Fugitives of Time: Sequel to Emperors of Time (15 page)

“Should we just leave it here, or do something about it?”
Rose asked.

“Let’s put it on their doorstep,” Tim said.  “I bet
Westbrook will at least remember enough about it that he’ll know he has to get
rid of it.”  Even if the mind-control carried some sort of amnesia-like
effect, Tim couldn’t figure that a congressman would want to risk looking crazy
by showing off a weird hunk of metal on his doorstep.

So they moved it back up to the house.  Tim dropped it
on the hard wooden step in front of the door, just for good measure, and the
thing broke into two pieces. 

“Okay…  I think we’ve probably woken up the whole
neighborhood by now,” said Rose.  “So we should probably high-tail it out
of here.  We’re going to Harry Hibbard’s place, at Georgia and Thirteenth,
right?”

“Yeah!  That way!” Tim said, pointing.  At that
moment, they heard a door somewhere on the street open.  Someone had
clearly heard them.

“Good!” Rose said, and then began to run through the
rain.  Tim followed.  They hustled through the storm, first in
panic.  But then, by the time they reached the end of that block and
nothing bad happened, and no more doors opened, it just started to feel good to
run through the rain.  After a couple blocks they stopped to catch their
breath.  Tim looked over his shoulder.  They weren’t being followed,
but they were soaking wet, out of breath, and caught in the middle of a
thunderstorm.

“Well,” Rose said.  “Sure beats the pants off playing
hide and go seek with my fake little brothers.”  She started laughing, and
Tim joined her.  They’d just destroyed another of the mind-control
machines.  In spite of the rain and his wet, muddy clothes, he felt good.

Captives

It turned out that Tim’s good mood had a short shelf-life in
his soaking clothes and the pouring rain.  They’d decided early on that
there was no reason to use the umbrellas given that they were already soaked,
but that didn’t make them feel any less wet as time wore on.

They trudged across the city toward their last
destination.  Tim was soaked through and, since it wasn’t warm out this
evening in the first place, the cold rain made him shiver. Each new drop made
him colder, and eventually he decided that he didn’t care about the logical
sense of it and opened the umbrella. 

At least it kept new rain from falling on him, but it made
him notice the rain dripping down off his hair and clothes.  He kept
shivering.  He felt pretty miserable.

Rose had gotten her umbrella out as well, by the time they
reached about halfway to Hibbard’s house, and didn’t seem to be much happier
than Tim.

“You know, I’ve been thinking,” Rose said.  “I think
that maybe being brave is sometimes less about doing epic things like traveling
through time and more about continuing to take one more step in the cold rain
when your clothes are soaking wet and all you want to do is take a hot bath.”

Tim laughed, but he figured she was at least partially
right.  “What a Rose thing to say.  I’m over here wondering whether
it’s cold enough for me to get hypothermia, and you’re pondering the definition
of bravery.  I definitely disagree with the bath thing, though.  I
don’t want to see water for another month.  I need a heavy towel and a
warm bed.”

Rose laughed.  Even if he still wasn’t pleased with his
situation, it was good to be able to laugh.  Tim continued with a bit more
pep in his step.

Tim found that talking helped take his mind a little bit off
his sopping wet physical condition, so he figured maybe they should keep it up
as they continued their slog through the rainy city.

Apparently Rose was thinking the same thing, because she
spoke up next.  “So… what’s going on between you and July, anyway?  I
can’t get her to talk about it.”

“Haha, neither can I,” Tim said dryly.  He explained
the partial conversation he and Julie had back in the underground bunker.

Rose laughed a couple times during the story, but then
responded sympathetically, “Well…  it really
is
a weird time for us
all, you know?  Plus, since she’s from the alternate timeline, she might
even feel like she doesn’t really know you… Just be patient, you guys were made
for each other.”

“Well, that’s nice of you to say,” Tim said with a
sigh.  He wasn’t sure whether he believed her or not, but he was glad to
have something to think about aside from the puddles he was doing a lousy job
avoiding.  “What about you and Billy, is there something going on there?”

“Okay, so get this,” Rose said.  “We’ve decided that as
soon as we’re allowed to stay in our own time for an extended period, we’re
going to go see a movie together and get some dinner, and that’ll be our first
date.  Until then, we’re just friends who kind of save the world together
sometimes.”

Finally, twenty minutes later, at about two AM by Tim’s
pocket watch, Rose and Tim arrived at the boarding house that Hubbard lived
in.  Tim was briefly surprised that it was 2 AM and he didn’t feel sleepy,
but then he had taken a nap that afternoon, plus he was moving around too much
to really get drowsy.  Still, even if he wasn’t sleepy, his legs were getting
tired from all the walking, so the house that was their final destination for
the evening was a welcome sight for Tim.

There was a green light visible in one of the windows, so
they were definitely in the right place.  They even had a target to aim for
within the house.  There was no overhang this time, but the rain was
slowing a little bit, and there was a huge tree in the yard.  Tim and Rose
hid underneath it to get away from most of the rain.

“Want to try your hatchet-window trick again?” Rose asked.

“Dunno,” Tim responded.  “Should we wait a while to see
if Julie and Billy can meet us here before we go in?”

“Well, it’s almost two o’clock now…  How long can we
wait before we risk meeting the dawn in there?” Rose asked.  “Besides, the
faster we get in and out, the faster we can get out of here and get to a place
where it doesn’t rain so much.”

Tim thought for a moment.  There was no reason to think
they couldn’t get this done on their own.  Plus, they had assumed that the
other two would get there first.  Clearly, something was holding them up
at their house, but complications could just as easily delay them here as
well.  They really did want to get out before Congress met another
time.  Plus, there still could be another mental zombie out there somewhere
waiting to be discovered.

“Okay… let’s give it a shot,” Tim agreed.

Tim couldn’t help but take it as a good omen that when they
ventured out from under the tree and toward the house, the rain had finally
stopped. 

The first window Tim tried slipped open easily.  They
slid into the room like they were experienced criminals.  Things were
going well. 

Of course, they were still dripping wet, to the extent that
Tim almost wondered about whether the patter of their rainwater coming off of
them would be a noise concern.  A more realistic noise problem, though,
was their squelching shoes.

“We’ll just have to be careful to walk lightly,” Tim
whispered, as Rose dug for the candle and the matches.

“You won’t have to worry about that,” scoffed a voice in the
darkness.  “And don’t try to shoot me with whatever weapon it is you have,
because I have my weapon on you already, Sage.”

Tim just about jumped out of his soggy skin, but he wasn’t
shocked enough to miss the next bit of bad news.

“And I have one on the girl,” said another voice. 

The person who one of the voices belonged to also struck a
match and lit a lantern, so that the room was lit with dim light.  Thomas
Fuller and Henry Hibbard were standing near the door to the room, pointing
pistols at them.

“Now kick your weapons across the floor,” instructed
Fuller.  Rose’s was out, but not pointed at anyone, so she had no choice
but to put it on the floor and kick it.  Tim considered trying to bluff
and convince the men he didn’t have one, but he noticed that it was sticking
slightly out of the pocket he had carelessly shoved it into before trying his
hatchet trick.  Tim surrendered the weapon, and Hibbard came over and
closed the window again.

Rose swore, and Tim hung his head.  The thought that
they should have waited for Billy and Julie flashed through his head, but he
figured if they’d done that, then all four of them would be caught instead of
just two of them. 

“No doubt you’ve already worked out the broad outlines of
what happened here,” Hibbard said.

“When I woke up, I found the smashed machine, so I knew what
had happened immediately, although I didn’t know how many people were
involved.  I immediately came here to tell Hibbard to be expecting company
tonight,” Fuller explained.

“Now the other occupants of this boarding house and Fuller’s
are in one of the rooms upstairs being persuaded to our point of view,” said
Hibbard.

“We hadn’t intended to involve more people than the original
four,” Fuller admitted.  “But we could not leave them to their own devices
now that they have been inadvertently drawn into the action.  The machines
are intended to work with just one person at a time, of course, but they should
understand enough at least not to try to resist what we’re trying to do, even
if they might not receive the specific instructions that myself and Hibbard
have been chosen to receive.”

There was a pause at this point.  Tim was able to
understand enough of what Fuller was saying to realize that while the machines
didn’t work
well
with more than one person, they could still be used for
crowd control in a pinch.  Of course, Tim had more immediate concerns on
his mind.

“What, so you’re just going to shoot us now?” asked
Rose.  Her voice sounded strong and defiant.  Tim had to admire her
for not becoming a terrified mess.  Tim personally was feeling awfully
cowardly, but decided he wasn’t going to show it if Rose wouldn’t.

“Not at all,” said Hibbard easily.  “I have other
instructions.  You see, we have been instructed to let you do the right
thing.”

“Destroy the mind-control machine?” Rose asked, seemingly
surprised by their good fortune.

Fuller laughed at this.  “Is that what you think they
are?  Mind-control machines?  Not at all…  They simply expand
our perspective.  We don’t do anything we wouldn’t otherwise do, or think
anything we wouldn’t already think.  For instance, take our brilliant plan
for compromise on this Kansas-Nebraska business.  Why
wouldn’t
we
want to supply this country that we love with a plan that will keep us strong
and united instead of continuing to bicker over slavery until, what…  A
civil war, perhaps?  Or a Northern-imposed abolition that would lead to
economic bankruptcy for the South?  What good would that do for
anyone?  But with the perspective we gained from the machines you disparage,
we have found a solution.”

“It’s not a solution, it’s part of an intricate plan hatched
by evil scientists from the future,” Tim contradicted.

Fuller and Hibbard chuckled again.  Hibbard fielded
this point.  “Why must the scientists be evil?  They want what’s best
for our country, just like us.  They must succeed.  We must
succeed.  And together, we will.  Yes, you have managed to destroy
two of our machines tonight, and it is perhaps true that we might forget some
of our revelations if we didn’t have regular access to our machines.  But
I daresay we could carry on the rest of the plan without outside help. 
And we still have two machines that are active.”

“Why would you be telling us this?” asked Rose.  She
was clearly thinking, like Tim, that they might be lying about how many more
machines there were, especially about the implication that the machine Julie
and Billy had been sent out to destroy was still intact.

“To scare you,” explained Hibbard, matter-of-factly. 
“You see, you need to know that we are still strong and that you cannot defeat
us.  This way, you will make the proper decision when we make our offer.”

“You need to travel back to your own time--we know you are
not actually the people who you look like now-- and leave the past to unfold
how we want it to.  If you do that, you will each live out a full, good
life.  In fact, we are authorized to tell you that those scientists who
you so brashly call evil, they will pull some strings within the timeline to
make sure that all four of you who were once their enemies will be especially
prosperous.  Of course, they will give you instructions on how you can
meet them, so that they can reverse the surgery that your misguided leader
forced you to undergo.  Then, you will be able to go back to your own life,
better than before.  They will not only leave you unmolested, but
enriched.  Would someone evil make an offer like that?”

Tim had to admit that part of him was almost tempted.

“And the last piece of information you should know before
you make your decision is that your friends have already accepted our
offer.  They have left and gone back home.  Don’t you want to join
them?”

“You’re lying!” Rose shouted immediately.  “How would
you even know?  They’re at Disney’s house, he isn’t here!”

“No, he is not.  But the machines also act as
communication devices, and we can tell when they are broken if we try to
communicate with it, which is how we know you successfully destroyed
Westbrook’s device.  When Fuller got here, we told Disney to be on the lookout. 
He was, and succeeded in heading them off.  He explained to your friends
that we would no doubt spoil your attempt at breaking our machine, and they no
doubt trusted that you, like they, would make the right decision and move back
to your own time and stop interfering here,” Hibbard explained.

“Well, you probably need some time to think,” Fuller said,
almost kindly.  “We will leave you in here.  You may feel free to
take off any time you like.  Don’t bother saying goodbye, just leave and
enjoy your lives.  But if you do decide to resist, your graves will be
here in 1854.”

The congressmen didn’t wait for a response, but allowed the
conversation to end on that ominous note.  They closed the door behind
them, leaving Rose and Tim alone in the room.

“Well, now what?” asked Tim, who was more or less stumped.

“First things first,” Rose said, with a bit of a sniffle,
“I’m going to need a hug.”

That was something Tim could do, if perhaps a bit
awkwardly.  There was a squelching noise as their wet clothes clung
together for a moment.  It was weird, but it actually did make Tim feel a
little better to hug Rose.  Tim would have to remember that about
Rose…  It was good to have a friend who gave good hugs.

Rose was tearing up a little bit, but she gave a loud sniff
and wiped her eyes.  “Okay, now it’s time for us to buck up and talk about
this like adults.  Or, you know… time-traveling teenagers.”

Tim smiled faintly.  “Okay.  So they’re lying
right?”

“I don’t know,” Rose admitted, putting a hand against her
head.  “What do you think?”

“Nope… let’s try this again,” Tim said, deciding it was time
to pay Rose back for the hug with a little bit of confidence of his own. 
“They’re
definitely
lying.  Billy and Julie wouldn’t abandon us.”

“But what difference does it make if they’re captured
anyway?” asked Rose forlornly.

“You’re not doing a great job of bucking up, are you?” asked
Tim, with an attempt at a smile.  “Hibbard and Fuller would lie to us and
tell us whatever would make us most scared, right?”