Termination

by Deborah Chester

  He passed through what appeared to be sheets of fire, so bright his eyes streamed with tears. Yet there was no heat, only the dazzling pyrotechnics of light.

  Clenching shut his eyes to protect them, he felt himself hit something flexible, like a membrane. Shocked by this sudden resistance, he thought of birth memories, but by then he had been knocked through.

  He hit something solid and inflexible and stopped. Only his heart kept racing on and on, unable to slow down with the rest of his body. Noel gasped, realizing slowly that he had come through.

  But where?

  He opened his eyes slowly, conscious of silence. At first nothing made much sense. The light was dim. Mist surrounded him, making everything hazy. He was lying on the ground, only it was a hard surface, polished and artificial, not soil. The air was very cold.

  Feeling as though he’d been battered, he rolled over and sat up. His clothes had been shredded by his progress. Clad only in shirt and hose at the moment of recall, Noel found both sleeves torn off and the remainder of his shirt hanging in tatters. His hose were ripped all the way up to indecency. The bandage around his right arm was gone, but then so was the wound. The nicest side effect of time travel continued to be the metabolic changes that healed minor hurts and injuries in transit. His LOCs also checked out intact. The original remained fried and silent, but the new one was flashing green light.

  “LOC,” he said softly, looking around with a frown, “where are we?”

  “Recall sequence completed,” said the LOC and shut off.

  Noel looked at it in alarm, then the sound of an airlock sliding open startled him. He looked around for a hiding place, and saw only scattered banks of equipment linked together by heavy cables and conduits. It was completely unfamiliar, and had a temporary, jury-rigged look about it.

  Dazzling white light appeared around the edges of the door as it parted. He saw a dark cluster of heads silhouetted there.

  Completely disconcerted, Noel turned, still looking for cover. His foot struck something solid, and he crouched low.

  It was Leon, lying face down. His doublet hung in tatters, and his hose was shredded more than Noel’s. Quickly Noel put his hand on Leon’s shoulder and shook him.

  Leon stirred, moaning.

  “Come on,” Noel breathed urgently. “Something’s wrong. Get up!”

  Leon moved his head, still too groggy to respond.

  The door was open now, and light streamed across Noel. Feeling exposed and vulnerable, he looked around wildly. The people entered in a silence that he found unnerving. Unable to see them clearly, he squinted and put his hand up to protect his eyes.

  His mind was in overdrive, trying desperately to rationalize this. He and Leon obviously weren’t in the past anymore. But this wasn’t Lab 14 either.

  He tightened his grip on Leon’s shoulder and shook him again. “Come on, move!”

  Leon still didn’t stir. Abandoning him, Noel scuttled back. He turned to run, knowing he was trapped but unwilling to let himself be caught tamely.

  “Noel,” said a voice.

  A spotlight from overhead beamed down on him. Noel froze in place. Despite his alarm, he recognized that voice. It was a gruff voice of old times, a voice of friendship. He looked around, staring at the figures silhouetted against the dazzling backwash of light streaming in through the open door. He couldn’t see their faces.

  “Noel!”

  Trojan’s voice, but Noel refused to believe it. He stood there squinting, unwilling to believe what he heard. It wasn’t possible. Not this time. He’d done everything wrong. The place was wrong. Still…

  “Trojan?” he said uncertainly.

  “Lights,” said someone else.

  They snapped on, cold and bright, flooding the room with illumination. Blinking hard, Noel barely adjusted before he found himself surrounded by people all calling him by name, clapping him on the shoulder, and cheering.

  Staring in wonder at their familiar faces, Noel tried to make himself believe he’d really made it back. Everything seemed to be coming at him a little too fast. They were all trying to talk to him at once. He began to sort through the noise and confusion and focused on Trojan’s craggy face. Huge and rumpled, his best friend for all the years they’d worked at the Institute, Trojan had shaved off the red beard that usually made him look like a barbarian. Noel frowned, trying to take it all in. Trojan’s blue eyes held his, saying all that needed to be said. They warmed with a smile.

  “You’re back, my friend,” Trojan said softly. “Really back. I’m not a hologram this time. See?”

  Everything grew quiet as though the others finally realized Noel was having trouble making the adjustment.

  Trojan held out his hand.

  Noel finally began to accept that this wasn’t a fantasy, wasn’t a dream. It was really happening. His throat choked up, and he clasped Trojan’s hand.

  Trojan shook it in a crushing grip, then they were hugging each other and Trojan was pounding his back heartily.

  “Noel, Noel,” he said hoarsely, his voice thick with emotion. “You are the luckiest devil. What did you think you were doing, plunging off into a time distortion like that? Didn’t you know the risks?”

  “Careful. Stand back. Let me through,” said a woman’s incisive voice, cutting off Trojan’s scolding.

  It was Dr. Ellis, blond, beautiful, and unflappable, shoving her way through the technicians who parted to let her through. “I’m going to have your ears for this, Bruthe,” she was saying. “You promised to call me in plenty of time.”

  “Recall happened a little off schedule,” the chief technician defended himself. “You know this was all guesswork, spit, and prayer.”

  She stopped and stared at Noel, her eyes studying him in a quick once-over, then suddenly she grinned and threw her arms around his neck. Giving him a tight hug, she said, “I’m glad you’re back. Oh, I’m glad.”

  Before he could answer, she pulled away and put on her professional manner as though she’d never dropped it. “Let’s run some checks on you. Hmm.”

  Noel pulled her back into his arms before she could activate her medical scanner and kissed her full on the lips. “I’ve wanted to do that for two years and several centuries,” he said.

  She drew back, looking flustered as he released her. Laughter surrounded him and someone yelled, “He’s okay, Doc!”

  Her eyes shone. “I guess he is.”

  Noel looked around at all of them, drew in a breath, and shook his head.

  “What’s wrong?” Trojan asked.

  “Everything,” Noel said helplessly, unable to explain. “It’s all different.”

  “What did you expect?” Bruthe snapped. “We had just about pulled things together after the distortion destroyed half the facility, then you swooped by and trashed the time portal—”

  “Cut the man some slack here!” bellowed Trojan. “He saved us, didn’t he?”

  “Yes, but you know how long it will take to rebuild Laboratory 14? And the cost? You…” Bruthe’s eyes met Noel’s and his voice faltered. He elbowed past Trojan and held out his hand to shake Noel’s. “We’ll patch it together. But no more seat-of-the-pants physics, agreed?”

  “Promise,” Noel said with a grin. “But it’s all changed. Am—am I in the right dimension?”

  “Don’t you know?” Dr. Ellis asked with fresh worry. She whipped out her scanner again. “Maybe I better run the usual tests. Are you feeling in-sync?”

  “Sure,” Noel said, wishing she’d put her equipment away. He looked at Trojan. “You’re okay.”

  Trojan nodded. “Don’t you remember telling the medics I was out of sync and needed to be passed back through the time stream?”

  “No.”

  “Well, you figured it out exactly the way it was. Once the distortion stopped tearing the place apart, we—”

  “Get out of the way. Let me check his pulse,” Ellis said, shoving Trojan aside.

  He grinned at her and exchanged a g
lance with Bruthe who nodded. “Anyway, then we had to figure out how to reach you after you cooked the time computer and blew up the portal. You didn’t make it easy.”

  Noel kept feeling things catch in his throat. “Yeah,” he said unsteadily, remembering how close Qwip had come to invading the present. “But there was a good reason. I had to—”

  “Easy, old man,” Trojan said, gripping him by the shoulder and bringing him back from the memories. “You’re home. Understand? Home. We had to switch things over to the auxiliary units and restart. Then we had to track you. By the way, didn’t your mother ever tell you not to disengage your LOC?”

  Noel held up the old one. “It died with the time portal. I thought it was over then. I—”

  “Chair!” Ellis said briskly, still checking him with her scanner.

  Someone pushed one over, and Noel sat down.

  “Hungry?” she asked, popping open a ration package that she pulled from her pocket.

  Noel took it. His hands had sudden tremors that he knew were just aftershocks of rough travel, but he was embarrassed in front of everyone. He wasn’t ready for such a big reunion yet. Trojan wrapped a blanket around him, and Noel finally began to feel warm.

  “Okay, people,” Bruthe said while Trojan bent down to help Noel with the ration package. “Clear the area. Let’s stand down according to the drill, all right? Victory party will be at eighteen hundred hours in the new staff lounge. Just stay out of the wet paint.”

  The technicians drifted out, several of them pausing to touch Noel’s shoulder or give him a smile.

  Bruthe produced a metal clipboard and started frowning. There were new lines carved in his ugly face. He looked tired. “We’ll shoot for a formal debriefing tomorrow—”

  Noel dropped the ration package and sprang up with a frown. “Wait a minute. Leon’s here. I saw him just a minute ago.”

  Bruthe stared at him in consternation. “What?”

  “Not that again,” Trojan said.

  “Noel, please—” began Dr. Ellis.

  Noel paid them no attention. He looked around wildly at the people who were still in the room, and those filing out.

  “No one leave!” he shouted. “We’ve got to find him. Trojan, help me look.”

  Trojan, however, snagged Noel by the arm. “Easy. What are you saying? Leon is here? Are you sure?”

  “I think he’d better sit down,” Ellis said. “I don’t like this.”

  “Of course he’s here!” Noel insisted angrily, brushing off Ellis’s attempts to calm him. “No, I don’t want a sedative. No, I don’t want to sit down. He’s not a hallucination. He came through. He—”

  “Noel, I’m sorry,” Bruthe said. “That’s not possible. He could either remain behind in the time stream, the way his energy wave did before, or he could be rejoined with you before you materialized here. But two of you, here? An anomaly like that cannot manifest itself in this reality zone. It’s impossible.”

  Opening his mouth, Noel found himself with nothing to say. He sank blindly onto the chair and felt winded and confused. “But I saw him,” he said.

  “Take it easy.” Trojan patted his shoulder. “You’ve had some very rough travel.”

  Noel thought of what he’d just come through and snorted. “Understatement.”

  “Give yourself a chance to adjust. Doc?”

  She bent over Noel with a needle that he pushed away. “Noel Kedran, you cooperate. I’m taking you down to the infirmary for a full checkup.”

  “No time,” Noel said, trying to stand again, only Trojan wouldn’t let him. Noel lost his temper. “Turn me loose, damnit! I don’t care what Bruthe says. I know he’s here, and I have to find him.”

  “We’ll look after you’ve been checked out,” Trojan said in a soothing tone.

  Noel glared at him, willing him to understand. “Leon can’t be turned loose around here. You don’t know what he’s like, what he’ll do.”

  “Noel, you’re the only one. There’s no twin. There’s no Leon.”

  Noel glared at them, hating their kind, stupid faces. Why wouldn’t they listen to him? “I want to talk to Dr. Rugle now,” he said sharply. “I want to report this. She’ll—”

  “Dr. Rugle has resigned,” Trojan said. “We’re getting a new director soon. In the meantime, Bruthe here is in charge.”

  Noel blinked, momentarily diverted. “No kidding. The old bag is finally gone?”

  Someone laughed, only to be swiftly hushed. Trojan was grinning. He gave Noel a nod. “Maybe you’ll even keep your job.”

  Noel caught a wry look from Bruthe and grinned back. “Yeah.” Then he sobered. “But not if Leon starts causing trouble. I’ve got to find him.”

  “Noel, listen,” began Ellis in a firm but worried voice.

  “This paranoia has to stop. Trust me. There is no duplicate of you—”

  “Hey!” called a voice from the doorway. “I caught a half-naked guy trying to break through a security checkpoint without authorization. Someone want to take charge of this?”

  Hitching his blanket around himself, Noel jumped to his feet and hurried out into the corridor. There stood a puzzled security guard with a firm clamp on Leon, who was glaring and struggling to twist free to no avail.

  “My God,” whispered Dr. Ellis, staring.

  Trojan’s jaw dropped open.

  Bruthe elbowed his way to the front and gripped Leon by the arm. “We’ll take charge of him. Thanks,” he said, and marched Leon back into the laboratory.

  “Noel!” yelled Leon, still struggling. “Who are these people? What is this damned place? Why don’t you speak up for me and tell them I’m with you?”

  “It’s true,” Trojan said.

  The others went on staring, looking at first Noel, then Leon.

  “Oh, God,” someone moaned. “Not two of them. One Kedran was bad enough.”

  Snickers ran through the technicians, and Bruthe looked around with a glare. “Come on. Stop exhaling carbon dioxide and help me measure the anomaly. I want to cross-check energy sine waves with his transmission coding.”

  “Bruthe, please,” Ellis said, finally pulling herself together. “He’s a human being, not a piece of static on your transmission channels. Let me check him out first. This is incredible.”

  The scientists surrounded Leon, handing him a blanket and pushing him toward a bank of instrumentation.

  Trojan elbowed Noel in the ribs. “You weren’t making him up,” he said softly.

  Irritation flashed through Noel. “You mean you didn’t believe me either? Thanks a lot.”

  “Yeah, but he never existed until you got into trouble out there. I mean, I thought you went back just to clean him up, like Bruthe’s static.”

  “I did,” Noel said tersely.

  “But he came back with you.”

  “I can’t believe this,” Noel said. Of all the possible scenarios he’d ever considered regarding Leon’s eventual fate, this had never occurred to him. “The trouble he causes. You have no idea—”

  “Noel, listen!” Trojan said worriedly. “He’s here, separate and distinct. He’s not a part of you. He’s him.”

  “Yes, I know,” Noel said.

  “You still don’t get it?”

  “Get what?” Noel asked, then a flicker of suspicion tracked through his mind. He frowned, beginning to see what Trojan was getting at. “Oh.”

  “Yeah, oh. Don’t you see? He’s real. As in really real. He’s here. He’s not some hiccup in the time stream, not some reflection or bent refraction or whatever the hell he started out as. We’ve created life. By accident or design, you really do have a brother now.”

  Noel felt stunned. “Forever,” he whispered, thinking about it.

  “Yeah, I guess so,” Trojan said. “Identical twins. It’s amazing. I can’t believe he’s here.”

  And Leon wasn’t leaving, Noel thought, dismay sinking through his stomach. Leon wasn’t going to fade away. He wasn’t ever going to stop causing trouble
. He wasn’t ever going to vanish. The responsibility would never end.

  Horrified by the prospect, Noel thought. I ’m going to have to travel to the past again just to get away from him.

  He looked across the lab at his brother who was sitting in the middle of all the scientific attention.

  Leon glanced up and caught Noel staring at him. As though he could read Noel’s mind, he grinned from ear to ear and winked.

  “Hey, brother!” he called. “This is my kind of place. Why didn’t you bring me here sooner?”

  More from Deborah Chester

  Time Trap

  In the 26th century, chaos threatens to overwhelm civilization—but the historians on staff at the Time Institute are determined to change things for the better. Through first-hand recordings of the greatest events of the past, they hope to reawaken the modern-day populace and restore its zest for achievement. The trouble for the Institute is that saboteurs have infiltrated.

  The trouble for time-traveler Noel Kedran is that his mission lands him in the wrong place and century.

  Medieval Greece is little more than a way-station for European knights headed for the Crusades. All but forgotten, this small pocket of history is awash in treachery as Greek bandits, French knights, and Constantinople's diplomats battle for supremacy. Caught in their clash to rule Greece, Noel fears that any alteration to the course of history could destroy his own time, until he meets a stranger who is his mirror image. This twin, as determined to destroy the future as Noel is to save it, will take both Noel’s fate and history into his own hands.

  Showdown

  Unable to return to the 26th century, historian and time traveler Noel Kedran struggles to repair the sabotage that keeps him ensnared in time's web. His evil twin Leon, created by the anomaly, works just as hard to prevent Noel from escaping the trap. Each attempt to go home lands Noel and Leon in a different era. Now, they're in the New Mexico territory in the year 1887—a harsh desert land plagued by lawless bandit raids, border wars, and fierce Apaches.

  Although determined to preserve the fabric of history, Noel soon finds himself involved with the perils facing a ranching family. The ranch has been burned and a young girl abducted. If Noel can't find a way to rescue her, the altered time stream will change the future forever. That's exactly what Leon is hoping for. Which means that sooner or later, the two of them must have a showdown.