Vortex: A Tempest Novel

  A bedroom door opened down the hall and I sprang back into the kitchen, pressing myself up against the counters as Eileen breezed past, not even glancing in my direction. I returned to the hallway, listening in.

  “Sleeping on the job,” I heard Eileen say.

  Then Dad spoke. “If I lie here and close my eyes, it almost feels like … like I could be anywhere.”

  “Anywhere? Like forty years in the past?” Eileen asked softly.

  Was that totally random, or were they talking about time travel?

  “Maybe,” Dad said.

  The song stopped and I held my breath, wondering if he’d heard me or something. A few seconds later he said, “I like this one.” And another song started.

  More Billy Joel.

  Their voices got softer and the music louder. I crawled on all fours behind the couch and peered around the end of it. I could see both of them now, lying on the carpet side by side. Then Dad rolled onto his side and propped himself up on his elbow. I held my breath again, sure that he must have seen me. But his eyes were focused on Eileen.

  “What is it?” he asked her suddenly.

  “You,” she said with a smile. “You confuse me … maybe because I know your secret now. I just don’t know what to do.”

  Secret? What secret?

  “About what?” Dad asked, and I could hear the alarm in his voice.

  Then Eileen whispered something I couldn’t hear, but it made Dad’s face change from worried to amused. He leaned down and kissed her. “So, you’re worried that I’m just an innocent boy that can’t handle being seduced by a beautiful woman.”

  Oh, God … I know exactly where this is headed. Now I’d have to figure out a way to erase that image from my memory.

  Eileen laughed and then Dad was kissing her, his face buried in her neck, mumbling things I couldn’t hear. I fought the urge to slap a hand over my eyes when he started fiddling with the buttons on her shirt. It was hard not to be creeped out and slightly offended watching your “parents” about to get it on, regardless of the circumstances.

  I took a chance and emerged a little more from behind my hiding place, to get a better look at Dad’s face before jumping back. It felt like an eternity since I’d seen him in France last week. He lifted his head for a second and stared at her, both their faces gleaming with the light from the fire. And I knew my assumption was right.

  She really was Dad’s Holly. And it really was a beautiful moment to see up close … creepy … but still beautiful.

  But this was the nightmare every teenager fears. Watching their parents have sex. If I stayed any longer, I’d be scarred for life.

  I closed my eyes and felt myself pulling back together. Joining the part of my body that had remained in 1992.

  * * *

  “Jackson?” I heard Eileen call from behind me.

  I shook my head, feeling all the fatigue and pain hit me at once. “Uh … yeah … I’m here.”

  When I turned around to face her, she had her arms crossed, eyebrows lifted. “Did you just do something?… The half-jump, right?”

  “No,” I lied.

  She rolled her eyes. “Nice try. Want to tell me what you just had to see?”

  I shrugged. “Nothing important … you and him. It was only a couple minutes. I left before it got R-rated.”

  She blushed a little but held my gaze. “Is he … okay? I mean, in the future?”

  A whole new idea took over. A brilliant plan. I straightened up and my voice came out louder than I had planned. “I can take you! Why the hell didn’t I think of that hours ago?”

  Her eyes were suddenly huge and she shook her head. “No, Jackson … we can’t do that. It’s too dangerous.”

  But you’re going to die anyway, I wanted to say, but I didn’t. “You said my mind would keep from hurting someone … that I’d control it.”

  “This isn’t a situation of great need,” she said. “Plus, think about how that would work … I disappear from this date and reappear in the future. Your memories and life will be altered. We don’t know the effects it will have.”

  I reached for her hand, but she pulled it behind her. “He needs you. I know he does.”

  “Jackson, think about what you’re saying.” Her tone had changed, like she was trying to talk a suicidal man down from a ledge.

  “But you love him and he doesn’t have anyone now,” I said, moving closer.

  For some reason, I wanted this so much. For Dad, for me. This was something I could fix. And she knew things Dr. Melvin, Dad, and Marshall didn’t know. I grabbed her hand and held it tight.

  For the first time since my gun had been placed on the table, Eileen looked scared. Very scared of me. “Please don’t do this, Jackson.”

  We stared at each other for several seconds while I spun the idea through my head. Wasn’t this a benefit of my superpower? I should be able to get something I want from this, right?

  Eileen spoke again, softer, less afraid. “It’s not meant to be … Trust me.”

  And for some reason, I did trust her. But it totally sucked. My heart sank to the pit of my stomach, knowing the brilliant plan wouldn’t be played out. I dropped her hand and let out a frustrated breath. “Fine … whatever.”

  “Jackson, it’s not that I don’t want to be with Kevin.” She reached up to touch my face again. “I love him … more than you could ever know. I hope you believe that. But all you can do … all anyone can do … is love who you want to love, while they’re here. Whatever obstacles come with that. Even if you know what happens in the future. Take the time that you’re given and enjoy it.”

  “That’s it?” I said almost sarcastically. “Not exactly very scientific.”

  “Most things don’t need to be analyzed or put under a microscope. Either it is … or it isn’t.”

  Another, less desperate idea formed. “Let me tell you how it happens and then … you can stop it … you can survive.”

  She nodded slowly. “Okay, tell me. Tell me what happens that day.”

  That was too easy … way too easy. “You’re not going to stop it, though, are you? But how could you just … if you knew … There’s no way you wouldn’t avoid the situation—”

  I stopped suddenly, running through the details of tonight. A sadness and frustration cold as ice washed over me. “You wrote things down. Someone like you would easily remember the conversation without taking notes.”

  She dropped her hands from my face and sighed. “Yes, I’d remember.”

  “You’re gonna take something,” I concluded. “Memory-modification drugs. You’ve got the details you absolutely need, and the rest … me … you’re just going to erase it.”

  “Yes,” she said, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. A beeping sound rang through the quiet living room. Both of us glanced at the front door. “It’s Agent Freeman. You should go … now.”

  I nodded and watched the door as it started to slide open. I snatched my gun from the table and closed my eyes to jump back.

  What kind of side effects would I have from this return to the future alone? Without the use of another time traveler’s mind to protect my own…?

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  JUNE 16, 2009, 11:18 P.M.

  I was in the exact same corridor that I’d left and I felt like hell. Times two. My wobbly legs trudged back down toward the main room. Stewart screeched to a halt at the end of my path.

  “Did you find him?” she asked.

  It took me a second to realize what she was talking about … that only minutes had passed for her. “Uh … no … what about Kendrick?”

  “That little fucker, where the hell did he go?”

  I shook my head, fighting the usual time-travel nausea and fatigue. Both of us had about a second to contemplate this before Kendrick, Mason, and some dude I’d never seen before came barreling down Kendrick’s path. I had to assume the guy they were running from was an EOT.

  Two more guys popped up right behind Stewart and bo
th of us spun into action, pointing our guns at the newcomers. Stewart’s face twisted with anger when a guy suddenly appeared behind her. She tucked the gun away and tackled the man to the floor.

  The dude chasing after Mason and Kendrick reached for the hood of Mason’s sweatshirt. I dove forward, grabbing him around the ankles, causing him to fall flat on his back, and just like the other guy earlier, his face filled with excitement when he realized who had just attacked him.

  “Perfect,” he said. “I’ve got something to show you.”

  I could feel him trying to jump, like Cassidy, but this time I was ready. I pulled every piece of my mind to this moment, right here. He hollered loudly, pressing his hands to the sides of his face.

  My mind was slipping, fighting his efforts with every ounce of energy I had left.

  “Stop! Stop!” he screamed.

  Mason spun around and took in the situation. I released the man and left him writhing in agony on the floor. He curled into a ball, clutching his ears.

  “Dude, what the hell did you just do?” Mason asked, staring at the man in disbelief.

  I slowly sat up and could barely focus my eyes on anything. I didn’t miss this aspect of time travel at all. “I … I don’t know. He just—”

  The man suddenly went still and I felt my pulse speed up with fear. Please don’t be dead.

  Mason reached down to check for a pulse and the color drained from his face. He lifted a hand from the man’s head and blood gushed from his ear.

  “Oh, God,” I mumbled before glancing around the room desperately. “Kendrick! Get over here!”

  My eyes returned to the bleeding man and I continued to stare until I heard footsteps behind me.

  “It’s from his last jump … must have been too far or too quick…” Kendrick said, and then her eyes met mine.

  Do something, I tried to say without words. She sank down beside me and touched her fingers to the man’s neck.

  “Faint pulse,” she muttered to herself. Her hands shook as she turned his head side to side and then she gasped when the other bloody ear was exposed. “His brain’s bleeding, and … we have to relieve the pressure.”

  I could hear her starting to panic. The idea of slicing him open or doing anything other than basic first aid was more than she could handle. Blood covered her hands and stained her dress.

  Mason stood over us and Stewart ran up behind him, a hand covering one of her eyes. “I injected my guy with the anti-time-travel drugs.” She skidded to a stop. “Oh, man, what the fuck is going on here?”

  “We don’t know!” Kendrick hissed at her.

  Stewart groaned and walked toward the man’s legs, and before anyone could stop her she stabbed him in the thigh with a syringe. “There. He’s not going anywhere. Now, if you guys could finish this little memorial service, we can retrieve the pieces of the explosive Junior took apart before something happens.”

  “She’s right,” Mason said. “We gotta do that.”

  Kendrick pressed her fingers harder against the man’s neck. “He’s gone … no pulse.”

  I felt sicker than ever as I peeled myself from the floor with great effort. The four of us headed toward the main opening where the elevators were and were finally joined by Parker and Freeman.

  “It’s about fucking time,” Mason mumbled beside me.

  I nodded my agreement. Freeman’s eyes moved over us, one at a time. “You guys all right?”

  Stewart was on my other side, still covering one eye. I turned to face her and pulled her hand away. Her eye was already swelling and she had a cut that had a steady stream of blood flowing from it. I pressed my fingers over the cut, trying to stop the bleeding.

  She flinched and slapped my hand away. “Cut it out. I’m fine.”

  I wiped my bloody fingers on my pants. “So, what’s the plan?” I asked, looking right at Freeman. He was the oldest, most experienced agent here. He should be telling the rest of us what to do.

  “Is anyone still here?” he asked immediately. “By anyone, I mean EOTs.”

  Kendrick pointed down an empty hallway. “The one that just chased me disappeared over there. I think that’s everyone.” She turned her eyes on me and then back to Freeman. “Um … one is dead … just behind us. Nothing we did … From his last jump, most likely.”

  The nausea returned in one hard hit and Freeman’s face blurred and then doubled.

  “Jackson?” he said. “You okay?”

  Mason rested a hand on my shoulder to steady me, but I hadn’t even realized I needed it.

  “Wait!” Stewart said, pointing a finger at me. “What happened to the chick with red hair? Isn’t that the same one we caught in Heidelberg?”

  She was right. I’d totally forgotten that Cassidy had been captured weeks ago. “Um … yeah … I think that was her, but she just left. I couldn’t inject her fast enough.”

  “Don’t forget, she might be a copy,” Freeman said, as if we were talking about a painting in an art museum or something. “The rest of the group is evacuating the building above us. I’m not sure what the cover story is, so go with your best judgment if anyone approaches you. Dr. Melvin’s going to freak out if we don’t get him whatever’s left of that explosive. He’s positive it’s the same one that we saw in Germany.”

  Stewart nodded toward the hallway behind Freeman and Parker. “It’s this way.”

  Everyone began to walk quickly in the direction of the utility room. Mason lagged behind, still gripping my arm as I stumbled forward.

  “Are you all right?” he asked, looking extremely worried.

  “Yeah, I got hit on the head or something … probably a mild concussion.” I held him back for a second and made sure the others couldn’t hear us. “Hey, I’m sorry … about earlier.”

  His face reddened and he looked at the floor and nodded, like maybe he was embarrassed about his reaction. “It’s fine.”

  “It’s not that I doubted your skill. It’s just that … it’s okay to not always have the answers.”

  “Yeah … maybe,” he said.

  And when he looked at me again, all I could see was the scared freckle-faced kid, hiding behind the brainy, extremely stubborn agent.

  As soon as we started walking again, Mason snorted loudly. “You would have never shot me, anyway.”

  I glanced at him and smiled. “You never know, man.”

  Even though my legs were about to collapse, I stumbled up toward Freeman and tapped him on the shoulder. “I’m guessing you didn’t run into my dad or Marshall?”

  He gave me a long hard look, then shook his head.

  “Did Dr. Melvin tell you they put a timer on the bomb? It’s totally weird … this and Heidelberg. Thomas had said in Germany they had some change or alteration in mind and then they just gave up. Why the big production?”

  “Exactly what we were just talking about,” Parker chimed in from Freeman’s other side. “It’s almost like they want to tell us something or—”

  “Test us,” Kendrick added. “We actually thought it might be Marshall testing us … with the whole ticking-time-bomb thing.”

  “Test you? Interesting theory,” a deep voice spoke from farther down the hall.

  All six of us stopped and turned to face twenty EOTs, all in one hallway. Thomas was front and center, the unwelcome answer to Kendrick’s question.

  “Holy shit,” Stewart mumbled behind me.

  Freeman stepped out in front of us, taking on his role of senior Tempest agent. “Wow, Thomas, this is quite an army you’ve brought.”

  Thomas stood with his arms crossed, wearing the ultimate poker face. “Well … things have changed a little recently.”

  Was he talking about me, opening up the alternate universe or whatever the hell Eileen had meant when she told me it was my fault so many of them could time-travel now? Or was it Dr. Ludwig’s clones? Or both?

  “Do you really think it’s morally right to threaten the lives of all these innocent people?” Freeman said. “
Are you aware of the amazing men and women gathered here tonight? Surely some of them will have a positive impact on the future.”

  Freeman was following the negotiation protocol exactly by the book. Talk first … then attack if needed. But twenty of them, against six of us—not great odds.

  “Where is everyone else?” I muttered to Parker under my breath.

  He pointed a finger toward the ceiling. “There’s more EOTs upstairs.”

  More?

  “Actually,” Thomas said, “we believe there is far too much talent in your organization to go to waste. But we had to see for ourselves … test the waters a bit.”

  I could feel the tension building, could feel that all of us were just seconds from drawing our guns and waiting for the order to attack.

  Thomas reached in his jacket pocket and pulled out a clear tube with blue liquid flowing from one end to the other. “This is what you wanted to retrieve, the remains of the explosive, correct?”

  Freeman reached for his pistol, and the rest of us did the same.

  Thomas and his cronies didn’t even flinch at the sight of the six of us with guns pointed at them. “I imagine you’re all curious about this substance,” he continued with an eerie calm. “The blue liquid turns into a gas when released. It paralyzes everyone within ten feet for about an hour. It won’t be discovered until the year 2200 and not widely used until the year 2210. Police, in that year, never carry a gun or harmful weapon. They release the gas on the suspect and he or she is detained without any harm to themselves or others. This is the kind of world we’re trying to create for all of you … a peaceful place in which no one lives in fear.”

  I remembered the perfect future Thomas had shown me. It looked like the goal had already been met. But him “sacrificing” Holly had left me unable to trust him—ever. Feet shuffled around behind me. Everyone was getting restless, waiting for whatever would happen next. The previous encounters had all been much less personal.