things happened, but you will live in the world where they did not.” She frowned slightly. “That is difficult to explain, but you will grow accustomed to it.”

  “You’ve done this before?” Oliver asked.

  “Something similar,” the girl said.

  “Please don’t die,” Jeffrey said.

  Oliver knelt down to scratch the cat’s head. “I’ll try my best, okay?”

  “You can pick me up if you want to.”

  Oliver’s eyes widened slightly. Jeffrey rarely wanted to be picked up, and usually that was just so he could see something better. He figured he might as well make the most of the opportunity, scooping the cat up and holding him close. “You take care of yourself, okay? If nothing here changes, I mean. Have a good long life.”

  “It won’t be as good if you aren’t around to cook me shrimp. Promise you’ll make me shrimp when you get back?”

  Oliver sighed. “I promise.” He briefly considered kissing the cat on the top of his head, but decided that would be taking things too far. Jeffrey would never let him hear the end of it.

  Once outside, Artemis balked at the idea of riding next to the dead cyborg in the Humvee. “It appears that your trip was indeed complicated,” she noted.

  “We were going to dump him somewhere,” Tyler said.

  “Dump him now,” Artemis said. “We’ll be far from here before a patrol finds him.”

  The trip out of San Francisco was fairly simple. Oliver found Van Ness without getting turned around and headed south out of the city. They passed several cyborg patrols on foot and a number of other vehicles, but for all intents and purposes he and Tyler appeared to be two cyborgs off on some cyborg business. They didn’t attract so much as a second look.

  Oliver hesitated when they reached the on-ramp to the freeway. “Is there a speed limit now?”

  Tyler shrugged. “I haven’t been on the freeway in a while. Just drive as fast as everyone else.” Oliver gestured outside. The freeway was currently devoid of other vehicles. “I don’t know,” Tyler said. “Drive casual.”

  “Drive casual,” Oliver muttered. “Fine.” He nosed the Humvee up to 60 miles per hour and resolved to keep it there until they saw another car he could match speeds with.

  The Humvee’s instrument panel had been modified to include a console with digital readouts that Oliver was sure indicated something to the cyborgs, but he honestly couldn’t tell what. It didn’t seem to matter as far as operating the vehicle itself went, though. Driving was the same as it had always been.

  The morning fog had burned off and while Oliver could see one helicopter overhead, it didn’t appear to be taking any interest in them. With no traffic to impede them, they’d be able to make it to Santa Clara within an hour, as long as nothing went wrong.

  It took half an hour for things to go wrong. Oliver heard a clicking noise and then a voice came through a speaker built into the cyborg instrument panel. “This vehicle is out of its designated operations area,” it said. “What is your designation?”

  Oliver and Tyler shared a worried look. “PT-8556BA?” the voice asked. “Are you operating this vehicle?”

  “He’s not here right now,” Tyler said.

  “Why didn’t you just say yes?” Oliver whispered.

  “What if they know him or something?” Tyler whispered back.

  “Who is this?” the voice asked. “What is your designation?”

  Oliver thought it over. “SCI-3422XB. I required this vehicle for…a special assignment.”

  It was nearly a minute before the voice replied. “SCI-3422XB was rendered inoperative. What is your correct designation?”

  “No, it’s definitely me,” Oliver said. “SCI-3422XB. I’m fine now.”

  “He got better,” Tyler volunteered. Oliver glared at him.

  “I suggest you drive faster, Mr. Jones,” Artemis said from the back seat. “I believe we will have company soon.”

  “What is your designation?” the voice asked again.

  “Is there a way to shut this stupid thing off?” Tyler asked, fiddling with the controls on the instrument panel.

  “Cease vehicle operation immediately and wait for contact,” the voice commanded.

  “I’d say shoot it, but you might kill the car and we’d be stranded here,” Oliver said. “It’s not worth the risk.” He pushed the vehicle up to 80.

  The voice over the speaker commanded them to stop the Humvee twice more before apparently giving up. They made it another ten minutes and then Tyler spotted a helicopter heading in their direction. “That one’s spotted us,” he said.

  Oliver looked up. The helicopter was taking a position overhead. “Do you think they’ll try and shoot us?”

  “Not from there,” Tyler said. “They’ll want to see what we are before they blow us up.”

  “Well, I guess that’s comforting,” Oliver said. He checked the rear view mirror. Another Humvee had appeared behind them. This one didn’t seem concerned with speed limits; it was gaining on their position rapidly. Oliver pressed the accelerator down as far as it would go. There was no point in pretending they were just cyborgs out on some business anymore.

  The exit they needed for Santa Clara was still two miles away when Oliver saw four more Humvees in front of them. They’d parked in a V formation that looked like it was intended to form a roadblock. At least eight cyborgs stood in front of the vehicles, weapons trained on them. Oliver pulled the Humvee onto the shoulder and barreled past, just managing to squeeze through the gap between one of the other Humvee’s bumpers and the crash barrier. Their Humvee was hit twice by weapons fire and Oliver felt his hands tingling as the energy dissipated around them. The vehicle’s interior lights flickered and for a moment Oliver thought it might die on them, but the engine kept going. “That’s only going to work once,” he said.

  “Make haste to the vault,” Artemis said. “We’ll be safe inside.”

  Oliver hit the exit ramp at top speed and had to brake sharply to make the turn toward Casa de Flores. He remembered the route well enough. The cyborgs would have no way to anticipate where they were going, so roadblocks shouldn’t be a concern here, unless the helicopter overhead was able to coordinate with the five Humvees now chasing them to start cutting streets off. Hopefully they’d be quick enough for that not to be a concern.

  Oliver kept the Humvee’s speed up as he entered the former retirement community, driving over what remained of the front gate, which was now just a piece of twisted, charred metal. Oliver stared, amazed at the destruction laid out in front of them. Whatever defenses Casa de Flores had had, they’d been used to full effect when the cyborgs had invaded. Several of the houses had been razed and several had clearly never been occupied in the first place; they appeared to have been covers for stationary weapons platforms, instead. Oliver could easily make out the remains of three gun turrets that looked like something straight out of a video game. The shell of a burned-out tank sat in the middle of one street, and another had been blown to pieces. It appeared to have taken a bomb hit from directly overhead. “They put up one hell of a fight,” Tyler marveled.

  “That was their purpose,” Artemis said. “Stop in front of the last house. You remember which one, Oliver?”

  Oliver did. That house remained untouched, although the front door had been left open. The cyborgs had probably gone inside to look for people and left after finding none. They wouldn’t have kn
own about the closet’s secret function, of course. Oliver pulled into the driveway and they climbed out. In the distance he heard the screeching of tires. The cyborgs weren’t far behind, and the helicopter that had dogged them for the last twenty miles was directly overhead. It had been joined by another, Oliver noted. It hardly mattered now, though. They were here.

  The three of them hurried inside the house, Tyler bringing the picnic basket along, and headed for the closet. Once inside, Artemis shut the doors behind them and said, “Identify.” The closet lit up around them as the scanner activated, stopping at each of their eye levels, before dropping to their feet and rising again. “Artemis. Alpha One access.” The closet chimed.

  Tyler cleared his throat. “Tyler Jacobsen. Alpha access.” The closet chimed again.

  “Oliver Jones. Alpha access,” Oliver said, just as he had the last time he’d been here. This time there was no chime. He heard the front door crash open as the cyborgs stormed inside.

  “What’s wrong?” Oliver asked.

  “Seven never authorized you in this timeline,” Artemis said. “I should have remembered that.” She sighed. “Artemis. Alpha One access. Emergency protocol three.” She looked at each of them in turn. “Now this really is a one-way trip.”

  “What do you mean?” Oliver asked. Then he heard several loud bangs and a sound like metal tearing, and the elevator went into freefall.

  “Is that supposed to happen?” Tyler shouted as they fell.

  “You did hear me say emergency?” Artemis asked him.

  Metal screeched as emergency brakes slammed into operation and the elevator began to slow down. Far above them Oliver heard more explosions. “What’s happening up there?”

  “I would think none of you know the meaning of the word emergency,” Artemis noted. “The house above us is being demolished. When that process is complete, the shaft we currently occupy will be collapsed. If the cyborgs ever manage to find it, it will take them months to dig down to us. The matter should no longer be relevant at that time.”

  Shortly the elevator ground to a halt and the doors slid open. The vault was exactly as Oliver remembered it. Above them he heard a final explosion, and then everything was quiet.

  Artemis stepped forward as Oliver heard the humming of a new electronic system powering up. Pinpoints of red light appeared, sweeping across the floor in front of her. “What is that?” Oliver asked.

  “Targeting system,” Tyler said. “You’re an intruder.”

  “Artemis. Alpha One access. Disable internal security,” the girl said. The pinpoints of light disappeared.

  “Was that for the turrets?” Oliver asked.

  “Yes,” Artemis said. “They will recognize you as hostile, so I cannot leave them active. Oliver, please go and check on the mirror.” She looked around. “I have a few items I must collect before we leave. We will meet you at the time machine.”

  “Does it matter if the mirror is still there?” Oliver asked. “We’re going back in time, after all.”

  Artemis stared at him. “Go and check on the mirror,” she said firmly.

  “Fine, fine.” Oliver started down one of the aisles. He was fairly certain he knew where he was going.

  “I still can’t believe we have a time machine,” he heard Tyler say as they started off in another direction. “What are we picking up, anyway?”

  Oliver found the mirror without any trouble. It was no longer broken, and he could see his own reflection clearly. The tape that had formerly protected it was gone, though. He supposed if the mirror had never been broken, the tape never would have been put up in the first place. It seemed strange to him that the mirror looked so ordinary. He’d never have suspected it was anything other than what it looked like.

  His seemingly pointless assignment complete, he turned and started for the time machine, reaching it just moments after Tyler and Artemis. Tyler swung the hatch open and helped Artemis inside, then turned to pick up the picnic basket.

  “What were you looking for?” Oliver asked.

  Tyler looked away. “Just stuff we need for later.”

  “What stuff?”

  “Gentlemen,” Artemis’s voice called from inside. “While time may no longer seem like a factor to you, I assure you it is to me. Come along. Now.”

  Tyler climbed into the time machine, with Oliver following a moment later. He pulled the hatch shut behind them.

  All things considered, Oliver wasn’t sure what he’d have expected the inside of a time machine to look like. Lots of lights and futuristic design, maybe. Instead, it was nothing spectacular. There was a cockpit in the forward part that reminded him of an old airplane. Two wooden benches lined the narrow passenger area with an open space between them. It would have been spacious enough to hold maybe eight people, if needed, but with its low ceilings and lack of interior lighting felt cramped. Dust covered everything. Oliver doubted it had been cleaned since its first use in the 1940’s, if it ever had been cleaned at all.

  Artemis took a seat at the controls and began flicking switches. A row of interior lights came on, albeit dimly, and several instruments in front of her lit up. “You know how to drive this thing?” Oliver asked.

  “I read the manual some time ago,” she replied. “I remember enough.”

  Oliver took a look at the cockpit. The few things that were labeled were in German. He wouldn’t have been able to make heads or tails of it. “Did Sally speak German?”

  “It is not particularly complex,” Artemis said. “She wouldn’t have needed much, and clearly she had been planning what she was going to do.” She studied the console. “She entered a date that would have given her ample time to accomplish her mission, but I should warn you it is very unlikely we will emerge at the same time.”

  “Why not?” Tyler asked. “If we use the same settings she did, shouldn’t we get there right when she does?”

  “Time travel is not an exact science,” Artemis said. “If it were easy, everyone would do it. The date is more of a suggestion than an explicit instruction. We may arrive when she does, or a day or two before or after. We will know soon enough.” She ran her hands over the controls and looked back at Tyler and Oliver. “You may want to hang on to something.”

  Oliver looked around. “There really isn’t much back here.”

  Artemis shrugged. “Oh, well.” She turned a lever and a humming noise began reverberating through the vessel’s hull as what sounded like a rocket engine began powering up. “I am engaging the system now.” She flipped another switch, hesitated for one small moment, and then pressed a series of buttons.

  The time machine began vibrating as if it were being shaken from the outside. Oliver looked out through one of the portholes. Nothing appeared to be changing. Then again, they were only going back about a year. He had no idea how long it had been since the vault had been redecorated, or if anything in this wing had been moved around recently. “Shut your eyes,” Artemis said.

  Oliver shut his eyes, but it wasn’t enough to block out the intense flash of light that came next. When he opened his eyes again he found himself seeing stars. The time machine had gone silent. Oliver looked through the porthole again but still saw nothing new. “Are we here?”

  “We are here, Mr. Jones. The hatch please, Mr. Jacobsen.” Tyler turned the wheel that secured the hatch, pushed it open, and looked outside.

  “It looks exactly the same,” he said.

  “So it should. I will disembark first. The turrets will need to be deactivated again. You two should take this opportunity to change into your normal clothes. You look ridiculous.”

  “You said we looked like cyborgs,” Oliver protested.

  “Yes, I did. I did not say it was a good look.” She stepped outside and Oliver heard her addressing the security system again.

  Oliver and Tyler stripped off their cyborg armor and got dressed, then joined Artemis outside the time machine. “You have the basket?” she asked Tyler. He held it up to show her. “Good. Let
us go to the mirror. Follow me.” She led them back the way Oliver had just come from, although that had been over a year in the future. The concept was a little difficult to wrap his head around.

  The mirror stood exactly where he had left it. “So how do we…” Oliver began. Artemis did not wait for him to finish the question. She didn’t stop walking, but just stepped forward and into the mirror, vanishing before Oliver’s eyes as if she’d stepped through a wall of opaque water. The glass appeared to ripple slightly as she passed through, and then resumed its solid appearance.

  “Yeah, I never really got used to that,” Tyler said. “Don’t worry. It doesn’t hurt.” He stepped up and walked through the mirror, disappearing just as Artemis had. Oliver was alone in the vault.

  He hesitated for a moment, then stepped closer to the mirror. He reached out slowly and touched his reflection with his index finger, watching as it vanished through the glass, and then pulled it back again. His finger tingled just a bit, but he felt unharmed. Oliver took a deep breath. Putting an arm over his eyes to shield them, he stepped through the mirror.

  The sensation of walking through the glass was unlike anything he had yet experienced. He felt a cool wind that made his skin tingle, and had a sensation as if he’d been picked up by a gust of wind and pushed forward a few steps before being placed back down on the ground. His eyes saw nothing but white light, but he couldn’t help but shut them. When he opened them again he found he was standing in what appeared to have once been a large airplane hangar. The room was about half the size of a football field with a high, curved ceiling. He, Artemis, and Tyler were standing at the top of a metal ramp with a mirror that appeared identical to the one in their vault just behind them. In front of them stood two automated machine gun turrets pointed directly at them. Half a dozen soldiers in camouflage fatigues stood between the turrets, each holding an assault rifle with the barrels pointed at the ground.

  An older man wearing a black beret stepped through a door off to the side and hurried forward. “Forgive me, Madam President,” he said. “We had no idea you were inbound, or we would have prepared a proper reception for you. I’ll have one of my men get a pot of tea started for you and your associates.”