The Power of Forgetting (43 page)

'You poor
thing! What possible use can a man from the outlands be?'

I struggled to
sit up, failed; and elected while forced to lay still I would
listen and look, and record mentally anything at all.

'Come now….'
another speaker swam into view. She was quite young, with an
elegant shift of green silk.

'My dear….'
said yet another, male voice, 'do not play with my toys! I won't be
pleased if you damaged one of them.'

The young girl
backed off and stood with her head on one side in thoughtful mode.
The other girl standing near appearing puzzled, and inclined her
head in submission as he moved into my field of vision.

He bent over me
then. This person I had so long wondered about. He was dressed
differently to the others. He wore a light suit and silky tie, and
his hair was slicked back with hair gel, or another subtle
dressing.

'Ah! I see you
are dressed for any eventuality,' he said, 'So soon we will have to
part ways. You will perhaps appreciate being put back into the
hall; so you can follow on foot…. but then best not; you don't know
what I can do.'

'August
Charles?' I was frankly surprised by his friendly almost dismissive
manner. Perhaps they already had enough out of me. There wasn't any
point in being impolite if they were out to get us. Just for once I
didn't want to run from something dangerous.

He bent down
near my ear and whispered: 'I have wanted to meet you for so long
Mr Vincey…' he met my eyes as my head turned slightly, and I
breathed in sharply, 'Yes! You see I have you…'

'How do you
know that name?' my voice was thick and lower.

He put a
friendly hand on my shoulder, 'Shh, be calm. This is no matter. We
are both the same you and I. We have a destiny to fulfil,' then to
the two who had stood quietly by, 'help him up now.'

They helped me
to my feet. I stood slightly unsteadily, unsure of what was going
to happen next.

'Come Mr
Arden…. let me show you what I have for you.' he opened his hands
in invitation. I nodded quite unable to speak. How did he know my
true name?

'Come…' he said
again, 'I have to tell you about your future…and this is what I
must do.'

We went into
another place. It was a high balcony above the hall. I was
staggered then by the distance and the light. The people were like
brightly coloured dots on the surface of an ice lake.

'beautiful
isn't it.' he said to me.

'Yes…'

'leave us.' he
told the tow minders.

'Mr Charles?'
said the man.

'It is fine. I
will be perfectly safe.'

'As you wish.'
They both bowed slightly in deference and left us alone.

he turned back
to me, and then broke into a wide smile.

'It is so good
to see you again! I can't say I'm not surprised…but it is
good!'

'I think you
need to tell me what is going on here. And who all these people
are.'

'Of course…. I
know that you haven't seen me before. I know that this is your
first time. But for me it is not; do you see?'

I went to the
rail and rested both hands lightly on the curve of the bar. This
man could not know my future; whatever he thought he knew, I still
had control over my choices. I knew of course that things like this
were possible. Karis had warned us. Karis knew; of course she knew!
Destiny…. what was that? A fate that could not be changed; or a
chance that could not be avoided? I turned to face him.

'I need proof.
I need you to tell me something that tells me how you know my
name.'

'Jared…. I'm
not sure I can. I know who you are. What more is there to say? Why
is it so important to be hidden among the people? You have such
skill, and such depth of passion to drive you to greater things
than this….' here he flicked the collar of my jacket, 'come now
Jared! What can I say? That you sent me to find you and make sure
that things didn't go wrong for you; that I was given an assignment
by the board of the Sandglass project to protect you…. to keep you
safe so that you would reach this place? I have many people at my
command; all of them will obey you and work for you if you make a
choice to take up your rightful place.'

'What did you
mean about me not following you? What can you do that I ought to be
wary of?'

'They were
right about you,' he smiled, then appeared serious, 'you do notice
the things others miss….so I will answer. The people beneath us
here are all the others who have ever joined the project. All of
them trained and disciplined to control the flow of time. All of
them ready to join us on a great journey. And as for the rest; they
are from many places; from many versions of your reality. Each one
is the best that they can be; each one has been through a process
of initiation. This tough training that means they understand one
thing…'

'And what is
that?' I asked evenly.

'How to
survive.'

'Survive
what?'

'An end.'

'What sort of
end?'

'The end of all
things Jared. Don't you see? There is no time like the present.
There is going to be no… Time…. Like The Present…' and then he put
his hand on mine. I felt the transference before I saw the images.
It was smooth; almost as smooth as my sister Karis. It was not
forced. I was open though. Curiously I let those images in. and
then I saw a future. I saw a line of something approaching a great
city, and I felt their fear. It wasn't just darkness; it was the
end of existence; the darkness was a cessation of being. Time was
fracturing and breaking. I saw people appear in the city; a small
team. They came through a dimension gate like the one we had passed
through to reach this land. They stood near the line of approaching
darkness. And then they linked hands until there was a circle
formed. There they stood and the time energy that was generated
caused a visible arc and crackle of light and a wind that came out
of nowhere. Then the edge of the darkness began to fold in on
itself. It folded over and over. And it was as if it consumed
itself. Suddenly the light shone through again. The sunrise, and
the world was sweet and whole and the people were not afraid
anymore. And these few took their leave quietly and left through a
small dimension gate that remained open a few minutes after they
had left. In my mind the image of it grew larger. But it was as if
I was approaching it; and then there was whiteness, like a gleaming
pearl. This place!

His hand
dropped down, and he appeared shocked.

'You are still
alive after all that….'

'What did you
see?' I asked.

'I saw death.'
he spoke in a whisper.

'Yes.'

'But…. but it
cannot be….it should not be.'

'You saw me
die?'

'You were
there….and she had killed you. It was over.' he stepped back from
me then, 'forgive me… I did not know. You have travelled where few
dare to tread, and have come back to tell the tale. I should not
have presumed…. forgive me.'

'Why does that
bother you?' I asked him, 'People die every day. You know this
happens. Why are you surprised that sometimes people come back from
the dead?'

He seemed to
turn pale, but spoke carefully and evenly as he had at first; 'I am
not surprised….it just seemed that this would be a miracle of
medicine perhaps?'

'Perhaps.' I
answered, 'So tell me, what do you want from me?'

'Vincey...' he
turned towards the space outwards from the balcony, 'Mr Vincey, you
mistake my intention. I have not set the conditions, you have…I
wish to tell you.' here he seemed reluctant as if the job of
delivering this message was onerous to him.

'Tell me what?'
I glanced at the door ways to this balcony, trying to calculate the
best possible route out of here.

'I see that it
is not for you to decide this now; but I am here to offer you all
of this….as the Head of the Project.'

I stared at
him. Clearly this was one of those times where I was supposed to be
tempted. But it felt just far too…. easy.

'He said you
would be uncertain. And that you would want to be sure of your
situation. This project needs a good commander. It needs someone
who understands the Art of Causality in a way that no others can
do. It needs you.'

'Who told you
to ask me to do that?'

'I must not
say.'

'Well you
better. I couldn't possibly take… err…. command of all of this
without knowing.'

'No.' he said,
'I agree that would not be logical.'

'So then…' I
quickly glanced about again, 'who sent you?'

'I'm…. not
permitted to say.'

'Why not?'

'It is related
to paradox.'

'One of those
things that create parallel sets of events?'

'Yes. We cannot
afford to create an alternate in here.'

'You could have
met me on the field. Or back at home. Or even at the pub. Why all
this elaborate wild goose chase?'

He stood there
looking a little pained, as if some indecision was gaining ground
in his mind.

'Very well,' he
responded at last, 'I will tell you. But it must remain a word that
is only spoken here.'

'So be it. So
who has sent you to make this offer?'

Instead of
replying he went to the handrail and looked down; 'Wonderful isn't
it? I never thought I would regret my decision, but now I do…. you
are impossible Jay Vincey.' then he turned to me and said very
quietly: 'He sent me to say all this. He said you would ask…. he
warned me.'

'Who did?'

'You did.'

I suppose I
felt a wash of shock on one level. But the practical part of my
mind realised the precariousness of my position, and was computing
the best way to make the rendezvous with my friends.

'Prove it.' I
said, my voice hard and low.

'It's alright
now…' he said to himself, 'remember the training, keep the faith…'
his face had gone white. I wondered why he was lying; this couldn't
be. I couldn't be the creator of all this. But I was never the
creator. I was brought on board…. I had been before. The board.
Rimmington…. he was the one who demanded my resignation. A test of
determination; of resolve; they wanted me. They wanted what I had,
what I could do. I wasn't about to give them what they wanted.

'You need time
to think about it.' he said then.

'Yes.'

'You have
exactly one day.' he looked at his watch. I also glanced at mine.
Two thirty precisely.

'What happens
in one day's time?'

He looked at me
and seemed almost haughty, 'You may never know that….' and suddenly
without any warning launched himself over the rail of the
balcony.

I leapt
backwards gasping. There was a cry from down below. A chain of
events had been set in motion that would result in what? One day.
That was all I had, just one day.

I looked along
the balcony, already I could hear feet running. They would take me
and I would be punished. I must get out. But think! Think hard! He
was going to let something slip. No. that wasn't it. He destroyed
himself in a motiveless way. But perhaps not. He said paradox….
Juliet had said about a paradox event. Perhaps it was happening
right now. He would survive this by leaving the time line. Just
like the Cloud Field. He could only be alive in another reality if
he was dead in this one. The logic was almost certain. I didn't
dare look over the rail. I wasn't about to test the supposition
either. But it did tell me one thing. This was a place between
worlds. It was made of stone and was not the same as the outside.
It had it be part of somewhere else. This wasn't an illusion
though. It was real. But in my past. One day. Come on think! I had
one day. One day from the point of origin. This was the past.
Therefore, I had as much time as I needed. There was all the time
in the world. It occurred to me then, as it did often after that
point that time travel really does tend to muck up one’s social
life. Not that I had one as such.

I started to
run. Down the tunnel I had come in by. There was a route out that I
knew, and I was just as likely to meet someone who wanted to stop
me going that way as any other. The sound seemed to have died down
now. I followed the curve of the wall, passed the door way to that
first room and carried on.

Suddenly I
burst out onto the little area to the left of the huge dais. Shock,
then incomprehension followed each other round in my mind. Out
there in the vastness of this pure marble hall, all was still. It
was punctuated only by the small raised areas further back in the
distance.

I walked
forward then into the now empty space. I didn't understand. I had
made no turn. I had made no change. Perhaps it was simple. They had
all gone. Leaving me here. It was unnerving, but now my mind was
furnished with what seemed like an explanation, I walked with more
purpose. Out into the vacant space. It took me a good twenty
minutes to cross. I walked and jogged some of the way. It was too
big even with some people in it. This was just like the surface of
the moon as I imagined it would be when I saw it from my
window.

I came to the
end of the hall way. It was the place if small arches and
intersecting galleries. I turned to my right and headed as quickly
as the current circumstances would allow in the direction of the
labs. After ten minutes of this I found myself in a corridor that
looked very like one you might find in a school, with windows all
the way down one side. It let in the afternoon sun, which seemed to
bring back a sense of reality and proportion to the place. Those
strange places I had left far behind through at least a mile of
corridors, and I had almost reached my destination.

I slipped in
through the door. It was an unused room, to judge by the dusty
cabinets and scattering of old desks and other wasted and unwanted
objects. I found an old chair and sat down. Some rough tangles of
grass and trees were visible through the window. The air was quite
warm. I looked at my watch again. Two thirty. I shook my head as if
to dislodge the information and looked again. I stubbornly refused
to be different. I felt calm then. No one about. It was quiet and
still on this summer afternoon. I just had to wait. The window of
time was those ten minutes between quarter to, and five to the
hour. We would be on our way out by just after three at the latest.
It was certainly very warm and quiet. I tried to stay alert. But
the stillness and the relief made my head start to nod downwards
towards my chest. I had a brief reprieve from the action of the
day; and some strange habit of mine to take a nap where I could
when I was working overcame the discipline of the soldier that
Oliver had tried to instil into me, and I think I slept.