by Marc James
“We need someone that can get inside Auschwitz, I can think of nobody better.” Jacob replied.
“But they’ll notice his age.” Chase replied.
Jacob laughed. “Listen, I don’t want to be patronising young man but I know what I am doing. You to my knowledge had an entire three field missions. The first of those I handed Mengele over to you, the second time you were kidnapped before losing your mind, and the third time you were shot. It would save us all time if you just did as you were told.”
Chase rose to his feet aggressively, causing Jacob to laugh again. “Young man, how many times must I best you physically before you realise that you can’t win?”
Sarah grasped Chase by the arm and he reluctantly retook his seat. “Why should any of us trust you? After everything you have done, you expect us to follow your lead?” Chase barked.
Jacob chuckled. “Do you believe you would have a better chance without me?”
Chase blushed. “I don’t trust you. For all we know you intend to get us captured.”
“Young man, if I wanted to kill you then I would just do it now. The simple fact of the matter is, I am the only chance that you have of saving your friend.” Jacob chuckled. “That isn’t arrogance that is a stone cold fact.”
“He’s right Chase.” Sarah interjected.
“Fine, we will do it your way.” Chase replied begrudgingly.
“That’s better.” Jacob laughed. He removed the wormhole generator from his pocket.
“I would like you to give that to me now.” Edward stated.
Jacob’s cold dead eyes zeroed in on Edward. “Is that so?”
“Give it to him Jacob; that was the deal.” Sarah instructed.
“And which of you is going to make me?” Jacob asked coldly.
Edward looked towards Chase, who looked down at his feet.
Jacob burst into a fit of laughter. “Do not worry, I was kidding.” Jacob got to his feet and handed the generator to Edward.
“You said May, 1969?” Edward asked.
“That’s right, he is in Washington County Jail.”
“Is May 1st alright?” Edward asked.
“Yes. It will be okay, Chase will go alone.” Jacob instructed.
“Why?” Edward asked.
“He is the only one able to get access to Von Braun. I have an arrest warrant out for me and I am not staying here alone. I imagine that Chase here would not be too pleased with Sarah staying here with me all by herself.”
“You imagine right.” Chase replied.
“Just show him what to do and he can come back here in a minute’s time.”
Edward reluctantly explained the machine to Chase.
“Will you both be okay until I return?” Chase asked.
“In sixty seconds there is very little that can go wrong.” Jacob smiled.
Chase disappeared into the light.
Jacob winked at Sarah, which repulsed her. “Do you even care about Bobby?” She asked.
Jacob chuckled. “I can’t say that I do.”
“Then why are you doing any of this?”
“I have explained my thoughts Miss Salmond, tell me why have you chosen to save a cripple from Auschwitz rather than save your own family?” Jacob smirked.
“Bobby is a great man, he’s worth a million of you. I’ve never even met this so called half-brother, for all I know it isn’t even true. You’re hardly a reliable source.”
“Yet for almost a year you based your news reports around what I told you.” Jacob laughed.
Sarah did not reply to this comment, Edward was trying to avoid eye contact with everyone in the room.
“Tell me, Dr Teller why are you doing this?” Jacob asked.
Edward reluctantly looked towards Jacob, his dead eyes made Edward’s spine tingle. “I’m fixing my mistake.”
Jacob burst into a fit of laughter. “Which one would that be Edward, you invented the atom bomb, you invented the wormhole generator, you essentially gave Abaddon everything he’s ever needed to destroy the people of earth. But here you are trying to save someone you don’t even know, I’d have assumed you would have bigger fish to fry.”
Edward stared at Jacob for a moment before answering. “It wasn’t me that nuked anyone, it wasn’t me that used the wormhole generator for my own personal gain. I am a scientist, the people who use my devices are to blame for their own mistakes. But it was me that sent Bobby to Auschwitz, I have helped to save both Chase and Miss Salmond, I will do the same with Mr Stinson.”
As Edward finished speaking Chase appeared back in the room, beside a baffled looking Wernher Von Braun.
“Another scientist for you to play with Edward.” Jacob laughed.
“Have a seat Dr Von Braun.” Chase said, ignoring Jacob.
Wernher sat beside Sarah and Chase took the seat that Faraday had been sitting on, leaving Jacob with a couch to himself.
“I’m feeling very unloved.” Jacob joked.
“So why am I here?” Wernher asked nervously.
“We don’t have time to explain this here, we need to get to my friends.” Jacob ordered.
Edward sighed. “So where and when are we going?”
“We are going to the diner on Main Street of Gibsland, Louisiana. I have arranged to meet them at 08:30, on May 23rd, 1934.”
Edward typed in the details while Chase stared accusingly at Jacob.
“Who are these friends?” He asked.
Jacob laughed. “You’ll see.”
“We aren’t going anywhere until we know who they are.” Chase barked.
Jacob glowered at Chase. “You’ve read the story of Jesse James, of how he lived and died, if you’re still in need, of something to read, here’s the story of Bonnie and Clyde.” Jacob smirked.
“The gangsters?” Chase asked, stunned.
“They’re good people.” Jacob replied.
“According to you.”
“Well, perhaps not good people, but they can shoot. Which is more than can be said for the journalist over there, and the two scientists.”
“So that’s your plan, shoot your way in and out?” Chase spoke with derision.
“Chase it is not my plan, but it doesn’t hurt to have a Plan B. They need help, just like your bonfire man did, in fact, it was you that gave me the idea. So I went to visit them, I told them how close they were to their deaths, and I told them to meet me at this diner. They will come with us, or they will drive a little further down the road where they will be killed.” Jacob smiled.
“Why would you even want their help for something like this?” Chase asked.
“One man cannot get us in and out, who knows what state Bobby will be in. I highly doubt that we are all getting out of there alive. It doesn’t matter how brave anyone is, or how good their intentions. The only things that matter is your ability to lie and your ability to shoot.”
“The generator is ready.” Edward announced. He got to his feet and walked clear from the couches, and the light then appeared.
“Are you going to kill me?” Wernher asked, trembling slightly.
“No, we just need your help, if you go through the light we can explain everything.” Chase reassured him.
“But I might still kill you.” Jacob chuckled.
“Ignore him.” Chase advised before scowling at Jacob.
Wernher nodded and did as he was asked.
Sarah went to go next before Chase grabbed her arm. “You don’t need to do this, we can do it without you.”
“I’m coming.” He reluctantly released her arm, and she too walked into the light.
Chase looked towards Jacob, who seemed to be on the verge of laughter. “What’s so funny?” Chase snapped.
“I don’t think she’s interested in you.”
Chase shook his head and walked into the light.
“Well doc, it’s just you and me left. I’ll see you on the other side.”
“Yes you will.” Edward replied awkwardly.
Ja
cob walked into the light and disappeared like the others.
Edward stared at the light for a moment, he knew it was his last chance to leave. He looked around the condo and wondered whether he should just rid himself of the wormhole and these people. He heard the key turn in the door to the condo and the sound of women’s voices, startled he decided to join the others in Louisiana.
Chapter 16
Bobby was thrown back into the tiny cell, each and every time this happened the stench hit him first. His throat was so dry, he couldn’t cope with much more and he knew it. He clattered into Emmerich and the door was slammed shut.
“Did he do the same again?” Emmerich asked.
“Yes, another bucket of salt water.” Bobby croaked.
“How are you feeling?” Will asked.
“Terrible, I can’t take much more of this.”
“We need to get out of this place, if we stay and do nothing then it’s just a matter of time.” Emmerich stated.
“It can’t be done.” Will replied.
“Of course it can.” Emmerich argued.
“I agree with Will, I don’t have the strength. My hip is fucked, I can hardly walk and I’m so dehydrated.”
“Bobby you won’t be able to drink much more salt water, probably a couple more days. At least if we try then we have a chance.”
“Bobby is right, I’ve been here for months, I don’t have the strength either. You just got here, so maybe you should try yourself.”
“I can’t do it alone.” Emmerich sighed.
“Why are you even in here Emmerich?” Will asked.
“I was a member of the communist party.” Emmerich replied his voice filled with regret.
“Emmerich, for your own sanity, you have to realise that you will not leave here.” Will replied.
“So you would rather just give up?” Emmerich asked indignantly.
“Look at us Emmerich. The three of us are locked in a cell that we can’t even move around in, I have only seen your face once when we were being fed. We have burns from pissing in our clothes and being unable to change. Bobby hasn’t eaten and has only drunk salt water for almost a week. How exactly do you intend on getting us out of here, how the hell can we even escape this cell?” Will raged.
“I am going to die here.” Bobby said, almost crying. If he had any fluids in his body he probably would have.
“So am I.” Will replied.
“There is still a chance for you Will.” Bobby advised.
“How do you figure?”
“You don’t die here.” Bobby replied.
“Why do you say that?”
“Because I’m from the future and I knew you, you will kill Josef Mengele.”
“You are delusional.” Will advised.
“I’m not delusional, you will one day work for me, but I will not know you.”
“Why not?”
“Because it is me from my past, this is my present.”
“So how did you end up here?” Will asked.
“I was sent through a wormhole, my best friends betrayed me.”
“Do you know me?” Emmerich asked hopefully.
“No, I’m sorry.”
“How do I escape?” Will asked.
“You will be liberated, when the Nazis lose the war. You will then devote your life to tracking them down and killing them.”
“So we are friends?” Will asked.
Bobby wasn’t sure how to answer that question. “In a way I suppose that we were friends, you did something and I hated you, for a while anyway. You redeemed yourself by saving one of the men that went on to betray me.”
“So what happens to me?” Will asked.
“I don’t know, I guess you are still in the sixties, or perhaps the seventies. Unless Faraday got to you.”
“Who is that?”
“One of the men that betrayed me.”
“So what did I do to him?”
“You raped his wife.”
Will did not reply.
“Bobby I think the saltwater is messing with your thoughts. You need to help me escape. My wife and child are out there somewhere, I cannot stay cooped up in this cell and just pray that everything is going to be alright. I have a responsibility to protect them.”
Will would usually have shouted down Emmerich, but the shock from what Bobby had said still rendered him silent.
“Emmerich I’m sorry but this is a death camp. People do not leave this place, we will not leave this place.”
Chapter 17
Faraday and Guy walked into the Auld Hole in the Wall, it felt strange to be back after so many years. The pub hadn’t changed a bit, although when they entered there was no one there except the barmaid. The left-hand side was the bar, the door opened into the middle of the pub, at both sides there were comfy couches, and at the right-hand side was a television hanging on the wall. Faraday noticed that Guy wasn’t staring at it this time. Instead, he was looking around the empty pub.
“It looks like you were right. That man did lie to us.” Guy stated.
Faraday considered the statement. “I think there’s a good chance of that. That’s what Jacob does.”
“What should we do?”
“Let’s get a drink.”
They approached the bar and Faraday ordered two pints. The barmaid was an attractive woman, perhaps in her early twenties. She had brown hair and dark brown eyes, she was slim and about 5ft 7in. She wore a white blouse and a black skirt. She smiled at Guy and Faraday as though she had known them for years. When she put the pints down on the bar, Faraday realised he had no British currency.
“I actually only have dollars.” He said apologetically.
“On the house, Mr Faraday.” She said with a smile.
“Are you a friend of Jacob’s?” Faraday asked.
“I am, my name is Scarlett. Who is your friend?”
“This is Guy Fawkes.”
Scarlett didn’t seem to recognise the name, but she shook his hand.
“Very pleased to meet you.” She said, in her Scottish accent.
“You too my lady.” Guy said, smiling back at her.
“So where are the others?” Faraday asked.
“The others are here as well, they suggested perhaps we should have a chat and get to know one another.”
“How many of you are there?” Guy asked.
“Well, I suppose there are three of us.” She replied, before pouring herself a glass of white wine.
“Only three?” Faraday asked, a little disappointed.
“How many were you expecting?”
“Well, the way Jacob said he had men on the ground, it made me think that there were quite a lot of you.”
“Shall we have a seat?” Scarlett replied, walking around the bar before locking the door. Faraday and Guy took a seat at the high table in the middle of the pub, facing the television, which was on the opposite side of the room from the bar.
“That television is even better than the one in your house.” Guy said, gazing towards the television.
“Yes they are much better than they were in the sixties.” Faraday agreed.
Scarlett took her seat opposite Guy at the table.
“So how much did Jacob tell you?” She began.
“He said that Abaddon nuked the Russians, Vietnam and Korea. He said that America essentially dominate the world and that Alex Salmond will be assassinated.”
“Well then you are up to date, we need guns first and foremost. I don’t see any.”
“Well, we both have two guns, so that makes four between us.” Faraday replied.
“That should be enough, I doubt Mum will need a gun.”
“Your mother is one of the three?” Faraday asked almost stunned.
“Yes, but she is getting a little old to be running around with a gun.”
“How old is she?” Faraday asked.
“Well, she’s only in her fifties, but she has had quite a tough life, she doesn’t want any more trouble.”
“Why is she helping then?” Faraday replied.
“She is a member of the SNP and she and Jacob are old friends.”
“I had no idea Jacob had so many friends.”
“Mum said you would be like that.”
“Your mother knows me?” He asked in confusion.
“My mother is your wife.” Scarlett replied.
“Jane?”
Scarlett nodded and smiled.
“So you are my daughter?”
Guy looked at Faraday thoroughly bemused.
“Mum said I looked like you.”
“Oh my God....” Faraday managed.
“I think you should give her a hug Mr Faraday.” Guy interjected.
Faraday nodded and felt incredibly awkward as he hugged his daughter for the first time. He hurriedly sat back down. “So how old are you?”
“I’m twenty-one.” Scarlett replied.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you.”
“Mum explained everything, you have nothing to be sorry for.” Scarlett smiled.
“You are beautiful, Jane did a good job raising you.” Faraday said in amazement.
Scarlett smiled. “She is a great Mum.”
“Where is she?”
“She is upstairs in the flat.”
“Is she alone?”
“Yes, Clint is in the office.”
“Clint Hill?” Faraday asked in surprise.
“Clint Stinson.” She corrected him.
“He’s alive as well?”
“Yes.”
“What about Nancy?”
“She died a few months ago, lung cancer.”
“I’m sorry to hear that. So how do I get to the flat?”
“If you just go up those steps towards the toilets, take the door on the right and head up the stairs.”
“Can I go and see her?”
“Of course.” Scarlett smiled.
Chapter 18
As they entered the diner, they received strange looks from the few people that were there. Jacob led them to a booth at the far end of the diner where a young man sat beside a young woman. They too looked stunned at the amount of people Jacob had brought with him.
Clyde Barrow was a young man, he had brown hair in a neat middle parting, he was slim and was dressed smartly in a black pinstriped suit, a white shirt and a red tie. Bonnie Parker was also young looking, she had blonde hair and wore quite a lot of makeup, and her lips were as red as Clyde’s tie. She wasn’t beautiful by any definition of the word, but she could certainly be described as cute. She too was well presented, she wore a black dress, with an ivory coloured jacket, and she also wore a white hat.
