The Pocket Watch

by Michael Shaw

  My eyes remained fixed on the screen. Every time I used the watch, Eclipse saw it. With eyes unwavering, I lifted my glass of water to my lips and drank.

  “We know about the pocket watch, Jonathan.”

  I placed the cup down. “How?”

  “Relax.” He held a hand up. “I assume you’ve grown an… attachment to it. Correct?”

  I slid my hand into my pocket. My fingers crept up onto the cover of the pocket watch. Something happened then that hadn’t before. I felt a spark. Something like a jolt of energy up my arm. A weaker version of what usually happened when I pressed the button. I blinked and ignored it.

  “If you would, may I see it?”

  I hesitated.

  “Jon, when you sent that signal yesterday, you immediately sent another one from five miles away. What you have is of interest to Eclipse.”

  I slowly took the pocket watch out. “You want me to help you?”

  He nodded.

  I hesitantly conceded, handing him the watch. “And you would believe in something as crazy as time travel?”

  He smiled.

  I waited for him to respond.

  He lowered his free hand to the table. In front of him sat his glass, from which he hadn’t taken a single sip yet. He ran his finger around the top of the cup. “When something is real,” he gripped the glass, “you don’t have to question whether you believe in it or not.” He lifted it in front of me. “It just is.” He tilted the cup. “It becomes a silly question. For instance: do you believe this glass will break if I throw it against the wall?”

  I raised an eyebrow. “I see what you mean.”

  He grinned.

  “But I would only know that the glass would break,” I continued, “if I had seen it done before.”

  His countenance dropped just a bit.

  “So, how do you know that this can time travel?” I asked. “Because of your little powerpoint there?” I shrugged. “Some dots on a map?”

  He slowly put the cup back down.

  “There’s something you’re leaving out, Donald,” I persisted. “How did you already know what this watch can do?”

  He ignored the question and turned his attention to the pocket watch. “I’m assuming that the button activates the time stop?”

  I watched him closely. “Yes…” I remembered that it only had two percent left. “But I’d guess that it has about one use left. I don’t know how to charge it.”

  “Has anyone else tried to use it?”

  “No.”

  He glanced up at me, and without warning, pushed the button.

  “Wait-”

  He put a finger up. Nothing happened. Or maybe something had. If he had paused time, I wouldn’t be able to tell.

  “Not only do you have an attachment for the watch,” Donald said, peering down, “but it seems it has an attachment for you as well.” He opened the cover. “At this point, you’re the only one who can use it.”

  I turned my hand over. The veins on the back of my hand had now become crimson, like most of the rest of my arm. Could that be what this was? The pocket watch had attached to me as a user? “Okay. You know about the watch,” I admitted, “but what’s this all about?”

  “I don’t know what you’re doing, Jonathan, but you’re chasing after something, correct? Money? Is that it?”

  “Well, I’m not in the best place financially, sure,” I admitted. “But that’s not what I’m really searching for.”

  “Then what are you going after? What do you need?”

  I knew Donald was about to ask for something in return, but he was right about my situation. I knew exactly what I needed. I’d been trying to pursue it this whole time. I needed a way to find out who killed my parents, and I needed to figure out how to charge the watch and use it to stop him.

  I remembered the card that had fallen out of the back of the pocket watch. The one with the names on it. “Well, based on my history with Hunter Calhoun, I know Eclipse is pretty good at finding people.”

  “Yes.”

  I pulled the circular business card out. “George Ashe and Steven Edward.” I flipped it around. “This is a top priority to me right now.” I put the card on the table. “I need to find Steven Edward.”

  He picked it up. “A colleague of your father’s?”

  “Do you know about my father?”

  “Of course I do. Quite tragic.” He glanced up at me.

  “Steven Edward could have the answers I’m looking for.”

  “And we will find him for you.” David put the card in his pocket. “Anything else?”

  I didn’t understand. Why would he help me with all of this? When was the catch going to come in?

  “You don’t have any money,” he declared.

  “Well-”

  “You can’t pay for your Mark, and you probably don’t have any home or means of transportation. Correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “We can help you with all of these things,” he grinned.

  “Okay, then hang on a second.” I put my hands on the table. “Just cut to the chase. What do you need from me?”

  Donald inhaled deeply. “You’re the only one who can use this time device, so you are exactly the man we need right now.” He held the watch in front of him. “Because of your father, I’m assuming you know about Luna Corporation.”

  “I do,” I replied.

  He looked off to the side for a second, then chuckled.

  “What?”

  He brought his eyes to me. “Well, Jon, I can’t believe I’m telling you this, but I think Eclipse needs you to break into their headquarters.”

  “What?”

  “I can’t explain to you all the details. I hope you respect that.” He rubbed his hands together. “But I’ll give it to you short. We try to keep what we do very hidden, but because of recent complications…” he hesitated, as though he were about to tell me what those complications were, “Luna has gained access to a video file that was not meant for their eyes.”

  “A video?”

  Donald nodded.

  “This is about a video.” I raised an eyebrow. “Just a video.”

  “The word just makes this seem minimal, which believe me, it’s not.”

  “A video of what?”

  Donald pressed his fingertips together, exhaling through his nostrils. “You’ve seen some of what we do here, Jon.”

  “Certainly not all, it seems.”

  “Granted,” he replied. “Nonetheless, you know that Eclipse works outside the boundaries of the law in many areas…” He looked me in the eye. “And if Luna reveals that we even exist, everything we’ve worked toward would be compromised.”

  “Then why haven’t they surfaced this video already?”

  “Luna’s a computer company,” he replied. “My hope is that it’s just not of interest to them.”

  I looked down at the table, shaking my head. “That just doesn’t make sense.”

  “Well, only a few have access to it. Somehow, a man by the name of Howard Miller acquired the file.”

  My eyes shot up at Donald. “Howard Miller…”

  “Yes, and it seems he’s shared it with a few subordinates.”

  My fingers pressed down hard on the table. David Kemp and Jacob Richards. This vague mission had suddenly become much more interesting to me.

  “We need you to use that device of yours to pause time, and infiltrate Luna. You’ll need to retrieve and eradicate all traces of the file.”

  I took a deep breath.

  “Luna is very successful in its industry, and given your connection to them, I hope you’ll still consider helping us.”

  “I’d be running right after my pursuers,” I realized aloud. “Again.”

  “You’re running from Howard Miller?”

  I closed my mouth, unsure about how to respond. At this point, I was trusting everything to these people. But how much could I tell them? I sighed, “He’s not the only one.”

  “Su
rely, though, there must be something to gain from coming in proximity with him again.”

  I began to shake my head “no,” but Donald’s statement made me think back. On the Aurora train, David had used that odd claw device to open the watch. And so far, that was the only way I knew how to safely access the inside of it. He had lost it on the train, but what if there were another one? Did he have access to other tools that I could use?

  I noticed Donald waiting for a response. “Perhaps there might be something to gain,” I admitted.

  “I understand how sudden this all is, Jonathan.” David leaned forward. “But you understand more than anyone else,” he handed me the watch, “time is a scarce commodity.”

  I took the pocket watch back. It gave me a shock, but no memory. All this made me wonder what I was getting into. Here I sat inside Eclipse’s walls, and I felt like I still knew nothing about the organization. But they were my only way to get the answers I needed. “If I do this, you’ll find Steven Edward for me.”

  “I’ll do everything I can.”

  “And money?”

  “Settled.”

  I ran my hand through my hair, thinking it through. I suppose this is my only option, now. How else will I compensate for my Mark? How else will I find Steven Edward? I put the watch in my pocket. “I think that this can only pause time once more, for ten minutes.”

  “Ten minutes is more than enough time,” he assured me. “And face it, the only way to re-power that watch may be behind those walls.”

  I tapped the top of my leg, my fingers sitting directly over the watch, and I wondered if I could do it. I looked at myself and saw a young, untrained kid who just graduated from college. “Run back to your quiet life in the suburbs,” David’s voice echoed back and forth within me. Was I ready for a job this big? I looked up. Donald certainly thought I was.

  “What do you say, Jon? We’re even sending a team with you.” He reached out and offered his hand to me.

  I looked at his hand. “Do you really think I’m someone who could pull this off?”

  “You’re not just a man for the job, Ashe.” He grinned. “You’re the man for the job. We’re counting on you.”

  I looked into his eyes, then back at his hand. If I pull this off, I wouldn’t be that “kid” anymore. I’m the only one who can do this. They need me. I took a deep breath. And if I do it, I could find the answers to all my questions. After a long moment of thought, I reached forward and shook Donald’s hand.

  His eyes glanced at the veins on my hand.

  I quickly brought it back to my lap. “What’s this you said about a team?”

  ∞

  “No. That makes no sense,” Hunter pleaded.

  Donald had brought us into an equipment room. Apparently the first person on my team was Hunter Calhoun himself.

  “You knew this was the plan, Calhoun.” Donald handed him a satchel.

  I sat in a chair next to the wall, watching them awkwardly.

  “Yes, but I didn’t think you would send me.” Hunter took the satchel and put a hand on his own chest.

  Donald looked at me, a tired look on his face.

  “Maybe I should be flattered or something,” he went on, adjusting the strap on the bag, “but we are seriously not qualified to do this job.”

  “Use the Midas gloves, Calhoun. You’re one of the few who can operate them well.” Donald stood up straight, facing him square. He handed him a sheet of paper. “You’ve become the strongest with those gloves, “ he peered at him condescendingly, “even though you’re skinny as a rat.”

  “I’m not a rat…” He murmured, giving Donald a look of contempt. But after taking a second to close his eyes, he eventually took the paper. He scanned the front. “This is our team?”

  Donald rubbed his head in irritation.

  “You’re sending a group of scrubs on a suicide mission-”

  He suddenly grabbed Hunter by the collar and shoved him against the wall.

  I gripped the arm rests to my chair. It had shocked both Hunter and me. The room entered into an eerie silence.

  Hunter grunted and dropped the paper. It floated down to the floor.

  “You don’t get it, do you, Calhoun?” Donald seethed through gritted teeth. “That’s exactly why I’m sending you.”

  In front of me was a Donald Lane that I had not yet encountered. My fingers stayed tightly wrapped around the arm rests.

  Hunter swallowed and let his mouth hang open. Eyes wide.

  “You are expendable. You are dead weight.” Donald grabbed him with his other hand, lifting him up. “If you die, I will not care. I will not bat an eye. I cannot afford to send anyone else through Luna’s door. And so I am sending you four. Got it?”

  Four. Only four?

  Hunter could only nod once before Donald dropped him to the ground. He rolled over and grabbed the paper, wrinkling it in his grip.

  Donald turned around and adjusted his glasses, staring at the floor. “Remember what happened to your cousin, Calhoun.”

  Hunter slowly rose back up to his feet, leaning against the wall for support. Breathing heavily.

  I kept my hands wrapped around the arm rests, making my knuckles white.

  Donald’s eyes rose to mine, as though he felt my gaze upon him.

  He and I kept eye contact for a long, drawn-out moment.

  “I apologize for that, Jonathan. But I’d rather be candid with you. Despite our arrangements, this is still a dangerous mission.”

  “I…” My eyes glanced over at Hunter. “I understand.”

  Unblinking, Donald stared into my eyes. “Go back through the portal. Get a hotel. And get ready to do your job.” He looked both of us up and down. “And take a shower or something.”

  ∞

  Before we left, the silent man who had given me my new Mark provided my new passport and license. We walked through the large room once again, and I saw the two men that had frisked me. They were printing out a set of blueprints.

  “What’s that?”

  “Come on,” Hunter mumbled.

  I followed him closely. “What happened to your cousin?”

  No answer.

  Hunter was quiet while we walked through Eclipse. He didn’t say a word. It was always unusual when Hunter didn’t speak. But after the conversation he had with Donald, I guess I understood.

  I scratched the back of my hand. It was starting to itch again, but it was only a slight irritation. Ever since the red veins had appeared, they had spread along my arm, but they stopped midway up the bicep.

  I knew time had passed. I knew things had changed. But throughout this whole day, I kept wondering if I could really trust Hunter again.

  “Your hand itches?” He asked.

  I stopped scratching it. “Yeah.”

  He peered over at it. “From the watch?”

  I held my hand in front of me, fingers extended. “You got it…”

  Thinking of the pocket watch, I once again did what had become my new habit. I put my hand in my pocket. I held it. And for the third time today, I received a painful surge through my arm. Without pressing the button, I felt a small-scale version of the flash. And again, here at Eclipse, it did something that it didn’t usually do without my pressing the button.

  The watch brought me through another one of my memories, reminding me how much I’d really been trying to keep them suppressed.

  I hated this pocket watch. But what killed me was that Donald was right. I had grown more attached to it than I could handle.

  Chapter 19

  December 2038. I walked through the front yard of my house. Light flakes of snow fell around me. I wore dark gray jeans on my legs, and a short sleeve shirt. My school book bag was slung over one shoulder. I looked up to the sky. Thick clouds filled the space above. My sneakers fell on soft grass with each footstep. I came up to the front door. Something stuck out from the bottom. It was white. The edge of an envelope.

  I unlocked the door and opened it, revealin
g the whole white sleeve. It sat next to my feet. Blue ink on the front. I bent over and picked it up. Something heavy was inside. “I’m sorry,” the front of the envelope read. I peered over my shoulder, looking out across the subdivision, and entered the house. I closed the door behind me.

  The envelope was sealed. I ran my key through the top to slit it open and tilted it toward one hand. The heavy object slid out and coiled up in my open palm. A golden necklace. My mother’s necklace.

  Something else was inside. I kept the envelope open with two fingers and looked.

  A stack of cash. I leafed through the bills. It was all the money I had paid Hunter.

  I looked out through the window of my front door before walking further into the house with the belongings. I called Hunter’s old number again. Just like before, I got nothing. I stood in front of the kitchen counter. The lights were off, but the sun’s light shone in through the windows. Lightly, gently, my hand tilted over and let the necklace slide onto the granite top, and my other hand placed the phone down. My palms stretched out onto the counter, and I leaned my weight against it. I looked down at my feet, standing next to the island in the middle of the kitchen.

  Lifting my head back up, I began to stare at the envelope and its words. I’m sorry…

  I picked my phone back up and opened Jason’s contact information. He was at work. My eyes just focused on his name, and I held my breath. I was about to press it, but then I put the phone down, letting out all my breath.

  I’m sorry.

  I shook my head, picked the phone back up, and scrolled down to Alex’s number. The green call button sat there, waiting. After shoving him off to go chase after leads over and over again, I was left here with nothing to show for it. And now that I knew Hunter had been setting up nothing but red herrings, I looked at myself and saw a fool.

  I put my finger right over the call button. And just as I was considering whether to press it or not, my phone began vibrating.

  Alex was calling me. I picked up. “Hey.”

  “Hey, Jon-”

  “I was just about to call. I need to tell you-”

  “They got video of him.”

  “What?”

  “The guy that hit my mom,” he quickly explained. “They’ve gotten video of it happening.”