“I’ll administer the amnesia drug first,” said Evans. “It needs some time to take effect.”
She left the laboratory, pushing the gurney, while Kovac and Lawrence turned their attention to the instrument panels. At Max’s shoulder was the shallow metal tray filled with surgical instruments, including a lengthy needle similar to the one that he’d seen used on Deanna only moments earlier. Beside the tray hung the black machine, its collection of cables still attached to the nearby console. The shiny black outer surface had a series of four lights in blue, red, yellow, and green, above corresponding switches. There was also a small dial, which Max assumed operated the device’s power level. He figured this was what Lawrence had been reaching for, to change the setting of the probe into Deanna’s brain.
It seemed that no matter what Max tried to do, his mission was doomed to failure. He could tinker with the chain of events, but David still appeared destined to die, just at a different time, as a result of Kovac’s experiments. Even if by some miracle Max survived the upcoming procedure, by now he’d seen far too much. He knew that there was no chance of Kovac allowing him to leave the waterfront alive. What if Max had influenced Deanna’s fate as well? He’d always assumed that she’d survive, so that she could send him back in the first place. Yet Deanna had looked to be in a very bad way when they’d taken her out of the laboratory. And what about Carrington? Before Max had traveled back into the past, the detective had probably never been anywhere near the waterfront. Now it looked as if he might even be killed.
Kane had returned and approached the table, checking the restraints, apparently satisfied that Max was securely fastened down. Kovac reached for the tape covering Max’s mouth and tore it away with a sharp tug.
“What are you going to do?” Max demanded, his voice shaking.
“Basically, you’ll die,” Kovac explained with another cruel smile, “very slowly, under controlled conditions, so that we can observe any near-death experience that you might have. Put him under, Doctor Lawrence. Just a little at first.”
Before Max could protest, Lawrence quickly swabbed his upper arm and injected him with the needle. The effect of the drug was almost instantaneous. Max first felt his arms and legs become limp, then he began to lose consciousness, but soon imagined himself to be in a long, dark tunnel. A brilliant white light was shining at the far end and although Max couldn’t feel his feet touching the ground, he was being pulled steadily towards the brightness. Then abruptly the tunnel and light vanished and Max could hardly believe what he was seeing. He was floating in the air close to the laboratory ceiling, looking down at David Dexter’s body lying on the operating table. He could clearly hear Kovac and the others talking about the procedure that they were performing.
On the wall, scenes were playing out on the big screen involving Christmas gifts, a concert including a piano performance, a skiing trip, and a tropical vacation. These were obviously among David’s strongest memories. Abruptly, David’s recollections were replaced by images from Max’s own life. He saw his home, his school, his friends, and his dad, pictured on the screen in rapid succession. Both Deanna Hastings and John Carrington, in their older incarnations, also appeared fleetingly. The image on the
screen shifted again. It now showed the tall gravestone dedicated to Jonathan Dexter, complete with the dates of his birth and future death, along with the smaller grave belonging to David. Max saw himself standing beside Jonathan Dexter’s memorial. In the laboratory beneath him, Kovac and the others were all staring at the screen in utter amazement.
“What the hell is this?” Kovac demanded. “What’s going on?”
“I’m not sure,” said Lawrence, checking the controls on the machine attached to Max’s head.
“Administer the final dose,” Kovac ordered. “We’ll soon see what this is all about.”
Suddenly, Max was forced back into David’s body.
“Are the restraints tight enough?” Kovac asked.
“Yes, of course they are,” replied Lawrence. “I told you, I know what I’m doing.”
“Now keep still, David, this won’t hurt a bit.”
Yet the twisted smile on Kovac’s face told a far different story. Max struggled against the bonds securing him to the operating table as Kovac’s hand moved closer. Max clearly saw the hypodermic, the needle now only inches from his eye. Kane grinned as Max emitted a scream that he was certain no one would ever hear.
“Wait!” Kane exclaimed. “There’s something very odd going on here. When I first connected with him, it was as if there was another presence in his mind. It wasn’t like anything I’d ever experienced before.”
“Can you sense the same thing now?” Kovac asked him.
“I think I can,” Kane replied. “Let me try and probe a little deeper.”
His brow furrowed in intense concentration, Kane looked deeply into Max’s face then suddenly his eyes widened in astonishment.
“This is absolutely incredible,” he declared. “The boy is . . .”
“Doctor Kovac!” exclaimed Evans, as she burst into the lab. “The police are coming!”
“The police?”
“We saw them with the cameras just off the main road,” Evans replied. “There must be six or seven cars and vans heading here.”
“What the hell are they doing here?” demanded Kovac.
“That detective,” Kane sneered. “He must have tipped them off when he got here, before we captured him and the boy.”
“They’ll be here in less than ten minutes,” said Evans.
“We have to destroy everything!” Lawrence declared.
He went over to the nearest console and began flicking switches and turning dials, then began frantically typing on one of the computer keyboards.
“There’s no time,” barked Kovac. “Just get the boy out, he can’t be found here. Give him the other shot.”
Lawrence quickly grabbed another hypodermic from the tray and injected the needle into Max’s arm. Almost instantly, Max felt himself reviving from his drowsiness.
“Is that detective still alive?” Kovac asked.
“I don’t know,” replied Evans. “They had him over at the north shed, but Connor and Drake have already left for the city with the girl.”
“Lawrence,” Kovac ordered, “go with her and destroy those file folders and disks in the other room. Hurry!”
Evans and Lawrence rushed from the lab, leaving the door wide open in their haste to get away.
“You can’t just shut this down,” Kane protested. “Not when we’re this close.”
“We don’t have a choice,” replied Kovac as he continued whatever Lawrence had been doing at the keyboard and adjacent consoles. “We can’t let the police find all this.”
“But we were so close,” said Kane.
“You know we have copies of all the research and records safely hidden,” Kovac reminded him. “We’ll be able to start again, eventually, once all this blows over.”
“But when will that be?” demanded Kane, in exasperation. “We only needed one more session for me to maximize my power. You said so yourself, only yesterday.”
“I know, I know,” said Kovac, as he returned to the table and quickly unfastened Max’s restraints.
“You’re worried I’ll get too powerful. That’s it, isn’t it?” said Kane. “You never wanted me to reach my full potential, did you?”
“How can you say that?” Kovac shot back. “You know it’s all been about you.”
“Yeah, I’m like a son to you,” said Kane sarcastically. “You said that yesterday as well.”
“Kane, we really don’t have time for this right now.”
While they argued back and forth, Max saw his chance. He reached over to the shallow tray and seized the needle that had been destined for his eye, plunging it into the hand of an astonished Kovac.
“My god,” the doctor gasped.
Kovac briefly staggered around then collapsed.
Before Kane could react, Max shoved the heavy mechanical arm at him. Kane was hit in the head, stumbling backward against the computer monitors, then dropped to the floor. The metal arm hit the main screen, shattering it and showering Kane in glass.
Max leapt from the table and raced from the lab, but just before he reached the door, he felt his knees start to buckle. Glancing over his shoulder, Max saw Kane getting to his feet, his face covered in blood. Max could feel the pressure building inside his head as Kane once more attempted to enter his mind. Max managed to stagger out into the corridor where the pain in his head eased. As he raced along the passage, Max hoped that Kane had a limited range with his mental powers.
When Max got back to the steel building, he sprinted for the entrance. Pausing to look outside, he immediately noticed that the white van was missing. He also noted the shed, where Evans had mentioned that Carrington was being kept.
ONE OF THE
men Max had seen earlier with Connor and Drake was just stepping out of one of the wooden buildings. Max noted the pistol in a holster on the man’s belt. He was scanning the surroundings and looked to be talking on a small radio. Max assumed he was getting instructions from either Lawrence or Evans, now that Kovac was incapacitated. Max watched as the man finished his conversation and went back inside. Max raced over and stood flat against the wall beside the entrance. He could hear voices inside the building.
“So what did she say?”
“We have to get moving, right now.”
“What about him?”
“We take him with us. He knows too much, but we can’t kill him here.”
“So we dump him in the woods?”
“Yeah, let’s get the car.”
Max heard the sound of a door opening then slamming shut. After watching the men run over to the steel building, Max crept inside the shed. He saw Carrington tied to a chair and hurried over.
“Where the hell did you come from?” said Carrington.
His face was covered in bruises. He also had two black eyes and looked to be missing several teeth.
“Long story,” Max replied as he struggled to untie the rope securing Carrington to the chair. “But the cops are on their way. Are you okay? What did they do to you?”
“They beat me up, asked me a lot of questions,” replied Carrington. “They plan to kill me for sure. Hurry up with those ropes. Those guys will be back any minute.”
“I don’t think so,” said Max, as he finally undid the rope.
Looking out the window, he saw a car that had been blocked by a police van.
“It looks like they’ve already got them. You called on that radio when we got here, didn’t you?
“Yeah,” Carrington confirmed, forcing a smile as Max helped him to his feet. “What about you? Where did you go?”
As they made their way to the entrance, Max told Carrington everything that had happened. For the moment, at least, he didn’t mention Kane in great detail, or what he’d witnessed during Deanna’s procedure. Max wasn’t sure if Carrington would believe him. In this time period at least, the detective had never indicated that he knew about the exact nature of Kovac’s work. Carrington didn’t seem in the least bit surprised at Max’s revelations.
“Yeah,” he said, “they’ve probably been abducting people for years and bringing them here for experiments.”
“There were only two people here,” Max told him. “They’re dumping them in Castlegate Park. I’ll bet they used that van.”
“What van?”
“There was a van here when we arrived,” Max explained. “It had a company name on the side, Richardson’s something or other, I don’t remember exactly.”
“Did you get the license plate?” asked Carrington.
“No,” Max replied. “I never got close enough.”
“Don’t worry,” said Carrington. “I’ll tell the guys and they can watch for the van. We’ll get them.”
Standing in the doorway, they saw that a number of police vehicles had arrived. Officers were fanning out among the various buildings. The men who’d been guarding Carrington were already being questioned.
“The police will probably want to talk to you,” said Carrington.
“What?” Max exclaimed.
“I know I said I’d try and keep your dad and you out of this,” said Carrington, “but since you’re here, it’s going to be pretty hard to explain. I’ll do my best, no promises. Wait here while I go and talk to them.”
He walked over to the group of police officers supervising the operation. Max watched as Evans and Lawrence were escorted outside. Kovac was barely able to walk. He was supported by two police officers as he and the others were taken to one of the cars. There was no sign of Kane.
Max had to admit that the police might eventually track down Connor and Drake and tie them to the operation. But that might be too late to help Deanna, who was Max’s only ticket back to his own time. He had no idea if she’d still be alive when someone found her. Max edged toward where Carrington’s truck was parked then ran, not stopping until he reached the far end of the waterfront.
Catching his breath, Max wondered if he’d managed to “put things right”. Kovac and his team were in police custody and Jonathan Dexter had cancelled the project. And yet Max remembered that Carrington had told him in the future that the operation was probably still going on. How was that possible if Max had changed how events unfolded?