by Wyatt Kane
The AI did as I asked. Feeling more confident now about working the controls, I made sure the girls had a good hold and then launched.
When we landed in the middle of a tall cornfield a few moments later, I thought something had gone wrong. “Shell?” I said.
“We are ten miles from Des Moines, the state’s capital.”
I was confused. “Why?”
“Because there is something the Wise One enjoys doing,” she said. “Young Caleb, your presence is required to enable normal van operation, but if you remove your hands from the steering wheel, I can drive.”
Perplexed, I did as the AI asked. Immediately, we lurched through the corn, flattening stalks in the shape of a circle. Then we careered through the field for a moment before lurching sideways again. It was all I could do to stay in place, and I heard the girls start to curse in the back.
“Shell! What are you doing?” I asked.
“A moment longer,” she replied, and the van lurched again.
I’d had enough. I reached for the steering wheel to wrest control back from the AI. But before I did, we launched into the air and hovered maybe fifty feet above the corn.
I was shocked. The van wasn’t a DeLorean. I hadn’t even suspected it could fly.
“If you would like to look down?” Shell suggested.
Curiosity drove me to do as the AI said, and I heard more curses from the girls as they untangled themselves. On the ground, I could see that Shell had created a pattern of interconnected circles and geometric shapes. I stared, confused for a moment, until April provided an answer to my unspoken question.
“Crop circles?” she said. “You make crop circles?”
The AI offered a metallic laugh. “If I am honest, it isn’t just the Wise One who thinks its funny to watch the humans scratch their heads when they discover them,” she said. “Young Caleb, if you would like to re-engage the temporal drive, we can be at the correct coordinates shortly.”
For the third time in a matter of minutes, I did as the AI asked. I pulled the lever near the steering column, and the familiar, purple time bubble surrounded us once more.
<<<>>>
This time, we landed with a bump in a narrow alley, and I had to jump on the brakes to avoid hitting a dumpster. We came to a halt barely inches away from it, and I couldn’t help but wonder how good Shell’s calculations actually were. What if she was half a dozen paces off? What if we ended up materializing inside the dumpster?
Or a concrete wall?
It didn’t bear thinking about.
“You will find Jimmy Carter on the top floor of the Excelsior Hotel,” Shell said. “Good luck,” she added.
I was already halfway out of my seat when June stopped me. “So, you’re just going to charge in and attack? What’s your plan?”
“I haven’t figured that out yet.”
She looked at me, projecting waves of doubt. “You barely survived the other bug monsters before. This one is much more powerful, and you don’t even have any weapons. What are you going to do? Snap your fingers and make it disappear?”
It was a good question. Trouble was, I didn’t know. All I knew was that at any moment, a huge chunk of the multiverse could blink out of existence if we didn’t do something, and quickly.
I couldn’t take the risk of procrastinating for even a moment. What if life was like a Mission Impossible film where the bomb was always a single second from going off? What if a moment’s hesitation was all that stood between success and catastrophic failure?
I thought quickly. “You’re right,” I said. “But we can’t make a plan without information, right? So how about a fact-finding mission? We go in and find out everything we need to know. How busy is this place? How many bodyguards, Secret Service personnel are there? Where on the top floor is he, exactly? And how is this monster controlling him?” I paused for a moment. “Does that make sense?”
April seemed keen, but June was slower to respond. Her uncertainty faded, but didn’t disappear. “Even that sounds dangerous.”
I couldn’t deny it. “You saw the ruined world we just came from. If we don’t do something, that’s what the future will be,” I said.
“Maybe we could just stay here?” she suggested. “Or another time? Somewhere safe?”
It didn’t matter where or when we happened to go, I knew that nowhere was safe. But I didn’t want to tell her that.
Fortunately, April stepped in. “June, that might work for us, but what about our friends?” she said gently. “Our family back in 2019? Do you want to leave them to the world we just saw?” She didn’t have to say that there was a good chance those family and friends had been dead. June understood. She pursed her lips and nodded.
“Fuck. Okay. Let’s do it,” she said.
It was enough for me. We piled out, and I closed the door and locked the Bedford behind us. I hoped no one would bother it, but as thieves couldn’t drive it anywhere, I figured it was safe enough.
The alley opened out into the center of downtown, and I couldn’t help but wonder at the architecture. I was used to concrete and glass, shiny towers reaching into the sky. But the buildings around us were comparatively squat and made mostly of brick.
Except for one. This building was taller, maybe thirty stories, but it still had that old-world, elegant feel to it.
“Is that it?” April asked.
She was pointing toward the taller building, and even before I saw the sign proclaiming its name, I knew it was the one. It just had the look of a place that would host presidential candidates.
“Well, no time like the present,” I said.
But it was April’s turn to stop me. She grabbed my arm. “How do you want to do this?” she asked.
“Split up. Find out what you can. We’ll meet back in the lobby in, what, an hour?”
I could see the disappointment in her eyes at the thought of splitting up. But she accepted it readily enough. “And what if there’s trouble?” she asked.
“You can call me telepathically. I’ll come and get you.”
The blonde twin smiled. “What if it’s you who is in trouble?” she asked.
“Me?” I shrugged. “It’s not like I’m without skills,” I said, winking at her.
Despite the seriousness of what we were planning to do, the beautiful woman still replied with a grin.
Then I relented. “I’ll use my ability to slow time. All going well, I should be able to waltz past any trouble.”
Even as I spoke, I knew my answer wasn’t enough. It didn’t include June.
Both April and I turned to the dark-haired sister at the same time. She looked from one to the other, then said. “I’m not staying in that old Bedford any longer. If we’ve got to save the whole damned universe, then I’m doing my part. I’m coming with you.” She glared at us as if daring either April or me to disagree, and I could feel the determination within her.
Neither of us did. June turned away for a moment. “Fuck,” she said. It seemed to be her favorite word. “But I can’t slow time or call out telepathically. So I’m not going alone.”
“Sure,” April said. “You and I can—”
“No. Caleb,” she said. She kept her face perfectly neutral as she said it, but her emotions betrayed her. I felt a tingle of mischievousness coming from her that I couldn’t interpret.
Whether April felt it as well, I didn’t know. The blonde sister just looked at June for a moment, then nodded, the smile on her lips suggesting she was in on the joke. “Okay, then. Let’s do this.”
There was nothing left to decide. With April on one side of me and June on the other, we headed toward the Excelsior entrance.
“We’re going to get our asses eaten,” June muttered under her breath.
XXIV
The lobby of the Excelsior proved to be a wonder of elegance, from the rich, crimson carpets and extensive use of dark wood paneling through to the magnificent chandelier hanging from the triple-height ceiling. It was also surprisingl
y busy, with a number of people waiting at the expansive front desk, others sitting on the various seats, and several more just milling about.
Maybe that was because of the time. Late afternoon. People were getting back from wherever the day had taken them, or starting to think about food for the evening.
Either way, I could see no overt signs of security for the candidate, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t any. The solidly-built man in the dark suit sitting in a corner could have been just waiting for someone, but could equally have been a member of the Secret Service on watch. Nor was he the only one. I started seeing undercover agents in the doorman who had greeted us on the way in, in every guest who seemed to be by themselves, and even in the elderly supervisor gent standing watch over the front-desk staff.
Our entrance didn’t go unnoticed. I was dressed a touch too casually for this crowd in my jeans and overtly modern motorcycle jacket, and together, June and April were stunning enough that they would turn heads in a morgue. It was like one of those scenes in a western where the hero walks into a tavern and everything stops for a moment.
Given that we really didn’t want the attention, it wasn’t a great start to our mission.
April recognized the issue as well. “Time to get on with it,” she said, smiling broadly. With that, she headed over to the front desk, taking about half of the eyes in the place along with her and leaving me alone with June.
The dark-haired twin wrapped her arm in mine and flashed me a smile to match her sister’s. “Come on. Let’s see if we can’t convince these people we belong.” So saying, she whisked me through the crowd toward an alcove that hid the elevators.
I don’t know what I’d been expecting. Probably just normal, bland-looking elevators. Press a button and it’ll take you to whichever floor you wanted. But instead, June and I found ourselves looking at one of those old-fashioned cage elevators, complete with an operator.
The operator was an old man wearing the same uniform as the rest of the staff but topped with a conductor’s cap. He looked our way just as I hesitated.
June pulled me on. “Come along!” she said.
The old man closed the cage door behind us. “Welcome aboard, Sir, welcome aboard, Ma’am. Which floor would be your pleasure this afternoon?”
I’d fought wars in foreign countries. As a bouncer, I’d dealt with all sorts, including drunks trying for a grope, fights, and even an attempted robbery. More recently, I’d killed giant bug monsters from another dimension, both on Earth and on the moon.
Despite all that, I was completely unprepared for the elevator operator’s question. I couldn’t ask him to take us to the top, because it was obvious we didn’t belong there. But that’s exactly what we needed to see.
June took one look at me and understood my confusion. She didn’t hesitate. She just turned to the operator and put on her most winning smile. “Is it true you have Presidential Candidate Jimmy Carter staying here?” she breathed at him, the very picture of a devoted supporter.
The operator looked from June to me, and I hastily smeared a goofy grin on my face. He answered with a more tolerant one of his own. “Well, Ma’am, we don’t often get dignitaries passing through this neck of the woods, but when they do, this is where they stay.” His eyes gained a twinkle, and he nodded. “And Jimmy Carter is about the biggest dignitary around these days. Yes indeed, Mister Jimmy Carter is here, that he is.”
“Ooh, can we see where he’s staying?” June gushed.
“I’m sorry, Ma’am, I’d like to say yes. Surely I would, but it would be more than my job’s worth to do so. His floor, I’m sorry to say, is strictly off-limits to anyone who doesn’t have a special pass.”
June proved to be a surprisingly good actress. Her face was the perfect expression of disappointment. “Aww,” she said. Then she gave a small shrug. “I really wanted to see where he’s staying. Just to be able to say I’d been there. You know? It’s not like I expected to actually meet him….” She trailed off. “Is there nothing you can show us at all?” she finished.
I have to admit, if she used that particular puppy-dog eyes expression on me, I would have given her anything she wanted. Even the old guy wasn’t immune.
“Well, I’ll tell you what I can do. I can take you to the floor directly beneath him. Layout’s just the same, and it should give you an idea. How does that sound?”
June shot a look at me, and I shrugged and nodded. “Sure!” she said. “Take us there!”
The old man chuckled. “Okay then. But don’t be surprised if you see a Secret Service agent or two even there. I think they’ve got most of that floor just about booked, too.”
Neither June nor I made any objection to that, so the old operator moved his lever into the ‘up’ position, and we began our slow rise to the top of the building.
What we would do once we got there, I didn’t know. I really wanted to see the top floor, the one Jimmy Carter was actually on, and wasn’t sure the next-to-top floor would do.
Out of no more than a desire to do something, I reached out to slow time around the old man. Maybe, I thought, if I stopped him but kept the elevator going, we could sneak to the top without him being any the wiser.
Except that it didn’t work. Not as well as I’d hoped, anyway. The old man slowed, but not nearly as much as he should have.
June sensed my consternation. “What’s wrong?” she whispered to me.
“I don’t know,” I began. “My ability isn’t working properly.” But as soon as I said it, I came up with a theory. “Maybe it’s because April isn’t here with us.”
The dark-haired twin understood. She nodded, and bit her lip as if thinking about something. Then, without saying a word, she grabbed my shirt and pulled me close. Before I could say anything, June covered my mouth in the hottest and most sensuous kiss I had ever experienced. Her hands roamed everywhere—my abs, my hair, my ass, and one hand even came around to grope my instant erection.
I felt her urgency and need, and shoved her into the wall, reaching my hand toward her breast. In a single moment, everything changed. I knew I wanted her as much as I wanted her sister. Somehow, the simple act of kissing me broke through a barrier, and I knew without having Shell there to tell me that I’d leveled up again.
I crushed June against me and kissed her hard. The fact that we were in an elevator that was open for all to see meant nothing. I just reached out and stopped it all, and just like that, we had all the time in the world….
June pushed me away, laughing under her breath.
“What?” I said.
“It worked. Your talent. Look what you’ve done.”
It took real effort for me to pull away from her and look around. She was right. I’d stopped the operator, the elevator, in fact everything within view. Completely stopped them.
I felt more powerful than ever. Maybe I would be able to stop the bug demons as well.
“What were you trying to do?” June asked in a more normal voice.
For a moment, I didn’t know what she was talking about. I thought my intentions toward her had been perfectly clear, and would have gladly continued. Except that the moment had passed. June was smoothing out her dress, and showed no real signs of wanting to continue.
Had she been acting?
And, of course, there was April to worry about as well. What would she think if she knew what her sister and I had just been doing?
Then I understood June’s question. “I was trying to slow him down but leave everything else as it was. So we could get to the top floor.”
June nodded. “Can you do it now?” she asked.
I grinned. Two seconds later, the old elevator operator was still frozen, and we were on our way to the top.
XXV
If we’d been in a normal elevator, we might have been stopped as soon as the door opened. There were two Secret Service agents standing guard in the elevator alcove, and I wouldn’t have seen them until it was too late.
As it was, I co
uld see their feet and legs through the cage as they came into view. I felt June’s quick moment of alarm, then reached out and froze both agents in time.
After that, I turned the operator’s lever to Stop, and opened the gate. We stepped out onto the top floor of the Excelsior Hotel where two Secret Service agents stood as motionless as the elevator operator.
It was a little surreal, but I was getting used to that feeling by then. Even so, I couldn’t help staring at the agents for a moment. I’d never managed to stop time completely before. Not by myself, anyway. It was like being in a waxwork museum.
“What now?” June asked.
“Now I freeze everyone on this floor, and we go see what we’re dealing with.”
“Can you do that?”
I grinned. “Only one way to find out.”
I was expecting June to be hesitant. She’d said it herself: she wasn’t as brave as April. But instead, she seemed eager, almost excited. “Okay. Let’s do it,” she said.
I reached out and froze the whole floor in a single moment of time. Then, together, we left the relative safely of the elevator alcove and walked into the hall.
There were agents stationed regularly down the hall. As we passed them by, I half expected one or other of them to acknowledge our presence, but none of them did. That feeling of unreality I’d had outside the elevator was nothing compared to this. It was totally freaky, and even though I couldn’t feel June’s emotions just then, I could feel her grip on my arm tighten with every step we took.
“We could dance naked in front of them and they wouldn’t notice,” June said, her voice sounding strained.
I laughed quietly. “Is that what you want to do?”
She eyed me sideways and gave me a lopsided grin. I thought she was seriously tempted, and had to readjust my understanding of her again. She could be angry and cutting, but was often afraid, and yet now I saw an impish side to her nature as well. Up until then I’d thought April might be the one to accept a dare on a whim, but now I knew that June would as well. She might even enjoy it more than April.