Day of Rebellion
Page 3
“That blood looks fresh… it must have just happened.”
Jack didn’t want to look any closer.
Angus pointed to the floor. “You’re right, dark drops… it’s a trail of blood… goes through to the next room.”
“Must be from that guy…”
“No. Look. It stops well before where he’s lying. Someone else must be injured.”
Jack trembled in horror. “It could be Dad’s blood.”
Suddenly, from deep inside the underground complex, they heard a dull mechanical whine. It was rising quickly in pitch and volume, like a jet engine preparing for take-off.
Jack glanced at Angus. They recognised the noise and knew it meant only one thing.
Without saying a word, they rushed through the doorway at the far end of the library. The scene before them was strangely familiar. Directly in front of them, was a solid wall of thick green glass that extended from the floor all the way up to the ceiling. The glass had the same hue and texture as the Taurus blast screen at VIGIL HQ. Beyond this was a large machine embedded within a network of interconnecting pipes, cables and gantries. They were standing in front of the Revisionist’s time-travel machine. It was just like the VIGIL Taurus, but, if anything, even bigger. Jack and Angus stopped in their tracks and stared in amazement. They could tell by the shrill scream of the generators and the throb of the alert lights that the Taurus was already fully powered up. Jack looked up to the transfer platform in the upper level of the machine. The atmosphere above the platform within the semi-enclosed transfer chamber was changing. It was as if the air had become molten and was moving and wobbling like some sort of super-heated plasma. Up on the platform, Jack could see a man. His image distorted and then, suddenly, he was gone. Almost instantaneously they heard the generators power down and in seconds the Taurus returned to normal.
“That guy up there – I couldn’t see clearly – but are you thinking what I’m thinking?” Angus said uneasily.
“I know…” Jack agreed his voice trembling with fear, “it looked just like him…”
“Pendelshape.”
“But it’s impossible. Pendelshape is dead. We saw it with our own eyes – we saw him die in France in 1940.”
“Maybe it was a trick of the light.”
Suddenly the blast screen started to lower and in seconds it had encased itself back in its housing. Now Jack and Angus could see the Revisionist Taurus in all its detail. It sat there, brooding and waiting, like some powerful mythical beast.
“What a monster.”
“Look…” Angus said, and pointed.
The trail of blood from the library led directly up to the Taurus and onto the steps that accessed the gantry to the transfer platform.
“So it was the guy who was hurt…” Angus said.
“Or maybe someone else…”
Angus looked at Jack quizzically.
“I don’t know, Angus, but there’s been a serious fight here. Two guys are dead. Maybe Dad wanted to meet us here but something went badly wrong. Maybe when he got here he found these guys – I don’t know… Maybe they’re the last of the Revisionists? Maybe that one we saw up on the transfer platform actually is Pendelshape. When you’re meddling with time travel – anything can happen.”
“Can’t be. It makes no sense… and anyway… where was he going?”
Jack thought for a moment. “That’s what I’m saying. It could be they had a fight with Dad and… Dad ended up using the Taurus to escape. That man we saw is going after him. Perhaps it’s Dad who’s hurt. Maybe badly hurt.” Jack turned to Angus his face set in grim determination. “I’m going after him, Angus.”
“Hold on – that’s nuts. We don’t know where they’ve gone. Anyway, your dad knows how to look after himself.”
“Not if he’s badly injured.” Jack challenged Angus, “You going to help me or not?”
Angus paused and looked back at Jack, “What do you think? Let you go off on your own, getting into trouble and having all the fun. No way. I’m in.”
For a split second a smile shaped Jack’s lips.
He turned to the Taurus control area. “See there – all those time phones are ready in their pods, but two are missing… if I can get into the system the online activity log should tell me where they’ve gone…”
Jack tapped at a keyboard. Over the last few months he had become more and more proficient with VIGIL’s astonishing technology – and the Revisionist systems seemed to be just the same. He was no expert but he knew enough.
“I’ve got it… the summary activity log…” His eyes narrowed at the screen, “But I don’t get it.”
“What?”
“It can’t be…”
The information on the recent Taurus time-travel event blinked back at them.
TAURUS ACTIVITY LOG
Departure summary:
Time Phone Serial:009
Time Phone Holder: Fenton P.
Departure Date: June 23rd 2013 / 2:45 p.m.
Departure Location: Firth of Forth,
Scotland.
Arrival summary:
Time Phone Serial: 009
Time Phone Holder: Fenton P.
Arrival Date: July 15th 2046 / 11:23 p.m.
Arrival Location: Firth of Forth, Scotland.
“Fenton P. Is that the name of the guy we saw on the transfer platform…?”
“Could be… but look again… look at his arrival date.”
Angus peered at the screen. “Well there’s the date and time – but, hold on, it says 2046. But that’s in…”
Jack finished Angus’s sentence, “…the future.”
“That’s…”
“…impossible?” Jack said.
“You think your dad has modified the Revisionist Taurus so it can transport people to the future?”
“Look, if I scroll down, I should get the previous time-travel event…”
Jack tapped the mouse. “Yes… Look!” He said, triumphantly.
TAURUS ACTIVITY LOG
Departure summary:
Time Phone Serial: 002
Time Phone Holder: Tom C.
Departure Date: June 23rd 2013 / 2:29 p.m.
Departure Location: Firth of Forth,
Scotland.
Arrival summary:
Time Phone Serial: 009
Time Phone Holder: Tom C.
Arrival Date: July 14th 2046 / 10:09 p.m.
Arrival Location: Firth of Forth, Scotland.
“This proves Dad was here. There’s hardly going to be another Tom C. – and it shows that he left here just before that Fenton guy followed him. Looks like it was a close call. He went to the future – and Fenton followed him there. But that’s interesting… the arrival date is different. Dad got there a day earlier.”
“Why would that be? I mean, if Fenton was after him, why not arrive before and surprise him?”
“Yeah… it must be the time signal constraints. You know – you can’t just go when and where you want. You set the parameters you want and the Taurus is programmed to do its best to meet them. But it tries to avoid people flying repeatedly in and out of the same space and time.”
“Armageddon scenario.”
“Right. The VIGIL guys say the Taurus tries to manage it, but it’s risky. The constraints can vary. So Fenton probably got as close as he could to when Dad arrived.”
“So now what?”
Jack’s brow furrowed as he stared at the screen in front of them. “I think it’s pretty obvious, don’t you?”
“We’ll need some kit… packs, clothing… let’s get on it.”
Jack’s breathing was becoming heavier and his whole nervous system buzzed as if it was wired to the mains. The fact that he had endured this experience several times before did not make him feel any better. Nor was he comforted by the fact that, for the first time, the mighty Taurus would transport them not to the past, but to the future. Or so they hoped. Jack started to notice the physical changes around him in th
e Taurus chamber as they approached the event horizon – the point of no return. He could hear the shrill scream of the generators, but for some reason the sound was more muffled in their position on the transfer platform high up on the Taurus. Around his feet he could see shimmering eddies of light – the electrical disturbance caused by the temporary wormhole: ion-charged curtains of blue, red and green light. As the shimmering became stronger, it was as if he was standing in the rippling waters of an illuminated whirlpool. The atmosphere within the Taurus structure was also changing and the control room beyond appeared darker and fuzzier. Jack clenched his fists and gritted his teeth…
3… 2… 1
2046
The scene before Jack and Angus, from their position on the Taurus transfer platform, seemed little different from the one they had looked out on only seconds before. There was one other important change, however, and it only took Jack a single glance at his time phone to confirm the incredible truth. The readout winked back at him:
Date: July 16th 2046
Time: 2:33 p.m.
Location: Bass Rock, Firth of Forth,
Scotland.
2046. That was the important number. The year. It meant they had travelled more than forty years into the future.
“You OK?” Angus said.
“That usual sick feeling. But I’ll be alright. The place looks empty – but there seems to be power.”
“Yeah. But we can’t be too sure.”
“Look – the blood trail again…”
Jack pointed to the entry gantry leading off the Taurus transfer platform. The thin spattering of blood, now dried, continued all the way along, then downstairs.
“I guess we follow it and we’ll discover something soon enough.”
“Or someone… we need to be careful.”
Jack studied the time phone readout. “The Taurus has sent us here on 16th July – that’s two days after Dad and a day after Fenton.”
“Yeah – but we don’t know where they’ve gone. They could still be here. We need to be careful.”
The trail of brown-red drops continued into the room below. It then traced its way through to the exit that led back through the library and into a whole separate area of the Revisionist underground complex. The place seemed deserted. There was no sign of Jack’s father or the mysterious ‘Fenton’. The complex contained a large storeroom, kitchen and sleeping quarters. But the trail led them to a small infirmary where it was evident, from some loose bandages and an open bottle of disinfectant, that someone had attempted a hasty patch-up job.
“The blood trail stops here. If it was him, it looks like your dad managed to stem the blood flow.”
Jack bit his lip. “That’s one conclusion…”
The library was the central hub of the complex and there were a number of further rooms leading off it. One of them was some kind of large laboratory. There were computer terminals everywhere, papers strewn around, whiteboards with diagrams and equations scribbled across them, and lots of scientific equipment. Amongst the mess, Jack caught sight of a few historical artefacts which looked a bit out of place. There was an earthenware pot, some medals and an assortment of old firearms.
“What a mess,” Angus said.
“The place looks deserted but something’s definitely been happening in here recently. Everything’s on standby.”
“Yeah – look at those screens over there, they look like CCTV pictures showing bits of the complex. But I can’t see any sign of life. And those ones seem to show the outside – see?”
“You’re right…” Jack’s eyes squinted as he stared at the monitors. “But it’s weird, maybe the colour isn’t right or something… looks to me like outside, well, it’s difficult to make anything out. It’s just white.”
“Maybe we should go outside and see what’s up there?”
“Worth a try.”
They entered the lift and Jack pressed the button that said ‘Top Exit – Rock’. The contraption groaned and started to shake its way up through the shaft. After a few minutes it slowed.
“You ready?” Angus said.
The lift ground to a halt at the top of the shaft.
“There’s some sort of access hatch through there.”
They clambered up through the hatch into a short passage.
“Over there – a door.”
“Solid. We’re not going to get through that.” Angus said.
“Unless…” In his pocket Jack still had the access device which had opened the door from the Tantallon side. Taking it out he pointed it at the door and pressed.
“Works – nice one.”
It opened and they were suddenly hit with an icy blast of air.
“Geez – that’s cold!” Angus said. “Look – more stairs over there.”
They climbed up and stepped out in a strange room with curved walls. Ahead was a spiral staircase.
Jack reached out and ran his finger along the wall.
“I think I know where we’ve come out,” he said. “You remember when we were standing at the castle and looking out at the Bass Rock? I think we’re inside the lighthouse that we saw built on the rock. Those steps must go right up to the top. Up there we should get a view of everything around. Come on.”
They crept forward and slowly climbed the spiral staircase. They could hear nothing except for an occasional breath of wind that caressed the outside of the lighthouse. They reached a door at the top. Jack threw it open and gasped at the sight before them.
A few hours before, Jack and Angus had looked out from Tantallon Castle across the mainland, onto a glistening blue-grey sea. It had been a bright summer’s day. Now, the view was quite, quite different. They were standing above a desolate landscape of ice and rock. The sea that surrounded the island, and which extended off to the horizon and to the land masses on either side of the Firth of Forth, was completely frozen. It was as if they were looking straight down onto a vast glacier. There was ice and snow everywhere.
The sun blazed out strongly from a cloudless sky and Jack had to squint and then shield his eyes. He stared in disbelief, and then looked at Angus who wore the same expression of shock.
He felt himself starting to panic. “Angus – I don’t get it – it was summer when we left, I know we’re forty years in the future… but everything’s changed… it’s like there’s been a new ice age or something. The whole world’s changed – what’s happened?”
The Rig
In the distance, far across the smooth landscape of ice, there was a single sign of life. It was a huge steel platform. The structure was supported by pillars, but tilted so that half the platform was buried in the surrounding ice.
“What is it?” Jack said. He shivered.
“It looks like some sort of oil rig.”
“Yeah, you’re right. But I can’t see if there’s anyone on it. Maybe they have a telescope or something inside the lighthouse.”
They climbed into the large room which held the huge old light. The windows were broken, the fittings were rusted up and all the paint had peeled away from years of exposure.
“What about this?” Angus scratched inside an old cupboard and pulled out a pair of old binoculars.
“Brilliant.” Jack took the binoculars and rested them on the frame of one of the broken panes. He pointed them in the direction of the wrecked rig.
“See anything?”
“It’s definitely an oil rig. Completely messed up. Looks like there may have been a fire or something.” Jack adjusted the focus. “Absolutely zero sign of life…”
Angus stood next to him, staring out in the same direction. “Hold on Jack! Bring them down a bit… look! There are footprints in the snow.”
Jack lowered the glasses, “You’re right! I can see them. Maybe Dad is out there. Maybe the Fenton guy has followed him or something. He could be in trouble. We need to go and check it out.”
“I’m not sure, Jack, out there on the ice we’d be sitting ducks.”
“But
we can’t just stand here and do nothing.”
Angus grimaced. “OK – but let me at least get some kit from the stores so we don’t freeze to death. Let’s see if there’s some outdoor clothing we can use.”
*
Their climb down from the main lighthouse door to the ice below was not easy. From the castle on the mainland, the rock had looked precipitous and craggy, but that was nothing to what it was like close up. There were massive cliffs on all sides and the concrete walkway had crumbled away. With trepidation, Jack took a final step from the rock down onto the ice field. They had been right. There were clear footprints in the crust of snow that covered the ice.
Walking was not too difficult using the boots they had found in the stores, and they quickly reached the middle of the glinting ice field. It was not long before they arrived at the rig. Snow drifts had built up around the bottom of the rig and they could see where steps had been cut into the ice leading up onto the main platform. They peered up at the huge structure that loomed over them.
“What a beast!” Angus said.
Jack was still breathing hard from their hike across the ice. “I know rigs used to come into the Forth here for maintenance but I’ve never seen one this size.”
He craned his neck up to stare at the rig. “Look at that – the lettering – up there at the top of the accommodation block…”
Angus followed Jack’s eye-line. “Yes, I noticed on the way over. It’s like a big sign… and it’s got that funny logo… but I don’t understand what it says; it looks like it’s written in Chinese.”
“I think you’re right,” Jack nodded. So how does a Chinese oil rig end up wrecked in the Firth of Forth in Scotland, forty years in the future and half a planet away from China… in a world that’s turned to ice?”
Gingerly, they clambered up onto the metal surface of the platform and crept forward towards the middle of the giant rig. Jack found that using the railings was not much help because the metal was so cold his gloves would stick. After a few minutes of slipping and scrambling it became apparent that the structure was older and more precarious than they had first thought. The cold breeze that whipped around the old steel towers and cranes caused an eerie whistling sound.