Empty Planet

by Lynette Sloane

  The cell door opened again and Miss Combat stood in the doorway, her firearm in her hand in case we caused her any trouble.

  She spoke quietly yet firmly, “Keep quiet and come with me if you want to live.”

  Wondering if this was some kind of trap and not just a bad cliché, I quickly decided her offer was preferable to remaining in the cell and so led Anna into the corridor. This time there were no henchmen.

  “That way.” Miss Combat spoke in a muted voice gesturing with her free hand. We started walking, our potential liberator following a few steps behind.

  She directed us down the corridor and up three steps in the opposite direction to where she’d taken us previously. Stopping at the end of the passageway and nervously checking all around her, she took a key out of her trouser pocket and unlocked a heavy wooden door leading out of the building. We followed her across a walled courtyard, walking close to the wall in single file, supposedly to lessen our chances of being seen, then continued down a rough driveway until we came to a high stonewall with an inset, wrought iron gate. Miss Combat opened it with a large key and let us out.

  She handed us her handgun saying, “You overpowered me in the cell and forced me out here at gunpoint.”

  “Ok,” I agreed. “Why have you let us go?”

  “I’m working undercover. Run for the woods over there and make for the town.”

  “What’s the date?” I asked, still concerned that the kidnap vortex might have taken us into the future. I didn’t want Anna to age prematurely, which is what I’d been warned would happen to ‘norms’—as Jumpers now referred to normal, non modified people—when they stepped back through time.

  “Don’t worry, that was a parallel vortex. Your girlfriend will be fine,” our rescuer assured us. We thanked her and left. I held Anna’s hand as we ran across the quiet road and into the woods, not stopping until the chateau where we’d been imprisoned was out of sight.

  “How long do you think we’ve got until they notice we’re missing?” Anna asked.

  “Not long, we’d better keep moving.” We ran as far as we could, only stopping when we were gasping for breath. Half a minute later, feeling a little better, we ran again. I was pleased that Anna was so physically fit.

  The woods weren’t too dense, consisting mostly of tall trees, possibly Corsican Pines. The ground underneath us was dry but covered in thousands of pine needles. I was sure we were leaving a good trail for anyone to follow. We’d been making our way up the gentle slope for about twenty minutes when we reached the top of the hill and the woods ended abruptly.

  A rough, stony path led downhill from this point. We followed it until we saw a small town, then left the path, climbed over a stile and ran across a field. Still making our way downhill we climbed over a five bar gate and casually walked into the town hand in hand.

  The signs above the shops made me wish I’d paid more attention in French lessons: La Boulangerie, Confiserie, Le Marche. We were clearly in France.

  “Let’s sit in the café for a moment,” said Anna. “I’d feel safer if we were out of sight.” We stepped inside the small café and sat at a table.

  “I’m fresh out of francs,” I grinned.

  “Is this what you do for a living? Get kidnapped and dragged though vortex things?” Anna quietly exclaimed.

  “Not every day.”

  “Are you two going to order or not?” It was my father.

  “Sorry Dad I don’t have any cash … How the heck did you find us?”

  “Remember me slapping you on the back before you were pushed through that vortex?”

  “Yea, it stung a bit.”

  “That’s because I was placing an emergency micro-transmitter on your back—I imagined we would need a stronger signal than the one emitted by your tagging device. I was right. It sent us back up to date readings of your vital signs. It will be a couple of millimetres under your skin.”

  “Do you always carry those around with you?” I asked.

  “I’ve told you before; always be prepared. Section has been tracking you since you left the woods. However, there was some sort of magnetic interference all around the chateau so we couldn’t get a lock on your position until you’d cleared it.” He looked out of the café window. “We have to get out of here. The rebels could be here any moment.”

  The three of us made our way out of the café and down the street. Dad checked no one was around, then suddenly turned left into a narrow, cobbled alleyway between two shops signalling us to join him.

  He took something looking like a television remote out of his jacket and pointed it down the alleyway.

  “This is a temporal transceiver,” he explained. “You’ll be using something similar on your next mission.”

  I was surprised and very relieved to see a vortex opening before us.

  Dad touched Anna’s arm reassuringly and said, “Come on love, we’ll be safe in a moment.” She managed a weak smile and stepped through the vortex with Dad and me.

  We found ourselves in Section’s stark vortex room: another surprise for Anna.

  “This is where I work,” I said as the vortex closed behind us.

  “It’s been an interesting day,” she replied. “I wish I hadn’t asked you about your work now.”

  We sat on some comfortable chairs while we waited for Dad to speak to C in his office.

  Anna asked, “Where exactly are we?”

  “Sorry, that information’s classified.”

  “You can’t even tell me where I am?”

  “Sorry Sweetie, most of the people working here don’t even know that.”

  After about five minutes Dad returned saying, “Steve, to be fair to Anna I think we should tell her a bit about what we do here. After all, she’s going to be your wife very soon. If you can’t trust her you can’t trust anybody.”

  I looked at him enquiringly. This would be breaking one of Section’s most important rules.

  He explained, “You have C’s permission to speak to Anna about Section because the rebels are now aware of her and could try to use her against us.”

  Choosing my words carefully, I told Anna about the Jumpers and what had been happening to us all since we were six years old. I told her about the forthcoming virus and the vaccination. I told her about the future of the world without mankind and how, if the vaccination didn’t work, the Jumpers were going to repopulate the planet, but I didn’t tell her I’d shot and killed her brother. That would have been too much for her to come to terms with in one day.

  Anna’s face paled.

  “Will I get a vaccination?”

  “Yes,” said Dad and I in unison.

  “Well, if that works and the human race is saved from the virus …” she paused and looked at Dad, “Steve will be able to stay here with me won’t he?”

  Dad answered, “Sorry love, Steve and the other Jumpers were genetically modified just after conception. If they don’t continue to jump, and one day jump into the far distant future, they will die prematurely.”

  “Could I be modified too so I can go with him?”

  I looked into Anna’s face as she pleaded with Dad, her look of desperation breaking my heart.

  “I wish it could be different, but it can’t. If I could change you into a Jumper I would. It’s just impossible,” he told her.

  Anna looked down at the floor, tears running down her cheeks. “How long do we have together?” she asked, her voice trembling.

  “A little under two years.” I said, as I held her close.

  Chapter 16

  A while later Anna and I were summoned to C’s office where we were debriefed about our kidnap. I was, of course, able to give the identity of the head of Earthsong, and Anna helped identify the three heavies from the Jumper database. Strangely, Miss Combat, as I’d nicknamed her, wasn’t on the Jumper database so must have been a norm. She also proved to be unknown to Section, which was strange, as she had claimed to be working undercover, unless, of course, she was w
orking for another, as yet, unknown agency.

  C told me, “I’m going to make this information available to everyone associated with Section, and I’ll update you now because that young lady of yours needs to get to a safe house. She must be in shock.”

  He looked at Anna and smiled, then looking back to me added, “The readings sent from your transmitter indicate that the chateau you were taken to has some kind of natural force field around it, almost definitely due to the large amounts of magnetite to be found in the rock strata in that area. This is why we couldn’t track you until you cleared the woods, and almost definitely why the rebels have been using the chateau as their base.

  “As you know Steve, all rebel Jumpers will be taken off the programme, and Jumpers who do not jump will not live very long. Therefore, being found belonging to the Earthsong group effectively results in a death sentence by jumping neglect.

  “The rebels have vortex technology which can span continents, but they can’t jump through time as yet. If they could, they would jump of their own accord and carry on their killing spree. Worse still, they might bring the virus back with them and infect the human race prematurely. Section geneticists gave Jumpers very high intellects … I fear they have the ability to work things out for themselves.”

  As we left Cs office Dad texted my mobile instructing to us to meet him in the vortex room, so we made our way there.

  It was only a few minutes walk; when we arrived Dad was talking on an intercom, “Yes, yes I agree. That’s a very good idea.” He hung up and looked at me. “That was Zee. She’s organised a safe house for Anna.”

  I could tell from her expression that Anna didn’t want to go to any safe house.

  Dad explained. “I’m sorry Anna, you won’t be able to go home until the Earthsong threat has been eradicated. You and Steve are going to stay in a holiday bungalow in Cardigan Bay. It belongs to Zee’s daughter, Sue. Please remain inside until we can ascertain how safe it is for you to be seen outside the cottage, and don’t use a mobile phone unless it’s a code red emergency: you could give away your location. The bungalow is stocked with enough food to last a couple of weeks, and bread and milk will be delivered every couple of days. There’s a windscreen television and an internet connection to help you pass the time and keep you up to date with world affairs.”

  “Anna, you’re about the same size as Sue so you’ll find plenty of clothes to fit you in the wardrobe. And Steve, you can’t take that old sports car with you; it’s too easily recognisable. You’ll be using this,” he said, handing me some car keys. “It belongs to Section and is untraceable. Look after it.”

  __________

  Dad opened a vortex and sent us to a large car park in Cardigan where I quickly located the car. We started the journey travelling along one narrow windy road after another. By the time we arrived at Sue’s bungalow the sun was low in the sky and the temperature had dropped considerably. I parked around the back, about twenty metres away from some wooden steps leading down to the sandy beach. I hoped dad would tell us it was safe for us to explore the small cove in a few days.

  I unlocked the bungalow door and we stepped into a small but modern kitchen. A doorway on the right led to a tastefully decorated living room, with a matching cream coloured three-piece suite. This had been cleverly placed to give a good view of the television and the large window, through which we could see the whole bay.

  “How long do you think we’ll have to stay here?” asked Anna.

  “I don’t know, but you probably won’t be back at work on Tuesday. Section have arranged for someone to ring in with a suitable excuse.” Anna looked so disappointed. This job had been a great opportunity for her. “Sorry love, but it’s for your own safety.”

  “I know. I want to spend as much time with you I can anyway, especially now I know how little time we have left together. My career doesn’t seem too important any more.”

  After we’d looked around the bungalow we decided to cheer ourselves up with a spot of comfort eating so we went to the kitchen to check out the fridge freezer.

  “Pizza, hotdogs, burgers, and fish fingers. Zee’s daughter knows how to eat healthily doesn’t she,” snapped Anna rather uncharacteristically. Anna always liked to eat fresh, unprocessed food. I opened the cupboard.

  “At least we have bread and fresh vegetables and, oh look, toffees.” We decided to grill the pizza and have a cup of tea.

  “Sorry to be sarcastic,” said Anna, “I think all this is getting to me. It’s been a huge shock.”

  “I understand Sweetie, I’ve had sixteen years to get used to everything and you’ve had less than twelve hours.”

  Anna paused before asking, “How long have you known that we only have a couple of years together?”

  I’d been dreading this question.

  “A few weeks. I wanted to tell you but was bound by the Official Secrets Act.”

  To help her de-stress, Anna showered and changed into some fresh clothes while I prepared the meal. She came out of the bedroom holding a jacket and wearing in a pair of black denim stretch-leggings and a white lacy top worn over a white T-shirt.

  “I couldn’t find a skirt,” she said, smiling, “but I love this top, and I can wear the black jacket if Section lets us go out for a walk later.”

  We relaxed on the sofa tucking into the pizza and sipping steaming hot tea. It was almost dark so Anna closed the blinds.

  She handed me the bag of toffees asking, “Are we really safe? Could one of those vortex things open here in the living room?”

  “No, that’s the main reason Zee chose this place. It’s one of the few areas in the UK where magnetite can be found in sufficient quantities to block vortex technology.”

  I opened the toffee bag, took out a really sticky piece, and dropped it in my mouth.

  “You’ll get fat and have to buy your wedding suit from an outsize shop,” Anna teased.

  “Don’t worry, I never put on weight,” I replied, licking the stickiness off my fingertips. “Ouch.” I brought my hand up to my mouth as a sharp pain seared through one of my back teeth.

  “What’s wrong,” Ann asked.

  I felt around in my mouth with the tip of my tongue before answering. “My filling just came out.”

  I took the small grey filling out of my mouth, still stuck in the toffee.

  “That’s strange,” I said, examining the filling and easing it out of the sticky mess. I rinsed the filling under the tap in the kitchen. On the underside was a micro-transmitter.

  “We’re not safe here,” I said reaching my mobile and ringing C. He answered straight away. “Steve, what’s the emergency?”

  “There was a transmitter in my filling, I think Earthsong know where we are.”

  “You sure it’s not a surveillance device?”

  I examined it again. “No it’s just a location transmitter, they can’t hear what we’re saying.”

  “Right, try to get to the cave at the far end of the beach. That’s the nearest place we can open a vortex for you. See you both soon.” Anna had heard the conversation and was standing in the kitchen doorway, her face once more drained of colour.

  “Are you going to destroy that thing?” she asked.

  “No, they’ll know we’re on to them if I do that. I want them to think we’re still here.

  I placed the transmitter on the draining board under an upturned mug and said, “Come on, leave everything, we have to get to the cave at the end of the bay.”

  Anna grabbed the jacket and we stepped out into the cold October evening half expecting to see rebel Jumpers pointing guns at us. The area was deserted, so we shut and locked the door behind us and ran across the parking area, hurriedly making our way down the twenty or so steps to the seashore. The tide was still coming in and was already near to the rocks at the top of the beach. We ran across the remaining narrow band of sand until we reached a part where the rocks extended out into the sea. The beach was fronted on three sides by sheer rock-faces, the
wooden steps near to Sue’s bungalow giving the only access to the sandy beach. In places the rock faces weren’t very high, probably no more than four metres, but nearer to the cave they were at least sixty metres high.

  I knew climbing over the jagged rocks in the moonlight would be precarious, but there was no choice; it was the only way to get to the cave at the end of the bay. The half moon gave us a little light allowing me to help Anna climb onto a large rock. I climbed up next to her then dropped down onto the sand the other side before helping her down. We found ourselves in a mini ravine, hidden from view of anyone travelling down the roadway or standing near the bungalow, so we took the opportunity to catch our breath before continuing on our way.

  “Anna, I just heard something. Wait here,” I whispered.

  Anna gave me a ‘you got to be joking’ look, but stayed where she was. I climbed onto another large rock at the end of our ravine where the rock-face was at its lowest point. From here I could peer through the long, coarse grass and see the roadway, while remaining out of site of anyone travelling along it.

  Two large, four-wheel drive vehicles were slowly rolling down the hill with their engines cut so they could arrive at the bungalow unannounced. As I watched, their headlights turned off and they pulled over and parked at the bottom of the hill, a little way out of site of the bungalow. Six heavily armed men sprung out of the vehicles, grouping together for a few seconds before walking towards the bungalow, two of them carrying a large ammunitions box between them.

  It was obvious they were looking for us. I silently slide back down my rock and ran back to Anna. As I reached her a wave pushed itself up the gully and wet us up to our knees. Anna grabbed my arm to steady herself.

  “What was it?” she asked.

  “Just a vehicle,” I answered, not wanting to scare her too much.

  “Well it can’t be the milkman and the road doesn’t go anywhere else, so they must be on to us,” she said.

  I climbed up the rocks on the other side of the gully and gave Anna my hand to help her up, taking her weight most of the time. Fortunately it was easier to climb down the remaining rocks and she didn’t need any more help.