BackTrek (27 page)

Jack watched in horror as the large man threw
Mike off of him, as he bounced off of another control console.
Atwater rose and walked slowly to where Mike had landed. Each step
was a determined step. Mike tried to regain his bearings when he
realized that Atwater stood over him.

“You bastard!” Mike spat at him, his cheek
already showed the bruises of the earlier fight with Atwater.

“You’re a punk, Mikey. Just a fucking punk.”
He said as he punctuated his sentence with a kick to Mike’s side.
The impact knocked his breath away, and Mike fell back on the
floor. Out of the corner of his eye, Mike could see the gun as it
lay in the floor. He closed his eyes, and embraced the pain that
shot through his side. Atwater reared back to kick him again but
just as his foot began to come forward, Mike rolled to his side and
narrowly avoided it. He scrambled for the gun as Atwater fought to
maintain his balance. Only seconds had passed, but the tides had
changed. Atwater stood there with his own gun aimed at him. He
stepped back.

“Ju...Ju...Just stay back, you
son-of-a-bitch!” Mike said nervously. His hand trembled as he held
the gun on Atwater.

“Put it down, Mike. Before you get yourself
dead.” Atwater said calmly.

“You were supposed to help him. You said you
needed me...that if I helped...that he’d be okay?” Mike rambled.
Atwater chuckled in response.

“So I lied. Sue me.” Mike was astounded by
his response.

“Mike! It’s Jack!” Jack called from the side
of the gate as he and Ted came out of their hiding places. Mike
turned and looked into the room. Atwater took advantage of the
distraction and leapt onto him. Again the gun was dislodged and
sent clattering on the floor, as both men struggled to reach for
it. Jack and Ted ran towards the control room, just as the tangle
of bodies rolled over the gun. Jack brought his gun up, and tried
to get a clear shot at Atwater when suddenly the gun reappeared in
Atwater’s hand. The barrel was stuck under Mike’s chin. The
struggle stopped and Atwater slowly began to get off of Mike,
careful to keep the gun jammed against his neck as he did. Slowly
he stood up, and drug Mike to his feet.

“I want to see those guns on the floor gents,
and I want to see them now.” Atwater directed Jack and Ted.
Reluctantly they both complied. They dropped their weapons on the
floor in front of them. “Good boys, now kick ‘em over here, real
careful like.” Slowly they kicked them in his direction. Atwater
stood behind Mike. He still held the gun against his neck. “You
know, boys, I appreciate your determination and all, but...”
Suddenly, Atwater swung the gun away from Mike’s neck and aimed it
at Ted. He pulled the trigger. The explosion was loud in the
confines of the control room. The bullet struck Ted in the left
arm. His jacket sleeve ripped in a spray of blood and tissue that
flew through the room. Atwater fired again as Ted was spun around
by the impact of the first shot and struck him in the chest. He
flew backwards as he was hit. Jack reacted and dove for his gun on
the floor as Atwater fired at him twice. The first bullet struck
him in the side and knocked him off trajectory. He tumbled to the
floor. “But...you boys are just in my fucking way!” Mike grabbed
the arm which held the gun and once again Atwater found himself in
a struggle with Mike. Mike turned around to face Atwater and
slugged him in the face with his free hand. Atwater was not phased
as his look of determination turned into a maniacal smile. Mike
used both hands to grab the hand that held the gun. Slowly Atwater
turned the gun towards Mike, and try as he might, Mike looked on in
horror as he realized that he couldn’t stop him.

No!” Mike screamed. The gun fired again.
Mike’s look of fear swam from his face as his eyes began to loose
focus. He fell to the floor. Blood poured from the wound in his
abdomen. Suddenly the door to the lab slammed open as a guard
entered the room.

“What the hell?” The guard said as he
surveyed the bodies on the floor. Atwater turned and fired a single
shot. The shot killed the guard even as he still stood on his feet.
He fell to the floor as the door swung back against him. Atwater
looked around the room briefly, grabbed the metallic suitcase and
then turned and ran out of the room. His footsteps echoed down the
hallway as he ran towards the main area of the underground complex.
He was satisfied. He had stopped his pursuers and was once again in
control. His mind ran back through the past, through confrontation
after confrontation with Jack and Ted. It had seemed over the years
that at every turn they had been there, desperate to stop his
plans. He smiled to himself as he thought of what the time project
was supposed to be designed for and thought about the millions that
he had made playing the stock market. His only research tool had
been the time gate. He watched companies as their stocks exploded
in value, and then traveled backwards in time and bought them for
pennies on the dollar. What better investment strategy could he
have ever used, he thought. He smiled.

He knew that there was a lot of good that
could come from a device capable of transversing through time, but
he was much more interested in the money. The money, and the power.
After having been confronted by Jack and Ted not once, but more
times than he could remember, he had finally decided that enlisting
Jack’s brother to ‘help’ him was the answer. His plans hadn’t
panned out exactly the way that he wanted, but at least he had
finally taken them down. Now they couldn’t interfere any further.
As he crossed the underground opening, he cautiously watched for
other guards. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a scrap of
paper, and smiled as he looked at it. This was the next move in his
plan. Listed on the paper were five names of companies. Technology
companies.

“Jack.” The name echoed softly throughout the
control room. Weakly, Mike rolled to his side and began to crawl
across the floor towards his fallen brother. A trail of blood
marked the floor behind him as he moved. “Jack.” He said weakly
again, his voice broken as he sobbed. He came to his brother and
grabbed him. His body shook in rhythm with his sobs. Jack’s arm
moved slightly.

“Mike?” Jack said quietly.

“Jack.” Mike said, relieved. “I’m so sorry,
Jack. I-”

“It’s okay, Mike.” Jack said as he rose to a
sitting position. He looked around a moment, got his bearings, and
reached out to hold his brother. Jack held him quietly and then saw
the trail of blood behind him. “You’re hit!” He said as he jumped
to his feet and turned his brother over on his back. The bullet had
entered his lower abdomen and blood still flowed freely from the
wound. Jack quickly took off the bullet proof vest that he wore and
wadded it up, and pressed it against Mike’s tender belly. “Hold
this here, as tight as you can.” He said to Mike. Mike pulled tight
at the wad of clothing, but his strength was fading. Jack turned to
Ted.

“Ted? You okay?” Ted grumbled in response, as
Jack approached him and saw that he too had been hit. Blood poured
from the open wound on his arm, but the ripped hole in the chest of
his flack jacket was dry. Jack unbuckled his belt and pulled it
from his pants. He bent over next to Ted and wrapped it around his
arm. He tightened it down to restrict the blood flow.

“What happened, Jack?” Ted asked as he began
to come around.

“We were shot. The vests pretty much
protected us, but Mike’s been gut shot.” Ted grimaced.

“We have to get him back.” Ted said as he
tried to get to his feet. Jack helped him up and they both walked
towards Mike. “Let’s get him though the gate, call for help, and
then come right back. Atwater is still here.” Jack nodded, and
reached down to pick his brother up. Mike groaned in pain as Jack
lifted him in his arms.

“It’ll be all right, Mike. Just try and
rest.” Jack said as he carried him towards the still opened time
gate. Moments later they were back in their own time. Jack set Mike
down against the wall in the control room and picked up the phone
that was built into the console. He called for paramedics. He
walked to the door which still had the keys hanging in the lock,
turned them and unlocked it. He drew his gun, and opened the door.
A soldier approached, gun drawn.

“Stand down, soldier!” Jack yelled in the
same authoritative manner that he had been trained to react to. The
soldier hesitated slightly, but continued to approach. “Stand
down!” Jack yelled again. This time the soldier stopped. “Atwater
is being taken into custody, do you want to be a part of his
crimes? Are you willing to face court martial for him?” The soldier
looked puzzled. Barely a man at his young age, he had always
followed orders. Now suddenly in the midst of a skirmish he
questioned his actions. He questioned his superior’s motives. “He’s
murdered several people, son. Are you willing to be a part of
that?” The soldier hesitated. Usually Atwater had seemed to be on
the level, but even he had noticed his strange behavior over the
last few days. His own orders to ‘shoot to kill’ had been hard to
swallow. Now, suddenly, nothing seemed black and white any
longer.

“No sir. I was just following orders,
sir.”

“I know that, son. It’s what you do now that
matters. I’ve got an injured man in here who needs help
desperately. The paramedics are on the way. Protect him and see
that they get to him ASAP. Can you handle that?” Jack asked.

“Sir. Yes, sir!” The soldier said as he
entered the lab. He knew that he was disobeying direct orders from
a C.O., but also knew in his heart that his actions now were the
right ones. The soldier stationed himself inside the doorway,
glanced at Mike, then nodded at Jack. He reached to his shoulder
and keyed the mike attached to his two way radio. “Rosco one. Stand
down. Repeat. Rosco one, stand down.”

“Echo?” The radio crackled.

“I repeat. Rosco one. Stand down. We have a
situation in the lab. One man down, maybe more. Paramedics are on
the way. Give them access and an escort.”

“Roger.” The soldier turned to Jack and
nodded. Jack touched his shoulder then bent back down to Mike who
was barely conscious.

“They’re on the way, Mike. Just hold in
there.” Jack said softly.

“He said I was helping you Jack. I never-”
Mike began.

“I know, Mike. I know. I understand. Just
hang in there.” Jack stood up slowly and looked down at his fallen
brother as he labored to breathe. He looked back at the guard.
“Protect him.” He said.

“With my life, sir.” The soldier said as he
stood rock steady with his weapon raised. Jack nodded and headed
back for the time gate.

“Sir?” The guard called after him.

“Yes.”

“Atwater?” The guard asked.

“We’ll get him, son. We’ll get him.” Jack
smiled slightly as he saw the troubled look on the soldiers face.
The young man nodded at him and smiled slightly, Jack turned and
ran up the ramp, and seamlessly warped back through time.

Atwater opened the door to his office,
entered, and locked the door behind him. As he walked to his desk
he heard the water running in the attached bathroom. He set the
metallic suitcase on the desk and fingered the combination. He
unlocked it, and opened the case. Inside were stacks of money.

“You there?” He asked.

“Yeah, just a minute.” A muffled answer came
back.

“I’ve got the latest stock investments here.
And another little surprise. How does two hundred g’s sound?” As
Atwater stood at his desk, the light to the bathroom flicked out
and a man emerged from the now darkened room.

“Two hundred g’s? Like in two hundred
thousand?” The man said. His build was much like that of Atwater,
as were his facial features. He did not have quite as much gray
hair, nor were the lines in his face as pronounced. But the
resemblance was unmistakable. He was Atwater, ten years younger. “I
don’t think that I can ever get used to this. Every time you show
up, I-”

“Shut up.” The older Atwater said. “I don’t
have time for this crap. Here is the list. Deposit the money like
you were told and buy these stocks. Each line shows how many shares
to buy. Use it all and don’t spend a dime for anything else.”

“But I sure could use a new-”

“You don’t need shit. You do as you are told
and everything will come out great for you. Screw it up, and I’ll
fuck you over myself. Any questions?” The other man stepped closer
to Atwater almost as if to try an intimidate him. Atwater
backhanded him across the face. “You insolent little shit.” He said
as his other self staggered back. “You still don’t get it do
you?”

“I get it.” The man said trying to contain
his anger. “You’re playing the Big Man On Campus and I’m your
little grunt runner.”

“You know the story. You know the payoff.”
Atwater said.

“Yeah, so you’ve told me. You’re me...ten
years from now. If I do what you say now, I’ll be loaded in ten
years. What was the number you gave me? Five million?”

“You make these investments like I tell you
and it’ll be closer to fifty million. You got anything else to
say?”

“No. But the next time you hit me, I’ll
fucking kill you. Have you got that?” The other Atwater said, as he
held his reddened face. Atwater smiled.

“It’s about time you stood up for yourself. I
didn’t remember myself being such a Moma’s boy. Go ahead and put
this in the safe. I’ve got to get back to my time. I’ve got a
little mess on my end to clean up.”

“When do I get a chance to check it out?”
Atwater’s younger self asked.

“What? The future?" Atwater chuckled. "You
have to earn that. You know how?”

“No. How?”

“Listen to me...and do what I tell you...for
the next ten years.”

“Ten years?”

“Yeah, then you’ll be me...now.” He laughed
heartily as his younger self looked at him with eyes filled with
hatred.