Fools of us All - Chapter 15

It has always amazed me at how some pain is familiar. Something happens at one point in your life, and then it happens again, maybe not for days, weeks, even years, and yet as soon as it happens your body tells you that this is familiar, this is known, you have felt this before and survived. There is almost a comfort to it. Maybe it is a natural coping mechanism, something that your body does to help get through pain, to make survival that little bit easier. I don't know.

All of that being said, it still hurt. I gasped loudly as we rematerialized, the pain of our passage through time echoing on every nerve in my body. I barely had time to see Spin's wide eyes before a massive explosion occurred behind us, throwing me from my knees to flat on my stomach, heat washing over me, singing the tips of my hair. I knew that surprise and chaos could only work for us for a short time so I wordlessly pushed myself to my feet and grabbed Spin's arm, trying to get him to rise as well. It took a moment but he finally shook off the shock of time passage and rose unsteadily to his feet.

I glanced around to get my bearings. We were back in the warehouse and to my relief no one had repaired the massive hole in the side. Probably they had just thrown up a holo-imager to make the building look secure until they could get a refab team in to make the building whole once again.

I grabbed Spin's hand and yanked him forward, heading straight for the opening. We had only run a few steps when he suddenly pulled on my arm, dragging us to a stop. I looked back and he wordlessly pointed to the edges of the hole. I swore and ducked behind a container. In my eagerness to escape I had failed to notice the a group of uniformed men standing on either side, weapons drawn. Damn, why did they have to actually be well trained for once.

My mind raced. How were we going to escape now? I didn't know the building very well, having spent most of my previous stay here in a small room being poked and prodded by doctors. But I had explored that room quite extensively. A plan began to form in my mind.

We had been back in the warehouse for no more than ten seconds at this point. Due to the explosion there was mass confusion. A quick look around showed me a few things. At various exit points around the building were some highly disciplined M.E.R.C. troops who had remained on station despite everything. The time machine was still sitting where it had been, thankfully intact as near as I could tell. The door to Amanda Brun's command room high above the floor was flung open and a man in a general's uniform was stepping out, looking wild-eyed. Someone of lower rank but obviously steadier nerves stepped out beside him and pulled the general back into the room. The aide paused for a moment to survey the situation. His eyes met mine briefly and even across the expanse between us I could see the hint of a cold smile cross his lips. I knew we had to move now.

I leaned in close to Spin. "I need to create another diversion," I said hurriedly. "When I give the word you rush towards that door there." I pointed at an unguarded door. "It leads to the medical facilities. Go into the third room on the left, I'll join you as soon as I can."

He looked at the open floor between him and the door and sighed. "Be careful," was all he said.

At least he was willing to go along without knowing the plan. That was helpful. "Okay, go!" At the same time I dove out to a roll and came up running, hoping that everyone would still be too concerned with the fire that had resulted from the explosion to notice one more person rushing around. The fire alone may have been enough of a distraction, but I needed something to really hold their attention.

No more than thirty seconds from the time I returned to my present I was at the time machine controls. They didn't make much sense to me, but I could recognise a power button when I saw one. I hit the button and nothing happened. Cursing under my breath I thought to when I had been transported back in time - what had the technician done? Before he hit the button he had twisted a few knobs or thrown some switches. I looked at the controls again but nothing seemed obvious. So I did the only thing I could think of and started throwing switches and twisting dials at random. Once again I hit the button and this time was rewarded with a loud crackling of energy. The machine itself, high up on the platform, leapt to life loudly, making a satisfying amount of noise. Without looking back I jumped away from the controls and started running to the hallway where I had sent Spin.

What I had not counted on was a beam of energy lancing out and striking the ceiling. Debris rained down in front of me as part of the roof caved in. A cloud of dust spread out, obscuring my vision, but also obscuring everyone else's. Unfortunately, my path was also obstructed. I turned and ran back the way I had come, racing by the machine once again. There was another set of rooms on this side of the building. Hopefully everything would be organised the same way.

I burst through the doorway into an empty hall. It was short with a left hand turn at the end. As I reached the turn there was another explosion in the main warehouse area. The force of the explosion was enough to cause me to stumble forward around the corner. Before I could recover my equilibrium something solidly connected with my jaw. I fell back, slapping my head against the wall. As I faded into darkness, my last thought was for Spin.