The Time of His Life--Chapter 03

Approximately 1900 words.
Base folder: "The Time of His Life" 

The Time of His Life
Chapter Three

         Dust from the quake sizzled in Jeff's nose and burned his eyes.  No doubt it was toxic, probably full of asbestos or some other cancer-causing crap.  Even in the present, Oklahoma didn't have the best building codes, and who knows what they were like back in the twenties when these tunnels were built.

         He suppressed a sneeze and realized he was laying on top of what-his-name. Gabe, that was it. A wry smile bent his lips.  "On top" wasn't his usual position.  The guy had a bod like a Chippendale stripper, and damned if he hadn't gotten off on Jeff scoping him out.  Too bad the quake had squelched his desire--Gabe's, too, apparently.

         Wait, Gabe had hit his head when they fell.  It had cracked against the concrete floor.  He pushed to his knees and peered through the murk at the other man.  "Are you okay, buddy?"

         He sat up, shook his head, and stretched.  "Yeah.  Nothing's broken, at least.  How about you?"

         "I'm fine.  You broke my fall."  Jeff stood up and scanned for his lantern.  There it was, laying askew about five feet away, dust glistening in its beam.  "At least we've got light."  He crawled to the lamp and picked it up, thinking he'd scan the damage.  It flickered twice and went out.  Blackness closed in.  "Shit."

         A soft, pearly glow burst from Gabe's hand.  He must have turned on the flashlight app on his phone. Jeff pulled out his, too.  "I should have thought of that."  No signal.  Of course.  The battery showed at twenty percent, then flashed, "charge soon."  Awesome.

         Gabe shined his light down the corridor Jeff had used to enter the tunnels.  "It looks like there's been a cave-in.  We can't get out that way."

         Jeff stared at the mix of rock, concrete, and plaster blocking the way while an icy fist gripped his stomach.  "Does anyone know you're down here?"

         Gabe hesitated before responding.  "What?  No.  At least, no one here, in Tulsa.  I hadn't even checked in yet.  How about you?"

         Jeff thought about Xander.  "Someone knew I was going to come down here.  He even gave me the map.  But he didn't know when, or which entrance I'd use."  This wasn't good.  "Is your phone working?  I don't have any bars."

         Gabe raised his eyebrows and blinked, as if checking his phone hadn't occurred to him.  He stroked at the screen and then shook his head.  "The crystal's cracked.  It doesn't look like more than the flashlight is even working.  No signal for sure."

         "No one's going to be looking for us, and who knows if phones even work this far underground.  Maybe we can get out the way you came in."  Good thing he used a different route, one not even on Xander's maps.

         "Maybe."  Doubt clouded Gabe's features.  "I'm not sure I remember the steps."

         Well, that was an obvious lie.  The guy would never make a poker player.  Jeff narrowed his gaze.  Unless he was just stupid.  No one deserved to be that good-looking and be smart.  "You're kidding, right?"

         Gabe chewed on his lower lip.  "Look, the way I came in...it's, well, it's secret.  I've signed an agreement to not reveal it to anyone."  His face lit with a sunny smile.  "How about you stay here while I go for help?"

         "What?  You've signed some lame-ass non-disclosure agreement and now you're going to leave me here?  No way."  Jeff eyed the floor of the tunnel and pointed.  "You don't need to show me.  I'll just follow your footsteps, thank you very much."  Asshole.

         "Wait.  It's not what you think."

         "What I think is that I don't friggin' need you.  I'll just walk out of here the way you came."  Jeff remembered the low battery warning on his phone.  He'd need it to light the way. "How far is it?"  Maybe he'd need the jerk, after all.

         "A long way.  Farther than you can imagine."

         "My imagination's fine.  You coming with me or not?"

         Gabe heaved a sigh.  "We're in this together.  Let's go."  He strode down the corridor without looking back.

         Like he expected Jeff to just tag along like a lick-spittle follower.  What a friggin jerk.  He rushed to catch up.  "You never said how far."

         "Two levels down.  Maybe fifteen, twenty minutes.  Unless the quake screwed things up."

         That was a sobering thought.  What if the only other way out was also blocked? 

         They walked in silence for a couple of minutes until they reached a rusty, steel door.  It creaked when Gabe opened it.  The glow from his phone revealed a narrow, spiral stair leading down into darkness.  Into Hell, for all Jeff could tell. 

         "Wait a minute.  We were already, like, forty feet under street level.  You said you came in two levels down?  What kind of entrance is fifty or sixty feet underground?"

         "I told you, it's not what you think.  These stairs are steep.  Use the railing."  Gabe disappeared downward, taking the light with him.

         There was nothing to do but follow.  The stairs were steep, and he had to admit that using the railing was good advice.  But it hadn't been advice. It had been a way to avoid answering his question.  Gabe wasn't dumb.  That was for sure.

         While they traversed the next corridor, Jeff replayed their meeting, going over the little dominance games that Gabe had used to put him on the defensive and to take control of the conversation.  It reminded him of his boss, Corbett, and the tricks she'd use to bully people.  Gabe was good-looking, alright.  Good-looking like the devil. 

         Gabe seemed content to just lead the way in silence.  Fine.  Jeff couldn't wait to be rid of him.  If it meant following him like a puppy dog, so be it. 

         Arched, stone walls lined the last, narrow corridor.  Jeff followed Gabe through a final steel door and into a dimly-lit room, perhaps twenty feet square.  This one, though, would have fit with the Art Deco luxuriance of the Mayo lobby.  Terrazzo chips on the floor, crimson and cream ceramic tiles on the wall, and a bare bulb hung from the ceiling, illuminating the whole thing.  "It looks the power's back on."

         "You mean the light?  It's powered by the gate."

         "Gate?  You mean this is the way out?"  Jeff didn't see anything that looked remotely like a gate. 

         Gabe's fingers traced a pattern on the tile wall.  It glowed and rows of runic letters streamed across the tiles.  Gabe rubbed his mouth and muttered, "Not good."

         Jeff reached out to touch the magical image, but Gabe's hand pushed his away.  "Don't.  It's like a touch-screen.  It's dangerous if you don't know what you're doing."

         "And  you do, I suppose?"  Know-it-all jerk.

         "Yes, I do.  Except it's broken.  I was sent here to fix it."

         "Broken?  What's it supposed to do?  Play Grand Theft Auto?"

         "I don't know what that means."  Gabe stroked the wall and the letters squirmed and changed.  "It's a time gate."

         Jeff rolled his eyes, but dismay sent electricity jittering down his spine.  "You're saying you came here through a time gate?  You mean, like a Tardis?"

         "Again, I don't know what that is.  And no, I didn't use this gate to come here.  It's broken.  Not safe to use.  I used my timepiece."  He held up his phone.  "But now it's broken, too.  So, the only way I know to get out of here is with this gate."

         "You're insane."

         "Maybe.  I'd have to be, to consider using a broken gate."

         The guy acted like he really believed this.  Okay, then, attack him with logic.  "If it's dangerous, and if you were sent here to fix it, why not just repair it before using it?"  Crazy people were so illogical.

         "The toolkit is in my room in the hotel.  Timekeepers keeps the room stocked with replacement parts, among other things.  I can't fix it without the parts, and I can't get to the parts without using it.  Right now, we can only go to preset destinations, and most of those are dimmed out.  Not working or dangerous."  He rubbed his forehead.  "They should have sent an agent with me.  I knew it."

         "Timekeepers?"  He seemed to have an answer for everything.  Doubt began to niggle at Jeff's certainty. 

         "That's the unofficial name.  Officially, we're the Chronology  Protection Agency.  We started as a WPA project in the 1930's, but we have outposts throughout time."  He continued to stare at the scrolling letters, and relief flooded his features.  "It looks like this monster recognizes least one preset location."

         The ground trembled again.  An aftershock.

         "There's a way out?"  Crazy or not, Jeff wanted out of this place before it all caved in around him.

         "Yeah.  What do you know about Mycenean Greece?"

         "A lot.  I wrote my dissertation on the Sea People. {it{That was an awesome career choice."

         "Really?  I thought historians--"

         "It's a joke," Jeff snapped.  He must be dumber than rocks, after all, along with crazier than a loon.

         Gabe shrugged.  "Well, it could come in handy."  He stroked the wall, and a low-frequency buzz filled the room. 

         Little streams of light swirled from the wall and enveloped them.  The globules whirled faster and thicker, while the buzz rose in pitch to an ear-splitting shriek.  Invisible fishhooks prickled against Jeff's skin, and nausea seized his gut.  He tried to move, but the air turned to taffy and held him tight.  Saliva flooded his mouth, and then vomit spewed forth. Instead of falling to the floor, it just hung there in space, disgusting and stinking. 

         The sound stabbed needles into his ears.  Pain exploded in his brain, and the room dissolved in an opalescent glow. 

         Then, like throwing a switch, it all stopped.  Moonlight dappled a snow-covered forest.  Wind whistled through evergreens.  A wolf's howl echoed off canyon walls.  Air was air again and not taffy.  His vomit splashed to the ground.  Jeff fell to his knees and sucked the cold winter into his lungs. 

         Gabe stood next to him, clasping his arms about himself and shivering.  "You okay?"

         "What the hell was that?"

         "Jump jeebies.  They're the worst for newbies.  You wish you could die, but you won't."  He reached into his satchel and pulled out what looked like a ball point pen.  "Give me your arm."

         "What?"  Jeff let him seize his arm and push back is sleeve.  He pushed the pen against his skin, and it gave a little shush.

         "There.  The nanodocs will help the jeebies.  You'll feel better in no time."

         More gibberish.  He did feel better.  "Where are we?  What happen to the tunnels?"

         "I told you.  I used the gate to get us out of there."

         "Time gate?"  Jeff clambered to his feet.  They weren't in the tunnels. He could see that.  And for sure, it wasn't August in Oklahoma.  Not with a foot of snow on the ground.  "What the hell have you done to me? Where are we?"

         "We're in northern Greece, about three thousand years ago."