Time Hunters and the Spear of Fate, The (6 page)

Chapter
7

This Time it’s Personal

Becky struggled to
focus, the words dancing around the screen, barely staying still long enough
for her to grasp their meaning.

Her dad was on the
phone.

She felt eyes descend
upon her from all sides, probing, searching for her response, but she didn’t
care. She felt lighter than air, her body engulfed in waves of joy. Could it be
true? She looked back to see a confused Joe and gestured for him to come over.

‘What is it, Becks?’
Joe asked quietly, moving to her left.

Wordlessly, Becky
nodded at the Hologramophone receiver.

Joe gulped. ‘Dad?’
 

Becky’s fingers
trembled as she crouched and pushed the button. At once, three lasers shot out
of the box, slicing the air, coming together as one. As the beams touched, the
outline of a man formed before their very eyes, growing sharper by the second.

In a heartbeat,
Becky’s hopes were shattered.

Emerson Drake’s pallid
face, split by a repulsive sneer, leered down at her. ‘Surprise!’ he laughed
coldly. ‘No daddy, I’m afraid.’

Bile rose in Becky’s
throat.

Gasps of horror filled
the room.

Drake turned to the
crowd. ‘Miss me?’ His face furrowed in mock sorrow. ‘It seems my invitation to
your little soiree must’ve got lost in the post. Ah, well, I’m here now.’ He
opened his arms wide. ‘Merry Christmas, one and all. It’s been an age since
I’ve been amongst so many old friends and confrères.’

Uncle Percy stepped
forward. ‘Emerson,’ he said coolly. ‘You’ll find no friends here...’

‘Really, Percy?’ Drake
jeered. ‘Say it isn’t so.’ He shrugged. ‘Well, between you and me I’m hoping to
make some tonight.’ He looked at Becky. ‘Perhaps I could start with you,
Rebecca. I’m beginning to get the impression you’re a very special young lady
indeed. ’ He cast Becky a very curious look.

Becky wanted to shout
a retort, to tell him in no uncertain terms just how much she hated him, how
she wanted revenge for all the monstrous things he’d done, but the words wedged
in her throat.

Drake looked
disappointed. ‘Ah, well … I suppose it’s possible our relationship will develop
over time.’ His voice turned cold. ‘Let’s just see how
tonight
goes,
shall we?’

Uncle Percy noted this
change in tone. ‘What do you mean ‘tonight’?’

‘If you don’t mind,
Percy,’ Drake replied. ‘I’m not here to talk to you.’ He turned to the crowd
again, his voice rising. ‘Now a little bird has told me you’ve heard about my
search for the five Eden relics. I also hear you’ve been sold over inflated
stories about Percy Halifax and his extended family thwarting my plans thus
far. Now, I assure you, whatever small triumphs they’ve had do not trouble me
in the slightest. At most, they’re a minor inconvenience. But their successes
may have given some of you the impression I can be stopped from realising my
ambitions. If that’s so, you’re mistaken.
I cannot and will not be stopped
…’

His thin lips
glistened with anticipation.

‘I am close to
procuring the third Eden Relic,
The Spear of Fate
. A relic with a
riveting history, and one quite in keeping ironically with our present locale…’
His gaze slanted upwards to the domed glass roof and the ocean beyond. 
‘And to celebrate this, even though many of you have disappointed me by aiding
Halifax in his search for John Mellor, I appear tonight to extend a forgiving
hand and to present each of you with a Christmas gift.’

‘We don’t want
anything from you, you monster!’ Butterby shouted.

Drake sniggered
nastily. ‘Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure about that, Charles. You see, I’m offering
the gift of
life
,’ His voice rose again. ‘Your lives, as a matter of
fact.’

Colour bled from Uncle
Percy’s face. ‘What have you done, Emerson?’

‘Let’s just say my
recent accomplishments in the field of Cyrobotics are quite ground-breaking.’
He turned back to the crowd. ‘Anyway, all I ask in return for my generosity is
that you leave this absurd party now, give me your unreserved allegiance, and
you shall continue to live …’

A horrified stillness
fell over the hall.

‘Now I understand some
of you may wish to appear honorable, courageous even, in front of your peers.
But I urge you to put such principles aside. Remember, I know who you are…’ His
icy blue eyes met a kindly faced elderly woman in the front row. ‘Helen
Kettering, do you still live in that charming four-bedroomed Edwardian house in
Stafford? And how is that grandson of yours … Timothy, isn’t it?’ His eyes
flicked over to a tall, bespectacled black man standing to the right of the
stage. ‘Adolphus Wellington, do you still organize the pub quiz at the Jolly
Pig on Tuesday nights? And does your adorable niece, Emma, still play the
euphonium? Let’s be frank, I can get to any of you wherever or whenever I
want.’

He smiled callously.

‘I hope I’ve made my
point. Whatever Percy Halifax or Charles Butterby or Charlie Millport says -
you cannot be protected.’ Drake’s eyes tapered into slits. ‘
Not here … not
now … not ever.
So those that wish to accept my charity, leave at once…’

Chilled by Drake’s
words, Becky scanned the room. Confusion and dread lined the mass of faces
before her. As the seconds crawled by, however, she was astounded to see no one
made any attempt to leave.

Drake clearly felt the
same way. ‘No one?’ His eyes blazed with fury. ‘THEN YOU ARE ALL DOOMED…’ he
roared.

His hologram vanished.

At the same time, an
earsplitting scream filled the room.

Becky glanced over at
a woman sitting at a far table, her face crimson with terror, an extended
finger pointed at the window opposite.

Still in shock, Becky
looked over to see a colossal shark glide past the window; about seventy foot
in length, its powerful body glistened in the emerald green water, its massive
jaws ajar, hinting at the huge triangular teeth within.

‘That shark’s
enormous!’ Joe panted. ‘What type is it?’

‘It’s a Megalodon,
Joe,’ Uncle Percy exhaled, ‘and it’s six million years out of its time…’ In a
single bound, he jumped purposefully on the stage and seized the microphone.
‘ALL OF YOU… LEAVE NOW! GET TO YOUR TIME MACHINES. WE’RE UNDER ATTACK!’

Pandemonium broke out.

Through shrieks of
desperation, upturned chairs and shattered glass, Becky watched the bedlam
unfold. The doors were flung open and hysterical guests stampeded out in a mad,
frantic dash for safety.

‘Becky. Joe. Get to
Betty. I’ll be there shortly,’ Uncle Percy shouted over the howl of terrified
screams, before turning to Charlie Millport. ‘Charlie, for God’s sake get The
Beatles back to their own time and memorased! I’ll help get everyone out…’

Millport nodded and
raced to rear of the stage.

Rooted to the spot in
fear, Becky’s gaze flicked back to the Megalodon. Relief flooded her. It
appeared to be leaving, loping into the blackness beyond like a train
disappearing into a tunnel. But then, with one swish of its giant tail, it
turned about and its plate-sized black eyes locked on the window. 

Becky swallowed hard.

Like a missile, the
Megalodon hurtled towards them, its giant snout aimed forward like a battering
ram. Becky didn’t even have time to scream, when –
BAMMMM
– the shark
pummelled its target. It was like an earthquake. The floor shook, the
chandeliers above swung madly, shedding glittery beads below; microphones,
guitars and drums toppled from the stage, bottles fell from tables, smashing on
the hard floor.

Adrenaline pumping
through her, Becky was astonished to see the window hadn’t shattered. She
jumped, startled, as fingers gripped her arm.

‘Becks, we have to
go!’ Joe pressed.

Becky watched
horrified as the Megalodon turned about, returning to the depths, its huge tail
powering left and right. From the other side of the doors, she heard the
cracks
of departing time machines. It was then she spied movement about twenty feet
away. An elderly woman with a mop of bushy silver hair was squirming on the
glass-strewn floor, her fingers reaching frantically beneath the stage for
something Becky couldn’t quite see.

Becky pushed away
Joe’s hand and sprinted over. Sinking to her knees, hearing the crunch of
broken glass beneath her feet, she grabbed the woman’s shoulder. ‘Please, you
need to get out of here.’

The woman tilted her
face toward Becky.

Becky could see her
cheeks were raw with tears. 

‘N -no dear,’ the
woman sobbed. ‘There isn’t time. You go!’

‘If you stay you’ll
die,’ Becky pressed.

‘I don’t care … my
locket,’ the woman replied frantically. ‘I’m not leaving without my locket.’
And she turned over and continued her forage.

‘Then let me help.’
Becky dropped on all fours and threw her head under the stage’s canopy. Groping
in the darkness, she felt a small metallic object and drew it into the light.
‘Here,’ she said quickly, passing the locket over. ‘Now, please, you must
leave.’

The woman flicked the
locket open and looked at the photograph inside. 

Becky could just make
out the picture of a golden haired dog enclosed within the locket’s casing.

The woman trembled
with gratitude. ‘Oh, thank you, my dear. Thank you.’

‘No sweat,’ Becky
replied, when -
BAMMM
– the shark struck again. A spine-chilling
crack
echoed above. Looking up, she saw a thin fissure in the top left hand corner of
the window. To her horror, it zigzagged downwards like a snake in motion.

‘Let’s go!’ Becky
insisted, getting to her feet.

‘No,’ the woman said.
‘My leg….’

It was only then Becky
noticed a deep, bloody gash above the woman’s shin; a shard of glass was poking
out of it like an icicle.

Becky acted quickly.
‘JOE!’ she shouted. ‘HELP!’

Joe ran over.

‘We need to carry
her,’ Becky said, and before the woman could protest she and Joe hoisted her
onto their shoulders. They stood up and hobbled toward the exit.

‘Leave me,’ the woman
pleaded. ‘Save yourselves. I deserve to die.’

‘Not a chance,’ Becky
interrupted, looking over to the window. To her horror, she saw the crack was
now the length of a family car.

Red-faced and
breathless, Uncle Percy saw them and dashed over.  He looked at the
woman’s leg. ‘Looks nasty, Mary, but we’ll soon have that sorted out. I’ll take
it from here, Becky, Joe.’ He scooped the woman up in his arms.

‘Really, Percy, you
should leave me here,’ the woman said. ‘Take the children and go.’

‘We’re all going,’
Uncle Percy replied resolutely, and he started to run.

The hall was nearly
empty now, save for four Trackers, each wearing snow-white dinner jackets at the
far side of the room. ‘You gonna be okay, Perce?’ one of them yelled over.

‘Absolutely, Jeff,’
Uncle Percy shouted back. ‘Get your team out of here.’

The man gave a firm
nod and gestured to the others; each man raised his left cuff to reveal a
time-pad. A moment later, the Trackers were enveloped in brilliant white light,
and, following a series of sharp
crack
s, they vanished.

Becky, Joe, Uncle
Percy and the woman hurried into the arrivals hangar to see just two vehicles
remained: Betty, the pink Cadillac, and a pepper-red Citroen 2CV car, which
Becky presumed was the woman’s time machine. Wasting no time, Uncle Percy
loaded the woman on to Betty’s back seat, as Becky and Joe clambered in, before
leaping desperately on to the driver’s seat and inputting numbers on the
time-pad.

‘Come on,’ Uncle Percy
pleaded, drumming the steering wheel impatiently. Hazy blue and white light
poured in thick streams from the dashboard.

Hearing the rumble
from below as Betty readied herself for departure, Becky felt a rush of relief.
They were safe. She was about to embrace Joe when, from behind, a tremendous
explosion pounded her ears. She knew at once the window had shattered.
Horrified, she glanced behind to see the door explode off its hinges as a vast
swell of water rushed towards them.

Then blinding light
stung her eyes.

Chapter
8

The Lost Scroll

Sweat glazing her brow, Becky stared
at the bleached-white Time Room wall, her heart thumping so loudly she felt
certain everyone could hear.

Uncle Percy flung open the driver’s
door and leapt out. He raised his car keys to his mouth and spoke into the tiny
microphone embedded within. ‘Barbie, could you join me in the Time Room,
please?’ Before he had time to open the Cadillac’s rear doors, a flickering orb
of light appeared to his right, growing in size, and, with a
pop
, Barbie
materialized.

‘At your service, sir.’

‘Thank you, dear,’ Uncle Percy said.
‘I was hoping you might do me a favour. Mary Cassidy has been hurt. I don’t
think it’s serious, but I’d rather be safe than sorry. Can you inform Doctor
Aziz she will be with him in a moment or two; his time-pad coordinates are
programmed into your data bank.’

‘Of course, sir.’ And in a blinding
flash, Barbie disappeared.

Still disorientated, Becky exited
the car, quickly followed by Joe, who looked both relieved and shaken in equal
measure.

‘How the hell did Drake get a
Megalodon to attack us?’ Joe asked Uncle Percy, who had moved to a workstation
and was typing something quickly onto its keyboard.

Becky felt she knew the answer. With
a shudder, she recalled the robot budgie that attacked her in the summer. ‘It
was a Cyrobot, wasn’t it?’

‘It seems that way,’ Uncle Percy
replied.

‘But it was as big as a plane,’ Joe
blustered. ‘How could he make a Cyrobot out of something that big?’

‘Because he tried,’ Uncle Percy
replied simply, returning to the car and offering his hand to the woman. ‘Let
me help you out, Mary.’

‘Thank you, Percy,’ Mary said with a
wince, her unsteady fingers finding the locket around her neck. ‘And thank you,
Becky, I owe you my life.’

‘That’s okay,’ Becky replied softly.

‘Could you pass me a chair, please,
Joe,’ Uncle Percy asked.

Joe grabbed a chair and set it
behind the woman, who promptly sat down.

Uncle Percy dropped to his knees and
examined Mary’s wound. ‘This looks bad, Mary, but Doctor Aziz will have you
patched up in no time. Besides –’

The woman cast him a guilty look,
the heavy bags beneath her eyes distended and swollen. ‘It was me, Percy.’

‘What was you, my dear?’

‘I’m the traitor...’ Mary’s lips
quivered wildly as she struggled to shape each word. ‘You must have realised
Drake had help tonight.’

‘I did wonder who placed the
Hologram receiver in such a prime location; who gave him the coordinates to the
party so he could place the Megalodon in that time-line. But don’t worry about
– ’

‘I’m not worried,’ Mary interrupted.
‘He gave me no choice.’ Her body quivered. ‘He came to my house in the middle
of the night … He dragged my beautiful Rufus from his bed. He put a bread knife
to his throat and insisted I help him or he would skin Rufus alive. I know
Rufus is only a dog, Percy, but he’s all I’ve got. He’s my baby. I’m sorry for
what I’ve done, but I had no choice...’ She deflated like a punctured balloon
as if the admission had drained her of every last bit of strength.

Uncle Percy cast her a sympathetic
look. ‘Of course you didn’t.’

‘If anyone died tonight it’s because
of me,’ Mary said. She looked at Becky. ‘You see, you should have left me
there. I deserved it.’

Uncle Percy cupped her hand in his
and rubbed his thumb across her knuckles. ‘My dear, dear woman. You did what
any parent would have done. You protected your loved one. And, as far as I can
see, every traveller and guest escaped without injury tonight, so you can’t
afford to beat yourself up over what’s happened. Now, did he ask you to do
anything else?’

‘No.’

‘Then all we have lost is a jolly
good party.’

‘B-but I’m so scared, Percy,’ Mary
stammered. ‘Emerson Drake is a maniac. And you heard him tonight, he’s waged
war on the entire community.’

‘Then we’ll wage it back,’ Uncle
Percy said firmly. ‘I understand you’re scared, and I’m sure you’re not the
only one tonight. But I’m going to do something about it. I don’t know what
yet, but if Emerson wants war, then that’s exactly what he’ll get…’

Becky and Joe traded stunned
glances. They had never heard Uncle Percy sound quite so combative.

‘However,’ Uncle Percy continued,
‘in the meantime, I’d like to move you and Rufus from your home to a somewhat
safer location, at least for the time being. Somewhere Emerson can’t find you.
Would you let me do that?’

Mary nodded. ‘Yes,’ she said
quietly.

‘Good,’ Uncle Percy said. ‘But for
now, you should see Doctor Aziz. I’ll make all the necessary arrangements while
you recover.’ He stood and walked over to a drawer, which he opened, pulling
out what looked like a wristwatch with a strangely large dial speckled with
tiny buttons.

Becky recognised it at once as a
short-range portravella.

Uncle Percy secured it to Mary’s
wrist. ‘Now I’d like you to stay with Doctor Aziz until I come and get you.
Then we’ll collect Rufus and I’ll take you somewhere you don’t have to worry
about Emerson Drake. Does that sound okay?’

‘Thank you, Percy,’ Mary said in a
small voice. ‘It’s much better than I deserve.’

‘Nonsense. Now let’s just get that
leg fixed.’ Uncle Percy smiled warmly at her.  ‘And I won’t be telling a
soul about any of what you’ve told me. We’re going to keep it our little
secret, okay?’ He leaned over and input six digits on the portravella.

Overcome with emotion, Mary looked
like she wanted to say something but couldn’t find the words. Instead, her
mouth curved into a half-smile and she watched silently as her hand was encased
in a silvery light, which proceeded to spiral up her arm and over her body.
With a
pop
, she disappeared.

Uncle Percy looked at Becky and his
face creased into a mask of anger and bitterness. ‘Drake’s gone too far this
time.’

Becky nodded. ‘D’you think he’ll
carry out his threat and target the travellers?’

‘He’s certainly merciless enough to
do it,’ Uncle Percy replied coolly. ‘But Emerson never makes a move without a
reason, and what would it benefit him? No, I just think he wants the community
to think he’ll target them - he wants to spawn a climate of fear. As Aristotle
once said “
Men are swayed more by fear than by reverence
.”’

‘Well, I’m not frightened,’ Joe said
resolutely.

‘Me neither,’ Becky agreed, hoping
she sounded more convincing than she felt.

Uncle Percy smiled. ‘Good.’

‘And what about the Spear of Fate?’
Joe said eagerly. ‘Are we going after it?’

Looking troubled, Uncle Percy gave a
sigh that appeared to start at his toes and work its way up through his mouth.
‘I think that -’

Joe cut him down. ‘We have to get it
before he does,’ he insisted. ‘That’s how to really hurt Drake.’

Becky fanned her hand dismissively.
‘Joe, this is the first we’ve heard of it. We wouldn’t even know where to
start.’

Uncle Percy hesitated. ‘That’s not
strictly true,’ he said, rather sheepishly. ‘I’ve known about the Spear for a
month now…’

*

Becky looked shocked. ‘What? Why
haven’t you told us about this before?’

‘We’re a part of this too, you
know,’ Joe snapped.

‘I know, I know,’ Uncle Percy
replied apologetically. ‘And I fully intended to, but I didn’t want to do it
over the phone or via email. It seemed much better to wait and do it in
person.’

‘And when were you planning on doing
that?’ Becky snapped. ‘Just as we were tucking into our Christmas Dinner?’

‘I wanted to get the party out of
the way first.’

‘Yeah, well Drake saw to that, so
come on … what do you know about the Spear?’

Uncle Percy exhaled slowly. ‘In late
November, I was visited by Imran Musa, a Libyan traveller. He had an
interesting theory about another potential Eden Relic, something he referred to
as ‘The Spear of Fate.’ Now, Imran is a keen theologian, and is one of the
world’s foremost experts on the
Dead Sea Scrolls
. Have you heard of
them?’

‘No,’ Becky and Joe said
simultaneously.

‘The Dead Sea Scrolls are amongst
the most important archeological discoveries ever made. In 1946, a Bedouin
shepherd found seven scrolls in a cave in Qumran. The surrounding caves were
later searched and over eight hundred documents were found, dating from 200BC
to around 70AD and written in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek.’

‘What kind of documents?’ Becky
asked.

‘Primarily religious, but a huge
number also chronicled the social, judicial and political life of the time.
’

‘And what’s that got to do with the
Spear of Fate?’ Joe asked eagerly.

‘Well, by 1956, the Qumran caves
were thought to be exhausted,’ Uncle Percy replied.  ‘However, what few
people are aware of is that in 1957 another scroll was found in a cave about a
mile away … a scroll later named
The Sonchis Scroll
. A scholar named
Joseph Larac interpreted it and was astonished to find it was very different
from the others. He was about to share his findings with the world when the
scroll vanished.’

‘What happened to it?’ Joe asked.

‘No one knows for sure,’ Uncle Percy
replied. ‘Larac was convinced it was stolen to be sold on the black market.
Whatever happened to it, it’s certainly not been seen since.’

Becky was fascinated now. ‘You said
the Sonchis Scroll was different from the others. How?’

‘Because it read more like a history
book. A history book that recounted the birth of the Egyptian civilisation.’
The hint of a smile rounded his mouth. ‘And the demise of another many years before
… a great civilisation … a civilisation unlike any the world had ever seen.’

‘What civilisation?’ Becky asked.
‘Have we heard of it?’

‘Almost certainly,’ Uncle Percy
said. ‘You see, that same civilisation allegedly flourished on an island
somewhere in the Atlantic - a culture that, according to the Sonchis Scroll,
was more advanced than any that had gone before, and held the Spear of Fate as
its most treasured possession.’

‘So what’s it called?’ Becky asked
keenly.

Uncle Percy’s eyes glittered like
opals. ‘Let’s just say the civilization in question was purportedly consumed by
the ocean many years before recorded time, never to surface again – a
civilisation that has forever been embedded into our collective imaginations as
a place of mystery and wonder.’

Becky thought for a second. And then
she remembered Drake’s words at the party as he overlooked the ocean bed
: 
“A relic with a riveting history, and one
quite in keeping ironically with our present locale…
.”

She took a long, juddering breath.
‘You’re talking about Atlantis,’ she said quietly. ‘You’re saying the Spear of
Fate has something to do with Atlantis.’

‘I most certainly am…’