The Power of Forgetting (45 page)

'Check the
gauges will you.'

I must have
jumped slightly, as Marcia came along side me.

'Steady Tiger!'
She said in a lighter voice, 'just get me my readings.'

The fluorescent
panel on her left arm was covered by a small tab, like a pocket
top. I pulled it back as we paused for a moment.

'Two degrees.'
I said.

'Okay! Boys and
girls!' Marcia seemed angry.

Some stopped
immediately. Lorraine was nudged gently by Hanson of all people.
Everyone in Marcia’s confidence knew that she was about to tell us
something we didn't like, or at the best, were reasonably
disapproving of. I didn't look at her, because just then I saw
Janey's face; she was staring at me with a soulful intensity that
quite stunned me for a moment. I met her eyes, and was falling into
them like you fall into the edge of dream sleep when you are really
very tired. I could not read her expression apart from that. For
some reason I found myself thinking about Andre, the young leader
of the tribe we had spent some time with in Summerland. He would
often break into a smile, after thinking very hard for a minute or
two. I suppose it was wishful thinking on my part. I wanted to see
her mutter under her breath; then it would be accidental. That
moment of eye contact; she was always after some ghost or shadow of
a thing. She thought that everyone involved in science was out to
get her. She lived in a world of ideas and hypothesises, and
experimental proofs. And now I had seen her look at me for a few
seconds, in a way that was frightening in its unstoppable
intensity. Was she telling me something? I thought that whatever
had been true, I should put it aside, because of what Janey was
about to do.

'Marcia?' she
said,

'Yes?'

'I have a
suggestion.'

'Very well. You
can tell us in a few minutes.'

Janey fell
silent then. She was staring very hard at Marcia then; I knew that
look too.

'We will have
to split into smaller groups,' said Marcia, 'I think that is time
to tell you all what Joe and myself saw. You are not alone. And we
have discussed things that we could add to the mix. I saw…. I
saw….'

'We saw a lot
of dead people.' Joe finished her sentence.

'Yes. Yes,
that's right.' Marcia said quickly.

'And what
else?' Davey and the others gathered round in the diminishing
light.

'These were
copies,' Joe said softly as he drew out his knife. He glanced at
me, 'And no….it was not our doing.'

'At least we
don't think so.' said Marcia

I watched them
all as the penny dropped. Even Lorraine got it eventually.

They were all
staring at me and Janey.

'It is time.'
said Joe.

'Time for
what?' I was stalling, and Marcia probably knew it. A good
strategist has all the points of usefulness totally at their
disposal. I was not going to object to the inevitable question, if
she was the first to ask it. But I did feel uncomfortable with the
light coming on in Joe's eyes. As if his first act, was to exact
murder. And that because of the simple assumption that anything
Marcia asked of me and Janey could not reasonably be refused.

Marcia looked
at Janey first, 'It's time,' she said with a sigh. And I had known
this day was coming for a very long while. Whatever is the point in
having people who can travel the channels of time, and yet you
never make use of that fact? I quickly found that Janey was further
along that I had been giving her credit for. Her look towards me a
moment before was almost to be equated with pity. But not quite…
no. That was something separate from this. We were now entering
territory that really was dangerous.

Janey sighed,
'Tell me what you want me to do.' she said. I thought, with a quick
spike of illumination, why she hadn’t done this earlier when we
needed the antidote? And then I felt guilty. I reminded myself of
the one thing I did know about the "tenets" of the traveller: that
the secret of it must be kept. And those who knew your secret; be
they not travellers themselves - and therefore bound similarly;
must be sworn to never reveal that secret to another living soul. I
supposed that this could have accounted for the disjointed history
that the Travellers' Society was privy to. Before such rules were
put in place all things could happen. Paradoxes of a minor kind had
played themselves out on the world's stage before now.

'You will take
me and Joe to the time today of One o'clock please. I want the
location to be as close to the labs as you can get it. Then come
back here.'

'I don't do
abandonment.' said Janey.

'Oh?' the one
syllable was hard, cold and challenging.

'No; she's
right. We don't do abandonment.' I said. I could feel Hanson's eyes
burning into me. I had at long last pulled rank on him in a way
that he could not come back at me for. This was mine and Janey's
territory, and no one else's; and if we wouldn't, it would not
be.

'You really
ought to think of the consequences you know.'

It was Lorraine
who had spoken. She seemed a little calmer. And somehow more
admirable in this moment, that I had ever thought of her as being.
She was not criticising any of us. But the warning was a timely
one.

'Consequence?'
asked Marcia, as if it was a dirty word.

'You are going
to do something that might create a personal paradox.' said
Janey.

'Yes.'

'You're asking
me to take you back in time to destroy all the copies aren't
you?'

There was a
collective holding of breath, as Janey finished the sentence. I
didn't think she'd be that blunt.

'He has to be
stopped.' said Marcia.

'Yes of
course.' said Janey.

'You're just
not sure that this is the way to do it.' Hanson said, and shifted
his weight from one foot to the other.

'It has already
happened.' said Joe, and then looked at Marcia with a glint of
something in his expression that gave me the coldest feeling in the
pit of my stomach.

'I'll collect
you.' I said.

'You really
shouldn't get involved.' Janey said.

'I'm already
involved.' I said flatly. I could feel that pull inside. This time
it was different, I was in control and I was certain I could
control it. There was no strain, no awkwardness in the bending of
time to my will. I could sense the gathering of power in my twin,
almost as soon as she had begun to talk of it to Marcia. The copies
had been dispatched. There it was, like a totem of time. Some
dreadful mark in the surface of the moon; a scar that could not be
erased. I had never seen Marcia so determined, so coldly ruthless,
so focused. Then I saw Hanson watching her, and I felt knew why she
had asked Janey, and not me to do this. The rest was an obvious
trust issue. I was unreliable; from Joe's point of view. He was the
one who had spoken against me just after I was demoted. He was the
one who had objected to the position of Captain for me in the first
place. He knew…. he knew what I had going on… as far as it was
possible to know. And if he could stop this thing, I think he
would. But there was more….

'Joe has found
a way,' said Marcia, 'to make sure that these copies do not follow
us. And we can also stop the production of more of them. We have
done the running. No we do the turning and fighting, to stand our
ground. There is only one thing. Hanson… you're with the group that
goes to the transport. Get them home. You have the start-up
codes.'

'Yes. I will.'
said Hanson, nodding his head slightly as he took his
instructions.

'You will use
full face kits and have the bottle's ready. Janey's bottle can be
used by Lorraine. We need to make sure the info gets out. So I'm
putting Davey in charge of the files.'

'I have them.'
He said; his mouth set in a line of determination. There was a
flicker then, was it towards Janey? … I did not know. But there was
no mistaking the signal; game over for that little line of enquiry.
He'd left it too long I thought. Janey was unclipping her oxygen
bottle to give to Lorraine.

'Oliver; I want
you to stick with Jared. You wait here until we get back. If we're
followed you will be able to help. Radio silence until we
call.'

'You want us to
just wait here?' I asked.

Janey looked at
me in an exasperated way, 'You're not just thinking fourth
dimensionally.' she said.

'Right,' said
Marcia, 'is everyone clear?'

'Hanson, Davey,
Lorraine; straight to the transport,' said Oliver, 'and leave
immediately. Marcia, Joe with Janey…. back to the labs in the base.
Jared and myself. Wait a short while to get the call from Marcia's
group, and assist if needed.'

'That's right.'
said Marcia, 'Any questions?'

'Yes.' said
Lorraine, 'Just one. How do you all get home, if we have already
left?'

'We will meet
at the entrance to the tunnels. That will take us into tomorrow.
There is at least one person in each group who knows the way back.
Everyone be there at eight pm tomorrow night whatever happens in
the intervening time.

I watched the
colour drain from Davey's face as he looked at Marcia.

'Take care.' he
said.

'I will do.'
Marcia smiled, 'if in doubt, think chocolate.'

I didn't know
what she meant, and I looked down at the ground.

'Five minutes.'
said Oliver.

Marcia came to
me.

'Just wait for
the call will you. Janey says that from your point of view it will
be no more than ten minutes.'

'You don't want
me to go back in there do you?'

'I hoped you
wouldn't ask me that.'

'I'm
asking.'

'You're hoping
to do something too. I can see that. But I am ordering you; as
group leader; to stay here and wait.'

She looked at
me again, and something shrank inside of me. I felt odd, because
there was something she hadn't told me. There didn't seem any point
in trying to get it out of her. She wasn't going to tell.

'As you say
Ellis. As you say.' I fastened the top clip of my jacket again.

We all checked
our watches.

'We can
synchronise back with Oliver and Jared as soon as we call.' said
Janey.

'Bye Annie.'
said Hanson to Marcia, and turned with the others to set off into
the now settled gloom of full twilight.

The remaining
five stared at each other in a kind sepulchral seriousness. Oliver
nudged me.

'Please Eve….
Please let me take you instead of Janey.'

'Have you ever
done it before?' Marcia seemed like she already knew the answer to
that one.

'Please let us
come with you!'

'No.'

'I can
help.'

'No…. you
can't.'

'Please tell me
why not?'

'Okay then,'
Marcia said in a bright way, 'you can tell me the trail of events
that led to you falling asleep on the floor?'

'I can't.' I
whispered.

'Then neither
can I tell you what I know.' Her hazel eyes glinted with bright
lights of a curiosity shop. I couldn't quite see what was there.
But I knew there was more there than was clearly visible.

Five minutes
later I was staring at her again as she checked that everything was
tied down and their suits were fastened right up to the neck. I
knew all this was unnecessary. Janey glanced at me, at that moment
I knew that I was getting in the way of some grand scheme. It was
only Oliver's presence that stopped me from protesting in a useless
way. We gathered closely in a little hollow behind a tree. The
light had gone now, and the forest was singing is own tune of
rustling bushes and night owls.

'Ready?' Marcia
was frowning.

'Yeah.' Joe
said, the rest of us just nodded.

'Very well,'
said Janey, 'you two take my hands.'

'Then what?'
Joe was looking uncomfortable. I guess he hadn't thought about what
it would be like when it actually came to it.

'Just think
about holding my hand…. then you'll feel a slight pull. You won't
be able to let go then; not until the jump is completed. Jared and
Oliver need to get to another tree.'

'Why’s that?'
Joe licked his lips.

'So that they
don't get caught in the backwash.' She looked to me, and added,
'it's a kind of drag; like the slipstream of air on a moving
vehicle, or the water being pulled along by the hull of a
boat.'

'Okay.' Joe
nodded. Marcia looked to Janey and nodded too. We quickly scrambled
back behind some low bushes.

'Don't hold
your breath.' Janey said. I was about to say "Be Careful" or some
equally pointless statement of advice; but the space before us was
empty. I was about to move forward, but Oliver grabbed my arm and
stopped me. I sat back. I was holding my breath; I let it out then
in a long sigh. And then breathed in a huge gulp of air. I was sure
something bad was about to happen. And the worse kind of thing
now…. we had to just wait.

This was my
punishment, if there was any to be had; I couldn't bear it. After
five minutes of staring into the dark I started to worry. After
five more I jumped to my feet. Oliver suddenly stood up and pushed
me back against a tree.

'You stay
focused now.' The order was softly implacable.

I was still
pinned to the tree.

'Now then
soldier; just stop now. Let's not give the enemy anything.' Oliver
then looked up listening carefully. He froze into to immobility. I
was still crushed. He lifted one finger to his lips, and slowly
removed his other hand too. He motioned to me for us to slip
sideways behind a tree.

We eased
ourselves round. We listened into the night. There might have been
something…. but what it was I could not identify? A slight sound
perhaps?