"Destination?"
"Oh, yeah, I guess it's that time," Greg remembered. "Uh, coin, change the greeting and departure messages back to the standard ones please."
"You have activated this travel device," the coin restarted. "Please state where in time or space you like to go."
"We are going to the orchard outside Irvine Meadows Amphitheater, in Southern California. 15 June, 2002," Greg recited. He paused to let Vega take over the exact insertion time, as Vega checked his pocket watch the moment they had jumped away.
"Envy, when we hit... you and Greg, go east, and try to stay out of sight. I'll set up the clone and let you know when the Enforcer is clear." Vega said. "Ready?"
Greg nodded and Envy agreed. Greg glanced at Curt, who had no idea what was about to happen. Greg suddenly felt a pang of regret, like a hunter using a young rabbit as eagle bait.
Vega gave no time for second thoughts. He voiced the final instructions to the coin. "Place us at three o'clock and twelve seconds, in the afternoon, local time. The insertion point should be ten feet east of your pre-designated optimal insertion point, facing westward. Is this acceptable?"
"This exact placement point is acceptable. You will be placed in five seconds. Please remember the Hopper rules for device activation."
The four travelers popped back into the universe, in the grove of orange trees. The after images of himself and Vega from hours earlier, stained Greg's eyes for a moment, and then blinked away.
Vega snatched the falling coin from the air while Envy did as instructed, turning 180 degrees and moving off to the east.
Greg jumped on the base of the robot, holding on to his shoulders as he zipped away. All the action was about to take place behind him. He could not help but to turn and watch, drawn like a lookie-loo to a car wreck.
Vega, cloaked in green, ushered Curt forward, who was to act as the stand in for Greg. Vega shuffled the boy over to the place the stunned Enforcer laid. Vega pulled the stun gun from his bag and put it in Curt's hand, in a backward facing grip. Then, he grabbed the large lizard by the arms and heaved the dead weight up on top of Curt like an oversized backpack. Before he left, he slipped the time coin in the front pocket of Curt's jeans, and whispered into the boys' ear.
Curt stared at him stunned, unsure of what to do or what was happening. The huge lizard-man was supported by the young clone, who fought to keep his balance under the creature's weight.
Vega caught the gaze of the confused boy, nodded and smiled, putting his hands up in a command to remain still.
Hot breath snorted out of the lizard’s small nostrils, followed by a flick of its tongue. Vega had disappeared completely as the large, suited beast came back to consciousness after the sudden electrical shock. All being said, the Enforcer was only out for eight seconds.
Back on its feet, the strong grasp of the monster reasserted itself. Curt was going nowhere. The Enforcer whipped around, performing a cursory survey of the scenery, making sure he was alone after the brief moment of unconsciousness. With Envy and Greg out of sight on the other side of the grove, the Enforcer stared down at his mark. He pulled the stunner from Curt's unresisting hand. The lizard snarled at his terrified victim and then activated its wrist device. The Enforcer returned to the present as suddenly as it had arrived to capture Greg.
"It has been more than seven seconds," a Supervisor noted to his colleagues. Everyone stood around the place the Enforcer jumped from, waiting for his return. Manager Silvan began to call for another two Enforcers when the Mistress spoke.
Her voice was clear and steady. The room went silent to hear her judgment. "Give it until fifteen."
The seconds crept by, but at the twelfth second, the Enforcer reappeared. Wrapped in a single arm was the struggling boy that had been described as the target. The Enforcer tossed a crude plastic device away with its free arm and marched back toward the interrogation room.
"Problem?" Supervisor Calsoni asked the Enforcer as it carried the disruptor of the timeline.
The seven-foot lizard shook his head and made a brief vocalization.
The stun gun landed near Andrea's feet. Curious, she bent to examine the device, depressing the trigger button, letting loose a crackling electric current. With a shriek, she dropped the non-lethal weapon, letting it clatter on the ground.
"The split has been successfully repaired," a Supervisor reported to the room.
"What did he say? Was it a clean take?" Silvan demanded from Calsoni, who had spoken with the Enforcer.
"Looks like the kid had the stunner in his hand and accidentally triggered it when he was grabbed," he told Silvan, and then to the rest of the room, he said, "The Garlon said he fell on top of the kid but maintained control the whole time. He calls it a clean take."
"Should we send back another pair to be sure?" Silvan asked her leader.
"No, I trust the Garlon," the Mistress replied, sweeping past the gaggle of her employees, following the creature and captive to the interrogation room. "I want to know what the boy knows of the Snow King."
Vega held himself dim in the branches of a nearby orange tree as the Enforcer completed his task, with only a minor hiccup, and departed back to the present. He waited until the count of twenty and then broke from his blind. He whistled to his companions, who were now down to just two. The old man took his time strolling eastward. Greg, who was riding Envy backtracked to meet him.
"It worked? It took him? Curt is gone?" Greg said with little enthusiasm. "They won't realize he is a clone?"
"What did I say? It is a physical law of this universe that time works this way. We were destined to succeed, because if we did not, I would have known back when the first attempt at your rescue was made. Plus, the only traces the present could recognize from Dr. Hertzmaad early work on cloning was his own DNA. Curt has only yours. We are still here, so, yes! Our plan to rescue you has worked."
He should have been happy about the victory, but it felt empty without Curt. Silent Curt.
The robot and boy fell in step with the old man as he walked east on the dry, weeded dirt of the orange orchard. It felt strange to Greg to not have the coin in his pocket, but more was not have Curt with them, even though, he had been the most recent addition to the team.
"What is going to happen to him?" Greg said. "Curt, I mean."
Vega shook his head. "Interrogation, I'm sure. The Enforcer will report the fact that he was stunned while springing the trap. But, it was so brief; I doubt it will admit to the unconscious period being as long as it was. There was a solid explanation for everything. It took the stun gun from Curt's hand. He checked his surroundings and saw no one. The fact that a Supervisor did not accompany the Enforcer for conformation means they considered it was an acceptable error that required no correction."
"But what happens if they interrogate Curt and they find out he can't even speak English?" Greg asked. "Is there any possibility they will realize he is a clone?"
"Hopefully they will chalk it up to psychological shock from seeing the Enforcer. Fenton told me that sort of thing has been know to happen. And there is no genetic way to tell he is a clone, the process in the sixties was very good at that point." Vega said.
"Uh, who is Fenton?" Greg half-exploded. "You can't just mention new people like that! Are you going to tell me everything, or am I going to be kept in the dark? I want to know, are you just using me to get to the third Snow King coin?"
Vega stopped and regarded Greg.
"I'm sorry you are upset about loosing Curt. But he was a clone. He was your clone, but you had to bring him to life in order to save your own. He was just three drops of blood! I'm not saying he was not a life and should not be treated as such. But he was a necessity of your survival. Think of him as a horse that had to be slaughtered so that you would not starve."
Greg cooled, his displeasure fading after being forced to recognize his true feelings. When Vega spoke again, the righteous authority in his voice was gone, replaced by unruffled und
erstanding.
"Fenton Osorio is my source from the present. I got enough information out of him in order to track you down. You have been a huge help to me on this quest. You deserve to know everything," he admitted. "You may have saved my life from Hertzmaad back in sixty nine."
"You also remind me a lot of the boy I once was. So, I suppose I owe it to you to let you come with me to meet Fenton once we collect the third coin. You can decide your own path after that."
"I want to save Peter! And, Curt now as well!" Greg shouted.
"I remember, I remember," Vega said, calming the boy. "You put all your cards on the table right out of the gate. I guess there is a part of me that understands that. But, keep an open mind while we speak with Fenton. You may just see what you are up against and have a change of heart."
"Never," Greg whispered.
"Well, we still have to find that third coin anyway," Vega said. "There is no time to waste until we have that device. As I recall my Earth geography, we have a way to go to get to Lone Pine..."
The next hours were both chaotic and dull at the same time for the newest member of the department of timeline preservation. Andrea watched from a theater seat as the captured boy was restrained in an egg shaped chair and interrogated. A Supervisor reported to the group that the unidentified boy was not found in any genetic identification system from the past. The only striking piece of information they came across was that he was a genetic match with another prisoner they had. The Mistress, overseeing the interrogation from the theater was shocked.
"It is the boy who had the first coin? A brother? How could that be? Four years later the sibling has the second coin?" she wondered to herself.
The interrogation was halted three hours later and the Manager reported her findings to the Mistress.
"The notes from his brothers interrogation say that the older one resisted all forms of chemical and persuasive questioning, refusing to give up any usable information. The younger seems to be in psychological shock, not even capable of answering simple questions, despite how we alter his chemistry."
"And he had nothing on his person to give us a clue of when he was from?"
"That is correct, Mistress. His clothes point to the mid-early 21st, from somewhere in America. The coin had a hobbled memory, just as the previous one," Silvan answered, sounding defeated.
"Gather your team," the Mistress said, rising.
Andrea, sitting beside Meyer in the back of the observation room also stood. They waited for the other department employees to join them. Once everyone was in the room, the Mistress spoke. "Today has been a great success, I applaud you all. While the interview of the unauthorized traveler has not yielded ideal results, we are not defeated. There are two other missing coins. And just as I decided long ago, to be patient and allow them to return in their own time, through our dedicated effort. I will do the same here. Time is on our side. The most important thing to celebrate today is that we have our second coin! As reward for your diligence the following will happen." She paused as a few smiles flashed her way. "Carthage, please step forward."
Feeling as if lightning had just struck beside her, Andrea watched Meyer, surprised and had turned bright red, walked across the room to the Mistress's side.
"I am pleased to promote Carthage Meyer from the rank of Intern to Supervisor! Congratulations!"
The applause coming from the small audience was less than heartfelt. The young man beamed nonetheless, facing the group, dimples forming on his cheeks. The Mistress raised her right hand and spoke again.
"Carthage, with this new position comes sacrifice. I am giving this entire department a three-day reprieve from duties as reward for recovery of the coin. You, Carthage, will do your part as a new Supervisor, by monitoring the timeline while your contemporaries enjoy their time off."
The applause following the announcement of the department's reward was much more sincere compared to the last round.
"In the meantime, we will place our newest guest into suspension for your long weekend. Once you have returned from your leave, rested and ready, I will bring in specialists from the University. We can awaken both brothers and get to the bottom of this stolen coin mess. With the information these two have, we will begin a long campaign to repair this embarrassing blemish. It is just a matter of time now! With one last hard push, this major case can be put behind us. Once again, well done everyone. Now enjoy your time off!"
Andrea felt less than enthusiastic as the Mistress left the room. Deflated, she watched while everyone buzzed around her merrily. She glanced out the window of the observation theater to the wide-eyed boy restrained in the chair. He was a prisoner now, just like his brother. In just three days they would be reunited...
That could have been me.
CHAPTER 23