by West, Shay
This day went much like the last except for the bleeding, dying soldier part. Agnes would find it routine, boring even. Alex found it equal parts scary and exciting. Someone’s life was in her hands. Nothing like this had ever happened before. The only thing that came close was tutoring the students this semester. True, it wasn’t life or death in a literal sense but Alex knew that most of them were counting on scholarships to go to college. Failing high school wouldn’t exactly help those goals.
After cleaning up after a particularly bloody surgery, Alex was glad she had never considered going into the medical field. Dealing with body fluids had never been her thing. Being the curator of a museum was a cleaner line of work.
Suddenly, her skin tingled with an all-too-familiar crawling sensation that started at her toes and ended at her scalp. She fought the urge to turn around when she heard the murmur of voices in the hall. Alex continued checking the patient, hands shaking so badly she feared missing the vein as she tried to inject the elderly gentleman with his medication. She strained her ears, hoping to overhear what the men were saying, but they were speaking too quietly.
The voices faded as the men moved past the door and continued down the hall. Alex finally chanced turning around but the men were already out of sight. She bit her lip, unsure how to proceed. She needed to find out what Stygian was up to and at the same time, she had to remain out of danger long enough to stop him.
You gotta follow them, Alex.
Alex groaned at the sound of her uncle’s voice in her head. The last thing she wanted to do was follow Stygian. He knew more about traveling than she did and could probably kill her easily. Alex cringed as she remembered the time she had nearly lost her life. She could almost feel the pillow over her face, the sound of the blood in her ears as her body fought for air. Then she was floating in a black void and she had somehow managed to find her way back to her body. Gavin seemed to think this was part of her being some sort of special Traveler. Alex didn’t want to bet her life on being able to do it a second time.
Besides, if she stopped Stygian, her uncle was dead. But if she didn’t stop him, then her uncle and a lot of other people would probably die. She didn’t have a choice. She couldn’t allow Stygian to alter history.
Mustering her courage, Alex walked out into the hallway, trying to act as though she belonged there.
You’re a nurse, you idiot, of course you belong here!
That sarcastic voice that sounded a lot like Jenn didn’t do much to slow her galloping heart or stop her palms from sweating. Alex knew Agnes had patients down the wing the men had taken so she simply walked as though she was merely doing her rounds.
When she spotted the four doctors walking she slowed her steps, unwilling to get closer. She didn’t want Stygian to suspect anything. She was too far way to hear what they were saying but all four men were gesturing wildly and had their heads together. They clearly didn’t want to be overheard.
Alex wasn’t sure which one was Stygian. But she knew he was one of them. Her stomach roiled as though she would vomit any moment and her skin pebbled in goose pimples. Every instinct told her to run the other direction but the fate of the world rested on her finding out what Stygian had planned and stop him.
The men stopped just short of the room that belonged to Agnes’ patient down this hallway. Alex knew if she turned away, it could draw unwanted attention. But walking up to the men who had their backs turned could also get her in trouble. She found herself in a situation that called for a decision to be made in a split second. Another step and the men would be able to hear the squeak of her shoes on the linoleum floor.
Alex put on her best bland face and continued down the hall, steps quick and hurried like the other nurses would do while on rounds. She nodded to the men as she passed and continued on as though she couldn’t care less who they were or what they had been whispering about. Alex kept an even pace but it was difficult not to trot past them. She didn’t see how the men could stand the smell of the evil Traveler in their midst. The odor made her almost gag.
She entered the room of Agnes’ patient and did her job. She did nothing that would raise any eyebrows. Quick and efficient, giving a kind word to the lady lying in the bed propped on several pillows. Try as she might, Alex couldn’t hear anything the men were saying, even this close. As soon as she was done, Alex left the room exactly like she entered, mind on the next patient on her rounds and not on the men standing outside the room.
Alex could feel his eyes on her as she walked down the hall and she sent up a silent prayer that the men would not even notice her. Most doctors ignored the nursing staff unless there was an emergency. Her shoulders wanted to droop under the weight of the terror.
The next patient was in another hallway, which would take her out of earshot but there was no help for it. Hesitating or walking back would raise Stygian’s suspicions. He would already be on the look-out for her. Alex couldn’t give him any reason to suspect that she was the same Traveler who had thwarted every plan he’d had for the last few years.
“Oh, nurse. Could you come back here a moment please?”
Alex nearly fainted. A voice—his voice— echoed down the empty hallway. Her breath caught in her throat. Did she run and hide? Go back the way she came and try to convince Stygian that she was only a German nurse and not the spirit of a 21st century girl?
“Yes, my dear, I’m talking to you. Come here this instant.”
Alex froze in place. She had rounded the corner so it was impossible for Stygian to actually see her. She held her breath and waited for the voice to say something else.
“What is it, doctor?” a timid voice answered.
“I need you to come with me.”
“Of course, doctor.” The voice sounded terrified.
Alex tiptoed to the corner and peeked around. Only one man stood in the hallway and he was beckoning to a tiny blonde nurse. Her hands were full of fresh linens. She glanced around as though looking for somewhere to deposit the sheets.
Or looking for somewhere to run.
Even from down the hall, Alex could see her trembling from head to foot. She wanted to do something to help the girl but she couldn’t risk bringing attention to herself. Tears threatened to fall as Alex battled within herself. An innocent girl was in danger and yet if Alex failed at stopping him, the whole world would be in danger.
Stygian pushed the linens out of the woman’s hands and onto the floor. He grabbed her arm and forced her down the hall and into a room next to the one Agnes’ female patient was in.
Alex trotted down the hallway toward the room Stygian and the nurse entered. She had to hear what was said, even if it put her life at risk. The only sound she heard was the distant footfalls of someone in an adjacent hallway and raised voices coming from the room.
“I asked you a question. Why were you following me?”
The woman yelped in fright. “I wasn’t following, not exactly. Please, Doctor, I wasn’t eavesdropping or anything if that’s what you think. I couldn’t hear anything you said.”
“Then what were you doing hiding in the supply closet?”
The woman sobbed for a few minutes and said something that Alex couldn’t make out over the crying.
“Let me see if I understand. You were hiding in the closet because you had stolen some narcotics and were scared that we were on to you, is that right?”
“My mom’s real sick and needs the medicine for the pain. It’s the only way I can get it. Please don’t fire me! If I lose this job, we’ll starve.”
Stygian laughed. “I should fire you but I won’t. But I will be watching you and there will be no more stealing of medicine meant for the patients in the hospital. We’ll need it for our soldiers. Now get out of my sight.”
The woman’s footsteps drew closer and Alex realized that she had nowhere to hide. She ran to the sheets on the floor and began picking them up as though she had just come across them lying in the middle of the floor. Pulling on all the ac
ting skills she possessed, Alex mumbled under her breath, clearly angry at having to clean up someone else’s mess.
Alex turned to the nurse as she emerged from the room. “Did you leave this here?” She shook the wrinkled linens at the distraught nurse.
The nurse nodded her head and walked over to Alex. “It was an a...aaa...accident.”
“What’s all the crying about? Did you lose another one? You’re not to let your emotions get in the way of—” Alex stopped short as Stygian came out of the room.
“It wasn’t entirely her fault, nurse. I admit I startled her when I came out of a room behind her.”
Alex forced herself to meet the man’s eyes. She must be every inch the part of Agnes, irritated nurse. “I don’t see how a little scare has her all worked up.” She turned back to the nurse. “You better get yourself together. You have rounds to finish I presume?” When the woman nodded, Alex handed her the sheets. “I am at the end of a twelve hour shift and don’t fancy having to cover yours. Pull yourself together and be about your duties.”
The nurse nodded and moved quickly down the hall and disappeared into a room. Alex turned to face Stygian but the man was already moving away down the hallway in the opposite direction of the poor frightened nurse.
Heaving a sigh of relief, Alex left to finish with her last patient. Even though she had no idea what Stygian was up to, she may have saved an innocent woman’s life. Alex had no idea how many people Stygian had already killed but she guessed it was probably a lot.
Her last patient, a little boy being treated for leukemia, was fast asleep when she arrived at his room. Alex checked his IV bag and bit her lip to hold back tears. He looked so tiny and fragile in the bed. Alex wished she could bring something modern back to treat him. His chances weren’t good with the medicines available back in 1939. The name on the IV bag said Fowler’s solution. Alex didn’t know what that was but she didn’t think it would be as good at fighting the cancer as chemotherapy drugs.
She smoothed his hair back from his face and walked toward the door with a heavy heart. Alex stopped dead in her tracks at the sound of voices. One of them sounded like Stygian but she couldn’t be sure without getting closer. She crept forward on the balls of her feet so her shoes wouldn’t squeak on the floor.
It’s him!
According to Agnes’ knowledge of the layout of the hospital, the voices sounded like they were coming from a lounge area just for the physicians. Alex took up a position behind the door and tried to slow her breathing.
“Are you sure we’re alone?” a deep voice asked.
“No one is around. We’re safe. Now, did you have a chance to look over the notes I gave you?” Stygian asked.
Alex heard the shuffling of paper then a high-pitched voice say, “Yes, and we’re quite impressed. You’ve never demonstrated any interest in pharmacology before. And all of a sudden you come to us with a new compound that you claim can help Adolf Hitler?” The man laughed haughtily. “We weren’t aware that there was anything wrong with him.”
“I am privy to information that you are not. I’m telling you, Der Fuehrer is ill and will require this medication to win the war.”
More laughter and a third strange voice. “What war? No one is strong enough to stand against us. Our armies will wash over the world like a green tide.”
“You are fools if you think the United States will stay out of the fighting. They will come against us and we will fail,” Stygian said.
“I will not stand here and tolerate such words against Der Fuehrer.” A chair falling backwards and hitting the floor made Alex jump.
“If you want to win this war you will listen to me. Der Fuehrer has an illness of the brain. It’s in the early stages so the symptoms haven’t manifested as of yet. Do you want him going into battle without his full faculties?” Stygian asked.
“What is this brain illness? And why haven’t we heard anything about it?” asked the first man who spoke, the one with the deep voice.
“Are you mad? What do you think would happen to his support if the people knew he had a mental illness?”
“I see your point,” said the deep-voiced man.
“Do you have what you need to make the drug?” Stygian asked.
Shuffling papers. “Yes, we have everything we need.” A pause. “I have never heard of anything with these items. What is this medication called?”
“I call it L-DOPA. Now, you mustn’t tell anyone about this. Make the drug as soon as possible and give the finished product to me.”
“Wait. What manner of illness does Hitler have?” asked high-pitched voice man.
“His doctors think he has Parkinson’s disease,” Stygian said.
“I’ve heard of this. Are the doctors certain?” asked deep voice.
“The symptoms are subtle and Der Fuehrer takes pains to hide them but the signs are there. And this drug should hold the symptoms at bay so he can win the war.”
Alex bit the soft part of her thumb to keep from squealing out loud. She had read about this strange theory about Hitler last year in AP history class. She hadn’t thought there was much to it at the time since there was only circumstantial evidence but with what Stygian just said she wondered if it was true.
Does Stygian know for certain?
She didn’t know how he could possibly know the real truth. Coming back in time for a hunch didn’t seem like Stygian’s style or Poder’s. They had to have some sort of proof. Alex wished she had some way to get in touch with Gavin or her uncle. She couldn’t say why, but she felt it with every bone in her body that this was an important piece to the puzzle as to why Stygian had been traveling back in time.
***
Max Poder stood in front of the shelf that held the photos of his family. He reached out a shaking hand toward one of the pictures. Poder growled and shoved his hand behind his back. The picture that held his gaze looked so much like Hitler that Poder kept the picture purposefully hidden behind other nondescript pictures that wouldn’t raise an eyebrow.
It wasn’t Hitler, of course. Only a relative, Leo Rudolf Raubal Jr., who looked so much like the real Hitler that he would stand in as the Nazi leader’s double. Max Poder could trace his lineage to Leo, though his family kept it a secret. Poder had found out as a kid and didn’t understand why his family had changed their name and pretended like they were just ordinary citizens like everyone else. They had a legacy, a heritage, something that should be passed down proudly.
He had studied his ancestors, learned their proud moments and not so proud moments. The idea to restore how he felt history should have unfolded came about the same time he realized his gift, his calling. When he found out that he would train time Travelers, Max Poder knew what he had to do: search for someone who would follow his every order and embrace his ultimate plan to change history.
When Poder found Lane Stygian, who preferred to be called Drifter, he knew it would only be a matter of time before his family legacy would be restored to its previous glory.
The one thing he hadn’t counted on was a meddling time traveler and a specially gifted Traveler at that. He had been so sure Drifter had taken care of most of the Masters and their Travelers but he had obviously missed one very important one.
At least the girl’s uncle can’t interfere.
Poder wanted to throw something when he thought of the girl being almost under his nose this whole time. What were the chances that she lived in the current time rather than in the future or the past? He shook his head, trying to shove down the anger. And just when his plans were about to come to fruition, the girl managed to find out where he and Drifter were and told her uncle everything.
Max wanted to remain angry with Drifter for murdering the girl in her barracks. It had brought unwanted attention that he couldn’t afford right now. But framing Mark had been brilliant. The perfect thing to get the meddling Captain out of the way. The charges wouldn’t stick of course but if Drifter was successful back in 1939 Germany, it wouldn�
��t matter.
And his phone call to the meddling niece meant that his plan would come to fruition.
Poder chuckled and walked slowly back to his desk to take his medication. The tremor in his hands made it difficult to open the bottle of Sinemet, a drug combination to treat Parkinson’s disease. The disease ran in his family: father, uncles, cousins, as far back as they could remember. All the way back to Hitler.
CHAPTER 33
ALEX DIDN’T THINK she was going to make it through her shift the next day. She had experienced what she thought was exhaustion. Today, she realized that she in fact had not. Not even close. Alex didn’t think she had even slept an hour the previous night. Thoughts of Stygian giving Hitler medication to prevent the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease plagued her. Alex remembered her AP History teacher telling the class that some folks thought it was Parkinson’s that caused Hitler to lose the war, that he wasn’t listening to his Generals, countermanding orders, making mistakes. She had always thought that was oversimplifying things, but this latest development with Stygian had her wondering if Hitler did indeed have Parkinson’s.
She supposed it didn’t matter. It was her duty to stop Stygian no matter what he was planning. And that was the hard part. When she had traveled in the past, she had never had to worry about anyone else when she came up against Stygian. Now that her uncle was in danger, she wasn’t sure how to proceed. It was so tempting to let Stygian do whatever he wanted and claim that he got the best of her. No one would ever know.
Except her.
Alex sighed and rubbed her grainy eyes. She imagined this was what it felt like to be drunk. She had barely caught herself giving patients the wrong medicine. She’d never forgive herself if someone died because of her.
Uncle Mark is going to.
