Out of Time

by E W Barnes

  “I’m not so sure about that,” Yorga began.

  “If you’d like, I can tell the twins that you need to reschedule the meeting,” Jonas offered. “That way the prisoners can be returned to the interrogation rooms and you can feel confident they can’t escape or otherwise interfere.”

  Yorga pinched her lips together at this suggestion.

  “Fine,” she said as she stood. “She’s allowed to eat her fill and walk the grounds until sunset. Then she is to be returned to the interrogation room.”

  “I understand, Director,” Jonas said respectfully.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  2204 - Redemption and Suspicion

  Sharon eyed Jonas warily. The last time they’d spoken, Jonas had been happy to send Sharon and Caelen into exile never to be heard from again. She feared what he might do now. Jonas did not acknowledge her presence, instead watching Yorga make her way back into the building. Then he scrutinized the gardens before he made eye contact with Sharon.

  “I’m here to help you escape,” he said in a low voice.

  “What?” Sharon thought she’d not heard him correctly.

  “We don’t have a lot of time. It’ll only take Yorga a few minutes to figure out the twins didn’t ask for her. If we’re going to get you out of here, we need to act now.”

  “I need Richard,” Sharon said standing.

  Jonas nodded. “I know. He’s close by.”

  Jonas pushed through trees and underbrush, not following any of the paths, until they reached the benches Sharon, Caelen, Miranda, and Jonas had retreated to the day they discovered the “Email Timeline.” Richard was there with two guards, happily chatting about tournaments and kegs of ale.

  “You’re dismissed,” Jonas said as he emerged from the foliage, Sharon in tow.

  The guards barely glanced at him. “Our orders are to remain with the prisoner until we return him to interrogation.”

  “You have new orders now. I’ll watch these prisoners,” Jonas responded. But the guards did not buy his subterfuge.

  “Knaves!” Richard shouted, startling them all. “Errant knaves!”

  He kicked a foot out, striking the closest guard in the abdomen. The guard doubled up in pain and Richard struck him with his fist, knocking him to the ground. The other guard attacked, and he and Richard traded furious blows until Richard got in a punch under his jaw, knocking him backwards into a tree. Stunned or knocked out—Sharon couldn’t tell—the second guard dropped.

  “We need to hurry,” Jonas said breathlessly, dazed by the intensity and alacrity with which Richard had dispatched the guards.

  He led them to the access tunnel TPC staff had used to evacuate before the Chestnut Covin arrived. A force field sealed the entrance. Jonas worked the keypad of a tablet computer screen trying to deactivate it. Sharon heard shouts and the sound of people running through leaves and branches. Richard was back to talking about polishing armor, apparently unaware of the pursuit.

  “They’re coming,” she said.

  “I know, give me a moment,” Jonas answered.

  “Hurry!”

  “I know!”

  This could be another ploy, Sharon thought suddenly. Like the sharing of information in hopes of reciprocity, or depriving her of food and drink and sleep, terrifying her with the sounds of others being tortured, and then giving her respite in hopes she’d be cooperative. Perhaps this “escape” was planned, another attempt to get her to talk. She was about to confront Jonas with her suspicions when there was a buzzing sound and he relaxed.

  “Got it,” he said, as the force field flashed green and then disappeared.

  “Come on,” Richard replied, as he headed into the tunnel. Sharon hesitated, still mistrustful.

  “Sharon, this is the only way,” Jonas said. There was something in his eyes, his tone, that made her believe him. She plunged into the darkness after Richard.

  Inside the tunnel there was a device mounted to the wall. Sharon assumed it was the force field activator. Jonas opened its casing and prodded the circuitry.

  “Get away from the opening,” he called over his shoulder.

  He gave the circuitry a final prod and stepped back hastily. There was another buzzing sound, but this sound grew louder until the cave vibrated. With a boom, the cave entrance collapsed in a pile of rocks and dust, cutting off all light. They were trapped in the tunnel.

  “It’s only a matter of time before they dig through that,” Jonas said, coughing. “We have to climb.”

  “And then what?” Sharon croaked as she cleared the dust from her throat. It was dark. She heard Richard on her right blowing the dust out of his nose and she hoped he was facing away from her.

  “We have to get to the CERN level,” Jonas said and, with a crunching of dust and dirt, began climbing.

  Sharon reached out until she encountered the tunnel wall. Using that to orient herself, she followed the sound of Jonas’ footsteps, running her fingers along the wall as she went. She heard Richard start climbing behind her.

  Sharon guessed they had climbed for about 20 minutes before they took their first break. The air was hot and stuffy, and walking warily in pitch black to avoid stumbling while fighting their fears of the darkness was exhausting.

  “There was a time when I would not have been able to do this,” Jonas said.

  “Do what?” Sharon asked.

  “Climb through a tunnel in the dark,” he answered. “It was hard to walk from Canterbury to London, but this makes that feel like a holiday.”

  “Yeah,” Sharon said noncommittally. She resisted sliding into comfortable reminisces. She still wasn’t sure that their escape wasn’t a psychological manipulation set up by Natalie Johnson.

  “It wouldn’t be so bad if it wasn’t so dark,” Jonas added.

  There was a shuffling sound to Sharon’s left and then a light flared in the dark. Richard was holding a chemical light tube.

  “Where did you get that? Why didn’t you bring that out before now?” Jonas sputtered.

  “Thank you, Richard, that is very helpful,” Sharon said firmly.

  “Anything for you, your majesty,” Richard answered.

  “Are you ok, Richard?” Sharon asked gently.

  “Of course, milady. Whatever do you mean?”

  Sharon sighed. “I heard what they did to you in the other room,” her voice cracked. “I’m sorry that happened to you.”

  “Nothing happened to him,” Jonas said.

  “What do you mean? I heard someone, several someones, being tortured. For days!” Sharon said in an outraged voice.

  “It was a recording. The idea was to torture you, to get you so afraid that you would talk. One of their many tactics,” Jonas finished in disgust.

  Sharon sat back against the hard rock wall, digesting that information. It should have been a relief that Richard was unharmed, that no one was really tormented, but the revelation only deepened her misgivings about this “rescue.”

  “Will the light last until we get to the end of the tunnel?” Sharon asked as they stood to continue their climb.

  “I’m not sure. I think so,” Jonas answered as Richard handed it to him. “It should take us another half an hour or so to reach the top.”

  It was much easier to continue the climb with the light. Relieved of the burden of fear they made better time. In the quiet of their steady plodding upward, Sharon asked the question foremost on her mind.

  “Why are you helping us?”

  There was a long silence and Sharon wondered if Jonas had not heard her or was ignoring her.

  “It wasn’t what I expected it would be,” he finally answered.

  “What wasn’t?”

  “The Chestnut Covin,” he said.

  “What did you think it would be like?”

  “I expected it would be like the TPC just with fewer rules,” he sounded embarrassed, even ashamed.

  “But…?” she prodded him.

  “The people of the Chestnut Covin, well
, they’re cruel to put it bluntly. They’re self-centered. Some are merely unkind. Some are brutal and sadistic. All of them want something and none of them are united with anyone else except for how it serves their own agenda.” He took a deep breath. “I realized quickly that I’d made a huge mistake; that I wanted to be, needed to be part of something better than me. Like the TPC.”

  What did you expect from people who were willing to throw the world into martial law for their own purposes? Sharon wanted to ask.

  “Tell me about the twins,” she asked instead. “I know one is from our earth and the other is from the parallel earth of the Alexander Event.”

  He sighed. “Like everyone else, the twins are focused on their own goals. Natalie Johnson wants the power of time travel. Anna Ivanova wants domination over her party in the parallel earth and to rid that earth of the Nazis they share the planet with. Together they are helping each other achieve their goals.”

  “Interesting,” Sharon commented. “Yorga said something about a mole in with the TPC staff. Do you know who it is?”

  “No,” Jonas said. “They didn’t trust me with that kind of information, though I guessed they must have a saboteur in the group. But I don’t know who it is.”

  “We must warn them when we get to the top,” Sharon said.

  “They probably already know,” Jonas answered. “But without a name to give them, we won’t be able to help them.”

  They climbed again in silence. And then:

  “I’m sorry I missed your swearing-in,” Jonas said.

  “Me, too,” Sharon answered.

  A mound of rocks pushed to one side signaled the end of the tunnel, and beyond that were the metal walls and airlock door. The temporal nexus was still discharging electricity and its light show was awe-inspiring and terrifying.

  “How do we get through that?” Sharon asked in dismay.

  “I don’t know,” Jonas panted.

  Suddenly there was a loud noise. Richard stood next to the metal framework, his grin shining in the dimness. He was holding a rock the size of his hand and as she watched, he tapped out a rhythm on the metal with the rock: Tap tap tap. Tap tap tap tap.

  “Can you hear that?” Sharon said.

  “Yes!” Jonas was exultant. There were voices on the other side of the door. Grating noises. Someone was turning the wheel.

  The tunnel opened with bright light and a rush of cold air.

  “Watch the pattern,” a voice instructed them. “Then run through one at a time.”

  “I’ll go first,” Jonas said, counting out the pattern under his breath.

  “And now!” the voice called. Jonas ran through and seconds later called back: “I’m through, it’s ok.”

  “After you, milady,” Richard said, gesturing with a flourish.

  Sharon counted out the pattern of the discharges as Jonas had and was already sprinting across when the voice told her to run. Someone caught her, steadying her as she took deep breaths in relief. She looked up and found herself standing in front of Miranda Noon and Agent MacGregor.

  “Miranda!” Sharon cried out as she threw her arms around her friend. Agent MacGregor smiled a tight smile of puzzlement and relief.

  “How did you get here?” Miranda asked. “There was no one left in the TPC, and the temporal nexus is inoperative.”

  “It’s a long story,” Sharon began but was interrupted by Jonas.

  “I’m sorry to interrupt, but we must reseal the tunnel as fast as possible,” he said pointing to the opening as Richard ran through. “The Chestnut Covin has taken over TPC headquarters and they will come after us.”

  “I thought you were one of the Chestnut Covin, Former Agent Fernley,” Agent MacGregor said coldly.

  “He helped us escape,” Sharon said gently. “And he’s right, we must reseal the tunnel. The Chestnut Covin will come, whether to get Richard and me back, or to destroy what’s left of the TPC. They’ve been planning this for a long time.”

  Agent MacGregor nodded and, with others who had helped them exit the tunnel, closed the door again, turning the wheel firmly. Between the door and the discharges, it should keep them out, Sharon thought doubtfully.

  “We need to understand what’s going on, but we can’t talk here,” Miranda said as she led them away from the door.

  In a small room not far from the tunnel entrance Sharon collapsed into a chair, exhausted by the climb.

  “We thought someone had kidnapped you to the future,” Miranda started.

  “I was,” Sharon answered. “It was a terrible future. There were no temporal amplifiers. Richard took me there so the Chestnut Covin could not find me.”

  “How did you get back?”

  Sharon glanced at Richard, uncertain how much he could explain. But his eyes were clear, and he hadn’t called her “your majesty” for a while.

  “I took her there, and I brought her back,” Richard said.

  “And who are you?” Agent MacGregor asked as he entered the room.

  “Agent Richard Kern,” Richard answered, and Jonas inhaled.

  “The Richard Kern who developed temporal aberration disorder?” Jonas asked.

  “The same,” Richard answered.

  “He wasn’t lost in the past,” Sharon explained. “The Chestnut Covin sent him to the parallel earth. From there he figured out how to stop the virus in the temporal mainframe and the invasion. He needed my help to do it.”

  “But they stopped us before we could finish,” Richard added.

  “What do you need to do to finish?” Agent MacGregor asked.

  “We were attempting to use the Roman Ring, the temporal nexus of the parallel earth, to go back in time to prevent the virus and the invasion. But we were caught and returned here,” Sharon explained.

  “You’ve been there, to the parallel earth?” Jonas asked in astonishment.

  “Yes,” Sharon said grimly. “And it’s nowhere you want to visit. I’d be happy if I never went back.”

  “But you say the mission is unfinished?” Miranda asked, looking at Richard.

  “That is the sad truth, milady,” Richard nodded. “We have unfinished business, Sharon and I, which we must complete to save the world.”

  “I would like to learn more about your unfinished business, including how you can eliminate the virus from the temporal nexus,” Miranda said. “In detail.”

  “All the details of the world will gladly be yours, milady,” Richard said as he beamed at her.

  “Excuse me, Director?”

  Miranda smiled at Sharon. “Here’s someone you’ll be happy to see.”

  Sharon turned to see Caelen standing in the doorway, leaning on a crutch.

  “Caelen!” she gasped.

  “Caelen was injured rescuing Agent MacGregor,” Miranda said. “Sadly, we lost Director Veta. I’ve tried to take over for her, but… I cannot replace her.”

  “I… I know,” Sharon said feeling dazed. “The people in 2337, the ones who were still here, told me Director Veta had been killed and… and that Caelen was injured.”

  Sharon’s mind raced. There was something wrong here. Perhaps one of the Caelens came from a different time frame—the proposed theory that explained the Caelen who met her outside her micro-apartment the night of their date. But neither Caelen had disclosed that they were from a different time frame than this one. They both acted as if they were from 2204. It was not like the Caelen she knew to keep such important information secret.

  Unless one of them wasn’t the Caelen she knew.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  2204 - The Explosion

  Sharon allowed Caelen to embrace her.

  “I was so worried,” he said. “We knew they’d taken you to the future, but we didn’t know where or when. I thought I might never see you again.” He turned to Jonas.

  “Thank you for bringing her back to me.”

  Sharon watched closely as Caelen and Jonas shook hands. Caelen’s last parting from Jonas had been full of rancor. Now i
t was as if nothing had happened between them. Sharon didn’t know if that was because of Caelen’s relief, Jonas’ regret, or for some other reason.

  “I think we need to get everyone settled in, see to any medical needs, allow them to clean-up, offer them food,” Miranda said, standing. She waited until Jonas and Richard had been escorted from the room, before she turned to Sharon. Agent MacGregor stood to one side of the table closely watching Jonas and Richard as they left.

  “Sharon, I know it’s an inconvenience, but Agent MacGregor and I need to talk with you privately. We promise to make this short.”

  Sharon sat again as Agent MacGregor closed the door to the room.

  “I’m happy to help,” Sharon said and then grinned. “And I’m happier to see you. Both of you.”

  “We are glad you are safe, too,” Agent MacGregor said.

  “We need your thoughts,” Miranda started. “First, can we trust Jonas?”

  “I don’t know,” Sharon said truthfully. “But I think so.” She explained the tactics Natalie Johnson used to get her to talk, and her question about whether the escape was part of the manipulation.

  “But if it was a manipulation,” Sharon continued. “It should have ended before we arrived here, right? He didn’t ask me questions, gathered no information to report back. They didn’t recapture us. Now that we are safe and the tunnel is sealed, I believe he really has changed his mind about the Chestnut Covin and wants to help.”

  “I’m willing to trust him provisionally, but he needs to be kept away from all sensitive areas and we should post a guard to him,” Agent MacGregor said. “Someone low key, not obviously security,” he added when Miranda furrowed her brow.

  “That’s prudent, thank you Agent MacGregor,” Miranda said. She turned back to Sharon. “Tell me about Richard Kern.”

  It took longer to talk about Richard. She described seeing him outside her micro-apartment when Caelen came to pick her up for their date, telling them everything about the horrors of 2337, the destruction and desperation, the raiders and the feral dogs, and the community the TPC would establish and their descendants would inherit.