After and Again (27 page)

  “What do you want me to do?” Zack asked.

  “First we must rid ourselves of Desmond Trask.” Weston said, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand and standing. “I will return in a moment. Please do not leave this room.”

  Weston walked back down the corridor to the anteroom and took a small red ball out of a large bowl that was filled with them, stepped in between the two Lenhoan sentries and tossed the ball through The Crack. Moments later a man stepped through and faced Weston. “You called sir?”

  “Yes, please tell Desmond Trask that I would like to speak with him.” The man nodded slightly, then turned and walked back through The Crack. A few minutes later Trask walked through.

  “You sent for me?” Trask inquired.

  “Yes, Desmond, after interrogating the boy we have reason to believe that there are others waiting back up the road for him. Please take all but three men, go after them and kill them.” Trask looked doubtful but remembered that there had been others on the plain that had defeated Ben Grayson and his men.

  “That will leave The Crack vulnerable,” Trask said.

  “Yes Desmond, just have the three men that you leave behind stay in The Crack Room and lock themselves in. between that, and the sentries here I feel that we will be sufficiently protected for the short time that you will be gone.”

  Trask stared at Weston almost defiantly, then lowered his eyes, and muttering something that might have been “all for the greater good,” he turned and walked back through The Crack.

  “Trask is an extremely intelligent man, which makes him all the more dangerous. He senses that something isn’t right so we must hurry.” Weston said, walking back into the room where Zack was waiting.

  He walked past Zack to a cabinet on the wall and removed a small pack, not unlike Zack’s except that it was constructed of some shiny orange material. “Come over here Zack,” Weston said, walking hurriedly to a high table against the wall. He emptied the contents of the pack onto the table. The things that came out were like nothing Zack had ever seen. “Okay then, this is the device that will close the rips,” Weston said picking up a polished metal object with two buttons on the side and a large knob on one end. It was about the size of a large mason jar. “I would explain to you how this works, but it would take hours, not to mention that I scarcely understand it myself. The reason that it failed to fully close the rip and instead only shrunk it was simply a lack of power. I completely utilized every bit of power that this compound produces and it was still insufficient. You must take this,” he handed Zack a large, folded sheet of paper, “and go to my old lab, where there is a safe….a lockbox, with a tray of nano-nuclear cells in it. They are each about the size of your eyeball and were intended to power a spacecr—ahh, nevermind. You simply turn this knob on the top and if you look inside you will see six little slots. You just slide one cell into each slot, close the top, and turn the knob to lock it back in place. Then you set the device as close to the rip as you can get it, push this red button three times, and the green one once. You will then have seven minutes; ample time to get three hundred feet away, and the device should close the rip. Also, see these colored dots at the bottom?” he asked this while lifting the device so that Zack could see the underside. Zack nodded, “they will light up, one at a time, the closer that you get to a rip; green first, then yellow, then red. How far away from a rip they will begin lighting up I don’t know. I walked five miles away from this compound into the Lenhoan countryside and all but one of the red ones was still lit. Do you know what a compass is?”

  “Yes,” Zack replied.

  “The needle of a compass will go crazy when you get close as well.

  Anyway, be sure that you take all of the cells; there are exactly one hundred twenty of them. The six, once used in the device will be completely depleted, and useless.

  On that paper is a map to the lab; it’s about seven hundred miles from here, directions on where to find the safe once you get there, the combination to the safe, and a repeat of the instructions that I just gave you. Any questions?”

  “You want me to travel seven hundred miles, and then come all of the way back here and close The Crack? I thought that you said that you were going to kill Paul Nesbitt? If he’s dead then why bother? Besides, I want to go to the time-rip and save Payne’s Station, and all of the other towns too.”

  “Oh, my dear boy, I do believe it was fate that brought you here. How, when I am locked inside this world would I have found anyone else both willing and worthy? If you turn back time to before your town was destroyed, Paul Nesbitt will be back right along with all of the people that were killed in Payne’s Station and everywhere else. The only way for him to remain dead is to close The Crack
and sever his connection to your… I mean
our
world rather,
before
you go through the time-rip.

I also recommend that you close the time-rip as well, directly after you use it to restore your home and all of the people in it.” Zack’s head was spinning, and he felt as though he was missing something important, Weston smiled reassuringly and pushed on however.

  “Moreover, I suggest that you make it your life’s work to find the rest of the rips that were most certainly opened when the catastrophe occurred,” he paused, noting Zack’s surprised expression then added, “You can’t possibly think, with all that you have learned, that the time-rip and The Crack could be the only two? Oh no, there
could
be many more—opening up to heaven knows where, possibly to a world with the most hideous of creatures who, if they stumble onto it, may come through and wreak havoc that Paul Nesbitt could never even dream of. There
could
be things in
our
world already that do not belong….or possibly there is a rip where if someone enters and then returns, it may turn time back ten thousand or even a million years. Your world….christ,
our
world will never truly be safe unless all rips caused by your foolish ancestors are closed. Anyway, the choice is before you and we are running out of time. Here, take this also,” he handed Zack a plain sealed envelope, which he took from his pocket, not from the table, “read it when you are far from here and safe.

  Moving on; this is a percussion grenade, of my own devising.” He handed Zack a round metal object; it had a ring attached to a thin metal rod sticking out of the top of it. “And
these
contain a tranquilizing gas, I derived it from an herb that the Lenhoan equivalent to doctors use on injured patients.” He handed Zack two more round objects identical to the first one except that they were colored black.

  “When you and Emily reach the anteroom, pull the pin on one of these black ones and toss it in and then back away from the room—you do not want to breath in any of this—and count to two hundred. It spreads quickly and dissipates quickly, you don’t have to worry about the sentries as they will absolutely not leave the anteroom. They are brainwashed by Paul.

  Unlike the Lenhoan sentries, the men in The Crack Room at the other side of The Crack are not brainwashed, and if you tossed one of these in there they would be out the door in seconds. That’s where the percussion grenade comes in. After you count to two hundred, go into the anteroom, pull the pin on the grenade and toss it through The Crack, wait just a moment…say five seconds and then throw in the other tranquilizer grenade. Again you will count to two hundred, then walk through The Crack. Once inside The Crack Room you will turn left and go to the far wall where there is a metal door with a keypad on it….umm….a square about as big as your hand with ten numbered buttons on it. The combination is five, seven, five, two, five….you press each button in that order, do you understand?” Zack nodded. “Very good, you will go inside, select whatever firearms….guns, that you wish along with the proper ammunition, then you take this device” he handed Zack a box the size of a large book and appeared to be made of plastic. “Push this lever in and turn it to the right until it stops, set it on the floor of the vault room, shut the door and get out of there as fast as you can.”

  “Any questions?”

  “What’s going to happen to you?” Zack asked.

  “That is not for you to worry about. Now Trask, and probably better than twenty men, are out on the road looking for people that are aiding you—"

  “No one is aiding me, I came alone.”

  “Of course you did, but
they
don’t know that. Anyway it will make your escape difficult if you use the road, so you should travel overland for awhile.”

  “What if the women from Payne’s Station get past the guards and into the time-rip?” Zack asked.

  “Then you will have to start all over.”

  “And how am
I
supposed to get past the guards at the time-rip?”

Weston Presley just smiled. “I have faith in you. Now let’s pack this stuff up and go.”

23

  Desmond Trask smelled something rotten, and he intended to find out what it was. “Jameson, take the men and travel the road ten miles or so, then come back. I don’t think that you’ll find anything but be ready anyway.” He walked back from the horse corral and went back to The Crack Room. “You men keep your eyes open for anything out of the ordinary….and keep the door
locked
.”

  He walked through The Crack and into the anteroom, he spared the statue like sentries a look and then walked out to the corridor. “Damn spooks,” he said to himself.

  The end of the corridor was as far as Trask and the other
trusted
men were allowed to go. “I need to see The Man in Charge…. NOW!” snapped Trask to the two Lenhoan men standing on either side of the doorway at the end of the corridor. The pair gave Trask a short bow then turned and walked through the doorway. Trask waited impatiently, pacing the floor. Soon the two returned and walked past him; Trask knew the routine and followed them to what was called the council room.

  Paul Nesbitt was nearly purple with rage. He bit it off and sat for a moment quietly. He really wasn’t feeling well and this was the very last thing he needed. Weston? Betraying him? There must be some explanation.

  “Find them both and bring them here. I will return in an hour.” Trask nodded and got up to leave.

  “Desmond?”

  “Yes sir?”

  “Don’t harm them yet. You can have the boy….after.” Trask smiled and left the room.

  “I apologize Emily, it seems that some rather unfortunate events have transpired” Paul Nesbitt said striding back to the table.

  “Unfortunate indeed, Paul.” Weston Presley said from where he and Zack stood on either side of the doorway. Emily, who had barely been able to control her emotions at the site of Zack leapt from the table and ran to him, throwing her arms around him.

  “Weston, I am disappointed in you. How could you betray me after all that we have been through together.” Paul Nesbitt said, taking his seat.

  “I have been nothing more than another slave to you, but since we have been together for over three hundred years I decided to stay and comfort you at your end.”

  “What do you mean?” Paul asked, eyes narrowed.

  “It means that I poisoned your wine, and depending on how long ago you drank it I would estimate that you will be dead within the hour. Incidentally Paul, it’s the same poison that you have used on so many others.”

All of the color drained from Paul Nesbitt’s face, he looked at the half-empty wineglass and then back at Weston.

  “You and Emily had better go now, Zack,” Weston said, his eyes not leaving Paul’s. “I
do
wish you the best of luck on your quest, and I trust that you will make the correct decisions. I am truly sorry for my part in all of this.”

  “Ha! Foolish, you won’t get far. I’ve already called the dogs! The beast that is Desmond Trask is looking for you,” Paul cackled triumphantly. “But I guess you and I can die together Weston.” Paul pulled a pistol from underneath the table.

  “RUN!” Weston shouted just as the pistol went off. Zack and Emily were out the door and Weston was right behind them.

  The three pounded down the corridor with Zack and Emily easily outpacing Weston. There were two more shots and Zack felt the wind from a bullet as it passed right by his head. Paul Nesbitt screamed; “WESTON!”

and then Zack heard the loud CLUMP of someone falling. He turned on the run and saw Paul Nesbitt on the floor with two men in white tunics leaning over him; he was attempting to fire the pistol again. Zack turned back and kept on running. They turned right at the end of the corridor and continued on toward the anteroom.

  They stopped just before the anteroom and Zack retrieved one of the black tranquilizer grenades from the pack, pulled the pin and tossed it in. They ran back down the corridor a little ways and Zack started counting. He looked at Weston and saw that the man’s shirt was soaked with blood; his face ashy white. Zack could hear running footsteps from down the other corridor.”

  “Two Hundred, let’s go.” The four sentries were lying on the floor, Zack grabbed the percussion grenade from the pack and Weston grabbed his wrist before he could pull out the pin.