Chapter 4

4.

         There’s never any preamble. That’s not how Time works.
         One moment the air was still, just the barest flicker of a breeze to rustle the leaves of the canopy of trees, causing the mottled play of sun and shadows to writhe and twist, forming new patterns, no two series ever the same. In the distance, a sort of animal made a chittering noise, rising into a keening howl before fading out completely. The forest was far enough away that the sounds and smells of the villages and the people who dwelled in them were nothing more than memories of a rumor once whispered, now vaguely recalled and even then, not in great detail.
         One moment, nothing.
         Then, something took hold of a handful of air and crumpled it, forcing it to fold in on itself, straining like a rubber sheet turned brittle and pulled too far. There might have been a brief groaning of voices entwined. A flash of color screamed of the unrelenting march of history and that even the dust dissolves into nothing.
         Something shifted, like a bone replaced into the wrong position.
         The hand let go.
         A vehicle sat where once there had been nothing. Squat and square and box-like, its colors were bleak, its outer surface otherwise featureless, it was adorned with no wheels or any other visible means of locomotion. But it was there. It had appeared.
         A breeze picked up, causing branches to rattle, as if angry over the intrusion and the interruption of what had been so far a perfectly useless day.
         On the side of the object, a thin rectangular line appeared, approximating a door.
         With a puff of air, the sectioned off portion of the surface slid away. Immediately following, five men in dark uniforms spilled out of the vehicle, their boots trampling the grass, two moving to one side of the door and two to the other, while another took a few steps straight ahead. Their eyes darted to all sides, looking for any sign of movement. All held small devices in their hands, the ends faintly glowing, not unlike an ember, which they pointed this way and that, as if scanning the area.
         “Looks all clear,” one muttered to the others.
         A moment later, another man, wearing a slightly more distinctive uniform but no helmet, strode out of the vehicle. His youthful face casually regarded the area, taking in the verdant expanse of trees and the tangled underbrush below. There were clatters and sounds that might have animals and might have been the wind, but none seemed very close. Nodding to himself in a satisfied fashion, he hovered near the door, watching the man surrounding the door in a sort of disjointed half-circle.
         “Everything looks good,” he said, his tone carefully measured. “What did the scans show?”
         One of the soldiers nearest him turned and replied, “There’s nothing human anywhere near us, Commander Brown, sir. Not far from here there’s a road that leads to some settlements, but from what we saw of the road it didn’t seem to indicate it gets a whole lot of foot traffic.”
         “Excellent,” the man said, grinning. “That’s the sort of information I like to hear.” Taking a few more steps away from the vehicle he added, “With luck we can be in and out here. We do this right and we’ll all be back before dinner.”
         “But . . . couldn’t you be back anytime you wanted to anyway?” a young voice said from inside the vehicle. A second later a petite girl, her face suggesting she was probably a teenager, poked her head out from the door. “I mean . . . you guys are the Time Patrol. You could come back before we even left, right?”
         Brown turned slightly to face the girl. “Don’t tempt me, kid. I have my reservations about bringing you anyway, don’t give me an excuse to put you back at Legoflas.”
         Her eyes widened at the comment, but she gave him an impish smile as she stepped from the vehicle. “Oh, believe me, I’m just happy to be out of there, even if it’s only for a little bit. I still think I can hear the ocean.” Although she didn’t have a uniform on like the soldiers, her clothing was still more functional than fashionable. Brown thanked God no one had figured out yet how to mail teen magazines to Legoflas. This wasn’t the time anyone wanted her getting any ideas.
         “It’s really serene here,” she noted, looking up and pivoting a bit on her heels to get the full effect. “It’s hard to believe there’s people anywhere around.”
         “That’s the general idea,” Brown answered. “Dumping ourselves in the center of town squares is a good attention-getter, but it tends to cause people to either flee screaming or throw stuff, generally flaming objects.” He made a face. “With luck we’ll avoid all of that.”
         “Well, whatever, I’m just glad to be somewhere that isn’t windy and smells like salt all the time,” the girl said, crossing her arms and moving forward until she was standing next to Brown. Glancing over at him, she said, “Thank again, Uncle Joe, for bringing me.”
         Brown thought he heard one of the soldiers make a noise but all five of them remained in their positions, almost unmoving. Looking at all of them, he suppressed a small smile and said, “That Commander Uncle Joe to you, Kara. Can’t have the men thinking I’m going soft, now, can I?”
         Kara looked over at him sharply, thinking this was a rebuke. The twinkle in his eyes told her otherwise but honestly, it was so hard to tell with him sometimes whether he was kidding or not. Her father told her to assume that he was kidding. If he wasn’t, she’d know right away. He hadn’t elaborated further.
         Meanwhile, Brown touched a device at his belt, causing the door on the vehicle to slid closed. He tapped another button and slid a dial and Kara watched as the box became a mottled green and brown color.
         “That won’t fool anyone who bumps into it, and when we come back we’ll probably find something building a nest on it, but it’ll suffice for now. Come on then, folks. Let’s get this over with.” Making a swift gesture with one arm, he indicated for the other soldiers to follow. They spread out, forming a sort of loose square, with the forward soldiers moving only a little ahead of Brown. Kara walked alongside Brown, walking fast to compensate for his rapid strides.
         “Now, let’s discuss quickly how this is going to go,” Brown said to the soldiers, raising his voice slightly so they could hear him. The surroundings foliage captured and muffled his words, although his voice was nearly the only sound other than the crunchings and rustlings of their footsteps. “Once we get close to the village, you lot will stay behind. I’ll keep my end open so you can hear me, keep an ear out for the key phrases. Decide which of you will pull back to the cabinet once we get squared away, I want it to be ready to move on very short notice if necessary. I don’t expect to have any problems here but that doesn’t mean I want us stuck in something unpleasant if the unexpected comes up.” The other soldiers nodded at each instruction, although Brown wasn’t looking at any of them. “That sound good to everyone?” There was murmured assent all around.
         Ducking under a low-hanging branch, wincing as the leaves raked through her hair, Kara asked, “Ah . . . what about me? Do I get to come with you?” There was a hopeful tone to her voice.
         Brown gave her a look. “You must mistake me for Captain Gullible. It’s bad enough you convinced me and your dad to let you . . .” suddenly he stopped, squinting down at her. Kara wondered if this was the point where he stopped kidding. She caught snatches of fragments in his brain that didn’t look good. “Wait a moment, you did ask your father, right?”
         “O-of course,” Kara said meekly, giving a little laugh. “Why wouldn’t I? I’d be nuts not to.”
         “Gee, you echo my own thoughts,” Brown said dryly, though there was a hint of a smile on his face. “Because you know, your dad, he’s known about this little trip for a few days now and he never said anything to me about you coming. And he’s normally pretty on top of things like that.”
         Maybe bluffing will work. “I told you he said it was okay. Are you saying I lied?” It was an effort to make eye contact. All of a sudden she was wondering where all the cool forest breezes had gone.
         Brown fixed her with a stern gaze. Nope, not a chance. “I’m not saying anything, I was hoping you’d fill me in.”
         “Well, I, uh . . .” she dragged her heels along the ground a bit and to press for time, but even then she could feel Brown’s stare, like sunlight filtered through a lens. “I, it . . .” biting her lip, she finished in a small voice. “I did leave a note . . .”
         The next thing she heard was Brown sighing. Looking up she saw him shaking his head, one hand covering his face. “Ah, Christ, Kara . . . what are you doing to me here? You trying to get me into trouble?”
         “Well,” she told Brown in a small voice, “he didn’t tell you not to take me, right?”
         “He hasn’t come here and tried to kill me yet either, but I don’t take that as a go-ahead,” Brown replied, shaking his head again. Grinning to himself sardonically, he said, “Geez, who says you’re not a typical teenager?” Kicking idly at a stone as they walked, Brown continued, “You have to understand, Kara, we went through a lot of trouble to get you back. So if you start disappearing on us again it’s going to make everyone very nervous, most of all your father, and when he’s nervous that makes the rest of us even more nervous.” He paused to let his words sink in, then glanced at her and said, “You see what I’m trying to say?”
         “Yeah,” Kara admitted dully after a second, swinging her arms and trying not to look at Brown. Atleast he didn’t say it was for my own good. I think I’ll scream at the next person that tries to tell me that. “I’m sorry. I should’ve asked.”
         Brown stepped around a large rock as he reached up to swat at some of the leaves dangling overhead. Touching Kara on the shoulder to get her attention, he said, “It’s not that I mind you along . . . it’s just that your dad can beat me up. You want to tag along unauthorized with someone, go find the Agents.” The words were blunt but delivered with a cheery grin in his voice.
         He must be back to kidding again, Kara thought, slightly relieved. She’d probably have to hear about this again once they got back anyway but it looked like Brown wasn’t going to join in reaming her out. Not that her father needed help, but it was some comfort at least. “One of them did offer to take me to a bar,” she told Brown. Whatever that was. “Dad didn’t seem too thrilled about that.”
         “Oh, I can imagine he wasn’t,” Brown said, laughing quietly. “I can guess which Agent that was, too. They’ll be plenty of time for that stuff later, trust me.” After a moment, he laughed again and muttered to himself, “And wouldn’t I have liked to have been there for that conversation . . .” before falling silent.
         They continued to walk for some time, to the point where the seemingly endless parade of gnarled and expansive trees began to become just as boring as the endless oceans back home. At least there was actual sunlight here, even if the temperature didn’t seem any different. And the air had a nice smell, of bark and grass and time. Kara wondered how long the forest had been here, just growing. She wondered if she came back in five hundred years would it still be there. It occurred to her that she could do that. The things she had been reading about the Time Patrol, the things she had heard the other soldiers and her father say, it suggested she might just have that kind of time available. But it hadn’t really sunken in yet, there were so many things she didn’t understand, and the stuff she did understand, she wasn’t sure if it would do her any good.
         She heard the crunch of footsteps approaching and looked up in surprise to see one of the soldiers coming toward them. He must have scouted up further ahead. Geez, they’re like phantoms. Normally she could tell when people were around but the soldiers, they were just blank spots when she closed her eyes. If she tried to look any closer or focus, it just gave her a headache. It was weird.
         “It looks like the road is just up ahead,” the soldier told Brown. Kara noticed that the trees did seem to be thinning out now, the shafts of sunlight piercing the canopy were becoming wider and she could see bits of dust and bugs dancing aimlessly in the brightness. “I didn’t see the village but it can’t be much further.”
         “Great, great,” Brown said, increasing his pace slightly, much to Kara’s dismay. She could feel a thin sheen of sweat already forming on her forehead, and strands of hair were beginning to stick to her face. If she hadn’t tricked her way onto the mission, she’d have thought her father had manipulated her into getting some exercise. It’s not that she wasn’t in shape, but she wasn’t a soldier. This wasn’t a pace she was all that used to. But she wasn’t about to complain.
         Fortunately just ahead the trees parted and through the bright haze of sunlight that settled before like a wall, Kara could see the dirt road.
         “So . . . ah, are you going to the village by yourself?” Kara asked, trying to keep her voice as innocent as possible. Oh God, she hoped he wasn’t going to make her stay with the other soldiers, or worse, sit in the cabinet until this was over. That was almost as bad as having not come at all.
         “Uh-huh, no way,” Brown interjected, almost cutting her off. “I’m going to hear it as it is . . .” but as he said that Brown trailed off, a thoughtful expression crossing his face. “Wait a second . . .” he murmured.
         “I might be able to help . . .” Kara encouraged, not sure if she was aiding or damning her cause but figuring it couldn’t hurt by this point. “And you said, this isn’t going to be dangerous anyway.”
         “I did say that . . .” Brown noted, his face scrunched up as he considered, “and I might be able to put you to some use, come to think of it.” He gave a brief chuckle, muttering, “Hell, the kid can probably defend herself better than I can.”
         While debating this Brown had thankfully slowed up, which was some relief to Kara, who had been starting to feel part of a forced march. She held her tongue, however, fairly sure that nothing she could say was going to change his mind either way.
         Suddenly he turned to her. “Have you been paying attention to what Ranos has been teaching you?”
         “He said I’m making good progress so far,” Kara answered, thinking of the strange, tall man who was her instructor and who, honestly, was a little frightening sometimes. He could at least smile sometimes. And not just when I clock myself in the head with something. “Was he really partners with my father?”
         “A long time ago,” Brown replied quickly, looking out toward the road. “But you’ll have to ask your father about it, that wasn’t a party I got invited to.” Brown didn’t seem exceptionally keen on pursuing the subject any further. While he was talking a few of the other soldiers crept to the edge of the forest, checking out the road for onlookers. One of them glanced back and gave an all-clear sign.
         Brown tapped Kara on the shoulder and together they walked out toward the road. Kara found her boots threatened to get tangled in the undergrowth and she had to duck at least one branch that tried to swat her in the face but she managed to make it through without looking like she was about to fall on her face. But they both emerged shortly after, the road running parallel to the forest, dusty and beaten down by old footprints lost to time and weather.
         Kara thought this was a good moment to press her luck. “So, can I come? Please? You said I might be able to help.” God, I sound so eager. With my luck this’ll be just as boring as staying behind.
         Brown looked over at her, a smile twitching at the edge of his face. “I might be able to get some use out of you. After all, stowaways have to earn their return fare home, right?”
         “Whatever,” she laughed, pleased that this trip was going to stay somewhat promising. A thought did occur to her. “But you never said exactly what we were here-“
         A peculiar buzzing in the back of her head made her stop. The feeling went right down her spine. “What the-“ she muttered, spinning around, ignoring Brown’s curious look.
         “Sir,” one of the soldiers called out, pointing suddenly.
         Kara saw it just as the soldier did. Farther down the road, close to the edge of the forest, a person was standing. One hand was braced against a tree and the person appeared to be leaning against it. Kara squinted, though the bright sunlight made details hard to discern. Was it a woman? It wasn’t easy to tell. How long had she even been there? The person wasn’t doing anything, just staring at them from far away, not even reacting to their presence. So much for people screaming. I bet I can . . . Kara began to reach out, doing her best to take it slowly and not knock the person unconscious.
         Who are-
         Without warning, the woman spun on her heel and disappeared into the forest. The motion was so sudden that Kara pulled back, startled. For a second she thought she caught a glimpse of something that smelled like old wood and dust, but that didn’t make sense. Frowning, she thought, So much for being a good student. Behind her was the whine of a laser charging up.
         “Go after her, Commander?” someone asked.
         Brown stared at the spot where the woman had been, chewing his lip in thought. For a second Kara thought he was going to say yes, but instead he ordered, “No, don’t bother. She was too far away to get a really good look at us, and even so, if she comes back, by the time she gets here, we’ll be long gone.” Glancing over at the empty space where the woman had been, he murmured something Kara didn’t hear and stepped out into the road.
         Pointing up the road, he asked the closest soldier, “The nearest village is that way?” Kara went over to stand with him. A brisk wind kicked up some dirt, making her cough, but she was able to blow most of it away. That’s better. Maybe I did learn something. A second later Brown coughed and she saw him wipe some dust out of his eyes. Oops. Direction. That’s what I forgot.
         “Warn me when you do stuff like that, okay?” he muttered to her, though his tone was still humorous.
         Meanwhile, the other soldier confirmed the location of the first village. Standing in the grass just off the road, he said to Brown, “Sir, are you sure you don’t want us to come along for a little bit. At least until the village is within sight? You know, in case, we run into anyone else?”
         “Ah, we probably don’t . . .” Brown started to say, but then looked over at the spot again where the woman had been. “You know what, actually . . . that might be a good idea. Stick to the trees though and try to keep out of sight. God only knows what these people consider an army.”
         “Sir, yes, sir,” the soldier said, before fading back into the forest. Kara looked for the other soldiers only to find them gone as well. Wow. Tentatively she reached out, but could only pick up a large animal some distance away. I’m impressed. Wonder if I can learn how to do that?
         “You ready to take a little field trip?” Brown asked her, already beginning to stroll down the road. His boots kicked up little clouds of dirt as he walked.
         “Yeah,” she agreed, starting to race forward. A fleeting sensation caught her attention, not unlike a feather tracing her cheek, and she stopped and stared into the trees again. Was that . . . but she didn’t see anything. Weird.
         “You coming?” Brown asked, this time sounding a bit impatient.
         “I said I was,” she retorted a bit peevishly, catching up to him.
         “So,” Brown said conversationally, “did Ranos ever teach you anything about teleporting, by any chance?”
         “Ah, he said not until he was sure I wouldn’t send either of us into the bottom of the ocean. Why, do you think we’ll need it?”
         “No, no, not at all. Just getting an idea of what you can do. How about invisibility?”
         “No . . .”
         “Walk through walls?”
         “Never tried.”
         “Cause a man to lose control of his bowels?”
         “What? No!”
         “All right, all right . . . how about blasting holes in walls? Any good at that?”
         “I’ve never tried. Oh wow, you think I can learn to do that?”
         “Ah, no, I was just . . . ah, nevermind, listen, just forget I said anything, okay . . . between you and me, none of this ever came up . . .”