Until Time Stands Still (3 page)

“Would you stop picking at that damn muffin!” Lewis Carter growled, slapping the paper down on the table. Isabelle sighed, and wrapped her muffin in her napkin. She stood, and silently brushed the crumbs off her pants suit.

“Where do you think you’re going?” He snapped. He stood.

She froze. “Work.”

“I don’t know why you keep that silly book shop. I make more than enough money to support you. I give you an allowance.” He shouted.

“I’m not a child that needs an allowance. I’m an adult who wants to work and earn a salary.” She snapped. She ran to her room and locked the door behind her. She only breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the front door slam shut. Lewis had been cold as ice to her for the last six months, and she had no clue why.

“Mrs. Carter?” Their housekeeper, Darla walked into the room. “You called for me?”

“Yes, Darla.” She smiled kindly at the woman who had been her closest friend since she had married Lewis. “Are you aware of anything that might be bothering Lewis? He’s been so grumpy lately.”

“I don’t know what he’s been upset about. He’s been fairly kind toward me.”

“Have you noticed him acting strangely at all?”

“Not really.” Darla said.  

Isabelle sighed. “I’ll have to talk to him. Thank you sweetheart.”

On the way to work, she tried to put her husband out of her mind, rocking out to her favorite radio station and dancing in her seat. She felt most free when she was listening to music. At a stoplight, someone pulled up next to her sports car and started seat dancing with her. She busted out laughing and tooted the horn as she drove off.

Her assistant, Sarah was already there, unpacking the new shipment of books.

“Heya, Isabelle! You’re late!” Sarah said, brushing a strand of long blonde hair out of her face.

“Yeah.” She said. She went to the backroom and put her purse and coat away.

“Alright, spill it.” Sarah demanded. “What did he do this time?” She leaned against the doorframe with her arms crossed over her chest.

“What makes you think he did anything?” Isabelle said softly.

“You usually come in here smiling.” Sarah said. “You look like you’re about to burst into tears.”

“Oh.” Isabelle sighed. “I don’t know what his problem is with me. He’s been so distant. I think he might be having an affair.” She sighed and began eating the rest of her muffin.

“Really? Are you sure?”

“No. But what else could it be?”

“Lots of things. Guys get grumpy when they are stressed with work.”

“Yeah, maybe. That’s no reason to take it out on me.” She said firmly. “He used to be so romantic. Not just in big ways, but every day. Now, he barely looks at me. He never touches me anymore. I’ve lost twelve pounds. I changed my hair. I even got new lingerie. He doesn’t even notice.” She sighed. “I don’t know what else to do.”

“Honey, don’t jump to conclusions. Just ask him what’s up. Until you do, don’t torture yourself about it. Come on, let’s crank up the tunes and get this shipment on the shelves.”

They spent the next four hours working steadily in between customers, and for a brief moment in time, Isabelle forgot about her miserable marriage.

********************

The team spent the last six months training him in all things military. He picked it up rather quickly, much to the General’s pleasure. He found he actually liked the guys in his unit and he genuinely respected Captain Winters. Now, they worked like a well-oiled machine, jumping through time, collecting historical items. Together, they had overtaken a Spanish galleon before it sank. The gold they recovered funded the new project the General wanted to start. The quarters for the women were completed, and the General sent them out to start finding women.

            “Okay boys, you know the drill.” Graham said. “Fan out.”

            The team came through a secondary lay line energy portal in the woods. Mykel was still amazed at how well he came through without the side effects. Instead of feeling torn apart from the inside out, it was more like a punch in the gut that leaves you breathless. He didn’t even get dizzy anymore.

            They were there to scout out a few of the women they were to take back with them. Bryant and Mykel were paired up. The two broke up off from the rest of the group and went west into nearest city.

            “So, Myke, what kind of woman are you looking for?” Hollister said, nudging him playfully.

            “I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I still think it’s wrong.”

            “We all do, dude.” Bry said. “But you know we don’t have a choice.”

            “I get it.” And Myke did. Hundreds of people died every day, some of natural causes, old age. But more and more were dying from starvation and cancer, because of the radiation. Others froze to death in the colder temperatures. People killed each other over a loaf of bread and a case of water. Logically he knew, they had to do something drastic to restore the balance of the population, but morally, he was opposed to being forced into marriage with a total stranger.

            Dressed in civilian clothing, they were blending into the crowd smoothly, pretending to window shop. He was amazed at how abundantly rich this time was. People could still afford to drive, and go to grocery stores to purchase anything they wanted. He saw people just giving out money on street corners. In his time, no one had any to spare. People worked hard doing anything they could, for a few scraps of food. Salt, sugar and coffee were as good as gold. Begging usually got you shot, and once you were dead, whatever you had on you was stolen. He saw a woman drop some change on the ground and she just kept walking. He bent and picked up the quarter, stuffing it into his pocket.

            “Isn’t it weird?” Bryant said. “If they only knew what was coming, no one would be so wasteful.” He plucked half a doughnut out of the top of the trash and ate it, savouring the sugary treat as they walked. The whole team knew his favourite part of missions was the good eats they could get so easily. Whenever they could, they went to a buffet and gorged themselves until they almost puked, just because they could. The first time, Mykel had felt guilty about it, knowing how many kids and people starved in their own time. But after a while, he just learned to appreciate it. Sometimes he would sneak food back into the city and give it to his neighbour's sixteen year old daughter in the apartment building he used to live in. She especially liked peanut butter cups and strawberries.

            “It’s better they don’t know. It would just cause too much chaos.” Mykel said. “Do you see anyone yet?”

            “I like redheads.” Bryant said. “Like her…only younger.” He motioned to a short haired middle aged woman walking down the street with her head down. She was doing something with her cell phone. She didn’t even notice them as she walked by.

            “These people wouldn’t last a day in our world.” Mykel said. “They are all soft. Spoiled. Lazy. No situational awareness.”

            “Maybe.” Bryant said. “They will learn to get along though. We did.”

            Mykel sighed. “Let’s just find you a woman and get out of here.”

            “What about you?”

            Mykel didn’t answer him.

            Bryant found a beautiful woman in the local park. She was jogging with her dog. She was about twenty or so, and fit, with long auburn hair tied into a braid. They followed her home, as discretely as they could, and waited until dark. Graham was having a hard time finding a woman who wasn’t repulsed by the nasty scar on his face. Johnny was staking out the movie theatre at the mall with Jacob.

            “I feel like a fucking peeping tom.” Mykel growled, shifting in his crouched position. His leg was falling asleep. “I’m going for a coffee. Want one? They have those weird sugary ones in this time.”

            “We aren’t supposed to split up. You know that.”

            “It’s not like we are in the middle of a fire fight dude. I’ll be back in ten. Do you want a coffee or not?”

            “Sure.” Bryant grinned. “Get me another doughnut huh?”

            Myke grinned. “Man, it’s a good thing we don’t have those on base. You’d have a doughnut belly and never be able to keep up on the fitness tests.”

            “Yeah…probably. I wonder if she can cook…how do they make doughnuts?” Myke snuck back toward the street. He liked Bryant, but he talked too much. He liked all the guys really. At first, when he joined the program, he thought they would haze him for being the new guy. He was right. They did, until he found them a mother lode of treasure. After that, they all respected him. He was finally one of them. They trained him in military tactics and he taught them all how to use ancient weapons and swords, just in case they ever had to go back to a time before guns.

Of all the time periods he’d been to, he liked this one the best. They were cleaner, for one. Nothing was worse than standing within twenty feet of people who only bathed once a year and never shaved. He hated the middle ages. The one time he got yanked back, he nearly caught the plague. He hightailed it out of the town and hid up in the mountains away from everyone, and scrubbed daily, checking for flea bites every hour until another portal had opened up for him. When he got back to his time, he spent all his savings to get a decontamination shower and a physical, just to be sure he didn’t bring it back into their time. The last thing they needed was another million people dying because of him. He had told the General that story, and they agreed to implement a decontamination system into the program. So far they had been lucky.

            He had placed their coffee order in a crowded shop, and was making his way back to their hide when he saw a very beautiful woman with long hair come out of a bookstore. She was dressed nicely, in a pale blue blouse and jeans. She was absolutely stunning. She turned a corner and on instinct he followed her, immediately drawn to her. She walked down an alley and turned right.

            Mykel made it out of the alley and turned, just in time to see a man grab the woman, put her into a headlock and drag her backward, up into a van and slam the door shut. No one around seemed to have noticed, it happened so fast. If he hadn’t been watching her already, he may not have noticed either. The van sped off. He dropped the coffee and ran after the van, full speed. He keyed the microphone hidden just under his shirt at his throat.

            “Top, we have a situation. I just witnessed a woman being abducted.”

            “Was she one you wanted?”

            “No, but I’m chasing the van.”

            “Don’t.” The reply came back a few seconds later.

            “What?”

            “We aren’t from here. We have no identification. No address. Even if the police were called, and you gave a statement, you couldn’t give them any personal info on yourself. That looks shady to cops. Makes them ask questions. We don’t like questions.”