by SY Thompson
“I’ll check with the head nurse. I’m sure they’ve stored your clothes somewhere, but what about transportation? Won’t we need your motorcycle to get around once we get to your time?”
“No. We can use the professor’s car. One thing I learned from my previous jump is that time is not constant. I’d been gone for several months but the explosives I planted around the gate hadn’t gone off yet.”
“Explosives? I think maybe you’d better fill me in and this time don’t skip any details.”
A nurse came in to check Ronan’s vital signs and interrupted them. The woman was very friendly and pressed some pills into Ronan’s hand but she didn’t say what they were for. She stayed and watched until she obediently took them.
“That’s a mild sedative,” she informed them belatedly, missing the worried look on their faces. “It’ll help you sleep. I’ll let your doctor know that you’re ready to see him. He’s making his rounds right now.”
She left the room and Ronan groaned in frustration. “The last thing I need to do right now is sleep. We have plans to make.”
“Don’t worry, darling.” Sidney took her hand. Secretly she was glad Ronan would get some rest before morning. It wouldn’t do anyone any good if she lay awake all night worrying. “I’ll find that crystal and get us some clothing while you’re sleeping. You can fill me in on the other details in the morning.”
“Anything will do as long as I don’t have a slit all the way up my backside,” Ronan said sarcastically, referring to the hospital gown she currently wore. “When we get to the time gate we can take the professor’s car to my apartment. I’ll have clothing there that will make us less conspicuous.”
Sidney pressed a tender kiss onto Ronan’s forehead. “Get some rest and leave everything else to me.”
It didn’t take long for Ronan to fall asleep with the help of the sedative. After she had, Sidney used her cell phone to contact her agent. She let Joanne Dupree know that she would be unavailable for the next few days though it really wasn’t necessary considering the state of panic gripping the country. Still, she had to keep up appearances. Sidney didn’t quite know how this time travel thing really worked anyway. From what Ronan said, she’d been able to return from her own time within minutes of leaving. Depending on how things worked out next, Sidney wasn’t sure when they would return to the 21st century...if ever.
Chapter Twenty-Four
“ARE YOU SURE this is such a great idea?” Sidney asked, puffing from exertion.
She’d agreed to this last night but after only twenty minutes of trying to set their scheme in motion, she knew she’d been right the first time. This was dumb. Already Sidney was queasy from trying to help Ronan remove her I.V. More accurately, Ronan finally removed it on her own. Sidney had only been able to press down on the area with gauze while her lover pulled out the needle. The idea of pulling the thing out of her arm made Sidney’s stomach clench unpleasantly.
The only thing going right so far was that her doctor had stopped by last night and removed the heart monitor. At least they didn’t have to contend with any alarms because Ronan had disconnected herself.
“We don’t really have a choice,” Ronan reminded her again and clenched in pain. She leaned heavily on Sidney, her cheeks flushed from the effort of dressing. At least they were finally ready.
“Ronan, you can barely walk. Are you sure we can’t wait just a few days?”
“Too late. I’m not putting that tube back in and I highly doubt that you could. Besides, I’ll be fine. There is technology in my own time that can help repair these injuries.”
“Right.” Sidney thought of all the fancy gadgets she’d seen since meeting Ronan. That didn’t mean she was just going to give up and go merrily along with this harebrained scheme. “What about blood loss? Can any of these devices replace the blood you lost or help you get some strength back?” It would be incredibly dangerous to try to confront their adversaries unless Ronan was healthy.
“I’m afraid only time can do that and you are my strength. The injuries, however, are another story. You’re right when you say I need medical assistance, but not from these archaic practices. If I’d been conscious I wouldn’t have let you bring me to a hospital.”
Miffed by Ronan’s ungrateful attitude, Sidney huffed, “Well, pardon me for interrupting your death. Did you ever think that death might spoil your master plan, too?”
Ronan looked instantly contrite and wrapped her arms around Sidney. “I’m sorry,” she said looking for forgiveness in Sidney’s stormy eyes. “I didn’t mean to sound so thankless. I’m just frustrated. I’m afraid I’m not very good at feeling helpless.”
Sidney knew Ronan didn’t like to feel dependent on anyone. She sighed and let go of her anger before returning the embrace. “You can’t help it if you’re bossy.”
Ronan smiled back at her and leaned down, slowly pressing her lips to Sidney’s. Both took the time to savor the taste and softness of the other’s lips before they reluctantly separated.
“Okay, you’re forgiven. Now let’s get out of here before we get busted.”
“At least I don’t have to transport back with a slit up my dress.”
Sidney had managed to scrounge a pair of scrubs from somewhere, but Ronan was still barefoot. It had been hard enough for her to get the control crystal from the head nurse. If she’d asked for Ronan’s shoes, it would have seemed very suspicious.
Besides, she’d definitely attract attention in hospital scrubs and dress shoes.
Ronan turned so that her back was against Sidney’s front. Sidney looked around her shoulder so she could see what happened next. Ronan held the crystal in her right hand and prepared to turn the dial with her left. Briefly, Sidney wondered if they had everything they needed.
“Okay, I’m ready.”
“I realize you’re trying not to hurt me,” Ronan said, turning to look down at her, “but you might want to hold on a little tighter, unless you want to be left behind?”
Sidney’s grip tightened significantly as she waited for Ronan to activate the device. A pop of displaced air rushed in to fill the void where the two women had stood.
Sidney swallowed and slowly opened her eyes. Apprehension made her tighten her grip around Ronan’s waist. From their earlier discussion, she knew Ronan didn’t know what they’d find anymore than Sidney did. Since time wasn’t a constant, any number of possible scenarios could be waiting for them. They might transport back and find the Professor’s basement still lined with explosives. Still again, it was possible that the explosives had already gone off and there would be nothing to transport to, in which case they would simply return to Ronan’s hospital room.
Her most fervent hope was that they wouldn’t materialize in a room surrounded by Black Guards.
During the brief transport, Sidney felt like her insides were trying to be on the outside. Her skin tingled and all of the hair stood up on her arms. A great weight seemed to be pressing down, making it all but impossible to breathe. There was a loud pop and everything went dark for an instant. Then she was standing somewhere else.
Sidney looked around curiously, her blood thundering through her veins because of the sudden adrenaline surge. The room was just as Ronan described it and they appeared to be standing in the middle of a transparent bubble. She couldn’t see any explosives.
“I don’t believe it,” she said. “We’re alive.”
Ronan turned and looked at her with an amused expression before she tried to walk out of the sphere. “This dome is new.”
Sidney reluctantly released Ronan and followed her. The basement turned out to be a cavernous room with many shelves and benches lining all four walls. The room was in a somewhat organized state of disarray and left her with the impression that whoever worked here knew exactly where every object was located.
While Ronan looked around briefly, Sidney wandered over to one of the workbenches. Bits of gears, springs, and gadgets she couldn’t identify decorated the
surface as well as tools and smudges of grease.
The Professor must have been a very busy person.
“There are no signs of explosives.” Ronan’s voice came from behind her and Sidney turned to look at her. “Nor are there any signs of Kinsky.”
Since Ronan had told her of the gunfight with her former partner, and that she hadn’t had time to remove his body before she returned to Sidney’s own time, it meant things had changed.
“Maybe he isn’t dead anymore.”
Ronan nodded in agreement. “Perhaps, and if that is true no doubt other things are different as well.”
“Such as?”
The sound of footsteps caused Sidney’s eyes to widen in panic. She ducked behind one of the time machine’s rails without waiting for Ronan’s answer.
She wondered if the Black Guard or other agents of the Neue Konservatives finally arrived to take control of the time apparatus. On the other hand, maybe they’d been here all along and were now coming to investigate the sound of voices. Sidney didn’t know but from what Ronan had told her about this century, she wasn’t sure she wanted to find out.
“Ronan,” she whispered loudly. “Get over here.”
It was too late and Ronan was apparently too sore to move very quickly. Sidney regretted that they’d been standing so far apart, because she was powerless to help. She could only watch as Ronan visibly calmed her features and stood up straight to face whoever was about to come through the door.
Sidney couldn’t see who entered the room because of where she hid, but she could clearly see her lover’s face. To say that she was surprised would have been an understatement. Ronan went stock-still and her mouth fell open though no words came out. For a moment, Sidney thought she was in some kind of shock.
Then Ronan said in a soft voice that trembled, “Professor Horton? Is it really you?”
Sidney leaned around the edge of the rail and recognized the face of a man she’d only seen in a photograph. She thought he was dead, and although he was clearly a few years older than he had been in the photo, it was undoubtedly the same man.
“Mein lieber?” the old man asked, obviously confused. He’d stopped just inside the door to the lab and the expression on his grizzled old face mirrored Ronan’s. “Aber das ist unmöglich. Sie verlassen.”
Sidney heard the professor speak but it was in German and she couldn’t understand a word. Then she saw Ronan shake her head, as though she was trying to clear it of some kind of fog before she replied in her native language. Sidney still didn’t understand, but whatever it was the professor looked as though he’d been stunned. Sidney gathered she told him he was supposed to be dead.
Then Ronan stumbled and Sidney scooted out from behind the rail to help her. She was too slow and the professor beat her to Ronan. He supported her long, slender frame with his own rather weak arms. Then he saw Sidney and his head snapped back in surprise.
“It’s all right, Professor,” Ronan reassured him in English. “She’s with me. What do you mean that I just left?”
Sidney smiled in what she hoped was a reassuring manner. “I’m Sidney Weaver. I know this is all a little confusing, but I assure you that we can explain.”
Still, they had to start somewhere and Sidney was confident that they could piece all of their various histories together to make some sense of what was happening.
Professor Horton helped Ronan over to sit on a stool with Sidney’s assistance. He didn’t comment any further and from the frown on his face, she thought he was also trying to piece things together. He’d blurted out that Ronan had just left, but now here she was, injured in the basement. Not to mention that she had shown up with a friend he had never seen before and Sidney could understand how it might be a lot to take in all at once.
“What happened to you?” he finally asked in slightly accented English. Sidney didn’t have to listen very closely to understand him, which only proved to her that what Ronan had said was true. English was just as common as German in the Fatherland of the future, where all countries were governed by the same politics.
“How did you end up in this condition and how did you come to be in the basement when I know that I just walked you to the front door?”
While the scientist asked his questions, he lifted up Ronan’s shirt to see the injury over which she’d protectively placed her hand. His breath hissed between his lips when he saw the stitches in her side. Sidney knew they only represented one of the many places where doctors had removed bullets from the tender frame.
“What the devil?”
Sidney ignored what he obviously intended as a rhetorical question. “Maybe you should tell him what has happened?”
Ronan nodded and thought for a moment before she began to speak. It didn’t take long before Sidney realized she’d decided to go for the abridged version of events.
“About seven months ago you showed me how to work the time machine. Shortly after I left that night the Konservatives...had you killed.”
Professor Horton didn’t interrupt her, but Sidney heard another surprised gasp.
“Lieutenant Sloan told me about it the next morning. I’d already uncovered evidence that the Regime wasn’t what it appeared to be, that in secret they were totalitarian extremists bent on world conquest through population control. At the time, I believed that such control was meant to be in the form of political government. I found out that an actress from the 21st century had been used as a pawn for the launch of our government, but there was nothing I could do about it.
“Then you showed me the time machine and an assassin, I suspect a member of the Guard, killed you. I decided that they wouldn’t get away with it. I used your device to travel back in time and tried to change past events.”
“Let me guess,” the professor interrupted sarcastically. “Things didn’t work out as you expected. That is what happens when you fool around with time as if it’s your own private playground. People’s lives are being affected by what you did, Ronan.”
Sidney started to interrupt in defense of her lover, but Ronan beat her to it. “I know, but you don’t understand. I found out that the Konservatives were not just men bent on political control, but men bent on world domination. Their idea of population control is to begin the Regime’s reign in the 21st century so that none can ever defeat them. Once they are in place, they’ll begin exterminating entire groups of people that might constitute a threat.”
Ronan looked at her for support then and Sidney squeezed her arm gently. Silently, she encouraged her to continue and hoped Ronan could draw strength from her touch.
“Sidney and I tried to stop them, but I’m afraid we’ve made an awful mess of things.”
“Ronan, the secret police are hardly invaders or anarchists. They are our friends, who wish only the best for us. If they are visiting the past, I’m sure it is in an effort to make life better for all of us.”
Sidney was shocked to hear the professor’s calm statement. Ronan’s expression showed that she was just as surprised and Sidney wondered exactly how much they had changed in their attempt to thwart the infiltration in her own time. Instead of a heavy replacement tactic, the political machine had decided to take the “We come in Peace” approach.
“It’s not true,” Sidney protested. “Perhaps they’ve been revisiting our past but these men are invading, insidiously and bit by bit, but the goal is the same: to take over another time and wipe out liberty at any cost. In my time, they were trying to infiltrate the government so they would have people in key positions until they could take over completely. That way they could stop any emergency actions that might prevent their success.”
Horton stared at her as though her comments were beyond consideration. Finally, he said, “We will discuss the government’s intentions later. For now, I have other concerns. What are these?” The professors indicated the stitches all over Ronan’s torso.
“Bullet wounds,” Sidney offered. “Ronan was shot several times by the Secret Service. W
hen she attacked the Guard imposters, the government guys got a little trigger happy.”
She tried to keep the stony anger out of her voice, but didn’t quite succeed. It still irked her that Ronan had almost been killed by people she had tried to protect.
The professor took a deep breath and looked into Sidney’s eyes. For a second she wondered what he was looking for but whatever it was, it seemed he was satisfied. After a moment, he nodded. “I’m not sure I believe you, at least not your take on things, but before we finish this discussion I suggest we repair this damage.”
He walked over to a cabinet that Sidney hadn’t noticed before. Mounted on the wall beside the entryway, it looked like a medicine cabinet that one would find on the wall of a bathroom. Professor Horton opened the doors and rummaged around for a second before he came back with a few things. One of them Sidney recognized as a data analyzer and another was a medicinal spray like the one Ronan had used on her in the swamps. It had dispensed an analgesic directly into her blood stream that had made her feel better instantly. At least Ronan would be out of pain, but Sidney didn’t know what the other items he carried were.
The professor lifted the edge of Ronan’s shirt and began to run the mystery object back and forth over the wound. Sidney saw that he didn’t actually touch the skin; rather a yellow light erupted from the pencil-thin device and traced over the stitches. After a few seconds, the threads began to lighten from a dark black, to a lighter gray and then they disappeared altogether.
Sidney was astounded. The stitches were gone and there wasn’t a single scar left to mark the bullet wounds. Professor Horton continued until he’d attended to all of the damage on her body. Throughout all of this, he was silent as he concentrated on mending Ronan, but when he finished and straightened up that changed. Sidney’s ears almost flattened against her head as he chastised his young friend.
“If you insist on traversing into dangerous history, do you think you might avoid being treated by Josef Mengele? Honestly, did they use leeches on you, too? This is absolutely barbaric.”
