Time Riders

hours.’

‘That long?’

‘Four or five more hours… we open the window and they should pop into existenceright here.’ He smiled encouragingly at her. ‘Simple as that.’

Although it’s not as simple as that… is it?

Foster really wasn’t certain the thudding generator in the back room was going to havestored up enough of a charge for them to produce a window big enough for even Liam. So manyfactors to consider: the distance from here, the size of the window, the mass of the personsbeing sent — all variables that affected how much energy would be needed. Whilethey’d been tapped into New York’s electricity grid, these weren’tconsiderations that normally had to be taken into account, but now running on what meagreenergy they’d managed to generate… every variable was an important factor to weighup. And getting Liam and Bob home wasn’t the only window they needed power for — there was also sending them back to where they needed to go to fix this problem once and forall. Foster had to be sure to conserve enough of a charge to be able to do that too.

He cursed under his breath. Too many unknowns.

‘So, they may have got the message, Foster,’ said Maddy, ‘but what if theycan’t make it to the location we specified? What if it’s just not possible?’She tapped the monitor in front of her showing a street map of Washington DC. ‘The citycould be completely different. There might not even be a street there in their time. Itcould’ve been built over by the Germans or razed to the ground… or… orsubmerged beneath some large rubbish tip, or — ’

‘We have to take that chance.’ Foster sat tiredly back in the old office chairwith squeaky castor wheels and a faded threadbare cover. ‘Liam’sa smart lad. Between them they’ll find a way, Madelaine. They’ll find a way tomake it there in time.’

‘If they’re still alive, that is,’ she added grimly.

Foster could’ve replied irritably that her doom and gloom wasn’t exactly helpingthings. But she was right. There were many reasons why this was just a desperate shot in thedark. If it failed…

Then this is it.

The world left forever like this — just ashes and rubble. And living within this ruinedlandscape, those pitiful mutated creatures feeding on the flesh of each other, scavenging likerats. In a few days’ time they’d be out of water and canned food, then have to beout there scavenging for food just like them.

And how long before those creatures found them? Found their little archway? They may mewl andbabble like babies, but there was intelligence in those pale eyes. He could well imagine themslowly but surely scouring the city for them, gradually zeroing in on them. The thought of itset the grey hairs on his forearms on end.

If those things managed to find them here… they’d work out a way to get inside.After all, their humble little base was little more than a crumbling bricks-and-mortararchway. Hardly impregnable.

They’ll find a way in… and it will all be over veryquickly.

He couldn’t let the girls know what he was thinking, of course. He couldn’t letthem know that he suspected their plan was almost certainly doomed to failure. The chance ofthe message getting through was painfully slim, let alone Liam and Bob being able to make theappointed window in time. And listening to the faltering muffled chug of the generator…it sounded like it was on its last legs. Chances were there wasn’t going to be enough ofa charge on the displacement machine to get them out of this fix, anyway.

‘You OK, Foster?’ asked Maddy quietly. Quiet enough for Sal notto hear. ‘You don’t look so good.’

He smiled. ‘I’m fine… just a little tired.’

‘This is going to work, isn’t it?’ sheasked.

He needed to put a brave face on things for now.

‘Sure, of course it is. It’s going to be fine.’

Fine?

If they failed to bring Liam and Bob home and they were stuck here alone in this ruined placeforever, then he silently vowed he’d do the deed that was necessary. There were a dozenrounds of ammo in his shotgun. The first nine he’d use to defend them if those creaturesfound their base and decided to break in.

The last three? Well, there’d be one for each of them.

CHAPTER 67

1957, command ship above Washington DC

‘Paul? What is this?’

Kramer looked up from the workbench. He smiled when he saw his friend standing in the doorwayto the lab.

‘Karl, good to see you.’

Karl stepped into the lab, his eyes darting across the assembled machinery, trying to makesense of the draping cables, the gutted machine parts strung together, the wire cage.

What is this?

‘You’ve not been available for our daily status meetings for over two weeks,Paul. Your assistant said you were unwell… not taking anymeetings at all.’

Kramer looked back down at his hand-drawn schematic. ‘I have been busy, Karl. Verybusy.’

‘I can see that,’ he replied, shaking his head, a bemused look on his leansoldier’s face. ‘What manner of thing are you working on now?’

Kramer answered the question with a dismissive shrug.

Karl stepped a little closer, ducking beneath a loop of power cables. ‘I have a backlogof papers for you to sign, Paul. Important matters that need discussing. We have a growingproblem in the New Jersey and Maryland state areas… more of those raids on prisoncamps.’

Karl squeezed past a rack of acetylene cylinders to join Kramer at hisworkbench.

‘The American newspapers have printed stories of this superhero and his army. Thisisn’t good, Paul. It’s giving the American people something to rallyround.’

‘So, close the printing presses,’ replied Kramer, distracted, returning to histask, scribbling amendments across his work.

‘I have already done that on my own authority. But they have underground printingpresses. Not just in Washington… but in New York, in Boston, other cities.’

Kramer continued scribbling in silence.

‘Paul? This is a problem that could very quickly become serious. We don’t havethe manpower over here in America to deal with a nationwide insurgency. We would need at leastthree, four times as many men to cope if this resistance movement catches on.’

Kramer’s eyes remained on the workbench. ‘Do what you feel is necessary,Karl… I am busy here. I do not have the time to deal with this.’

Karl studied him silently. He has not been listening to me.

Frustrated, he reached across and placed a hand on Kramer’s arm. ‘Paul. You must-’

Kramer looked up at him sharply, grabbing his hand tightly and pushing it forcefully off him.‘You forget, Karl… that I am your Fuhrer!’

‘I’m sorry… I meant only to — ’

‘Be quiet!’

Karl flinched. He met Kramer’s eyes and realized there was a hardness there, aniron-stiff resolve, none of the warmth of friendship he’d grown accustomed to over theyears.

Paul is not himself.

Kramer began to say something, then irritably shook his head. His gazedropped impatiently back down to the papers splayed out across his workbench.

Karl remained standing stiffly to attention, waiting for Kramer to formally dismiss him fromthe room. As he waited, he looked around. This lab was Kramer’s thinking space aboardthe command ship. It was normally as tidy as his leader’s mind, a place of order andcalm, a place where Kramer’s mind could comfortably work on refinements to theirarmy’s weapons technology. But right now it had the look of a troubled mind. Along theworkbench, a meal