TIMESHIFT - Chapter 2

TIMESHIFT

Chapter Two: Restart

06: 35: 00 – 15th June, 2037 – Apartment 721b, West Side Street, Central City

In the dark room something clicked. The faint green glow of the clock face on the bedside cabinet increased on Liam’s face as tinny music began to play through the speakers, steadily growing louder as the seconds ticked by:

‘And our time is running out...

Our time is running out...’

Groaning under his breath Liam pulled an arm out from under the duvet; keeping his eyes tight shut he blindly waved his hand about until the alarm clock was under his fingers and he could push down on the snooze button.

‘Liam... Neil... Caine,’ a soft voice whispered in his ear, ‘if you touch that clock I swear I'll get you put on an overtime shift on your first day.’

‘Mmmmmmnnnn,’ Liam replied with a non-committal mumble, leaving the radio to play and turning from the bright green readout on the clock until he was facing Megan. In the darkness of the room he could just about make out her red hair while the electronic display of his clock-radio had turned her pale skin a ghostly green colour. Smiling to himself he let his hand wander down her hair, feeling the softness of it in his touch as he curled a few strands around his fingers and let it wind its way free.

Smiling at his touch Megan opened her startling blue eyes, even in the dim light of the room they shone brightly, exactly as they had done on the day she and Liam had met. ‘Does that whining mean that you’re going to get up?’ she asked, wincing slightly as the vocals on the radio hit a high note, ‘or does it mean that once again you’re going to audition for that band?’

‘Nothing wrong with a spot of Muse in the morning,’ Liam replied softly, tapping her on the nose with a finger as she poked her tongue out at him, ‘how else am I gonna wake up in time?’

‘A job in Temp-Ops,’ Megan replied with a smile, ‘should mean you never have to worry about being on time again.’ Leaning over she kissed him softly on the lips and stretched out her arm, tapping off the alarm clock and cutting off the music to leave the room silent once more. Ignoring Liam as he tried to grab her arm she then flicked the switch on the small halogen lamp that rested on the bedside, lighting up the room despite the small size of the bulb.

‘Not fair,’ Liam muttered, pulling back from her kiss and wincing at the brightness, rubbing at his eyes to try and clear his blurred vision.

‘Liam?’ Megan asked curiously, blinking her own eyes in the sudden light as she stared down at him, resting her head on one hand and searching his green eyes as he tried to focus; ‘Why is your hair blue?’

‘Wha-?’ he started, frowning at her statement before pulling a strand of his hair down in front of his eyes; true enough it was a startling electric blue colour. ‘Oh sodding blue buggery hell!’ he cursed angrily, ignoring the smirk of laughter from Megan and climbing out of the bed. Making his way into the bathroom he pulled the string and turned the light on, staring at his hair in the mirror with still dozy eyes, but that didn’t change anything. Turning wildly away from the mirror he grabbed at the shampoo bottle that was sitting innocuously beside the bath and squirted a dollop into his hand: it was electric blue as well. ‘Bloody HELL!’ he roared angrily, chucking down the bottle and running his hands through his hair before realising that he was putting more of the coloured dye in and slamming them down on the sink.

Megan appeared at the doorway, her bright red hair glowing in the light and her eyes sparkling as she giggled uncontrollably, delighted at the image of Liam bent over the sink with his bright blue hair sticking up at all angles in untidy spikes. ‘What the hell happened?’ she asked between her smirks.

‘Bloody Jonas and Harry,’ Liam said, ‘I knew they were up to something; they’ve swapped all me bloody shampoo for hair dye!’ he held up his hands as proof, showing the blue stain that was now on them from handling the colourant. ‘They’re not still here are they?’ he asked, putting his hands down on his legs as he perched on the side of the bathtub.

‘I sent everyone packing last night,’ Megan replied, chewing on a finger as she appraised Liam from the doorway, ‘why?’

‘Because if they were here I’d be crying out blue murder,’ Liam replied with a sour smile, picking up the shampoo bottle and making stabbing motions in the air. Megan smiled back and held out her hands, catching the bottle deftly when he threw it to her. Opening the cap and taking a sniff she held it away from her nose quickly with a disgusted look.

‘At least your hair doesn’t smell like whatever they put in it,’ she replied, walking into the room and putting the bottle on the shelf by the sink, ‘it might wash out, but it shouldn’t make a difference.’

‘What do you mean?’ Liam asked, rubbing his eyes again before looking up at her.

‘I’ve seen Temp-Ops people with weirder looks than blue hair,’ she said, reaching down with one hand and stroking his head gently, letting him take her arm and kiss it softly. Standing up he pulled her close and kissed her once more, running his hands up and down the skin of her back and feeling it shiver under his touch.

‘Washes out, does it?’ Liam asked with a smile forming on his lips as Megan reached down and pulled his vest free from his boxer shorts so she could run her hands across the strong muscles of his stomach. Holding her close with one arm Liam reached backward and turned the shower on, pulling the curtain across the bath quickly before his arms were thrust over his head as Megan pulled his top up and over his face. Leaving him to wrestle his arms free from the vest Megan pulled her own top off, only to find her arms stuck as Liam held them over her head and kissed her again, teasing her by pulling back with her eyes still blindfolded by her top.

Letting her arms go Liam took Megan by the waist and lifted her on to the sink as she wrapped her slender legs around him and freed her arms to grab him round the neck; pulling him into a deep kiss as she twisted her fingers into his hair so he couldn’t pull away again. Keeping one arm around her waist Liam lifted Megan again, stumbling slightly as she tightened her grip on him with her thighs, but managing to stay upright. Pulling back the shower curtain Liam put one foot in the bath, grinning as Megan let out a small shriek when the water hit her; ‘Pillock,’ she muttered fondly, running one of her hands down the side of Liam’s face.

‘Yeah,’ Liam agreed, kissing her quickly, ‘but you love me.’

‘That I do,’ Megan replied, kissing him back before shrieking again as Liam lost his footing on the slippery surface of the bathtub and started to fall down. Grabbing out with one arm Megan managed to grab onto the shower curtain, only for it to tear away with a succession of pops as the fragile plastic loops that held it tore apart. A second later Liam was lying on his back in the tub with Megan on top of him, the two of them covered by the torn curtain with water pouring down on top. Giggling softly at Liam’s expression Megan leant down and kissed him once again as he shifted beneath her, letting her straddle him firmly. ‘Works for me,’ she whispered as the steam in the room began to build up, hiding the two of them as they entangled in the curtain.

06: 35: 00 – 15th June, 2037 – Warehouse 52, Lisbon Street, Central City

Liam ducked as plaster flew out of the wall above his head from the spray of bullets the Uzi kicked out towards him, luckily for him the man firing wasn’t aiming so much as pointing the gun and guessing at the vague direction that the two officers were moving in. ‘I said shoot them!’ Donahue shouted angrily at the man, taking the Uzi and sending a burst of fire toward the crate that Liam had ducked behind.

‘Good shot, isn’t he?’ Oberon remarked wryly to Liam as bullets slammed into the crate, ‘I'll give you cover, get out and head back to base, I'll be right behind you,’ he added with reassurance as the younger man looked at him with concern. ‘You have to get back and stop whatever he’s planned, so go… NOW!’ Liam didn’t look back as he ran from the cover of the boxes, he felt the bullets from the next burst of the Uzi pass him by as Oberon opened up with his two Colts. Donahue threw himself behind cover but the second man was hurled backward by them, blood spraying the wall behind him before he slammed into it and collapsed to the ground.

‘Catch you later Donahue!’ Oberon yelled, dropping the Colts and running for the door as bullets from the machine pistol shattered the box he had been sheltering behind. Kicking the door open Oberon saw Liam’s car skid out of the warehouse lot and speed off with dust flying from the tyres. He only paused for a moment but framed in the light of the doorway it gave Donahue a perfect target as he aimed the Uzi and jammed the trigger down. The kick of the pistol firing sent his shots high but that only served to help Donahue as the first bullet went straight into Oberon’s spine, killing him instantly. Running along the passageway Donahue fired another burst out the doorway as he approached but it was only when he arrived that he saw Liam was long departed.

‘Pack it up,’ Donahue shouted back into the warehouse, ‘get ready to move out!’ Looking down at Oberon’s body he spat on the corpse venomously, his blue eyes burning with hate as he turned and stalked back into the warehouse. ‘Someone clear that piece of shit up as well.’

06: 57: 42 – June 15th, 2037 – Apartment 712b, West Side Street, Central City

‘That didn’t work too well,’ Liam said from the bathroom as Megan hunted around the bedroom, pulling various articles of clothing from beneath the bed.

‘What do you mean?’ she asked, looking up at him as she pulled a top on, ‘what wasn’t “well”?’ she continued in a suspicious tone, shooting him a look that told Liam to give a careful answer.

‘Not what I meant,’ Liam replied, poking a tongue out at her as he pointed upward, ‘my hair’s still blue.’

‘Didn’t say it was an infallible method,’ she retorted with a smile, ‘definitely more fun then sticking your head in the toilet and flushing though.’ Pulling on her skirt and zipping it up Megan looked around the room again, her eyes searching the random chaos that made up Liam’s bedroom. ‘Did you see where my ID went?’

‘Would that be this one here?’ Liam asked, walking out of the bathroom and picking up the plastic card from the top of the dresser and reading the details off. ‘We have a card for one Megan Devin Drury, assistant security director in the local governor’s office’ he read, lifting it away from her as she tried to pull it from him, ‘what else we got? Hair: red; eyes: green; height: five foot seven?’ he turned to her with a raised eyebrow, ‘sure that’s right?’

Punching him on the arm she took the card away from him, clipping it onto her skirt and kissing Liam quickly on the cheek; ‘They took my height when I had shoes on, not that you’veever seen me in them for more than it takes to get in the door,’ she added with a grin. ‘You clock in at eight,’ she continued, ‘reporting to one of Mackenzie’s top men, I think he’s ranked at lieutenant, but you’ll probably get seen by her first.’

‘So will she like my hair?’ Liam asked as Megan walked out the door, pausing with one hand on the handle and turning back to look at him.

‘Wear a hat,’ she said with a smile, ‘probably some kind of clothing other than a towel would be good too.’

‘But it works so well with you!’ Liam yelled as Megan left the room, walking down the short passageway of his flat to the front door which he heard turn and shut, the entry unit by the side of the door beeping as Megan locked it from the outside before leaving. Smiling to himself Liam looked around at the disorganised clutter of his room, searching out the various articles of clothing that he could wear to work while he muttered to himself; ‘Decisions, decisions.’

07: 27: 42 – June 15th, 2037 – Lennox Street, Central City

Liam spun the wheel of the car fiercely as he dodged around another vehicle, the wheels sliding from side to side as he controlled the swerve to move around the car and surge forward as he jammed his foot down on the accelerator. He’d seen Oberon fall from the doorway as he had pulled away, blood spraying from the Lieutenant’s upper chest and neck as the burst of gunfire tossed him forward, even if he had survived Liam was certain Donahue’s next move would have been putting a bullet in the man’s skull.

Taking his eyes off the road for a second Liam put the details for the base into his mobile phone but found he was greeted only by the discordant bells that told him he had no signal. Biting down on his tongue Liam punched the phone angrily sending it skittering across the car as he eased it around another corner.

He checked the rear view mirror for any sign of pursuit by Donahue or any of his men but there were no other vehicles following the car at all. They hadn’t been listening long enough to work out exactly what the terrorist had done in the Temp-Ops building or how he had gained access, all Liam knew now was that no one knew except for him and he had less than two hours to find out what was wrong.

07: 28: 12 – June 15th, 2037 – Apartment 712b, West Side Street, Central City

Liam, his blue hair hidden safely hidden beneath a short woollen hat, cursed angrily when he walked into the locked apartment door, forgetting that Megan had activated the system on her way out; ‘Every time,’ he muttered to himself, leaning against the door’s sensor unit so that it could receive the signal from the key card in his wallet. The door swung open and he walked outside waiting on the other side for the door to close again before he pushed his thumb down on the recognition pad beside the doorway; it beeped once and a red light began to pulse throughout the door’s surface showing that it was locked again. ‘Never should have coded Megan in as well,’ Liam muttered to himself, rubbing the side of his forehead where he’d bumped it against the surface inside.

‘Your pretty girl lock you in there again, Liam?’ asked a voice and he turned to see Alvin Baldwin, his ninety year old neighbour from across the complex, sitting outside his flat, bare feet resting up on the flower rail as usual and his blue eyes twinkling in the early morning light.

‘I’ve told you before Alv,’ Liam replied, ignoring his neighbour’s jibe, turning and offering the grey haired man an easy salute, ‘you’ll never grow anything in your plant box by feeding them cheese.’

‘Yeah sure,’ the old man replied, waving his hand dismissively stretching luxuriously in his seat, ‘you off to the new thing then? Security guard or something?’

‘Something like that,’ Liam confirmed, ‘party didn’t keep you up did it?’ he asked, pulling out the keys for his car and walking around the apartment walkway until he was at the corner. Alvin shook his head in response, indicating the small hearing aid he wore and flicking the switch on and off quickly. Liam smiled backed, nodding to himself and then pointing up at the sky before opening the door to the stair well; ‘Weather’s calling for rain today, old fella; you stay in the warm okay?’

A snort of derisive laughter followed Liam down the stairs to the car park: ‘You sound like my son’s wife!’ Alvin yelled, but when he was sure the younger man was out of sight he pulled his feet off the flower rail and put them back into his slippers. Opening the door to the complex’s garage Liam disengaged the alarm on his car with a flick of his key ring and the red Mazda RX-5 across the car park flashed its headlights in response. Amongst the sleek vehicles parked there his vintage car looked somewhat out of place, not as much as Alvin’s beetle, but it was still enough to earn him the occasional catcall or derisive look from the other people living in the flats around him. Liam didn’t care much, looking at all the newer models of cars he couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d been shrunk and put on a store shelf selling electric razors.

Climbing into the car Liam turned the radio on before gunning the engine, tuning in to the same classics station he had on his clock radio:

‘They say the future’s out to get you…

You know that I won’t let you fall…

They say the future’s out to get you…

You know that I won’t let you fall…’

‘Pessimists,’ Liam muttered at the radio, gunning the engine of the car and letting go on the brake; in a moment he was surging forward with ease up the exit ramp and onto the main street outside the apartment block.

Opening the window Liam felt the cool morning air wash over him as he slipped the car into the fast lane, easily outpacing most of the other vehicles on the road as he pushed the speed up until he was cruising along easily. Reaching down to the central column he flipped open the compartment that carried the phone he always kept in the car, with practised ease he typed in the number for Megan’s phone and sent the call through, tapping his fingers on the wheel in time with the radio while he waited for the ringing to stop.

‘How you doing?’ Megan’s voice asked, crackling through the speakers and over the noise of the radio as she answered his call. ‘I’m up and away,’ Liam replied, turning off the radio so only the call sounded over the speakers, ‘you in the office already?’ he asked, wondering why he couldn’t hear any noise in the background from her end. ‘Very intuitive of you, the answer to your question is yes, despite the earlier delay I have managed to make it to work on time.’ Grinning back Liam moved the car across lanes as he hit the mid-town exit.

‘So what’s this “earlier delay” thing?’ he asked wryly, smiling again when he heard a small burst of laughter from Megan’s end. ‘Nothing like that as you full well know,’ she replied, ‘I have to go now, meetings and management beckon, I'll see you tonight,’ Pulling off down the exit ramp Liam took a second to look around before turning onto the main street and answering back; ‘I'll be home whenever they let me out, have a good day.’ Turning the wheel he pulled into the car park and flicked off the phone as Megan hung up at her end.

Pulling into a space in the middle of the car park Liam climbed out and adjusted his hat, trying to ignore the sweat that was already building up underneath in the summer heat; looking around the car park he once again found that his car was standing out – this time as the only red one amidst a collection of dark blue or black saloon cars that screamed “government employee”. Locking the car he pulled his wallet from his jeans as he walked towards the nondescript building that housed the Temporal Operations Agency; from the outside it looked like a typical office block. There were a few other people walking into the building as well but none spared Liam a second glance as he dug out his identity card from his wallet, juggling various receipts and bits of paper in his hands before he managed to wedge it all back into his pocket.

‘Must be your first day,’ a woman remarked as Liam managed to swipe his card against the door and push through it, she just leant against the door next do it and slipped through as the system registered the presence of her card. ‘Just keep your card in your wallet or in a pocket,’ she continued on the other side of the doors, ‘the reader scans your entire body for an access code.’ Looking up at his hat she smirked at the blue hairs that were poking through, ‘Best get your hair sorted as well or the boss’ll be shitting bricks when she sees you.’ With a curt nod she walked off to the opposite side of the entry room, leaning in on another door beside the reception desk and disappearing into the passageway beyond with an easy spin of her body.

Stuffing everything back into his pocket except the card Liam walked up to the security guard sat behind a nameplate that read Archibald Trygg. ‘You’d be Archie?’ he asked, showing the card to the white haired man sat in the chair there; in response Archie twitched his moustache and raised his bushy eyebrows as he looked at the car, smacking his lips before nodding sideways towards the door. ‘That it?’ Liam asked, lifting his own eyebrows in surprise.

‘No tours,’ Archie replied with a thick Norse accent, a glum expression on his face as he replied, ‘no favours and no chat, that’s it.’ He looked up again and then over Liam’s shoulder, his eyes widening in surprise. ‘That not it.’ Liam turned and looked out the windowed door panels behind him, his eyes also widening in the split second that he had to react to what they both saw.

07: 57: 28 – June 15th, 2037 – Temporal Operations Agency, Classified Location, Central City

Liam cut the corner that led into the car park of the agency building and immediately regretted doing it as the curb bounced the back of his car into the air; in combination with the sharpness of the turn he suddenly found himself rolling over in a series of bone jarring flips as the vehicle flew through the air, bouncing off other cars towards the front entrance of the building. When he flipped over the middle of the car park Liam saw the red Mazda pass beneath him and registered a faint surprise before a sudden recollection suddenly leapt to the forefront of his mind. Suddenly he could see the car flipping across the car park as if he was in the reception itself, being shoved aside by Archie as the car came crashing through the doors.

‘You go now!’ Archie yelled at Liam a moment before the car came crashing through the windows; displaying an unusual agility for his age the man had leapt over the reception desk, slamming a hand down on the emergency button on his desk a throwing all the passage doors open as people tried to rush through. Landing on his feet the security guard shoved Liam forcefully through the doorway just as they all began to shut again and glass flew across the room, slicing into Archie who was still trapped on the reception side.

On the passageway side of the doorway Liam picked himself up from the floor where Archie’s shove had knocked him down, ignoring the bewildered looks of the other people trapped in there he slammed an arm uselessly on the door as he tried to get back to the reception. Drawing back again he was thrown to the ground a second time as the door opened inwards and someone came flying through from the reception, without stopping they turned and ran short distance down the passageway before turning off into the main hallway of the building. Looking through the doorway Liam made eye contact with Archie who was lying on the floor bleeding in a dozen places, and that wasn’t including the significant piece of car bodywork wedged through his leg and pinning him to the floor. ‘Get him!’ the man shouted, ignoring everything and throwing the gun from his side holster to Liam, ‘Must stop!’ he added before his eyes rolled up into his head and he passed out.

Sprinting down the hallway amidst sirens and flashing red lights Liam stumbled as another vision, this time of Archie collapsing amidst a pool of his own blood, danced in front of his eyes; losing his footing he grabbed hold of the nearest person who happened to be the woman who had let him in through the door the day before. ‘You again?’ she said, slightly angrily, ‘what are you–?’ her question cut off abruptly as she looked beyond him, her green eyes widening as instinct made her push him away. ‘WAIT!’ she yelled, as Liam turned and saw someone come running from the entrance passageway a pistol in their hands.

Liam ignored the cry from the woman who had stopped the intruder and with a certain aim he shot off a bullet that flew towards his target and hit dead on.

In the middle of the hallway Liam collapsed as the bullet slammed into his chest and tore through the side of his heart.

In the entrance of the hallway Liam collapsed as another security guard crash-tackled him to the floor and sent the gun flying from his hands.

‘HEY!’ an angry voice cried and everyone looked to see the bald head of the Lieutenant of Field Operations poke out of his office door, ‘WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?’ Oberon Sorley shouted angrily, the thick moustache above his mouth quivering furiously as he yelled, looking down the corridor and then into the middle. Narrowing his eyes he took a quick glance at the person lying there bleeding before yelling again ‘HEY, WHO SHOT THE NEW GUY?!’

‘What?’ Liam asked in confusion from beneath the large security guard now lying on top of him.