Now & Again (27 page)

* * *

The cardiac nurse stood with the phone to her ear and frowned at old Everett while she listened. Her face briefly looked puzzled. She lifted the phone away from her ear and looked at it. Satisfied, she listened again. Finally, she just held the phone out. “It stopped ringing. It just – there was ringing and then it just stopped. And now, nothing.”

Everett slumped back, spent. The nurse looked concerned. “Mr. Everett? What’s this about? Can I help in any way?”

“No.” His bitter voice was barely above a whisper. “Just hand it to me. That’s all.”

Her face softened and her voice was sincere, “You sure?”

In answer, he simply stuck his shaking, arthritic hand out, palm up.

She gently gave him the phone. He held it against his chest and bleakly stared at the ceiling. The nurse hesitantly left the room, pausing momentarily at the door. “You want the lights on or off?”

“Off.”

The lights above the bed went out and the tiny figure of Everett with the phone on his chest never moved.

* * *

Kendall and Josh rocked on their heels near the front of the hospital roof and stared at each other. They were alive!

“Hugh was right!” Kendall crowed. “Woooooh! We’re alive! What a hell of a rush that was!” He clapped Josh on the back in his excitement.

Josh bent over and gasped. “Easy! I’m gonna throw up!” He gulped air and held his hands out stiffly, trying to calm the nausea. “Oh no!” His eyes grew bigger. “Wait…wait…okay. I think I’m okay.” He lowered his hands to his sides and stood up slowly, taking shallow and quick breaths. “So…” He swallowed gingerly. “Now we look for a truck.” His voice cracked. “Or somethin’ like a truck, right?”

“Right. You head that way. I’ll go this way. You gonna be okay?”

“Think so.” Josh nodded and walked away from him.

Kendall started off the other way and passed the now silent construction elevator. “Hey Josh. Nobody’s on the elevator now. How about that, huh?”

Josh looked back. “How about that.” Both scanned the hospital grounds below them as they made the circuit of the roof. Kendall moved fast; Josh was more tentative. “Look for a truck in an odd place,” Josh chanted to himself. “A truck in an odd place.”

* * *

A Lexus screamed down the Maryland freeway in the slanting rain. Inside, Everett clutched the map. “Take the exit. This is 44. We’re almost there!”

Quyron darted onto the ramp. “Echo, where’d they go after they jumped? What’s happening?”

Echo’s voice was tight. “We’re still looking.”

* * *

Vandermark stood right next to Nsamba. He made no pretence anymore. He was in charge. “Where’d they go? Which line? Echo? I need an answer!”

Echo’s voice returned, unruffled. “Fourth line.”

Vandermark looked across Nsamba’s monitor array but couldn’t figure out which one was the fourth line.

Will tapped one of his own screens. “Yeah, that one is different, alright.”

Nsamba pointed at it for Vandermark. “Got it. Why are they walking opposite ways? What are they looking for?”

Vandermark was stumped and said nothing. Behind him, Hahn’s eyes and mouth opened in a sudden revelation. “They’re looking for us! They’re jumping and looking for us.”

Nsamba twisted in his chair to stare at her, his mind pulling together the disparate strings. “Prime lines, no sub lines…it was a setup – a trap from the start. They wanted us to come here. But why? What can they do?”

Vandermark completed the picture in a sudden insight. “My God! They’re trying to get here! Into our timeline! They’re coming after us!”

“Here?” Nsamba looked around the control room in confusion. “But they can’t. Can they? They’d have to jump into…into themselves in our line. Right? But that’s impossible since those people are…” His eyes widened. “Where?”

Nsamba and Vandermark exchanged anxious looks. Vandermark’s face showed desperation. “Stop them, now!”

Nsamba called into his mike. “Will, are our jumpers back?”

“All back. All cradle readouts are in the green.”

John glanced up. “Fourth line’s loaded. Targeting is live again.”

* * *

The Lexus roared down Willowbrook Lane. Quyron stared out the rain spattered windshield toward the hospital. “There it is. Now look for the truck.”

All eyes searched the parking lots for a black tractor-trailer. Josh caught sight of it first. “Far right side. Close to the hospital.”

Quyron quickly shot a look that way. “Okay. I see it.”

The Lexus whipped into the west parking lot entrance and wove its way through the parked cars, looking for an open slot.

* * *

On top of the half-constructed hospital, Kendall and Josh completed their circle and met at the back of the roof. Josh shrugged his shoulders. “Nothin’. You?”

“Nothin’. Damn it! You know what we have to do next.”

Josh wore a bleak look. “I can’t…I…can we check the front one more time, just to be sure?”

“Josh, there’s nothin’ there. We need to move on. Hugh said to keep jumpin’ ’til we saw a truck.”

Josh flared at him. “Look, I know what he said as much as you do! It’s just…” He faltered, “There ain’t a lot more jumps in me, okay? Maybe you got a kick out of it but…can we just check?”

Kendall’s voice was gentle. “Sorry. I understand. Take your time. You’re right. We hafta be sure. Makes sense. C’mon, can’t hurt to check.”

They walked back toward the front of the roof.

* * *

Sal sat in his cradle with his targeting HUD leading Kendall. He set the crosshairs right at the front edge, on the spot where he expected him to stop. His fingers caressed the triggers in anticipation. “C’mon, you son-of-a-bitch. You’re dancin’ days are done. Come to Sal. Nice and easy…easy.”

* * *

The falling rain streamed down the exterior of the black semi and pooled on the asphalt beneath it. Two guards and the truck’s driver shared coffee under a makeshift tarp strung from poles near the cab. Bored and cold, they watched a few night workers and nurse’s aides hurry to the hospital under umbrellas.

A tight group of men and women with folded newspapers over their soaked heads passed nearby. One of the women stumbled. The guards glanced curiously at her. It was Leah! On cue, the rest attacked. Josh wielded a tire iron and Kendall swung a jack. Caught completely unprepared, both guards went down under the onslaught. The driver had time to leap for his cab but a flashing elbow from Quyron bounced his head off the door. He slid limply to the tar, unconscious.

* * *

Sal patiently watched Kendall step into his crosshairs and stop. The screen flashed a lock. “Got ya! Sucker!” His fingers prepared to launch his mind.

* * *

Kendall and Josh looked over the front edge of the hospital to the empty area below. There was nothing there. Josh hung his head for a moment and then gathered himself. “I think I can do one more. Do we run or should we…”

Kendall cocked his head in astonishment and then jerked straight upright. “Josh! The tickle! I…Ahhh!”

Sal took total control and stared maliciously out from Kendall’s eyes. “I got ya! Told ya I would!”

Josh instantly grabbed the front of his Dad’s shirt and glared fearlessly back at Sal through his father’s eyes. “Not for long!”

With every ounce of his strength, he yanked Kendall off the roof. Locked together, they both plunged to their deaths, again.

* * *

Alone in his sealed cockpit, Sal screamed in abject terror. His body flexed and wildly contorted. He was totally out of control. He pounded in a helpless frenzy against the sturdy transparent cover of the cradle. His eyes bulged in horror as his mind focused on the death roaring straight up at him. He screamed and screamed as his mind let go.

* * *

Shielded under the wet tarp beside the semi, Everett dug through the unconscious driver’s pockets until he found the truck keys. Josh nodded in delight and waved everyone together to explain his plan. Without warning, Kendall and Josh both collapsed heavily to the wet pavement. The others stepped back in surprise, their faces filled with confusion.

Kendall stared up, startled. He lifted an arm as if to fend someone off. “No! I won’t let you…” The rain struck his face and he blinked and suddenly looked around with widening eyes. “Where the..? What’s with the rain? Josh?”

Beside him, Josh sat up and smiled. He was looking straight up at Quyron. “Hannah? Hannah, how’d you get here?” He sounded euphoric. “Dad, look! We found Hannah!”

Leah went to her knees to help Kendall sit up. He stared at her, bewildered but pleased.

Quyron stood frozen. “What just happened?” She gave Josh a hand and pulled him to his feet. “And who’s Hannah?”

Josh grinned happily at her. “You are.” And then he noticed what was behind her, and started leaping. “Hey, the hospital’s finished…Dad! Look! The truck! It’s all around us! We found the truck! We’re there! Or here!”

Kendall climbed to his feet and laughed. He grabbed Josh in a hug. They gleefully pounded each other on the back in giddy relief. Everett watched with the dawning of understanding.

“We’re alive and in their timeline!” Kendall shouted. “We did it! Hugh’s a genius!” He noticed Everett watching them and quickly sobered. “Not you. I know who you are. You’re the bad Hugh. I meant the other Hugh, in our line.”

Everett touched Quyron’s shoulder with amazement. “Quyron, it’s your jumpers! Can you believe it? They’re actually here.”

* * *

Will was staring at red readouts from the bio sensors in Sal’s cradle. “Stat! Get Sal out of there! He’s red across the board. Move it! Now!”

Nsamba checked his sub line screens one after another in frustration. Most continued to display variations with Kendall and Josh still on the roof. Two showed small groups of workers gathered around sets of bodies. “Where did the jumpers from line four go? Which line are they in now?”

John’s voice came back. “Don’t see ‘em. Still lookin’…”

Vandermark called out harshly. “Echo? Which line?”

After a slight pause, Echo came back. “I do not sense them in any of the monitored lines.”

“What?” Nsamba exclaimed. “They have to be somewhere!”

“Are you checking new splits and alternates?” Vandermark demanded angrily.

“Of course,” Echo calmly replied. “They are not there.”

Nsamba was baffled. “That makes no sense.”

* * *

Just outside the Reiver’s truck, Josh struggled to integrate his new sets of memories. The others grouped around, waiting for him to talk. “Let me think for a sec. Wow! I’ve done a lot of scary stuff…how are you doin’, Dad?”

Kendall had his hands to his head and kept squinting. “It’s tough. It’s like my head’s about to bust with all the new…”

Everett interrupted. “I’m sorry, but we don’t have time. Our Josh was about to explain how to attack the truck. Either we hurry up or we lose our element of surprise.”

Josh looked at him blankly and then his mind caught up. “Oh, yeah, the plan – my plan! Let me see. The keys. You were gonna gimme the keys.” Everett held out the truck keys and Josh snatched them. “Okay. Now, Hannah – I mean…” He closed his eyes briefly and then went on. “Quyron – and Mom, you need to latch those outer doors. Dad…” He looked at Kendall. “Are you sure you’re up to doin’ this?”

Kendall loosened his shoulders and picked up the jack. “I’ll be fine. Tell me what you want.”

“Okay, you and Hugh…” He looked at Everett. “Quyron, wait. Are we even sure he’s on our side?” Everett gave him a dirty look.

Quyron and Leah were already moving toward the outer doors to the control room and cradle areas. Quyron glanced back over her shoulder. “He’s with us – as far as I can tell.”

“I’m goin’ with him then,” Josh said. “You guys take down anybody who manages to get out.” He climbed up and into the cab. “Let me know as soon as those doors are shut.” Hugh and Kendall nodded as they stepped back.

Inside the complex truck cab, Josh settled into the driver’s seat and, without a thought, stuck in the key. His hands and feet moved automatically to the correct locations. “Cool!
This
Josh knows all about drivin’ big trucks!”

Outside the trailer, Quyron and Leah swung the metal door covers shut on the exterior doors. Kendall hefted his jack with a pleased look. “I think I’m gonna like this timeline.”

* * *

Hahn smiled darkly at Vandermark. “Maybe you can’t find them because there’s no nanos where they are now.”

Vandermark snapped at her without looking back. “Don’t be an idiot. The only place without nanos is…” His face fell as he realized what she meant. “Here? In our own line?”

Loud thunks echoed as the outer doors slammed shut. From the front, their truck engine roared to life. The control room shuddered and suddenly lurched. Everyone was catapulted off his feet. Voices shrieked. Equipment tumbled.

* * *

Inside the truck cab, Josh rapidly shifted numerous times and gunned the engine, trying to gain speed. Rain made it difficult to see. A few innocent bystanders scattered for their lives. The truck clipped parked cars and continued to increase speed. Meshing gears and still building momentum, Josh slid into a hard turn and headed out of the west parking lot.

* * *

In the rear of the truck, trapped cradle riders screeched as they slammed into each other. Knocked loose from their moorings, a few cradles snapped their cables and rolled over in showers of sparks. Techs were tossed against the walls or crushed between the twisting racks of weighty hardware. The lights suddenly went out. Flames flared up around the ceramic sides of a downed cradle.

In the control area, John and Will vanished under falling gear as their room plunged into darkness.

Nsamba crawled through debris and managed to locate the sealed door. In a rage driven by survival, he kicked against it until the external latch gave way and it popped open. Rain suddenly poured in but visibility improved. The tall African was streaming blood from a gash in his cheek. He strained mightily against the pull of the truck’s momentum and plunged outside, only to be drawn under the wheels.

Not far behind him, Hahn and Vandermark spotted the open door and fought with each other to reach it. Without warning, the truck suddenly swerved in the opposite direction and they were flung like rag dolls through the opening and into the wet darkness beyond.