His own bag contained two boxes. The smaller of the two was the incendiary device he’d plant to complete the demolition of the Stark house after they’d departed. He also carried the time capsule the next Angel would recover twelve decades after he planted it in the tunnel.
He rechecked the list against their inventory one final time and loaded their bags into the time machine cabin.
The Mechanic entered the dwelling, nodding at Adam. “Today’s the day.”
Adam returned the nod. “It is. I’ve rechecked everything inside the vehicle.”
“I’ll start the diagnostics.” He glanced around. “We’ll need Fil to complete charging the batteries.”
“I finished that last night,” Fil replied, melting though the walls and into the room. “Unless those batteries lose a significant percentage of their charge in a short period of time, we should be fine.”
The Mechanic checked the readouts. “The batteries are at 98.6% capacity. Full capacity gives us twice the energy we should need for the trip. Plenty of contingency.” He motioned Fil toward the “passenger” seat in the cabin. “What you might think of as the ‘glove compartment’ is a scutarium gel-surrounded charging station. If any of you want to recharge the batteries at any time, put your hand inside, drop the Shield just from that hand, and push the Energy in.”
Fil nodded. “Got it. I’m sure we won’t have any problems.”
The Mechanic nodded. “I hope not. I’d really hate to have to send the backup machine back in time.” He inclined his head toward a second machine, a twin of the first. “It’s programmed to go to the secondary site at the designated time. I know the time and place you’re expected to return, and if you don’t arrive as expected, I’ll ship the secondary craft back for your use.”
Fil nodded. “Like I said, I don’t think we’ll have any problems.”
Angel entered the room, her flaming red hair a marked contrast to the coloring she’d used in Alliance-friendly confines her entire life. She’d retain the new coloring until her father was sent to the past. Angel had strongly resembled her mother; the red hair and a few minor facial alterations would make it more difficult for Will to notice that resemblance.
Adam found the concept of a neophyte Will strange. It was more difficult for him to accept the fact that he would teach Will to use Energy. That was so incomprehensible to him that he begged someone else to take on the job. Angel had shaken her head. “You’re the best candidate, Adam. If either Fil or I try to teach Dad, it won’t take more than a few lessons before one of us would slip and reveals who we are.”
Adam sighed quietly. He might reveal things he wanted kept secret as well. But he understood Angel’s point. And training Will was his duty.
The three travelers climbed into the cabin and their designated seats. Each checked their personal bag of supplies. Once they left, they couldn’t come back to get something they’d left behind. The Mechanic leaned inside, scanned the digital readouts, and then leaned back. “Everything is in perfect operational condition. The coordinates and times for both the trip to 2030 and the return are in the computer.” He took a step back, and his mouth formed a tight light, his brow creased with concern. “Good luck. I’ll see all of you again in a few minutes.”
Adam nodded. He glanced at Fil, seated next to him, and then to Angel, seated behind her brother. “Ready?”
Angel swallowed. Her heart was racing and her hands were shaking. “As ready as we’ll ever be.”
Adam nodded, faced the dashboard, and pressed the green activation button.
The nanoparticles slid over them, completing the interior cabin of the time machine. The devices were clear; they’d snap opaque and block out all external radiation once the time circuits activated. Angel watched the dashboard, watched as the battery capacity readouts began falling. She could hear the time circuits warming up, the now familiar sound reminiscent of propeller-driven aircraft. The sound grew louder as the seconds passed. Angel focused on controlling her breathing. She was about to become one of the world’s first time travelers. Or she’d die in an instant, unaware that anything was wrong until she wasn’t aware of anything. It was exhilarating and terrifying.
And there was no turning back.
The top turned opaque and all outside stimuli ceased. She felt a sense of displacement, as if she was falling. It felt like she was teleporting. In a strange way, she was doing just that. Her target had a different fourth dimensional address.
The time machine shook, vibrating as if it had dropped to the ground, and everything went still and silent.
Adam exhaled, Fil let his head slump back against his chair. Angel took deep breaths, trying to prevent her heart from beating its way clear of her chest.
They’d made it.
Fil turned around. The mirrored sunglasses blocked his eyes from every angle. It unnerved her. “Are you okay, Angel?”
She patted her shoulders and arms. “I seem to be in one piece.”
He smiled. She savored that image; it would be two months before he’d be allowed to smile again.
Adam turned around and faced the siblings. “Are the two of you ready? The clock is ticking.”
“Give me a minute,” Fil said. He shoved his hand into the scutarium gel opening. “I’m too emotional right now and need to discharge some Energy. I’d probably crack my own Shield. Batteries were at 18% and 96% capacity when I started and should be full in a few seconds.”
Adam nodded. “We need to let the Mechanic know that when we get back. Okay for me to open the top so we can get started?”
Fil nodded. “Have at it.”
Adam tapped a button on the dashboard. The cabin top turned clear and then vanished.
She’d prepared herself for the fact that she’d been in her own basement, but being here was another experience entirely. She could feel the heat from the fire raging above. She could even sense her father’s profound grief. He’d seen the explosion and the fire and would fight against the realization that his wife and young son were likely dead.
Will’s grown son pulled his hand from the gel, grabbed his backpack, and sprinted for the stairs.
Angel followed his lead. She knew Adam was already sending a nano shield to protect her father while he combed over the machine’s exterior, looking for cracks. She sent her nanos at the rear wall of the basement and simulated a throwing motion.
The wall exploded as the nanos tore apart the larger substances. She ordered them to act as a conveyance system, scooping out debris along the path to her father while carrying the debris out of and away from the tunnel. She’d been the best choice for this task. Her natural attunement to her father enabled her to identify his position in the backyard. Adam and Fil might “miss” him and the tunnel would be worthless.
She turned to watch Adam.
~~~~~
He ran his hands over the exterior of the craft, sensitive to any deformities in the surface. The smooth polish wasn’t for purposes of vanity or appearance; he could find cracks with the sensitive nerve endings in his fingers better if the majority of the exterior was smooth. He found one defect and kept his hand on the spot as he reached inside the cabin for the repair kit. The “paint” seeped into the microscopic crack and resealed the surface. He finished his inspection, finding no other imperfections. It should be about time to plant the time capsule. Angel’s tunnel was growing, splattering dirt and rocky debris all over the—
“Adam, he needs a shield right now!” Angel’s voice startled him. He grimaced; he was supposed to send the nanos out to surround Will the instant he exited the time machine. He sent the swarm out to surround his friend with a protective barrier.
He watched Angel. Her face was tense, her powerful connection with her father leading her to feel every kick, every punch, every cracked rib and broken bone, every renewed wave of despair. When her eyes widened and her jaw snapped open, he knew it was time. The Hunters and Leader had learned of Josh’s existence. Will was no longer facing a lifetim
e of imprisonment. Arthur Lowell had pronounced Will Stark’s life forfeit for his “crimes.”
Well, Arthur was about to learn that even he didn’t always get his way. Adam ordered his nanos to snap into a solid, protective shell, an invisible suit of impenetrable armor.
He closed his eyes, letting his mental vision take in the view from the nanos.
He saw Aramis lying on the ground in apparent pain. Aramis wasn’t hurt; he’d been so shocked and scandalized at the news of Josh Stark’s existence that he’d fallen to the ground in shock. Athos and Porthos, however, remained bound to their duty. Both held short swords in hand. Will couldn’t move or stand; he’d be unable to defend himself against their attack. Typical Aliomenti approach.
He watched the blades come right at him, seeming ready to pierce his skull. But the blades ricocheted off him—off the nanos—and the two active Hunters stood, looking around. He smiled. They were worried, wondering if an attack was coming. More than a half dozen powerful Alliance members sat in a house a mile away, but they’d do nothing. It wasn’t part of the plan. Adam wondered how things might have turned out differently if they’d elected to take the attack to the Hunters and the Leader rather than waiting things out.
Aramis recovered and grabbed his sword. He began stabbing, trying to puncture Adam’s skull.
That was Adam’s signal. He glanced at Angel, and she nodded. The tunnel was completed. Adam ordered his nanos to return through the tunnel in the ground, maintain the physical armor around Will. As his nanos entered the tunnel and left the surface, Adam saw the three faces of shock, and smiled at the stunned looks on the faces of the Hunters.
And then he saw Arthur’s face.
Arthur didn’t look surprised at all.
In fact, he looked like he knew it was coming.
~~~~~
Fil breathed deeply through the mask. His eyes watered slightly in the smoke, which made it more difficult to see. Thankfully, he was moving through his childhood home. Memories filled his consciousness with every step, and he knew instinctively where to move, the most efficient route to each of his targeted pickups.
The timeline was critical; they had to arrive after he and his mother had arrived in the basement, and leave before the Hunters realized where his father had been taken. Everything else—boring the tunnel, planting the time capsule, retrieving the items, checking the time machine for damage and recharging the batteries, getting his father into the time machine, and talking to his invisible mother and younger self—had to be completed in that timeframe. He wanted to walk around, to visit his old room, to march into his father’s upstairs office and scare the Adam from 2030. But he couldn’t. There was work to be done.
He found Will’s spare set of eyeglasses inside a hard case on the kitchen counter next to the extra ammunition. He offered quick whisper of thanks to his mother, wherever she might be, for setting everything out where could find them. He dropped the items in the backpack, and then saw the baseball he’d thrown into the Assassin’s face. He grabbed that as well. Some mementos shouldn’t be left behind. He zipped the pack up, threw it over his shoulders, and approached the man lying unconscious on the floor.
He’d kept his rage suppressed for a long time, well practiced by now at calming himself in the face of every adversity. He needed every bit of self-control to avoid exploding at the sight of the Assassin. The man lying prone before him had tried to kill him, and worse, he’d tried to kill his mother. And he’d stabbed Smokey. Who could stab a dog?
The worst part for Fil was the realization that, by transporting this man to the future, he was making the position available to Abaddon.
He’d known that at a deep level for quite some time, and had wondered why he’d drawn this duty. But it wasn’t difficult to understand. He’d resent Angel or Adam if either of them had carted the Assassin to the time machine. In doing the deed himself, he kept all blame for the deaths of Sarah and Anna at Abaddon’s hand to himself. Where it belonged.
The Assassin’s scarred face did little to calm him. He saw the man’s lip curl into a smirk. Was it his imagination? Or was this man mocking him even now?
He kicked the man in the groin, and watched as the unconscious killer’s body recoiled, watched as the phantom smirk vanished. “That’s for my wife,” he hissed, his teeth clenched. Images of Sarah’s smiling face, memories of her joyful laugh, the memory of her touch… all came back to him.
Then he saw Anna’s face, the child who’d been taken from him before she’d ever had the chance to live her life. Fil felt his face contort, and it took a renewed burst of focus to keep his Energy in check. He settled for slamming his black boot into the Assassin’s rib cage, hearing the satisfying cracking sound as ribs snapped. The man’s scarred face scrunched up, an unconscious admission of pain. “That’s for my daughter.”
He looked up, away from the scarred face, away from the body now quivering even in its unconscious state, to compose himself for what was yet to come.
Then he saw Smokey.
She’d been his faithful companion and friend through those early years. She’d tried to help them, to save them from the Assassin’s attack. Now she was lying here, bleeding, probably near death.
He stomped the heel of his boot into the Assassin’s face, smashing the man’s nose. The force drove has face to the side and knocked out a tooth, watching as blood spurted from the killer’s mouth and nose. “And that’s for the dog.”
He remembered a story his mother had told him in the bunker, a story about the amazing invisible machines that could follow his commands. Some of those tiny machines monitored his bodily injuries and aided his natural healing ability when necessary. When his mother had been nineteen, the other villagers attacked her and nearly succeeded in killing. His father had ordered those healing nanos from his own body into hers. That extra support had kept her alive and accelerated her full recovery. He did the same now for another family member in need, shifting his nanos to Smokey.
He glanced back at the Assassin. He didn’t see the man; he saw an obstacle to getting his dog to safety. Fil stooped down, threw the Assassin over his shoulder, and hurtled toward the stairs, moving into the basement, oblivious to the sounds of the Assassin’s body crashing into the walls.
~~~~~
Her father emerged from the tunnel inside Adam’s nano cocoon, the last bits of dirt and rock sliding out ahead of him. She announced a mass reversal to the nanos; they needed to carry dirt and rock and other debris back into the tunnel, pushing it toward the surface. With the command given, Angel allowed herself to look at Will.
It was the first time she’d ever seen her father.
She put her hand to her mouth. As excited as she was, the physical damage he’d absorbed horrified her. She’d seen the damage in Fil’s memories, had watched the Hunters’ blows rain down from Will’s own memories, had seen from her brother’s vantage point what the damage looked like.
Seeing it in person was something entirely different, though.
She could smell the charred clothing and the burning skin, watched as another bit of burnt skin flaked off. She felt every ache and stab of pain he experienced.
The most powerful emotion he emitted wasn’t the pain. It was the agony of a man who believed he’d failed those he’d care for most of all.
Angel sucked in her breath. Keeping the truth from him, knowing the relief it would bring, had suddenly become a far, far greater challenge.
~~~~~
Adam watched the cocoon-encased Will emerge into the basement. The dirt and rock still in the tunnel fell off the nano shield that had protected him from the attack and the journey through the ground. The physical trauma was apparent, and Adam forced himself to look away. The healing would begin, but the Hunters had been merciless. He wished he’d been faster, that he’d gotten the shield up sooner, to lessen the blows.
But they’d talked about it before coming. They knew from Fil’s memory how extensive the damage would be, and knew that if
they’d protected him sooner, the Hunters would be alerted to Will’s hidden assistants too soon in the process.
“I’m so sorry, Will,” he whispered.
~~~~~
Fil paused at the bottom of the steps. His father’s battered body emerged from the tunnel and floated toward the time machine. In that instant, all the mental anguish he’d felt, all the emotional trauma of being abandoned by his father… all of those feelings melted away. He smelled the burnt skin and charred clothes. He watched as the man struggled to remain conscious to prolong his mental punishment for his supposed failure to protect those he’d loved.
In that instant, Fil thought himself the most unworthy person in the world to call Will Stark his father.
He moved forward, kicked the back of the time machine, and hurled the Assassin’s body inside. He wondered if he should follow.
~~~~~
Adam maneuvered the nano-encased Will toward the time machine as Fil reached the bottom of the steps. Fil stopped moving at the sight of his father. The sunglasses hid his eyes, but there was no mistaking the emotion etched across Fil’s face. Fil slid across the floor, kicked open the back of the time machine, and hurled the Assassin inside.
In seeing the results of the brutal beating, Adam understood how much Will would do or suffer for his family. Years ago, he’d faced a critical decision point in his life. He could walk away. Or he could help Will, Hope, and their children.
He was proud of the choice he’d made.
He set Will carefully in the back seat of the time machine as he watched Fil sprint back toward the steps. Adam frowned. They didn’t have time for extra trips upstairs. Why was Fil going back up the stairs?
Aliomenti Saga 6: Stark Cataclysm Page 24
