Timesurfers Page 8

  Austin leapt to his feet. “I’ll see what’s happened.”

  Eve backed away from the group and threw up.

  Cate bolted over without hesitation.

  “Eve, what’s going on?” She panted and searched Eve’s white face.

  “Brittany...” Eve stumbled, pointing toward the crowd.

  Move, move, move! Cate thought. People stepped out of her way. Brittany lay on the ground, her body contorted at awkward angles. Did I do that to Brittany?

  Rose, Austin, and Rafe knelt around the still body.

  “I can’t heal her,” Rose hissed. “You know the rules.”

  “I caused this,” Rafe pleaded. “It should never have happened. We can’t let her die.”

  “There’s too many people around,” Austin whispered.

  “No one needs to know. I’ll fix it—no one will remember anything,” Rafe said.

  “Naitanui will know. Her neck’s broken clean through and her heart’s stopped. I can’t heal a dead body,” Rose replied quietly.

  “Someone call 911,” Cate shrieked. There was a flurry of action as everyone pulled out phones.

  “Rafe.” Austin snapped his fingers, and everyone became still.

  “But...” Rafe dragged his hands down his face.

  “I can only hold them for a minute or so.”

  “Fine!” Rafe clenched his fists. Phones away everyone. You won’t remember what you were looking for or why.

  “No! She needs help.” Cate knelt and placed a hand on Brittany’s chest, and also checked for a pulse in her neck.

  “She’s gone,” Rose said.

  Cate saw Rose was correct, literally. It was like looking at an X-ray. She could see the inner workings of Brittany’s body. Yikes! She snatched her hand away.

  Curious, she again placed a hand on Brittany’s chest. She pressed a tentative palm against Brittany’s broken vertebrae. Instinct told her to concentrate, visualise the break mending and Brittany’s heart starting to beat. Brittany’s heart shuddered and started to pound. Then she groaned and moved her shoulders.

  Cate squeaked and scuttled backward. What the...? Panic sucked all the air from her lungs. She could almost hear the clunk, clunk, clunk as her brain turned, fighting to comprehend the situation.

  Austin knelt in front of Cate. “Are you going to throw up? Faint? Scream? Run away?”

  She didn’t know.

  Brittany sat up and shoved Rafe. “I hurt all over. You dufus! What’s the story with dropping me? You and your freak friends are never joining my cheer squad.” Her eyes flashed iridescent violet, sending a chill through Cate. Brittany’s eyes were always blue.

  “Rafe, do your thing. This cheerleading practice never happened.” Austin took Cate by the arm and forced her to stand. “You’re coming with me.” There was no smile this time.

  “Ease up on my arm.” He released her, and she wobbled after him, her legs heavy and her head pounding. “I think I am going to throw up.” She collapsed and pushed her head between her knees. Slowly her head cleared and control of her body returned. She thumped the ground. “What the hell is going on?”

  Austin slouched against a tree, sizing her up. “After that demonstration it’s obvious who you are. I can’t leave you here and risk you disappearing.”

  “Well conveniently, I can’t let you disappear until I get some answers.” She rubbed at the angry red marks where Austin had grabbed her arm. They were like a brand, and she belonged to no one. “If you can’t explain, then take me to someone who can.”

  “That’s my plan.” Austin stalked over and hoisted her into his arms. “Take a deep breath, because this is going to give a whole new meaning to painful.”

  Chapter 8

  The Break

  Cate’s surroundings spun; shapes twisted and morphed into indecipherable blurs. A kaleidoscope of colours exploded and sprayed gleaming stars across the curtain of black enveloping her. The stars glittered and hung in the darkness, then rocketed away, leaving a trail of silver. She jolted to a stop, hovering in a dark, soundless void. There was a small jerk as Austin readjusted his hold on her. His fingers bit into her thigh as he folded her more tightly to his chest.

  Something cold and metallic slammed into the base of her spine, and she hurtled into the darkness. Her skin was being wrenched in every direction, like someone was trying to separate her flesh from her body. She bunched Austin’s shirt in her fists, pulling the soft, flannel material closer. The skin on her arm bubbled. Soft gurgles were followed by popping and hissing. Her terrified shrieks ripped through the darkness. Her blood was boiling.

  The darkness dissipated. The spinning subsided, and the white-hot flames tearing through her veins cooled. The agony lingered. Colours and shapes came into focus as she stopped with a thwack.

  “You scream like a banshee.” Austin set her on the ground and rubbed his ear. “I think I’m now partially deaf. You’re alive though. I was pretty confident you’d survive.”

  Cate’s ribs shrieked with each torturous breath. “Survive what?”

  “Travelling though time before you’ve crossed over kills most people.”

  “Travelling through time?” White clouds trailed across the sky, interrupted by the trees stretching toward the sun. The world tilted under her feet. Her legs buckled, and Austin’s hands were under her arms as he lowered her to the ground.

  “I may have spoken too early,” he muttered. “It would be pointless and frankly damned weak of you to die now. You lived through the worst bit.”

  “I’ll haunt you if I die, and I’ll be one pissed off ghost,” Cate hissed.

  ***

  Warm, springy grass tickled her palms as she attempted to sit up. The sun stroked her face and soaked through her bones. Cool fingers pressed gently against her forehead.

  “Cate.” Austin’s voice came from a long way off.

  She wanted to yell, but her tongue felt like an enormous cotton wool ball. Her stomach felt icky, like she needed to throw up.

  “Come back.” Austin’s voice was closer now.

  Her nausea ebbed as she focused on his rhythmic breathing. She peeled her eyelids open.

  “I don’t know why I doubt myself. I’m never wrong.” Austin helped her stand.

  Water cascaded down the sides of the steep, craggy rock formation, oblivious to the jagged edges. A riot of rainbows dappled through the spray, celebrating the end of the water’s journey. “Can I drink that?” she asked.

  “Not advisable.” A tall, athletic guy with black and blonde dreadlocks stepped from behind the waterfall.

  “Hey, Naitanui,” Austin said.

  Cate’s jaw snapped open. “You’re Naitanui?”

  He didn’t look much older than Austin. A wet suit hung around his hips, and a battered yellow surfboard was tucked under his arm. The white zinc on his nose and lips glowed like war paint against his ebony skin. His yellow eyes met hers.

  Panther, Cate thought.

  “Cate, Naitanui, Naitanui, Cate,” Austin said, looking supremely relaxed.

  “I brought a dead cheerleader back to life,” she blurted.

  Naitanui’s luminous yellow eyes widened.

  “I probably would have gone with ‘hello’ to break the ice. But that was definitely another option,” Austin said.

  “Where am I?” She demanded.

  “You’re outside the Break,” Austin said.

  “You could have killed her.” Naitanui gave Austin a look Cate was all too familiar look. Her mother used it often. It came with an “I’ll deal with you later” clause.

  “But I didn’t. We found her. I couldn’t risk her vanishing.”

  “Inside.” Naitanui stepped backward through the cascading water.

  “Huh?” Cate muttered. The water didn’t splash on Naitanui’s head. He passed through, leaving the water undisturbed. She pulled back, digging her heels into the ground and crossing her arms. Until Austin did some explaining, she wasn’t going a step further.

  �
��Have it your way.” Austin bent and grabbed her behind the knees, then slung her over his shoulder.

  “Put me down.” She pounded on his back with her fists. Unperturbed, he strode toward where Naitanui had disappeared. A shudder ran through her body, and the waterfall was behind them. They had walked straight through and arrived dry on the other side. She stretched to touch the water, and her fingers glided through nothing. Another shudder ran up her arm yet it remained dry.

  “It’s a glamour.” Austin set her down. “More magic.” He strolled further into the cave, heading for an opening in the rock wall. The slightest hint of light filtered through the gap.

  She looked from Austin to the waterfall, deliberating whether to run or follow.

  “You can’t go back to 2014 without me. Come and learn about time travel.” Austin ducked through the archway. “You demanded I bring you here for answers, so man up and come and get them.”

  Little puffs of red dirt rose as she marched after him. Time travel. What the hell? This wasn’t going at all how she expected. Austin sank lower into the ground the further he walked. If she lost him, she’d be screwed. She hesitated at the tunnel entrance. Austin was halfway down the longest line of steps she had ever seen.

  Light filtered through openings high above, highlighting the descent with a faint glow. She prodded with her toe and found the next step. With a deep breath, she slid forward. Her outstretched arms reached either side of the tunnel, and her fingers brushed smooth, undulating rock.

  She crinkled her nose as damp, heavy air that smelled of old...something...wrapped around her. Austin disappeared around a bend. Her feet slipped and skidded as she made her way down the uneven steps following his annoying, tuneless whistle. She turned the bend, and her jaw hit the floor.

  “Welcome to the Break.” Austin plonked on a plush black leather chair and swung his boots onto a massive, rectangular stone table. He pointed to a crystal jug and glasses at the far end. “There’s some water if you still want it.”

  The rock walls stretched as high as Cate could see. The space was bigger than a football field. “What is this?” Tunnel entrances sat at random intervals around the walls.

  “Extinct volcano,” Austin said.

  “Don’t they erupt?”

  “I said extinct volcano—lower risk.”

  Cate had seen NASA headquarters on the television. This looked like NASA on steroids. Three enormous flat screens, each the size of a bus, were fixed end to end along one rock wall. Overhead a line of six transparent cubes hung along the middle of the room. The faces of each cube were the size of a movie screen and showed a three-dimensional image. They rotated slowly around their own axis, providing a 360 degree view of the scene they displayed. A row of tables sat under the cubes, their glass tops flashing with neon green, red, and blue lights. The lights stopped and the tops displayed a picture for a few seconds. The process then repeated. There was a real “NASA meets Lord of the Rings” vibe. She saw no people anywhere though.

  “Is that me?” Cate squeaked, pointing to a cube.

  “Yes.” Naitanui adjusted a glowing dial and smacked a red button on one of the computer consoles. He’d changed into an out of shape white T-shirt and faded red board shorts. “Hold that thought. I have two teams returning from their missions.”

  Two men wearing old fashioned life jackets appeared in the centre of the room, dripping with water and shivering. “The ship hit the iceberg and then sank on schedule three hours later. Instead of the sixteen lifeboats she actually carried on that maiden voyage, the full complement of twenty lifeboats she was built to carry as well as some extras were available. Mortez hid the extra ones in the storage area with a glamour. Her people were also embedded in the crew to attempt to pack more passengers into each life boat. We effectively nullified her attempts to minimise loss of life. The ship took two minutes to completely sink after it snapped in half. The Carpathia arrived an hour and a half after the ship sank and rescued 705 passengers. The necessary 1517 men, women and children perished. The time line is intact.” A tall man with grey hair and a moustache reported.

  Naitanui nodded. “Well done, gentlemen. Dismissed.”

  “Are they talking about the Titanic?” Cate asked.

  “Yes, Mortez regularly attempts to rectify that tragedy.” Naitanui didn’t look up.

  “But that would be a good thing.”

  “It’s not what history intended. After the Titanic sank changes were made to how ships were constructed. Safety regulations which are still used today were put in place to ensure inadequate lifeboats would never be a problem again. Now if you’ll turn your mind to the cubes. That’s you breaking Zach’s nose and you graduating,” Naitanui stated.

  “What?” Her heart sprinted as she searched the cubes for her graduation. “I don’t graduate for another two years. Do these show the future?”

  Rafe meandered into the room. “I distinctly remember telling you that no one can predict the future.”

  Back to 2014 Austin had said before.

  Rose strutted in behind Rafe. They both still wore their cheerleading clothes. Their sleeveless shirts showed, like Austin, they both had numbers tattooed in blue down their inner arms. Rafe only had two. The numbers stretched from Rose’s bicep to halfway down her inner forearm.

  “We’ve cleaned up the mess,” Rose said to Naitanui. “Where is everyone?”

  “In lockdown at the Shack,” Naitanui replied as he hit another few buttons.

  A woman appeared in the middle of the room dressed in flared jeans and a striped turtleneck. “I need at least ten geeky and off the charts smart Timesurfers for back up, if you ever want the likes of Word, Excel or an iPhone, iPad, or i anything for that matter in use throughout the general population. Did you know Gates got 1590 out of 1600 for the SAT when he did them? Interestingly its rumoured Will Smith got a perfect 1600. Anyway, I can’t watch Gates, Jobs and Wozniak. Mortez has a bucket load of her people back there engaging them. I need help. These guys shaped our world. They’re important.”

  “I will get you backup, Elle,” Naitanui said.

  “Right. Send them through ASAP. Mortez wants exclusive rights and access to their technology. If she can’t have that, she’ll try and destroy it all. Please ensure they’re über geeky and super smart.” Elle flickered and vanished.

  “She’s very highly strung,” Austin said.

  “You really travel through time?” Cate’s brain had reached and passed weird information overload. She slumped on a chair someone had placed behind her. “I am going insane,” she muttered through her hands.

  Austin tapped the leg of her chair. “I told you before you weren’t going insane.”

  “Then why am I the only person who sees all these freaky changes?” Cate shrieked. “And there’s the Brittany...thing,” she finished lamely. “I could literally see she had a broken neck and her heart had stopped beating. Then she came back to life. I brought her back to life.”

  “We see the changes,” Austin said.

  She exhaled. “And strangely that doesn’t comfort me at all, but I’ll play. Why can we see these things, while everyone else remains blissfully oblivious?”

  Naitanui rubbed his temple. “We’re all Timesurfers.”

  Cate stared silently for a few seconds. “I’m certainly not one of those.”

  Naitanui continued unperturbed. “Timesurfers protect history from magical manipulation. So it’s imperative we recognise when history has been tampered with. History resets at midnight each night and only a Timesurfer sees the alternate time lines. That’s why you’re seeing differences in your world from day to day. Right now you only see a different reality, not the details behind how the altered time line came about, because you haven’t crossed over into our world yet. My teams travel back in time and reset things to the way history intended them to be.”

  All eyes turned her way. “Now would be an excellent time for me to wake up or...something.”

  “You’re destined to
be part of our world,” Naitanui said.

  Cate rolled her eyes. “I personally find the whole destiny thing to be overrated. It rarely ends well and involves extensive death and sacrifice for the greater good. None of which are really my thing.” She just wanted to go home and spend an ordinary, non-magically manipulated day with Eve.

  “Could you be any more apathetic?” Austin glared at her. “The ability to raise the dead is wasted on you.”

  She gave Austin the filthiest look she could muster. “I didn’t choose to be a Timesurfer or to be able to raise the dead.”

  “No one chooses to be a Timesurfer. We’re born to this life. It’s in our blood,” Austin said.

  “Yes I get it’s not a career, it’s a destiny,” Cate said. Another outrageous cliché.

  “Oh, I like that line. It’s dramatic,” Rafe said. “I’m going to use it.”

  “People will miss me. I have to make contact every night at six o’clock or an army will come searching for me. My mum—”

  “Spare us the details about your mother,” Rose groaned.

  “Enough.” Naitanui signalled for everyone to stop. “I guarantee you will be home for your required six o’clock communication. Please hear me out.”

  She dragged her hands down her face. Reluctantly she admitted it was impossible to ignore all weird things which had happened since Sunday at the bus stop. The damage was done. Her world had changed. What if she was going to make terrible decisions or become a horrible person? This was her chance to find out and maybe change that if she wanted to. “So Timesurfers control history?”

  “We don’t control history, we protect it,” Naitanui said.

  “Aren’t they the same?” Cate asked.

  A sad smile spread across Naitanui’s face. “The two could not be more different. To protect requires difficult decisions. Ours is a world of black and white.”

  Cate rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. “What does that mean in plain English?”

  “The world wars, bubonic plague, the sinking of the Titanic—are all disasters that could be avoided in an alternate history. If Mortez seeks to remedy these types of events, our job is to ensure history runs its course as intended. We do what it takes to ensure these tragedies unfold.”