TimeRipper

by D E McCluskey

  The husk that used to be Mary Ann ‘Polly’ Nichols fell to the floor, into a pool of her own blood.

  He didn’t need to investigate this body; he could already tell that she was dead. The mystery he had wrapped himself up in, had just deepened. What he didn’t know was what he could do next. He was stuck in the gateway of the yard—if he moved now, the assassin would no doubt see him, and he didn’t fancy his chances against him and whatever his lethal devices were. All he could do was slide further back into the shadows, waiting for the silhouette to make his exit. To his surprise, the stranger sat down next to Polly’s body, his back against the wall of the nearby house. Kosminski couldn’t tell for sure, but he thought he could hear mournful sobs in the still of the night.

  He watched with interest as the ghostly assassin lifted his sleeve and adjusted something on his arm. He put his wrist towards his mouth and talk into it. Kosminski strained to hear what was being said but could only make out the odd snippets of words.

  ‘…come in, Jack… ripped her… dead, yes I think it… Nichols… secured… my best from now… my own, understood. Jack… out.’

  The conversation didn’t make any sense to him, but one phrase did stand out. ‘Jack, ripped her.’ Or was it: ‘Ripper’? Is that his name? Jack Ripper?

  Eventually, the stranger stood, put his devices back into the folds of his cape, and sloped off into the night, his black cloak once again blending with the darkness. Kosminski didn’t have the energy to follow him, not tonight, not after what he had just witnessed, and not after all the ale he had drunk earlier. Once again, he set off home; disappointed, angry, and scared.

  35.

  Orbital Platform One. 2288

  ‘COMMUNICATIONS ARE WORKING, sir,’ Jacqueline bragged, puffing her chest out, her smile almost splitting her face in two. ‘It’s a simple matter of piggybacking them onto the quantum signal. There’s a small delay, but we contacted Chris Webb, our first human trial. We sent him back ten years for ten minutes. He knew the risks and was more than willing to do the trial for the good of humanity. While he was there, he reported, and I quote, ‘It’s cold and wet.’ Considering that we sent him to Birmingham in England, I would say it was success.’

  Youssef was delighted; everything was slotting into place. The organic trials had gone without a hitch, the human trials, which he had been loathed to do but knew the urgency of the situation warranted them, were successful too. Now, the communications were working.

  Ever the pessimist, he was starting to think that things were going a little too well.

  He looked around the table. Dr Hausen was absent as he was coordinating the aid workers who were busy attempting to bring order to some of the worst hit locations on the planet. It was a job hampered by the majority of the citizens being too scared, of ramifications from The Quest, to accept help from the EA. Youssef, as ranking member of the EA, had built a team to deal with this situation. Hausen had been the obvious choice to head it up. He had carte blanche to make any decisions he thought correct; he had Youssef’s trust.

  Kevin was present in the room, as was Vincent and Jacqueline.

  ‘I only want the people in this room, with the exception of Dr Hausen, to know what we propose to do here. You’ll be aware that, over the last few weeks, we’ve been working to understand the fundamentals to create a secure transportation back in time, to send an operative…’ he looked at Vincent, but never mentioned him by name, ‘…back to the same era as The Quest. Jacqueline, I’m handing this meeting over to you.’

  ‘Thanks, Youssef,’ she said, standing to address the table. ‘We’ve been working with the data we archived from The Quest’s network regarding quantum tagging and magnetic tagging, and we have successfully sent a human test subject back in time. We tracked their movements, communicated with them, and recalled them back to our time. We now think it’s operationally feasible to go forth with this mission.’ She took a moment to take in what she had just said and couldn’t help but smile. She cleared her throat, getting herself back into the professional attitude needed to deliver this address. ‘We’ve also been working on the Higgs Storm issue too. Now, this has fundamentally been an equation. We measured the quantities of Storm that was produced when we sent the apple back, and also our human test subject. This information, coupled with what we know about the size and weights of the women, gave us the sum, approximately, as to how much Storm would be required for them to destroy the remainder of the Earth’s habitable surface. We now have an estimate of when they are! We’ve narrowed it down to summertime eighteen-eighty-eight! July, to be exact.’

  Kevin’s face dropped as he shook his head. ‘How did you narrow that down?’

  ‘If you have a baseline to work with, it just becomes a pure maths problem,’ Jacqueline answered. ‘But we do still have one issue to iron out. In theory, we know when they are, but we have no way of telling where they are. As the Higgs-Boson is mixed with hydrogen, we know that the atoms can be sent basically anywhere in the world. Even if we can receive the quantum signals from the women that tells us when they are, we still need the transponder codes to track them. These will be masking the magnetic signals. It’s my thinking that the codes are only held by the personnel who are tracking them. That’s how I would do it, anyway.’

  Kevin smiled a little at this information. ‘I can smell an operation coming on. You’re going to need a team to infiltrate their base and steal the transponder codes, then we can find them and bring them home.’

  Youssef smiled back. ‘We’ve already sent a cyber tracker into their portals to find this information electronically, but to no avail. So, it’s over to you, my friend. We need this information before we can send Vincent back in time. He’ll be aided in the present by Jacqueline. She’ll monitor everything he does. If we get all the codes, then we can zap them all back, straight to jail. If we can get just one code, then we’ll at least know where they are, and we can physically go back and bring them to justice. We’ll need to be ready for the massive amounts of Higgs Storm, though.’

  ‘My team can be ready in an hour. I’m assuming that we’re going to Inverness?’ Kevin asked standing up.

  Youssef nodded. ‘For this mission, your team will consist of you and Vincent. We need to minimise our liability. The EA is growing more unpopular every day. I wouldn’t be surprised if The Quest hasn’t already infiltrated our ranks. My present thought is that everyone in this room, and Dr Hausen, are the only personnel I’m willing to outright trust. We’re going to be working on this premise for the time being. The people are scared, there’s a threat of mass violence and death if we don’t stand down, and as we have no plans to do that, then it’s just us, my friends. I need you two to be ready within the next hour. Failure is not an option. We need those codes.’

  Kevin looked at Vincent, winked, and then turned his attentions back to Youssef. ‘You know you can count on us.’

  36.

  VINCENT CLARENCE AND Kevin Farley were standing inside the Hadron Collider pods, awaiting teleportation to Inverness. Both were dressed, head to toe, in black.

  ‘You do know it’s cold up there this time of the year?’ Kevin said to Vincent.

  ‘I’ve heard its cold up there every time of the year,’ Vincent replied with a smile. They were both in their individual pods, checking their equipment, weapons, illuminations, emergency tele-packs, and handheld portals.

  Youssef was operating the collider. ‘Jacqueline and I will monitor you every step of the way. You’ll minimise any contact with the enemy. We don’t want a fire fight down there. If you’re compromised, use your tele-packs and get yourselves back as soon as possible. Do you understand?’

  Kevin slipped a look that Youssef knew only too well. It said ‘Whatever’, but his mouth said; ‘You know me, Youssef, I always err of the side of caution.’

  Vincent scoffed as Youssef shook his head. ‘Are we ready, Jacqueline?’ he asked.

  ‘Just adding the coordinates now,’ she replied, typing i
nto a glass panel. ‘Right outside the castle; sorry, boys, I can’t get you inside,’ she said shrugging her shoulders.

  ‘It’s OK, I forgot my tie anyway. It looks like we’ll have to crash this party,’ Vincent wisecracked.

  ‘May Allah be with you,’ he blessed them both.

  Kevin pulled a mock angry face. ‘Who’s this Allah guy? You told us we were the only ones to know about this mission…’

  Youssef shook his head at the terrible joke as he watched the duo disappear into a purple light. ‘What are they getting themselves into down there?’ he asked Jacqueline as she meddled with the monitor.

  She shook her head, looking more than a little confused. ‘I don’t know. I’m not picking up any heat signatures, I don’t think there’s anyone down there.’

  ~~~~

  The two soldiers materialised in a secluded section in the grounds, behind a large wall in a garaged area. ‘Good move getting us into a garage, no one will have seen us arrive,’ Kevin spoke into his wrist.

  ‘I’m a professional, you know. I have looks, brains, and the moves to back them up.’

  Vincent smiled. ‘Well that’s good to know…’

  ‘Cut the chatter, Clarence, you have a job to do,’ was her curt reply.

  Vincent poked his head out of the garage as Kevin readied his weapon. ‘You’re clear for the next hundred metres,’ Jacqueline reported through their earpieces. ‘We have reason to believe that the subterranean compound, the original castle, is where the strongest quantum signals are coming from. It could be a laboratory.’

  ‘OK, we’re going to radio silence until we’re inside. Only contact us if we are in imminent danger,’ Kevin commanded into his wrist.

  ‘Will do, out,’ she replied, and the com went dead.

  ‘How do you want to do this, sir?’ Vincent asked.

  ‘I always think the direct approach is usually the best, don’t you, soldier?’

  ‘That’s a positive, sir. The front door it is then.’

  Kevin took out his handheld portal. The full known schematics of the castle had been preloaded onto their devices. They knew that once inside they would have precious little cover if their presence was known; but they also knew that these were acceptable risks.

  In stealth, they made their way to the front of the castle. The dark and damp conditions gave them the exact cover they needed to go undetected. Vincent took the lead to the main gate, where they were both surprised to find it unguarded. There was evidence of a large gathering here not too long ago, but it seemed everyone were long gone now.

  He gave Vincent the signal to move forward with caution.

  As they entered the main gate and into the single chamber inside, the size of the place hit them. All the rooms and floors had indeed been gutted and replaced with computer terminals and technology, but the place was deserted. Every portal was dead and there was not a soul to be seen anywhere.

  ‘Don’t get me wrong,’ Vincent whispered. ‘I’m glad there’s no one here, but it’s creeping me out a bit.’

  Kevin replied with the signal for him to shut up before walking towards the large spiral staircase in the centre of the room. He lowered his weapon.

  Vincent did another sweep around the room before deciding it was safe to do the same. ‘Maybe there’s nothing here worth protecting,’ Vincent offered.

  ‘Or maybe that’s what they want us to think,’ he replied. ‘Watch your step, there could be booby traps anywhere.’

  He looked at the readout on his handheld portal. ‘I’m reading our target location is down these stairs. There’s an underground complex.’

  ‘Me too, let’s go.’

  Kevin grabbed him and pulled him back. ‘Easy now, lad, don’t go rushing in until all exits have been identified and all threats have been neutralised. Now we need to circumvent this stairwell and check out any sensors or monitors.’

  Vincent nodded, a little abashed for his excitement. ‘OK, sir, understood.’

  ‘Don’t apologise, just learn from it. Remember, when you get back there, you’ll be on your own. Your only ally will be Jacqueline on the radio.’

  Silently, they made their way around the staircase, identifying and easily neutralising a number of potential threats; cameras, scanners and the like. When they assessed it was safe, they made their way down the spiral staircase.

  ‘We’ve entered the stairwell and heading towards the source of the quantum signals,’ Kevin reported.

  ‘Received. You’ll need to go down… three levels. There’s an open area that we can’t scan. It might be light locked. If it is, we’ll have to interface to get through it,’ Jacqueline replied.

  ‘I had a feeling it would be. It’s not the lock themselves that’s usually the problem, it’s what’s hidden inside them.’ He signalled to Vincent to continue down. ‘I don’t think there’s any personnel here, but it looks like we’ll have a light lock situation when we get to our destination.’

  ‘Understood.’

  ~~~~

  A small light flickered on Jacqueline’s console. As she looked at it a frown grew on her face. She had no idea what it was. She was just about to report it to the operatives when a message flashed up on her screen. It opened of its own accord.

  It was an image of a woman.

  ‘We have received notification of an unauthorised entry into Inverness Castle. The DNA has been scanned and found to originate from your operative database. Please be informed that we have antipersonnel systems in place, your operatives…’ there was a slight pause, ‘…Kevin Farley and Vincent Clarence, will very soon be neutralised. Please use this as a deterrent from trespassing on The Quest’s property in the future.’

  The image of the woman disappeared. Jacqueline punched up a screen showing representations of the two soldiers making their way into the chamber beneath the castle.

  Her face was white.

  ‘Kevin, Vincent, you’ll have to get out of there NOW, you’ve been compromised. Antipersonnel systems are in place to stop your progress.’

  ‘That’s a negative. We’ve come here to get something and we’re going to get it. Over and out.’

  She pressed another button on the console. ‘Youssef, you’d better get up here, we have a situation.’

  ‘On my way,’ came the electronic reply.

  ‘Can you give me a status update?’ she asked into the console, her mouth was completely dry, and she was finding it hard to speak.

  ‘We’ve reached the root of the quantum signals. It seems to be an entrance to a lab of some sorts, and indeed it is light locked.’

  ‘I’m monitoring your situation from every conceivable angle, physical threats, electronic threats, environmental threats. I’m not picking up anything, as of yet, to say you’re in danger, but I’d feel better if you abandoned the mission. I’ll continue to monitor if that’s how you want to play it.’ She began to press buttons on her console frantically now, attempting to assess every angle of the team. ‘Vincent are you OK?’ she asked. Sweat was now beading on her forehead, and she could feel it trickling down her back. ‘I’m reading elevated stress levels in your stats.’

  ‘I’m fine, it’s just a little adrenalin kicking in, that’s all.’ Vincent turned towards Kevin and whispered. ‘Are we going to do this or just talk about it all day?’

  Kevin smiled. ‘Let’s do it.’ He reached around his belt for his handheld portal.

  ‘Jacqueline, interface with my portal, the address is KF Zero-Zero-Nine Hash Seven. You got that?’

  A clicking sound came through his earpiece, and a second later, Jacqueline’s voice broke through. ‘I’m in. Point it towards the light lock.’

  Kevin did as was requested, and a slight rumble passed from the portal to his hands. ‘Shield your eyes,’ he commanded.

  Vincent obeyed as a bright flash issued from the doorway, and the doors opened, slightly.

  As soon as the flash was gone, a series of clunks and clicks began to echo from the walls around them.
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  ‘Guys, it looks like every exit to the castle has just been hermetically sealed. I’m reading an energy field that has generated around your perimeter. Jesus, that’s hermetically sealed too. You guys have about five minutes of air, total. I’m pulling you out, now,’ Jacqueline shouted from her position in the control room.

  ‘Stand down!’ Kevin shouted. ‘We have a job to do here, and we’re going to do it. You work on getting us an exit, or just lock onto our signals and be ready to pull us out on my order.’ He turned to Vincent. ‘Get your ass over to the nearest console or portal you can log into and start to upload everything you can from the database.’

  ‘I’m on it, sir.’ He ran into the room straight to the nearest portal.

  ‘Jacqueline, can you read my portal? The address is VC Two-Two-Eight Hash Nine-Eight.’

  ‘I’m in. Just interface with the console, and I’ll do the rest. I need to let you know that I’m having trouble locking onto your signals. The energy field seems to be scrambling them. I’m also failing to find an exit.’

  ‘How long do we have?’ Vincent asked.

  ‘A little over three minutes. The problem is that to get the database successfully uploaded, it is going to take…’ she paused as she looked at her screen. ‘Roughly six.’

  Kevin cut into the conversation. ‘The database takes priority. Concentrate all your efforts onto retrieving that.’

  ‘Sir, if it’s all the same to you, I’ll continue to do both.’

  He looked at Vincent. A surge of pride swelled through him as he noticed that the young man was not showing any signs of stress, even in the face of death. ‘You OK, son?’ he asked, tipping the younger man a wink.