by Ramy Vance
Reuben watched carefully, but Martha’s move was so sudden that he couldn’t think fast enough to block her. The next thing he knew, her fist was in his gut.
“Ahh!” he cried out.
Martha groaned. “This is going to take a while.”
Buzz nodded. “Yes. I say we come up with a plan. We train him, then we kill him. Then he comes back, we train him some more. And so on, and so on, until we get back to three days ago.”
“That sounds good.” Martha stood in a fighting stance. This time Reuben saw when her fist moved, and he instinctively pushed her hand away.
Both Martha and Buzz cheered. “This might work,” Buzz said.
“OK,” Martha said. “Let’s try it again.”
Reuben tried to block it but failed. She hit him again and again.
“Hold on,” Reuben said, getting to his feet. “I have a plan.”
“Show me,” Martha said, stepping forward.
As she swung, Reuben shouted, “Henry Cavill. That’s what you lit all those candles for?”
The words threw her off, messing up her timing just enough for Reuben to step to the left and shove her to the floor.
Martha looked up. Reuben had won that round. “No fair,” she said. “You promised you wouldn’t tell Buzz what I shared on the video.”
“All’s fair in love and war,” Buzz said with a leering smile. “I think I know what my next sexbot will look like. Maybe I’ll build Henry for your birthday.”
Martha stood with a huff and said, “Again.” This time she faked him out with a punch, and then when she finally threw one, he blocked it. But, he blocked it with enough force that he could push harder. The next thing he knew, she was on the ground again.
“I like this.” Martha smiled from the floor mat. “You’re learning.”
“Thanks,” he said, “I’m getting there.”
Martha smiled. “That you are.”
She spent the next hour sparring with him. Block. Punch. Knock down. Block.
Reuben dug deep into his psyche to pull out his inner aggressor. He had never been encouraged to let that part of himself out. But suddenly, there it was. He knocked Martha to the ground over and over.
“I think he’s ready,” she told Buzz eventually. “At least, as ready as he can be after one training session. A few more of these, though, and he’ll be proficient.”
“Ahh, thanks, I think,” Reuben said.
“So three days,” Buzz said. “As far back as you can go.”
Reuben grimaced. “We’re probably going to have to do this a few times. I can’t seem to figure out how to control how far back I go.”
Buzz shrugged. “I’ve been thinking about that. I think there must be a way to influence how far back you go each time. It is said that some yogi masters can control their minds so well that they can perfectly recreate a moment from their past in their own minds to the point where they remember every smell, texture, thought. If you can, for lack of a better word, meditate on what you were doing three days ago, there is a good chance you’ll warp into yourself then.”
Reuben thought about this. “How would we know?”
Buzz frowned. “How would we know what?”
“How would we know that these yogis are able to perfectly replicate a moment in their mind? It is in their mind, isn’t it? We kind of have to take their word on it.”
Buzz pinched the bridge of his nose. “That’s not the point.”
“Isn’t it?” Reuben said. “I mean, your whole theory on how I can control my warps is based on something completely unsubstantiated. I think it is very relevant.”
Buzz sighed. “Look, what were you doing three days ago?”
Reuben thought about it. “Um, it was a pretty boring Tuesday. I was at work, updating some surveillance software the agency uses.”
Buzz shook his head. “No, get specific. What are you thinking about, feeling, doing, sensing? Focus on a specific moment three days ago. A single thought, a single action.”
Reuben threw his mind back three days. He thought about his day, everything he had done, and nothing stood out. It was a mundane day…except for when he saw Aki at the end of the work day. She looked so tired from whatever badass shit she was up to. She was going over a report by the window, deep in thought, when all of a sudden, her face lit up.
She had figured something out. What? Reuben had no idea. But she had seen something…a clue, a lead, something…and her whole face had just lit up with pride.
Reuben remembered wishing he had the courage to ask her what she was so proud of. “Yeah, I got something.”
Buzz smiled. “Good.”
Reuben turned and saw Buzz had a handgun.
“No!” Reuben screamed as the bullet pierced his flesh.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Reuben—Friday, February 10, 8:09 p.m.
Reuben came back to the yoga studio. So much for focusing on Aki’s smile.
He stood in front of Martha as she turned to Buzz.
“This is going to be harder than I thought,” she told him.
With that, Reuben reached out and knocked her over.
Buzz whistled, but his victory wasn’t for long.
Martha grabbed his leg and dragged him to the ground. They wrestled on the floor for a moment, and then she pinned his arms down. “Give?”
“Give,” Reuben managed through the pain.
She got off him, and they both panted.
Then Buzz and Martha received their emails from themselves since Reuben had warped back. The emails also contained a link to Buzz’s timeline calendar and anything they had previously learned.
“Woohoo!” Buzz cheered. This verified that the “Binnie process” worked. No more awkward explanations for Reuben to have to make to them regardless of if he warped back before they knew about his ability or even if he warped back just twenty minutes.
Buzz grinned. “A pretty good process we developed.”
Martha turned to Reuben then. “Yep, now let’s try that again.” This time, she roundhouse-kicked him square in the face.
“Ow!” he cried out.
“Stop being a little bitch.” She reached up and high-kicked him again, and this time he grabbed her foot and pushed down. But again she grabbed his leg and dragged him down with her. They wrestled on the floor, and she pinned him again. “Give?”
“Never.” He raised his legs and tossed her off him. Then he rolled on top of her and pinned her. “Give?”
She panted and caught his eye, and he noticed a look he’d never seen before. He remembered the thing she had said about him being a handsome man. He suddenly felt very uncomfortable. He’d been so caught up with Aki, he didn’t really notice Martha.
At least not like that.
It was at that moment her fist pounded into his exposed gut.
“Never show weakness,” she ordered.
“Right.” He rolled onto the floor.
“Again.” She stood in her fighting stance. Between Buzz shooting him and Martha kicking his ass, he was starting to wonder what kind of friends he had.
“Come on,” she yelled.
He threw a punch, and she blocked it. Another, and she blocked it again. Then he tried a trick he had only seen in movies. He threw a punch, but when she blocked it, he immediately kicked her feet out from under her. She fell to the ground.
“Good job, Peet.” She smiled as he helped her up. “But you weren’t ready for this.”
“What?” he asked as she delivered a knee to his groin. He fell back in miserable pain but then saw her in her fighting stance. He suddenly threw a punch that she didn’t expect, and he knocked her off her feet again.
“I think he might be ready,” she told Buzz.
“Ready to die?” Reuben replied wryly.
“What?” Buzz furrowed his brow. “Never. Let’s all go for a swim. I think we could use some cooling off.”
“Definitely,” Martha panted.
The trio headed down to the pool
, and the blue saltwater beckoned to Reuben. He couldn’t take it. He just jumped in headlong, the cool water calming him. Later, when he thought about it, he remembered Buzz throwing the hair dryer into the pool.
But that was only much later. At the moment, all he heard was Buzz saying, “Focus on that event three days ago,” just before his body became overwhelmed with the jolt of electricity that coursed through him.
Reuben—Friday, February 10, 8:03 p.m.
Reuben came back to Buzz’s yoga studio. Again. Part of him wondered why he didn’t go back three days, but another part of him was beginning to realize that he needed his training. He needed to get better, smarter, faster, and more capable if he was going to stop the bomb from happening again.
“This is going to be harder than I thought,” Martha panted to Buzz.
Then the “Binnie process” unfolded, and Buzz and Martha received their emails with the videos and the timeline updates.
Suddenly Reuben lashed out and threw a punch at Martha and then sideswiped her with a kick. She dragged him to the ground, and he quickly pinned her wrists down. “Give?”
She panted and he caught that same look, but he ignored it this time. He couldn’t let emotion ruin what he was trying to do. Alister and whoever Alister was working with could ruin him in one emotional moment.
“Give,” she said.
He let go, but then she delivered a two-fisted punch to his gut.
“Never trust the enemy,” she commanded as he fell backward.
Reuben and Martha wrestled more in the yoga studio. More punches, blocks, and kicks. Every time Reuben thought he’d conquered one of her moves, she’d throw out another one. Expect the unexpected. Never trust the enemy. Always have a backup plan. Reuben’s face swelled with pain, but he noticed that Martha wasn’t exactly bursting with energy, either. She had a bloody nose and bruises everywhere.
“You’re getting better,” she commented wryly.
“I’m kicking your ass is what I’m doing.”
“Yeah?” She panted. “Is that right, Peet?” With that, she delivered a hard left hook to his face. Damn, he should have seen that coming.
In all of the commotion, neither of them noticed that Buzz was missing.
“I think we all need to take a breather.” Buzz suddenly burst into the studio like a ray of sunshine and passed out drinks.
Reuben was exhausted and thirsty and took the drink. He downed it all in one gulp, and it burned his lungs. He coughed and choked and instinctively reached out to his friends for help. But no help was offered.
He curled on the floor, gasping for air, and swore he saw Buzz taking notes. Oh, no. What the hell was he doing? With what little strength he had, he grabbed Buzz by the leg as the light slowly faded from view. Buzz yelped at Reuben’s weak attack as the scrawny scientist tried to pull away.
The last thing Reuben heard was Buzz’s muffled voice saying, Concentrate on three days ago.
Reuben—Friday, February 10, 8:03 p.m.
Reuben arrived back in Buzz’s yoga studio.
“This is going to be harder than I expected,” Martha said.
Then Reuben effectively kicked Martha’s ass up and down.
“I think he’s ready,” Martha panted.
Then Buzz and Martha received their emails.
Buzz smirked. “All right, we’re ready for the next phase.”
“Yeah.” Martha rose from the floor and applied a cold water bottle to her face. “The new phase.”
“Guns.” Buzz’s eyes twinkled.
Buzz drove the golf cart loaded with guns deep into the gardens. “Now,” he said. “It’s dark, but we’re going to do this.”
“All right.” Reuben shivered as he looked at the guns. He remembered the last time Buzz had shot him, and had a sneaking suspicion that was where this was headed. Although, Buzz seemed to kill him a different way every time. So what did he know?
Martha and Buzz grabbed rifles out of the golf cart, and Buzz tossed one to Reuben.
“You’re going to learn to shoot.” Buzz patted him on the arm, and Martha rushed ahead of him.
“See the bottle she just set down?” Buzz asked.
Reuben nodded.
“Now, that’s Alister,” Buzz said. “Kill him.”
Reuben pointed the gun and pulled the trigger. He hit one of Buzz’s cars ten yards away. Whoops. Well, he could honestly say Buzz was going to kill him for that.
And he did. With one nasty gunshot.
Reuben—Friday, February 10, 8:47 p.m.
Reuben came back to training in the yoga studio. He sparred with Martha and he saw that she was paying closer attention to his moves than she had in the beginning.
“I don’t know, Buzz,” she told him. “Do we even need to do this? He’s pretty good already.”
“Maybe we need more equipment from the lab,” Buzz said as his and Martha’s phones alerted them that they had a new email.
“Good idea.” Martha slipped out of the room, and that’s when Reuben noticed the little black box about the size of what he imagined a bomb might be.
“Ah, shit.” Seeing that he was by himself, he stepped up to the box.
He opened it up. There was a soft click, and he saw that it was indeed a bomb. A bomb with four different-colored wires and a digital display ticking down from ten seconds.
It didn’t matter, he figured, if he tripped the wrong wire. He was going to die today anyway. He took a guess and pulled the green wire. The ticking bomb stopped. Reuben stood and cheered for joy.
But it was short-lived. Buzz tore through him with a collector’s edition colonial musket.
Damn, he never could stay a step ahead of this guy.
Chapter Thirty-Six
Reuben—Tuesday, February 7, 5:07 p.m.
This time when he died, Reuben didn't try to focus too hard on Aki's smile. The memory of her standing by the window at work was still on his mind, but the unexpectedness of his death had caught him off-guard.
Death by musket? Really, Buzz?
The image of Aki's smile had been at the back of his mind, though, and he'd reflected on it as his consciousness faded. Her smile calmed him. Calm was good. Especially when your best friend kept coming up with maniacal new ways of murdering you, all in the name of science.
Calm was what he felt when he came to, standing upright under fluorescent lights in a hallway with windows.
So he was back at work. No biggie. But how far back had he traveled? He'd had no control over it in the past. So had he gone back one day? Two days? Three?
Oh shit!
He turned his head, and standing five feet away was Aki, looking as stunning as he'd ever seen her. She was dressed in dark skinny jeans and a tight leather jacket, a mysterious, sexy smile on her lips as she stared out at the city beyond.
Excitement throbbed through his system. This was the moment he'd been trying to warp back to throughout his training at Buzz's. He'd done it! He'd actually controlled how far he'd gone back this time.
"Holy shit," he muttered.
That was when Aki turned to face him.
"Excuse me?" The sexy smile was still on her face. She stood there, mysterious and glorious.
Reuben thought, If only I can figure out the perfect thing to say…
But was there any such thing as the perfect thing to say? Maybe. By Reuben's recollection, this would be the first time he'd ever spoken to Aki in the timeline. In her mind, Reuben didn't even exist. He was just another nameless tech guy in a cubicle where she worked.
It was time to make a favorable impression on her.
He recalled the time he'd talked to her before dying from the microwave bomb in the future on Valentine's Day. That interaction had gone amazingly well as he'd fixed her computer. The next time he'd time-warped and tried to talk to her… Not so much. She'd thought he was a stalker. How could he replicate the first success he'd had?
Before him, Aki cleared her throat, her smile starting to fade.
&
nbsp; As he saw it, he had two options that might work: act like an asshole like Mike Fury. Or be himself.
What did he have to lose?
Reuben started beatboxing to the sound of a Depeche Mode song that resembled one of Je Ne Sais Pas' songs. Bouncing lightly on his heel, he started to…
He started to dance.
Only just a bit, like the entrance dance a wedding party gives when they arrive at the reception. As he came out of a slow spin, he met her eyes.
“Sorry. I uh…” Reuben scratched his temple. “I just figured out something really important. That was uh, my victory dance.”
Aki stood staring at him.
Shit. I messed it up.
He was about to turn and walk away when she caught his sleeve.
“That was impressive,” she said, her smile returning.
Reuben stood straight and checked his watch like a cool guy might. "You think so?"
Aki nodded. “Definitely. I've seen you around, but I'm ashamed to say I don't know your name."
He smiled and extended his hand. "Peet. Reuben Peet.”
She took it and laughed. “James Bond, right?”
Reuben thrust his hands into his pockets and shifted his eyes off to the side. “Guilty.”
She laughed again. “I'm also celebrating something—a smuggling ring I recently took down. It was small time, but you know, we do good work here. Important work.”
If she only knew.
Reuben nodded, trying not to have a heart attack. Things were going so well, he might as well try to keep the conversation going. “Hey, I'm just a lowly tech guy, but I bet you've got some crazy stories.”
Her eyelashes fluttered. “Too bad they're all classified. Look, it was nice meeting you but I've really got to get back to work. Something I'm working on for Sven.”
Reuben reminded himself that Aki still had a boyfriend at this point in the timeline. He smiled at her, and she smiled back as she walked off.
Needless to say, he was on cloud nine. He now knew how to control how far back he warped: keep calm and warp on, and he also got the girl. Well, kinda.
