by A M Russell
'Ouch!' I said.
'Soft landing.' said Lorraine and stood up.
'They're here.' said Marcia, 'Shift your arses!'
We ran away, heading for the wood land. There was a spectacular crash and sizzling noise as one of the desert vehicles lost control and hit the fence.
'How did you know?' Joe said to Davey
'Logical.' Davey said, 'there had to be an interruption in the power supply on the tides, when they disconnect the section of fence that is near the water.
'But you didn't know?' Joe persisted.
'I guessed.'
'We're alive.' said Janey.
'That's one hell of a guess.' Joe said.
'I just wasn't sure how long it would be off for.'
'You weren't sure!' Lorraine's voice went up at least an octave.
'Shut up Millie.' Said Oliver, 'best to keep that sort of shit to yourself.'
A quarter of an hour later we were walking, not running through the forest. The sound of pursuit could not be heard. And the reasoning was that no transport could follow us in here. We would have to rely on our wood craft to get us through. We stopped for a drink. The sky was clouding over which could mean anything.
'It's going to rain. Good.' said Oliver.
'Why is that good?' asked Lorraine.
'They can't track us easily.' I said.
'Oh…' Lorraine looked at me with a new rather calculating expression; 'Since I am now definitely excommunis, perhaps you could tell us all what the deal was with Mr Charles?'
'No deal.' I said.
'You mean you didn't take one, or you weren't offered one?' asked Joe.
'I think I would like to tell on debrief.'
'Really.' Joe was staring. Then come to think of it so was everyone else.
'I think,' said Marcia, replacing the cap on her water canister, 'that you ought to stop holding out on us.'
'Really? You think that?'
'I agree.' said Joe.
I looked round at everyone else. Hanson was sniffing the air, as if he scented trouble that he was anxious to avoid. Lorraine folded her arms, and Janey put her hands on her hips. Only Oliver seemed unaffected by this sudden group desire to have me for tea.
'We need to keep moving.' Oliver said suddenly.
They all looked at me again, then everyone followed Oliver's instruction and carried on.
'Just don't say anything.' said Oliver at my shoulder as we started moving again.
'Oh?'
'The group is more fractured than it seems.'
'Tell me.' I said without turning my head.
'They didn't tell you what they found at the labs.'
'What was that?'
'Live copies of every one of us. Except you and me.'
'Live copies?'
'Yes.'
'Did you see Janey's copy?'
'No, I was with your group remember.'
'Yes, of course.'
We tramped along for a while getting into thicker and dingier tangles of woodland. I began to feel hungry as well as tired. It was coming up to four fifteen. The light level was getting lower and lower.
'Oliver?'
'Yes?'
'What happened to the copies?'
'The same thing that happens when someone is not on your side in a war.'
I digested this. I didn't dare ask for details.
'Okay girls and boys!' said Marcia, 'stop now. We need to suit up.'
'What?' Lorraine was irritable.
'Look sweetie,' said Marcia with sarcasm, 'you will do what you are told. My job right now is to get your ungrateful backside home in one piece. So get the suit on!'
Lorraine looked at her with her mouth open for one moment, then turned way looking teary eyed, and started to climb into the ice suit.
'Don't annoy her.' Oliver had slid in beside me again. I turned to him with an enquiring look as we donned our outer wear. He just shook his head a fraction as Lorraine walked by and went to Janey. He rolled his eyes; I followed his gaze then, as we stood up. Oliver checked the back of my suit as we watched Marcia standing by Hanson. He was in that stance he adopted when smoking…. but without the cigarette. Easy, relaxed.
'I know it's personal;' said Oliver quietly, 'but don't make it personal.'
'I wasn't thinking about Andrew.'
'He's as mixed up as you.' said Oliver in a whisper, 'And he's really scared. I've seen it before...'
'You mean he's unreliable?'
'He's working for the other side. He says he wants out...' Oliver moved round to my side and handed me a water bottle, '.... but resolve like that can break given the right conditions.'
'What about Lorraine?'
'Ah!' Oliver grinned at me, 'Well that's outside of my ability to predict. As is any woman.'
'So how much further to the transport?' I asked him, as Joe came near.
'About six hours hard travel,' Oliver pulled out the self-made map, 'but then we have to push at the speed of the slowest. And then the tide is against us. We should come out above our original position on the channel.'
'We could take a line across.' I said.
'The problem is who we could put on the end of the line...'
'The lightest person is Janey.' I said, 'But she might not land safely if we swung her across.'
'We've got to persuade Davey.' said Oliver, 'He's the only qualified climber.'
'Why is a climber afraid of heights?' I asked.
'You know the principle of getting up a sheer wall?' Oliver glanced across to others who were checking their suits.
'Don't look down?' I ventured.
Oliver smacked his hand on my shoulder in agreement, and sauntered across to join the others.
The going was hard after that, especially for Lorraine, who clearly wasn't used to this amount of exercise over such an extended period. The incline got a lot steeper. And all we seemed to be doing was going up. It wasn't that which stopped us though. Ten minutes short of an hour, by the last vestiges of light from the western sky, Marcia called a halt. Some of us had pulled our hoods up and donned gloves.
'Check the gauges will you.'
I must have jumped slightly, as Marcia came along side me.
'Steady Tiger!' She said in a lighter voice, 'just get me my readings.'
The fluorescent panel on her left arm was covered by a small tab, like a pocket top. I pulled it back as we paused for a moment.
'Two degrees.' I said.
'Okay! Boys and girls!' Marcia seemed angry.
Some stopped immediately. Lorraine was nudged gently by Hanson of all people. Everyone in Marcia’s confidence knew that she was about to tell us something we didn't like, or at the best, were reasonably disapproving of. I didn't look at her, because just then I saw Janey's face; she was staring at me with a soulful intensity that quite stunned me for a moment. I met her eyes, and was falling into them like you fall into the edge of dream sleep when you are really very tired. I could not read her expression apart from that. For some reason I found myself thinking about Andre, the young leader of the tribe we had spent some time with in Summerland. He would often break into a smile, after thinking very hard for a minute or two. I suppose it was wishful thinking on my part. I wanted to see her mutter under her breath; then it would be accidental. That moment of eye contact; she was always after some ghost or shadow of a thing. She thought that everyone involved in science was out to get her. She lived in a world of ideas and hypothesises, and experimental proofs. And now I had seen her look at me for a few seconds, in a way that was frightening in its unstoppable intensity. Was she telling me something? I thought that whatever had been true, I should put it aside, because of what Janey was about to do.
'Marcia?' she said,
'Yes?'
'I have a suggestion.'
'Very well. You can tell us in a few minutes.'
Janey fell silent then. She was staring very hard at Marcia then; I knew that look too.
'We will have to split into smalle
r groups,' said Marcia, 'I think that is time to tell you all what Joe and myself saw. You are not alone. And we have discussed things that we could add to the mix. I saw…. I saw….'
'We saw a lot of dead people.' Joe finished her sentence.
'Yes. Yes, that's right.' Marcia said quickly.
'And what else?' Davey and the others gathered round in the diminishing light.
'These were copies,' Joe said softly as he drew out his knife. He glanced at me, 'And no….it was not our doing.'
'At least we don't think so.' said Marcia
I watched them all as the penny dropped. Even Lorraine got it eventually.
They were all staring at me and Janey.
'It is time.' said Joe.
'Time for what?' I was stalling, and Marcia probably knew it. A good strategist has all the points of usefulness totally at their disposal. I was not going to object to the inevitable question, if she was the first to ask it. But I did feel uncomfortable with the light coming on in Joe's eyes. As if his first act, was to exact murder. And that because of the simple assumption that anything Marcia asked of me and Janey could not reasonably be refused.
Marcia looked at Janey first, 'It's time,' she said with a sigh. And I had known this day was coming for a very long while. Whatever is the point in having people who can travel the channels of time, and yet you never make use of that fact? I quickly found that Janey was further along that I had been giving her credit for. Her look towards me a moment before was almost to be equated with pity. But not quite… no. That was something separate from this. We were now entering territory that really was dangerous.
Janey sighed, 'Tell me what you want me to do.' she said. I thought, with a quick spike of illumination, why she hadn’t done this earlier when we needed the antidote? And then I felt guilty. I reminded myself of the one thing I did know about the "tenets" of the traveller: that the secret of it must be kept. And those who knew your secret; be they not travellers themselves - and therefore bound similarly; must be sworn to never reveal that secret to another living soul. I supposed that this could have accounted for the disjointed history that the Travellers' Society was privy to. Before such rules were put in place all things could happen. Paradoxes of a minor kind had played themselves out on the world's stage before now.
'You will take me and Joe to the time today of One o'clock please. I want the location to be as close to the labs as you can get it. Then come back here.'
'I don't do abandonment.' said Janey.
'Oh?' the one syllable was hard, cold and challenging.
'No; she's right. We don't do abandonment.' I said. I could feel Hanson's eyes burning into me. I had at long last pulled rank on him in a way that he could not come back at me for. This was mine and Janey's territory, and no one else's; and if we wouldn't, it would not be.
'You really ought to think of the consequences you know.'
It was Lorraine who had spoken. She seemed a little calmer. And somehow more admirable in this moment, that I had ever thought of her as being. She was not criticising any of us. But the warning was a timely one.
'Consequence?' asked Marcia, as if it was a dirty word.
'You are going to do something that might create a personal paradox.' said Janey.
'Yes.'
'You're asking me to take you back in time to destroy all the copies aren't you?'
There was a collective holding of breath, as Janey finished the sentence. I didn't think she'd be that blunt.
'He has to be stopped.' said Marcia.
'Yes of course.' said Janey.
'You're just not sure that this is the way to do it.' Hanson said, and shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
'It has already happened.' said Joe, and then looked at Marcia with a glint of something in his expression that gave me the coldest feeling in the pit of my stomach.
'I'll collect you.' I said.
'You really shouldn't get involved.' Janey said.
'I'm already involved.' I said flatly. I could feel that pull inside. This time it was different, I was in control and I was certain I could control it. There was no strain, no awkwardness in the bending of time to my will. I could sense the gathering of power in my twin, almost as soon as she had begun to talk of it to Marcia. The copies had been dispatched. There it was, like a totem of time. Some dreadful mark in the surface of the moon; a scar that could not be erased. I had never seen Marcia so determined, so coldly ruthless, so focused. Then I saw Hanson watching her, and I felt knew why she had asked Janey, and not me to do this. The rest was an obvious trust issue. I was unreliable; from Joe's point of view. He was the one who had spoken against me just after I was demoted. He was the one who had objected to the position of Captain for me in the first place. He knew…. he knew what I had going on… as far as it was possible to know. And if he could stop this thing, I think he would. But there was more….
'Joe has found a way,' said Marcia, 'to make sure that these copies do not follow us. And we can also stop the production of more of them. We have done the running. No we do the turning and fighting, to stand our ground. There is only one thing. Hanson… you're with the group that goes to the transport. Get them home. You have the start-up codes.'
'Yes. I will.' said Hanson, nodding his head slightly as he took his instructions.
'You will use full face kits and have the bottle's ready. Janey's bottle can be used by Lorraine. We need to make sure the info gets out. So I'm putting Davey in charge of the files.'
'I have them.' He said; his mouth set in a line of determination. There was a flicker then, was it towards Janey? … I did not know. But there was no mistaking the signal; game over for that little line of enquiry. He'd left it too long I thought. Janey was unclipping her oxygen bottle to give to Lorraine.
'Oliver; I want you to stick with Jared. You wait here until we get back. If we're followed you will be able to help. Radio silence until we call.'
'You want us to just wait here?' I asked.
Janey looked at me in an exasperated way, 'You're not just thinking fourth dimensionally.' she said.
'Right,' said Marcia, 'is everyone clear?'
'Hanson, Davey, Lorraine; straight to the transport,' said Oliver, 'and leave immediately. Marcia, Joe with Janey…. back to the labs in the base. Jared and myself. Wait a short while to get the call from Marcia's group, and assist if needed.'
'That's right.' said Marcia, 'Any questions?'
'Yes.' said Lorraine, 'Just one. How do you all get home, if we have already left?'
'We will meet at the entrance to the tunnels. That will take us into tomorrow. There is at least one person in each group who knows the way back. Everyone be there at eight pm tomorrow night whatever happens in the intervening time.
I watched the colour drain from Davey's face as he looked at Marcia.
'Take care.' he said.
'I will do.' Marcia smiled, 'if in doubt, think chocolate.'
I didn't know what she meant, and I looked down at the ground.
'Five minutes.' said Oliver.
Marcia came to me.
'Just wait for the call will you. Janey says that from your point of view it will be no more than ten minutes.'
'You don't want me to go back in there do you?'
'I hoped you wouldn't ask me that.'
'I'm asking.'
'You're hoping to do something too. I can see that. But I am ordering you; as group leader; to stay here and wait.'
She looked at me again, and something shrank inside of me. I felt odd, because there was something she hadn't told me. There didn't seem any point in trying to get it out of her. She wasn't going to tell.
'As you say Ellis. As you say.' I fastened the top clip of my jacket again.
We all checked our watches.
'We can synchronise back with Oliver and Jared as soon as we call.' said Janey.
'Bye Annie.' said Hanson to Marcia, and turned with the others to set off into the now settled gloom of full twil
ight.
The remaining five stared at each other in a kind sepulchral seriousness. Oliver nudged me.
'Please Eve…. Please let me take you instead of Janey.'
'Have you ever done it before?' Marcia seemed like she already knew the answer to that one.
'Please let us come with you!'
'No.'
'I can help.'
'No…. you can't.'
'Please tell me why not?'
'Okay then,' Marcia said in a bright way, 'you can tell me the trail of events that led to you falling asleep on the floor?'
'I can't.' I whispered.
'Then neither can I tell you what I know.' Her hazel eyes glinted with bright lights of a curiosity shop. I couldn't quite see what was there. But I knew there was more there than was clearly visible.
Five minutes later I was staring at her again as she checked that everything was tied down and their suits were fastened right up to the neck. I knew all this was unnecessary. Janey glanced at me, at that moment I knew that I was getting in the way of some grand scheme. It was only Oliver's presence that stopped me from protesting in a useless way. We gathered closely in a little hollow behind a tree. The light had gone now, and the forest was singing is own tune of rustling bushes and night owls.
'Ready?' Marcia was frowning.
'Yeah.' Joe said, the rest of us just nodded.
'Very well,' said Janey, 'you two take my hands.'
'Then what?' Joe was looking uncomfortable. I guess he hadn't thought about what it would be like when it actually came to it.
'Just think about holding my hand…. then you'll feel a slight pull. You won't be able to let go then; not until the jump is completed. Jared and Oliver need to get to another tree.'
'Why’s that?' Joe licked his lips.
'So that they don't get caught in the backwash.' She looked to me, and added, 'it's a kind of drag; like the slipstream of air on a moving vehicle, or the water being pulled along by the hull of a boat.'
'Okay.' Joe nodded. Marcia looked to Janey and nodded too. We quickly scrambled back behind some low bushes.
'Don't hold your breath.' Janey said. I was about to say "Be Careful" or some equally pointless statement of advice; but the space before us was empty. I was about to move forward, but Oliver grabbed my arm and stopped me. I sat back. I was holding my breath; I let it out then in a long sigh. And then breathed in a huge gulp of air. I was sure something bad was about to happen. And the worse kind of thing now…. we had to just wait.