Strangers and Shadows (10 page)

He nodded.  “Of course…  Much in the same way that the members of the Sixth Verse are different from the rest of the MultiVerse, so too are the members of the Fourth.  We think it has something to do with the radiation fallout from your wars, we’re not entirely certain, but what
is
clear is that your minds are somehow shielded from the Shadows.  They have no way of detecting someone from your Verse with their abilities, making you the perfect candidates for retrieving the prime minister’s son.

“Our own agents will draw the attention of whatever Shadows may be in the area, and lead them on a grand chase, providing you with a distraction.  You need only locate the boy and extract him.”

Silence hung in the air for several minutes while Ava went over everything in her mind.  Finally she spoke.  “And in return for our help, I expect you’ll return the favor?” 

Asher was shocked by Ava’s question.

Lady White merely smiled as if she had been expecting it all along.  “Of course, we would be in your debt.  Is there anything you can think of that we could do for you?”

“For one, you can help my Verse find a cure for the plague of darkness that has fallen over it.”  Ava explained the details of the last few weeks in New Britain.

“Done.  As soon as you return with my son, I will send a team of my best scientists to find out what has befallen your world.”  

“Good.  After that, I’m sure we can find some suitable form of trade between our two worlds.  Something that would benefit us both,” the princess said.

Lady White bowed her head.  “It would be our honor.”

“Very well, then.  You have a deal.”

Chinese Take Out

Jack and Kid were released three weeks later.  They had been separated, questioned, threatened, and bullied
—b
ut only for the first few days
.  T
he remaining time they spent in relative comfort as they played their roles.

The news networks, in conjunction with local and federal law enforcement, had leaked that a man and a boy had been apprehended and were believed to have been responsible for the riot.  When the madman responsible heard that someone else was being charged, he came forward and confessed, not able to stand someone else getting the credit for his handiwork.

Kid’s parents were officially assumed dead, along with countless others. 
Kid seemed to be coping with the news, but Jack could only imagine what he was going through.

With no next of kin, Jack worked it out for the boy to stay with him, until something else could be arranged.  Truth be told, with all the paperwork and clean up going on, the officer in charge was relieved to have one less thing to deal with.  He conveniently lost the paperwork and warned Jack that in the future should any of it come to light, he would not be the one to take the heat for it.

Jack assured him that no such thing would be necessary.  After all, Jack’s ID was fake, and he knew his guy could come up with some forged adoption papers for Kid.

“You hungry, Kid?” Jack asked as he walked in the door to his apartment.  He had been looking for a new job.  Even if the cab company hadn’t fired him, he would have had to find new work soon, with the sky lanes being almost complete. 

Kid spent his days in the apartment, surfing the net and watching vids.  Jack would need to get him back into school at some point, but for now, there was enough to worry about.

“I’m starving!” Kid replied. 

Jack was a bachelor and his place reflected it.  His fridge had little else besides half-empty condiments in it.

Chinese food was decided upon, and they walked around the corner to the Shanghai Garden.

Jack ordered for both of them, then led Kid to a booth in the corner.  As they were settling into the booth, a tall man in an overcoat and hat passed by.  “Good day, gentlemen,” he said, continuing on his way out of the restaurant.

“You feeling alright Kid?  You look awful,” Jack said.

Kid’s face had gone pale.  “I had a strange feeling when that man walked by, that’s all. I’m okay.”

Jack scanned outside on the street and found the tall man on the opposite corner of the street, looking in their direction. 

The man, seeing that Jack was staring at him, slowly looked away.

He must have been looking at the sign on the window, or something,
Jack thought,
it just
looked
like he was watching us.

“Shake it off, Kid, he’s gone now.”

“Yeah, I feel better now.  That was weird.” 

They ate and discussed the events of the day—how the city was recovering from the Riot, how everything would be different with the sky lanes, and how Kid couldn’t tell anybody about Jack being from the future.  Not that anyone would believe him if he did.

Jack wondered how the boy was coping with his own loss, but decided not to ask about it.  Better if he brought it up whenever he was ready to talk about it.

Returning from dinner, Kid was the first to notice the note on the door of the apartment. 

Jack, we need to talk. 

Call me, there’s a cell inside.

— Desmond

“Who the hell is Desmond?” Kid asked. 

The boy’s language had taken a turn, Jack noticed.  Probably his fault, he wasn’t used to having to watch what he said.

“I’m not sure, but remember I told you about being sent back here?  This might be the agency—maybe they found me.  Or, it could be a new landlord.”  The building they lived in was always changing ownership and management.  Jack had thought about applying for the position himself on occasion.  Couldn’t do a worse job, after all.

Either way, Jack was not happy that someone had been inside the apartment uninvited, and apparently by unforced entry.

“Did you lock the door?” he asked the boy.

“Yep.”

“
Honest
?”

“Honest!  I swear I did.  When have I not before?  My mom used to say it every time I left the apartment, ‘make sure it’s locked, I don’t want anyone sneaking in here while I’m taking a nap.’  It wasn’t me, Jack.  I locked it.”

Best to just go on in and see then
. 

Jack went in and looked around. 
Doesn’t look like anything is missing.  Then again robbers don’t usually leave a note either.

“Check your stuff Kid, make sure nothing is missing.”  While Kid went off to check, Jack found the cell phone on the kitchen counter.  He picked it up and flipped it open.  It was an old design, nobody used this kind anymore.  A text message popped up: 
press send, D.

Jack didn’t know if he was ready just yet.  He wanted to think on it a little more. 

Kid came back in.  “Nothing’s missing,” he reported.

Jack thought about it, for a few minutes, weighing the pros and cons until he finally said, “Fuck it,” and hit send.

The phone rang three times before someone picked up on the other end.  “Jack, so good to hear your voice.” 

“Who is this?”

“
You know who this is
, Jack.”

“
Desmond? 
What do you want?”

“I want to give you an opportunity.  An opportunity that would be beneficial for you
and
the boy.  May I come in?”

There was a knock at the door. 
Son of a bitch
.  Jack went to the door and opened it.  It was the tall man from the Chinese restaurant.  “Not too freaked out, I hope.”  He came in, uninvited, leaving the door wide open for someone else to close.

“You’d better start explaining real fast pal, or...”  Jack backed up toward a certain spot in the wall.

“Looking for this?” Desmond asked, holding up the gun Jack had been going for.  “Found it.  And don’t think about going for the one in your room either.”  He pulled a second pistol out of his overcoat.  “You ancients never give me the time to explain, before you go off, resorting to violence.  Or the threat of violence, anyway.”

“Kid, shut the door,” Jack said, as he sat down on the couch, motioning for the tall stranger to do the same.

“I’ll stand, if it’s all the same to you.”

“Suit yourself,” Jack said.  “Alright, I’m listening, what’s this all about?”

“Like I said before—an opportunity.”  Desmond paced back and forth slowly, like a man delivering a speech to an auditorium.  “Someone is coming for you.  They will try to talk you into coming with them, and if that fails, they may try to force you.  Now, I know what you’re thinking, so stop thinking and just listen to what I’m telling you.  I’m trying to do this the nice way.  People are coming for you, if you’d like my help, you have my number.”

Jack was about to respond, but when he looked up Desmond was gone.  Jack looked all around and finally to Kid.  “Where did he go?”

“Where did who go?  Are you feeling alright?  Ever since we got back from the restaurant you’ve been acting weird.  Did you get some funny noodles?” 

“You mean to tell me you didn’t see him?”

“Jack, we came in, you told me to check if any stuff was missing, and then you started talking to yourself.  You walked over and opened the door, then sat down on the couch and told me to close it.  To be honest, you’re kinda freaking me out.”

“The man from the restaurant, the tall one, the one you had a strange feeling about, do you remember him?”

“Yeah…”

“So you mean to tell me, that you didn’t see him in the apartment here, just a second ago?”

“That’s what I’m trying to tell you Jack, there’s been nobody here but you and me.”

Jack didn’t know what to think about all of it.  He knew he hadn’t imagined it.  It was real, it had happened, but why didn’t Kid see it?  He needed some time to process everything. 
I need a nap,
Jack thought to himself.

He had just closed his eyes when he heard the knock at the door.  He really didn’t feel like getting up to answer it.  “Kid, see who’s at the door, will ya?”

Kid walked over and opened the door.  “Hi. Can I help you?”

There were two people standing out in the hallway, a young man and woman.  They wore street clothes but their hair was long, almost down to the waist.  Nobody wore their hair that long, except for the punks and the naturalist freaks. 
They must have the wrong apartment number
, Kid thought.  It had happened all the time in the building where he had lived with his parents, before the Riot had changed his life forever.

“We’re looking for Jack Spade, does he live here?”

“Who’s asking?”  Kid found everything more fishy by the minute.

“Just tell him some friends from the Company dropped by.”  The woman took out a card from her pocket and wrote something on it.  “Here, this is the hotel we’re staying at, room 506.  Tell him we’d like to talk to him.”

They turned and left, and Kid shut the door, thinking that the day couldn’t get much weirder.

“Who was it?” Jack called from the couch.

“Two people from
the Company…
?” Kid replied.  “Does that mean anything to you?”

Jack’s eyes went wide. 
Had they finally found him?  Were they coming to take him back to his time line? 
“What else did they say?”

“That they were staying at a hotel nearby and they want to talk to you.  Here.”  Kid gave him the card that the man had given him.

Jack turned the card over.  It was a standard business card reading:

The Company
 

established
(
at some point in time
)
 

Jack had a laugh at that.  The problem with time travel is that time to most extents becomes no longer relative.  What was ironic was that they hadn’t been trying to travel through time at all.  He was supposed to go to some parallel universe, but if he had, he went to one that was exactly like the old one, only a few hundred years behind it.

It was getting late and Jack decided to wait until the morning to see what the old Company wanted with him, if in fact it even was the
future
Company and not the
upstarting
Company of this time line. 

He locked the door, told Kid not to stay up too late, and climbed into bed.  He drifted off to sleep trying to make sense of the strange day he’d had.

Jack woke early, got dressed, and left a note for Kid that he’d be back by lunchtime.  The hotel was nearby and Jack decided to walk
.  A
fter all, in a few years the street level of New York would be all but non-existent as the city’s commerce began to grow skyward.