Dissonance (The Machina of Time Book 2)

by Daniel R. Burkhard

  "Don't you think she might be part of the problem?" Brooke asked. "What makes you think she is helping?"

  "She was there in the business park," Wyatt said.

  "Was she also there in that warehouse that had been burned?" Brooke asked.

  Wyatt nodded, although he wasn't sure on that point. He nodded because Brooke seemed ready to think it over. "Will you help me?" he asked.

  Brooke glanced over her shoulder at the dormitory room for a moment. "What is your plan?" she asked.

  "Have you seen Avery or Jeremy recently?" Wyatt asked. It was a longshot, but he didn't want to leave them behind.

  "I'm sure they are right inside there," Brooke said, motioning over her shoulder with her thumb again. "We could go and ask them for help."

  "No," Wyatt said. He wasn't sure how much that group of Aldan, Jeremy, Avery, and Brooke had gone through. They might help, or it might make things worse. "I think it's a good sign that they are in there discussing me."

  "I doubt they are still discussing you," Brooke said. "But if that's how you want to think about it, go ahead."

  Wyatt nodded and turned back toward the blue line that was a short distance off. He had already set his wrist terminal for R333PS, April 11, 9:00 am. He showed it to Brooke and let her study it.

  "I need to go to that time to prevent Jarod or Linda or whoever from shooting me," Wyatt explained. "And that is also the time when I give Hannah what I need to pass on to her."

  "Okay," Brooke said, her smile fading as her eyes met his. It looked like she saw something in his face that worried her. She shook it off. "Let's go."

  Wyatt stepped a little closer to the blue line and into a gap in the shelving before activating his portal. The jumps into the unknown were always a little scary, but knowing he was going where Linda or Jarod had a gun bothered him even more.

  He paused for a minute, staring at the portal, before he saw Brooke's portal open. She nodded her head at him and stepped through hers. He followed, stepping through his.

  CHAPTER thirty-nine

  DORMITORY ENTRANCE, R333PS

  TUESDAY, APRIL 11, 2090, 9:00 AM

  Arriving with Brooke was better than arriving alone. He heard her coughing beside him as he came down on the concrete floor. His head ached, and he lay on his back for several seconds as the view stopped spinning.

  "I'm tired of traveling," Wyatt said as he rolled to his stomach and climbed to his feet.

  "Me too," Brooke said. "I don't know how many hours it has been since I last slept."

  Wyatt nodded and looked around. So far no one had come out of the dormitory doorway, so either they were all asleep, or no one was there. He didn't want to have to explain himself again to other versions of their group.

  "Where do we need to go?" Brooke asked, brushing some of the remaining dust off her pants. Wyatt's jeans had some dust, but not quite as much as hers. When she straightened back up, her face had taken on a little more color in her cheeks, and she smiled brightly.

  "Hannah and I arrived in the warehouse entrance in about thirty to forty minutes," Wyatt answered. "Are you okay walking that far?"

  "Yes." Brooke placed her hands on her hips. "Do we need to watch out for Jarod?"

  "I'm not sure if he is here, but we need to watch out for Linda." Wyatt began walking along the aisle, pausing at the blue line. He checked his wrist terminal, before and after stepping across the line.

  As before, the time remained the same, but the year and date shifted.

  "I haven't noticed that before," Brooke said.

  "That's how we are going to get closer to Hannah," Wyatt said. "Come on."

  They walked in silence for several minutes. For once, it was great to be near Brooke. For a portion of their walk, she even stepped close enough to him that her hand brushed his a few times. He wanted to ask her what she did that for but decided against it.

  "What happened there?" Brooke said, slowing as the end of the aisle came into view. The warehouse entrance area was simply a large pathway between the aisles.

  "Someone organized the pallets to make a place to hide," Wyatt said. "Those remain there for most of the day, I think."

  Brooke nodded her head, her eyes moving up as if she were trying to remember that. "So, where is Hannah? Is she around here?"

  "No," Wyatt said, as he thought he saw motion along the aisle across the pathway. The figure that moved was too fast and dressed too darkly to be seen clearly.

  "Get down," Brook said, dragging him low beside the nearest pallet. "Someone is watching us."

  "Come out of there," Jarod's voice called from the other side of the pallets. "I just want to speak with you."

  Brooke seemed to consider that for a moment, but he placed his hand on her upraised left knee.

  "You don't trust him?" Brooke asked.

  "No," Wyatt said, his voice louder than he intended.

  "Wyatt," Jarod said. "We need to talk. Come out here, so I don't have to yell."

  "Put the gun away," Wyatt called back over the pallet.

  Jarod laughed.

  "I don't see him carrying a gun," Brooke said.

  "Listen," Wyatt started, "this is the same man that we had to fight off in one of our first missions."

  "And you trapped him in that New Year's Eve of 2099," Brooke said. "He was not that older version of himself that caused the problems."

  "I'm not going to go out there and talk to him," Wyatt said. "I saw his two larger men take you through a portal."

  "That's what we needed you to see," Brooke said.

  "Come on," Jarod said. "This is something we can discuss."

  Wyatt shook his head and scanned the warehouse shelves behind the pallet. He worried the other two men were not far away.

  "Wyatt," Jarod said. "At least come out here so I don't have to yell my explanation to you."

  "You can explain why you are doing this?" Wyatt asked.

  "What is it you think I am doing?" Jarod asked.

  Wyatt almost rose to the bait and stood, but Brooke placed her hand on top of his on her knee. "He's baiting you," she said. "But I think he is not the one behind all of this."

  "How can he not be behind all of this?" Wyatt asked her quietly. "What have you done to my past?" He directed his last question toward Jarod, with a louder voice.

  "Your past?" Jarod said. "How do you even know what your past truly is?" His voice seemed to come closer as he spoke, which worried Wyatt.

  "You need to go out there," Brooke said. "You need to hear what he has to say."

  "No," Wyatt snapped at her.

  "Come on out here and we can discuss what you feel is your past," Jarod said.

  Wyatt looked at Brooke for a moment. He thought he saw another figure moving in the aisles behind him. His wrist terminal showed it was already 9:27 pm. He couldn't hide near that pallet all day.

  Besides the figure he saw moving twice could have been two figures. They might be the older Avery and Lenny. He felt his insides twisting with anxiety and knew he had no choice.

  "Come on out of there," Jarod said. "I promise, we'll just talk."

  "I'm afraid we don't have much time," Wyatt said to Brooke. "I think we need a safety." He touched his wrist terminal, setting the time from their previous travel back to 8:30 am., and waited for her to nod.

  "Okay," Wyatt said. "I'm coming." Then to Brooke. "You might as well come with me."

  Brooke smiled and rose to her feet beside him as he stood. Between the next two pallets in the middle area, stood Jarod. He was dressed in a lighter, long sleeve shirt, with buttons down the front and in the collar. The top two buttons were undone. Worn over blue jeans and white tennis shoes, it looked strange.

  "Hello," Jarod said. "Do you mind coming with me a little farther away from there?" He waved for them to step nearer.

  Wyatt scanned him for any sign of the gun he had seen earlier. Maybe it was only Linda that had the revolver. With a glance toward Brooke, and seeing she still smiled, he stepped forward with
a shrug. It wasn't easy. The last time he had been close to Jarod, things had fallen apart, but this version of Jarod didn't seem to have come from the dirt road. He was dressed differently.

  "What are you doing here?" Wyatt asked.

  Jarod showed him a thin smile as his left hand went behind his back slowly. "Same as you, I'm sure," he said. "You must realize by now that your actions have some impact on this." He motioned toward a nearby aisle. "Let's step in there." He said, moving his left wrist to see the analog watch he wore.

  At least this Jarod didn't have a wrist terminal.

  When Wyatt paused, Jarod stepped into the aisle and turned to face him. "You are more than welcome to stand there and wait for Linda to come after you. But standing there may put you in the line of fire."

  "The bullet misses," Wyatt said, and saw Brooke cringe beside him. "I've already lived through that."

  Jarod stared at him. The skin of his face was dark with stubble from a beard that had started to grow. There were a few more lines around his eyes, and thick bags hung under them. Even though he partially smiled, it didn't look like he enjoyed being there.

  Brooke took Wyatt's arm and led him into the aisle after Jarod. Without a word, she brought him to stand within ten feet of Jarod as the resonance blossomed behind him. The room suddenly felt like it was trying to spin. Wyatt forced his eyes closed and felt Brooke's grip tighten on his left arm.

  The resonance faded a moment later, and Jarod's smile had grown.

  "It's going to get worse," Jarod said. "I don't think Linda feels the resonance. I know I don't." He folded his arms and watched the warehouse beyond Wyatt.

  Standing in place was all Wyatt could manage. He couldn't turn his head for fear of the dizziness returning. He felt Brooke's grip slacken slightly after the first few minutes. When she turned her head, she turned toward him to look back over her right shoulder.

  "We need to get farther away," Brooke said to Jarod. "I don't see that ending well."

  "I'm not sure I want to be here with you," Wyatt said.

  Jarod spread his arms and looked back at him. "You can trust me or not," he said. "But if you stay here, you could die. Frankly, that might be better, but there are still a few things you need to do first."

  "What?" Wyatt asked.

  "The way you have gone around," Jarod said, "disrupting the past has ruined everything for me. I didn't realize it when you found me in that room on that snowy New Year's Eve, but I understand it now. Paradoxes exist because of time travel."

  "What are you saying?" Brooke asked, letting go of Wyatt as if he were something dirty.

  "He wasn't supposed to be here," Jarod said, backing away. His smile fell off his face and he rubbed the stubble on his chin with his left hand as his right hand shot behind his back.

  "Wait," Wyatt said. "How do you know this?" In the back of his mind, he remembered the way the events had happened in the business park. He remembered the way the special warehouse, with its burn felt familiar. "Are you saying the Machina never chose me?"

  "That can't be right," Brooke said. "I don't believe that. He has a contract and everything."

  "Have you read your contract?" Jarod asked. "Have either of you read the mess that is written on those documents?" He stopped rubbing his chin and lowered his left hand. At the same time, he brought a taser around from behind himself with his right hand.

  "Wait," Brooke said as Wyatt backed away. From the looks of it, he wasn't sure if the taser required he be touched by the device or if it would launch spines that would catch him.

  Either way, he didn't want to test it. He raised his hands and scanned the shelving to either side. The other version of himself that faced off with Linda was still embroiled in that experience. He could still remember it, so that had to mean Jarod wouldn't be successful.

  The taser came around toward Wyatt.

  "You don't need to do this," Brooke said. "This wasn't what we had talked about."

  "I'm not going to kill him," Jarod said. "This is only a taser."

  "What are you going to do with me?" Wyatt asked. I really don't want to get hit with that." He motioned toward the taser as he stepped back. The whole way, he calculated how much time it would take to activate his portal. The likelihood of escape without being hit with the taser seemed slim. He needed to get farther away if he could. But that might mean leaving Brooke behind.

  He didn't want to do that.

  Brooke sidestepped into Jarod's aim, challenging him. "Don't shoot him. That is not part of the plan. It won't fix any of it."

  "He is not supposed to be here," Jarod said. "I'm taking care of him the best way I can."

  Wyatt felt his heart racing as he backed into the shelving. He could retreat no further and Jarod now stepped closer. As Jarod raised the taser, Wyatt tried to determine where he could find Hannah. He tried to understand how giving her the notebook and the wrist terminal would help her.

  He wondered if he would ever get there. Watching Jarod approach with the taser seemed to make his chances of escape slim. Seeing the smile growing on Jarod's face, he shook his head.

  "Are you going to stun me and toss me away?" Wyatt asked. It was the same thing he had done to an older version of Jarod, while this version watched. In that instance, there had been three versions of Jarod. "I'm sorry about your older version."

  Jarod shook his head once, raising the taser to aim. It would only be a moment now.

  "Jarod," Brooke said, grabbing Jarod's right arm and pushing it down. "There has to be a better way."

  "You have no idea how many times I have looked for a better way," Jarod said. He glanced toward Brooke as he prepared to say something more. It would have been the perfect chance to attack Jarod, but Wyatt missed it due to a shout from behind him.

  The shout could have been Linda or someone else. Either way, it distracted him.

  Before he could refocus on Jarod, the taser launched toward him. Pain shot through him, and he fell to the ground, all his muscles stiff. A grunt escaped his clenched jaw as he impacted the ground and consciousness faded.

  CHAPTER forty

  NEAR BUSINESS PARK STRUCTURE

  THURSDAY, JULY 7, 2089, EVENING

  Wyatt came back to consciousness sitting on a warm street. His head ached and he looked at his wrist terminal before scanning the street. The street was warm from the day's heat. As he looked at his wrist terminal, he noticed his hands were tied together with zip ties in his lap. He twisted his left wrist to see the time display on his wrist terminal. It indicated it was July 7, 2089, 5:58 pm.

  "Good," Jarod said. "I'd hate for you to miss this?" He leaned down close to Wyatt as he spoke.

  The sight of the taser tempered the anger that filled Wyatt and the residual pain he felt from being tased. His entire body ached from the punishment his muscles had gone through.

  When he turned his head to look at Jarod, he strained against the zip ties on his hands.

  "Why are you doing this?" Wyatt asked.

  "You are not supposed to be here," Jarod said. "None of this happened the way it was supposed to. Your presence here traps me."

  "Isn't that what the contracts are for?" Wyatt asked.

  "Have you seen the Machina?" Jarod asked. "Have you dealt with it recently?"

  Wyatt shook his head. "The Machina is quite well protected," he said.

  "And that proves what I am saying," Jarod said. "If you hadn't stopped my older version on that New Year's Eve, the Machina's power would have been finished. I wouldn't be trapped."

  "I'm not that important," Wyatt said, twisting his head from side to side as he spoke. The motion was to see if the dizziness had passed. "Why did you bring me here? How are you trapped?"

  "You were supposed to die in that earthquake," Jarod said. "Had you died there, the Machina's power would not be sustained. It would have failed. Time couldn't trap me."

  "What are you saying?" Wyatt asked, swinging his head and feeling the dizziness wash over him again.

 
"Who collected you and the others?" Jarod asked. "Who collected Brooke, Jeremy, and you?"

  Wyatt thought back to that lone night in the apartment on November 3, 2039. Two people had come for him. One was the older version of Avery, and the other was a version of Hannah. Which of those was Jarod looking for? He didn't want to reveal what he knew and ruin things for either one of them.

  "The Machina had each of you sign a contract," Jarod said. "But only one of you read it. That same person has been working against me all this time."

  "Who are you doing this for?" Wyatt asked. He felt he could stand up, but when he turned back to Jarod, Jarod kicked him in the back.

  The kick was more of a push than a strike. It sent Wyatt sprawling into the street as the whir of an electric car approached. The shape of the car headed directly for him, and he knew it was over. Twisting his legs around he tried to lie on his back between the wheels.

  It was like his nightmare all those nights ago. The gray color of the car's nose impacted him as he lay his head back. The zip tie around his right wrist caught something that protruded from the bottom of the car, and it dragged him along under it.

  The road surface tore through his shirt. It scratched his back. The sedan slowed and drove toward the sidewalk, passing over him, but catching him with a portion of the undercarriage. The zip tie on his right hand had snagged a bolt near the driver's side front wheel and the car dragged him along with it.

  Wyatt fought to keep his head off the street as the car turned and the front passenger side wheel impacted the sidewalk's curb.

  The car's motion stopped. The electric motor shut off and pain lanced through Wyatt's back.

  The passenger side door opened, and the car suspension flexed under the load as someone climbed out. Wyatt already knew who it would be, but he was careful not to make a sound or motion that would make his earlier version look back.

  He didn't want to risk messing up his memories any further than they already were.

  Waiting for a few minutes, he scanned the area for any sign of Jarod. He hadn't felt the resonance, so he was confident Jarod hadn't left yet.