Authors: S D Taylor
“Don’t worry, Erin. I bet he is fine. He was always notoriously hard to kill. And you can call me Rin if you like. Alannah started calling me that when she was a toddler and it stuck. Doug calls me that sometimes. I imagine we will be spending a lot of time together in the years ahead.”
“But I hope it will be back with our people, not stuck here as their prisoners.”
Rin had a sad look on her face. “Didn’t Dara tell you? They plan to take us to their future world and we won’t be coming back.”
Chapter 12
Erin sat in her cell with Peter and Gaby and thought about what Rin had said. Spending years together. She wondered why she had said it like that. Did she know something about the plans of these “Saucer People?”
Peter and Gaby leaned close to the newly returned Erin. “Where did they take you?” Peter whispered so the jailers couldn’t hear. Or at least he thought they couldn’t hear.
“You won’t believe me if I tell you. I went to see my future self. From twenty years into the future.”
Peter and Gaby exchanged glances that implied they thought that Erin might have found the boat’s liquor cabinet.
“And I am quite sober and quite sane. She even has a tattered old Red Sox cap if you don’t believe me. If Insect Man ever takes you out for a walk, you should see if they will let you talk to her. She has quite a story to tell.”
Gaby put her arm around Erin. “Why are you crying? Did she tell you about sad things?”
“Sad and happy. And just plain weird. Hearing about the unwritten chapters of your future life is pretty strong stuff. I didn’t handle it all that well.”
Peter’s curiosity was running in high gear now. “Is she here alone? Is there a future version of Doug or any of the rest of us with her?”
“Her Doug is dead. He died two years ago. Or more correctly, he disappeared and they finally assumed he must be dead. She is quite alone here. She didn’t mention either of you in regards to her current world, but you were all together with her right after the Rasputin was destroyed. But in her story, there was no hover vehicle. Just an attack by the pirates with the helicopter providing air support.” Erin didn’t mention the daughters. She didn’t want to put them at risk by revealing their presence to Dara.
Peter and Gaby were puzzled. “How did she get on the island at this time? If she is an older version of you, shouldn’t she be in the future?” Gaby asked.
“Doug and I talked about the possibilities of the temporal fractures. When they occurred during the pulse vortex weapon tests, they opened windows between realities, whether two days ago or a thousand years into the future. We all seem to have gone through a fracture that brought us to the past. At least the past relative to when we started. We may be in the 1800s now. The Vikings were brought forward. These saucer people seem to be from a long ways into the future. So for Future Erin to be here from only twenty years from now isn’t all that amazing.”
Peter laughed. “I guess your definition of “amazing” has been somewhat changed by the events of the last week. I am still of the opinion that the whole thing is amazing.”
Gaby put her arm around Peter and lay her head on his shoulder. Erin stared at the two of them and realized that she must have missed something along the way from the time that Peter was standing there on the shore with Gaby tied up as his prisoner. Now they seemed to be snuggling like two people who were pretty close friends. Or more than friends. She thought about how her feelings for Doug had progressed rather quickly, but she would never have expected these two to find any friendship or affection for each other. Before she had a chance to say anything, Dara showed up at the door, alone for once.
“Could you come with me, Peter? And please don’t get any heroic ideas. I am protected in ways you would not understand. If you touch me, you will receive the same activity adjustment pulse that your friend Erin received on our transport vehicle. I was told that she did not enjoy it.”
Erin didn’t respond to this provocation. She wanted to take a swing at Dara just to see if the pain would start before her fist connected with Dara’s smug face. But the memory of the pain was still fresh. She passed on the chance.
The door of the cell opened quietly for Peter to go through. He stood in front of Dara, towering over her as she watched him with the interest of someone visiting a zoo. He glanced over his shoulder at Gaby and Erin who were watching him nervously. He winked at them and turned to follow Dara who was already walking towards the door that led out of their cellblock.
“I hope they don’t do anything bad to Peter.” Gaby seemed very concerned about her new friend.
Erin sat on her bunk and motioned to the tall, blond German woman to join her. Gaby sat on the opposite side of the bunk and pulled her legs up under her. “You are probably wondering why I am so concerned about Peter.”
“It had occurred to me, but I didn’t want to say anything. The two of you seem to have found each other. I know what that is all about since I found Doug in these same circumstances. Who knows when you will make a connection with someone.”
Gaby smiled at Erin. “I am glad you are understanding and don’t question my motives. I feel some attraction to Peter and he has made me realize that the things we were doing with the vortex weapon were fundamentally wrong. Regardless of your politics. Causing the temporal problems we are seeing now was initially unforeseen. But it was inexcusable once people knew it was happening. And my father knew what was happening. He told me that is what happened to my mother.”
“I know. He told me about her. Just before he died.”
Gaby seemed surprised that he had told Erin about her mother. He had guarded the secret from Gaby until three days ago.
Erin reached out and took Gaby’s hand. “He seemed to care deeply about your mother. But he was very angry he lost her and very sad. And I already told you he was equally as sad and angry when he thought you had been executed. I don’t agree with what your father did, but he seemed to be devoted to his family.”
Gaby wasn’t used to sharing her feelings with friends. Especially woman friends since she so seldom had any. Following her father around, she was often in the company of rough, uncaring men who considered her an object of lust. At least until they realized they would lose body parts they cared about if they tried anything with her. She looked at Erin and realized that this woman was the genuine article. A good person who was pulled into this world of deception and was trying to survive it with a mix of compassion, toughness and her own brand of street smarts. Gaby realized that she could learn something about life from Erin. How to live around people who care about you and aren’t trying to kill you every minute.
“Thanks, Erin. I hope you can accept my apology for my father and the things that all of us on the Rasputin were doing. We have ruined your life in so many ways. And it just seems to get more complicated and bizarre with each passing day.”
Erin squeezed Gaby’s hand. “You don’t need to apologize. You can see a different path now and we all need to support you in that journey. I hope we can all work together to get out of this and that you and Peter can find out where your relationship might go.”
“Thanks, Erin. I will try to earn your trust.”
Erin got up and walked to the door. She felt uneasy about whatever they were doing with Peter. She felt that Dara represented a pure form of evil, especially since this future woman seemed to get some twisted enjoyment out of her ability to torment these helpless lab rats. As one of the rats, Erin was beginning to feel the simmering cauldron of anger inside her starting to boil over. Erin didn’t like that feeling or the kind of things she did when she got to that point. But somehow her reluctance to embrace her dark side would not apply for Dara. She would have no problem doing something bad to Dara. And she knew she wouldn’t get too hung up about feeling guilty later.
Gaby stretched out on the bunk and turned toward Erin, holding her head up with one arm. “Are you going to pace back and forth until Peter returns?”
Erin turned towards her with a grin. “Yes. I believe I will.” She lasted about two hours and then finally grabbed a bunk and dozed off. She and Gaby were both asleep when they brought Peter back. The two woman didn’t wake up until he screamed loudly.
Erin was out of her bunk first and by Peter’s side. He lay in the middle of the cell on a white plastic stretcher that had been set there. His left leg was severed just below the knee. The section that had been removed was lying sideways at the foot of the stretcher. Blood flowed freely from the stump and formed a pool on the stretcher and the floor of the cell.
“What have they done to him, Erin? Oh my God!” Gaby quickly joined Erin who had already removed her belt and was rapidly making a tourniquet just above Peter’s left knee. Erin pulled the belt tight and hoped it would be enough to stop the flow of blood. “They are just plain evil. Why would they have done something so horrible to this man who never hurt them in any way?”
Erin started to answer when there was a sudden white flash, blinding her and Gaby for a second. When they could see again, Peter was standing in the doorway with Dara. He had a very confused look on his face. Erin and Gaby seemed to be acting out some strange pantomime in the center of the cell, but Peter couldn’t imagine what it was about. Erin looked around in total confusion since Peter’s body, his severed leg, the blood and the stretcher were nowhere to be seen. Gaby was confused as well, but she jumped up and hugged Peter as he stepped in the cell. Erin didn’t get up but glared at Dara. “Just having some fun with the lab rats?”
Dara smiled. “Something like that. You were worried about Peter, so I wanted to provide you with an experience to fit your thoughts. Be good and I’ll tell you if Future Erin was real or not.” With that, she turned and walked away. Just as well since Erin could barely stifle the outburst she wanted to release on Dara. She felt like her head was about to explode.
“Did they hurt you, Peter?” Gaby felt great relief that he was back and refused to stop hugging him.
Peter smiled. “No. They just let me spend some quality time with this attractive older lady who wears a Red Sox cap.”
Erin closed her eyes and let her anger dissipate. Dara was just testing them. Just like lab rats. Pushing their buttons. And damn her! She knew where Erin’s buttons were. She knew exactly where they were.
Chapter 13
Megan lay there next to Tom and looked up at the canopy of evergreen branches that seemed to go on forever. “This is a pretty nice spot, isn’t it?”
“I certainly will view it differently now.” Tom slowly ran his finger along the side of her naked body. He would never get tired of seeing her that way. It seemed that both of them were enjoying the wonders of nature in their own way.
“What if this is it for us? That we have to stay on this island and make a life for ourselves. We could try to go somewhere else, but it sure seems like all the people we run into in this time and place are a rough bunch. Hiding out somewhere with you is looking better and better.”
Tom wondered if she was fully aware of what staying there would entail. “What about the comforts of modern life? Could you accept an existence that never involved going to a movie or drinking a latte? The adventure camping thing could get old in hurry.”
Megan turned toward him. “But if we are already in a place where movies and lattes haven’t been invented, we wouldn’t be giving up anything. And we might just stay alive longer here than if we went back to the Old West, or the Viking North or when and wherever that flying saucer thing came from. At least here we could have water, food and no bears.”
“Wow, that sets the bar pretty low. Happiness equals water, food and no bears. You may be my kind of girl.”
She gave him her best disgusted look but then they embraced and kissed. They treasured a long hug and then sat up. The day would slip away if they weren’t careful and it would be hard to get back to the camp in the dark.
“I am not looking forward to squeezing back into these wet clothes.” Megan retrieved her wardrobe from the place she had neatly laid it out on the grass.
“Well don’t go getting dressed on my behalf. I can accept you just as you are.”
She smiled and looked at Tom as he struggled into his pants, trying not to lose his balance. He is a good man, she thought. Someone to treasure and take care of if she got the chance. She realized how much she wanted that life with him. But the prospect of them spending time together hinged on their ability to find a safe and stable place to live. Beyond just survival, they would need to decide what quality of life they could have together. She was confident they could make a life together work in any environment. She wondered if Tom would agree with that assessment.
He finished lacing up his wet boots and looked out at the cove where they came ashore. He walked over to Megan and put his arm around her. “This would be a pretty nice spot to live. If we end up staying here on this island, do you want to come back here and help me build something for us to live in?”
Megan turned toward him and smiled. “Yes. I would like that.” They held each other’s glance as they tried to figure out what had just happened. Tom realized he had just asked her something akin to “do you want to spend your life with me here” and she had answered “yes, I do” in response.