Chapter Nineteen - Time
'I was next door, in the medilab.' Alizen shivered and took another great gulp from the glass of whisky cradled in her trembling, bloody gloved hands. She was in Graeme's chair, perched on the edge, leaning forward. They were sitting opposite her. 'I was doing some preparation, some support work, trying to start up equipment. Powercells kept dying on me. Dr Bainz hadn't started the autopsy, she was waiting for me. I heard her cry. I ran in and found her, lying face down. She was already dead and the body had gone. The door to the lab and the mortuary were open, so either of us should have heard if someone approached. I heard nothing. She couldn't have done either. You saw the blood. She'd been stabbed with a scalpel. It wasn't a fatal injury.' She registered their surprise. 'Oh, she'd have bled to death if not treated, but it would have taken a while, she'd still be alive now. She was strangled; you can see the marks on her neck. But there wasn't time.' Time; time again. 'She couldn't have cried out as she was being throttled so she must have shouted before they got their hands round her throat. But I was there seconds after I heard the cry. There wasn't enough time for someone to kill her. And they couldn't have got the body out of there that quickly, that quietly. I'd have heard something, seen something.'
'Not necessarily.' Julia was pensive, as if this was confirming something she'd already suspected. 'I don't know if you've heard it, but there's a theory that time is not continuous, not smooth. It's bitty. It keeps breaking down, stopping, starting. Nobody ever notices because they're in synch with it, they stop and start with it. But what if you weren't affected by it? Everything pauses except you. You could exploit it; do whatever you liked in those gaps. No one could stop you. No one would even know you were doing anything. They'd be oblivious, trapped, frozen in time like statues.'
There was a pause as the implications of her words sank in.
'So, what you're saying,' said Fenton, his mind spinning, 'is that Alizen hears the cry, time stops, Alizen stops with it, they kill Dr Bainz, steal the body, leave, and then time starts again?' Crazy as it sounded it fitted with what he'd seen down in the labyrinth: people appearing and disappearing.
'Well, that's how the theory would explain it,' said Julia, 'but it's only a theory. It fits the facts here…'
'But that doesn't necessarily make it true,' added Fenton, thinking back to that discussion in the bar at Gadder so long ago. There was a look of recognition on Alizen's face. She had good reasons to remember that night.
'Yes,' smiled Julia, pleased at his brightness, 'but that's assuming someone took the body. You're still alive remember, that body didn't belong here now. It was a projection, solid, but a projection nevertheless. It may have been created by an earlier disturbance in time, disappeared in this one.'
The body was gone. Did that mean that future was gone, that he didn't have to die that way?
'So, these time disturbances,' Alizen's tone was incredulous, 'someone's immune to them, using them. But are you saying they're just opportunists, exploiting them as and when they occur or are they actually creating the opportunities, stopping time at will?'
'Well, that's a question isn't it? I don't know,' admitted Julia.
'It's Graeme,' whispered Fenton.
'Why's it Graeme?' snapped Alizen, angry. Of course, he'd just accused him of multiple murder.
'Dr Dezlin's absence is suspicious,' said Julia, 'but not conclusive. If whoever's causing this can stop time at will they can do what they like when they like and no one would know. It could be anyone. It could be one of us.'
For a moment they all looked at each other warily. If someone had that kind of power they would be virtually omnipotent. They could strike at anytime, anywhere. There could be no protection. Nowhere would be safe.
'Julia,' Paize had been silent, listening attentively, studying them all, mulling over the possibilities, 'we're assuming time is stopping and starting for us but it continues normally for our killer.' He sounded sceptical, unconvinced. 'If that's correct do you think these disturbances, these hiatuses would apply to the whole continuum or would they just be localised? If they're localised,' he continued, 'and time is stopping for us without our knowledge but continuing for the rest of The System, then we will have fallen behind. They'll be ahead of us. If that's the case we may have much less time then we think. The strike may not be in twenty-six odd hours, it could be imminent.'
'Possible, that's possible,' nodded Julia, clearly fascinated by the idea, the academic interest overriding any concern she might have for their safety.
Fenton and Alizen stared at each other, appalled.
'Well, don't you think we should do something?' Fenton demanded.
'What do you suggest, Mr Fenton?' asked Paize in that maddeningly calm, controlled voice.
'I suggest we find Graeme. He's hiding in the labyrinth. There's at least one other person with him. We should look for them.' He thought too that Graeme had gone mad but he didn't dare say that in front of Alizen.
'I agree,' said Alizen with steel in her voice. 'We both want to look for him. We volunteer.'
'This isn't the Junior Space Corps, Dr Retta. This is the SSD and I'm your Team-Leader. Remember that. Just think for a moment. If Dr Dezlin's hiding in that maze we'll never find him. And if Dr Skawry's right he's not just hiding in the labyrinth, he's hiding in time as well. How do you propose to locate him?'
Alizen stood there, stung, seething. 'What do you suggest, Team-Leader?' she asked with icy politeness.
'I suggest you go back to the mortuary and see if you can lift some DNA or some old-fashioned fingerprints off Danielle's neck or off that scalpel, see if you can match them against any we have on file. And if the killer wore gloves you'll have to see if you can find some other evidence. That's your job. You're our head of forensics now, Dr Retta and I'm relying on you. This is still an investigation. We need to treat it like one.'
Alizen sullenly rose from her seat, clearly furious, if looks could kill. Very deliberately she put the blood-smeared glass down on the desk, dim light glinting dully off her stained surgical gloves. Why that comment about gloves? Surely Paize couldn't suspect her? She was on his side. But then Paize was a policeman: suspicious, prosaic, pragmatic. What did they say? In most cases the person who claimed to have found the body turned out to be the killer. If Paize didn't believe Julia's theory then it was only reasonable to suspect Alizen. There were no other witnesses and she was covered in blood. Had he other reasons? Had there been animosity between her and Dr Bainz? Bainz had seemed a spiky, provocative character and Alizen always gave as good as she got. There could have been friction. And Alizen was a new member of the team. Paize wasn't using her first name. She hadn't proved herself yet, hadn't been accepted. And she had kept secrets from him, rebelled against him. That might make her untrustworthy in his eyes. As far as Paize knew she could be in league with Graeme, or with him, Mark Fenton. And he would naturally take her side. Would that incriminate them both?
'Julia, you'd better stay with Dr Retta. Give her all the help you can and look after each other. Mr Fenton, do you feel up to returning to the lab? I think it's time we saw how Mr Brozmam is getting on with the computer.'
He didn't want to leave her. There were risks here; danger. But if Julia was right he'd be no help whatsoever. If he tried to object it would only contribute to any suspicions Paize might have. And Alizen wouldn't thank him for it. She could look after herself; he knew that. He'd just have to entrust her to Julia. What about the lab? He'd said he wouldn't go back there. But if they were all about to die anyway what did it matter? Paize had issued a challenge. He would accept it.
'Let's go,' he said simply.
They all started to move out, going their separate ways.
'Alizen.'
She turned to face him.
'Look after yourself.'
She stared at him, a look of recognition dancing in those brown eyes. It was what he'd always said, whenever they'd parted. She knew the significance of it. She wouldn't let
him look after her but at least she would look after herself, for his sake. She had to; she was special.
'You too, Mark.'
Then she was gone.