In Times Like These: eBook Boxed Set: Books 1-3

by Nathan Van Coops

  Zurvan looks around the softball field and blinks with fury. He snarls and aims a hand toward me. I’m ready—this time changing the memory to a walled space, an Irish pub downtown that I frequent with friends. I land inside the pub in the memory, while Zurvan is left outdoors on the far side of the windows. I don’t know how long I can dodge him like this, but I hope I’m providing enough of a distraction. It’s up to the others now.

  <><><>

  Chapter 23

  “I’ve made enemies as a time traveler, some with truly evil intentions. While it sometimes bothers me that I can’t truly undo their existence or permanently rid the world of their evil, it gives me consolation that they will never be rid of me either.”-Journal of Dr. Harold Quickly, 2154

  Absheron Peninsula, 3500 BCE

  My other self has left my head. Mym is helping Melchior to his feet amid the chaos around us. I attempt to duplicate her technique, rolling onto my back and sliding my bound arms underneath me to try to free them. Mym pulls Melchior into the crowd of confused and awe-struck disciples before Elgin’s Eternals have time to stop her. The guard who struck Melchior has spotted me, however, and the look in his eye is not friendly. I struggle to work my feet between my arms, cursing my lack of flexibility and vowing that if I make it out of this I’ll take up yoga.

  The guard is on me too fast. His first response to my escape attempt is a punch to my face that sends me rolling. He rears his fist back, ready for a second strike, when Doctor Quickly barrels into him, shoulder lowered. The Eternal lets out a grunt and flails sideways, toppling over. Doctor Quickly still has his hands tied behind his back. He looks down at me. “Go, Ben. Run!”

  I frantically wriggle my hands past my shoes and stumble to my feet. The Eternal is on his feet now too, and one of his companions has caught on to what is happening. The second Eternal grabs Doctor Quickly while the first comes charging at me. I bolt for the nearest opening I see in the crowd. The local Eternals don’t impede my progress. The one chasing me shouts out demands that they stop me, but since he’s yelling in English, his efforts are wasted and I quickly lose him in the crowd. Only a few locals seem to even care about my flight. Most are still intent on the activity on the altar. Many are still chanting, dutifully following the ritual set out for them.

  I risk a glance at the altar. Adarvan is still there, but he seems to have lost his concentration. His eyes are no longer flickering like they were before. “All right, Ben,” I mutter. “Keep it up.”

  The flashing lights of the Starfire Epiphany have dimmed again.

  Elgin signals the faithful surrounding the altar, entreating them to continue, and the chanting increases in volume. Mym shouts for me from somewhere in the crowd, and I spot her waving toward me from a dozen yards ahead. One of the enraptured Eternals I pass behind is stretching on his tiptoes to try to see what’s happening at the altar. I spot a rugged-looking knife tucked into the belt of his robes and yank it loose as I sprint by. I’m not as sly as I had hoped. It takes him a moment to realize what has happened, but unfortunately, when he turns and yells about the theft, it’s in a language everyone understands. I’ve barely had time to cut the first of the strands that bind my wrists, when I’m tackled by two Eternals. I hit the ground hard and the knife flies out of my grip. When I roll over, all I see is a sea of angry faces.

  <><><>

  Zurvan is mad. He’s chased me through three more memories now and is getting closer to catching me. He finally tires of trying to fight on my turf and attempts to change the scene to the St. Petersburg of the future, the broken city, full of storm clouds, floodwaters, and ruin. I fight back with memories of my own, my city from 2009, fending off the torrents of water he hurls at me, keeping them at bay with my own view of the city. He’s now pursuing me down Fourth Street, the site of our very first encounter.

  Zurvan is powerful, but I’ve gotten stronger too. Each time he attempts to stretch out and crush my mind, I’m able to move, throw him off just enough that he has to adjust. He’s more distracted this time too, frustrated at my interference and wanting to get back to his main task. Adarvan is waiting for him, and as long as I’m interfering, there’s no chance at keeping a connection.

  It’s a dangerous game I’m playing, but it seems to be working.

  “You can’t run forever, Ben,” he shouts at me. “You’re only delaying the inevitable. I am leaving. When I return to my full power, your other self won’t be able to save you.”

  “Come get me then,” I call back.

  Zurvan scowls at me. He takes a few steps forward. I’m readying another memory, prepared to dodge again, but this time Zurvan stops. “No. I see what you’re doing, and I’m not going to play your games. You know you can’t stop me, so you’ve left it up to your friends—the other you and the girl. They’re your true plan. But they’re also your weakness.” Zurvan changes the scene back to the desert lake, back to the altar and Adarvan.

  I prepare another memory to disrupt the meditation again, but this time Zurvan doesn’t bother with a subtle connection, ghosting back to the real world, he plunges straight into his younger self’s mind and forcibly seizes control. Adarvan recoils in pain at first, but Zurvan takes over. From atop the altar, this wild-eyed, possessed Adarvan searches the crowd until he spots a group of Eternals hauling my other self to his feet.

  “KILL HIM!” His finger stabs at the other me and he repeats the exhortation in his native language. The Eternals who have been fixated on the altar in a state of awe, now turn on my other self with feverish eyes, intent on obeying their newly resurrected god.

  “NO!” I leap forward as one of the Eternals lashes out and strikes him. The other me staggers backward and nearly falls. His eyes are wide with fear. As the Eternals close in on him, I stretch for his mind and make the leap back.

  <><><>

  The Eternal that drags me to my feet shouts something I don’t understand, then heads all turn toward the altar. Adarvan is looking at me, pointing a finger in my direction. “KILL HIM!”

  Oh shit.

  “It was just a knife, guys!” I manage, before one of the local Eternals punches me in the gut. I stumble backward and am caught by a different Eternal. The circle closes in on me and I squirm out of my captor’s grip to give myself a fighting chance. Despite my efforts with the knife, my hands are still tied. As one of the Eternals takes another swing at me, I dodge right, but there is nowhere to go. I’m hemmed in with only a few feet of space in which to maneuver.

  These guys aren’t very tall. Five thousand years of evolution and better diet has yet to take effect, so these men are all at least a foot shorter than me. Due to my height and size, it doesn’t look like any one individual wants the job of taking me on. Collectively however, they are a different story.

  A walking staff lashes out from the crowd, grazing my shoulder. Another man attempts to trip me. A third has drawn a knife and is looking for a chance to use it. If I go down, it’s going to be all over.

  Suddenly my other self is back inside my head. “Look out!” he yells.

  I dodge a swing from someone else’s walking stick. “What happened to you!”

  “Zurvan is coming back. I couldn’t stop him.”

  I glance up at the altar. Adarvan has his hands to his head and seems to be wracked with pain. He no longer looks excited about being the host of their lord and savior. The sky flickers. The sun and the darkness are again dueling overhead.

  The feet of the men around me are now shrouded with fog.

  Something strikes me in the back of the leg and I stagger. A stone glances off my head, causing me to reel forward farther and a second hits me in the chest. Winded, I drop to a knee. The man with the knife comes at me and I manage to grab his wrist with my bound hands, stopping the blade before it can impale me. It’s just one knife among many, however. As the swarm of bodies presses in on me, I know it’s only a matter of moments till some other blade finds its way between my ribs.

  And then she’s there. Wa
lking staff hissing through the air and thudding into the forearm of the man with the knife. The man howls with pain.

  “Leave him alone!” Mym swings again and sends the man flailing back into the crowd with a blow to his head. She and Melchior clear the area around me.

  Melchior wields his staff with precision, knocking away Eternals with blows to shins and skulls. Mym lacks his technique but makes up for it in ferocity. She has gotten her hands untied and is swinging away with staves in both hands, raining blows on anyone foolish enough to confront her. The ring of attackers falls back from their onslaught.

  Mym tosses one staff to me. I fumble it and it lands at my feet. With the two of them holding the Eternals at bay, I pry at the ropes binding my hands with my teeth and am finally able to get myself loose. I snatch up the walking staff.

  “Thanks,” I sputter.

  “I need to get back to the ship.” Melchior says. “The Labyrinth weapon they’ve used is limiting the ship’s safety functions. If it can’t regulate itself, it will never withstand the strain. Adarvan being here is going to tear a hole in time.”

  Up on the altar, Zurvan is paying little attention to the groans and flashing lights from the ship. He’s intent on himself and his new body. The strange, out-of-place sun in the sky above us is beginning to fade away. Zurvan is nearly free of the Neverwhere. Elgin and Longcase are at his side immediately, vying for his attention. An old man and a young man, both eager to please.

  Zurvan looks around his new world. It’s a chaotic blend of activity. Elgin’s Eternals are gathered closest to the altar, with the locals spread out in little clumps behind. Some have fled, not able to handle the strangeness of the ritual and the disturbing sights in the sky. Some are casting worried glances at the fog that has thickened around them. It’s getting difficult to even see all of their brethren now. The colored fog has obscured the far side of the fiery lake. There is a line of better visibility between the altar and the ship, but most of the hills are now too engulfed by the fog to be seen.

  Zurvan studies the group of Eternals surrounding us. They are still looking for an opportunity to attack me and fulfill their master’s orders, but Melchior and Mym are flanking me on either side, making a defensive triangle.

  “Come here, Ben!” Zurvan shouts. “Don’t you want to see my triumphant return? I told you I would be leaving the Neverwhere behind. You need to be in my good graces now more than ever.”

  None of us move.

  “No? Have it your way, then. Bring me the scientist!”

  There is a commotion at the side of the altar and a pair of Eternals drag Doctor Quickly up the steps on that side. His hands are still bound behind his back.

  The young Zurvan reaches into his robes and extracts something I recognize. The long, curved knife he used to kill Benny.

  “Dad!” Mym yells. She races toward him. The Eternals separate and make way for her. I follow, staff still raised, trying to watch her back. When we reach the base of the steps, we’re stopped by Elgin’s Eternals.

  Zurvan is smiling down at us from the altar.

  “You see, that wasn’t so difficult,” Zurvan says. “So many gifts you’ve brought me today, Ben. So many gifts.” He considers Doctor Quickly. “It’s only fitting really that you all should be here.” Zurvan cocks his head slightly and looks at me. “Do you feel it? Do you feel the way time is all tied up in me now? The Neverwhere. This place. Here at the dawn of civilization. It’s all mine now. Mine to do with what I want.”

  He turns toward Elgin and Longcase. “And you, my most faithful disciples. You carried my message all the way into the past. Such good servants. You found my body and brought me my ship.”

  Longcase jumps at the chance to speak. “We have been honored to bear your words through time, my lord. The Eternal Line of Gnomon stands ready to join you in a new future.”

  “And you shall,” Zurvan says. “You all shall. Because everything you are is now mine.”

  Elgin frowns, just for a moment, but whatever reservation passes his mind, it’s too late. Zurvan extends his hands toward each of them and they both grimace in pain. Their hands fly to their skulls as Zurvan tilts his head back, channeling them into himself. He pulls at their minds, not touching them, but connecting to them just the same. Their mouths fly open, but their screams are immediately silenced.

  “Holy shit,” I mutter.

  As Elgin and Longcase collapse to the floor, the Eternals around us begin to murmur. Most of the locals won’t have understood anything he said, since he spoke in English, but the sight of the two Eternals lying lifeless on the floor is enough. The Eternals Elgin brought with him are positively at a loss for what to do now. Not sure if they should continue to guard Doctor Quickly or flee, they hesitate.

  Zurvan is smiling, relishing the new memories and knowledge he’s just absorbed. He looks at me again. “And now, Ben, I take it all.” He throws out his hands and the light around us dims. Fog gushes out of the hillsides, swallowing the remaining hills and the view of the gathered Eternals. Zurvan’s will impacts inside my head, reaching for the roots of my soul. Mym stumbles backward into me. She screams.

  Doctor Quickly goes to a knee, hands to his skull. The Eternals around us flail and yell from this sudden invasion of their minds. I can feel him inside my head, but I can feel them too. All of us, being pulled in one direction. Mym is cringing in front of me, but I can also feel her inside my mind. The terror she’s experiencing, the worry, but also the hope. She’s fighting back, holding on to her mind with every ounce of strength she has. She wants to live, and I desperately need her to. I realize I’m holding her hand.

  The Starfire Epiphany flares brightly behind us, flashing colors like a strobe light.

  There is a sensory overload going on in my mind. The world around me is flooding with the shimmering fog, so thick now that I can’t see the people to either side of me. I only see Mym, the steps ahead of me, and the glowing silhouette of Zurvan at the top of the altar, backlit by the glow of the lake. I’ve felt this pain in my mind before, this attempted theft of my soul, but Zurvan is weaker this time, spread out and diluted across a hundred other minds, all trying to resist him. I take the only path left to me.

  I release Mym’s hand and run, leaping up the steps and hurling myself forward, throwing everything I have at my timeless enemy. There is nothing left but this.

  Zurvan still has his arms spread wide, knife in one hand, head tilted back as he fights to take every mind he’s connected to. I hit him in the center of his chest. I haven’t planned for how much momentum I would have. I crash into him with every bit of strength left in me. Zurvan’s feet come off the ground. His eyes fly open as we both go sailing off the edge of the altar—into the lake of fire.

  For a moment I see our reflection, our two bodies plummeting out of a starry sky into a darkness rimmed with flame. We are the living embodiment of two worlds, the here and the beyond.

  The water swallows us both.

  Dark. Salty. Surprisingly cold.

  I struggle to see under the water. We are a churning mass of limbs and bubbles.

  I’ve broken Zurvan’s concentration. Now my priority is the knife.

  I search the darkness until I find his left arm. Zurvan is kicking, trying to fight his way to the surface. I suspect I’ve knocked a lot of the wind out of him with our fall. I’d like to keep it that way.

  I don’t know how much damage Zurvan has managed to inflict on the others. It could be that he has already stolen the other souls on the shore. What I do know is that he is no longer a god of the Neverwhere. He’s human again. And humans have to breathe.

  Zurvan flails—young, strong, and full of rage. He pries at me under the water, hitting me with his free hand and trying to get me to relinquish my hold on his arm. His grip on the silvery blade is still strong. Too strong. I can’t pry it from his grip.

  I finally realize I won’t be able to keep us down any longer either. He kicks hard and we both emerge into the night a
ir, gasping and sputtering as we send waves and flames dancing across the surface.

  Zurvan is rejuvenated. We go under again, but he’s fighting harder now, determined to get his knife arm free. He plants a foot against my abdomen and pushes. I strain against him, but know I won’t be able to hold on much longer. When he gets loose he’ll have the advantage. He has the knife.

  He also has my chronometer.

  My fingers work fast on the dials.

  Set the rings. Set the timer.

  He kicks against me again and this time I push myself loose from him as well.

  Five.

  Swim hard. Push with everything.

  Four.

  Get away. Don’t let him touch me. Kick through the darkness.

  Three.

  I surface to breathe and he’s there, splashing after me now. Knife gleaming in the starlight.

  Two.

  I’m at the rocks, fingers scrabbling at the jagged rim of the lake, searching for a way up. He’s almost to me.

  One.

  Hands stretch for me from the darkness. Mym. Doctor Quickly. I clasp their wrists and let them pull me up.

  Blink.

  I turn my head just in time to see him for one final instant—mere feet away. His face is a mask of fury, his hand reaching for me.

  And then he’s gone.

  Out of time.

  Chapter 24

  “A great danger to time travelers is that the ability to be anywhere, anytime, suggests to some that they must be everywhere, all at once. If there is one thing I have learned, it’s that the ability to see the past or future does not make one better at handling the present. Sometimes here, and now, should be the only two items on your mind.” -Journal of Dr. Harold Quickly, Dec 24, 1986

  Absheron Peninsula, 3500 BCE