On really tough cases, like this one, I usually went back to my room, paced and talked to myself, trying to work out a solution. Granted, that wasn’t the way I did things on a poker table, where I solved problems silently, without even showing emotion on my face unless I wanted the emotion shown. But this was a lot more serious than a poker tournament. Lives were at stake and I didn’t need to keep my emotions hidden.
From the light coming in the open door, it was clear that the sun was starting to set. I could feel that the heat outside was still pretty intense from the way it poured in the open door. More than likely the heat wouldn’t fade until closer to midnight.
Patty and I stopped and faced each other near the door. At that moment, as if I were playing a hand I was unsure of and was suddenly convinced my play was right, I knew what to say.
“Time,” I said. “Time is our problem.”
Patty nodded. “Three people per second materializing into the same space. It doesn’t give us enough time to get each person out of the way before the next person starts to appear.”
“Exactly,” I said, now seeing one possible solution. “So we stop time between each person.”
Patty stared at me like I had said something really silly, then slowly smiled. “Can you do that?”
I shrugged. “Stan told me I could do it when I needed to do it. But I have never needed to try, to be honest. And he can do it as well.”
Patty sort of looked off into space for a second, then said, “I have the ability to stretch time for myself,” she said. “It doesn’t really stop, but it stretches for me so I can get a lot of paperwork done for customers and make it seem fast to them.”
“Can you control that?”
“Sort of,” she said. “Normally, it just sort of clicks-in, if you know what I mean.”
“I do,” I said. “Most of my powers are the same way. Sometimes I can bring them on with really intense focus, but usually they are just there when I need them.”
“Me too,” Patty said.
“Well, we need them now,” I said. “Can you stretch time with me included?”
She looked worried, the first time I had ever seen a worried look on her face. “I can try.”
She reached out and took my hand. For a moment I thought I heard the Hallelujah Chorus sung by a one-hundred member choir with me singing the lead. Her skin was as soft, as firm, and wonderful as I had imagined it would be. The image of her holding my hand while we stood naked in a shower flashed over my mind and I let myself go with the image for a moment before I realized what I was doing.
Somehow, I dropped the bar of raspberry soap, pushed the thoughts back, took a deep breath, and focused on the situation. Luckily I had that kind of control as a poker player, otherwise I might have pulled her into my arms and kissed her right there.
But I had control.
Control.
Control.
I repeated the word a few times more and was solidly back in the warehouse holding Patty’s hand as she tried to slow down time around us.
“I think it’s working,” she said, smiling at me.
I glanced around. Where we were at near the door there was no way of telling. Nothing was moving in the slot machine graveyard.
“Can you hold it until we get back near the others?”
“I think so,” she said. “Just don’t let go of my hand. You’re giving me energy I don’t normally feel.”
I didn’t tell her what energy she was giving me. I figured that would be more appropriate later, after we rescued everyone.
Hand-in-hand, like two school kids, we walked back to the aisle with the ghost slots and the rest of the team. No one there seemed to be moving, but they hadn’t been moving much before we left either.
Then Patty pointed at Screamer and smiled.
I could see what she was pointing at. He was in mid-stride, and as we watched his foot came slowly down. What would have taken less than a second now took a full five seconds.
I could feel the hope for the people inside that machine flood back into me.
Suddenly everyone moved around us.
“Slipped,” Patty said, sighing.
“What slipped?” Screamer asked, glancing at us.
“How did you—?” Samantha was looking up at us clearly surprised that we had suddenly appeared in front of her without her new senses alerting her to us.
All the hope I had felt a moment ago drained out like someone had pulled the plug. “Does it slip often?”
She shrugged, looking very upset. “I don’t know.”
She had the same type of control over her powers that I did over mine. They were there at times, at other times they didn’t show, and it often made no sense. Before now I was just happy when any of my weird powers showed up to help me out of a situation. It had never been an issue before to have a power be consistent and controlled completely. And clearly, that had been the same for Patty.
Patty looked at me with an apologetic look on her face, as if she had let me down. She and I both knew we couldn’t depend on just her power to get those people out of there. Too much chance things would slip at the wrong moment and people would die. So we would use it only as a last resort.
“Can your power back-up my power?” she asked, still holding my hand.
“Never hurts to try,” I said.
Keeping a firm grip on Patty’s hand, I took a deep breath of the musty-smelling warehouse air, then focused on slipping between two upcoming seconds. That’s what it had felt like when Stan had taken me between time, and I tried to bring that feeling back.
“It worked,” Patty said, laughing.
I glanced around. Screamer had his mouth open, about to ask a question. Tech had started walking back toward the group, and was now in mid-stride.
I felt immediately proud. I had actually managed to stop time around me. What a cool superpower this one was.
Then just as quickly I realized this wasn’t really that useful in this situation unless I could do it with split-second timing. None of my superpowers had ever been that on-demand and in my control, and I had no doubt this one was either.
Patty pulled me to a place on the other side of Screamer. “Take us back into normal time.”
“Done,” I said.
And low and behold Screamer started into his question and stopped since to him we had vanished.
“What the—” Screamer said, turning around to stare at us. “You two can really get on a person’s nerves.”
“Again,” Patty said softly to me, squeezing my hand and giving me balance.”
I focused on between seconds and again time stopped around us.
She pulled us around behind Screamer again. “Let it go, then do it again as quickly as you can.”
“Practice?” I asked, seeing what she was doing.
“Practice,” she said. “We’ll work on your power for a few times, then on mine, then see if we can combine them in some fashion to get some safety margins.”
Now I saw what she was intending. Her power wasn’t safe enough to use alone. And mine wasn’t quick enough, but between the two of us, we might get the chances down to acceptable risks for the people coming out of the machine.
I started to feel hope again.
“Here goes,” I said. “In and out a few times as quickly as I can make it work.”
“Ready,” she said, squeezing my hand softly.
I took a deep breath, pushing back the wonderful feeling of having her holding my hand, and focused on what I was about to try. I was going to flick on-and-off a superpower like it was a light switch. I had never tried that before.
I dropped us back into normal time.
“Back here,” Patty said to Screamer’s back.
I switched us back between seconds.
We moved down the aisle to a position behind where Tech was walking, then I dropped us out again.
Screamer wasn’t halfway through his turn when we appeared.
“Sorry, Tech,” P
atty said. “Just practicing.”
Tech jerked and started to whirl around as I took us back between seconds.
This would have been a great party trick if the situation wasn’t so serious and so many lives were at stake.
I took us in and out five more times, then stopped with us standing in the middle of a very confused group.
“Stay put for one second,” Screamer said.
“That was very weird,” Samantha said.
“How did you do that?” Tech asked.
Johnny just sat on the floor and shook his head in amazement.
“Sorry guys,” I said, smiling at Patty. “We are just practicing a little to see if we can come up with a way to slow down time enough to get Geneva and Ben and the rest out of there.”
“You actually think you can do it?” Johnny asked, climbing to his feet.
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out,” Patty said. “Poker Boy here can stop time. But so far, the best was four seconds apart. I can slow down time, but I can’t always hold it.”
“So pardon us while we practice a little more,” I said. Then I took Patty and me between time, stopping the questions from the others for a moment.
She smiled at me with that wonderful smile of hers, then squeezed my hand. “You’re getting pretty good at this.”
“But not good enough,” I said. “Do you see any way we can combine our two powers to make this safe enough for people coming out? I clearly can’t stop and start time three times in one second.”
“I think there’s a way,” Patty said. “But I need to practice my slowing of time, try to figure out if I can sense when my power is about to slip.”
I nodded, seeing where she was heading. “If you can tell when your power is about to slip, you can signal me and I can stop time until you can get reset.”
“That’s what I’m thinking,” she said.
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s practice.”
I dropped us back into real time, letting Johnny complete his last step toward the group.
“Who has a measured step?” I asked before anyone could react to Patty and me being in different positions. “We need someone walking a timed pace down the aisle so we can do some tests.”
“I’ll walk,” Screamer said, moving back into a position like he was a racer at a starting line.
“I’ve got a stop-watch function on my watch,” Johnny said. “Will that help?”
“It will,” Patty said.
“Five seconds and stop,” I said.
A moment later Johnny clicked his watch and said “Go.”
Screamer paced out like he was a businessman in a hurry to get to a meeting. About eight paces away from the group Johnny said, “Stop.”
Screamer stopped and turned around.
“Good,” I said. “Repeat that when I say go. Johnny, time him again.”
I glanced at Patty and she nodded that she was ready.
“Go.”
Patty slowed time just as Screamer lifted his leg to take his first step and a fraction of a second after Johnny clicked his watch. We moved carefully away from Johnny and Samantha and Tech and off to one side of the aisle.
Slowly Screamer walked back toward us, very slowly. Patty seemed focused inward and I said nothing as Screamer finished his first step.
Then what seemed like an eternity later his second. His third. His fourth. His fifth. He was on his sixth step when Patty squeezed my hand. “It’s slipping.”
I focused and stopped time right in the middle of Screamer’s sixth step.
Patty took a couple of deep breaths.
“You all right?”
“I am,” she said. “But it takes focus for me to tell when the power is starting to slip.”
“I understand that,” I said. “But now comes the part I’ve been worrying about since we came up with this idea. Can your power work now that time is stopped so I can let go?”
“Let’s find out,” she said. “Ready?”
“Ready,” I said.
“Now,” she said.
I let go and let time come back to normal, but time wasn’t normal. Screamer was still moving in his slow motion way. I watched as he took his last two steps and then stopped as Johnny’s thumb slowly clicked his watch.
“Slipping,” Patty said.
“Let it go,” I said.
She did and everything came back to normal pace as the group turned to face where we had moved.
“That is so weird,” Samantha said again, shaking her head.
“Well,” Johnny said.
“I think we can make this work,” I said. “We need a little more practice. But one thing we can’t test is if we’ll be able to pull people out of the chair and maintain our focus on holding time at bay.”
Patty nodded. “I don’t think I can safely do that.”
“I’m afraid I’ll get distracted,” I said.
“So you’re going to need some help,” Screamer said. He turned to Johnny. “Think you can sit in that chair without touching that machine?”
Screamer pointed to the ghost slot machine that had everyone and the wooden chair attached to it.
Johnny nodded, took a deep breath and moved to the slot machine.
Screamer took up a position right behind him. “I’m thinking you are touching me, doing your time thing and including me. When someone shows I shove them out of the chair sideways like this.
Fairly gently he pushed Johnny sideways and away from the face of the ghost slots. Johnny managed to stumble but not fall to the concrete.
I nodded and glanced at Patty as both Johnny and Screamer moved a few more paces away from the slot machines. She was nodding also, as if it just might work.
“Tech,” I said, turning to the stunned kid standing out of the way to one side next to Samantha. “That machine’s lowest payout is three, right?”
Tech nodded.
“How is it triggered?” I asked. I was afraid one of us was going to have to pull the handle and I didn’t much like that idea at all.
“Harry can trigger it to pay out from in there,” Tech said.
Johnny nodded. “Geneva just asked him and he agreed.”
“Can he space the payouts two minutes apart?” Patty asked, slightly ahead of where I was going with my questions. She and I were both thinking we were going to need rest between each use of our powers.
“He can,” Tech said.
“He can,” Johnny said a moment later.
I looked into Patty’s deep brown eyes. I could see worry there, but also a lot of confidence and power. I wouldn’t want to try to do this alone, but with her holding my hand, I felt we just might have a chance.
“Okay then,” I said, glancing at everyone. “Let’s get ready. Johnny, I need you to get some ambulances and police here to help with those coming out. How much longer do we have before these monsters jump again?”
Johnny pulled the sheet of paper we got from The Bookkeeper out of his pocket and stared at it. “Six in the morning.”
“Let’s hope these things are long dead by then,” I said.
I also hoped we didn’t have a bunch of dead people at that point as well. It was all a matter of time. And how well Patty and I worked together controlling it.
Chapter Eighteen
THE DRAINING OF A MACHINE
I MADE PATTY and me and Screamer practice just enough to be sure we had the routine down, yet not enough to get us tired. I didn’t feel too drained from using my newest-found superpower, but that didn’t mean that I wouldn’t get tired an hour from now. With two-minute breaks, three people at a time, over one hundred people in the machine, an hour still wouldn’t be enough time to have everyone out.
Finally, it seemed as if there was nothing left for us to practice, nothing left for us to do but start the process. I could tell Patty was nervous, and there was no doubt I was scared to death. I was trusting a strange superpower I didn’t know I had twenty-four hours ago to save hundreds of people.
/> I kept thinking I should just call a halt and go get Stan or one of the other gods to help us. Yet another part of me knew that Stan and the gambling gods were watching, and if they didn’t think we could do this, they would step in and help. There was a lot at stake for their world as well. That thought gave me a little more confidence.
Not much, but a little.
I did one more quick check of everything we had done to get ready. Johnny and Tech had gone around the warehouse and gotten a number of tarps off of old slot machines. Using those tarps, they had built up a “landing pad” on the concrete floor where people were going to hit when Screamer pushed them out of the chair. I figured it was better than having people sprawl out face-first on concrete.
Johnny had given the police orders to not come into the warehouse. I had asked him to do that because I didn’t want to take any chances of a lot of people coming in over the next hour and distracting Patty’s and my concentration.
Johnny and Samantha and Tech would help the rescued people to the door of the warehouse. And as Johnny pointed out, Ben and Geneva would soon be with them to help as well.
I hoped he was right. There were so many things that could go wrong.
Ghost slots had taken a lot of people over the years. No one had ever escaped from one before, and we didn’t even know if it was going to be possible for that to happen. The people in that machine were just energy in wires. Could they even be reformed into human bodies?
I mentioned that worry to Patty while we had time stopped in one of our practice sessions. She just squeezed my hand in that wonderful way she had of squeezing and said, “There are a lot of things in this world we don’t understand and need to just trust. Let’s trust this one to work.”
“Think Stan and the rest of the gods would show up here and stop us if this was a bad idea?” I asked her.
“I’m betting on it,” she had said, smiling that wonderful smile of hers that reached and filled her brown eyes. Then before my mind could drift to my holding a bar of raspberry-smelling soap and her naked in a shower, she had directed me to get focused on practicing again.
I actually managed to stay focused and not think of her. That’s how important this was.
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