Alex Scarrow - Time Riders

Bob looked at him with his calm grey eyes. For some reason Bob tried out one of those pitifulsmiles he’d picked up from Sal. As far as Liam was concerned, that didn’t helpmatters. Didn’t help at all. It made him look strangely vulnerable, like an oversizedtoddler.

‘You will need to acquire a bone saw or blade with a serrated edge to remove myhead,’ Bob continued. ‘Also, you may need to acquire a power drill with-’

‘Jay-zus Christ!’ Liam blurted suddenly. ‘Enough! I need some air — think I’m going to puke!’

1957, woods outside Baltimore

Liam stood outside breathing deeply, sucking in the cold air until the sensation ofnausea began to ease. He took a few steps through the undergrowth away from Bob’sshelter, trying to clear his mind of what needed to be done.

Past the slender sapling trunks and low fir tree branches he could see the flickering lightof the campfire in the middle of the clearing. Around it huddled most of Bob’s littlearmy, nearly a hundred after that last raid. He wondered how betrayed and angry all those menwere going to be when he had to announce that Bob was leaving with him; that they had othermore important matters to attend to.

Men don’t give up their gods or leaders lightly.

He imagined the scene was going to be nasty. Their eyes would be upon him, suspicious andaccusing, wondering what poison he must have dripped into their leader’s ear. But therewas no time to delay if Bob’s decoding of that message was right. Washingtonwasn’t so far away from here. Just over an hour of driving. But there’dundoubtedly be roadblocks and guarded perimeters to figure their way through, once theyreached the city.

Why’d they have to pick a place so close to the WhiteHouse?

He wondered how on earth they came to the conclusion that that was such a good idea. But thenit occurred to him that Foster, Maddy and Sal could have no idea where theymight be. So they were making a simple logical assumption — that they’d remainedin the vicinity.

That’s one hell of a big assumption.

A lot could have happened in six months; they could have ended up on the other side of thecountry in that time. Or even the other side of the world.

He shook his head. It was crazy and stupid that he and Bob couldn’t communicate back.Not for the first time he cursed this insane time-travel technology. Just when you thoughtyou’d managed to get your head round it, it just seemed to get even morecomplicated.

So, they had a time and a place now. At least that was something. Heading for the middle ofenemy-occupied Washington DC sounded like suicidal foolishness… but it wasn’t asif they had a choice.

‘Oh well,’ he muttered to himself. He was sure Bob would enjoy himself cutting aswathe through the bad guys. It’s what he did best.

The sooner they got a move on the better, left these woods behind… and Bob’s loyal band of worshippers.

Liam decided they’d be best setting off at first light. With a nationwide curfew inplace, they’d look far more suspicious if they were stopped at a checkpoint travellingaround at night than they would during the day.

Meantime, Liam decided, he’d better figure out a way for Bob to extract himselfpolitely from his devoted followers. He had visions of those men lynching him for luring theirmessiah away from them.

2001, New York

Day 5? (since the power went)

So now we’re waiting. Waiting for the time machine to store up enough of acharge for us to try opening a window.

There’s no way we’ll know if they got the message we sent. No way of knowinguntil we open the window in Washington. If they got it, then they should step through andappear right in front of us. If they didn’t… then we’ll be wasting ourenergy for nothing.

Everything’s off in here. All the lights, everything.

Maddy suggested we should put the ‘field bubble’ back on so that we’dflip back in forty-eight hours’ time. If those creatures outside haven’t managedto find us by then… we’d be safe from them. Because whatever progress they madein finding out where we’re hiding would be lost when we ‘reset’. ButFoster said it would drain too much power from charging up the displacement machine. He saidthat’s the only thing that matters right now — getting that thing chargedup.

Jahulla… I’d rather have the bubble on, and have to wait a little longer. Everylittle noise outside makes me jump out of my skin.

‘How much longer, do you reckon?’ asked Maddy.

Foster studied the row of winking lights on the machinery’s chargedisplay. ‘I’d guess, four or five more hours.’

‘That long?’

‘Four or five more hours… we open the window and they should pop into existenceright here.’ He smiled encouragingly at her. ‘Simple as that.’

Although it’s not as simple as that… is it?

Foster really wasn’t certain the thudding generator in the back room was going to havestored up enough of a charge for them to produce a window big enough for even Liam. So manyfactors to consider: the distance from here, the size of the window, the mass of the personsbeing sent — all variables that affected how much energy would be needed. Whilethey’d been tapped into New York’s electricity grid, these weren’tconsiderations that normally had to be taken into account, but now running on what meagreenergy they’d managed to generate… every variable was an important factor to weighup. And getting Liam and Bob home wasn’t the only window they needed power for — there was also sending them back to where they needed to go to fix this problem once and forall. Foster had to be sure to conserve enough of a charge to be able to do that too.

He cursed under his breath. Too many unknowns.

‘So, they may have got the message, Foster,’ said Maddy, ‘but what if theycan’t make it to the location we specified? What if it’s just not possible?’She tapped the monitor in front of her showing a street map of Washington DC. ‘The citycould be completely different. There might not even be a street there in their time. Itcould’ve been built over by the Germans or razed to the ground… or… orsubmerged beneath some large rubbish tip, or — ’

‘We have to take that chance.’ Foster sat tiredly back in the old office chairwith squeaky castor wheels and a faded threadbare cover. ‘Liam’sa smart lad. Between them they’ll find a way, Madelaine. They’ll find a way tomake it there in time.’

‘If they’re still alive, that is,’ she added grimly.

Foster could’ve replied irritably that her doom and gloom wasn’t exactly helpingthings. But she was right. There were many reasons why this was just a desperate shot in thedark. If it failed…

Then this is it.

The world left forever like this — just ashes and rubble. And living within this ruinedlandscape, those pitiful mutated creatures feeding on the flesh of each other, scavenging likerats. In a few days’ time they’d be out of water and canned food, then have to beout there scavenging for food just like them.

And how long before those creatures found them? Found their little archway? They may mewl andbabble like babies, but there was intelligence in those pale eyes. He could well imagine themslowly but surely scouring the city for them, gradually zeroing in on them. The thought of itset the grey hairs on his forearms on end.

If those things managed to find them here… they’d work out a way to get inside.After all, their humble little base was little more than a crumbling bricks-and-mortararchway. Hardly impregnable.

They’ll find a way in… and it will all be over veryquickly.