by LK Walker
“I'd hate to miss out on all the fun you have in the future,” I reply, sarcastically.
“Right, well then, we need to work out where you are.” JT starts pacing the room, probably enjoying the use of his new legs. His strides are ridiculously long. He walks a track behind Zander and as he passes behind him, he gives me a devilish look. He thinks Zander's hot. No surprises there. I can't help but let a giggle escape my lips. Zander's head whips around to see what has made me laugh. JT gives him a bland smile and continues his pacing in regular size steps.
“Did you get lucky?” I ask Zander. “I mean, working out where I am.” I shake my head trying to bottle up a snigger. I'm in a crisis situation and acting like a child. JT is holding in a laugh, his cheeks puffed. It doesn't help with my composure.
“No,” Zander says. He offers nothing else to soften the news. That dries up the hilarity. “What, no idea?” I’m more than a tad shocked.
“Nothing more than what you've told us.” Zander is talking fast, his face contorting like he might scream. “The techs have spent hours scouring the internet. If it happened in the past, then there should be a record of it. There are a couple of papers in Seattle that refer to an abduction within a few days of you going missing, but no details are given. We've tried everything we can think of. We're out of ideas.” Zander ruffles his hair. “There must be something we can do.”
I can't say I'm not disappointed. I had hoped they’d find me a safe way out of this mess. My stomach feels hollow. “It's fine.” I try to calm him down but I know my face doesn’t match my words.
“It's not fine, you're not fine. This is a shit storm and I'm stuck here and I don't know how to help you.” Zander's fist slams against the wall, leaving a dent.
“Well, for starters, you need to chill the hell out.” JT grabs Zander’s arm to stop him from belting the wall again. “If anyone is going to flip out it’s Cara, okay? And we need to be in a fit state of mind to help her if she does.”
“It's okay, JT.” It feels like there is way too much hugging going on but I find myself detaching my cord, walking up to Zander and wrapping my arms around him. “I appreciate the sentiment.”
“How are you so calm?” Zander asks. I can hear the words resonate in his chest. He sounds steadier now. I leave him standing where he is and take a seat back on my bed.
“I'm still freaked out but I've already had my meltdown today—remember? Anyway, you said it yourself. There’s no record of anything bad happening to me.”
“It's not that there’s no mention of something bad happening. There is no mention of anything happening to you. A rescue after being abducted would have made the papers, surely.”
My face drops, with my personal theory for my safety in tatters. “But it would have made it to press if I didn't survive too.” Even as I say it, it doesn’t make me feel any better.
“It's going to work out, Cara. You'll be safe and we can move on with our adventure.” JT is resolute.
“Missoula.” I blurt out.
“Or not—if you’re starting to speak in tongues,” JT says.
“No. I nearly forgot. I'm somewhere near Missoula in Montana.”
“How far from it?” Zander asks.
“No idea. Not close enough.”
Zander runs out of the room yelling out, “Indigo, pull up an archive map.” I can hear Peche's voice respond. Indigo must be her real name.
While Zander is out of earshot JT whispers, “That boy is into you, in a big way. I swear if he thought he could find a way to go back in time and save you, he would.”
“Shhh,” I beg him.
“And you’re not into him?”
“It's not that easy.” My answer is about as unambiguous as the ones I receive from Zander when I ask about the future.
“Yes, it is. New body, new time, new life.”
JT makes it sound simple.
“No, that’s not how it works. Same old brain and it loves Jack, in whichever body and whatever time.”
JT gives me a sorrowful look. “You’ll have to mourn them, won't you?”
“What are you talking about? Mourn who?”
“Everyone. Your family and friends. For me it’s easy. I'm not close with any of my family and I haven't been in San Fran long enough to make any close friends—other than you—and I get to take you with me. For you, though, you’ll be losing them. It's going to be like they've all died. Shit, Cara. I hadn't thought what it would be like for you.”
“I don't know how to take it. They're all going to live their lives like nothing has happened and that makes me okay with it. It's not as if I'm hurting them by coming here. It’s not like they’ll have to watch me die.” I haven’t spent much time considering this before. JT is right. But, for me, it is going to be exactly like that. It's as if I’ll die and leave them behind.
JT says nothing, just stares into my eyes like he’s trying to see into my soul, perhaps trying to extract some understanding of what I’m going through. I take one of his hands and cradle it in both of mine.
“Honestly, I have no idea how I'll cope.” My words are only a whisper in the fear someone else might hear.
“Why are you doing this, then? They're not forcing you to come through, are they?” This time, JT does keep his voice discreet. He’s checking the doorway to make sure no one is listening.
“No. I’m doing it because Eli needs my help. Trust me, I need to do it. The me from this time thought it was a good idea. Apparently, I’m pretty persistent in the future.”
“You’re pretty persistent in the past too. Did you think that would change?”
I scoff at his audacity. “I guess not. All the same, I feel like I’m losing a lot lately—people I love, my sanity.”
“You've still got me blondie. We're family now. We even look alike.”
Zander clears his throat and breaks the spell. I haven't been ashamed to show JT my emotions. I don't know why, but I don’t want to show them to Zander. I wipe away the tear trickling down my cheek before turning to face him.
“So, not good news,” I say as soon as I see Zander’s face. He’s scowling again.
“It didn't help. I'm sorry Cara. There’s nothing that ties Tony Ferrara to a property near Missoula. We'll keep looking, but it’s a huge area. You could be anywhere.”
“Show me this Tony guy’s face,” JT demands.
“Why? Do you have an idea?” Zander’s expression lightens.
“Not a good one. I was thinking, if I know his name and what he looks like, I can high tails it over to Missoula and start knocking on doors until he answers one of them.”
Zander’s shoulder’s slump and he points out, “The chance of finding Cara that way is incredibly slim.”
“But there is a chance. At least I’ll be doing something.”
Zander nods agreement. He’d be doing the same, if he could.
JT rubs his chin. “And if I tell Jack, he’ll be interested in a bit of door knocking too.”
Poor Jack. How many times must I petrify him in one year? I’m amazed his nerves haven't shattered already.
“Look after him, won’t you?” I ask JT in a soft voice. “I’ve put him through so much.”
“You know he doesn’t mind. As long as you keep coming out the other side, he doesn’t care what you do to him. I hardly know the guy and that’s blatantly obvious.”
“He won’t have slept much since I went missing.” I wish JT could tell him I’m alright, but I know he can’t. “Keep him safe until I get back, okay?” It’s a half-truth for me as much as it is for Jack.
“Deal. He loves you more than I would have thought was possible.” The words are meant to comfort me. I don’t tell JT they make me feel worse since they remind me how much pain I’m inflicting on Jack.
“Jack will tell Eli as soon as you get off the phone to him,” Zander says.
Until now, Zander has kept quiet. We’ve been gushing over Jack and he had to listen to it all.
“That
’s a good thing having Eli on our side, isn’t it?” JT replies. “The more the merrier and all that.”
It takes a few seconds to grasp Zander’s concern.
“Zander, what happens if the Department of Defense gets involved?” I can’t see a down side. “I don’t know how much pull Eli has, but he’ll use every ounce of it to get me home, I’m sure of it.”
“Let’s assume that the historical media documents we’re seeing aren’t accurate.”
“Okay.” I agree, hesitantly, not knowing where he is going with this.
“If the military become involved in the hunt, that’s huge. It would have to change the timeline wildly. No one knows what that will mean. For starters, your public profile will proliferate, that’s bound to happen if you have a whole lot of people in fatigues scouring the area in your name. When they do finally catch this guy, he’s going to spill the beans about who he’s been talking to. If we’re lucky, they’ll think he’s mad, that’s if the right people get hold of him.”
“And if the wrong people do?” I ask.
“There are a group of scientists who have already started research on the brain wave manipulation technology we’re using. If those people hear about what’s happening it might give them a boost to persevere with their work.”
“They must have anyway. We’re here, aren’t we?” JT signals to me to make his argument.
“In about fifteen years’ from your time, the research is given up as a bust. It’s Eli who picks it up ten years after that and sees what it’s truly capable of. If they find out that time shifting is possible, there is no way they will shelve the idea. Who knows where they’ll take it.”
“We’ll probably have to pull the jump.” Coby’s husky voice intrudes into our conversation.
“What?” I don’t understand.
“Not now.” Zander tries to keep him silent.
“They need to know Zander. They have to make an informed decision,” Coby argues.
“He could kill her.” Zanders' finger is pointing directly at me, in case anyone needed any clarity as to who the ‘her’ refers to.
“Don’t you think that’s Cara’s choice,” Coby says.
“If you two are talking about me, then at least have the courtesy of telling me what’s going on. Zander, I want to know.”
“You tell her.” Zander walks out of the room nearly belting into Coby’s shoulder as he passes. He only misses because Coby flattens himself against the door frame at the last possible moment.
“There are so many things going wrong,” Coby starts. “We, me and—what do you call her?”
“Peche,” I help him out. “But I know her name’s Indigo. I overheard.” He gives a small nod.
“Me and Indigo, we think they planned it this way.”
“Who did?” I ask.
“The people who arranged your abduction. We’ve considered what their game plan may be and there is a strong possibility they deliberately set it up so that if their plan A fails—whatever they have prepared for Tony— then your picture will be plastered everywhere. Your anonymity is an important part of your future and they know it. Whatever happens, it looks as though they might have got this sewn up. The kidnapping of an innocent young female is bound to make the news. Every state will be aware who you are and even if your fame is only for two minutes, the memory will stick.”
“What are you trying to tell me?”
“They’re undermining your future. But that’s not the worst of it,” Coby says.
“They must know the Cara from your time is already dead. What sort of future is there to undermine?”
“You’re dead?” JT freaks out.
“In the future.” I reassure him.
“Hell Cara, what sort of week are you having?”
It’s safe to say JT doesn’t know that he’s dead too. I consider divulging his fate. It won’t change anything. “We can talk about it later,” I tell him. “Keep going.” My attention is back on Coby.
“We have installed significant safeguards to ensure you’re secure while we pull your consciousness through, temporarily. A permanent shift requires we work within a similar construct but with unique and measurable outputs. Which means, if anyone suspected what we’re doing, not only could they track us but they could screw with the signal when we pull you forward.”
“Oh.” It all starts clicking into place.
“If they did that, it would kill you. The more this kidnapping scenario plays out, the higher the chances of them finding out you’re here.”
“Crap.” I’ve already compounded the problem. “I might have told Tony that people talk to me like they do him,” I confess.
“Bad move, Sullivan. In fact, that’s terrible.” Coby didn’t need to say it, his grimace had already made my faux pas evident.
“Tony didn’t believe me. He thought I was stalling.” My heart is sinking in my chest.
“If Tony mentions it to whoever is connecting to him...” Coby shakes his head.
“What are my choices?” I ask.
“You can tell your brother where you are. Knowing him, he’ll have the entire Defense Force looking for you. Or…,” Coby says.
“Wait, you know Eli?” With all the stress, they’re letting all sorts slip.
Coby ignores my question. “… JT sits tight and you get yourself out of this situation on your own. If Tony doesn’t say anything about you talking to people in your head, then we can probably proceed with the download into Vera.”
I’m tempted to go after Coby and how he knows Eli. But that gem will have to wait.
“So, if I ask for Eli’s help, I don’t get to come through? Is that what you’re saying?”
“I don’t want to give you an ultimatum, but there it is.”
“You need to keep yourself safe, Cara.” Zander’s leaning against the door frame with Indigo right behind him. No doubt, they’ve been listening all along. “We will find another way,” he says.
“No, we can’t.” Coby declares to no one in particular. “We don’t have any more time.”
“You can’t put this all on Cara. That’s not fair,” Zander says.
“She would want it. You know she would,” Coby replies.
Zander points at me. “This isn’t the Cara we know. Our Cara had a lifetime of experiences to make her choice. This Cara hasn’t had those. She’s not the same person. You can’t ask this of her.” Zander looks me in the eye. “I understand now, okay. You’re two different people. Ask for Eli’s help. Keep safe.”
“We need her.” Coby’s words are blunt.
“And what if something happens to her in that shed. What if she doesn’t live out her life as we know it?”
“I think we’d know if that changed,” Coby mutters.
“You think. That’s it? Is that enough assurance to leave her in mortal danger?” Zander’s still worked up.
I’m tired of these two squabbling. It’s my choice, I should be asking the questions. “You said you know Eli.” I say to Coby.
“I do know him,” Coby replies firmly.
“Does he need my help?” I annunciate each word.
“We think you’re the only one who can help him. I wouldn’t ask it of you otherwise.”
“What time is it in the shed?”
“It will be about three in the morning, give or take a few minutes,” Coby tells me.
“It’s not enough time for JT and Eli to do anything. Tony’s talking to his contacts at 0700,” I reply, eyes still on Coby.
“Let them at least try,” Zander pleads. “How do you think this is going to end? Do you believe he’ll let you go? They’re working him up to killing you. Can’t you see that? You’re not going to walk away from this.”
“I don’t think he’ll be able to do it. He’s not that bad a guy.”
“I’ve seen people do worse for less money,” Zander says.
“I need to think.” I want to go somewhere quiet, without all the eyes glaring at me.
Za
nder’s face is stern. “There isn’t time. We need to get JT moving. Now.”
“Sorry, Doll Face, I’ve got to agree with pretty-boy Zander here. We need to get your arse out of that shed. Pull the plug Coby, I’ve gotta get home.” JT is already moving to his bed. Coby doesn’t budge, he sits there looking up at me, waiting for my response.
“Telling Eli isn’t going to make a difference. There’s still a chance I can make it out.” I grab Coby’s arm to make sure he doesn’t head towards JT’s terminal.
“Even if you do make it out safe, it’s still gonna be all over the news,” JT says.
“What about you, Indigo? You haven’t said anything.”
She looks a little taken back, maybe because I’ve called her by her real name. “I don’t know. Neither option is stellar.”
“I need to get out of this shed without any help. It’s my best chance not to screw up the mind-jump.”
“Being dead will screw it up just fine.”
“I love you for trying JT, but you and Eli won’t find me fast enough.”
“I can’t let the bastard kill you.” JT clenches his fists so tight I can see his biceps flex beneath his shirt.
“We don’t know that’s what they’ll tell him to do. They might just want information.”
“Oh, yeah? Torture, that’s so much better.” JT says with sharp sarcasm. “I’m going to come find you.”
This has to stop. I need to get some semblance of control back. JT and Zander have their hearts in the right place, but neither is listening to reason.
“Wait. I almost forgot.” I break into a smile and hold up my hands to add to my theatrics. “The ropes around my wrists are loose. I can get out of them.” I lie. “But it’s going to hurt like hell.”
Everyone in the room is looking at me in disbelief.
“Why didn’t you say so before?” JT asks.
“Before I thought someone was coming to get me out. I guess I forgot it was even an option.”
“Take the pain, Cara. Suck it up and rip those things off.” Zander is right beside me now, egging me on.
“Okay, I can do that.”
“I’ll get to Missoula whichever way is quickest. And met you somewhere.” JT says. “Where can I meet her?” he asks Indigo.
