The Rewind Files

by Claire Willett

  From a great distance, I heard a terrific rumbling, and the telltale sound of a helicopter. Carter and I looked at each other. It was starting.

  “Let’s get them inside the police station,” said Carstairs. “Both of them. I don’t want to take the chance of either of them getting back out into the crowd.”

  Carter hoisted the unconscious young woman over his shoulder unceremoniously while my father and I, guns drawn, ushered Beth inside and closed the door, locking it behind us.

  “Carter Hughes, Leo Carstairs. Leo Carstairs, Carter Hughes,” I said as soon as we were inside. Carter gave a little wave with the one hand that wasn’t holding onto the unconscious second Beth, and my father nodded back politely. “Carter, tie them up,” I said as soon as we were inside, gesturing to a pair of chairs in the corner. “Find some rope or something. Dad, you have to call Mom. That’s what happens next.”

  “Okay,” he said, “you just tell me what to say.”

  I told him everything I remembered. I told him what he would say, and what she would say, and about Colin Daisey yelling in the background.

  And then I gritted my teeth, and let it happen.

  Carter held my hand as I stood silently by as my mother screamed at Daisey to send backup, pleaded with my dad to leave, and I watched him say all the things I had told him to say, so that they could go into the emergency transmission logs, so I could read them two decades later after they were declassified, so I could travel back here and feed him his lines. It was a perpetual circle. Were they my words given to him and then back to me? Were they his words given to me and then back to him? I didn’t know.

  As he talked, a faint dull hum in the distance grew louder and louder, more insistent, until it resolved itself into the sound of a huge caravan of military vehicles, with a chopper overhead.

  And then it clicked.

  Leo Carstairs had sent that transmission because he knew he was about to die. And how had he known that? Because something had felt wrong to him about the trucks. He had mentioned the trucks in his transmission. Jenkins had seen him staring at them oddly when he first transported in. But I had been blind. It was so obvious. I hadn’t put it together.

  I suddenly knew what my father had known – how he had realized he was about to die.

  Those trucks weren’t South African police forces. They belonged to United Enterprises. They were never supposed to be here.

  They had camouflaged themselves as well as they could, but Leo Carstairs would have known he was looking at a 22nd-century vehicle. He might even have known they came from United Enterprises.

  And it was after he was caught staring at the tires on one of the vehicles that the first bullets began to fly. I was not at all sure that was a coincidence.

  “Sir, is this line secure?” my father said into his Comm.

  “I’m the director, Carstairs, of course it is,” snapped the irritable voice of Colin Daisey. “Why would you—”

  “I think there’s another agent in the field, sir,” my dad interrupted, repeating the line exactly as I had quoted it to him from the transcripts. He was looking at me as he said it, and suddenly something clicked inside my brain.

  This had always been the part that didn’t fit. Mom, of course, had investigated thoroughly – so had the Bureau – and no trace of any registered agent had ever been found. Daisey dismissed it as paranoid. But he had said it. Carstairs had said there was another agent in the field.

  And he had said it while looking at me.

  There was another agent in the field. But he wasn’t referring to Harold Grove, who had never been here, or Beth Rutherford, who had never worked for the Bureau. He wasn’t referring to Carter either, since I hadn’t actually mentioned that Carter was one of us.

  The other agent in the field was me.

  Me, without my tracker, so I wouldn’t show up even as a Ghost when Mom scanned the Sharpeville Massacre for traces of interference. She was still pregnant with me when that happened, I realized with a jolt. She had no idea that the second agent she was hunting for was one of the twin fetuses inside her at the very moment she was scanning.

  The other agent was me, crashing into a Timeline I was never supposed to have entered.

  “Oh my God,” I whispered. “Oh no, oh no, oh no.”

  “Reggie, what is it?” asked Carter, worry on his face. My father finished the call and switched off his Comm, turning to me.

  “What happened?” he said.

  “I didn’t realize it before,” I said, hysteria bubbling up and causing me to babble. “I mean, from the transcripts. Because I wasn’t there. I didn’t think. But just now. Mom. When you called in. When she said the readings were off-the-charts crazy.”

  “Regina, slow down,” said my father, placing both hands on my shoulders. “Take a breath.”

  “It’s not because of Beth,” I said urgently, “and it’s not because of the crowd, or the extra soldiers. That wasn’t it. We thought it was, but it wasn’t. That’s the effect. Not the cause. That’s not what created the spike. The spike is me. Me meeting you. I’m the thing that wasn’t supposed to happen. I’m what’s going to make the whole thing unravel. Dad, I was standing here with you while you talked to her. I could hear her voice.”

  “And . . .”

  “And she was pregnant with me when she called you,” I said. “I’m in my own Timeline.” They all stared at me. “Dad, it’s me,” I said desperately. “I’m the Chronomaly.”

  There was a silence.

  “What does it mean?” said Carter softly.

  “It means she has to get out of here before the Incongruity hits,” said my father. “Or the Timeline rewrites itself and erases her too. And if she’s erased, then that undoes the entire Timeline she’s been fighting to repair.”

  “And she’ll die.”

  “No,” said Beth. “She’ll never have been born.”

  And she laughed at that, a giddy, delighted laugh. “My Lord,” she said, “you do know how to keep things interesting. A Double Double Incongruity. Who knows what could happen.”

  “What’s going to happen?” said Carter.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “But I’ve been here for two hours. So whatever it is – it’s started already.”

  And then, as if we had delivered our lines and given some great cosmic stage manager her next technical cue, the entire world went black.

  I don’t mean it got dark suddenly. I mean the entire world literally blinked out of existence for a moment, there was nothing except empty void, and then blinked back in again. Everything was gone, I was alone in the darkness, and then I was back in the dusty South African police station with Carter and my father and both Beth Rutherfords.

  “What the hell?” exclaimed Carter.

  “It’s starting,” I said. “The Timeline is destabilizing. We have to get out of here before the Incongruity hits.”

  I forced myself not to look back at Beth Rutherford. I did not want to feel anything. I did not want to think about the fact that I was leaving her here to die.

  I pulled out my U.E. transport Comm and took my dad’s hand. “We’re going to land at United Enterprises, in my time,” I said. “We left one working transporter. We can get out of the building through the freight elevator and then Short-Hop out once we’re clear.”

  He nodded. Carter pulled his Comm out too.

  “You go first,” he said. “Don’t try to pull one over on me again.”

  “I won’t,” I assured him. “I want to get all of us home safe.”

  “Good,” said Carter. “Because we still have to find Calliope and Leo.”

  “Leo?” said my father, some unreadable emotion in his voice.

  I had forgotten my earlier lie about my brother’s name – and was trying very hard not to think about where he and Calliope were right now – and busied myself with my suddenly nonfunctional transporter. No matter what I pressed, the screen stayed dark.

  “Come on, you piece of crap,” I murmured, �
��you’ve gotten me this far, we’re almost done.”

  “What’s the matter?” said Carter.

  “It’s not working,” I said.

  “Let me see,” he said. I moved closer to him so he could look at it. The second I dropped my dad’s hand, the screen lit up and the INITIATE TRANSPORT button blinked a merry green.

  Then we knew.

  “No,” I said desperately. “No. Let me try again.” And I seized my dad’s hand.

  The screen went dark again.

  “Try mine,” said Carter, taking my dad’s hand in his. And we watched as his screen went dark as well. A creeping sensation of cold began to close around my heart.

  Then everything went dark again, this time for much longer. The darkness was cold, and I fought down a rising panic as I realized I was running out of air. By the time I blinked back into the dusty sunlight, I was panting for breath. So was Carter.

  “Your brother’s name is Leo,” said my father once we were all back.

  “Yes,” I said slowly.

  “I mean, it was Leo before – when you first got here, before all of this – and it’s still Leo now,” he said in a gentle, sad voice.

  “I don’t know what you mean,” I said.

  “Yes, you do,” he said.

  “Dad—”

  “You have to leave, Regina. Go. Before everything collapses.”

  “But you’ll die,” I said.

  “We don’t know that anymore,” he said. “Beth Rutherford is unconscious. She can’t throw the rock. You’ve already changed the story. And if the Incongruity hits, and erases her, then this was just a regular day’s work and I go home just fine.”

  “But—”

  “You can’t bring me back with Bureau equipment,” he said. “The Slipstream won’t open for me. You need to get out before you’re trapped.”

  “I can’t leave you here,” I said, tears spilling down my cheeks.

  “Yes, you can,” he said. “You have to.”

  He pulled me close to him then, and held me tightly. There were tears in his eyes. And mine. And Carter’s.

  “I’m going to fix this,” I said. “I’m going to think of something.”

  “I believe in you,” he said. “If there’s a way, you’ll find it.”

  “Oh my God,” snarled Beth. “You’re nauseating, all of you.”

  “Want me to knock this Beth out too?” said Carter. “Please?”

  The deafening roar of military vehicles was upon us, and I knew we were surrounded. “No,” I said. “There isn’t time. Unfortunately. Dad, you have to go. Right now you’re supposed to be walking the line with the local cops. Keep them cool. Don’t let the U.E. forces get into their heads. And for God’s sake, don’t let anybody start shooting.”

  “Whatever you say, kid,” he said, grinning at me, tears in his eyes. “You’re the boss.”

  Then he hugged me again and headed outside.

  “Reggie, are you ready?” said Carter.

  “Ready,” I said. “Let’s go.”

  “Oh, before you leave,” said Beth, in a deceptively mild and sweet voice. “Just one small thing.”

  “Not interested,” I said.

  “Oh, I think you will be,” said Beth. “There are, I believe, twenty-six United Enterprises security vehicles currently surrounding this station, following my tracker. They’re in stealth mode, which means they’re dressed and armed like locals. The police here will be told they’re reinforcements from Johannesburg, sent to keep the Negroes in line.”

  I winced. “You’ve been in the 1970’s too long,” I said to her. “You’re way too comfortable with the words ‘keep the Negroes in line.’”

  She didn’t dignify this with a response.

  “There’s a black unmarked civilian car traveling with the caravan of military vehicles,” she said. “It should be parked right outside the door to this building. And I think there’s something inside the trunk of the car that you’re very much going to want to see.”

  “Reggie,” said Carter warningly, knowing it was too late, seeing the decision on my face before he even spoke. “Don’t listen to her. We need to jump. You need to get out of here. You have a Double Incongruity closing in on you. We have to get you home.”

  “What’s in the trunk of the car, Beth?” I asked.

  “That would be telling,” she said. “But believe me, you’re going to want to see.”

  “Don’t do it, Reggie,” said Carter. “It’s a trap.”

  “I know.”

  “There are armed men outside.”

  “I know.”

  “Suit yourself,” said Beth with an infuriating air of magnificent nonchalance. “I can have it delivered.” And she knocked three times on the metal wall of the shack.

  There was a silence.

  Then someone on the other side of the wall knocked back.

  My whole body felt cold all over. We should jump, I thought. Right now. Before it’s too late. And yet, there was something she wanted to show me before I left her here to die . . . was it real, or was she hypnotizing me again so that this time, when she slipped the knife into my heart, I would never see it coming?

  Go.

  Stay.

  Go.

  Stay.

  I looked helplessly at Carter. He looked back at me.

  Then the door swung open, kicked by a booted foot with such force that it popped the rather half-assed bolt altogether, and two United Enterprises guards entered, guns drawn. Before them were two people in black U.E. guard uniforms with black bags over their heads. I couldn’t see their faces, but even before Beth spoke, I knew.

  “Thank you,” she said. “Good work, you were very prompt. You can take the hoods off now.” The guard roughly yanked away the black fabric.

  It was Leo and Calliope.

  Twenty-Six

  The Loudest Noise In the World

  They were alive.

  Dirty, bedraggled, bound and gagged, but conscious and alive.

  “Oh thank God,” I said, and Carter clutched my hand.

  “All right,” said Carter. “Now tell us what you want in exchange.”

  “What we have here, darling,” said Beth, “is a standard hostage trade. Now. You have something that I want – or rather, someone – and it seems that your adorable naïvete about Harold Grove’s willingness to help you has leveled the playing field somewhat in my favor, because I have something you want. Two of them, in fact. You’re getting much the better deal.”

  “Let them go, Beth,” I said.

  “I’d love to,” she said. “Truly. As soon as you release the other Beth, put a rock in her hand, and let her do what she came here to do. Then I’ll have one of these very nice young men take me back to my office before the Double Incongruity hits and takes me with it. Once that happens, we will be very pleased to return your brother and Harold’s coffee girl. If you’re quick, maybe we’ll all get out of here before the Incongruity hits.”

  “You know I can’t let you leave,” I said to her. “If the Incongruity hits you, it erases you from the Timeline, and takes the Third World War and United Enterprises with it.”

  “Precisely,” she said. “You can see how we’d have a bit of disagreement over that.”

  “The answer is no,” I said, more firmly than I felt. She sighed.

  “Regina,” she said patiently. “This is not a negotiation. There is only the easy way and the hard way. The easy way gets us all out of here much faster and involves you being cheerful and cooperative. The hard way is . . . well, not as nice.”

  She reached out her hand, and one of the guards pulled out a stun pistol from his holster and handed it to her.

  Then she shot my brother.

  I screamed out his name and ran to his side, my heart racing in my chest, catching him just in time before he hit the ground. Oh please, I begged as I stumbled under his dead weight, my arms wrapped tight around him, please be breathing. Please be okay.

  “A little to the left,�
� Beth said to me in a cool voice. “You’re a bit in my way.”

  “Leo,” I said, ignoring her, slapping his face to wake him up. “Leo!”

  “Suit yourself,” said Beth, exasperated, and then she shot Calliope.

  I couldn’t catch Calliope without letting go of Leo, so I watched, helplessly, as her body crumpled to the ground. I lowered Leo gently and checked both his pulse, than Calliope’s. Carter moved towards me to help, but she turned her gun on him.

  “Darling,” she said. “I really wouldn’t.”

  “Don’t, Carter,” I begged. “She’ll do it.”

  Carter stopped moving, raised his hands over his head, and knelt on the ground.

  “Very good,” said Beth approvingly as I shook Leo and Calliope, blinded by tears of panic, desperately trying to revive them. They were both still breathing, but barely.

  “They’re still alive,” Beth said. “This was only at about 75%. However, they will need emergency medical attention within the next, oh, I’d say twenty minutes, or their hearts will begin to fail. So I’d encourage you not to waste any more of their time by trying to think of ways to get the drop on me, and just go release the other Beth so we can all be on our way.”

  I looked down at the fallen bodies of Leo and Calliope. I had to get them home. I had to get them to a doctor. But if I let Beth Rutherford walk out of here, it would all have been for nothing, and seventy-one people would be dead in a matter of minutes.

  “Time is ticking,” said Beth. “I’d make a decision, and fast. Who are you going to watch die today, your brother or your father?”

  Then the world went black again, and I felt a tremor inside the Slipstream. I couldn’t keep my balance, and the air drained from my lungs as I fell into the endless darkness. I plummeted for a long time – who knows how long – before I suddenly felt rough dusty ground reappear beneath me. Panting for air, lightheaded, I lay on the ground for a long moment before I felt strong arms pulling me up. I stood, and dusted myself off.

  That was when I noticed the unconscious bodies of Beth’s U.E. security guards, lying in a heap on the ground.

  “What . . .” I began, looking around me, but didn’t finish. The rest of the words evaporated from my mouth when I turned and saw Beth Rutherford behind me, lying on the ground, unconscious. My father stood over her, laser rifle in hand.