by Joel Adrian
Mona scurried back with him, all three huddled together. She prayed that the cave would hold and that whatever was causing the violent shaking didn’t continue, or they’d be buried alive in the collapse.
Chapter 13
Emersyn banged against the curve of the floor, being strung along against the rough ground. The downward curvature of the pit threw her to and fro until she and the Russian eventually slid to a stop as the bottom sloped down and inwards.
Emersyn coughed. She heard the Russian man groan in pain. Her hands were scraped and cut up. Fresh blood was dripping from her face onto the ground. Her right ankle was throbbing relentlessly with pain. Sprained, at least, she thought.
She hobbled to a stand. Realizing she could see, she glanced up. Her eyes bulged out of her skull when she saw where they were.
There was a large clearing in front of them, with jagged, sharp spikes of pulsing blue gemstones obtruding from the walls, and out of massive boulders and rock spread throughout the area. The light they gave off was neon-colored and lit up the entire cave they were in.
She stepped forward, limping towards the nearest rock. It was half the size of her and cut jaggedly into it was one of the blue gems. It pulsed with life, almost like a heartbeat. “My god,” she whispered under her breath.
The Russian man had found his footing and held his gun up at Emersyn. But his gaze was on the gemstones. He watched them, fascinated, unaware of Emersyn’s presence any more. He whispered what sounded like a prayer in Russian.
There was a whine from the back of the cave, and suddenly, a low-pitched buzz emitted from the depths. It was dull and annoying at first, but it was picking up frequency and loudness. Emersyn covered her ears, but it wasn’t enough to drown out the pounding ring.
The Russian man screamed and raised his revolver.
“No!” Emersyn tried to shout over the roar, but she was unsuccessful.
The pendant-device the Russian man wore around his neck shot up and out of his shirt, pointed towards the back of the cave. It was being pulled there, like a magnet. He screamed, and dropped his pistol, trying to unfasten the chain from his neck. A second later, he was pulled to the back, his heart-wrenching scream drowned out a second later by the growing buzz.
Emersyn felt like she was going to pass out. She turned and tried to start back the way she came, but the pull of the ring was draining her of all her willpower. She fell to the ground, eyes starting to water.
Something caught her eye to the left.
She turned and saw the Requiem. Its red was a harsh contrast to the bright, neon blue of the room. It wasn’t being pulled back and didn’t seem to be interacting with the other gems in any way.
She reached a shaky hand towards it, clutching the stone and pulling it back to her.
The activator’s keypad lit up with the holo-screen. A dial displayed, threatening to go past the ‘max’ label on its gauge. She didn’t know how to interpret the settings, or how to configure it. The buzz was aching at her, she couldn’t focus enough to read what was displayed.
The gems behind her emitted a rasping growl. It was like they had a consciousness, they were alive, and they did not want her here among them.
The nonstop buzzing was pulling her back towards them, like a forceful wind. She couldn’t resist it. She fought to step forward, but it pulled her back. Emersyn grabbed the Requiem and the activator, and she was flung backwards forcefully.
Emersyn reached a hand out and grabbed onto one of the protruding gems from a rock.
Suddenly the buzzing stopped. Now it was a hiss, one of pain. The pull stopped, and she found herself level, standing on the ground again.
The Russian man charged her from behind, wielding a large rock. She ducked, and he smashed it into the rock she had been gripping a moment before. The hissing intensified, and she rolled to the side. The Requiem and the activator clattered to the cold floor.
Emersyn spun and ran for the gun. The Russian cranked his arm back and threw the rock, smashing into her back. Emersyn collapsed onto the ground with a yelp of pain. She turned and brought a hand up as the Russian gripped her throat She scratched her hand out, catching one of her nails under his eye.
As he tried to pin her down, she kneed him as hard as she could in the balls. He gasped and collapsed to the side, hands firm on his crotch.
She grabbed the gun and cocked it, turning to pin it to his head. She heard the familiar ‘whoosh’, and he was gone by the time she completed her turn.
“Emersyn!”
She turned to see Mona and Tanner descending from a makeshift uniform-and-shirt rope tied into knots. Mona wore a dirty black tank-top, and Tanner was shirtless, but they’d found a way down.
“Where is the bastard?” Tanner called, waving his pistol around.
Mona was transfixed on the blue glow of the gems. “Oh, god.”
“What is it?” Emersyn asked, panting.
Shifting her head, looking from one side of the room to the other, Mona bit her lip. “We always thought that the activation sites needed immense power. This is . . . this is a nest of Ataplite. It’s the exact opposite of what’s in the Requiem stone. My God, I never thought there would be so much.”
“So this stuff is what activates the Requiem?” Emersyn stood, glancing over her shoulder, expecting the Russian to appear and assault her.
Mona placed a hand on one of the pulsing blue gemstones. “They work in harmony. I’m not a scientist, but the way Hank Thrashor explained it to me . . . in layman’s terms, he said the Requiem rips time open with a tiny bit of energy of its own, and the Activator allows it to draw the rest of what it needs from this. From Ataplite.”
“What if—”
Tanner was cut off. The Russian man tackled him from behind and pounded the back of his head with a fury of fists. Mona charged him, but he spun and kicked her in the gut, sending her face down to the floor.
Emersyn raised her gun, but he disappeared. A second later, he was behind her. He wrapped an arm around her and used the other to grip the gun, wrestling control of it away from her.
“Give it here!” he cried, spittle flecking from his mouth and onto her face.
She strained against him for a moment, but he was too strong.
Mona was up and tackled him into one of the pulsing blue gems. There was another hiss from the Ataplite. The Russian disappeared and reappeared right behind Mona, pushing her forward and causing her face to smash into the rock.
Tanner raised his pistol and fired at their antagonizer, but he disappeared just in time. The bullets struck the side of a massive blue Ataplite. The cave hissed again, louder and in pain.
“The hell is that?” he asked.
Emersyn shook her head. “Don’t know, but we’re pissing it off.” She rested her hand on the rocky surface of one of the gems, trying to catch her breath.
She felt the blow to her knee from behind and collapsed to the ground in pain. Emersyn raised her gun, but it was kicked free of her hand. The Russian turned and smashed Tanner in the mouth with a balled fist. Mona was still out, clutching her wounded head.
The Russian punched Emersyn in the face. Her head was thrown back, and she spit out a glob of saliva and blood. The Russian gripped her hand with his own and started to pull his pendant out. “Time to go.”
“No!” Mona screamed. She leaped to the gun Emersyn had dropped and raised it.
In one swift movement, she pulled the trigger just as Emersyn and the Russian man began to fade.
The body of the Russian man slumped over Emersyn, blood spewing from his stomach.
Mona had connected with the shot just in time. She panted and let the gun spill from her hand. She was still clutching the bloodied side of her face. Tanner came to the two and fell to his knees. “It’s over,” he said.
Shaking her head, Mona closed her eyes. “No. Not even close.”
The three managed to get themselves up the rope of uniforms and shirts. Once they were all atop, Tanner freed his
tank top from the rope and put it back on.
Emersyn blinked, believing her eyes to be playing tricks on her. From the top of the hole, it looked dark and endless. But it was only about 15 feet down they’d fallen. Maybe the Ataplite were manipulating the appearance of it, trying to shield themselves.
“We’ve got to get you two back,” Mona said. She wiped the blood from her temple with one of the uniforms and grabbed the Requiem and the activator.
Tanner turned to face her. “Yeah? What about you?”
“Wait a minute,” Emersyn said, eyes darting around for a small, familiar figure. “Where the hell is Catalina?”
Mona and Tanner exchanged an uneasy glance. He stepped away from her and towards Emersyn, his eyes meeting hers.
“Damn, I’m sorry. I . . . we,” he said, motioning to himself and Mona, “we tried to save her. A Regulator shot her.”
Emersyn stood stunned for a moment, then the tears took her uncontrollably. She cried, collapsing onto the ground in a sob. She hardly knew the girl, but that wasn’t the point. She’d been so inspired to changing her life, and it had all been ripped away from her. Catalina was the only one of them who kept a constant optimism through the entire mission.
Emersyn bawled, trying to catch a breath in between sobs. Tanner knelt and put a hand on her shoulder. She reached a hand up and intertwined with his. She wasn’t used to losing anyone—it felt like she’d been stabbed in the heart.
“I was with her at the end,” he said. “She . . . wasn’t crying or thrashing in pain. She was content.”
It’s not fair, Emersyn wanted to scream.
There was a small hum to their left, and the Requiem gem came alive with its brilliant red light they’d both seen before. The same burning smell rose to the air quickly. Emersyn watched through her red, puffy eyes as Mona typed on the holographic keypad on the activator.
“The Time Regulators are going to be all over my ass soon.” She cranked one of the dials on the activator, and turned, repositioning the Requiem gem in its case. “This is my world, I have to stay here. I won’t let them take me.”
Emersyn’s head twisted as she sucked in a long breath. “You’re . . . not coming back?”
Mona smiled sadly. “I can’t. It’s your timeline, your world, not mine. I’ve already lived it, kid.”
She shook her head defiantly. “No, no, you can’t. Those people, they can manipulate time, they can teleport, they’re not going to let you live.”
Mona groaned and stood up. “Kid, I’ve had a long life. I’ve been a soldier for a long time. I’m not going down without a fight.”
Tanner gripped Emersyn’s arm. “Listen, it’s going to be okay.”
She stood, pushing Tanner off. She marched up to Mona, her eyes teary and narrow. “Please don’t do this. I’ve lost so many people. I need you, you can still help me. Please, don’t go.”
Mona reached out and hugged Emersyn. She wrapped her counterpart in a hug of her own.
“You did great,” Mona said.
She pulled back from the hug and pressed a button on the activator. A clicking started and continued every second. “You’ve got 30 seconds,” Mona said. “I’ve got to get clear of here.”
Emersyn wiped the tears from her eyes and started towards Mona. Tanner grabbed her and held her back. She struggled against his strength, but he wouldn’t budge.
“No!” she screamed. “Come back!”
“It’s okay. She has to go,” Tanner said.
Mona slipped through the narrow crevice, turning back and smiling at Emersyn one last time.
Then she disappeared into the area beyond.
Emersyn collapsed to her knees, sobbing. Tanner turned to see the digital display on the activator counting down.
“Hey, did we make it?”
They both turned to see Sergeant Major Bravon Pearson struggling to his feet. Tanner rushed forward and draped the Sergeant’s arm around him. He pulled him closer to Emersyn, and the three huddled next to the activator and the Requiem.
Tanner reached a hand down to place on Emersyn’s shoulder. “We’re going home. Sarge, Emersyn, we’re going back home.”
The final click of the activator ended with a ding. The Requiem gem grew brighter and brighter. Emersyn could feel her world melting away, just like it had the day before. The walls of the cave, the darkness around them, and the Requiem and activator started to fragment themselves apart like glass.
She watched as Mona’s universe snapped into pieces around her. The rush to her head caused her to lean back and wince. It was a complete rush, one she didn’t have the energy to stomach. She closed her eyes and wished it over, but it continued. She heard a whooshing around her, and though she dared not to open her eyes, the floor gave way and she started transitioning.
Chapter 14
Emersyn opened her eyes to a buzzing yellow light above her. It filled her entire view, and she brought a numb hand up to try and block it. Her entire body felt off, and her head was pounding. She rolled to the side, but the pressure in her head made her want to turn back the other way and stay down.
She heard the faint words of someone nearby, but the ringing in her ears blocked out what they were saying. As her vision focused, she saw the coordinator of the cave rushing to her side, placing a hand under her head, and shouting at someone off to the side.
She needed to get up, she needed to check on Tanner and Bravon. But her legs wouldn’t will her up. She couldn’t find the strength to right herself. Gasping, Emersyn flipped back the other way and groaned. Her entire body ached. The void called to her, and she found her eyes closing again. This time she didn’t put up a fight.
When Emersyn Berg woke up again, she felt better. She was able to focus easier, and the coordinator immediately offered her something to drink. She downed the bottle of water and asked for another.
The cave site was just as she remembered it from the day before. Work lights were strategically positioned all around. Staff was moving in and around. Guards were stationed at the crevice, and the waterfall was flowing freely down into the well.
Everything felt right again.
To her left, Bravon Pearson and Tanner Highwall were on air mats, asleep.
“We’re shipping you all back on a plane in a few hours,” the coordinator said as he checked an item off on his clipboard. “It’s been an honor helping you.”
Emersyn cranked her head to the side, looking over Bravon. “Will he make it?”
The coordinator stopped and studied him. “We had a medic on site. Attended to his wounds. She said he’d make it. We can only hope.” He looked down and resumed scribbling down on his clipboard. “God knows he’s earned a rest.”
Emersyn yawned and glanced around. The crew seemed to be moving out. They were all packing their things up, tearing down the lights, and starting to move equipment back out the way they’d come.
“You’re up remarkably quick,” the coordinator noted, not looking up from his clipboard. “Do you feel okay?”
She shrugged. “Little dazed . . . but I’m okay.”
The coordinator lifted his head. “Hm. Very good.”
After another hour, Tanner was up and moving. The crew had to wake Bravon up to get him to squeeze through the narrow crevice. As the last light was cleared from the cave, Emersyn stood, admiring the spill of the waterfall.
“Kind of weird that the water wasn’t there in the other timeline, right?” Tanner asked, hoisting a broken-down light stand over his shoulder.
Emersyn bit her lip. “There’s always those little things that are going to be different.” She watched the water spill from the top down to the pool at the bottom. “I wonder what’s at the bottom of this one.”
Tanner reached a hand out and grabbed her shoulder. “That’s an adventure for another day, Private.”
She stole one last glance at the waterfall, and turned to follow Tanner out of the cave.
Outside, the blackness of night consumed them. She regretted the
y hadn’t returned in daylight: when they weren’t being shot at by Time Regulators or hunters, the Idaho mountains were a pretty sight.
The trio loaded into a large SUV, Bravon was taken to a separate vehicle so he could lay on his gurney. The driver backed them out and started down the treacherous road that had led them there.
Tanner sat next to Emersyn. He groaned as the car took a curve wide. “I’m so ready to be done with Idaho.”
Emersyn turned to look at him, quirking an eyebrow. “Yeah? I think our most successful mission just finished. We just saved the world here in Idaho.”
Tanner ran a hand over his blonde hair. “Yeah. Damn it, you’re right. We did do that. We should be proud.” He turned, and grabbed her arm, raising it in victory. “Yeah!” he shouted.
She laughed at the gesture. He freed her arm, and she smiled at him playfully. They’d both lost people on the mission, but they had to keep their sights set on the future, and what they accomplished through the transition to Mona’s timeline.
The trip back to the air base was long, but Emersyn and Tanner enjoyed having the time to relax and unwind. They talked, laughed, and swapped stories. It felt like Emersyn had found a new friend, one she hoped would stick around beyond the debrief of their mission.
The driver informed the duo that Bravon Pearson was being escorted to a nearby medical facility, and one he was taken care of, they’d load him onto a plane and get him back to Georgia.
“I’m surprised he pulled through,” Emersyn said. “There was a moment when it was just me and him towards the end and it was like he was saying goodbye.”
Tanner shook his head. “Tough old bastard. Nothing can keep him down.”
“Or nothing can keep him from his daughter.”
Once they arrived at the air base, they changed vehicles and were escorted to a small, white plane via an electric cart. As they approached the plane and the cart slowed, the driver turned and asked they relinquish their weapons.
They both handed over their pistols, and Tanner turned over Catalina’s phone. Emersyn kept the Requiem gem in one of her pockets and the activator in the other. She’d give it up, but only when they got back. It was hard to trust anyone after seeing the Time Regulators in Mona’s timeline.
