All the time in the worl.., p.6
All the Time in the World, page 6
"Why not kill two birds with one stone and activate Tempus while we’re there?" Al submitted.
Secta wasn’t comfortable with the idea. It would mean him going on the mission with them to handle the technicalities.
He queried, "Wouldn’t it be wiser to first establish if Red Wheel is actually a problem there? Might not be."
It dawned on Alice he shouldn’t be considering risking Secta, and so he changed tack. "You’re right. Okay, let’s just do a recce. I’ll need Turk and Toeghan here; better let 'em know."
"Go get your trappings together, Al. Vic and I will sort Turk out," Secta advised.
Alice left the control room to get kitted up.
A short while later, Turk and Toeghan stepped out of Kairos and were greeted by Secta. He led them to the armoury where they found Alice.
Half an hour after that, the three of them were in the control room geared up, ready for the mission to Tempus.
"I’ve remotely inputted a new data file to your implant, Alice," Secta advised leisurely. "It’s an interface with your graphene lenses Vic developed that will provide you a radiation readout. When you switch to infrared vision, there’s a small green number bottom right. Try it now."
Al mentally switched. "Yep, I see it … point zero nine."
"Yes, four points higher than normal due to your proximity to Kairos, but anything under two point zero is safe. It is calibrated to blink when the radiation is one point five and getting dangerous."
"Cool. Anything else?"
Secta continued, "Yes, you’ve got your vortex remote, and you’re up to speed on its functionality, yes?"
Al nodded, "Yep,"
The three of them were dressed in disruptive grey pattern camouflage fatigues. Al was wearing a red beret, with Turk and Toeghan wearing black ones.
Hope and the Professor came in.
"All set?" Vic asked.
"Just about to jump," Turk said, with a smile.
Hope gave Turk a big hug, happy to see her dad.
"Bit of a step up for you, Toeghan. Looking forward to a bit of action?" Vic asked.
Toeghan smiled. Her entire demeanour had changed for the better since spending time with Turk and Morri.
"Can’t wait, Professor," she said.
While Hope, Turk, and Toeghan chatted about Morri and the goings-on at the Avalon bunker, Vic went over to Christina at the console and asked, "Everything ship-shape?"
She smiled, always in a pleasant mood. "No tap-backs so far … the algorithm is working like a charm."
"Excellent."
She swivelled around and said, "Okay, ready when you are, Al."
Normally, there was a degree of tension prior to the commencement of a mission, but Al and Turk were so keen to work together again that it made for a more positive atmosphere. It could also have had something to do with the chemistry between Toeghan and Al … it was there for all of them to sense.
Turk stepped out of the vortex and was met by Al and Toeghan, covering him. They were in the Tempus control room rather than the lobby where the drone had been destroyed, thought to be safer even with the momentary motion lapse.
Al immediately checked for radiation; it was point zero nine, the same as the Kairos control room. Though there were no lights, it was easy enough to see. The control room looked similar to the one they were familiar with at Kairos. It wasn’t dusty or decayed, and Al couldn’t see any noticeable damage, so he was feeling confident it could be reactivated. After pressing the red button on the remote for the micro-wormhole to track him, it was time for some exploring.
Al drew his Glock. "Okay, let’s cruise. I’ll lead; Turk, take up the rear."
He opened the pressure door, went through the decontamination section, and out through another heavy-duty door into a corridor. Al had a scale drawing of the Tempus layout on his organic implant, so he could see the elevator was nearby but figured it unlikely to be functioning even though it was nuclear powered. He decided to give it a try anyway. They navigated the dim corridor to the elevator lobby.
Al pressed the call button and lo and behold, it worked.
"That’s a good start. There are twenty-three freaking kilometres of tunnels down here with seventeen access shafts … we could have been in for a helluva hike if the lift hadn’t worked."
"You’d have to think down here would have been the safest place in America during the war … how deep are we?" asked Turk.
"Two hundred feet … twenty stories. You’re right, mate, this is even more secure than the Avalon bunker."
"Do you think whoever took out the drone lives down here?" Toeghan questioned, looking nervously about, expecting at any moment for someone to leap out of the shadows.
"I dunno, but I guess we’ll find out soon enough," Al said.
The elevator arrived. They entered to ride up to the lobby. Inside, Turk looked down at the floor. "Footprints. People use this."
Al checked the rads again—it hadn’t changed—still acceptable. It was a fast and silent elevator, with one dim light and large enough for ten passengers.
"My ears just popped," Toeghan muttered with a cackle.
"What’s that?" Al asked.
She spoke louder, "I said my ears just popped."
Al joked, "Sorry, can’t hear you; my ears just popped."
They laughed. Al was in good spirits with his waggish sense of humour.
The elevator stopped and the door slid open. They weren’t expecting to be greeted by what confronted them.
Chapter 7
BUSH TELEGRAPH
THE NUMBER OF guns aimed at them was a worry—more than a dozen. Al was thinking to quickly press the down button but figured if they were trigger happy, his finger might not reach it in time. Instead, he chose a big friendly smile, and that seemed to do the trick.
"Hey, now that’s no way to greet friends, is it?" he asked warmly, raising his hands chest-high in surrender.
But the look on their faces was more of a freak-out than of fury. As if they’d all simultaneously received a message to look left, then in perfect timing, they looked sharply back at Alice again, wild-eyed.
Al leaned out of the door to peek at what they’d looked at that had freaked them out so. He saw it was a framed photo on the wall commemorating the launch of Tempus. What had rattled them was Alice, dressed as he is now, standing in the centre of the photograph, flanked by Dr Robert James, General Larry Freeman, Secta, the Professor, Christina, and Hope.
"Oh, that! Well yes, that’s me all right, I can explain … I’m Black Alice … and these guys here are Toeghan and Turk."
The guns slowly lowered, their faces smeared with camouflage paint turning from astonishment to fascination. A young woman dressed in ripped and torn old army fatigues stepped forward with her hand extended to shake.
"Hi Alice, I’m the great-granddaughter of Dr Robert James, Cheyenne James, and this," she motioned at a young man behind her, "is the great-grandson of General Larry Freeman … Rip Freeman."
Al stepped out of the elevator and shook their hands. Turk and Toeghan followed.
On the floor near the reception counter was what was left of the crashed drone.
"Oh, that must have been yours, sorry," Cheyenne said.
Al smiled. "It’s okay, I understand … the first reaction would have been defence."
"We thought it belonged to the Rangers," Rip snarled.
"The Rangers? Who are they?" Al questioned.
"We will explain soon enough. For now, we need to leave here, it is too dangerous. Come with us," Cheyenne said, stepping into the elevator.
Al signalled, and they all boarded … a seriously tight fit: sixteen of them.
"We could get busted for overloading," Al quipped, he and Turk towering above the others.
It was obvious to Al that Cheyenne and Rip were the oldest; the others looked to be teenagers.
Cheyenne pressed the button for the 17th floor.
Alice checked the floor plan on his implant. "The laboratory floor … is that where you live?"
Cheyenne shook her head, "No, it is where we hold meetings. We live in tunnels on the twentieth."
"Anyone know a good elevator joke?" Toeghan quipped, jammed like in a sardine can.
The door opened, and Cheyenne led them out to a set of double doors that she swung open. Inside was a small lecture auditorium in which fifty or so people were seated waiting. It was well-lit, clean, and modern. The red fabric-covered seats were configured on a steep angle for an unobstructed view of the stage.
The others stayed behind while Cheyenne led Alice, Turk, and Toeghan along an aisle, up four steps onto the stage. Cheyenne took centre stage. The room fell silent.
"Kinfolk," she addressed them, "I present to you … the legendary … Black Alice!"
Alice was taken aback by the standing ovation. He humbly held up a hand. "Please, please … I don’t know why there’s such admiration, but I appreciate it. I don’t suppose I would be telling you anything new when I say that we have travelled in time from the past to visit you. From the location and the names Dr Robert James and Larry Freeman mentioned, I know we’re all family. I’m accompanied this day by Turk, chief of the Avalon bunker in Oceana in this year, and Toeghan, who also works with Oceana Time Travel. We recently cured thousands of sufferers of a dreadful disease called Red Wheel that had infected the people of Oceana in this time zone following the seven-year war. The fatal disease was planted by Zen Corporation and was intended to kill off mankind within a generation … and would have done so had it not been for Dr Secta and Professor De Luz back in my time, coming up with a cure. We’re here to assess the extent of the disease in America. We chose to come to Tempus because it is our sister time travel facility, and through it, we believe we can treat the infirmed."
An unexpected murmur of discontent rumbled from the audience.
"By your reaction, you must have a story that could have bearing on our plans. I think then before we proceed with anything, you need to fill us in. Thank you."
Cheyenne led them off into a smaller room backstage.
"Take a seat, the leading elder will be here to speak with you in a moment," she said.
Alice noticed all of them had a complexion similar to the pale, ghostlike members of the Queanbeyan community. Sunlight obviously was something they avoided. They weren’t robust in any way, quite frail, thin, and undernourished.
A decrepit old man slumped in a wheelchair was pushed into the room and positioned in front of Alice. A few thin strands of white hair left on his head, his face wrinkled by the ravages of time … but in his pale blue old eyes, Alice recognised a person he knew. A shaky, frail, bony hand covered in age spots and pellucid skin, reached out for Alice to grasp.
"Robert," Alice said, smiling, "Dr Robert James."
Turk and Toegs also shook the old man’s hand, having met him a number of times in the Kairos control room.
His voice raspy and faltering, Robert said, "Alice, Turk, and Toeghan … ah, memories flood back of Kairos," he spluttered and coughed.
"He’s a hundred and eighteen," Cheyenne said proudly.
Robert touched Alice’s arm to get his attention, the way old folk do. Al had to lean closer to hear him clearly. "Had we finished Tempus by the time you left?" Robert croaked.
"No."
Robert grinned. "So, you don’t know we used Vic’s TL-100 to cure our people of Red Wheel then?"
Alice chuckled … it was another of those paradoxes. During the interim from when they’d left, OTT had obviously distributed the TL-100 to cure Red Wheel sufferers worldwide.
"Good to know it worked," Al said, beaming a big grin.
"Oh yes, it worked all right, everywhere in the world, and it allowed me to live longer than expected … But it didn’t stop them … no, no … did it?" Robert said, getting quite riled up.
Alice frowned. "Them?"
Cheyenne stepped in to placate the old man. "Calm down, Poppy. Don’t get yourself in a pickle. Alice is here to help. You should go rest now … don’t worry, I will tell him everything."
After Robert had been wheeled from the room, Cheyenne sat down to tell them the story of Tempus.
They had known the war was coming after being warned by OTT. In fact, as part of the TL-100 installation process, OTT had explained what it was for and why it was necessary, so the countries that had one were very much aware of what to expect. The thing was the TL-100 was for the treatment of Red Wheel, not for the prevention of it.
She further explained, "The military and the government had no idea Tempus would be a strategic target for a nuclear strike. They did, however, anticipate a strike on the missile base at Grand Prairie just fifty-four kilometres from here. As a result, the region took two big nuclear hits on the same day.
"The staff at Tempus had been well-drilled. Robert, over a hundred years old then, had fought to have the entire complement of staff evacuated through Tempus 6 to another time, but the UNTT had overruled that. So, for our safety, we went deep underground into the twenty-three kilometres of subterranean tunnels.
"In the years before the war, Larry and Robert had built a sanctuary in the tunnels to house and feed two hundred people but only enough for one generation. What had not been factored in were the Rangers."
"So, tell us about the Rangers?" Al asked.
"Okay, they’re from outside this facility … people who survived the bombs. Many of them are from the Texas Rangers, a local law enforcement guild, and then some from the military base in nearby Waxahachie. They had a bunker, but that didn’t prevent them from catching Red Wheel. They knew we had the cure, but instead of asking to use it, they decided to take it by force. We have been fighting them ever since."
"So, they have Red Wheel?" Turk clarified.
"Yes, Robert said that if we saw out a generation in hiding underground, the Rangers would eventually die out. What he failed to foresee was that the Rangers would devolve into feral savages who nowadays are so starved for food that they have become cannibals."
"Why not just give them the TL-100? You don’t need it," Toeghan questioned.
"We don’t know if we can still catch Red Wheel … besides, they don’t have the power or the knowledge to use it."
"Couldn’t you teach them?" Turk queried.
"I think you underestimate them, Turk … it is difficult to even consider them human anymore … they’re nothing but a pack of wild animals."
"How many are there?" Al asked.
"I have no idea, but more than us."
"This will have happened wherever there was a TL-100, I think," Turk told Al. "It’s the nature of humanity … to war and fight … one side seeking to dominate the other. While one group has the cure, the other side will want it and probably kill for it."
Al agreed strongly, "You’re not bloody wrong, mate."
"What can we do?" Toegs asked.
"Well, we can’t just accept that everyone infected has gone feral like the Rangers. We need to visit other places and see if they have the same problem. Cheyenne, does Tempus still work?"
"Yes, Alice, but no-one knows how to use it."
"Oh, yes they do," Al said.
"Who?" Cheyenne inquired.
"Your great-grandfather. He helped build it."
When Jax De Ville and Buddy Holman cautiously entered the cavity in the ridge Henry Vitale and his associate had mined, they were shocked to find they had been beaten to the punch. With guns drawn, flashlights lighting up their faces, Blake and Vee were there waiting.
"Whoa, down with the armoury … seems we’ve all been outdone," Blake hollered, flashing his torch at the two CIA agents.
"Well, well, if it isn’t Blake Green and who’s that? Oh, Alice’s little sister," Holman belittled.
Jax shined her torch about the low-ceiling space, searching for the treasure and only came up with two mangled, dead bodies spread-eagle on the floor. "I guess that’s Vitale and Santos."
"Yes, and they bear an MO that’d be familiar to you," Blake taunted Jax.
"Handerson Bolt," she grumbled.
Holman let out a groan, "Argh! Here we go again, your Moriarty."
"We can safely assume Bolt bolted with the treasure," Vee added, with humour.
Irritated, Holman shrieked, "How could this guy lift a one-ton sarcophagus and all the rest of the treasure out of this cave in such a short time? Like, I know he’s your nemesis, but he ain't no Superman," he snarled cynically.
Blake fired back caustically, "Maybe through a wormhole, who knows?"
"Nah, where would he get that technology?" Jax argued.
"Zen," Vee countered, "he could’ve done a deal with them?"
"If you look carefully at the floor," Blake said, shining his torch at marks, "you can see where something very heavy has been dragged out. I’d say it was the sarcophagus. Then, it was probably hoisted up and flown out to a secret location by chopper."
Holman barked scathingly, "Huh! Sure! That would take one helluva big chopper … where would he get that?"
Blake snapped, "What’s with you, Holman? There are plenty of choppers here that can lift a ton; a K-Max-1200, a Bell 205-A, even an Airbus AS-250. You should know that."
"Now you’re what, an aviation expert?" Holman snapped. He didn’t like Blake, and the feeling was mutual.
"Shut up, Holman. He knows about choppers, he can fly one. Yes, Blake, and we know it … he’d have access to whatever he needs here," Jax said, drawing her satellite phone and then striding to the entrance while dialling. "Amaya Alvarez, please … Amaya … can you get flight reports for the last 48 hours from Davao Airport, please? … Sorry … of choppers coming and going from Mount Apo … and their final destinations. Yes, the treasure has been stolen. Okay … thanks, call me back."
Bending down to avoid hitting his head on the craggy low ceiling, Blake followed Jax outside where he found her studying more marks on the ground.
"You can see where they picked it up, right here," she said, pointing at the spot.
Blake nodded then scanned the stunning view of rainforest eight hundred metres below.
