The Guardian moved some objects around on the table in front of him. “Look at these items. This old badge is in perfect condition. And what kind of watch is that, you can’t even read the face. It’s not digital. Was that your great grandfather’s too?”
“Yeah. Can I have that back?” Mike wanted to wipe his hand over the tabletop and gather back his uniform items. The Guardian, not much more than twenty years old, looked as if he still didn’t shave. He rubbed the shiny gold badge as if it were magic.
“Sorry, can’t give them back, they’re evidence.” He picked up the epaulets and turned them over. “Feel that material. I’ve never felt anything like it before.”
“It’s called cotton. Don’t you have cotton nowadays?” Mike asked.
The kid stared at Mike, his mouth open. “What kind of a question is that? You know we don’t have cotton. That was banished from use over seventy years ago.”
“Why would the government banish cotton? It’s a very comfortable material.”
“Where’d you say you were from?” The Guardian looked at Mike with suspicion. He glanced at some paperwork that he’d printed out of the computer he’d carried into the interrogation room.
That was something else Mike would have loved to investigate. The computers of the future. Small, not more than six inches in size and those were the ones he’d seen as he’d been hauled past the reception desk, down the supersonic elevator and through the offices to this holding cell. The others, like the one Shauna had, were even smaller. No more than two inches, they had those incredible features like holographic keyboards and viewing screens. Mike shifted in his metal chair. The room was cold and drafty.
“I didn’t say where I was from. You boys haven’t given me a chance. Can I see Ms. Wentworth? Is she okay?” He changed the subject on purpose. He didn’t want to tell this child-like Guardian where he was from. He couldn’t.
“Ms. Wentworth is not your concern.”
“Oh, yes she is.” Mike rose from his chair but the Guardian pointed a long, round tube at him. A yellow ray shot out and hit Mike in his chest. “Oh, God,” he groaned sinking back to the chair. “What was that?”
“What do you mean, ‘What was that’? Everyone knows what a taser is. And keep in mind, that was on the low setting. Anymore funny answers and I’ll up the level. You sure say the strangest things, Forrester.”
“Yeah, well, that’s me. A strange kind of guy.” Mike couldn’t budge his hands. A burning feeling throbbed where the taser had hit him. He wanted to escape, leave. For a moment he wanted to go home. But he needed Shauna more and his concern for her rose after the Guardian brushed off his question about her.
Was she safe? He hoped so. He knew he had fallen in love with her. Mike had no idea how any kind of a relationship would resolve itself, he wasn’t even sure how Shauna really felt about him. He knew she was attracted to him but would she want a more permanent relationship? And how would it work? Would he stay here, in her time with her? Or would she come to his time, a century past. There didn’t seem to be any way to resolve this and right now wasn’t the time.
“Hey, Forrester!” The Guardian kicked him in the shin. “Pay attention. I’m talking to you.”
Mike jerked and sucked in a breath. He moaned but didn’t speak. The Guardian must have steel-toed boots on. He wondered if his shin was cracked.
“I said… I asked you a question.”
“What was it?” Mike croaked. He tried to will the pain away but a sharp stabbing still shot through his shin.
“I asked where you hid the papers on Wentworth’s parents.”
“I never hid any papers.”
“Where were you going when you fled the Guardians?” The kid walked around Mike and stood behind him.
“I don’t know.”
A shove from behind had Mike pitching forward and falling off the chair. Without his hands to brace himself, he hit his forehead on the hard concrete floor. Pain shot through him, yellow, green and red colors swirled in front of his eyes, faded to gray then all went black.
* * * * *
“Where are your parents?” a Guardian asked.
“They’re dead.” Shauna sat quietly in her cold metal chair with her wrists restrained in front of her. She knew the Guardians liked their suspects to squirm and fight and she wouldn’t give them the satisfaction.
“You got a message from them a month and a half ago. I’m sure you’ve had more from them since that time.” The Guardian was in his forties, experienced and had the markings of a cruel person on his face. A scar slanted down his right cheek, his mouth had a natural tendency to turn down at the corners.
“That scar could have been fixed. No one nowadays has marks on their skin. Is yours a badge of honor?” Shauna knew she was baiting the man but she wouldn’t show fear to him. She hated the Guardians and this man was a leader of them.
He kicked the chair out from under her. Shauna fell to the floor, bruising her hip in the process. She rolled to her side then pushed up with her elbows. After getting to her knees, the Guardian yanked her head back by her hair, causing her eyes to well with tears.
“Don’t be a smart ass, lady. You know the kind of damage I can do to you. No one will ever know what happened to you or your unlucky friend.”
“How is Mike?” Shauna was desperate for news of him. She hoped he hadn’t given away who he was. First, no one would believe him. Her job was top secret. Second, any policeman from an outside country or a private island was thought of as inferior by the all-powerful Guardians. The hatred between the old-style officers and the new was legendary.
Torture was accepted in this time. And it’d been perfected enough that now there was no way to avoid spilling your guts when they administered one of their drugs. Also, there was no residual left in the body to be traced. So the Guardians could lie and tell the public they didn’t torture and drug their captives. Of course, they weren’t called captives either, they were “guests”. Shauna snorted.
“What’s wrong with you?” The Guardian shoved her back in the chair by the collar of her shirt. She choked from the force of the tightened collar. “Ready to talk? If not, I’m about to offer you some ‘talking juice’. Those that’ve accepted it have sung its praises.”
Like anyone would accept truth serum. “I’m sure they have. Has anyone been on key?”
The Guardian growled. “You don’t want to piss me off and I’m this close to injecting you.” He held his fingers an inch apart. “You are not going to like it.”
“Oh, I get it,” Shauna said. “You can’t give me your serum. You’re under orders to get any information I have about my parents without using drugs. Well, it won’t happen.” She glared at the ugly man.
He stepped up to Shauna and pointed his finger at her. Then he pounded the tip of her nose with a thick, sausage-like digit. “You have one day to give me what I want, then I do things my way. You will regret this bout of defiance.”
Pain radiated through her nose. Her eyes watered and she sucked in a breath. She was sure she would regret her defiance. But she refused to let this man see her fear. Shauna stared him right in his cold, bloodshot blue eyes. Her lips formed a straight line.
“Have it your way, lady.” The Guardian swiveled and stormed out of the room.
* * * * *
The bright red uniform of the medic hurt Mike’s eyes and brought pain to his head. The young man held a pink light to his eyes while he probed his forehead.
“Ouch! Do you have to press so hard?” Mike said.
“Sorry, sir. Hold on a minute.” He turned and rummaged through his medical bag. Although it wasn’t made of leather like doctors’ bags in his day. It was made of some clear plastic and had compartments that slid out when the Guardian touched the front of them. He grabbed a gun-like device. “Here. This’ll make you feel better.”
“I don’t want—” The medic shot Mike on his arm with a puff of air. It didn’t hurt but he immediately felt a soothing feeling, a relax
ing of his muscles. The pain in his forehead disappeared and he felt slightly happy. “Wow. What type of magic is this? I feel great!”
The medic stared at Mike for a minute. “Why would you ask that? Everyone knows about Pain Away. It’s been around for almost a hundred years.”
Mike saw the man’s forehead wrinkle. He was just a kid, probably not more than nineteen. “Say, where’d you get your training?”
The kid stared at him. “What’s the matter with you? You act as if you’re not from this planet. Anyone who wants to can sign up for medical training in school. After I graduated and joined the Guardians they gave me advanced courses. But that’s common knowledge. Where’d you say you were from?”
Uh-oh. Mike laughed. This miracle puff was really fantastic. “Just pulling your chain.”
“What? What’s that mean?”
“Never mind.” Mike knew he’d better shut up or he’d get himself in more trouble.
The medic stood up and now the shocking color of his uniform didn’t bother Mike’s eyes. “You’ll survive.” He turned and saw the items on the table. “Wow, look at these ancient police officer emblems. Those yours?”
Is this some kind of a test? The happy serum was thrumming through his body and he didn’t have a care in the world. Yet a deep instinct told him to be careful. “You interested in old police artifacts?”
“I sure am. I come from a long line of Guardians. I know our history.” The kid ran his hand over Mike’s shiny gold badge. He fingered the epaulettes and reverently picked up the pin that said five years of service on it. “These are museum quality items. Look at this watch. How’d people read them?” The kid stroked the band on the Rolex.
“Don’t know.” Mike decided noncommittal was the way to go.
“I wonder what it was like back then, in the Old West days. I’m sure the stories of bank robbers and home invasions were exaggerated.”
“Look, I can get you tons of information about that time period. I have a…er…friend who has researched it.”
“Really? I’d love that.”
“Rick, you done in there?” A gruff voice sounded over a hidden speaker in the cell.
“Yeah, yeah. The guest’ll live. Hold on a minute.” Rick left his medical bag of tricks on the table and walked out of the room.
The door didn’t close all the way and a sliver of yellow light shone through the crack. Feeling no pain and no fear, Mike went to investigate. The door opened silently into the pocket in the wall as he approached. Mike grabbed his gun and shoved it into his waistband. He swiped his badge, insignia, service pin, epaulettes and watch, stuffed them in his pocket and walked out of the cell.
The hallways were silent and empty. He glanced in the window of each cell, realizing they were two-way windows. A few doors down he found Shauna, sitting in a chair with a thunderous look on her face. No one was in the room.
“Here you are my lovely. How about we blow this pop stand?”
“Mike? What’re you doing here? How’d you get away?” Shauna rose from the chair. “Why aren’t your hands cuffed?”
He laughed from the giddy feeling that coursed through him. “Because the medic that just examined at me forgot to put the restraints back on and left the door to the cell open. I walked out. Isn’t that great?” He looked up and down the hallway. “Let’s go.”
Shauna stood up from the chair. “It won’t be easy finding our way out.” She peered at him, leaned close to stare into his eyes. As they left the cell Shauna said, “What are you on? You’re too happy. Oh! It must be Pain Away. Look at that lump on your forehead.” She touched it gently but Mike felt no pain.
“I know the way out, sweetheart. I paid close attention when they hauled me in here. Stay behind me.” Mike led the way down the corridor away from the cells. A couple of times he chuckled. “Just like in the old movies from my day when the prisoner escapes with the beautiful heroine.” When they reached the end of the hallway they double-timed it to the nearest elevator. When he pushed the button they heard a clanging sound throughout the lower floor.
“Warning. Warning. Escaped guests. Lock all entrances and exits.”
The elevator door opened, Mike and Shauna got in and Shauna pushed the button for the top floor. “Thank God for supersonic elevators.”
Chapter Seven
They walked out the front door. No one paid them any attention. Mike and Shauna acted liked they belonged, they even pretended to look for the escapees as if they were support staff for the Guardians. Green-suited Global Guardians rushed through the building.
Mike, still high from his happy juice pain reliever, laughed. “This is the greatest escape ever. What a bunch of morons.”
“Shh. Don’t talk so loudly. Someone will hear you brag and we’ll get arrested again.”
“Darling, you worry too much.” Mike patted her on her cheek and grabbed a hover scooter. “Let’s ride one of these. I’ll drive, since your hands are still cuffed.” He said it as if it were an everyday occurrence. Mike helped Shauna on a scooter then climbed in front of her. “Can’t be any more difficult than a motorcycle.”
“Wanna bet?” Shauna leaned into Mike’s back and said, “Press the red button on the right handle bar, then push forward on the bars. The scooter will rise up about six inches, hover and wait for the next command.” Shauna glanced behind her. A swarm of lime-colored suits raced out into the street, looking up and down for them. “And hurry.”
Mike did as he was told and the little engine hummed. He pushed forward on the handle bars and the scooter rose into the air. “Whoa! This is cool.”
“Shh.” Shauna pinched his back. “I know you don’t need the scooter to fly but I do. God, how long ago were you injected with the serum?”
“Don’t know, don’t care,” Mike laughed. “Hold on, sweetie!” The scooter raced forward, leaning dangerously to the right. Shauna bit back a scream and grabbed for the belt in his pants to hold on. “Uh, whoa there horsey,” Mike said. He concentrated really hard. “This isn’t as easy as it looks. How do all those people,” Mike waved toward the other scooters around him, “make it look so simple?”
“It is simple when you’re used to it. Waaiit. Lean left!” Shauna shouted as they wobbled down the street. She nearly fell off again. “Goddamnit! Keep this thing upright. I don’t have any way to hold on except to your belt.”
“I know, I feel as if I have a big wedgie.” He laughed as he felt her pull him to the left but he followed her strong lead.
“What’s a wedgie?” Shauna asked.
“Never mind.”
The scooter flew along the streets, Mike turning corners on Shauna’s command. They watched the Global Guardians fly by in their skycars. It seemed no one thought to look for them on a hover scooter. After a half hour they turned toward the outskirts of the city. Every so often a green and white flew overhead but they were getting more and more rare.
“We’ll have to pull over before we get to the city limits. I need to get out of these cuffs and we have to change our appearances to get through security at the gates.”
“Gates?”
“Yes, gates. Security. Tasers. Get your light head wrapped around what I’m telling you. When you walk or hover to another city, you have to go through a checkpoint. When you fly there’s no place to stop and be searched.”
Mike slowed the scooter. It hovered, then dropped to the ground. “That is one neat vehicle.”
They left the scooter at a drop off point and headed toward a building.
“How do you get those cuffs off?” Mike asked. Now that they’d stopped flying he felt as if the medicine was wearing off. His head hurt a bit and his happy feeling was draining away. “Darn, I think the happy juice is wearing off.”
“Oh, good. Now I can have my Mike back.” Shauna grabbed his arm with her manacled hands and led him inside the building.
“What’re we doing here?”
“I have a friend who can help us.” The elevator rose to the eightieth
floor. Shauna knocked on a door right next to the elevators.
“Yeah?” a man answered.
“Johnson, it’s me Shauna.”
The door slid open and a tall, thin man stood there with his mouth gaping. He peeked up and down the hall then grabbed Shauna and Mike and pulled them inside. “Close door, lock industrial strength 4460.” The door slid shut silently but the thumping of two locks could be clearly heard.
“There’s a worldwide manhunt for you. Well, womanhunt in your case. Or should I say couple hunt.” Johnson laughed at his own joke.
“Funny,” Shauna said. “This is Mike. He’s been helping me find my parents. They’re alive.”
“Oh for joy!” Johnson shouted. “I’ve missed them, Shauna dear.” He glanced at her hands and said, “Be right back.”
Shauna turned to Mike. “Johnson and I went to school together. He was always over at my place spending time with my parents. He’s like a brother to me. And he worked on The Real Truth with Mom and Dad for years. Even traveled to other countries to get stories.”
Johnson came back with a gadget. “Here, hold still.” He slipped a bulky set of S tubes over Shauna’s cuffs and pressed a button. There was a click and Shauna pulled her hands out.
“Thank you.” She rubbed her wrists where three-inch wide red marks showed. “The jerk Guardian made sure to make the cuffs too tight.”
As she roamed the small apartment Mike took in his surroundings. A drab studio apartment with a sofa, a table and two chairs were all the furniture in the single room. But there was a stunning view of vast plains and distant mountains. Mike stared at the vista. Only a few skycars flew by and they were at a great distance. “You live on the outskirts of town, Johnson?”
“I do. I like the feeling of space.” He looked around his apartment. “I know this is small but all I have to do is look outside and I feel free, relaxed.”
“The view’s great,” Mike said.
Johnson turned to Shauna. “Now dear girl, what have you gotten yourself into?”
Shauna finished the story and sat back with her cup of coffee. Mike still stood staring at the view. “And that’s why the Global Guardians are after us. Mike fell into this mess and has stood by me the whole time.” She smiled at Mike who’d turned and grinned crookedly at her. Her stomach dipped when he did that. She loved that rakish look where one side of his mouth turned up and one eyebrow arched.
No Future Christmas Page 9