Time War: Invasion (5 page)

"Is there?"

Tano shook his head and smiled.

"One day you might learn that good and evil are not absolute. None of us is one or the other. Corwin still believes in a black and white reality."

"And what do you see?"

"An opportunity."

Hunter shook his head. He was not getting any helpful responses, or at least the ones he wanted. Corwin approached the stage cautiously and took the several steps leading up to the level where Villiers stood. He looked up for just a second to see Frasi, Vi, and, Chas lurking on a gantry above them, waiting to strike. He looked back to the floor around Villiers. It appeared as a ball of light swirling around their feet.

"My name is Sergeant Wyatt Corwin. I was sent here to stop you by any means necessary. But this doesn't have to end this way. You don't have to go through with this, Villiers."

"End? This is just the beginning."

"If this machine really works and doesn't just vaporise you. Say it works, and you go back in time. Do you know the damage you could do?"

"Very much so," he replied with a smile.

"You have no idea what effect you could have. Have you never thought that things might have panned out just the way they were supposed to?"

Villiers calm turned to anger, but only in his eyes. He stood as tall as Corwin and was square jawed and clean-shaven. He wore a much smaller version of the body armour Robak had been in, and a form fitting camouflage uniform. He carried a large solid pack on his back and looked in good shape, and could well have been a soldier had he not become a scientist. Though in his eyes he had the look of a thinker, not a fighter. He was in his early fifties but looked ten years younger.

"Supposed to? Was my family supposed to be blown out of the sky? Was that part of the grand plan?"

"I am sorry for what you lost, but haven’t we all lost in this war?"

Villiers shook his head as a single tear seeped from his right eye.

"I can never get back what was taken from me. But I can take everything from those who took it from me."

"Where will you even go? You cannot go back to your old life?"

"No I cannot," he responded calmly, "But I can go back just a little further and ensure those who caused all of this never have a chance to do so again. I'm going to save this world. Save it from itself."

"I will not stand by and let you do this. I cannot."

"Then you have your duty, and I have mine. Good luck, Sergeant."

The lights at Villiers' feet began to gain in pace, and it was clear they were close now. Corwin turned back to his team and drew out the last grenade he had on him.

"Tear this place apart!" he ordered.

He primed the grenade and launched it towards the nearest console. He had no idea what he was aiming for, but was determined to shut down the machine at any cost. His comrades did likewise and opened up with everything they had. Sparks flew as they fired at every piece of equipment and machinery in sight.

“You can’t stop this now!” Villiers shouted, “You’re too late!”

He looked up, and Frasi leapt nimbly up to the roof of the structure, placed three charges and jumped back down, landing as sure footed as a cat. The charges ignited, and the shielding around the time machine faded away. Corwin turned with a smile, only to realise he was now standing before the line of Villiers’ men, and all were taking aim at him. He jumped off the stage as gunshots landed all around him and tumbled to the floor. As he got to one knee, he noticed Beyett had regained consciousness and was reaching out to him as if trying to tell him something. He rushed over to his side and leaned in to hear him whisper.

“There,” he said, pointing to a corner of the room they had not struck yet, and a thick wall of armoured glass that protected an array of machinery. Corwin grabbed hold of the handle on the back shoulders of Beyett’s armour and hauled him across the floor until they reached the position. He heaved him upright, holding him in front of it.

“What is it?” Corwin asked.

The Sergeant could see a dozen digital counters and bevels that meant nothing to him at all.

“It dictates the date?”

“Of what?”

“Of how far back to jump.”

“Where are they going?”

Beyett squinted and tried to make sense of it through the pain and dizziness, finally coming out with an answer.

“2055.”

Corwin thought about it for just a moment.

“Five years before the start if the war? With the knowledge he has, he could change everything.”

Beyett nodded in agreement.

“What do we do?”

“I don’t think the machine can be shut off now. It’s going to jump somewhere.”

“Then what? We have to do something.”

Beyett had no answer.

“Fuck it,” said Corwin.

He drew out two grenades and a breaching charge from Beyett’s armour. He placed the charge against the glass, blowing a small hole in it before priming the two grenades and stuffing them in. He hauled Beyett out of the way and sheltered him as the charges blew. The console was blown apart and caught fire, but neither man had any idea if it had made a difference.

“Come in, Sarge!” Vi called over the comms.

“What is it?” Corwin snapped, as he still lay sheltering the wounded Beyett.

“We’ve got a problem.”

“Don’t you fucking think I know that?”

“More than you can see. There’s a nuke rigged to blow up here, and ain’t no way of disarming it.”

Corwin shook his head in disbelief.

“No fucking way! How long do we have?”

“Two minutes.”

He turned back to the time machine. It flashed brightly, and all who stood upon it vanished before their eyes.

“He’s done it. He’s really done it,” said Corwin to himself in disbelief.

He looked to the others in horror. Every one of them had stopped firing and turned to him. Out of the corner of his eye they saw Robak appear and rush for the machine. Porter got off a few shots at him, but he leapt into the swirling light and vanished.

Vi, Chas, and Frasi jumped down between them. Besides the drone of the time machine, it was quiet now as they counted down their last moments. They looked to Corwin for answers, but he was dumbfounded. He glanced down at Beyett, but he had lapsed back into unconsciousness. Nobody had a word to say, and then finally Chas spoke up, the crazy girl who never said anything but off the wall nonsense.

“Let’s go in.”

“What?” Hunter asked in amazement.

“We have nothing left to lose. Jump or die.”

Corwin looked across at each of them, and all except Chas were still looking at him. He looked at his watch; they had just sixty seconds left. He looked back to the console he had blown, and the dials and readings were going wild. He still had no idea what any of it meant, but he knew they were all out of time.

“Let’s do this!”

He rushed to the side of the machine and stopped for just one second to check that his friends were with him.

“Fuck it!” he yelled before taking the leap.

Corwin gasped for air realising water was all around him. He struggled and tried to swim as he began floating towards the surface, but he had no idea how far that was. He held his breath as long as he could, eventually bursting out into the fresh air. The water felt freezing cold, and the first gasp of cool air was so coarse it burnt the back of his throat. He thrashed around for a moment, trying to gain his bearings and stay afloat.

He could see Harland, Chas, and Frasi, but no one else. His pulse was racing while he looked around for the others. Hunter appeared beside him, and slowly the rest of the team did so too. Nylund was the last to reach the surface with Beyett in his arms.

“Everyone here? Everyone okay?”

He could see them all, but knew he was still stunned and disorientated enough he might not be seeing or thinking straight. It was late in the day, but there was enough daylight for them to see clearly in every direction. They were no signs of life. He began swimming towards the nearest edge of what appeared to be a lake and crawled up the muddy embankment. He got just a metre out of the water when he turned over and laid down flat on his back, trying to get some air in.

Every muscle in his body was aching, and he felt more exhausted than he had ever done in his life. He wanted nothing more than to close his eyes and sleep where he was. But the wind chill was freezing his body, and he was acutely aware of the danger they could be in. He used all the strength he could muster to rise up and get to his feet, while the rest of them were still floored. He was caked in mud from where he had pulled himself up the embankment. After the heat of where they had come from, this temperate zone felt horrendously cold.

On his feet, he looked around at their surroundings. It was a small lake in a very flat and shallow land with luscious green foliage all around.

“Where the hell are we?” Vi asked.

Her voice was croaky and dry.

“Got to be Northern Europe. Beyett would probably know,” he added, looking over to their resident genius but found he was still unconscious. He shook his head, realising how much they needed Beyett.

“How the hell did we get here? Shouldn’t we have ended up in the same location as we left?” asked Hunter.

“Do you honestly think I know the first thing about time travel?”

They all went quiet and waited for his input. The landscape was eerily silent, and none of them could get any bearing on what time they were in. Nobody wanted to ask, but they were all thinking it.

As they lay there trying to regain some energy, they heard a drone in the sky appearing to slowly increase in volume. Lecia got to her feet and looked around for some sign of activity, but the noise was coming from high up in the clouds and they could see nothing. It sounded like hundreds of aircraft passing over them. She looked down at her the console on her arm. It was dead.

“What the fuck?” Vi asked, as she noticed the same, “Anyone else got power?”

Corwin shook his head. He lifted his rifle; the ammo counter wasn’t working, nor the targeter. His console was dead as well.

“The water fried everything?

Corwin shook his head. “Everything we have, Hunter, is proofed to thirty metres minimum. The machine must have destroyed the whole lot. That’s…unfortunate.”

“Understatement of the fucking year,” Porter groaned, "Well isn't this a fucking party?"

No one was sure of what to do. Corwin wished Beyett would wake up. He knew he would have some answers.

"We need to get our bearings. We could be just about anywhere, in any time," said Corwin.

There was not a single building or piece of technology in sight to give any indicator. Corwin looked back down at the console on his forearm to get mapping information, only to remember it was well and truly dead. He shook his head in disbelief. He'd been reliant on technology his whole life, and now it was gone. His webbing had just one pistol magazine left. No grenades, and no rifle.

"Weapons’ check, what have we got?"

"Not a lot," replied Rane, "Couple of magazines is all."

"Same," replied Harland.

Porter nodded in agreement.

"About ten rounds," added Lecia.

Everyone else seemed to be in the same boat. Beyett's rifle was long gone also, which Corwin would have appreciated having right now.

"All right, divide out Beyett's ammo."

"Nylund tossed him one of the pistol mags from Beyett’s webbing and continued to hand out the rest.

"First things first, let's find out where, or more specifically, what year we are in."

"Rules of Engagement?" Nylund asked.

It hadn't even occurred to Corwin.

"Nobody fires the first shot at anyone, short of Villiers himself. We don't know what we're dealing with, so let's not pick any fights we don't need to. And nobody, I mean nobody, let on that we have travelled through time."

"Why?" Hunter asked naively.

Porter laughed at the kid’s expense.

"Do you know how crazy it sounds? If someone had come to me and said they had travelled from the future, or past, I'd call them fucking insane, and either have them locked up or put a bullet in their head."

"But it's the truth."

"Truth? What the fuck has that got to do with anything? Truth it whatever people want to or are willing to believe."

Corwin nodded his agreement.

"We can't assess anything until we know something about our surroundings, and we don't have a lot of light left. Frasi, once the light goes down, we're gonna need you more than ever."

Frasi nodded.

"You can see in the dark? Without NVG?" asked Hunter.

"Night vision was one of the resulting enhancements he experienced as part of the A.P.E.S programme," added Corwin, "Never seemed all that useful, not until now."

He stepped up to a dirt track beside the lake and began following it at a relaxed and cautious pace. It was a bizarre experience to have no concept or understanding of where, or even when, in the world they were. He had no information, no intelligence, and no idea of what they could be facing. They reached the end of the dirt track, and it led to a well-maintained road. They spotted a house ahead.

It was antiquated in design, although not all that old. It had white walls of brick construction, wooden hinged shutters, multi pane windows, and a tiled roof.

"No way this is 2055," said Corwin.

"No chance," said Vi.

"Why'd you say 2055?" Tano asked.

"That's when Beyett said the machine was set to. Before we blew it to hell, that is."

They could see a street sign ahead. It read 'Route de Martin-Eglise.'

"What is that? French?" asked Vi.

"Definitely," added Tano.

"Okay, that mean anything to anyone?" Corwin asked.

But nobody spoke up.

"We've got company," Frasi said, "half a klick to the east."

"Everyone get down," replied Corwin, and they ducked in beside a hedgerow running down one side the road, "What is it?"

Frasi looked a little confused. "Sounds like....a tracked vehicle."

"Tracked? What the fuck?" Vi said, "Who the fuck uses tracked vehicles anymore?"

Corwin shrugged, as they waited and watched through narrow gaps in the hedge. The vehicle finally came into view. It was wheeled up front but with tracks running most of its length. It appeared armoured, though open topped, and carried a cross as insignia. It was a noisy and dusty machine, and as it rocked on by, another passed just like it. They could not see any of the occupants who were well concealed within the armoured bodies. Hunter was just staring in amazement. Corwin sat back down and tried to think it through in his head.

"Where in the fucking hell have you taken us?" Porter demanded.

"Nobody has used things like that since the 20th century," added Tano.

Corwin was all too aware of that fact.

"What's the plan, Boss?"

"We need to get to shelter and try and work all this out, Vi."

"Shouldn't we be looking for Villiers?"

"Where, and how? We have no clue where he has gone. There are no crumbs with which to track him. We have no gear to find out even where we are, let alone where he is. Most of all, we have no support, and no cause. Let's get somewhere isolated, rest, and try and get Beyett back in the game. We need him more than ever, right now."

He got up and looked ahead beyond several other houses. There was a wood at slightly higher ground.

"That's where we're heading."

"Life of fucking luxury."

"We need to just be away from any life right now while we work things out." The sun was very low in the sky, "We don't move until darkness."

They relaxed in their current position in what felt completely bizarre. No other vehicles passed them in that time.

"Think this was the right thing to do?" asked Lecia.

"In that we didn't die, yeah, I think so."

She smiled in response, and that was a rare thing from her, a woman who seemed eternally aloof. Finally, they were in darkness. There was no street lighting at all, and that was a relief, for it would make their movement by night simple.

"Okay, stay close, stay quiet, and follow me."

He got out from cover and crossed the street into a small road leading towards the wood, without seeing as much as a glimmer of movement. He clung closely to the side of the lane and went on for a hundred metres. He was passing a small driveway when he heard a voice. He turned and raised his pistol but found an elderly man in a suit in the opening. Corwin seemed rather more shocked than the old man did, who looked at them for just a few seconds before ushering them to follow him.

"Come on, this way," he said, waving them on.

He was a portly gentleman sporting a white beard, and an old fashioned suit with a waistcoat. He spoke with a thick French accent, but seemed to speak English well. Corwin looked to the others for a moment. He didn't quite know what to make of it, but the old man seemed so genuine and was ushering them towards a large three-storey house. It was an inviting prospect, and he'd take anything he could get at that moment. He nodded slowly and walked on beside the man.

"You came from the sky?"

"Not exactly," muttered Harland behind them.

But Corwin nodded in general agreement. He didn't know any other way to put it.

"You're American?"

"Mostly."

The man seemed to smile with enthusiasm.

"I am Theodore Bossan, welcome," he replied, as he opened the door to his luxurious home. Stepping inside it was like a time warp. The floors were all planked wood. Swords decorated the walls, and old paintings in lavishly garish gilt frames. They passed through into a large living room with a log fire and were all too quick to collapse onto the sofas.

"Bring him this way," said Bossan, pointing to the unconscious Beyett still slung over Nylund's shoulder. They carried on into another room where Nylund lay him down on a leather chaise longue. It was the sort of decadent thing they'd seen in a few old movies in their down time. Bossan knelt down beside Beyett and looked for his pulse. He then removed his helmet to look at the head wound.

"Are you a doctor?" Nylund asked.

"In a past life, yes. I served in the last war."

"Last war?" Corwin asked.

"The Great War."

Corwin and Nylund looked to each other for answers, but neither had a clue.

"From the day the war began in 1914, I worked until the day it ended. Enough blood for a lifetime."

Corwin's eyes went wide, realising what Bossan was saying.

World War One, so how far back have we come?

He desperately wanted to ask the date but knew he could not risk it. Judging by the Frenchman's age, he knew they must be somewhere around the middle of the twentieth century. It was a terrifying prospect, and yet he made sure to not show his fear.