Day of the Predator

CHAPTER 11

2001, New York

‘It’s a message from the agency,’ said Liam as Sal joined them beside the computer desk. ‘From the future.’

‘So.’ Sal looked at them both. ‘There’s our answer. We’re not alone, then.’

‘Yup!’ replied Maddy, grinning, clearly the most encouraged and excited by that news. ‘Bob’s decoding the message right now. He’s estimated the year of origin to be about 2056. That’s the time of Roald Waldstein, the inventor of time-travel technology.’

‘Do you think it’s him? The Waldstein fella?’ asked Liam.

Maddy reached for her inhaler on the desk and took a quick puff on it. ‘Yes,’ she replied. ‘Hopefully it’s the agency checking in with us. You know? Seeing if we’re OK. Which would be nice.’

‘But how…’ started Liam, frowning. ‘But how will we talk back to them? These tachyon signal things can only go backwards in time, right? That’s what Foster said.’

‘He said that… but he was keeping it simple. It takes a lot more energy to project forward. Plus, more importantly, in 2056, everyone’s on the lookout for tachyon particles, right, Bob?’

› Correct. A signal aimed at the agency could be detected and reveal its location. In 2056, international laws against time travel have been established.

‘In any case, I wouldn’t know which direction to point a signal,’ said Maddy. ‘Who knows where in the world they’re based?’

‘So is there a way to talk back?’ asked Liam.

Maddy nodded. ‘Yup… there is.’ There was an entry in Foster’s ‘how to’ guide on how to contact the agency, a short explanation by Foster looking ten years younger as he spoke to the webcam. An entry he must have recorded much earlier than the others.

‘It’s the same principle, Liam, that you used actually,’ said Maddy. ‘The museum guest book, remember? Only it’s a New York newspaper. We place an advert in the lonely hearts section of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. It has to begin with the phrase “a soul lost in time…”’

Liam clicked his fingers; he understood the rest. ‘And I suppose they have a crinkly old yellowing copy of that paper?’

‘Dated September twelfth, 2001. That’s right.’

Sal looked from one to the other, her eyes widening. ‘And… and do you mean the words in the paper change? They actually change on the page?’

Maddy nodded. ‘It’s a tiny ripple in time. Nothing that would change anything else. After all… who’s going to be reading the lonely hearts section of the papers tomorrow?’

‘The papers would be full of that plane-crashing-into-building story, will they not?’ said Liam.

‘Exactly. Our little advert won’t be noticed by anyone, except, of course… a bunch of people carefully studying a page of a fifty-five-year-old newspaper in 2056, or thereabouts.’ Maddy clucked with excitement. ‘I can’t tell you how freakin’ relieved I am that there’s somebody else out there!’

Liam nodded at the screen in front of her. ‘Looks like Bob’s done.’

› I have decoded the message, Maddy.

‘What is it?’

› It is only a partial message. The signal has been interrupted.

‘Uh? OK… give us what you’ve got, Bob.’

Words spooled across the dialogue box:

› Contamination event. Origin time appears to be 10.17 a.m. 18 August 2015. Major contamination ripples. Significant realignment of time stream. Death of Edward Chan, author of original theory on time travel, resulting in failure to write thesis in 2029. Death may have been deliberate assassination attempt. Occurred while visiting Instit The three of them waited for a moment for Bob to print out more of the message.

› That is all I have. The partial ends there.

‘That’s it?’

› That is it, Maddy.

She turned to look at the others. ‘Er… what the hell are we supposed to make of that?’

They sat in silence for a while, digesting the small block of text on the screen. Finally Liam shrugged. ‘That they’re in trouble?’

‘Well, duh,’ sighed Maddy.

‘They need our help?’ said Sal.

‘But can we help, though?’ said Liam. ‘Can I go into the future?’

‘Of course you can.’ Maddy pinched the tip of her nose thoughtfully. ‘Think about it. Every time we bring you back from a mission in the past, you’re going forward in time, aren’t you?’

› This is correct. A mission operative can travel forward and backwards. However, energy expenditure is significantly higher moving forward.

Sal looked at the other two. ‘But maybe there are other field offices further in the future than us who will deal with this?’

Liam nodded. ‘She’s right. If we’re not the only team, then perhaps somebody else is closer in time?’

Maddy gave it a moment’s thought. ‘Then why direct the message right at us? I mean… right here, right now?’ She turned back to the desk. ‘Bob, was this a broad-spectrum signal beam, sent out for everybody to pick up… anywhere… anywhen?’

› Negative. It was a narrow, focused beam.

‘Meaning it was meant for us?’

› That is the logical assumption, Maddy.

‘But surely there are other teams in the future,’ said Sal. ‘Somebody closer in time and — ’

‘Maybe there are,’ cut in Maddy, ‘but any field office based after — ’ she looked at the screen — ‘after the eighteenth of August 2015 is going to be affected by the time wave also, right?’ She stared at the other two. ‘So maybe we’re the closest unaffected team? Maybe we’re the field office closest before this date?’

Liam sighed. ‘Aw, come on. Why is it us again? We only just got ourselves fixed up after the last bleedin’ mess and a half.’

› Hello, Liam. I have a question.

‘Good mornin’, Bob.’

› Is ‘bleedin’’ a reference to the high body count of the last mission including the extensive damage to my last organic support frame? Or is it an expression of anger I should add to my language database?

‘It’s Liam being all stressy,’ said Maddy.

› Angry?

‘That’s right.’

Once again they stared in silence at the partial message displayed on the screen, all of them silently hoping it would just go away or change into another message simply welcoming them to the agency.

‘It’s for us, isn’t it?’ said Sal after a while. ‘We’ve got to fix this time problem like we did the last one.’

Maddy nodded. ‘I think so.’

Liam’s jaw set firmly. ‘Well, I’m not going anywhere ’less I’ve got Bob coming with me. I mean that, so I do.’

‘OK,’ said Maddy. ‘That’s only fair.’ She turned round to face the computer monitors. ‘Bob, can we speed up the growth cycle of the foetus we’ve started off?’

› Affirmative. Increase the nutrient mix of the feed solution. Introduce a small electrical charge to the suspension fluid to stimulate cell activity.

‘How quickly can we have a body ready for you?’

› Growth cycle can be increased by 100 % with acceptable risk to the biological life form.

‘Half the time,’ said Maddy. ‘That’s still… what? Thirty-eight hours?’

› Correct.

‘Could we not birth the clone any earlier?’ added Liam. He looked at Maddy and shrugged. ‘I mean, does it need to be a fully grown man?’

› Optimal age for organic support unit is approximately 25 years old. Muscle tissue and internal healing systems are at their most functional.

‘But, as Liam says, could we eject the clone from the tube at a younger age? Or would that… I dunno, kill it?’

› Negative. A growth candidate can be functional from approximate age of 14 onwards. However, the support unit’s effectiveness would be compromised.

‘What does that mean?’ asked Liam.

‘It means Bob won’t be quite as big a brute as he was last time,’ said Sal.

‘So… what if we birth the clone at say… about eighteen years of age,’ asked Maddy. ‘How useful would he be?’

› An eighteen-year-old clone would offer approximately 50 % of normal operational capacity.

‘He’d be half as strong?’ said Liam.

Maddy nodded. ‘And how much time would that save us off the growth cycle?’

› 14 hours.

She looked round at the others. ‘What do you reckon?’

‘We speed up the growing process and then empty him out on to the floor twenty-four hours from now?’ said Liam. ‘And we’ll have an eighteen-year-old Bob, with half the muscles?’

‘That’s about it.’

‘But he’ll still be dangerous to other people, right? I mean… doesn’t make any sense me having him by my side if he’s just — ’

› Affirmative, Liam. I will be capable of causing death with or without weapons.

Liam managed a weak smile. ‘Then I guess it’d be good to have you back, Bob.’

› Thank you. I look forward to being fully operational again.

Maddy slapped her hand on the desk. ‘Right, then. I guess we have a plan of action. Since we’ve got no time to waste, Sal, could you go see to the growth candidate? Let’s get that process sped up.’

‘OK.’

‘And I guess I better start gathering all the data I can on this Edward Chan guy,’ she said, pecking at the computer’s keyboard.

‘What about me?’ asked Liam.

Maddy tapped her fingers absentmindedly on the desk. ‘Er… hell, I don’t know.’

‘I suppose I’m coffee-maker?’

She smiled. ‘If you’re doing a run to Starbucks, can you grab me a chocolate-chip muffin as well?’

‘Yeah, me too,’ called Sal from the back room’s doorway.