In the same moment, the resonance started. He felt the dizziness, and heard Aldan's coughing, before he turned toward the front of the truck and saw Aldan kneeling on the dirt road.
The lightheaded feeling made Wyatt reach out for the door of the truck to steady himself, but as it passed, he began stepping backwards. He had to get away from that version of Aldan on the ground in front of him.
That version of Aldan was the same one that he remembered from their trip back to stop Hannah from entering the warehouse. His dark hair didn't have any gray in it.
Aldan coughed several times and spat onto the ground before pushing himself to his feet and spinning around. Wyatt hid behind the truck, watching Aldan over the tailgate and through the back window. He thought he saw confusion on Aldan's face as he saw the truck sitting there.
"Hello?" Aldan called out. "This isn't funny." His head swung from the left to the right as he apparently scanned the area.
Wyatt ducked down below the level of the tailgate and waited. He wasn't quite sure what he expected. Part of his mind wanted to head back to the warehouse entrance before the last time they arrived and prevent Brooke from coming here. In fact, as he hid, he reached for his wrist terminal, ready to activate the portal.
"Hannah?" Aldan called from the other end of the truck. "Are you okay? I don't like these kinds of games." His voice had grown closer, and Wyatt heard the front door of the truck open.
The truck sagged on its springs as Aldan climbed in. Wyatt ducked with it, remaining behind the tailgate and out of sight of the rearview mirrors. He wanted to activate his portal and get away, but that would signal Aldan that someone had been there.
The gasoline engine sputtered to life with a cloud of blue smoke from the tailpipe and Wyatt knew his time was out. He looked toward the edge of the road. Reaching it would be risky. Getting there would mean passing through the rearview mirror's field of view.
He looked down at his wrist terminal and reached to activate his portal. Before he did, the truck bumped into him, and he had to climb on the rear bumper to avoid being run over. He sat on the driver's side of the bumper, wrapping his hands around the lower edge to hold himself in place. The truck backed in an arc to the driver's side.
Aldan turned it around to head back in the direction it had come from. He seemed to do it without any concern about the truck.
Along with that thought was another worry as the back end of the truck hung over the edge of the embankment that made up the dirt road. If Aldan took off, Wyatt would miss his chance to get off the truck. If he didn't get off soon, Aldan could see him.
Taking a breath, he steeled himself as the truck stopped its backward motion. He let go of the bumper and dropped down over the embankment.
He landed hard as the truck accelerated away in a spray of dust and rocks. At least Aldan had not seen him.
Straightening up and brushing the dust and dirt out of his hair and off his clothing, he watched the truck's dust cloud as it raced away. Wherever Aldan was going, he seemed to have expected the truck to be there. Aldan even seemed to have the keys or know where to find them.
He tried to remember if that was the same Aldan who deposited the truck and took Brooke. This Aldan was younger, with no gray in his hair. This Aldan looked like the one that had left during their attempt to stop Hannah at the loading docks of 2040.
Looking down at his wrist terminal, Wyatt took a moment to catch his breath. He breathed deeply, forcing his heart to slow. He had to try this again. Maybe he could stop the older Aldan from taking Brooke.
He thought about going back and getting help, but it would be too hard to approach the rest of the group without alerting Aldan. His best option was to come back here earlier.
The truck followed the dirt road for a few miles as he watched, then turned off around a small hill. The dust trail still followed it, but he lost sight of the truck.
He had seen the Utah plate on the back of the truck, at least partially while he held on. He figured he had enough information to be able to find it again.
Shaking his head, he rolled his wrist terminal back around to R720RS, November 3, 2040. To give himself plenty of time to find the white pickup, he set the time for 5:00 am.
One last look in the direction of the dust plume, showed him the truck may have stopped moving. He wondered if he would find a house in the sagebrush in that area as he activated his portal.
CHAPTER twenty-three
DIRT ROAD, R720RS
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2040, 5:00 AM
The resonance filled him as he stepped into the cold darkness and dropped to his knees on the dirt road. This time, the resonance felt worse, and he ended up vomiting a stream of bile onto the dirt. He heard it hit the ground in front of him, but in the moonless darkness, his eyes hadn't adjusted.
For several seconds, he remained on his knees, even after the resonance passed. He wasn't sure which direction to go to get to the place where the truck had headed.
After a few minutes, he began to see the stars above. The amount surprised him. He had spent most of his life in a city and being this far from any artificial light meant there were many stars he could suddenly see.
The view calmed him as he scanned along the barely visible road. He stood just beyond the curve of the dirt road. His eyes adjusted a little more to the light and he determined which direction he had seen the truck move. With a shrug, he began walking that direction along the road.
At least, in the darkness, he would know immediately if another vehicle moved along the road.
As he walked, he wondered about the changes he had seen. He wondered at Brooke's comment that someone had been in their dormitory. That seemed like a lie she had told him to get him away from the others. Could she be playing a game with him?
Out of all the members of their group, she was the one he had trusted the most. He didn't want to believe she had violated that trust. Forcing that thought away, he wondered if Hannah were in this time. How much did she know about what had happened?
It took almost an hour to walk along the dirt road and he almost missed the narrow, rutted path the truck had taken. The hill stood to his left, with the rutted path moving away from the dirt road to his left. It rose around that side of the hill. Since it was November, Wyatt didn't think the sun would be up for a few hours.
The rutted trail had a slight incline as it wound around the hill. To either side he saw the shapes of the large brush and trees that lined this area. Beyond the edge of the road the land was barely visible in the starlight.
In the distance he thought he saw an orange light from a small town, but that was miles away. The trail he was on didn't appear to extend that far.
The silence and the darkness exhausted him, but maybe that was just his mind struggling to come to terms with all that he had experienced. Hannah had to be a part of the events as well as the older Avery. But were Brooke and Aldan in on it also? How would they benefit from it?
He chalked his worries up to his exhaustion and decided he would continue along the narrow road until he found the white pickup. It didn't seem like it would take long as the trail curved and began descending slightly. He saw the yellow glow of soft white light bulbs and smelled wood smoke.
Just over two hundred yards in front of him, he saw the white pickup, parked near a small symmetrical home. It looked like it had been there for a while. Even in the dim starlight, he saw a portion of the shingled roof had been covered with a blue tarp like it was in the middle of repairs.
The house sat with the wide side facing the small trail. The white truck stood idle near the middle of that side. A wooden door stood just to the left of it. The white paint had peeled off the door near the bottom, making Wyatt wonder if there were a dog nearby.
That thought stopped him.
He looked at that side. Two small dusty windows sat to the right of the doorway. The glow of the soft white lights he had seen came from a window to the left. The curtains had been drawn back and a lone
man sat at a dining room table, drinking from what looked like a small mason jar. The liquid was clear, but that didn't mean it was water.
From a distance, Wyatt studied the figure, trying to decide if it could be Aldan's father. That figure had the same graying hair and seemed to be just sitting and thinking. That made him wonder again at the contents of the glass.
Beyond that table, the kitchen had its light on as well. A lone rectangular panel of the same soft white glow served as the kitchen light.
As he stood examining the area, something moved behind him. It was just the sound of sage brush rubbing against something.
His heart froze and he spun around, expecting to see Hannah, but he saw no one. The resonance hadn't come back. He stared at the darkness, but nothing moved. There was a slight breeze, and he wondered if that had caused the sound. As it happened again, in that same direction, he took several deep breaths to calm his heart.
Turning back to the house, he watched the man who could be the older version of Aldan rise from the table and refill his glass with water from the tap in the kitchen sink.
So, he wasn't drinking something strong. Wyatt thought that was a good thing. Now that he had found the truck, he wasn't sure what he should do. That version of Aldan had wanted to speak to him and Brooke. Maybe this same man would speak with him now.
Fearful there may be a large dog in the house, he approached carefully. The truck was parked on a patch of gravel that crunched under his feet. After two steps, Wyatt ducked behind the white pickup. He saw no motion through the kitchen window. No sounds of steps came.
Nothing barked.
Wyatt stepped carefully, keeping the truck between himself and the house as much as he could. When he reached the wooden door, he took another deep breath and spent a minute listening.
Now was his chance to see what this version of Aldan knew. He extended his hand and knocked on the door. His wrist terminal showed it was just after 6:00 am.
He heard the latch of the door move and backed away. He couldn't be sure that version of Aldan wouldn't come out with a gun or bat or some other kind of weapon.
"What?" Aldan said. It looked like he wanted to say more, but he stopped himself as his eyes fastened on Wyatt's. "What are you doing here?"
"You said you needed to speak to me?" Wyatt responded. The words were out faster than he expected.
The older version of Aldan shook his head and opened the door a little farther. "It's been a long time since I've last seen you," he said. "What could I possible have that would be important enough to say to you."
Wyatt glanced toward the pickup. He needed a way to salvage the damage he had done but asking about the last time Aldan had seen him would probably be the worst thing. He wanted to know the future, but not enough to ruin it.
"Do you remember everything changing?" Wyatt asked and waited.
The older Aldan gripped the edge of the open wood door with his left hand and rested his temple against his fist. Wyatt watched him close his eyes as he let out a sigh. "I thought we had fixed it," he said, glancing away as he thought through something. "Which time are you from?"
That question caught Wyatt off guard, and he had to think about it for a moment. "Um," he said, mentally cursing himself for not being prepared. "I came from April of 2090."
Aldan nodded and straightened up. "I don't know if I can remember that far back."
"Time travel is hard that way," Wyatt agreed.
"The resonance is a killer," Aldan said, nodding and backing away from the door. "Want to come in for a moment?"
Wyatt nodded and stepped through the doorway. The warmth of the small house hit him like a wave, and he smiled. "Thank you."
Aldan closed the door behind him and motioned for Wyatt to sit at the table in kitchen to the left of the door. The house was small, but clean.
"How long have you lived here?" Wyatt asked.
"Long enough," Aldan said as he sat across from Wyatt at the table. He didn't smile as he rested his elbows on the table and stared at Wyatt. "Before you try and ask again, I am not going to tell you an exact time."
Wyatt let that question slip from his mind and focused on the recent events instead. The many changes were the problem. He had to know what this version of Aldan knew. "I may need your help," Wyatt said.
"Because you think everyone blames you for causing all the changes?" Aldan asked. The question was almost less of a question than a statement. He waited as Wyatt nodded. "I don't know how much I can help you. I could just keep you here because that would prevent you from going back and making a larger mess. But I don't think you are the only one."
"Do we get it cleaned up?" Wyatt asked, his heart racing.
Aldan twisted his arms, placing his palms down on the table and leaned toward Wyatt again. "Why did you keep going back to visit my cousin?"
Wyatt shook his head and shrugged. "She invited me."
Aldan nodded. "Then did she invite you to come here also?"
Wyatt shook his head before he had the chance to stop himself. He looked away, deeper into the kitchen and tried to remain calm. This version of Aldan had not threatened him yet. He also hadn't locked the door after Wyatt came in. Things were going to be okay.
"If she didn't invite you to come here," Aldan started, waiting for Wyatt's attention to return to him, "why are you here?"
"I don't really know," Wyatt said, not wanting to divulge that Brooke had taken a younger Aldan's wrist terminal.
Aldan nodded and leaned back. The wooden chair creaked under his shifting weight. He folded his arms and seemed ready to wait out any explanation Wyatt would give him.
Wyatt shook his head. "Brooke found this location code," he said. "Since we don't see many new location codes, we thought we would try it out."
"Brooke brought you here?" Aldan said, smiling with a slight shake of his head.
"Yeah," Wyatt said. "But that will be later today." He felt himself relax as he rolled into his explanation. "We arrived, to see what was here, and saw your white truck. We didn't know it was you, so we hid. I mean we will hide." Talking about the future was hard. He stopped for a breath and watched Aldan's eyes.
"How did Brooke find this place?" Aldan asked, but it wasn't clear to Wyatt if he wanted Wyatt to answer. "Did you bring that drone?"
Wyatt remained quiet, choosing to answer the last question with a shake of his head. The almost deafening silence dragged on. Anxiously, he struggled not to look away. He remembered what Brooke had said about getting Aldan's wrist terminal, but he worried about divulging that information.
"I knew she was a difficult one to trust," Aldan said after the pause had grown stale. "I always worried about her sneaking around."
"What do you mean sneaking around?" Wyatt asked, suddenly feeling foolish. He knew what Aldan meant.
"You haven't noticed?" Aldan asked, a slight smile playing across his face. He pushed the graying hair back on the left side of his head and glanced toward the door. "Are you sure she isn't here with you?"
Wyatt shook his head, but to keep the lines of communication open, he decided he couldn't leave it at that. "I came here with her," he said, then quickly added. "But that is later today, before you arrived."
Aldan's eyebrows raised. "So, something must have happened," he said. "That's why you are here, now? So much happened when I was a fixer, that I have trouble keeping my memories straight?"
When Wyatt nodded, the older Aldan leaned back across the table. "Be careful with her," he said. "She is like the all the rest of them. Avery, Jeremy, and Brooke were fun at the beginning, but that started to change when Linda got involved."
The last name bothered Wyatt. He tried not to react as he heard it, but Aldan seemed to notice anyway. All he could think about was the unused bed in the corner of their dormitory being used that one time. He couldn't let that go. "Who is Linda?"
Aldan laughed at that and pushed back off the table. He rose from the chair and stepped into the kitchen. "I knew it," he said as
he filled his glass with more water from the tap. "I knew it."
"What?" Wyatt asked, smiling despite his confusion.
Aldan downed the glass of water and placed it back on the counter. "Seems like you haven't quite reached those few days yet," he said, turning around and leaning his backside against the counter. He folded his arms and looked at Wyatt over his left shoulder.
"Is she someone that shows up?" Wyatt asked.
"Linda is quite important to all of it," Aldan said. "But I can't say much more than that because I don't understand where she comes from."
Wyatt's mind spun with everything he had seen. He looked toward the front room of the house as he tried to make sense of what he felt. Something didn't seem right. "Is she the one who used the bed in the forward corner of our dormitory?"
Aldan's smile faded for a moment before it grew larger. "Yes," he said. "So, you have seen her?" He pushed off the counter and looked through the dining room window behind Wyatt. "Have you ever thought about paradoxes?"
Wyatt glanced back over his shoulder and saw the sky had begun to lighten. A few clouds hung in the distance, but the rest of the sky was clear. After a moment, he let out a sigh. "With all the work, I haven't."
"I think Mr. Janson hopes to prevent any," Aldan said. "But it is too late."
Wyatt thought of his memories of the business park. Too many different memories seemed to vie for place in his mind. "What kind of paradoxes?"
Aldan watched Wyatt for a moment. "Bad ones," he said laughing lightly. "I worry Linda was spawned by one."
"I haven't seen her, yet," Wyatt said. "But I think I know where she has been sleeping."
"So, Linda's appearance didn't make you come this way?" Aldan asked, his eyebrows lowering.
Wyatt shook his head. "No. It was simply that Brooke found this code."
Aldan returned to the table. "When you and Brooke came here the first time? What did you see?"
"I saw . . ." Wyatt wasn't sure he wanted to finish that sentence. Telling this version of Aldan that he had watched him take Brooke away worried him. He decided on a different tactic. "If you saw Brooke and I out there on the dirt road, what would you do?"
Dissonance (The Machina of Time Book 2) Page 21
