Tempus Fugitive

by Nicola Rhodes

  ‘What does it mean?’ he asked nervously

  ‘It means,’ said the thin man edgily, ‘that some bastard’s turned the security cameras off.’

  ‘Keep an eye on things, said the thin man – somewhat redundantly in the circumstances. ‘I’ve got another meeting to go to. I hate bureaucracy.’

  ‘You’re in the wrong job then aren’t you?’ muttered the lackey under his breath.

  * * *

  Tamar had to stuff her fists into her mouth to stop herself from laughing at the sight of Askphrit singing ‘O’ holy day’, apparently with ardent enthusiasm. Wait till she told Denny about this.

  He was then baptised, with no great show of reluctance – he had his eyes on the prize, a hot meal and a warm bed. No doubt, it all seemed worth it.

  The preacher boomed about sin and salvation and asked the congregation to welcome brother “Fred” (Fred?) Into the arms of Jesus, and “Fred” seemed more than happy to be received. He wiped his eyes, theatrically and made a tremendous show of penitence, promised to abide by the laws of the Church and called himself a wretched sinner.

  ‘You never said a truer word,’ muttered Tamar under her breath.

  And generally conducted himself as the biggest humbug who ever lived, as is the accepted procedure on such occasions. Tamar could hardly tear herself away.

  Eventually, and with considerable reluctance, she decided that she really had to go. There was another, far less innocuous, Askphrit out there somewhere, who had to be found. She took one last look at this fraud mopping up soup off his beard and sighed.

  ‘Close file.’

  ~ Chapter Seventeen ~

  Tamar found herself back in the historical file room – not a total surprise. She pondered for a minute whether to leave mainframe and go back for Denny, who ought to be back at home by her reckoning, by now, or to go back to central files and try again.

  Go get Denny, she decided. She might need his help, and there was less chance of a cock up in communication if he were there. He and computers talked the same language – so to speak.

  So she made her way back to the deleted file and said the magic words.

  Nothing happened. She tried again. Nothing then she used some distinctly un-magical words. She was trapped.

  * * *

  ‘Pull,’ grunted Denny, tugging futilely on the Athame. Behind him, hanging on to his waist was Cindy, and behind her was Eugene, all heaving and grunting like that strange family who were so determined to pull up one rather obstinate turnip.

  They all fell to the ground in a heap. Denny was cursing.

  ‘Well, it’s your own fault,’ Cindy told him.

  Denny glared at her. ‘You can go off a person you know,’ he said.

  Cindy smiled pertly, ‘I think I’ll live,’ she said. ‘It’s not as if you ever liked me all that much in the first place.’

  ‘Maybe if we had a few more of us …’ put in Eugene.

  ‘Oh yes, and a donkey,’ said Cindy.

  Denny laughed and suddenly slung an amiable arm over Cindy’s shoulder. She blushed in confusion, causing Eugene’s ears to redden.

  Denny removed the arm. ‘One more try?’ he asked, hopefully. ‘I really don’t want to leave it behind.’

  They groaned, but hopped to it, or rather, shuffled to it.

  ‘One, two, three, heave.’ The tree came down. But the good news was that the Athame, having been moved, now slid out easily. Several birds shot out of the canopy squawking indignantly.

  ‘Okay, now let’s get out of here before anything else happens,’ said Denny.

  ‘Amen to that.’

  Denny weighed the Athame in his hand; something was bothering him. He stopped, and then he slapped his forehead. ‘Wait a minute,’ he said. God I’m such an idiot, why didn’t I think of it before? We don’t have to schlep all the way home. We never did. Any computer will get me back into mainframe. I’ve got the codes. Well, one of them anyway.’

  ‘And you couldn’t have thought of this sooner?’ Cindy was exasperated.

  ‘I know, I know, I just said, I was an idiot, didn’t I? I’ll say I’m sorry if you like, but don’t you see …?

  * * *

  For the first time in, perhaps, ever Tamar felt like crying – not with anger or frustration, but with fear. Even in her worst moments, she had never felt this helpless, perhaps because, more recently, she had always had Denny around. It occurred to her that she was beginning to rely on him too much.

  ‘Whatever happened to the good old days, when I didn’t need anyone? I’ve been in worse jams than this, before I even met Denny. There’s always something you can do. Besides, Denny’s not here. It’s up to me this time … What would Denny do …? I miss Denny … What was so good about not needing anyone anyway? It was lonely. Okay pull yourself together … Think!’

  There are always choices, even if it’s the choice between getting killed now, or not getting killed until later. What are my options?

  She decided that she could A, stay here and rot – maybe not.

  Or B, leave the file, go back to the historical files and continue the search for Askphrit (the bastard) alone – better.

  Or C, go back to central files and ask for help.

  Then there was secret option, D – give herself up and take her punishment like man – save that for later.

  She decided on option C, which was, after all what she had been planning to do after she had found Denny anyway. This still left the problem of her being stuck in mainframe, (Q. Why was she stuck in mainframe?) But she could worry about that later. She still had a job to do, and at least now she had a plan, of sorts.

  * * *

  ‘There’s not much use in a computer that you can’t turn on,’ observed Cindy dryly. ‘No power you see. Everything’s stopped.

  Denny grunted. ‘Okay, so I didn’t think it through.’

  Cindy snapped her fingers. ‘What we need is a laptop.’

  Denny whirled round. ‘That’s brilliant! Hell, even a mobile phone would probably do. You are a genius.’

  Cindy tried, unsuccessfully, to look modest. ‘And you thought I wouldn’t be any use,’ she taunted him.

  ‘Okay, I’ll say I’m sorry if you like. I’ve definitely been a bit …’

  ‘Forget it.’

  The file appeared to have been closed again for some reason, but it didn’t take Denny long to get in this time, and, within a few minutes, he had the screen up that read …

  < WELCOME TO MAINFRAME >

 
  Once the jubilation was over there was the decision to be made. Who was going? Cindy wanted to go, and Eugene, quite obviously, did not, although he tried hard to hide this. But Denny wanted Cindy to stay behind to monitor the situation, much as Hecaté had done, and would have been quite happy to go alone. Despite his recent lesson in judging people, he still could not envisage Eugene being much use to him where he was going. He had enough to worry about, without having to baby-sit that big coward.

  ‘I need you to stay here,’ he told Cindy. ‘From here you can pull me out if necessary.’ He sighed. ‘Eugene, you can come with me if you want to,’ he said, reluctantly. ‘Eugene? … Where’s he gone?

  ‘AWOL, I’d say,’ concluded Denny, after a short search. ‘Just what we need, another missing person, as if we don’t have enough problems.’

  ‘Well,’ said Cindy, bravely, blinking back tears, ‘you’d better get going.’

  ‘Going?’

  Cindy nodded to the screen. ‘To find Tamar. After all, she needs your help. She didn’t run away, and I know you want to get on with it, and I’m still here to keep an eye on things at this end.’

  ‘Oh don’t be stupid,’ snapped Denny, ‘we don’t know he ran away. He might be in trouble, and even if he’s not he might get himself into some. We have to find him; we can’t just leave him behind.’

  ‘I think I may have misjudged you,’ said Cindy. ‘I’ll say I’m sorry if you like.’ She smiled though her tears; D
enny put an arm round her. ‘Don’t worry,’ he said, ‘he’s probably fine, and he can’t have gone far.’

  * * *

  They were sat under a handy tree; Denny wrapped his jacket around Cindy’s shoulders, and she put her head on his shoulder with a sigh. They sat in silence for a moment.

  ‘Thanks for trying,’ said Cindy timidly, sensing that he was not in the best mood.

  Denny grunted. She glanced up at his profile. He was frowning. She remembered how afraid of him, she used to be. It seemed ridiculous now. It was strange, he still did not look like much, but she could sense the power within him, and not just from the Athame. Ever since she had known him, he had seemed permanently tensed, like a coiled spring, and he never seemed afraid, even when he must be.

  ‘Tamar is lucky,’ she said. ‘I wish Eugene was more like you.’

  Denny was startled; this was unexpected and rather awkward. ‘Um,’

  ‘I mean, it’s funny really,’ she continued, oblivious to his discomfort, ‘he looks like everything a woman could want, but inside, he’s like a little boy. Whereas you …’

  ‘Cindy …’

  ‘You look like, well, like the victim of some wasting disease – by comparison anyway, but you’re, well, you’re a man.’ She gave a little sigh.

  Denny shifted uncomfortably, just because he was learning to tolerate, nay even to like Cindy, did not mean he was ready for this.

  Funny, this had been happening more and more lately. It was weird; after all, he looked just the same as he always had. Cindy was right about that. Too pale and skinny, and badly dressed – the drug addict look Tamar called it. The only changes were on the inside – he no longer cared, for instance, what people thought of him (he had never cared what he looked like – it would be like caring that he wasn’t a lion – pretty pointless.) He had more confidence now. But people could not see that. Or could they? It was true that he no longer shuffled through life slightly apologetically.

  ‘I always judged people on the way they look,’ Cindy was saying. ‘Guess I’m learning a few lessons too.’ she smiled at him.

  ‘Look… Cindy – this is all very flattering, but…’

  ‘Oh don’t look so worried,’ she laughed. ‘I know you don’t think much of me. And even if you did, I wouldn’t dare go up against Tamar. I just meant, well I wish Eugene were more like you. Or that I could find someone that is.

  ‘I used to be like Eugene,’ Denny told her. ‘Afraid of my own shadow I was.’

  ‘You?’

  Denny grinned, ‘s’true,’ he said. ‘Scouts honour. Funnily enough I was thinking about that earlier, people can change; maybe you should give him a chance.’

  ‘If we ever find him.’

  ‘Ah good point. And … just for the record, you’re not so bad. Compared to my sister-in-law, you’re heaven.’

  ‘Well thank you … I think.’

  ‘You’re welcome.’

  ‘You don’t think … no.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘It’s silly really. But you don’t think Eugene might have …’

  ‘What? Come on, you know him better than I do, if you’ve got an idea, let’s hear it.’

  ‘It’s what you said, actually – about people changing. You don’t think he could have gone into the file, do you?’

  ‘Why would he, on his own? Why not wait for me? I was going in anyway. He wouldn’t know where he was going.’

  ‘Well he’s not very bright at times you know. He probably just didn’t think it through. He’s very jealous of you, you know.’

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘Oh no, not because of me. Just because, you know, what I said before. He probably wanted to prove he wasn’t afraid.’

  ‘But, he was afraid.’

  ‘That’s why he wanted to prove he wasn’t. You’re a man – surely you understand that.’

  ‘Not really, but I’ll take your word for it. Why don’t we check in the files?’

  ‘Both of us?’

  ‘Yeah why not? Don’t you want to give him a smack upside his head, when we find him?’

  ‘No!’ she said, indignantly. ‘Well, yes, maybe just a little bit.’

  Denny staggered suddenly and went pale.

  ‘What’s wrong? What is it?’

  ‘I don’t know, something’s happened, didn’t you feel it?’

  ‘Feel what?’

  ‘Like the world … I don’t know, I felt it.’

  ‘A disturbance in the force “Obi Wan”?’

  ‘Actually, yes.’

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘And look,’ he pointed up.

  ‘Uh oh.’

  Denny panicked and slammed the laptop shut and picked it up – effectively closing the file again. ‘We have to get back to the house now!’

  ~ Chapter Eighteen ~

  The firewall was back in place, but that was no problem for a girl armed with a piece of chalk. Suddenly she was aware that she was not alone. She spun fast and kicked. If in doubt kick first and ask questions later.

  ‘Ooof,’ came a voice in the darkness. ‘What did you do that for?’

  ‘Eugene?’ There are not sufficient adjectives to describe the disbelief in her voice, so you will just have to imagine it.

  ‘Hi Tamar.’

  *

  ‘Do you mean to tell me the file’s open again?’ Tamar was delighted. ‘That’s great, let’s get out of here. Close file … close file. Damn, not again!’

  *

  Tamar was outraged. ‘I can’t believe it! You came in here because you thought Denny – my Denny, was after Cindy, how stupid are you?’

  ‘No, she likes him though. She thinks he’s more of a man than I am. She forgot, I think, that I could read her thoughts.’

  ‘Oh, yes, I forgot about that too.’

  ‘Everybody does.’

  ‘Well I can’t read yours, so explain it to me. How was this supposed to help?’

  ‘She thought I was afraid. So, I thought I’d show her that I’m not.’

  ‘And leave her alone with Denny, who I think she’s actually a bit scared of, good job.’

  ‘She’s not scared of him anymore, oh no, thinks he’s the bees knees, now. You should have seen them, heads together all the time, always whispering, making plans, leaving me out. Poor Eugene’s too stupid to help,’ he said, bitterly. ‘I can’t get a read on his thoughts for some reason, but don’t you think it’s a bit funny that he’s closed the file after me? He was supposed to be so all-fired keen to get in here to find you. So where is he?’

  ‘Something must have happened,’ she said. But she sounded uncertain.

  ‘Like what?’ said Eugene sceptically. ‘The world is frozen in time, what could possibly have happened? Nothing is happening.’

  Tamar nodded. He had spoken her thoughts aloud.

  ‘I wish he’d stayed in Hell,’ said Eugene.

  Tamar looked horrified.

  ‘Okay, no I don’t, but I wish he’d left us out of it anyway.’

  ‘How did he get out of Hell anyway?’ asked Tamar. ‘Did he tell you?’

  ‘They had to let him go, apparently. Something about legislation or jurisdiction or something.’

  ‘Because he wasn’t dead yet?’

  ‘No, something else, something about his not having a contract. Denny said he didn’t understand it, and frankly, I don’t either.’

  ‘Jurisdiction?’ muttered Tamar. What did that remind her of?

  * * *

  Cindy stumbled and gasped and clutched at the stitch in her side. ‘Why are we running? What’s going on?’

  ‘Something very, very bad. I don’t know what, but you saw it too.’

  ‘The sun?’

  ‘Yes, the sun doesn’t turn black for no reason. Especially when there’s no time for it to happen in. Something’s gone horribly wrong.’

  ‘All right – STOP!’

  Denny wheeled round, frowning. ‘What?’

  ‘Tamar,’ said Cindy. ‘And Eugene of cour
se,’ she added, almost as an afterthought. ‘Though I say nothing about him. He’s my problem.’

  ‘And mine,’ said Denny gloomily. ‘You’re right of course, it’s just …’

  ‘Whatever the problem is here,’ Cindy said, ‘I think we’d be able to handle it better with Tamar’s help. Don’t you?’

  Denny sighed. ‘I suppose you’re right.’ he shrugged. ‘I hate that.’

  ‘So, are we going in to get them?’

  ‘I am,’ Denny said in that tone that you don’t argue with.’

  ‘What?’ Cindy was outraged. ‘You can’t just leave me behind, you might need me. Okay you probably won’t need me, but, I mean you can’t just leave me here! I mean it’s not safe.’

  Denny ignored her. He opened up the laptop and typed busily.

  Cindy paced behind him. ‘Are you just going to ignore me? Do you even know what you’re doing there? And what are you going to do once you get inside? What am I going to do?’ What are you doing anyway? Denny!’

  Denny had reached the file and had stopped, puzzled. ‘Hum,’ he muttered. ‘I forgot. I don’t have to go in the long way now. I have the password I can go directly to the historical files, what was that damn password? Ah, yes, there we go… My God!’

  ‘What?’

  ‘My God, this is brilliant.’

  ‘Denny!’

  Denny finally looked up. ‘Look.’ He pointed at the screen.

  ‘I don’t …’

  ‘Look at the menu,’ Denny yelped excitedly.

  ‘Uh huh.’

  ‘Oh you don’t understand, actually, I forgot, you wouldn’t understand would you. This means I can search for any file I want. We couldn’t do that before.’

  ‘Oh. So how does that help you to find Tamar?’ We don’t know which file she’s in.’

  ‘I don’t need to find her. We’ll have plenty of time to find her after I sort out Askphrit.’ Denny looked at Cindy’s blank expression. ‘Don’t you see? This means I can find him and end this.’

  ‘How?’

  ‘Well, he made the mistake of messing up his timing when he went after my Grandfather. He gave himself away, so I know exactly where he’s been. Which means I know exactly where to find him. If I go into the file and prevent him from killing my Grandfather, then I’m guessing that none of this will ever have happened.’