BackTrek (20 page)

“What the fuck?” This can’t be happening, he
thought as he slammed his foot down on the accelerator and blasted
through the next intersection even though the light was red. Two
cars that approached from the right slammed onto their brakes and
slid sideways, as they crashed into a car that sat in the turning
lane. Jack veered into the left lane as he flew through the
intersection, and narrowly missed a car as it sped through the
intersection from the opposite direction. He gained on Smith. He
grabbed his gun from its holster, and kicked the bike into fourth
gear. He leaned on the throttle and hunkered down, as he hoped to
get even more speed. The car grew closer every second, even as it
attempted to accelerate away. Jack was close enough now that he
could see inside the car through what was left of the shattered
rear window. He could see Smith’s wild eyes as he nervously glanced
back at him through the rear view mirror. Jack raised his gun to
fire, just as Smith raised his own weapon and fired through the
rear window.

The bullet deflected off of the front of the
bike, and Jack swerved slightly, but did not slow. Again he raised
his gun to fire, but before he could, Smith fired again. This time
the shot struck the front tire of the bike. Jack fired at nearly
the same instant, but missed Smith entirely. The front windshield
shattered, and obscured any view from within the car. Jack saw
Smith’s brake lights come on, even as his bike began to lay itself
down. He had no chance to slow the bike, and his only hope for
survival was to lay it down and ride out the slide. Sparks began to
fly high into the air as the metal ground itself against the
pavement. Jack held on for dear life, and just hoped that there
were no pot holes in the road. The bike continued to slide, and
Jack watched Smith’s car, as it slid out of control into the
intersection ahead. Out of the corner of his eye he also saw a
semi-truck enter the intersection from the right.

The driver’s cab of the truck missed the
collision in its entirety, but as the trailer went by, Smith’s car
slammed into it. The car plowed underneath it, and ripped off the
entire top of the vehicle. Smith had seen the inevitable through
the shattered windshield, and had ducked at the very last possible
second. Even as the airbag deployed above him, he screamed in
unison with the twisting metal of his car. The car cleared the
trailer, as the truck driver slammed on the brakes to stop his
runaway train. Smith’s car spun around in the intersection, came to
a stop. It faced back towards Jack. Smith fought the airbag out of
the way and sat upright in his now decapitated car. He stared back
down the road at the motorcycle which lay on the pavement. Its
rider still pinned beneath it. He slammed down on the accelerator
as an evil grin of hatred spread across his face. The tires spun
wildly and caught traction.

Jack had come to a complete stop, and
realized that Smith was not only still alive, but hell-bent on
running him down. He frantically fought to free himself from the
ruined motorcycle. The weight was just too much for him to budge,
and he stared helplessly up the street at the crude convertible as
it bared down on him. The street lights once again glimmered in the
wetness that ran in a straight line up the street towards the
oncoming car. Jack raised his gun and fired a single shot. Sparks
leapt from the pavement and lit the trail of fuel. Smith saw the
trail of flame as it raced towards him, but had only one thing on
his mind. It disappeared underneath his car. Jack watched as the
trail of fire raced towards the oncoming vehicle, and as it
disappeared underneath the car, he ducked behind the bike.

A sound, almost like that of a sonic boom,
reverberated through the area. Later neighbors would remember the
sound, and would wonder what had caused it. The rear of the car
launched itself into the air on a plume of fire, like a rocket as
it lit up the night sky. The vehicle flipped end over end, until it
finally landed up side down in the middle of the road, so close to
Jack that the heat from the intense fire was almost too much for
him to handle. He finally freed himself from the bike, and shakily
got to his feet. He could see Smith’s outstretched hand pinned
under the frame of the car. The skin horribly burned and a large
gash across the wrist from which no blood poured. He hadn’t saved
his family, but he had stopped the bastard that was responsible.
Smith was dead.

Jack rented a room at a local dive. He left a
wake up call for nine A.M. in the morning, and crashed for the
night. Exhausted beyond belief, he felt like a person with jet-lag,
but on a completely different level. Two times in the last week he
had seen his family slaughtered, and two times he had been unable
to save them. He had regained a friend lost for years, and then
lost that friend before his very eyes. He had been poked at,
prodded at, and shot at. He had traveled through time. And still,
his family was as dead as they had been before this roller coaster
ride had begun. He was exhausted.

He slept a deep but restless sleep. He
dreamed of Tracey and though he tried, he could not touch her. So
close, but not able to reach her. He heard her call to him. She
needed him, but he was unable to move or respond. The phone rang,
and it startled him awake. Disoriented, he looked around the room.
As he tried to get his bearings, his hand instinctively drew the
gun from underneath his pillow. He sat there dazed for a moment,
until reality finally settled in. He reached over and grabbed the
phone.

“Mr Smith. It’s nine o’clock. Your wake up
call.” The voice said.

“Thank you.” Jack said as he hung up the
phone. Smith had seemed to be an appropriate name to use. He knew
one lunatic that wouldn’t be using it anytime soon, at least. As
Jack showered, he savored the hot water as it ran over his body.
After a deep sleep, it helped to rejuvenate him, and cleared his
mind. Refreshed, he dressed in the clothes that he had worn the day
before and sat on the edge of the bed. He began to try and sort out
where he was, or more precisely, when he was. In this timeline, the
murders had occurred last night, in his original timeline, it was
actually several days ago. Ted was dead, but that was in his
original timeline. In the timeline that he was in now, Ted was
still alive. In fact, Jack realized, it would be today that Ted
would approach him, or his other self to be more precise. Today he
would try to recruit him on this time traveling madness. Jack had
to warn Ted. That was the only course of action, he thought as he
grabbed his phone to search for a number online, but realized
instantly that it would be a waste of time. Then he started to key
the number for information, when he remembered the business card
that Ted had offered days ago. The one that he had ignored, and
then later had picked up off of the ground. He reached into his
back pocket, removed his wallet, and opened it. He reached under
the flap that held the pictures of his two children and pulled out
the card. He dialed the toll free number. The phone rang three
times before it was answered.

“Truman.” Ted answered.

“It’s good to hear your voice, Ted.”

“Who is this?” Ted asked. Jack thought for a
moment. The silence on the line became louder. “Hello? Who is
this?” Ted asked again.

“It’s Jack.”

“Jack? I’m...I’m a little surprised to be
hearing from you. Are you okay?” Ted said, obviously shaken by the
fact that the man who wanted to rip his head off only yesterday was
on the phone.

“No, I’m not okay, but that’s beside the
point. Have you heard about the murders yet?”

“Which murders?” Joe asked.

“My family.” Jack said bluntly.

“Your-”

“My family. They’re dead. All dead.” Jack
said coldly.

“My God, Jack, I didn’t know...I hadn’t-“

“Never mind that, that’s not why I called. Do
you or have you had any intention of approaching me with an
offer.”

“Your family, Jack, I’m so sorry-”

“Answer the question, Ted.” Jack
interrupted.

“An offer? What kind of offer, Jack?” Ted
asked.

“Employment.” Silence. Seconds passed before
Ted answered.

“Has someone else been talking to you, Jack?
Who was-”

“Do you even know if it works, Ted?”

“What are you talking about?”

“Do you know, Ted? Have you been through
time?”

“Look, Jack, I don’t know what’s going on,
but you-”

“I do, Ted. I know it works. Do you want to
know how I know?” Jack asked. There was silence on the line
again.

“How?”

“Right this minute Ted, I’m at my house
scrubbing the blood of my family off of the walls of the home that
we shared. Also at this same instant, I’m halfway across town in a
cheesy motel talking to you on the phone. How is that possible
Ted?” Jack asked. “How can that be? How can there be two of me at
the same time. In the same time.”

“You’re...you’re looped?”

“Exactly, Ted, I’m time looped. It works and
I’m here to prove it. The least you guys could have done was test
the damn thing out before you sent us through. Jesus, Ted, anything
could have happened.”

“They have been testing it, Jack. But there
have been some problems.”

“Yeah, I’ve heard. So you came up with a
psychological profile.”

“A psychological profile?” Jack smiled
slightly and shook his head.

“Here’s the reality. If I’m here now, then
you’ve got to get me here.”

“I don’t get it.” Ted said.

“You came to my house today, while I was
cleaning up the mess, and convinced me that I had to join you. You
wouldn’t tell me the details, but you did tell me that there was a
way to save my family. You gave me hope, Ted.”

“Jack. Look. But didn’t you just say that
they’re dead.”

“I know, that’s another reason you’ve got to
go back. I...the other Jack...has to have that chance to save their
lives.”

“This is confusing, Jack.”

“Don’t tell me, I’ve got Jet-lag from hell.
My family has died twice, and my best friend was...” Jack caught
himself.

“Jack, what about your friend?” Ted
asked.

“You, Ted. You are my friend...my best friend
even after all of these years, and all we’ve been through. You
don’t know it now, but you will. That’s another thing that has to
happen today. Another reason you’ve got to go and talk to me...the
other Jack."

“What happened?” Ted asked as Jack thought
about how to answer him.

“You were shot.” There was a pause of silence
again.

“Killed?”

“Protect yourself, Ted. Go and see me,
convince me, and then help me...but watch out for yourself.” Jack
hung up the phone without another word. He had warned Ted. He just
hoped it was enough. He was shocked to realize that he and Ted were
the first to actually successfully time travel, and that thought
sent shivers down his spine. But it had worked. He had had the
opportunity to save his family. But again he had failed. There was
another chance. Tomorrow morning. Ted would talk to the other Jack,
and convince him to help. Tomorrow the gate would open again, they
would go through, and Tracey and the kids would have another chance
at life. Jack planned to be there.

Jack awoke the next morning well before the
wake up call ever came. He had showered and left the motel when the
phone began to ring. Almost an hour earlier, he had called a taxi,
and well over thirty minutes had passed since the driver had picked
him up from in front of his room. Even as the phone continued to
ring in the empty motel room, Jack had arrived at his destination.
He paid the driver and got out.

Jack turned away from the yellow taxi. It
turned and sped back out to the main gate. Under different
circumstances, Jack would have thought the entire cab ride comical.
The driver had talked incessantly about his dreams of retirement in
Florida, as Jack had gripped the arm rest for dear life. He had
wondered if the cabby would ever make it to retirement. The high
speed accelerations, and two-footed-stand-up-in-the-seat braking
had made Jack wonder whether the cabby would even survive until
next week. But Jack’s mind was focused. He was about to attempt to
infiltrate a military base, and was sure that it wouldn’t be
child’s play. He had exited the cab in the visitors parking area
located at the main gate, but not officially on base. No special
stickers or passes were required to enter this area, and taxis
often came and went through this lot. Nothing out of the ordinary
so far, he thought. He walked towards the visitor’s center, and
went inside.

A single line of people patiently waited, but
at least the line was short, Jack thought. After a few brief
moments, the next person was called forward. That left only two
others in front of him. Time passed slowly, but soon enough the
line moved forward again. Only one other person ahead of him, he
thought. He glanced at his watch again. Each time he looked down,
he wondered if his watch had stopped, or if it was just his heart.
The next in line was called forward, and Jack was finally next to
be assisted. He shifted his stance, as he became restless. He
desperately tried to remember exactly what time he had arrived here
the other day. Finally, he was called forward.

“Yes, sir. How can we help you today?” The
uniformed soldier asked from behind the chest high counter.

“My name is Jack King. I am here to see Ted
Truman.”

“Okay. Just one second, sir.” The soldier
said as he typed the information into his computer terminal.
“Sorry, sir. The system has been running slow all day.” The soldier
said apologetically, as he gave Jack a half hearted smile. Jack
shifted his stance again and looked at his watch. He nervously
glanced behind him. He half expected to see his other self pull up
at any moment. “There you are, sir.” The soldier said. “You’re
cleared for entry. Just keep this pass with you at all times. Do
you know where you are headed?”