Time Riders

CHAPTER 4

2010, somewhere above America

Maddy Carter reached round awkwardly and hit the flush button. The toilet hissedwith a vicious suction and for a moment she wondered whether a person unlucky enough toaccidentally snag the button while still sitting on the seat might be sucked down the u-bendand blasted out at forty thousand feet to free fall amid a shower of turds.

Nice thought.

Maddy cleaned herself up as best she could within the cramped confines of the toilet cubicle.She stared down at the last of the vomit swirling round the toilet basin and down the hole,feeling better now that the aeroplane meal was out rather than still churning in her gut.

She wiped her mouth dry with the back of her hand and checked in the mirror for any telltaleblobs of puke caught in her hair. A tall, gawky, pale-faced girl stared back at her; nerdyfreckles she hated so much dappled across her cheeks beneath the frames of her glasses. Herstrawberry-blonde hair dangled lifelessly to her skinny shoulders, on which hung a drab greyT-shirt with the Microsoft logo stitched on the front.

Yeah, one hundred per cent geek. That’s what you are,Maddy.

A geek-ette… something of an oddity; a female into messing around with circuit boards,tricking-up her PC, hacking her iPhone to give her free internet access… a girl-geek. Agirl-geek who got the screaming terrors everytime she boarded a plane.

She unlocked the door, popped it open and stepped out. Her eyes glanced up the central aisleof the plane at a sea of headrests and the bobbing forms of several hundred heads.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and spun round to see an old man standing beside the bank oftoilet cubicles.

‘Uh? What?’ she said, removing small hissing headphones from her ears.

‘You’re Madelaine Carter from Boston. Booked into seat twenty-nine D.’

She stared at him, bemused. ‘What? You want to see my ticket or — ?’

‘I’m afraid you’ve got only a few minutes left to live.’

She felt her stomach lurch, getting ready to eject another torrent of half-digested food. Aphrase like ‘a few minutes left to live’ was the last thing a nervous flyer likeher needed to hear right now. It ranked alongside words like ‘terrorist’ and‘bomb’ as something one should never utter on a packed passenger planemid-flight.

The old man had the harried look of someone running late to catch a train.

‘In a few minutes everyone on this plane will be dead.’

She figured there were only two types of person who might say something like that: a completewhacko in need of medication or…

‘Oh my God,’ she whispered, ‘you… you’re not at-terrorist?’

‘No. I’m here to rescue you, Madelaine,’ he spoke quietly, then cast aglance at the sea of heads either side of the aisle, ‘but only you, I’mafraid.’

She shook her head. ‘What?… Who? I… uh — ’ Her mouth wasflapping pointlessly.

‘There’s not much time.’ He looked at a wristwatch. ‘In about ninetyseconds a small explosive charge will detonate midway along the right side ofthe plane. The explosion will knock a hole through the fuselage, the plane will instantlydecompress and roll into a steep dive. Twenty seconds later the starboard wing will sheer off,filling the inside of the plane with aviation fuel, which will ignite.’ He sighed.‘The impact with the woodland below thirty-seven seconds later will kill those whohaven’t already been incinerated.’

Maddy felt the blood drain from her face.

‘I’m sorry,’ he added, ‘but I’m afraid no one will survivethis.’

‘Uh… this is… this is some kind of sick joke, right?’

‘No joke.’ He continued: ‘You alone have achoice. You can choose to live.’

He’s serious. And something about him told her hewasn’t on meds. She found herself gasping, instinctively reaching for her inhaler.‘N-ninety s-seconds? A bomb goes off?’

‘Less than that now.’

Not a whacko, then…

‘Oh God, it’s your b-bomb. What do you want fromus?’

‘No, it’s not mine, and I’m not a terrorist. I just happen to know thisplane will be destroyed by a device. A terrorist group will claim responsibility for ittomorrow morning.’

‘Is there t-time? Could w-we find the bomb and throw itoff?’ she asked, her voice raised in panic. She’d said the ‘b’ alittle too loud and it had carried forward. Several heads up the aisle turned quickly to lookback at her.

He shook his head. ‘Even if there was time, I can’t change events. I can’tchange history. This plane has to go down.’

‘Oh God,’ she whimpered.

‘The only thing I can do is take you off before it does.’

She looked up the plane. More heads were turning. She could hear a rising ripple of voicesand the word ‘bomb’ as a whispered tidal wave rolled from seat row to seatrow.

‘If you take my hand,’ he said, offering it to her,‘you’ll live. And in return I’ll ask for your help. Or you can stay. You getto choose, Madelaine.’

Maddy realized there were tears of panic rolling down her cheeks. The man seemed sane. Seemedcalm. Seemed deadly serious. And yet… how could anyone betaken off this plane mid-flight?

‘I know you don’t believe in God,’ he said. ‘I’ve read yourfile. I know you’re an atheist. So I won’t try to tell you I’m an angel. Iknow you have a fear of heights, that you’re not great on planes either. I know yourfavourite drink is Dr Pepper, I know you have a recurring nightmare about falling from ayellow-painted tree house… I know so many more things about you.’

She frowned. ‘How… how do you know th-that?’

He looked down at his watch. ‘You have thirty seconds left.’

A stewardess was now striding down the aisle towards them, her eyes widened with concern.

‘I know you’re an avid reader of science fiction, Madelaine, so perhapsit’ll be easier for you to understand if I tell you I’m from thefuture.’

Her mouth opened and closed. ‘But… but that’s impossible!’

‘Time travel will become possible in about forty years’ time.’ His handextended towards her. She looked down at it uncertainly.

‘Twenty seconds, Madelaine. Take my hand.’

She looked up at his lined face. ‘Why? Why — ?’

‘Why you?’

She nodded.

‘You fit the skill profile exactly.’

She swallowed nervously, felt her breathing becoming laboured and erratic. Confused,panic-stricken, unable to think of a useful next question.

‘We need you,’ he said, looking at his watch. ‘Fifteenseconds. It’s time to decide.’

‘Wh-who are y-you?’

‘I… or I should say we… are the people who fixbroken things. Now, take my hand, Madelaine. Take it now!’

Instinctively, she stretched out towards him.

A stewardess pulled up a few feet short of them. ‘Excuse me,’ she cut in,‘someone has reported the pair of you loudly using the “B” word… bomb.’ She whispered the word quietly. ‘I’m sorrybut you just can’t use language like that on a passenger plane.’

The old man looked up at her and smiled sadly. ‘No… I’m the one who’s sorry, ma’am. I truly am.’

Maddy looked at him. ‘This is for real?’

He nodded. ‘And we have to leave right now.’

‘OK,’ she uttered, grasping his extended hand tightly.

The stewardess tipped her head on one side curiously, her forehead furrowed, her lips pursed.She was about to ask how they planned to leave the plane exactly.

Then the world suddenly was a blinding white and Maddy snapped her eyes shut.