Dissonance (The Machina of Time Book 2)

by Daniel R. Burkhard

  "Be careful out there," Brooke said. "There are more things involved than just the Machina. It's like time travel is falling apart, slowly."

  "When are you from?" Wyatt asked as he rose to his feet. He held the shirt close to his body and watched her in the darkness.

  "I'm from a bit into the future," Brooke said. "But I'm not sure if you remember where I came from yet."

  "Was it a dirt road?" Wyatt asked. He watched her stiffen and felt a sudden dread. "You have to be careful."

  "What are you talking about?" Brooke asked.

  "Nothing," Wyatt said as his earlier version rolled over again. "I need to go."

  She reached out her right hand and touched his arm for a moment as he turned to leave. "You be careful out there too."

  "I will," Wyatt said. "Maybe this can be fixed, or at least stabilized."

  "Stabilized would be my guess," Brooke said, lowering herself to her bed.

  Wyatt turned toward the door and a minute later he stood in the dormitory entrance area. Scanning the shelving to both sides, he tried to determine where Hannah had gone.

  Fear shot through him as he realized she might have been found. He pulled open the other door leading into the hallway and saw no one in the darkness.

  Hannah couldn't have traveled because he hadn't felt the resonance. He thought that meant she would still be in that time and place, but he had no idea where she went.

  Someone bumped the shelving behind him, and he whirled around to get a good look. All he saw was a bit of a white coat. Could that have been the older version of Hannah?

  Stepping away from the dormitory door, Wyatt watched the shelving. The person was not moving in the same way he would have expected the older version of Hannah to move. As he watched, he caught a glimpse of the woman's thin face and knew he was in trouble.

  Linda had found him.

  He clutched the notebook close to his body, still wrapped in the orange shirt. He wasn't going to let her get that. He wished he had another notebook he could hand over that would make her think she had what she was after.

  It had to be the notebook that she had come for.

  Slipping behind the shelving to his right, he quickened his pace, moving away from the concrete walls of the dormitory.

  In the dim light of the warehouse, seeing between the aisles was difficult. Deep shadows worried him as he passed a few of the breaks in the shelving structure. He just needed to get far enough away to have time to travel.

  By the time he passed the first break in the shelving, he was breathing hard. The fear of Linda drove that, but it sure made him feel foolish. He slowed near that area and glanced back in the direction he had come.

  The white-coated Linda was not in sight. Had she gone back into the dormitory?

  He shifted around and scanned the shadows for any sign of a white coat. Linda may have ditched it.

  No one moved and he still didn't see Hannah.

  Shaking his head and supporting himself on the corner of the shelving, he scanned through the gap. In the distance, something changed with the lighting around the dormitory entrance. He couldn't see the doors, but the lighting change made it seem that someone had opened one of the doors.

  He stuffed the notebook into his left front pants pocket, but it rested uncomfortably there. Pulling it out, he stuffed it into his back right pocket, the same pocket he used to carry a wallet before the time travel work had started for him.

  Placing the orange shirt on the shelving, he moved back in the direction of the dormitory. He remained close to the shelving on that side to prevent anyone from seeing him. It also gave him a better chance of looking through the stacked boxes and crates. In the nighttime of the warehouse, the silence made his footsteps seem noisier. He stepped carefully, but every step seemed to increase his heartrate.

  When the dormitory entrance came into view, he saw a figure standing to the left of the door. If it was Linda, she had ditched her white coat. The figure stood there in a brown shirt. Without seeing the figure's face, it was clear from the way the shirt molded to her, that she was feminine. It was also clear that figure was fuller than Linda.

  Wyatt's excitement grew as he moved a little faster toward the end of the aisle. When he rounded the edge, he felt relief as he realized it was Hannah, but it was not the same version of Hannah that had come here with him. His mind struggled to come to terms with all the changes.

  The Hannah that stood near the door was an older version. She looked right at him as he stopped without rounding the end of the aisle. She shouldn't have been able to see him, but she knew he was there.

  She stepped away from the door, raising her right hand in a quieting gesture.

  The silence of the warehouse was only interrupted by the sound of her steps. She stopped near the end of the hallway.

  "Linda's in there," the older Hannah said, motioning over her shoulder with her right thumb. "I think she is after that notebook you came here to get."

  Asking the older version of Hannah why she was there seemed useless. Obviously, her answer would be that he had asked her to come. Instead of asking or responding, Wyatt nodded.

  "Good," the older Hannah said. "I don't think she will find what she is looking for."

  "I hope she doesn't," Wyatt said, placing his hands on his hips, with his right hand in that position he could feel the edge of the notebook with his thumb.

  "When she comes out," Hannah began, turning sideways, "I don't think she will be happy."

  "What happened to the version of you that came here with me?" Wyatt asked, looked over both shoulders, hoping he would see her. "I didn't feel any resonance so she can't have gone far."

  He thought he saw a smile spread her lips. Before she could speak, the dormitory door swung inward slightly, and Linda emerged, wearing the white coat. The snoring from the room had lessened, but Wyatt still didn't remember anything strange from that night.

  Another figure emerged from the dormitory behind Linda.

  "You aren't supposed to be here," Brooke said as she followed Linda out of the dormitory. "I'm not sure what you were looking for, but I'm sure you will never find it."

  Linda rounded on her, and Wyatt suddenly felt a rising fear that he would witness a fight between the two of them. Watching women fight was not high on his list of things he wanted to see. He shifted toward them slightly, but the older version of Hannah placed a hand across his chest. "Don't," she said. "Not yet."

  "I can't let them fight," Wyatt said.

  "They won't," Hannah said. She didn't lower her arm. "We need to see how this plays out."

  Brooke pulled the dormitory door closed behind herself and folded her arms as she watched the shorter, thinner woman. Linda seemed to glare at her.

  "I will find it," Linda said. "I've seen myself with it."

  "A notebook?" Brooke said. "What could be so important about a notebook?"

  The location codes made it important. Seeing the way Brooke stood, facing Linda scared him. Somehow one of the versions of Linda could get the notebook, but the older version of Hannah would also get it.

  That thought made him focus on that older version of Hannah who still had her arm across his chest. "Do you already have it?" he whispered.

  Hannah smiled as her eyes met his. It lasted only a moment, and Wyatt wondered how many versions of that notebook could exist in one place. At least now he knew this version of Hannah that held him there had to be the nearly the same one that had spoken with Aldan in the business park of 2089.

  "Don't let her have it," Wyatt said.

  "That notebook," Linda began where she stood facing Brooke, "is the key to all of this. With it I can fix the problems. The Machina's not the only thing vying for the control of time."

  "I agree with you there," Brooke said back to Linda. "But I don't know why you are doing this. Time travel can ruin things."

  "I agree with her," Hannah said. "Time travel is dangerous."

  "When did I give you the notebook and the other
instructions?" Wyatt asked, pushing her right arm away from his chest with his left. "Was it a time I have already visited? Or was it something else?" He wanted to also ask her if she already knew the outcome of this event, but that seemed a stupid question. Just the way she stopped him meant she knew more about it.

  "How many times have you seen this?" Wyatt asked when Hannah remained quiet.

  "That's a better question," Hannah said, nodding her head as if indicating a direction to his right. He scanned from the two women near the dormitory entrance toward a break in the loaded shelving two aisles over.

  Standing in that break was the younger version of Hannah he had come with earlier. He hadn't missed the resonance of her departure because she hadn't left. She wouldn't have been able to leave anyway, he remembered, she did not have a wrist terminal.

  She wore an orange sweatshirt and looked just like the Hannah that had taken his wrist terminal during that visit all those trips earlier. That sent his mind spinning down all kinds of rabbit holes.

  "You give me the notebook and some instructions in the warehouse," the older Hannah said. "I'm not sure when you came from, but it was on the day your wrist terminal was taken." She lowered her right arm.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Wyatt saw Brooke stepping closer to Linda, with her arms unfolded. She spoke something he couldn't hear. It didn't seem to bother the older version of Hannah. Considering she was there as an earlier version this was at least the second time she had seen this play out.

  "This is not right," Linda told Brooke. "The Machina was built for a different reason, but it took over time travel. It was never meant to do that."

  "In your time, maybe not," Brooke responded. "But this is the Machina's way of correcting it." She spread her arms wide taking in the warehouse. "I'm not sure why you needed that notebook, but you cannot come back here. There are more things involved than just the Machina. There are more groups of fixers. A notebook will not solve the issues with Jarod."

  "But Wyatt is the solution," Linda said, sending Wyatt's heart racing faster as he hid and listened.

  "You need to go now," the older Hannah whispered. "Pick a time and get out of here. Everything will work out, as long as you are not here."

  She was right. But Wyatt didn't know where he would go. He decided to start near the place and time the older Hannah had indicated. The warehouse when the younger version of Hannah had taken his wrist terminal.

  Wyatt rolled his wrist terminal around to R549PS, October 15, 2039, and looked at the older version of Hannah. "What time would I have gone there?"

  The older Hannah looked upward for a moment as she sighed. "Probably around 10:00 am., but it happened in kind of a jumble, so I'm not sure."

  Wyatt set his wrist terminal for 9:45 am. and got ready to activate his portal. The older Hannah placed her hand on to top of its screen. "Wait," she said. "You need to take that other version of me with you."

  With Brooke and Linda still talking or arguing near the dormitory entrance, they didn't seem to notice the younger version of Hannah's approach. That version of Hannah darted across the aisle in the darkness farther away from the dormitory entrance.

  He turned toward her and moved to meet her.

  "You ready," the younger Hannah said with a smile as she approached.

  Wyatt nodded and activated his portal. "Let's fix this."

  CHAPTER thirty-Six

  WAREHOUSE ENTRANCE, R549PS

  SUNDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2039, 9:45 AM

  The warehouse entrance was full of pallets moved off their shelves. But rather than diesel forklifts moving them, several of the warehouse workers in their orange uniforms moved them by hand or with hand trucks. But they seemed to be positioning them in the middle of the aisle.

  Wyatt noticed all this as Hannah helped him remain on his feet. They had arrived thirty feet away from the largest group of workers, and the stacked pallets hid them from anyone that couldn't feel the resonance.

  "Are you okay," Hannah asked. She held his right arm with both hands supporting some of his weight.

  The dizziness passed, and Wyatt felt grateful he hadn't eaten. His stomach had turned quite fiercely with the resonance that time. He nodded at Hannah and scanned the aisles where they stood.

  "It's almost like this was set up to hide us," Wyatt said. "Or maybe I'm reading too much into it."

  "I'm worried," Hannah said from beside him.

  "So am I," Wyatt said.

  "No." She let go of his arms and stepped around in front of him to look. "If this is the time that you give that notebook and wrist terminal to me, why can't I remember it?"

  The few women and men on the other side of the stacked crates continued their work. One of the large, dark men came near, prompting Wyatt to pull Hannah back into a gap between the shelves.

  The next aisle over was empty, but it would provide them a place to talk.

  "I don't think you are the one I gave it to yet," Wyatt answered. Everything had seemed to go so well. That version of Hannah had even dressed in the same orange outfit that the Hannah from this time wore.

  "I know you came back here and gave me that notebook," Hannah said. "That's what my older version just told you."

  "What do you remember about me? About this place?" Wyatt asked. Glanced over his shoulder toward the men and women working on moving the pallets. So far, he had not been able to see Hannah among that group. Had he made a mistake?

  He backed away from Hannah and thought through all his experiences with the older version of Hannah. Her older version in the business park had said it happened around this time, on this date. He checked his wrist terminal, saw it was nearing 9:56 am., and his anxiety grew.

  "I'm not sure," Hannah said. "I used to work in here, I think, but part of my mind seems to think I didn't." She shook her head. "I remember seeing you at lunch time a few times, I think. But that was all before she came to get me."

  Wyatt thought about the trip the group had taken to prevent Hannah from entering the warehouse. It seemed strange that the truck Aldan had said his father would drive, never arrived. Then he thought about the dirt road and seeing Aldan arrive there after Brooke had disappeared. That version of Aldan had driven the truck away.

  He shook his head slowly, as his mind played through all he had seen. A new thought was forming, but it was too abstract to put into words. The Hannah that stood in front of him looked just like the Hannah he had seen all those times he visited.

  "Tell me again why were you on that dirt road with the controller?" Wyatt asked.

  Hannah shook her head. "That older me sent me there. I promise. That is how it happened."

  "When was that?" Wyatt asked. "Was it before October 15, 2039?"

  Letting out a sigh, Hannah folded her arms. She hadn't been near enough to watch him set his wrist terminal. That meant she wouldn't know where they were.

  "She told me you would ask that," Hannah said. "But she said it would be better if I didn't tell you."

  Wyatt inhaled deeply and watched her for a moment. In a disjointed way, it almost made sense. "Did she do that?" he asked, pointing toward the pallets in the next aisle over. "I mean, it looks like someone prepared that for our arrival."

  Two women moved around one of the pallets and Wyatt thought one of them glanced their way. That sent a thrill of fear through him. In the quick view he saw, it looked like the older Avery moving with a woman the same size as Hannah. He stepped around Hannah toward the other side of the aisle where they stood. He no longer saw the two women. They had ducked into one the neighboring aisles.

  Hannah followed him with her arms still folded.

  When Wyatt turned back toward her, his new thought had formed a little more detail. If she had been taken before he arrived here, that would explain why she had seemed so different when he visited her that time.

  She had not been the same Hannah he used to visit.

  So many questions roiled through his mind that he didn't speak for a moment. He couldn't wast
e time asking her all these questions.

  Linda had already come to the dormitory looking for the notebook. Would she also come here?

  The other Hannah's warning about staying in one place too long worried him. Linda could already be looking for him, and he wasn't sure if he would feel the resonance until it was too late. She might arrive at an earlier time.

  That made him scan the group of workers again, hoping. Any of the smaller figures could be her.

  "Did you hear what I said?" Hannah asked, unfolding her arms and stepping closer. She reached out her hands to touch his arms.

  He saw the worry and concern stretching her lips tight. Her eyes locked onto his. With a shake of his head, he continued to watch her.

  "I don't know who would have done this," Hannah said, motioning toward the stacks of pallets. "That seems like something I would do, if I were trying to build a safe place."

  "We're not safe," Wyatt said. "You haven't heard me say that, have you?"

  "I already said I wasn't the one that got the notebook from you," Hannah said, refolding her arms. Her eyes moved beyond him. She seemed to scan the workers. "Are you sure Linda isn't already out there?"

  "No," Wyatt said, stepping beside Hannah so they could both face the other aisle and watch. "I haven't seen you there either."

  "I think I was gone by this point," Hannah said. "It's strange, though, because my memories are all jumbled."

  "Do you kind of remember ever coming to the warehouse to start?" Wyatt asked and she gave him a quizzical look with a slight smile.

  He shook his head and watched a few of the smaller women. Two of them wore the hoods pulled up from their sweatshirts. Both were small and seemed to spend a bit of their time near the pallets closest to Wyatt and Hannah.

  For several seconds, he tried to catch a glimpse of either of their faces. They never seemed to look in their direction. Wyatt cursed himself for spending too much time looking at them. He felt he was wasting time.

  "Who is over there?" Hannah asked, pointing to her right. She turned that direction as she pointed.

  Wyatt scanned in that direction, and thought he saw movement. A figure stepped into a gap in the shelving. It was a quick movement. He couldn't discount it was Linda, or Jarod.