The Garden

by Craig W. Turner

  For some reason, that made her feel a little bit better.

  CHAPTER 42

  Robert knew he wasn’t focused on the mission the way he should have been. At that moment, he ought to have been preparing his mind and body for the transformation and re-entry, and evaluating possible actions for the variable alternatives they could encounter when they arrived. Perhaps even a small prayer for safety. Not only was it his own routine as he readied to leave on any mission, but it was part of SATP psychological training.

  But he wasn’t doing any of that. Keegan’s cryptic conversation may not have been clear to everyone else sitting in pods beside him, but Robert knew exactly what was keeping him from leaving the control room and joining them: the Attorney General and the FBI were already in the building.

  The logic was simple. Under normal circumstances, even with the engineering team absent, Keegan could have left Control safely when the charge reached about 65 percent. Based on standard practices, by the time he could reach the time portal it would be around 75%. They were estimating that the trip, due to its intensity, would use close to 45 percent of the system’s charge, and since protocol dictated that all missions return exactly 29 minutes after they leave, the machine would then continue to charge during that time and would easily reach 100 percent by the time it would be needed to pull them back. Keegan wasn’t leaving the control room because he needed to make sure that nothing interrupted the charge, stranding them 10,000 years in the past. The Attorney General wouldn’t be able to shut down the power to the time portal – it was too late for that now. But what he could do if he didn’t know better (assuming the FBI wouldn’t be so cruel as to purposefully maroon them) was to interrupt the charge, which had to reach 93-95 percent to assure them they were in the clear, for such an ambitious jump.

  The situation posed a moral dilemma for him. Up in the control room was a friend and colleague, who’d been the chief architect for this mission for years, and who was not going to be able to participate because of Robert – who, himself, was lined up and ready to go. Meanwhile, since Reilly was two pods over from Robert, Keegan was the highest-ranking member of the entire science team, and would be left to take the brunt of the FBI’s incursion. It was not fair, and Robert’s spirits sunk knowing that Keegan had volunteered himself to take his place.

  “Robert, calm down,” he heard Keegan’s voice in his ear.

  His anxiety must have tripped his biometrics, so he took a deep breath while analyzing the amount of time it would take to swap places – him to the control room and Keegan to the time portal. If he left that instant, it would be a race not only against time, but also the agents advancing on them. They may make it. They may not. But he felt he had to try.

  Reaching his left arm across his right, Robert pulled at the strap that held his torso tightly back against the back of the pod’s chair and unlatched it. Immediately, he heard an alarm in his ear.

  “What the hell’s going on?” he heard Reilly demand.

  “Robert, put that strap back on,” Keegan said. “It’s not safe.”

  “I’m coming to get you,” Robert said, reaching across to undo the other end of the strap. “Get down here now, Keegan.”

  “I can’t, Robert,” he said, calmly, but sadly. “The mission is off if I leave the control room.”

  “What do you mean-” Claire started to say over the comm.

  “Not yet, it’s not.” The tight quarters of the pod were making it difficult for him to maneuver himself out of his restraints.

  “Dammit, Robert, put your gear back on! You’re going to get yourself killed.”

  He stopped. Keegan was right. If the FBI was already in the building, there was no way that he could beat them to the control room. It would be foolish to try, and the entire purpose for all their planning would be lost.

  “Keegan, you’re coming, right?” Robert heard Claire say, her voice trembling.

  There was a pause, then Keegan spoke. “No, Claire,” he said, slowly. “I’m not going to make it. You guys have a good trip. I’ll hold down the fort here.”

  Robert heard Claire let out a sob over the comm, but then it ended. “Keegan, I’m sorry,” he said. “I know what this means to you.”

  “Just make it a good mission so I still have a job when you get back.”

  “We will,” Robert said, pulling the strap back around himself and locking it into place.

  “Keegan, you need to get down here,” Reilly said over the comm, agitated.

  “It’s not going to happen, General,” Keegan said. “I need to be here to make sure you’re safe.”

  There was a pause. “The FBI’s in the building, aren’t they?” Reilly asked.

  Another pause, then Keegan spoke. “Yes, they’re on their way now, sir.”

  “That son-of-a-bitch.”

  “What’s up, Andrew?” Robert asked. To his right, the monitor inside the pod flickered. The five-minute countdown had begun.

  Reilly didn’t answer him. Instead, Robert heard him say, “Alright, guys. It’s just us. Keegan, you barricade yourself in that control room and get us back here in one piece.”

  “I’ll do everything I can,” Keegan said. “Judging by the security monitors, I’m guessing they’ll be knocking on the door in about sixty seconds.”

  “Hang in there,” Robert said. “And thank you.”

  “Yes, thank you,” Amy echoed in his ear.

  Robert settled back into his seat, then took a moment to tighten the restraint once more. All he could think was that this was the absolute worst possible way to begin a mission.

  CHAPTER 43

  It wasn’t that Amy felt she and Keegan were compadres going into the mission, but they had been attached at the hip since they’d kicked things into motion the evening before. The news that Keegan would not be coming on the mission was disconcerting for her, personally and professionally, but her analytical mind worked to process what it meant.

  On a personal level, this was Keegan’s mission. He’d been the primary advocate for it, and while they’d been forced into the decision to move forward by external circumstances, it had been Keegan’s enthusiasm, tenacity and salesmanship that had even put the opportunity in front of them in the first place. Her immediate reaction was that to not have him around would be reminiscent of going to the Duanwu Festival without her brother when he’d gone off to war.

  On the professional side, she’d been noticing over time that Keegan had slowly been replacing Robert as the leader of their team. It wasn’t a strategic or forceful transition – just something that was occurring naturally, in their tone of speech and body language. Though she wouldn’t admit it, she’d felt for some time that Robert’s demeanor had been telling them that he was done being Robert Mulvaney, and that he would gladly accept moving to a lower-profile role and having someone else take the reins. Egypt hadn’t been the first time he’d come back from a mission out-of-sorts. It had only been the most obvious. Since nobody really trusted Reilly, not having Keegan on the other side of this jump would leave a leadership hole.

  On the other hand, though, if someone had to stay back to make sure the technology worked and they all made it back safely and she had the chance to choose who that would be… The right person was in the booth.

  She glanced up at the windows of the control center, knowing that Keegan was alone up there, working to make sure their trip was successful. Amy was not the type to engage in melodrama, but she did feel a loyalty to him, and nodded another thank you that he would not be able to see, before turning her thoughts to how the parameters of the mission would need to be adjusted without Keegan there, and what it meant to her own interests.

  The seat underneath her began to vibrate, sending a chill up her spine as it always did. She glanced at her monitor, which showed four minutes until ignition. She could hear the massive generator beneath them churning to produce the charge that would be enough to transform them into light to cover the journey of tens of millions of miles t
o a mysterious time and place.

  Amy put her head back and closed her eyes, attempting to clear her thoughts. She channeled her Buddhist teachings and meditation techniques from her youth, and allowed her mind to relax. From the monitor, she heard her heart rate go down, and smiled a secret smile. It was good to be in control.

  CHAPTER 44

  Keegan shook his head, knowing he should be watching the security monitors, but remained focused on his team, just four minutes away from launching. He was acutely aware that the FBI would be knocking down the door behind him at any moment. Well, they’d be attempting to knock it down, as it was one of the most secure rooms on the planet. But he knew that where there’s a will, there’s a way. His ace in the hole was getting through this countdown and sending them on their way. The leverage that needing to bring them home provided was invaluable, and would make or break his entire gambit.

  He tugged at the collar of the tunic he’d been wearing for the trip. He was sad. Not sad enough that it would distract him from what he needed to do – he would deal with that later. But heartbroken that the mission he’d devised, designed and developed was happening without him. It was supposed to be his eyes that were the first modern eyes to possibly see the Garden of Eden; his feet to be the first ones to step into lush greenery watered by natural fountains possibly spoken into existence by God himself. And now it wouldn’t be. In a melancholy way, he was happy for his teammates, and honored that his idea was about to become a success. It would be good for them, good for the program, and good for humanity. But not having the time to deal with his own feelings, he wasn’t certain exactly how he was going to be when it was all over.

  He afforded himself a glance at the security monitors to see that while there were U.S. federal agents scurrying through the SATP facilities like termites, the corridor outside the control room was still empty. Although, on a second look he saw that it wasn’t. A single figure stood outside the control room door.

  Keegan peeked back at the monitor in front of him and saw he had just over three minutes left, so he darted across the room to get a better look at the security coverage. He was amazed to see that the person outside the control room door was Dipin Chopra.

  Overcoming his confusion, Keegan leapt for the main door and engaged his security code. The door slid open and he and Dipin were standing face-to-face.

  “What are you doing here?” Keegan asked. He hadn’t seen Dipin in person in months, since he’d disappeared. “How did you-”

  “No time,” Dipin said, putting his hand on Keegan’s chest and pushing him into the room. He turned and initiated the datapad on the side of the door and it slid closed behind them. “I’m asking myself why you’re still here?”

  “Someone had to stay behind to protect the system,” he said.

  “That’s what I came here to do,” Dipin said, heading for the console. “You should go.”

  “It’s too late,” Keegan said, catching up with him. “I’d never make it, and I’m not leaving, anyway.”

  “Well, then it’s both of us. Many hands make light work.”

  Keegan nodded, then pushed the button on the side of his headset. “Robert, we’ve got another set of hands here to help,” he said. “Dipin’s made it up here.”

  There was a pause before Robert spoke, which Keegan wanted to interpret as a technical hitch, but couldn’t bring himself to do it. Finally, after a moment, he heard Robert’s voice: “That’s good.”

  “Who’s up there?” Reilly asked.

  “Dipin,” Keegan repeated. “He’s here to help. Everything’s going to be good.”

  “How did he-”

  “No time for that now,” he said, cutting him off. “About two and a half minutes left. Everyone good?” He heard six voices reply positively, not separating in his mind whose was whose. “We’re okay up here. Just sit tight and have a great trip.” He pressed his headset again, closing the channel, and turned to Dipin. “Did you come up here with a plan?”’

  “Unfortunately, no,” he said, staring out the window toward the time device. “Other than just getting them there and getting them back.”

  “Then your plan is the same as mine.”

  They heard a crash on the other side of the door, and both turned toward it. Keegan instinctively looked at the monitors and saw the agents were outside in the corridor. “They’re here,” he muttered, though there was no need for him to announce it.

  He turned back to the console. Ninety seconds. They needed to hold them off for 90 seconds.

  On the monitor, the agents started spraying something on the door. He understood exactly what was happening.

  “They’re going to blast through.”

  “Yes, I’m afraid so,” Dipin said, then bolted toward the door.

  CHAPTER 45

  The closest Landon could get to likening the fear he was feeling to any other time in his life was his one and only time atop the Punjab Tower in Mumbai. He was not an adventurer, and as a result, until he climbed atop the Newton Building here at SATP during his silent tantrum the night before, it had been the only time he’d ever been on a building higher than three stories. Somehow, this new fear put that one in perspective, and Landon knew that he’d never have a problem with heights again.

  Every ten or fifteen seconds, the generator beneath them, which he hadn’t even had the chance to get a tour of or introductory lesson on how it worked, increased in intensity, to the point that the seat beneath him and his entire body were now shaking, and he was feeling a wave of nausea. It occurred to him how ludicrous the situation was, being thrown into this process with no training, no preparation and no warning. The political mess he found himself in was untenable, and he was certain that little would change once they returned. If they returned. For a moment, he felt an aura of confusion as to how he’d even gotten himself here, flashing strangely back to his initial interview with India’s science advisors, but it was fleeting. His terrified mind would never let him concentrate on something like that right now.

  Though he stared intently at the orange lever to his left, there was nothing more to be done, though, except try to calm his nerves and deal with whatever was to come. It was clear now that they’d chosen him for political reasons, and it wasn’t because he’d written a paper while at the university. He was unknowingly caught up in this web of political intrigue that he already was pretty sure General Reilly was behind, but he hadn’t yet been able to put his finger on why. Of course, the timing may have been off, but then again maybe it wasn’t; it was quite possible Landon had ended up in this pod simply because it had been set in motion a long time ago. Probably even before Dipin Chopra, who was now apparently in the control room, had left the program.

  He glanced at the monitor that was presumably covering him and saw that his heartrate was through the roof. Which concerned him because if they weren’t going to do anything about it, why have the readout there at all? He’d heard the conversation between Keegan and Robert, and what was happening was clear, even before Reilly had asked about the U.S. agents in the building. By now, Keegan was likely engaged with the agents and not necessarily manning the controls anymore.

  Landon glanced at his monitor again. The countdown was at 60 seconds.

  The chance to pull the orange lever that he never actually had was gone. A small part of him hoped that the agents would get through and engage whatever kill switch there was on the system. Then this disaster would be over.

  CHAPTER 46

  "How long do we have?" Dipin yelled over his shoulder at Keegan.

  “We just hit the sixty second mark.”

  “That should be enough,” he said, as he reached the panel next to the door, his fingers flicking across it.

  “Be careful, that door-” Keegan started to say, but Dipin shushed him. “What are you doing?” He looked at the security monitor. He didn’t want them blasting the door in at all, but definitely not with Dipin standing in front of it.

  “Tell them they’re go
ing to hear an alarm, but it’s nothing.”

  “What?”

  “Tell them!”

  Obediently, Keegan engaged his headset again. “You’re going to hear an alarm in a moment, but it’s nothing.”

  “Keegan, what-” came Reilly’s voice, but it was barely audible over the screaming of the reactor at this late stage.

  As Dipin maneuvered across the keypad, the clock hit 30 seconds, and the system automatically began counting down. With a flourish, Dipin spun away from the door, causing Keegan’s eyes to move to the security monitors. Agents positioned with weapons aimed toward the door were suddenly shrouded in mist, just as an ear-splitting alarm echoed from speakers in the ceiling. Keegan’s hands went to his ears as the countdown and the alarm jockeyed for decibels. On-screen, the agents moved confusedly through the corridor, backing, at least temporarily, away from the door.

  “What’s the charge?” Dipin yelled to him in between alarm tones.

  Keegan looked at the console and saw 86 percent. He leaned toward Dipin and yelled back, “We need about ten more minutes.”

  “Well, that bought us one minute,” Dipin said. “Now’s where our skills in diplomacy come in.”

  They both turned toward the time device as the countdown inched toward zero. With an anxious heart, Keegan counted silently along. 7… 6… 5… 4…

  Behind them, an explosion as the door burst in, shrapnel littering the array of consoles.

  They turned to face the encroachers.

  2… 1…

  CHAPTER 47

  The countdown hit zero.

  Though it had terrified him the first time he’d witnessed it, nowadays Robert always focused on his hands when the time device was engaged, as best as he could. By the time the generator sparked, the pods they were sitting in were shaking so violently that the g-forces would cause everyone to black out – in many ways a safety precaution on the psychological side, as watching your body be torn to atomic pieces could dismantle the psyche of even the strongest minds. But there was a split second before that happened where you could see the process in motion, it always began at the fingertips. If you could endure long enough, and Robert figured he was probably the only one who could, from his body of experience, a time traveler could see his hands begin to atomize and be pulled into the wormhole that was in the process of being created at the top of the pod. It was some phenomenon.