“And you learned that how?” She was finding it hard not to be interested in surviving here.
“Aunt Bethany had quite a number of “How To” books that I read before coming here. She thought they would help.”
“I guess so! I am amazed that you retained all that information. All I got prior to coming here was the basics on hand-to-hand combat.”
“Which you were doing pretty well before we came on the scene.” His compliment was surprising. “I have a photographic memory—if there is such a thing,” he added almost apologetically. “It’s one of the reasons I was picked for Black Ops.”
“A photographic memory? What I wouldn’t do for one of those! I have to study everything twenty times to retain even part of the information.”
“It has its strong points but not always. I never forget anything either and that isn’t always good.” He stared into space as his mind went over a memory, one he apparently didn’t want to share.
Riley moved slowly and set her bowl on the floor within Demon’s reach. He accepted the offering, gobbling down what little remained. After he had eaten, he sat down and lazily regarded Riley. His attitude was one of an emperor gracing a subject with his presence.
“What? No thank you?” Riley complained, “And I just bet you think you’re going to share my pillow again! Guess again, Buckwheat!”
The dog yawned, seemingly bored with her and the conversation.
“Now that I have the sheep, I am going to try weaving. There are some very basic loom designs that I can use. I’ve been carving a spindle and I’ll have to perfect that technique before I start weaving. It’ll take some time, but that’s something I seem to have plenty of.” He began cleaning up as he spoke. “I sort of gave up doing anything for awhile, just didn’t seem any reason to keep trying.” He turned away, intent on washing the dishes.
Riley sat there for some minutes before she spoke. “I guess it’s something we both should learn to do. If I’m stuck here, I might as well learn all I can.”
Nathan regarded her steadily. “What exactly did you do before you came here?”
“I was a botanist. I had just earned my doctorate when I applied for the job, and here I thought I was going to be making a great contribution to science.” Her eyes reflected the irony of the situation.
“I’m sorry,” he said again.
“I am too, sorry I mean. None of this is directly your fault. It’s just going to take some time to get used to.”
Guilt washed over him again, he could hear the regret in her voice.
“I wish there was something I could do to change this,” he motioned around the room. “I made the choice to come here—you didn’t.”
“Yeah,” she said dryly. “I know. I thought I was going on an extended research project. This is a little more ‘extended’ than I had bargained for.” She stood up and walked over to the rock basin he used as a sink. Filling it with hot water, she began washing the few plates they had used. He had even fashioned a dish rack of sorts for air drying the dishes. She had to give it to him, he was pretty inventive!
“I’ll let you have the cot and I can sleep on the floor,” Nathan offered gallantly, the cot being the only available bed.
“No, I was perfectly fine on the floor last night.”
“Tomorrow, I’ll find some poles and make you a cot like the one I have. I’ll divide up the sleeping room so you can have a space of your own. I’d rather you were closer at night just in case anything happens.” He left the thought hanging in the air.
That sounded ominous! “What could happen?”
“I have things pretty well set up for security, but there are always those unexpected contingencies. I would want you where I could protect you,” he explained, “and there is a small escape route through the back of the tunnel that we can use if it ever came to that.”
Under the circumstances, Riley decided, it would probably be the best idea. “Maybe I should make my bed in there tonight,” she commented. “I might as well get used to the set up around here.” There were other considerations, perhaps she could lose her bed partner if she was in the other room. She snuck a look at Demon, who curled his lip in response. She busied herself moving her bedding to the back room, opposite Nathan’s bed. The room wasn’t all that large, but she actually felt better being near Nathan. It had been pretty unnerving the night before and had taken her some time to finally relax, and now that she had a firsthand look at the wildlife around here, being closer to Nathan was definitely appealing.
Nathan finished cleaning up and came into the back room. Riley was already settled snugly in bed, tired from the long day and drifting off. He undressed and climbed into bed, staring at the rocks above him until he finally fell asleep.
CHAPTER NINE
Jonas Whitehorse fiddled with his hunting knife, tossing it from hand to hand as he considered the facts. Five plus years ago, his very best friend had disappeared from this compound. Jonas knew that Nathan hadn’t left by any of the security gates, he or one of his security people would have noticed. Unbeknownst to Ms. Collins or that freak Miles, Jonas had installed small security cameras unattached to the security system already in place. It was his personal backup system in the event the other went down. Only he and one other person on his team knew about the backup security system, and he trusted that person implicitly.
He reviewed all the tapes from the time Nathan disappeared and, though Nathan had entered the research facility, he had never left. He had disappeared and although Jonas had searched the compound thoroughly a hundred times, Nathan was nowhere to be found. Now the young woman was missing as well and the scenario was much the same as the previous event involving Nathan. Once again, Jonas had reviewed the security tapes over and over, and the only thing for certain was that she had entered the main research building a week ago and that was the last anyone had seen her.
Jonas was privy to most of the research facility’s secrets, but there were some places that he had never been allowed access. His suspicions had been aroused when the young woman had shown up, especially given her story that she was here for a new research project. He knew that wasn’t possible, but had refrained from saying anything. He speculated on the various possibilities but couldn’t come up with a viable theory for either one’s disappearance. Whatever was going on, Dr. Collins was at the center, and Nathan and Riley were somehow involved.
Dr. Collins had left the facility shortly after Riley disappeared and only Miles remained, finishing up on his end of the research before the facility was finally shut down.
Jonas studied the knife, perhaps it was time to visit Miles and extract some information…
* * *
“I tell you I don’t know anything,” Miles screamed for the tenth time. “Bethany is the one you need to talk to, not me!”
Jonas regarded his trussed captive. He had bound Miles to the chair, unable to move anything but his mouth. He had been this way for over three hours now and Jonas had patiently chipped away at his composure with subtle threats of pain and mutilation. How far Jonas was prepared to go depended on Miles and Miles’ ability to withstand pain. Jonas didn’t think it would take much longer. Miles had wet his pants a few moments ago and his eyes were glazed and bulging in fear. Jonas hadn’t had to hurt him yet, just the mere thought of what he was prepared to do had Miles cringing.
“Let’s start again,” Jonas began, “five years ago, Nathan disappeared. Where did he go?”
“You need to ask Bethany,” Miles whimpered, “I can’t tell you anything.”
“Can’t or won’t?” Jonas said softly.
Miles stared at him, full realization of what Jonas was capable of was pretty evident in his fear-glazed eyes. His shoulders drooped in defeat. “If I tell you, will you let me go?” He pleaded.
Jonas took his time answering, letting the man sweat for a little while longer. “If you don’t tell me, you can be sure you won’t live.”
Miles blanched, his face going even
whiter than it had been. “If I tell you, you have to promise me that you won’t tell anyone what I told you and that I’ll go free.”
Jonas casually flipped the knife over and over in his hand, making sure Miles watched every move. “You have my promise, but only if you tell me the truth. If I find out later you lied to me, I’ll find you and finish what I started.”
Miles nodded, clearing his throat. “Do you know what research we were doing here?”
Jonas dipped his head. “Very little. I wasn’t privy to your secrets.”
“Bethany found a way to bend time—the ripple effect. Have you heard of it?”
Jonas shook his head no.
“Basically, in lay terms, it means that time flows in ripples and Bethany found a way to bend that time and open it up. When Nathan got in trouble, Bethany sent him through to hide him and later sent the woman through as his mate.”
Jonas laughed derisively. “And you expect me to believe that?”
“No! It’s true. Bethany discovered how to bend time—but our funding ran out before we were able to perfect the process and no one wanted to put good money after bad. That’s what they said anyway.” His eyes pleaded with Jonas to believe him.
“Assuming I believe you, where exactly did they go?”
“They’re in the late Pleistocene era or Ice Age, in Eurasia, as close as we can estimate. Land masses were somewhat different then.”
“What made you decide to send the woman?”
“Nathan was losing it. Bethany was afraid he was going to kill himself or go crazy, and you know how Bethany is about Nathan. She came up with this idiotic scheme to send the woman back. I was against it! It wasn’t fair to the woman, but Bethany wouldn’t listen to me! She threatened to expose me if I didn’t help her.” He added miserably. “I wouldn’t have gone along with it otherwise.”
“So Bethany has something on you. That’s interesting. Maybe you should tell me what that is.”
“It has nothing to do with this.” Miles’ eyes dropped.
“I don’t know,” Jonas casually prompted, “it might make things less complicated down the road.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I still have to decide what I’m going to do with the information you gave me and I would hate to have this conversation again.” He ran the knife across his finger, blood bubbling up from the cut. Miles swallowed convulsively, blanching even whiter, if that was possible.
“I misappropriated facility funds for my own purposes,” he blurted out.
“How interesting,” Jonas commented softly as he studied the blood oozing out of the cut, “and I presume Dr. Collins knew about that little problem?”
“She did, and that’s how she coerced me into helping her. I didn’t want to spend the next twenty years in jail for embezzlement.”
Jonas nodded, working hard to appear sympathetic. “Totally understandable. I would feel the same way. Now, let’s go back to the disappearance of Nathan and Riley. If what you say is true, can they be retrieved from the past? What’s up with that?”
“No. Never! It’s a one-way ticket. We can send through but there’s no way we’ve found to retrieve anything that has gone through yet. We’ve been secretly sending equipment, food and communications to Nathan for the past five years and when it was decided by the higher ups that the facility was losing too much money, the decision was made to close down. Sending Riley was a last ditch effort by Bethany so Nathan wouldn’t be alone in the far distant past, so for all intents and purposes, they’re stuck there.”
Jonas attention was focused on the wall opposite for several minutes. “Is it still possible to send things through?”
“I don’t think so, not without Bethany. It’s hard to explain, but there are times when it is more propitious to send through, and it only happens once every so often. That’s why we sent Riley through on that Friday; the window was at its highest probability of success. We have sent equipment through on lesser times, but Nathan and Riley only went when the window was at its peak. I was supposed to finish up closing everything down before I left.”
“So it’s still open?” Jonas whirled on him.
Miles nodded, as much as he was able to nod, tied up as he was. “But I’m supposed to have it totally shut down by Tuesday.”
“When is the next best window?” Jonas stared hard at Miles, whose eyes rounded.
“You’re not thinking of going through, are you?” He croaked.
“Answer the damn question!” Jonas stabbed the knife into the wall.
“In about three weeks, give or take a few days. I would have to recalculate the parameters,” Miles’ breath exploded in a rush.
Jonas nodded, satisfied that he had all the information he needed right now. “Well, this session is done, but I’m sure I’ll want to continue sometime in the very near future. I’m going to untie you, but you’re staying locked in this room until I decide what I’m going to do with you. In the meantime, tell me what you need to work on those new calculations.”
“In here, you want me to work in here? All the information I need is in the research lab,” Miles protested.
Jonas took his time untying his victim. “Then I will have to go in there and make sure that’s all you have access to. Give me the code, or do I need your fingerprint to get in? Maybe I should just cut off your finger right now to save time.”
Miles grabbed the key from his pocket, sweat dripping down his pudgy face. Satisfied that Miles had no other keys or means to escape or contact the outside world, Jonas locked him in the room and left the facility. He had people to contact and a team to gather.
Miles sighed with relief. At least he would survive for now. He hated Jonas, had since the day he first came on board, and he knew the feeling was mutual. The man saw everything. Nothing escaped those eagle eyes of his or those of his teammates. Mr. Bad Ass and his team of lesser bad asses! He paced the room, considering his options, which weren’t looking too good right now. Maybe he should just go ahead and do whatever Jonas wanted. If it meant getting out of here in one piece, it would be worth it. Who would know anyway? Unless Bethany came back, there would be very little chance anyone else would find out. A small sneer twisted his thick lips. Who could say if he would even be able to formulate the exact calculations? Anything could happen!
CHAPTER TEN
Riley sat at the table, cutting long ovals from Nathan’s robe. Her stomach was cramping and she needed some personal items. His robe was the only thing she could come up with that fit her needs. She could have cut up the towels, but there were only two of them and perhaps he wouldn’t notice that his robe was somewhat shorter. Some things you just didn’t talk about or share. She had lost count of the days she had been there. Keeping track just didn’t seem important in the scheme of things.
Outside, a great storm was brewing. The sky had darkened and the wind picked up, the temperature dropping even colder as the storm blew in. Nathan became alarmed, expressing his concern about the amount of snow that had come down already. He left the cave a short while ago to tend to his small flock of animals.
At last count, he had four ewes and one ram, or they appeared to be sheep but could be goats for all she knew about Ice Age mammals. There was even a small horse, which she definitely recognized, Nathan was training as a pack animal. They were all penned up in a cave just south of this one and he visited it every day to water and feed them. He indicated that as soon as the weather warmed up, he would pen them outside during the day so they could graze and enjoy the sunshine. The ewes were pregnant and his little flock would double in size by the spring, if spring ever came here. Riley was beginning to wonder. Nathan assured her it would warm up but every day was like the last and so very cold.
She was learning to tan hides and both of them were working on perfecting spinning wool. Nathan was working on a basic loom, and he was sure they could begin cloth production at any time. Riley was hoping to find some wild cotton bolls when the weather warmed up and
perhaps they could weave that as well. Not having anything but leather and some felt was quite a problem. She never realized before how much she depended on cotton material or, better yet, paper products. Being a botanist, she might be able to come up with some basic paper and ink. Might as well put her knowledge to some use. She finished cutting out the ovals and stitched several layers together. Satisfied with her efforts, she put them away and cleaned up the telltale scraps.
Nathan entered the shelter, his face red with cold and his coat wet with snow. “It’s getting really bad out there and it doesn’t look like it will end anytime soon.”
“Are the animals okay?” Riley asked, concerned.
“Yeah, but restless. They can sense the storm and it’s making them nervous. I fed them enough to last for a few days in case I can’t get back right away.” He shook off his coat and draped it near the fire, rubbing his hands to warm them.
“Where’s Demon?”
“He ran off the minute we went out. Probably a female in heat somewhere. He’ll come back. He always does.” Though his comment sounded relaxed, Nathan looked worried.
“Well, that little horn dog!” Riley grinned. “Good to hear somebody around here’s getting some.”
Nathan’s jaw dropped and his face reddened.
“Wha....what do you mean?” He choked out, perplexed by her comment.
“I was teasing, silly. Hasn’t anyone ever teased you?” Her smile widened. “Why, I do believe you’re embarrassed!”
His face flamed even redder. “Sorry,” he growled, “but it’s been so long, I forgot what teasing was.”
Amused at his discomfort, Riley eased up. “Well, I hope he’s careful and uses the right protection.” She had grown used to the dog’s irritating ways.
Demon had finally accepted her somewhat. He no longer snarled or bared his teeth at her every move, at least no more than once a day now, and he was always happy to eat whatever she left and share her bed. His share was generally the greater half but no amount of pushing or prodding would gain her more room. Immune to Nathan’s commands that he get down and stay down, the minute the lights went out, he was back on her bed, angling for position. It was a tug-of-war which neither won, but in reality, Riley was comforted by the fact that he was between her and whatever might come through the door, so she grudgingly allowed his intrusion.
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