them,terminate them and tidy up whatever damage they’ve done.’
‘How’re we going to do that?’ asked Maddy.
‘Well, I’ll be training you, of course.’ Foster smiledtiredly. ‘As quickly as I can. We need this field office to be operational again as soonas is possible.’
Sal looked up from her food. ‘The team before us… what were they like?’
Foster’s smile faded. ‘A little like you once, I suppose.’ The old manlooked away guiltily to gaze out of the window. He chewed on his lips for a moment.‘Young, inexperienced and frightened at first… and, ultimately, veryunlucky.’
‘That thing really killed them?’
He nodded. ‘Seekers are rare. And normally we do a density scan before pulling someoneback from a mission. That last time we didn’t and…’ Foster’s wordsfaded into an uncomfortable silence.
‘So,’ Liam cut in, ‘when do we start this training youmentioned?’
Foster turned to them.
‘Now.’
He sipped his beer again, took a deep breath. ‘I think we should start with a littlebit of a history lesson — the history of time travel.’
CHAPTER 9
2066, New York
Dr Paul Kramer looked out at the dark streets of the city, the boarded-upbuildings, the discarded vehicles left rusting down the backstreets. Every so often theircoach passed a pedestrian, a small scruffy corner shop, a light glowing through a grimywindow.
New York was a rundown relic of the thriving city it had once been. There were whole blocksthat were now little more than deserted shells, populated by feral packs of dogs andpigeons.
The coach was heading down Central Park West, off Broadway. Kramer had seen films made sixtyyears ago that showed these streets full of life and colour and hope. Now it was a dismal andgrey place, a city dying piece by piece, block by block.
The coach slowed down as it passed a police precinct building, the windows protected by metalgrilles.
‘No need to drive too cautiously, Karl,’ said Kramer. ‘You’ll makethe police suspicious.’
Karl Haas, driving, picked up the speed a little.
Kramer twisted in his seat and looked back down the coach. His men, two dozen of them, satquietly in their seats, lost in thought, pensive. All of them fighting fit, wearing combatfatigues, ready for their mission. The aisle between both rows of seats wasclogged with their kit: crates and canvas carry-bags full of weapons.
He smiled proudly.
‘We’re nearly there,’ he said to Karl.
Karl nodded and then barked out to the men behind them: ‘Make ready!’
They stirred immediately and he could hear the rattle of firearms being racked and readied touse. They were all experienced, many of them ex-military… all of them firmly committedto Kramer’s plan. None of them married or leaving children behind.
A one-way trip away from this dying world clogged with nine billion people — most ofthem starving. What Kramer was offering these young men was
In the thigh pocket of Kramer’s combat pants was the one little thing that was going tomake that possible for them: a black notebook.
Karl turned a corner on to 79th Street. The intersection was busier than normal with a fewpedestrians hunched over and miserable, shuffling their way home. Ahead of them was the grandbuilding itself — the American Museum of Natural History. Like so many others, it wasboarded up, covered in pigeon droppings and mostly dark, waiting in vain for better days.
Kramer felt his heart sink at the sight of its once-proud entrance now darkened with urbangrime and defaced with graffiti. This once-great nation deserved better; this city deservedbetter. The museum was a pitiful reminder of a grand time when Manhattan really was the centreof the world.
He could cry, honestly… he really could.
CHAPTER 10
2001, New York
‘It began with theory: a paper written in 2029 by a talented Chinesemathematics graduate called Edward Chan,’ said Foster. ‘According to him, on paperat least, it was possible to bend space and time in such a way as to create a
‘There were all manner of huge corporations and military research teams working day andnight to be the ones to make the first time machine. But it was Waldstein, working in littlemore than a garage, who managed to overcome the practical difficulties of turning the theoryinto a functioning device. It was Waldstein, one man on his own, who beat corporations andgovernments to the prize.’
Maddy laughed. ‘The billionaires of tomorrow always seem to start out in garages,don’t they?’
Foster shook his head, eager to continue. ‘The story goes that he tested his ownmachine, went back to somewhere in the past. However, he returned
‘Why?’
‘He claimed he saw
‘What?’
‘Waldstein never told anyone what he saw. But whatever it was itconvinced him that his work on developing a working time machine was dangerous. He becameobsessed with preventing any further work on time travel. Over the years, Roald Waldsteinbecame rich from other inventions, became an influential voice and campaigned very publicly toensure this technology died.’
Maddy slurped her Dr Pepper. ‘And obviously it wasn’t halted.’
‘Obviously.’
‘So what happened?’ asked Liam.
CHAPTER 11
2066, New York
Karl parked the coach outside the rear of the museum where the loading bay andtrade entrances were. The men clambered off silently, efficiently, weapons slung over theirshoulders, crates and kit bags carried between them.
Kramer helped one of his men with a canvas sack full of ammo clips. It was heavy enough toensure his arms were aching by the time they carefully placed it on the ramp leading up to themuseum’s shuttered loading bay.
He looked around quickly.
The cover of night and sparse lighting from a sputtering arc light almost certainly meant noone had spotted them yet.
Soon enough, though, there’d be armed police descending upon them.
