Читать книгу City Out of Time - William Robison III - Страница 9

The City Processing Center

Moments Later - Relative

Seth Franco stood in the doorway, not twenty feet away, but Lanz felt the physical gulf between them as he’d never felt it before. Seth was dead. Lanz had buried him. Lanz was conscious that he’d stopped breathing, felt the rapid twitching in his left eye, was aware of the heat in the room, and the way the refrigerator hummed. He could smell the drying sweat from his all night hike. Here he was, surrounded by all the senses of reality, and yet what he was experiencing was entirely impossible.

Seth must have sensed the gulf between them. He stepped through the doorway and the door shut behind him. Where he’d been cocksure a moment before, now he was hesitant. Seth raised his arms, almost beseeching Lanz.

“Look,” he said, “I had to do it. I wanted to tell you, of course, but that’s not how it’s done.”

Seth took another step forward, wary, as if Lanz might leap off the couch and strike at any moment.

“They said that they had to be sure that you were… one of us. Normal people can’t ever know about our existence.”

Seth edged around the far end of the couch, using it as a shield between them.

“I had to fake my death, because… well, I just had to. You understand? I just had…”

Lanz suddenly jumped up and rushed Seth, who moved quickly to some sort of defensive stance, but it was no use. Lanz was on him, wrapping his younger brother in a big bear hug and picking him up off the ground.

“You’re alive,” Lanz whispered, as he felt the reality of his once dead brother. “You’re alive.”

After a long moment, the brothers separated, and Seth looked relieved. Lanz, however, now felt the questions surging to the forefront.

“They told me you were dead.”

“They had to. It’s not easy getting out of the Army. You can’t just leave your post; especially not in Iraq. I had to fake my death if I was going to come here.”

“That was a really stupid idea, Seth. What if they catch you?”

“They won’t.”

“But what if they do…”

“Trust me, bro… they won’t.”

They looked at each other – normality slowly returning. Seth sought his older brother’s approval, while staying defiant and independent to the end. Lanz remained in charge; protective and responsible.

“Well… your funeral sucked anyway. It didn’t even get me out of work. And what the hell is this all about?”

Lanz spun around, taking in the entire room and everything else that had happened to him in the past 24 hours.

“Sorry about the secrecy. There are rules. But I had to know whether you were a time traveler like me. It’s genetic, so I knew it was likely.”

“We had two different fathers.”

“You’re still bringing that up?”

“I’m just saying…”

“Well, you’re here. So, I guess I was right. End of argument.”

“I wasn’t arguing with you little brother, I was just…”

“ANYWAY… I’m glad you’re here.”

Lanz put his arm around his brother’s shoulders, mussing up his brother’s hair with his hand.

“Yeah, I’m glad to see you too… where the hell are we?”

“The City? Didn’t Amelia explain it to you?”

“Yeah… but I mean, is this some old 1950’s underground bomb shelter for the President or something? Why do we have to enter by cave? I mean what’s with this place…”

“This place… it’s great. But… it kind of defies description. It’s better if you just see it for yourself. Come on, I can’t wait to show you around.”

Seth led the way back to the door Lanz had entered before and went out. They started walking up the corridor, back towards the rotunda where Lanz had entered this new bizarre world.

Seth asked. “You’ve been through processing?”

“Processing?”

“You know… state your name and date?”

“Yeah… what’s that all about?”

Seth opened the door at the far end and they both re-entered the chaos of the processing chamber. Seth stood close to Lanz and pointed to the two cave mouths that Lanz had come through.

“Those are the entrance tunnels. There’s actually a different tunnel that leads out, but it’s in our departure chamber,” Seth explained, “This whole room is called processing. We take in the new travelers and the returning travelers and we process them. We like to keep everyone temporally segregated for their own comfort by decade.”

“Temporally segregated? What the hell does that mean?”

“It just means that guys from the 1960’s tend to like to stay with guys from the 1960’s.”

“Aren’t all these people coming from 1996?” Lanz asked.

“They come from all over,” Seth replied. “I mean look at all these people. Do they look like they just came over from the mall or something?”

Lanz looked at the people checking in at the processing gates and really saw for the first time what was obviously right in front of him the entire time. These people streaming in through the gates were travelers from all different times and places. A woman dressed in a 1960’s Jackie Kennedy outfit was standing right next to some business suited guy from the 1980’s. Both had the same bewildered look on their faces. In fact, the only people in the entire processing area that looked to be the same were the people standing in the center in the uniforms.

“And the guys in the uniforms?”

“That’s where I work… in the teams. They’re part of the Retrieval Corps. Come on, I’ll show you.”

Seth pushed his way through the crowd and Lanz struggled to keep up. As he passed one of the archways, he looked up and saw that the archway was labeled with a year – 1960. Lanz hurried to keep up as he realized that Seth was heading towards the large central archway where the soldiers had gone earlier.

“So… the archways all have different years on them?”

“Yeah, you usually head out of here and through one of those archways to the decade that you just departed. New arrivals then go to a theater and watch an orientation film.”

“Shouldn’t I see that?”

“Nah… I can give you the gist of it myself. Come on, we’re almost there.”

They headed straight for the large central arch.

“This is where I work,” Seth noted, “The Teams actually have their own processing center – since we’re constantly coming and going.”

They walked through the archway and down a long sloping ramp. Lanz noted that this particular archway was easily large enough for construction vehicles to pass. Sure enough, at the bottom of the ramp, there were several forklifts parked and waiting.

Seth walked by the construction equipment without comment and reached another checkpoint where an attractive young blonde was seated at a chair with a clipboard in her hand. The passageway forked here to the left and right. As they approached the blonde, Lanz noticed a control room off to the right about ten feet off the ground and with all of its shades pulled. Lanz knew it had to be a control room, though, because of the large glass windows that surrounded the room on all sides.

“This is where we bring in everything that we retrieve,” Seth explained.

“It’s pretty quiet now because most of the retrieval items arrive late at night when the rest of the city is asleep.”

“Hello, Seth,” said the blonde as they approached.

“Sally… I’d like you to meet my brother, Lanz.”

The blonde stood up immediately and shook Lanz’s hand with a little extra warmth in her handshake. Lanz was, quite frankly, a little confused. He’d never had an attractive woman warm up to him so quickly. He smiled broadly.

“Very nice to meet you,” Lanz said.

“And you,” she replied.

“I’m just going to show him around for a minute and then take him over to orientation,” Seth said. “Please log us in.”

“No problem,” Sally replied. “See you around, Lanz.”

Seth led Lanz up the right corridor past the retrieving dock’s control room.

“This is the way to the Ops. Center where I work,” Seth noted.

Sally waved to Lanz. Lanz waved back.

Seth cleared his throat.

“Sally’s a little… friendly,” Seth noted.

“Nothing wrong with being friendly,” Lanz returned. “I haven’t been friendly in a long time.”

“Friendly is fine, as long as there aren’t any… unforeseen side effects.”

“Ohhhh… right.”

They continued up the corridor and entered an oval room that was ringed by large computer monitors and that had a slightly raised platform in the center. There were several uniformed people around the edges of the room, monitoring various events – and a few others that were reading newspapers, drinking coffee, or in some other way occupied. Lanz looked up at a monitor and saw what he thought were red figures moving across a purple street with blue buildings in the background. As he watched, white flashes erupted from a blue corner and the red figures dropped down behind another blue wall.

“Damn it!”

Lanz spun at another familiar voice. Standing behind him on the raised platform watching the exact same monitor was Colonel Buck.

“Stalingrad is a tough nut to crack,” Colonel Buck muttered aloud. He ran a hand across the stubble of his beard as he watched the events unfold on the screen.

“Sir,” said a technician, “German reinforcements are cutting off their escape route. Even if they acquire, they might not get out.”

“Very well… give them the abort signal. Use the alternate.”

The technician immediately turned back to his monitor and Lanz could see that he was speaking into a microphone. Lanz turned back to the monitor above him and watched as the red figures changed directions and ducked down a purple alleyway.

Lanz turned away from the monitor and back to Colonel Buck. At the same moment, the Colonel looked down and saw Lanz standing there.

“Ah, Lanz… I see you made it,” Colonel Buck said. “Glad to see that I was wrong about you.”

And then he turned back to his work.

Seth pulled Lanz out of the room at the far end and into a wide corridor beyond.

“Colonel Buck was the logical choice to bring you in,” Seth noted. “He’s my team leader and he’s a good guy. You’ll really like him once you get to know him.”

“Well, he certainly never let on that he was a time traveler.”

“Yeah, he’s pretty seamless.”

“What the hell was going on back there?” Lanz asked.

“I don’t know… some operation… Looked like Team Five trying to penetrate Stalingrad again.”

“Stalingrad? As in THE Stalingrad?”

“Yeah, we go all over the place and all over time,” Seth noted. “It’s pretty damn cool.”

“Not exactly the first place I would head if I could travel through time.”

“You can travel through time… you just don’t know how yet. While most of our jobs are pretty mundane, you’d be surprised at some of the places we go. Sometimes a team can end up in a pretty hairy situation, but we always preach safety first. What’s the point of living history if you don’t learn to avoid its mistakes first?”

“So you traded in one risky profession for another?” Lanz asked. “I hope it at least pays better.”

“Um, not exactly,” Seth said, and then turned to an unmarked door and pulled it open as a means to change the subject.

Lanz followed Seth into what looked like a classroom. There were walls with charts, maps, tables, and photos. There was a desk at the front and several small two person tables throughout the room. Seth took a seat at one of the desks, but Lanz remained standing as he looked about the room.

“This is Team Three’s ops room,” Seth explained. “This is basically where we work. We do all our research and planning here. We have our briefings and get our assignments down the hall, but I’m not allowed to take you there. Usually, if I’m not here, then I’m probably in the locker room getting ready for an assignment.”

“Yeah, but what exactly do you do?”

“We retrieve things… from time.”

“Strangely, I had worked that out for myself. What sorts of things?”

“Anything the City can’t produce for itself. So, for instance, last week we were tasked to acquire some whisky from the back of this Chicago speakeasy. And, yesterday, we were in Berlin and…”

“Seth?”

The door slammed open and a rather perturbed woman walked through the door. Lanz immediately took note of her. She was of medium build, strong limbed, but graceful in shape and size – everywhere perfectly proportioned to be a woman, and not a Barbie doll. She had medium length black hair that somehow looked blue in the fluorescent lighting. Her face was oval, with soft brown eyes and red lips. She had a small cleft in her chin – a strong jaw for a woman. Her eyes, at that particular moment, were fiery with anger.

“I’m still waiting for your after-action report,” she said testily. “Why I always have to track you down to get it, I haven’t got a clue.”

Seth stood up from his chair and said, “I’ll get the report for you.”

Celeste turned and saw Lanz staring at her. Their eyes locked for a brief moment and Lanz thought he could see the depths of the universe in her pupils. She seemed to barely regard him.

“And who’s this?” she asked.

“Lanz is my brother,” Seth noted. “Lanz… Celeste, my section leader… but don’t let the tough act fool you – she’s really a sweetheart.”

“Seth,” warned Celeste.

“I’ll be right back,” Seth countered.

Seth left the room. Lanz didn’t move. He realized that he was staring, but he couldn’t help himself.

“So… Lanz, is it? That’s an unusual name,” she said. “Where did you get it?”

“Some Uncle that my mom liked…” Lanz replied distractedly, “And you’re Celeste?”

“Yes.”

“Any last name?”

“No, Lanz. Didn’t you know? I’m the only one of my kind.”

Lanz hesitated. She was really being standoffish. Lanz wondered if he reeked of stale sweat.

“I’m Celeste Pangea,” she said, breaking up the silence a moment later.

“Is that Greek?” Lanz asked.

“My father is American,” she replied.

“I just meant that…”

Seth returned and Celeste snatched the report out of his hand on her way out of the room.

“Wow,” was all Lanz could say.

“Yeah,” Seth replied. “I think she’s PMS’ing. She’s definitely ticked off about something. I don’t know. I’ve always found her hard to figure out.”

“Still…” Lanz said. “Not all bad.”

“And some quite good,” Seth agreed.

They grinned at each other and then Seth’s smile faded.

“Look, uh, Lanz… I know I promised you a grand tour and all, but the Colonel needs us back here for a briefing in like twenty minutes. So I’m going to have to take you over to Temp Housing and get you situated, and then I’ve got to rush back here. We can catch up tomorrow, okay?”

Lanz was only disappointed for a brief second, and then remembered the exhaustion that was just under the surface.

“Yeah,” Lanz said, “I’m beat anyway.”

Seth hurried out of the room with Lanz in tow. They went about three intersections before they climbed some stairs and suddenly were out in the middle of a beautiful town plaza just as the sun was setting over distant hills. To their left, a sloping lawn of grass stretched until it hit a promenade that overlooked a beautiful river, and to their right, a red brick plaza filled with public art works, strolling couples, fountains, and wonderful cottonwood trees. It was a temperate 70 degrees with just the slightest breeze of cool air.

Lanz looked around in amazement, but Seth had stopped being a tour guide. He was already setting off across the plaza and Lanz ran to keep up.

Before Lanz could actually catch up to Seth, he ducked down another set of stairs that had an arched wrought iron sign over it that said, “Tube.” Lanz followed Seth down about two hundred steps to a large, clean white platform.

There was a loud screeching noise and a rush of air, and a full sized subway tube car – like ones Lanz had seen in London and Paris – breezed into the station. Seth pulled Lanz onto an empty six person car.

“Where are we?” Lanz asked.

“This is The City,” Seth noted. “I wish I could take you to the film… but, well, you’ll pick it up on your own. In the meantime, just remember that all tubes end up back at the City Center and from there, just look for the Command Center stairs and you’ll find me. You really can’t get lost. Look, here’s our stop.”

The tube pulled into another station and Seth shoved Lanz out of the car and onto a smaller platform. The station was marked with signs in several locations that said, Temporary Housing.

Seth led the way up the stairs and into a fancy hotel lobby. He walked straight to the front desk and an older gentleman approached from behind the desk.

“Yes?”

“My brother, Lanz Franco, just arrived.”

The receptionist looked at Lanz with an evaluating stare and asked, “90’s?”

“Yes.”

“I’ve got a room for him in the yellow tower,” said the man, and he produced a credit card like pass key. “Room Y1435. Down the hall, first elevator on the left – says Yellow Tower.”

Seth took the key and handed it to Lanz.

“You heard him?”

“Yeah, great.”

“Good, bro. Look, I’ve got to go. But I’ll find you later.”

Seth turned around and dashed back down the stairs and was gone in five seconds. Lanz looked at the key and then at the receptionist.

“Is there a bar around here?” Lanz asked.

“Not in this area,” the receptionist replied. “But it’s probably not a good idea anyway.”

“Yeah… I guess you’re right.”

Lanz went down the hallway and found the first elevator on the left. Sure enough, it was marked, “Yellow Tower.” He pressed the button and waited. The doors slid open and a Mariah Carey song tumbled out. Lanz stepped inside and pressed a button for the fourteenth floor – humming along as Mariah continued to sing.

It was a short walk to his hotel room from the elevator. The room was beautiful – large, airy, well lit. It reminded Lanz of the time he’d lucked out and been upgraded to a suite while on leave in Germany. Lanz noticed the room only in passing however, as the view of the setting sun drew him to the window.

A large town, maybe fifty thousand people, spread out before him in a wide, riverine valley. With the last rays of the sunset bathing the hills beyond, and the first evening lights twinkling on all over the City, Lanz felt a peace that he hadn’t felt in days. Lanz still had no idea where he was, but there was a peace and serenity to this view.

He kicked off his shoes and didn’t care that sand spilled out. He pulled off his sweat soaked shirt and pants and fell backwards on the bed.

For the longest moment he simply lay there trying to wrap his head around the view of the City and all that had happened in the past few days. And then, oddly, he thought of Celeste and the fire in her eyes.

He was still thinking of her as he drifted off to sleep.