Alex Scarrow - Time Riders

‘This is the location,’ said Bob, squatting down. He began shifting aside severalwet cardboard boxes full of rubbish. ‘Recommendation: we clear this space ofobstructions. Otherwise density warnings will prevent them from opening the timewindow.’

Liam nodded and eagerly began to help. He suddenly realized, for the first time sincethey’d been sent back into the past, since things had gone so completely pear-shaped onthe White House lawn, that they were actually going to make it home to 2001.

‘I owe you my life, Bob,’ he said, slapping the support unit onthe back. ‘You got us here in one piece.’

Bob tossed a wet handful of mushed cardboard and rotting refuse to one side. ‘Missionparameters will be met only when you and the data that has been acquired are successfullyreturned to the field office for analysis.’

Liam grinned. ‘All right, Bob. I was just trying to say thank you, that’sall.’

‘Thank you?’

‘Yeah, you know… thanks . You rescued me. I reckon youweren’t meant to do that, were you? I’m pretty certain you should’ve gonethrough the back-up window six months ago, to be sure.’

Bob’s eyebrows locked. His mouth opened and shut. ‘My mission prioritieswere… recalculated .’

‘ Mission priorities recalculated , huh?’ Liam’sgrin widened. ‘What I think you mean is that you chose to rescue… afriend.’

Bob’s confused frown became a loose approximation of a disapproving scowl.‘Negative. I do not have friends. I am a biological weapons platform, a field supportunit.’

Liam pursed his lips and nodded. ‘Fine. Sure… if that’s how you-’

Bob’s eyes fluttered. ‘This location is currently being scanned for densitypackets.’

‘That’s them, isn’t it? Foster? Maddy?’

‘Affirmative.’

Liam clapped his hands together. ‘Oh yes! Jay-zus-’n’-Mother-Mary,we’re going home!’

‘One minute until window opens,’ said Bob. ‘Please stand clear.’

Liam obediently stepped back, as did Bob. They both waited in the dark for the telltale paleflicker of light.

‘Ten seconds.’

Liam grasped Bob’s hand and shook it. ‘We make a good team, don’twe?’

Bob looked down at the young man’s hand, folded in his giant sausage fingers. For amoment the gesture seemed to be lost on him, then he managed an unattractive smile.

‘Good team,’ he replied.

A pale spark appeared, flickering dimly like a firefly. Then a moment later Liam felt agentle puff of displaced air against his face, a soft pump of air that sent several dampscraps of newspaper fluttering up the backstreet, and empty tin cans rolling noisily acrossthe ground.

Some grit in his face — Liam was blinking and rubbing it from his watering eye whenBob’s deep voice rumbled.

‘This is not good.’

Liam rubbed the grit out, wiped the tears off with the back of his hand and gazed down at thewindow: an undulating sphere of soft, pale-blue light. It was no bigger than a football,bobbing gently a couple of feet above the ground.

‘What the — ?’

‘They have insufficient power,’ said Bob.

‘That’s it? They can’t make it any bleedin’ bigger?’

‘They have insufficient power,’ said Bob again.

‘Oh no,’ cried Liam. ‘Oh Jeez, no, no, no… this can’t behappening!’

Bob turned to look at him. ‘Liam O’Connor, you must be very quick.’

‘Quick? Doing what?’

Bob pulled a long knife from his belt. ‘Neither you nor I can go back, LiamO’Connor. But the data that they need must goback.’

Bob pushed the knife into Liam’s shaking hands. ‘You must bevery quick,’ he said again, dropping heavily to his knees so that Liam could reach hishead.

‘I… I can’t,’ said Liam, the blade trembling erratically in hishands. ‘Bob… I can’t do this!’

‘I will not feel pain. Insert the blade between the top of my neck and the base of myskull, that is where the cranium casing is weakest, then press very hard — ’

Liam nodded. He stepped round behind Bob, and raised the blade until it was pointing towardsthe dark mop of hair at the back of his head.

‘You must do it now,’ insisted Bob.

‘I… I…’ Liam could feel his whole body shaking. His stomachtightening, lurching, getting ready to eject the last meal he’d eaten.

‘You must do it NOW.’

The small blue shimmering light hovering above the ground began to flicker and modulateuncontrollably. In the middle of the sphere, Liam thought he could just about make out theflickering, undulating form of someone… no, three people… waiting, beckoning for him, for someone, something… anything … to step through.

Then it was gone.

And once again the backstreet was dark and quiet, save for the soft pattering of sleet aroundthem.

‘I’m sorry,’ mumbled Liam. ‘I’m sorry, Bob. I justcouldn’t do it.’

2001, New York

Maddy and Sal stared at the space in the archway where a moment ago the very airhad been thrumming vibrantly, a pocket of space that shimmered like the heat veil above abarbecue or the hot tarmac of a sun-baked highway.

Foster had deactivated the time-displacement machine.

‘I’m sorry,’ he said. He leaned wearily against the computer desk, tiredand finally looking like someone with no more answers left to give. ‘I thought we hadenough of a charge to get Liam through. I was wrong.’

Sal looked up from where the small ball of hot air had shimmered three feet above the ground.It had bobbed and undulated for less than a minute, and she was almost certain that throughthe flickering haze she’d seen Liam’s and Bob’s faces staring back ather.

‘So, that’s it?’ she said quietly.

Foster nodded.

‘Hang on! We’ve still got some charge left,’ said Maddy, pointing at therow of little green lights on the machine. There were three green LEDs and an orange one; therest were now red.

‘Yes,’ he replied.

‘So… why couldn’t you have used that power to widen the window?’ sheasked, a sharp edge of desperation creeping into her voice.

He took a deep breath. ‘It was as wide as I could make it. There justwasn’t enough to work with. I’m sorry.’

‘Couldn’t we have…’ Maddy was looking for possibilities.‘Couldn’t we have kept the window open longer? Maybe we could have communicatedwith them somehow?’

‘We were just wasting energy, Madelaine. Just wasting it. It was obvious theycouldn’t come through.’

‘So you closed it off?’

He nodded. ‘At least we still have some charge left.’

She shook her head, a shrill, desperate laugh escaped her lips. ‘For what, Foster? Forwhat?’

He said nothing.

‘Maybe…’ cut in Sal, ‘maybe there’s enough diesel left in thegenerator to — ’

Maddy snorted. ‘To what? Charge it up again so we can open up another midget-sizedwindow?’

The muted chugging from the back room filled the long silence between them.

Foster finally nodded towards the small line of lights on the machine. ‘We have alittle stored power left. I suggest we should be thinking how best to save ourselves nowthat…’

‘Now that it’s too late to save history?’ said Maddy.

Foster’s smile was pinched and weak. ‘Yes. What power’s left will provideus with light for a while at least.’

‘And coffee,’ said Sal.

He laughed softly. ‘And coffee… until it runs out.’

Maddy looked up at the ceiling light. ‘And then eventually that will flickerout.’ She looked at the other two. ‘And then we’ll be like those things outthere… in the city, foraging in the dark for scraps.’