He went to the throwing area and aimed at the target. He missed. Mike had only been practicing with the javelin for a day but his frustration at his aroused body and his unresolved situation with Shauna forced him to concentrate. He threw spear after spear and finally, when his arm felt as if it were on fire and he thought he couldn’t throw another, he hit the target. Barely.
“Good shot,” Douglas said.
Mike hadn’t heard him come up behind him. “It’s taken me thirty minutes of hard throwing to skim the outer rim.” Mike frowned at the offending target.
“You’ll get it. Keep in mind that it’s balance that determines skill. Give yourself time.” Douglas took the javelin from Mike’s hand and without a glance at the target threw it.
Bull’s eye.
“Goddamn it, Doug. You didn’t even look.” Mike sank onto a chair and rubbed his shoulder. “I’ll never get the hang of it in time.”
“Now, son,” Douglas laughed. “I’ve had forty years to practice that. You’ve had two days.” Douglas gave Mike a quick squeeze of the shoulder. Mike winced. “Enough for now. You’re going to be plenty sore in a while.”
“Yeah, I might have overdone it.” Mike rubbed his right forearm to release the tension in the bunched muscle. “Too much on my mind.”
“Want to talk about it?”
Mike glanced at Douglas Wentworth. His bushy eyebrows framed intelligent blue eyes. Thick, silver hair covered his head and a cowlick flopped over his forehead. Here was a man a kid could look up to. A father who’d be there for him when tragedy struck the family. Suddenly he needed an outlet, man to man. “You in for a long story?”
Douglas pulled up a chair next to a table. He grabbed a couple of beers out of the always stocked refrigerator and sat down handing one to Mike. “I’m all ears.”
Mike told him the story of his mom dying and his dad’s abandonment of him and his brother. Then he launched into his real worry. “I can deal with all of that, I’m used to it.” He gulped some beer. “It’s Shauna. I love her, Doug, like I’ve never loved another woman. Actually, I never have loved anyone before her. Oh, I’ve had girlfriends but I want Shauna with me for life. I want to marry her.” Holding his breath, he waited for Douglas to say something.
A large grin split Shauna’s father’s face. He leaned over and punched Mike in the shoulder. Mike sucked in a breath from the light touch to a very sore muscle. “She’s yours, boy. I can see it in her eyes. And when Shauna gives her heart it’s forever. You’ll work it out if I know my Shauna.”
“I can’t see how it’d work. I know how much I miss my brother, Scott. After having lost you four years ago, I can’t imagine taking Shauna away from you. Not now, not after she’s just found you again. Why, it’s a miracle.”
“Believe me, Mike,” Douglas said. “I know my girl. She’s a brilliant scientist. She’ll find a way that’ll work.”
* * * * *
“Enough work,” Shauna muttered to herself. “I’ve had it with peering at you, you old monitor.” She stacked a pile of papers and put them in a folder. “Let’s see what Mom and Dad say about this information.”
Shauna walked to her parents’ home in the little valley. She loved it here. The temperature was cold, somewhere around fourteen degrees. She pulled her hat lower, covered her face with her scarf and shoved her mittened hands in her coat pockets. Thank goodness for the clothes Winston had given her. Frost covered the windows of the buildings she passed. If it weren’t late February she’d see Christmas decorations in the windows like in Mike’s time. She knew her mother and father would approve.
Drifting on the pleasant thought of decorating the town for the holiday, Shauna didn’t see the red laser streak across the sky. She crossed the dirt street from Subversive headquarters and turned left. A faint high-pitched sound caught her attention but she thought it was only the wind.
A shiver raced up her spine. Shauna was used to cold weather and was dressed appropriately. Was this a premonition? She glanced around the town not seeing anything out of the ordinary. The sound came again and Shauna looked up. The sky was littered with red laser beams.
At the exact moment that Shauna realized the Global Guardians were searching the area for them the town siren wailed. How’d they find them? She sprinted back to headquarters searching for Mike or her parents along the way. Slamming through the door she saw the organized chaos of bustling people rushing to cover up their illegal deeds.
Her mother calmly spoke over an internal speaker. “We’ve practiced for this for four years. Stay calm. Destroy any documents that aren’t critical to the cause. Hide the rest in the underground vaults. Remember—everything’s been carefully prepared in case we were discovered. Know that I’m proud of each and every one of you. When you’re finished, use the underground escape route. We’ll meet up at the prearranged meeting place in four days.”
“Mom! Have you seen Mike and Dad?” Shauna asked on her way to her work station. She gathered up the other documents she’d left on the table and put them in a wide round tube. She sent the tube through a pipe that sucked it to the underground vault. Without a moment’s thought she grabbed a modern plastic hammer kept nearby and smashed the old monitor and keyboard.
“No, I’m sure they’re in the armory gathering up weapons. We’ll meet them at the prearranged point.”
“Where is it, Mom? I don’t know. Has anyone told Mike?” Shauna’s heart flipped over at the thought that he’d be left behind and not know where to go. She helped a worker clear her desk, then moved to another table. The papers and materials there were important so Shauna gathered them up and put them in her folder. She placed the folder in another round tube and sent it on its way.
“We’re to meet in Switzerland, a small valley in the Alps. The coordinates are pre-programmed into all of our skycars. The code to unlock the coordinates is ESCAPE NOW but convert the letters to their corresponding number and plug them into the computer.”
“Got it.” Shauna finished clearing the area around her. “I’m going to find Mike.”
“No, Shauna. Don’t,” her mother barked. Shauna jumped. “Get out now. Grab a skycar.”
“Won’t the Guardians see us coming?”
“No. We’ve updated the invisi-shields. No skycar will show up on the radar or GPS screens and the new improvement makes them completely invisible. Now go!”
Shauna raced outside. The skycar lot was past the armory, so she headed inside to look for Mike. Men were gathering weapons and sending them through huge suction tubes to their hidden vault. Mike and Douglas were directing the organized retreat. “John, take that box of javelins and distribute them to everyone here. Craig, the red box of tasers is to be distributed too. Make haste, people.”
“Dad! Mike!” Shauna ran up to her father. Mike turned, gave her a grim smile and went back to shoving heavy boxes of ammunition into the chutes. “Does Mike know the escape code?”
“No. Mike, get over here!” Douglas shouted.
Mike waved and hollered, “I’ll be right there.” He shoved more boxes down the chute.
“I’ll go tell him,” Douglas said and jogged off to the other side of the armory.
Shauna glanced outside and saw red laser beams crisscrossing the street. Horizontal and vertical, the beams were systematically searching for her and Mike. She knew the minute they found her the Global Guardians would swoop down and land. Glancing frantically for Mike she saw him look up. Their eyes met for a long second. He mouthed the words, “I love you,” then waved her off.
She ran out the back door. There were fewer lasers beaming around. She ducked between some, jumped over others and ran to the skycar lot. Skycars were taking off at an alarming rate. The minute they were airborne they went invisible. Shauna feared that there’d be a collision and tensed waiting to hear the crashing of vehicles. She had just reached the lot when a red beam caught her. It changed to bright white, then glowed the slimy green of the Guardians’ uniforms. The light bathed her in a
mist of movement-numbing solution. Shauna stood rooted to the spot, not a foot from the entrance to the skycar lot.
A green and white skycar lowered out of the sky. Fully aware that she was caught, Shauna knew she’d be tortured. Her eyes searched for Mike. She saw him running, jumping and dodging the lasers. He saw her trapped in the numbing mist and his eyes widened.
“Shauna! Sweetheart!” He ran faster, not bothering to dodge the laser beams. She saw his mouth working frantically and wondered if he was talking to her mother or father or to himself. He looked like he was praying.
The mist thickened, causing Shauna to feel sleepy. Her eyelids fluttered. The last thing she saw was a laser beam catching Mike and turning its awful white to green color. Mike tried to jump out of the light but the Guardians sprayed the mist over him. He froze with his arm reached out to Shauna, his mouth open in a scream.
* * * * *
Shauna woke to pitch blackness. Her head hurt, her body hurt. Her heart pounded from fear of the unknown. She knew she’d been captured by the Global Guardians, knew she’d be tortured.
She wanted Mike. She wanted to hold him, smell him, kiss him. She wanted the security of his arms, the warmth of his body. She wanted to be safe with him.
What had she done? By inventing her time travel device she’d caused an innocent man, a good man, to endanger himself in a time not his own. Mike would be tortured with modern-day lasers and medicines. She would be too but she didn’t worry about that. She knew what she fought for.
But the truth serums would cause Mike to tell them of his time travel experience. She knew the Global Guardians understood that work was being done in that field. But would they want to use any device that might have been found on her or Mike? And would they go back in time or forward. Shauna couldn’t let that thought distract her.
She needed to find Mike.
The door to her cell crashed open and a blinding yellow light was shone in her face. Shauna raised her hand to cover her eyes but otherwise lay on the cot without moving. How long had she been here? Was it night or day?
A voice interrupted her thoughts. “Your boyfriend has spilled his guts. Oh, it took us a while to convince him to talk but he sang like a lark.” There was a harsh laugh followed by a cough.
Shauna’s stomach curdled. She bunched her hands into fists. Oh, God, Mike. I hope you’re alive. I’m here, I love you. She didn’t acknowledge the Guardian at the door. She heard another walk in, his heavy boots crunching the dirt and gravel on the floor. He hauled her up by the arm that covered her face nearly wrenching it out of the socket. Shauna refused to cry out. The Guardian led her down a hall and to the right. The other one kept the light shining in her eyes so she stumbled a few times. The Guardian who led the way roughly shoved her ahead of him.
They’d made a left turn when Shauna heard the command, “Door open.” A whoosh sounded and she was shoved into the room. The concrete door slid silently shut.
No sound came from the inky blackness. She put her hands out in front of her to feel for walls or obstructions and moved forward taking small steps. After three steps she hit a cot and heard a groan. Shauna dropped to the floor next to the bed. “Mike?”
The man shifted and moaned. “Sweetheart?” Mike’s voice was rough and faint. “I’m sorry. I tried to hold out.”
Tears fell down her cheeks and onto Mike’s chest. Her hands roamed over his naked shoulders up his neck to his face. She trailed her fingers lightly over his lips, his cheeks and his eyes. Shauna felt bruising and swelling and sticky clumps of blood. Her heart folded up like a clam. Because of her the only man she’d ever loved had been injured.
“Mike, I’m so sorry. I wish I could take this all back.”
Mike struggled to a sitting position. “No. Don’t say that. I’ll heal.” Shauna felt Mike’s big hands frame her face in the darkness. He gently wiped her tears away with his thumbs. “Never say that to me again.”
“What?”
“That you’d take it all back,” Mike croaked. “I wouldn’t take back a second of our time together, Shauna. Not a second. I love you.”
“Oh, Mike. I love you too.”
“Don’t worry, sweetheart. We’ll get through this. As long as we’re together, we can get through anything.”
Chapter Eleven
Disgust roiled inside Mike. He knew he couldn’t stop the drug from making him spill his secrets but he hated himself for giving away Shauna’s parents nonetheless. He loved her parents, felt as if they were his own. With a groan he pushed himself up from the cot. A light shone through the slit of a window high up in the wall. He knew it was late afternoon the day after his beating.
His head hurt, his face felt swollen and his lips were cracked but he felt better than yesterday. His muscles protested when he stepped to the door and he ignored it. He knew he’d be healed in a couple of days if the Guardians wanted him to be.
Obviously they didn’t. They had their fancy gadget that they could run over the wound with a blue light and, voilà!, healed two days later. But not this time. He did wish for some Pain Away but felt he deserved this punishment for giving in to the torture.
When Mike signed up to be a policeman he knew he’d get injured. He had a high tolerance for pain. But he’d never had a beating like this one. He could still hear the three Global Guardians laughing as they did it. Mike was proud that he never cried out or begged.
He sank onto the cot with another groan. He rubbed his sore thighs. He’d been told to squat for over an hour. He did. But now his muscles protested the abusive treatment.
Mike thought about Shauna telling him she would take back what happened to him. She was a prisoner too but the Guardians must think she was more important. She didn’t sound hurt and he didn’t hear any moans when she moved. He didn’t know why they let her see him but it did him a world of good. Now he had his resolve back.
Somehow he’d get them out of here and they’d help The Subversives—if the group still existed. But first he had to find a way to escape.
The door to the cell slid open and a Guardian entered humming a song. He looked so young Mike wondered if he shaved yet. Mike remembered Shauna telling him that they recruited them young, around fifteen and started their training immediately. So this kid was probably only seventeen or eighteen. He brought a bowl of food. “Here. Eat this. It’s not great but it’s food.” The kid turned to leave.
“Wait.”
The boy turned back to Mike with a distrustful look on his face. He didn’t meet Mike’s eyes and Mike thought that might be a good sign. The kid hummed quietly under his breath. “How long have you been here?”
“Long enough.”
“What day is it?”
“Tuesday.”
Obviously the kid wasn’t a chatterbox. “Thank you.” Mike gave up and turned to his food.
He saw the kid step to the door then step back. “You know ‘Morning Star’? It’s my favorite song. Door open.”
Mike started. He stared at the closing door. He didn’t know the modern-day group that sang that song but he did know that those two words were the code words to tell him the kid was really a member of The Subversives. That must’ve been the song he was humming.
God, he was so young.
Mike gobbled up the food, surprisingly good for stew. He figured it tasted so good because he hadn’t eaten since before his beating. He put the bowl on the floor near the door in case any insects wanted to lick it and sat back on the cot. Now what would he do with the information that the kid was on his side?
The sun sank behind the building and a gray light filled the cell. It was heated, a surprisingly considerate concession from a brutal organization. He wondered what Shauna had found just before the Global Guardians captured them. He lay back on his cot and crossed his ankles. Mike knew what they were looking for because of the questions they asked him. He remembered everything clearly. The drug made him talk without being sleepy. It was a pleasant feeling, like he just didn’t care ab
out anything and it was no problem to tell these friends of his about his life and times.
His mind turned to escape. How could he get the boy to help? Was there anyone else who would help? He figured the walls had eyes and ears so outright communication was impossible. Letting his subconscious work out the problem he fell into an exhausted sleep.
Something startled him awake. He sat up sucking in a breath, forgetting for a minute his sore ribs. The blackness was so complete that even when his eyes adjusted he couldn’t see anything. But he heard the sound of breathing. Mike didn’t say a word, didn’t move again. He wanted the intruder to make his move first. The silence stretched until Mike heard a slight scraping, like a boot stepping on a small rock.
“Don’t move, I know you’re awake.” The voice sounded young but mean. It was the kid from earlier.
“I won’t. You have my word.” Mike knew that if the Guardian had wanted to harm him he would have already done it. Hope flared that a rescue attempt was imminent.
“I’m here to make sure you haven’t hung yourself.” The kid laughed, a rough sound. But the voice moved closer and a hand touched his arm. “All’s clear,” he said to unseen eyes and ears. The hand moved down his arm and felt for his fingers. He stuffed a small piece of paper into the palm of Mike’s hand. “Go back to sleep.”
Playing along with the kid Mike said, “Nice of you to wake me in the middle of the night. I guess it’s too much to ask for a decent night’s sleep after the torture I received.”
“Shut up!” the kid roared. “You have no rights here, no reason to expect anything. You’re an enemy of the world. We execute our enemies. Door open.” The kid smacked his hand on the wall as he left the cell, the door silently closing behind him.
Mike leaned back in his cot and fingered the paper in his hand. He wished he could read it but it was too dark. He figured the only time he could read it would be at dawn, when he took a leak.
Hours later the room began to lighten from black to pearl gray. He got up and went to the toilet knowing he was being watched. When he finished, he leaned forward to push the button on the top. He didn’t push it all the way down and the toilet didn’t flush properly. “Goddamnit,” he muttered. He tried it again and again it didn’t completely flush. “Stupid toilet.” Mike leaned over the tank, a much smaller version from his day and pretended to fiddle with the knobs in the wall. The cell had lightened considerably and he opened the note and read it, his body blocking out most of the cell.
No Future Christmas Page 14