A Question of Will

by Alex Albrinck

  Adam paused. “Somebody got them out of the house. We aren’t exactly sure of whom, or their motivations. We just know that they were never spotted again after that fire.”

  Will’s blood chilled. “Who else could it have been, though?”

  “We don’t know,” Adam replied. “But...we have an idea.”

  “Who?”

  “You.”

  Will blinked. “What are you talking about? I was getting beat up in the back yard, remember?”

  “No, not then-Will. Now-Will.”

  Will realized he’d stopped patting Smokey, for the dog nudged him, and he resumed scratching behind her ears, trying to process this concept. “So, you’re saying...I go back in time...and rescue Josh and Hope?”

  Adam nodded.

  Will slid out from under Smokey’s chin and rose to his feet. “When do I leave?”

  Fil’s jaw tightened. “You may wish to think this over and consider the ramifications.”

  “What ramifications? I have the chance to save my wife and son from certain death at the hands of a horrific assassin. There are no ramifications to consider.”

  “You could die in the process.”

  Will waved him off. “It’s a price I’m willing to pay.”

  Adam raised a hand. “Let’s consider this in more depth, Will. I think we’re all fully aware that you’re willing to pay whatever price necessary to save your family, but there are historical facts to consider. It’s not just that Hope and Josh don’t appear after that night. You don’t either.”

  “Which means I die while saving them, or I succeed and bring them back here.”

  “Which means you might die in a failed attempt, or not make it there to begin with. This time machine is not a heavily-tested device. Its first and only round trip was that very evening. We have no way of knowing if you’d make it there, let alone make it back.”

  Will swallowed hard. That meant that the three of them had risked their own lives coming after him, or at least after the man they thought he was. Adam was pointing out that he might die during the journey, or simply not make it there at all. He’d be lost, and for nothing. That was far less appealing. He took a deep breath. “I understand that. It doesn’t change my mind, though. The opportunity is there. I have to take advantage of it, despite the possibilities of negative outcomes.”

  “There is also another point to consider. Our present means that the past has already happened as it is supposed to happen. That is, The Assassin fails and Fil finds no trace of Hope and Josh. He does find The Assassin alive. That means that no one — including you — killed The Assassin before he could attack Hope and Josh. The Hunters survived to this day. That means no one went after them. The Hunters successfully attacked and assaulted you. That means no one interfered. That means, Will, that if the trip is successful in getting you back there, you mustn’t interfere with any of that. Do you have the ability to refrain from blasting Aramis or Athos or Porthos? Or teleporting to get your gun and shooting The Assassin on the spot? Will it be enough to get there, let The Assassin see them, and then rescue them to bring them back to this time, to safety?”

  Will hadn’t considered that possibility. He wouldn’t mind a shot at Athos and Porthos. Aramis might be dead by now, and The Assassin had helped him escape Headquarters, so there was less animosity there. But he understood: he couldn’t alter history. “No blasting of the bad guys. Understood. Are we ready yet?”

  “No,” Adam said. “Because there is one more scenario to consider. You make it back to 2030 safely. You rescue Hope and Josh from the house, getting them away from The Assassin. But the time machine fails. You cannot return here. History says that Will, Hope, and Josh Stark do not exist after that fire. How will you make that stay true if you cannot leave that time?”

  “We’ll go into hiding, we’ll change our names and our appearance, we’ll...”

  “You, personally, would have a massive target on your head courtesy of the Hunters, and your skills aren’t strong enough yet to continually escape their clutches or hide from them. They wouldn’t know that Hope and Josh survived, and as such would have no reason to look for them, with or without new names or faces. After all, The Assassin wouldn’t fail to kill a couple of humans, right? You, on the other hand, they do know about. They would know that you survived. They likely suspect that the Alliance, as it existed at the time, was responsible. They will throw everything they had into finding you. And if they find you...”

  “...they find Hope and Josh,” Will whispered. “I can’t let that happen. I can’t save them and then lose them again.”

  “If they had captured you, we would have some record of it; the Elites would trumpet the news everywhere. If you escaped them as you did here, they would chase you with ever-greater intensity. And eventually, they’d figure out who you were protecting.”

  Will was shaking his head. “No, I won’t let that happen.”

  “But there’s only one way for it not to happen in this scenario, where the time machines fails for the return journey.” Adam took a deep breath. “It means that you must actually die in that fire.”

  Will stared at him, jaw agape. Fil’s jaw twitched, which for him was quite expressive. Angel gasped in horror, and burst into tears.

  Will felt like crying as well. Though it seemed unlikely to matter — the ship had worked for one round-trip, and if he made it to the past there was no reason to think it wouldn’t work to return him — he had to consider the possibility. Adam’s message was clear: he could not live in that time frame after freeing Hope and Josh. They could mask their identities and forge new lives there, but Will could not. He must return after their rescue to 2219, or perish in 2030.

  “If that were the case,” Will said, his voice trembling, “it would mean I would get to hold my family one last time, to hear my son speak, to tell them how much I love them, and that I would need to leave them to keep the evil people away from them, from trying to hurt them again.”

  He paused, unable to continue.

  “You see the concern, then,” Adam said. “That is why I must raise this scenario. The question of you, Will, is this: are you willing not just to sacrifice your own life, but to take your own life, if the situation you find calls for it, in order to protect your family and leave history unaltered?”

  Will took a deep breath. “Yes. I am.”

  Adam nodded. Fil drew in a sharp breath, turned, and walked away, followed closely by Angel, who was crying with even greater intensity.

  Will watched after them. “Do they always get so emotional?”

  Adam watched them as well. “Few people ever see such a pure example of altruism or heroism, and certainly not to that degree.” He glanced at Will. “I don’t think they expected to be among the few who do. They went back in time to find their hero, and watched you become the man they sought. Today, you truly are the Will Stark of legend.”

  XXV

  Departure

  The preparation for the departure in the time machine was quite extensive.

  Will had assumed that he’d simply jump in, go back in time, rescue his family from The Assassin, and come back to this point. Thankfully, Fil, Angel, and Adam had completed a similar journey recently, and were able to walk him through the level of planning required for such an “easy” trip. He came to the conclusion that time travel was far too complicated to handle on a regular basis, and was happy he’d only have to go through it once.

  It was assumed that the Hunters had been lying in wait for him for quite some time. Given the sequence of events, they likely had camped out in the forest behind the house before The Assassin entered. They were expecting the historical Will Stark, and knew that teleporting in would alert Stark and allow him to defend himself. Everything that happened that night had likely been scripted to ensure that Will Stark, member of the Aliomenti and founder of the Alliance, would arrive at his home in shock, lose his concentration, and fall into a state of despair sufficient for the Hunters to subdue h
im.

  Therefore, Will could not simply arrive in the time machine and walk into his house. The Hunters would see him there — twice — and that would cause quite a bit of confusion. They’d attack the “current” Will and the original Will, still in 2030, would not be attacked and rescued by the Alliance trio. He needed to land somewhere away from them, out of sight of the community’s security cameras, but close enough that he could see when The Assassin entered the house. More than likely, that meant that he’d need to land the craft in the forest outside his nearest neighbor’s house, teleport into his house, wait until The Assassin began his attack, and then rescue Hope and Josh.

  Adam had spoken with the Mechanic, whom Will had heard mentioned before. The Mechanic, as it turned out, had been the one controlling The Assassin since the killer had arrived in the future. The Mechanic noted that under his questioning, The Assassin stated that he had been unaware that Josh and Smokey existed. The boy had attacked him to stop The Assassin from killing Hope, Hope had attacked the man to prevent him from hurting Josh, and Smokey had bitten the man with great fervor after The Assassin had thwarted his human combatants. After The Assassin had managed to stop the attacks, the mother and child had vanished from his sight. That suggested remote teleportation, which was an incredibly advanced Aliomenti skill. It meant he’d need to surround both of them with Energy and then picture them moving to a new location, presumably the forest where the time machine would be sitting. That effort would drain most Aliomenti of Energy completely.

  He needed to stay out of the basement of the house, as that was where the trio had arrived for their rescue mission. It sounded as if Hope had initially hidden Josh and Smokey upstairs, probably in the boy’s room. That meant that Will would need to observe The Assassin enter the house, teleport to his bedroom, and wait until sounds indicated that The Assassin had thwarted the attacks of Hope, Josh, and Smokey. He would then need to teleport back to the time machine and remotely teleport Hope and Josh to him. He’d need to convince them to get into the craft to escape very quickly, because the Energy depletion would likely exhaust him to the point of needing sleep. Fil suggested that his tree recharger technique might help, which Adam and Angel both agreed was a good idea. The plan, if executed correctly, would not alter the recorded events of history, nor the memories of the Hunters, the trio, The Assassin, or Will himself.

  He was provided with a full allotment of general-purpose nanos, in the event that something went wrong and he’d need to shield the three of them after depleting his Energy with the remote teleportation effort. They’d not gotten any indication of the Hunters’ experience of the events of that night, but it was certainly possible that Porthos might detect the remote teleportation Energy surge coming from nearby, and move to investigate that after Will disappeared from sight. No doubt the Hunters would be immediately on the alert for any Energy readings and suspect the Alliance of masterminding Will’s rescue. Thus, Will needed to move very quickly in terms of getting his passengers into the craft. The most efficient approach would be to teleport them directly into the machine.

  The craft was simple to operate. It had the calculated date, time, and position coordinates locked in so that he’d arrive at the designated area of his own community with time to observe the arrivals. They’d coded the machine so that it would return to the year 2219 roughly five minutes after it was expected to depart. The Mechanic set the machine up so he’d simply hit one of two buttons. The Depart button would seal the vehicle for the trip, warm up the engine, and then depart for the past. He’d have about thirty to sixty seconds between hitting the button and the machine moving to the new time. The Return button would work in the same fashion, so he’d need to be prepared to defend the craft from the inside if the Hunters found him before the craft jumped forward in time.

  Adam quietly asked Will if he had the gun. Will nodded. He knew the circumstance under which he’d need to use the weapon. He preferred to take the positive viewpoint that it would be unnecessary.

  And finally, it was time to go.

  Will climbed into the vehicle. He was about to become a time traveler. If all went well, he’d be sitting in this exact spot in less than ten clock minutes, springing the hatch and watching his son jump out to reunite with his dog. Smokey had shown tremendous emotion at seeing Will after so many weeks. He couldn’t imagine how the dog would react upon seeing her greatest friend.

  Adam walked up to him. “Will, I just wanted to wish you luck on this journey.” He held out his hand, and Will shook it. “I want this mission to succeed, and wish I could go with you. But unfortunately...well, you know.” Will nodded. They’d discussed the logic of having someone go with Will, but realized that two people would generate more Energy and attract the notice of the Hunters more quickly. And he certainly couldn’t take more than one anyway, as the craft only held four people. Will had argued that the risk was his alone to take, and that had ended the discussion.

  Adam released the handshake. “I greatly admire you, Will. I always have. Few men have the courage to face the unknown, and immense danger, with no thought to their own safety. Your family...they have to be the most fortunate people who ever lived. I hope I’ll get to be counted among their number in the future.” He smiled, and stepped away.

  Angel came next. She looked at Will, and the tears started. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be crying. Simple thing to do, right? We did the same thing not that long ago. The machine worked, we got our man here safely. It will work out the same for you as well.” She wiped her face dry with a sleeve, and then leaned over and hugged him.

  Will was truly touched at the affection the young woman had shown him during the time he’d known her. “You’re a wonderful young woman, Angel,” he said. “I’m glad you’ve become part of my life. You’ve been the family I’ve thought lost all this time, and I can’t thank you enough for that.” He smiled. “I’m looking forward to introducing you to my wife and son shortly.” Angel smiled at him. “Oh, and Angel? Tell your brother to relax a little bit.” He smiled, and Angel laughed, stepping aside.

  Fil stepped forward. As always, his face was a mask, his eyes hidden behind those mirrored sunglasses. The man opened his mouth to say something, thought better of it, and closed it again. He simply held out his hand, and Will clasped it.

  “So...looks like you’ll get your wish for a while.” Will looked the man directly in the eyes, his expression neutral.

  Fil frowned. “What wish is that?”

  “You’ve considered me to be a great risk to this community since you brought me back here. I’ve not helped to change that thinking, I’m sure. Now I’m heading into the past, and there’s a very real chance that I won’t ever return.” Will tapped the gun. “So you’ll have your safety, and I may be dead and gone.”

  Fil’s face reddened. “I have never wished for your death,” he snarled. “You’ve been a risk to our community, to be sure, but if we’d thought the risk not worth it, we never would have used an untested time machine to go back in time to save you, would we? No, we would have left well enough alone, and left you to the Hunters. They would have finished you off. You’re completely wrong about me.”

  “Am I?” Will asked. “Then why is it that other people have tried to teach me and train me so that I can learn how not to be such a risk? Why do they try to make me feel at home? Why is it that you, and only you, seemed to only find my faults and see only the risk? I never asked for any of this, Fil. All I ever wanted to do was go home to my family. Until yesterday, though, this had become my home, and the people here my family. You’re the only one who has consistently pushed me away. And before I go risking my life on multiple levels to save the people in the world who mean the most to me, I’d really like to know what is I’ve done to you that makes me deserve such treatment.”

  Fil’s face tightened, and his teeth were clenched, as if responding was the greatest effort of his life. “It’s different with me,” he said, his voice quiet. “My view of Will Stark was n
ot the same as the rest of the people you’ve met here. The rest of them, they know the legend, the greatest practitioner of the Aliomenti arts, defender of humanity, the man who fights the Elites for true freedom for our people. But for me, Will Stark was the most selfish man who ever lived.”

  Will’s face fell. “What? Why?”

  Fil ignored him. “When we had to risk our lives with the time machine to rescue you, it was a kick to the gut. Why was I risking my life to save this man, this selfish man so heavily glorified by others? It was wrong. And it seemed I was proved right. You figured out how to grow your Energy faster than anyone has ever done. Yet you never told any of us how. You were careless and caught the attention of the Hunters, and my sister nearly died because of it. Yet Adam says that we’re supposed to blame ourselves for failing to train you adequately. To me, the extra training wasn’t what was relevant; for you, selfish man that you are, no amount of training would make you apply what you’d learned, because you wouldn’t think to do something for the benefit of others.”

  Will started to protest, but Fil held up a hand. “Why did I think that? Because I knew that, if our mission to rescue you was successful, a good man would want to go back in time and rescue his family. Not just rescue them, but be with them. With his wife, a wonderful woman who deserved the best husband the history of the planet could offer. He should have been there spending time with his son, as it always seemed he wanted to do, to help that little boy discover himself and grow into a man. Yet you didn’t do that, did you? The technology was there, and you didn’t do a thing with it. The only explanation I had was that you were selfish, that you didn’t want to waste your new abilities for those people, and especially not for that little boy, the one who never spoke, the one who wanted to be able to tell his father that he was his hero and that he loved him. But you weren’t there.”

  “I don’t need to listen to this!” Will shouted. “Here I am, ready to risk my life to go do exactly that! Why on earth would you prejudge me like that?” He shook his head. “I’m going to go take care of the people who need me most.” He punched the Depart button, and the top closed. He could hear the engine warming up.