by P. S. Power
Brian slowly started jogging back, not able to think very clearly for the pain in his head. It was pretty clear what had happened, if not why. He'd traveled in time. His power had sent him back here for some reason, which didn't make sense at all. He'd heard the story before and no one had mentioned the part where he was there. Bit of an oversight.
It took nearly five minutes for anyone to ask him what the hell he was doing, and that this a from a young man that looked like he didn't know if he should shoot Brian or get him to run away. Looking down he got it. He looked like a civilian, or his clothing did at least. Everyone else looked official though. Even the bad guys looked like they belonged here, all military and whatnot. He had on running shoes, blue jeans and a red long sleeved pullover shirt. He also had on nano armor and his knife though, so at least there was that. It made him a dozen times more combat ready than even the armed men around him.
He glanced at the man and shrugged, not knowing what to say at all. Finally he just repeated what Lancaster had told him to say.
"I need the General. Operation Principle. Tell him I said 'Purple mist', please."
"Because he's going to listen to me?" The guy was a corporal and probably had a valid point. He also sounded like he was about ready to run away himself. It was the right move, but not allowed. He was a soldier and it was his job to follow orders, even if it killed him.
"This is so fubar. So very, very fucked."
Brian could see he was visibly shaking and just nodded, his voice coming out in a low growl.
"Get me to the fucking General and I'll save your life. I can save all of you, but you have to make this work. Take me prisoner and start calling out 'Operation Principle' see if that does anything."
The man pointed the weapon and asked him to raise his hands as if it were a movie or something silly like that, or an old television show. The kid looked fit in an average way, Brian realized, not special forces hard or anything. Not old enough for it for one thing. He called the words out though, as they walked slowly, even if it did make them both seem ridiculous.
A slightly older guy stared at them as they walked, one that looked about thirty, who just shook his head and waved the younger man away.
"Go to the line. Dismissed." He stared at Brian as if he was insane though, shaking his head. Then he called someone on the oversized green walkie-talkie he had in his left hand. The words were almost in a secret language, but a minute later he asked for the code, prompted by a gruff and raspy voice from over the speaker. There was a low throbbing sound to the static, about ninety of them per minute. It was coming from the warping of space around them, he knew.
Tesseract's signature.
"Purple mist." He hoped that was right at least, otherwise they'd probably start shooting and there were a lot more of them than of him. Most of them were being herded to form a battle line, and from what he could see were about to start trying to fight. Just like Bravo Squad had. The results would be about the same too, no doubt. They had to know that, but what else were they supposed to do? Run away? It was a plan, but it wouldn't exactly look good in the morning paper, would it?
They walked quickly towards a cluster of vehicles behind the battle line. They were all green, a flat color that didn't match the terrain at all. It was about a quarter mile back though, so it took a while to get there. Brian looked back, able to see what was going on, even if the people involved seemed like ants. Tiny and animated, not making any sound that he could hear. Even the troops were silent to him, only the low rumble of tank engines letting him know that there were probably people using words on the scene. The three in the middle were obviously agitated, and one of them, standing in the other line, gestured, causing a wall of dirt and rock to form a berm, blocking some of the tanks from moving forward.
It was on what Brian always thought of as the left side of the base, at least what would be that side. They'd used it earlier in the year for a bomb some terrorists had snuck in to the taping of Mark's pilot episode. He hadn't known how it had gotten there though. That had to be the one member of Alpha he'd never met, based on the power. Earthling. She was supposed to be aggressive and angry all the time. They hadn't really grasped the idea of first modes yet, so they didn't know that her anger would eventually cause problems, they just thought she was bitchy.
The man with him, who didn't have rank showing at all, led him to the back of a truck where there were four men at the tailgate, looking at a map.
"Airstrikes?" One of them said, his eyes hard as he glanced at Brian and the other man.
It wasn't him that spoke. It was the oldest man, the one with a thinning hairline and gray hair at the sides. He was bulky, without being fat, reminding Brian of a bull more than anything else. He pointed at Brian and then looked around at the others.
"I need to talk to this man. Give us five minutes. Don't do anything until I give word."
They all just stood until for a few seconds, waiting for something to happen, or for the first one of the men to move. It was taking too long though.
"You heard him, go. Five minutes." Brian said it as if they'd actually listen to him, which worked for some reason he didn't understand. Probably fear. They really were all about to die if they messed up, which they all had to know at this point.
They left, glaring at him a bit as Brian went dead eyed, waiting for the other man to speak first. He was the man in charge after all. Brian was just some Infected guy from the future with a horrible headache.
"Operation Principle. I didn't think I'd ever hear that one used. So you're an alien?"
That got Brian to blink. It took an act of will for him to not throw off a line about how he came in peace. He'd been given the alien code? They had an alien code? What for? All the people from space that worked with the government? How bizarre. It had worked though. So far at least.
"No. I'm actually a person from the future. Infected like these others are. There wasn't a lot of time to come up with a better way to identify myself. It was probably what I'd used in the old records so that's all they would have given me anyway..." He stopped and shook his head.
"Not important. The thing is, I think I can get the main portion of those people to pull back. Otherwise all your men are going to die. I'll try to kill them if I can, but that's not what I was told had happened the first time. Then, no one mentioned that I was here for it either."
The other man just looked over at the scene and then back at Brian, his eyes looking tired and a bit lost. There were no protocols in place for this, were there? Not yet at least.
"OK, future man. What do you need?"
"A uniform, a military one, and for you to pull back. Just leave. One way or the other having you here will cost us a lot more than if you aren't. I'll get with D... with Less and Foggy and have them contact you when it's safe. Those are two of the people trying to stop the others. I don't know if you got that, but try not to lynch them. They're on your side. You can tell, because you're all still here. And alive." Unlike Bravo.
The man looked off at the field past the line and then picked up his radio.
"Retreat. Sound a retreat. Orderly, but quick. Pull back." He looked around and bellowed suddenly, pointing at a young man that was calling something out.
"Give me your clothes." It was a strange order, but to his credit the guy, who looked young and hard, rather than scared, just stripped, taking Brian's outfit in return. It was all a little baggy for him, and a flat green, but it worked well enough. They each kept their own shoes though.
"This should do it. Can I borrow a side arm? I'll return it, or at least leave it on the scene when this is over." The general had one, a forty-five with decorative silver plates on the handle. He offered the holster too, which took a bit to work around, but three minutes later he was ready and the ground forces were already moving away. Brian nodded to the man in charge and then shrugged.
"Less, Kevin Moore and Foggy, Rachel Chambers, they need to be in charge of rebuilding this mess. Put in a word for them. Without th
e IPB things will not go well later."
"Hell boy, who do you think I am? I'm just a general. I can't put in orders like that."
"No... But a future Senator can." Also the Vice President, but it was enough to get the man to look at him funny already.
Brian started running, a controlled thing, not wanting to be gasping when he got into place. He came from the right side, walking the last eighth of a mile, ready to kill himself if he had to, in order to take out Tesseract. He really needed a better way of dealing with the man, but in the moment it was all he had. If Earthling tried anything he could just shoot her. Braid and Know-it all, they were the real dangers. One knew what he was going to do before he did it and how to win against him, if he left a way. The other knew everything.
The only real problem there was that she was standing on the wrong side, aligned with Rachel and the much younger looking Moore. He thought it was her at least. She looked younger than the last time he'd seen her. Familiar too. Rounder of face than in her picture, young and pretty, but not in an overdone fashion. He hadn't made the connection before, but saw it now.
Brie.
Of course. He couldn't just have a crush on a real girl at a bookstore could he? He stared at the woman for a second, knowing that she needed to work her way into the other team, if she was going to be their inside man. Woman. He had no way to tell her this though, did he? She knew it all, if she bothered to pay attention to him that way.
Not understanding why he did it, Brian set the forty-five down on the ground as they all looked at him, only Braid looking scared at all. Stillness, looking very well kept and young, his hair a sandy blond instead of nearly white and looking way younger than the last time they'd met, stepped forward and held out his hand.
"Stop right there. Don't move." He looked smug, possibly a little arrogant, his power allowed him nearly total control of anyone. He didn't even have to talk to them to make it work, even though he did this time.
Brian was ready for it though and pushed past the command, barely hesitating. He had to after all, or else a lot of people would die that day. It burned a little in his head, in the area that caused him to want to follow the man's instructions no doubt, damaging him as he disregarded a thing that couldn't be ignored. There was nothing else to do for that, not if he wanted everyone to get out alive, so he raised his hands, ready to fight them all if he had too. Putting down the gun seemed stupid to him at first, until he realized the Earthling had to work away from her own body, or she'd be crushed too. It still wasn't brilliant, but not as bad as it might have been. He started towards the second line, ready to take them out if possible.
Know-it-all screamed at them.
"He'll kill us all!" She jumped to the side as if he was about to attack, making everyone stare at her for a second as she ran towards the enemy line.
"Tess, go, go!" The man didn't move, his slightly Asian features confused, until Braid started in too.
"Tess, you heard her! We have to escape. If we engage with him here we all die! There are no other futures except escape... I think..." The world started to shrink around them as he ran, trying to catch Tesseract before he got away. A single blow to the throat, or...
It didn't matter then, since they all shrank, growing smaller and moving back and forward at the same time, one image, but in a fashion his mind didn't really understand. It hurt to look at, but he needed to understand it, if he was going to ever beat the man in a fight without dying.
There was silence then, for a minute, until Rachel started crying. She was looking at all the dead as she did, Less putting an arm around her, looking at him though. After a bit they both did. Rachel was the one that spoke, which wasn't what he expected at all.
"Knowie... Why? She was with us the whole time, why did she run? Was it Stillness?" She said it to Less, but he didn't know the answer.
Brian did.
"Rachel... She has to go and infiltrate Braid's crew. She won't be in contact with you for over thirty years. Either of you. Or if she is, don't tell anyone about it. Freaking time travel..." He looked at both of them and then sighed. They really didn't seem to be getting it yet.
"Fine, look, I'm from the future and didn't really get to prep for this, because you," a single finger pointed at Less a little rudely. "Are an asshole, and didn't tell me about all this very clearly. Probably because I'm telling you this now... so now you can't mess it up in the future. Which I guess makes me the asshole. Anyway, rebuild this place and... Kevin? In the future, try not to be such a douche, will you? I know you can't help it, but man, it's annoying." Brian grinned at the fellow who looked totally confused.
"Sorry? I... who are you? How did you do that?" He waved in the general direction the others had been standing in.
Brian shrugged.
"I'm Proxy. Brian Yi. You won't meet me for a long time and when you do, well, it will mean that there is a real war coming. Stay ready for it. Both of you acted like you don't know me when we met. Meet, I mean. It won't be easy, for any of us, and I don't know how it plays out, just what happens to that point. Even at that I know my story, not yours, so, you know, other than the fact that you both have a lot of work to do for a long time and real lives to live as well, I can't tell you much. I wouldn't anyway, but this is easier, since I really couldn't anyway. Less temptation to cheat."
Then he turned and walked away.
"Wait! If you're from the future, why didn't you stop this?" Rachel sounded almost angry about it all, looking at the fallen dead that Brian was trying very hard not to notice.
Turning he sighed.
"A reasonable question. I don't have control over my power and have never time traveled before. Normally I just go and take the place of those about to die. Then I try my best to stop it. I got here too late to do anything about this part. I don't know why. If it makes you feel better, then blame me for it. It wasn't your fault. Neither of you. I should have gotten here sooner and stopped it, but for some reason I couldn't. That probably means that Braid would have won if I did. How that works I don't know."
Then he left, walking off into the distance. At about two hundred feet he called back.
"Moore?" He waited, to see if the man would answer, but he did, sounding a little sad.
"Yes?"
"Can you get that revolver back to the General that was in charge here? I promised that I'd see to that. You'll want to make friends with him. He's going to be important, and can help you two rebuild."
No one followed him, or tried to stop him at all as he walked off, Brian making a point of not looking back, stopping about half an hour later by a small tree to the right of the road. That was weird, since he recognized it. It was a lot smaller now though, only about ten feet high. He'd sat with his back against it before, propping him up as he bled to death after the Jackal fight. The second one. He did it again, if more carefully, wondering if he could get back to his own time or if it would have to be done the hard way, by living?
Nothing happened for a long time, so he finally got up and started walking towards town. It was only about thirty miles after all, which if he was careful, he could do in about five hours. That decided, he started jogging, wondering what the future was going to hold for him now.
Maybe nothing? He could survive in the past, he thought, if he was careful. It would mean getting a job, but he could do factory work if he had to. Maybe even go back to school and finish his math degree.
Dharma was running alongside him, not saying anything for a long time, just nodding along, as if to encourage him. She looked to be in yellow sweat pants and a tight white tank top, with shoes that matched his. Standard IPB issue in red and white. They got to about ten miles when she decided to actually inform him about what was going on.
"OK, Bri-bri, it's like this, you have to lay low for a while and recharge, then you'll go back. I'd guess a few weeks. On the good side you aren't a pussy. I know that if I was stranded in time like this I would have freaked the heck out by now. You're stronger than
that, so it's a positive thing. Kind of a break for a few months... er weeks I mean..." She shrugged.
"OK, I won't lie to you, it's going to take a while. You're kind of beaten up right now, power wise. Don't stress on it though. You'll recover and it will be fine. This is pretty wild though, isn't it?"
"Oh, sure. I know that it's exactly what I wanted to do for my vacation... Might as well though, right? I can camp out if I have to. It's what, mid-summer in this time?" Looking around that seemed right, but it was hard to tell.
"Later than that. Nearly September, so you're going to need to find a place to stay. Maybe we can find something in town? I don't suppose the soldier you got those fatigues from left some money in the pockets?" She grinned, as if that would happen.
There was nothing, naturally, not even dog tags.
Something would work out though. If he had to he could do the whole homeless thing for a few months. It wouldn't be comfortable, but it would work, as long as he didn't let himself get depressed over it. The whole thing was temporary, he reminded himself.
Unless Becky was lying to him again. She'd done that before to get him to keep going, hadn't she? It had worked too, mainly. If it was the case this time he probably wanted to go along with it then. Otherwise he'd be all sad and morose before he knew it.
The run into town took longer than he thought it would, but he was able to cool down by walking for a few miles and managed to stop sweating by the time he hit the outskirts. There was a small convenience store by the main road that he'd seen before, but never been into. It was a coffee place in his time, but the sign had the same name on it. Mary's. He went in, hoping that there would be some way for him to get some water. Maybe use the bathroom to wash up a little?
At the counter he saw a woman that didn't seem familiar at all, but looked about his own age, about twenty-four or so and had on clothing that would have marked her as a hippie if it had been a decade before, but now would probably just be unfashionable.
"Hi! I'm Mary. Can I help you with anything?" She glanced at his clothes and winced a little. It could have been the damp where the sweat had collected, but it could also be a military thing. If she identified with the hippy movement strongly enough, she might be anti-military.
