Epiworld (22 page)

There’s a loud groaning sound above our heads. The guard has come back to life. As it shoots another beam I push Chase into its path. I duck again into the murky deep, when suddenly I find myself flying high on a massive wave. I come back down fast, landing on the guard’s back with a hard thud, sliding down until I manage to grab hold of a piece of broken metal sticking out of its shoulder.

The guard is lying face down in the sea, completely shut down.

It takes me a long time to get my breath back. I can’t believe I’m still alive! I clutch the back of the guard like it’s a lifeline, ironic when you think about it.

But where’s Chase?

He’s floating nearby, or what’s left of him. The laser hasn’t completely destroyed him. He’s my father, but I feel no grief at his loss, only peace.

‘You were wrong, though, weren’t you, Alex?’ I mutter. ‘I didn’t kill him, the guard did.’

Still, he’s dead, and that’s all that matters.

I jump down from the guard’s back and swim back to the shore. Panting, I rest on the sand for a few moments before suddenly stumbling to my feet; I need to go back to the cave! It’s not long before I’m lying down on my slab bed in the cavern, staring up at the roof, trying to make some sense of it all. If Chase is dead, and doesn’t exist in the future, it could mean that he never meets Demi, that I’m never born, so I don’t exist, either...My head aches, the cave spins, the light glows...

I’m awake.

The first thing I notice is that there are no bars on the windows, but this is a hospital room, and I’m attached to all sorts of machines, so there’s no chance of me escaping even if I have the strength to do it. I touch my head cautiously; there’s a bandage wrapped around it.

‘Doc!’ Dr Alexander has his back to me, looking at a sheet of paper. He doesn’t hear me, so I raise my voice. ‘Doc! You’re alive!’

He turns, smiling. He’s exactly how he should be, middle-aged, with grey flecks in his hair.

‘Welcome back, Travis!’ He comes to the bed, takes my pulse. ‘How are you feeling?’

‘Weak. How did you get away from the guard?’

‘It wasn’t difficult. I used the glass from the wing mirror, and reflected the beam back at it. It destroyed itself. We ducked through the portal you called, coming back here, but I know Chase took Demi. She was already pregnant, Travis, drugged and raped by Chase when all three of you were still on Barrasay.’

I close my eyes. Drugged! Raped! Already pregnant!
Six months before the happy event...

‘Did – did it work?’ I ask nervously.

‘The operation? Well, you’ve survived, so that’s something, but the seizures haven’t gone. According to our tests, though, they don’t seem as severe. You might grow out of them in time, Travis. People do.’

‘No. Not the operation.’ I’m looking at the cortexoscope lying on the table beside me. ‘I mean – has Chase really gone?’

He attaches the scope to my head. ‘Well, let’s see, shall we?’

––––––––

‘W
e’ve got a surprise for you, Travis,’ says Dr Alexander. ‘Are you ready?’

It’s my first day out of bed. I’m in a wheelchair, wrapped in a blanket, about to be taken into the grounds by Hudson, whose big grin and bad jokes have kept me smiling for weeks. There’s something different about him. He’s happier in himself, says what he likes, and his clothes are different; the institution uniform has gone. No one will tell me why. Hudson only taps his nose, saying, ‘Wait and see!’ Alexander shakes his head, refusing to answer my questions.

I have a few minor seizures, but there are no more bright lights. Alexander says it’s because I don’t need them any more. What he really means is I don’t need the portals. I’m glad; I’m done with time travel. I’m no longer searching; my quest is over.

When I argue that Chase can’t be my father because he doesn’t exist any more, and Demi can’t be my mother, Alexander replies, ‘Chase was with Demi in twenty eighty-three. He may not have lived to twenty ninety-nine, never had the idea to come after you, but at some point in time he was alive, and you, he and Demi met. We both know the truth, and we also know portals do strange things to people. Things are never what they seem where portals are concerned.’

That’s what annoys me about Alexander; he always has an answer for everything, even if he never makes any sense!

Now I’m laughing as Hudson puts the blindfold on. ‘I wish someone would tell me what’s going on!’

‘You’ll see,’ says Hudson mysteriously.

Once we’re out in the fresh air he whips off the blindfold.

‘There! What do you think of that, then?’

I blink at the scene around me. There’s nothing different about the layout of the grounds, they’re the same, except for the flowers, and the high fence has gone. The boys are laughing, playing, and chasing one another. They seem happy and relaxed.

‘What’s happened to this place?’ I whisper.

Dr Alexander shrugs. ‘We don’t know. It was like this when we returned. It’s a hospital now. When these boys are well, including you, they can leave whenever they like. No one remembers Chase. Health inspectors don’t exist, nor do robot guards, but we still have the droids. People who are ill are helped instead of locked away. The country is still in turmoil, but there are officials trying to sort out the problems, and the poor are getting help. We knew a different world to this, and I’m not complaining!’

Hudson laughs. ‘Nor am I; I don’t want to see another guard again as long as I live.’

‘Something you did, Travis, has brought us to this moment,’ says Alexander. ‘Our futures and our lives have changed for the better. Chase and the robots have gone from this world, and there’s no more persecution of the unclean. Chase knew how to control the guards, didn’t he? It could be he had some kind of influence on authority, convinced those in power that the guards and the institutions were a good idea. Ah, well, we’ll never know for sure.’

It’s good to think my actions have helped to shape this new world, but I don’t believe it’s true.

‘I wish Demi were here,’ I say with a sigh, ‘but this isn’t her world. She wouldn’t have been happy, would she?’

‘I suppose not,’ says Alexander. ‘Don’t be sad, Travis. I think you had a happy childhood after all, without all that death and destruction which we saw blight our world, and you have your future to look forward to now.’

‘Future?’ I snort. ‘Most of these lads have families. I don’t have anyone, except you and Hudson. I don’t think I’ll ever leave this place.’

We’re interrupted by a kindly-faced nun. ‘Mr Travis and Mr Hudson, your visitors are here.’

‘Visitors?’

There are squeals and cheers as Jenna and Saul run towards us. Hudson swings Saul around until they fall over, laughing. I hold Jenna tight, unable to let go of the girl I still want to love.

Then, over Jenna’s shoulder, I see a middle-aged woman standing beside the nun, watching, smiling. Her fair hair is blowing around her lovely face. The memory of the chubby little boy and the pretty lady comes back to me. I reach out, and we’re holding hands again.