Past Tense

Shrouded in darkness and far from populated areas, the abandoned barn sat undisturbed with an occasional cricket’s chirp as the only sign of life. Two men stealthily approached. One sat on a rock while his partner looked on; reaching into his knapsack, he removed two tools; a scanner and laptop, plugging the former into the later. The scanner relayed information too complicated for its display screen to the laptop. The barn floor plan appeared on the laptop, a heat reading the shape and size of a human displayed on the second floor. Both men watched him retrieve something from his jacket, brining it up to his ear.

"Shane, it looks like he’s about to call someone, can you tap into the call?" Tim asked.

Shane ran the application to do just that. A second later, a small window appeared beside the infrared image displaying a sound wave for each participant. The duo listened as the conversation began.

"Hello?"

"Is this Nathan Chapel?"

"Yes, who’s calling?"

"Someone with information you’ll find very useful," the man in the barn answered.

"What kind of information?"

"Something that will enable you to become very rich."

"Who are you? Is this some sort of scam?"

"I assure you it’s not a scam. Meet me at the old abandoned barn on 14^th line in one hour. I’ll give you information that’ll ensure you never have to worry about money again," the man in the barn answered before hanging up.

"Do you think it’s him? Maybe he’s giving his younger self weapon designs he can invent or perhaps winning lottery numbers?" Shane asked.

Tim reached into his pocket, retrieving his stun pistol, the gesture more then enough to indicate his intent. Checking the left side of the weapons round barrel, Tim saw that it was fully charged and ready.

"Whatever he’s doing, we need to stop him. Check the floor plan and see if there is an alternate entrance; he’ll likely expect intruders to enter via the front door."

Shane studied the floor plan, locating a window on the south side adjacent to a ramp up to the second floor. Showing Tim the information, Shane turned both the laptop and scanner off before unplugging his scanner from the laptop, and putting them back into his knapsack. Standing up, he readied his own pistol as Tim led the way to the side of the barn.

When they reached the window, they saw that only a few shards of glass remained likely the result of people throwing rocks at it. Tim was easily able to open it with his free hand. Only 20cm above the ground, reaching the window would not be a problem. As it was wide enough to fit both alongside, Tim and Shane entered simultaneously. Being considerably taller then Shane, Tim unfortunately banged his head on the pane.

"Are you okay?" Shane whispered.

Tim rubbed the top of his head and nodded. A bump on the head was trivial compared to other injuries he had sustained over the years. The scent of hay, dust and manure inside brought back memories of the summer Tim once spent on his uncle’s farm. The dimly lit interior was annoying but also provided the advantage of stealth. A ramp to the second level stood to their left. Tim told Shane to use it while he circled around to a ladder on the other side. Shane nodded and holstered his weapon before slowly climbing the ladder.

At the top of the ladder, he again drew his pistol, slowly walking towards where he believed the suspect to be hiding. He nearly tripped over a barrel of hay when he heard something moving behind him. A second later, he heard someone demand that he stop. Turning around, he saw their suspect standing a meter in front of him brandishing a pistol.

"Mr. Nathan Chapel I presume?" Shane asked, hoping to stall the man.

Nathan titled his head to the right curiously before frowning.

"Who are you and what do you want?"

"I am here to place you under arrest for attempting to alter the timeline," Shane responded.

"Timeline; what are you talking about?"

"I know you were talking with your younger self. What is it you’re planning on giving to him? Money, precious metals or perhaps schematics for weapons that he can invent?"

"Your cynicism saddens me; I am not here to take over the world, get a different president elected or do anything that will hurt anyone." Nathan said.

"Then what is it you’re trying to do? I find it hard to believe you’ve just come back to say hello," Shane impatiently asked.

Nathan pleaded his case "If you’ll just calm down for a few minutes, I’ll tell you. In truth, I am giving my younger stock market information. You see I was never able to get anywhere in life. My parents worked their asses off every day of their lives yet taxes and other bureaucratic nonsense never let them get ahead. They did their best to provide a good life for me but ultimately there was only so much they could provide. I was never able to afford the fancy schools I saw everyone around me getting into! All of the potential I had was lost because I couldn’t afford things people like you take for granted. That’s all about to change; with this stock information my younger self will be able to make enough money to afford the education and privileges he deserves. Perhaps he’ll even go on to make the world a better place."

Shane couldn’t allow this and had to let Nathan know, "You know I can’t just stand by and while you alter history in such a way. Look, I’m sorry that you didn’t get to experience the things that many of us take for granted to the point where we think of them as expected. I’m sorry that you lived a life where things going well was the exception and things going poorly was the rule. But, sometimes you need to accept what you had in life and leave it at that. Even minute changes to the timeline can have devastating effects. The actions we take every day in our lives affect the lives of those around us in ways we often can’t understand. Changing even one aspect of your life can have effects that you probably don’t even want to think about. Sure, doing this may make your life better but it might also make others lives worse. In the end, it’s just not worth the risk. You should just accept it and be happy for what you did have in life; even if it wasn’t much."

"That’s easy for you to say; you’ve probably had a fulfilling, privileged life. You don’t know what it’s like to struggle for everything. You don’t know what its life to watch others get opportunity after opportunity while the world passes you by. Maybe if you knew what that was like then you’d understand why I have to do what I’m doing and will leave me alone," Nathan responded

"That may be true but I still can’t you let alter history. Now, put the weapon down and surrender. Resisting will only make things harder on you."

Nathan aimed his pistol more accurately at Shane and frowned.

"I have nothing to lose," he dejectedly said.

Before he could fire, the area behind him was lit up from the blue particle beam of Tim’s pistol striking Nathan in the back, sending him into unconsciousness.

"Nice timing," Shane happily said.

"Good work keeping him busy. I’m just glad we were able to stop him in time," Tim replied.

Shane knelt down and began searching Nathan for any additional weapons, computer equipment or information he could be carrying. He managed to find a small PDA with the stock information as well as Nathan’s equipment to return to what for the three of them would be the present. Shane handed Tim the tools.

"The boys back home can use this to track down where he acquired time travel technology from; should be a big help in shutting down their operation," Tim said.

Shane nodded and handed Tim the rest of the equipment. Finally, he reached into his knapsack, removing a pair of handcuffs and leg shackles to restrain Nathan. He put Nathan’s hands behind his back and handcuffed them while Tim attached the shackles to his knees.

"There’s one thing I don’t understand," Shane said.

"What’s that?" Tim asked.

"If he wanted to give his younger self all of this information; why not simply go to his house or mail it anonymously; or go even further back and do something so his parents were better off so his entire family would have benefited? Why do an exchange in an abandoned barn on a cold November night?" he asked.

Tim had ten more years of experience then Shane, and in those years the 38-year-old had seen a lot. He had been around when time travel was first invented and became practical.

"One thing I’ve observed over the years is most people that attempt to alter history don’t truly want to succeed. They often feel that they have a better way for history to unfold but once it comes down to actually doing it, they realize how crazy their plans are and even if only on a subconscious level, find ways to get caught."

"Maybe he didn’t really want to succeed and made a plan he knew could be stopped. By stopping him, in his mind we are the bad guys. If he had given up then he wouldn’t have us to use as his scapegoat," Shane suggested.

"That’s a big part of it."

Nathan was already starting to wake up as they finished talking. He slowly opened his eyes and looked up at the two men. He immediately became aware of the restraints and frowned, the expression on his face accusation and questioning why they had stopped him.

"You know we couldn’t allow you to go through with it," Tim responded.

"For all you know, I could have made the world a better place."

"That might be true but it’s also possible that the changes you were planning on making would have made the world a far worse place. What if someone else was able to get hold of that information? Who knows what they could have used it for? You also seem to be forgetting the laws against insider trading; I’m sure the authorities would find it odd that you suddenly were selling these stocks at the perfect time. That’s the problem with altering history, it’s your basic chaos theory, everything in life is connected in one way or another; there is no way to predict just how extensive the changes you make will be," Tim said.

"I suppose that’s true. All I really wanted was to improve my life. I didn’t want to hurt anyone," Nathan sighed "perhaps it’s for the best that you stopped me," he added.

"Yes, believe us when we say that it is. Now, I think it’s time we returned to our own era," Tim said.

Shane helped Nathan up and the three slowly walked back down to the first floor and outside. Tim reached into his coat pocket, retrieving the device used to open the portal back to their era. The TV controller sized device provided a little more illumination in the dark area via its three blue diodes and display.

With a press of one of its many buttons, the diodes glowed brightly before each sent out a small bolt of energy that converged a meter away from them. Almost instantly, a beautiful vortex twice Tim’s height and wide enough for all three men to jump through standing side by side appeared. The glowing disturbance of pink, blue and yellow created a wind that blew leaves and dust over the area. With Nathan in hand, they all walked up to and stepped through it.

Several seconds later, the vortex closed and everything calmed down, leaving the old farm quiet and undisturbed with only the sounds of the crickets in the distance.

***

Fifty years later, Nathan, Tim and Shane emerged on the other side of the vortex.

As the vortex closed behind them, they quickly realized that something was very wrong. With a look of shock on their faces, Tim and Shane surveyed the room, clearly a different room from the one they remembered. The room was round and white with a flat wall behind them. A pair of silver cylindrical generators stood at the sides of it.

"What’s going on? What happened to the room?" Shane asked.

"I don’t know," Tim answered, looking back at the waist tall cylinders. On both, blue pulsating lights went from the bottom to the top in intervals of about a second. "I have a feeling we’re about to find out," he said as the door into the room swooshed opened.

Three people entered, one dressed in a black uniform and hat with two in brown uniforms flanking her.

"Who are you? How did you get access to this technology?" the woman asked, the anger in her voice more then evident.

Tim and Shane looked at each other, both thoroughly confused before Tim approached the woman.

"We both work here; we just apprehended this man for attempting to alter the timeline. Evidently, history as we know it has been altered since we’ve been gone," Tim answered.

"I don’t know who you are or what kind of game you’re playing but you’ve obviously managed to illegally acquire access to this technology I’m afraid you’re going to have to come with me," the woman said.

"This is all a misunderstanding; I’m sure we can work it out," Tim said.

"Surrender your weapons and any equipment you’re carrying," she said.

Shane looked at Tim, Tim nodding his head to tell him to co-operate; there was nothing to be gained from getting into a shootout in the chamber. Both men surrendered their weapons and equipment to the two guards. The woman walked over to the side of the door, pressing a button on the control panel beside it to summon more security. Tim and Shane would soon be outnumbered and could only look at each other and sigh.

When the additional security arrived, Tim, Shane and Nathan were escorted out of the room and down a hall. The hallway was cool and dark with navy blue walls; a sharp contrast to the beige walls and bright lighting Shane and Tim were used to. They were escorted through an airlock, up a stairwell and down a series of hallways before being led into a detention area.

They passed trough a metal detector as they entered the detention area and were told to stop as they came to a desk in a square room with two doors and a single guard stationed at the desk. The guard took down the information into a desktop computer from one of the men that had escorted the trio. Completing that, they were taken through the second door into a cellblock. Nathan was put into a cell and Tim and Shane into another a few cells down. As the guards closed and locked the door, the two sat beside each other on the lower bunk to contemplate their situation.

"How are we supposed to get out of here?" Shane asked.

"Just hang tight, I’m sure once we explain our situation they’ll let us go," Tim responded.

"I wonder what happened to change everything. We stopped Nathan so that can’t be it. What could have happened to change the base like this?" Shane asked.

"Unless we can use a computer to check for records of recent travel activity and compare them to historical records, there is no real way of knowing."

"You know they’d never allow that," a voice from the cell beside them said.

Tim and Shane looked at each other before getting up and walking to their cells wall; where they saw a fellow prisoner laying on his own bunk.

"It’s possible we can convince them. If histories been altered to this extreme then maybe we can convince them that they are living in an alternate timeline and maybe they’ll allow us to go back and fix things," Tim said.

The man beside them slow turned to face them. The stubble on his face and disheveled hair an indication he had been there for several days.

"Don’t you get it, they don’t want things changed! They like the way things are. Rumor has it one of they created this so called timeline by taking out the guy that created the original place like this," he said.

"What do you mean? Do you know when or how?" Tim asked.

"I don’t know, all I know is that they definitely don’t want anyone changing history," the man said.

He turned back from them, closed his eyes and stopped responding. Tim and Shane walked back to the bunk and sat down.

"Could someone have done something to Mr. Landress in the past?" Shane asked.

"You know her prefers to be called Zack. If I remember correctly, he was one of the people that originally started the project. He knew that people could use time travel to alter history and wanted to make sure there was an organization to prevent that. Without its possible someone else made those discoveries. Who knows that kinds of morals they had," Tim said.

"So, what do we do about it?" Shane asked.

Before Tim could answer, three guards approached their cell door. Their first one looked at Shane.

"Mr. Derosier, please come with us for questioning," he said.

Shane looked at Tim, obviously not too thrilled at the idea of being interrogated. Tim nodded as his way of telling him that everything would be all right. Shane sighed before standing up and walking over to the door. One of the guards opened it, Shane having to look up to see the man's face. While his blank expression didn’t reveal much, the rifle he had trained at Shane left little question as to his intent.

"Come with me," he said as he began walking to the left. Shane followed him with the two guards walking behind him, ready in case he attempted escape.

He was led down the cellblock and through a steel door into a hallway with a series of wooden doors on either side. They took him into the forth room on his left. The room was small and simple with a desk and several chairs. As instructed, Shane sat on the chair on their side of the desk before one of the guards shackled his left leg to the chair. The man then sat down across the table from him and folding his arms on the desk as the guards took up positions at the sides of the door.

"Before we begin, my name is Steve. This can be easy on or difficult; it all depends on you. If you co-operate, it will be easy; if you don’t…" Steve asked.

"I have the right to legal council!" Shane protested.

"Mr. Derosier; you are no doubt aware such laws were repelled nearly 40 years ago. You are required to answer any and all questions," Steve sternly answered.

"I honestly didn’t know that," Shane answered.

"Then Mr. Derosier, maybe we can each other; I need you to tell what you know. Does that sound like a good idea to you?"

"I … guess so," Shane answered.

"Where and when did you come from? The only way you could have gained access to our facility is with our equipment. The equipment we confiscated from you appears similar, yet different, as if different manufacturers made them. Where did you get it?"

"I know it’s hard to believe but it comes from this facility or more so the version of it that I know," Shane answered.

"You’re saying you come from another timeline?" Steve asked.

Shane had no idea how Steve would react to the truth. He hoped that being truthful would help. Neither he nor Tim had attempted to change the events that created this altered future, so perhaps being from an unaltered one (as he knew it at least) would not be a serious crime.

"I do. I work for this facility. When my partner and I left everything was normal. We were trying to prevent a man from altering his own past; certainly nothing that have caused this."

Steve leaned forward, looking Shane in the eyes, wondering if he were telling the truth.

"If this is true then you might not know of … the situation," Steve answered.

"No, I don’t. But the fact is that right now you are living in an alternate timeline. My partner and I need to figure out what has been altered so we can restore history," Shane said.

"I’m afraid that’s not possible. This facility exists to ensure no one tampers with this timeline. Allowing you and your partner to alter history would be a violation of every law we have; I’m sorry," Steve answered.

Shane hung his head in defeat as Steve motioned to the guards.

"Take him back to his cell. We’ll have to figure out what to do with the three of them," he said.

The guards soon unshackled Shane’s foot before leading him back to the cell. When he got back, Tim was gone. Another pair of guards escorted Tim back ten minutes later. Again, Tim and Shane sat on the bunk to discuss their situation.

"You okay?" Tim asked.

"Yes. From what they told me, we’ll never get the chance to fix things. I have a feeling these people may be responsible for this timeline," he responded.

"They weren’t exactly forthcoming with information but there was some sort of revolution forty years ago. It seems that someone from this time was directly responsible for it but they wouldn’t say who," Tim answered.

"I remember reading a case about someone going back to cause a revolution a year or so ago. I remember reading that he had access to military plans and everything. But, I thought Zack stopped him?" Shane asked.

Tim thought about it for a few seconds before responding. Standing up, he began to pace the cell, starting to realize what was going on.

"He," Tim started, pointing out the man across from them "said that someone took out the former person that created this facility. In the normal timeline Zack was that person. If something happened to him then it’s possible that the revolution wasn’t stopped," Tim said.

"Then we need to escape and find out what happened to him. I do have a question; what happens if we can’t escape and are stuck in this timeline?" Shane asked.

"In theory, eventually we would be integrated within it; our memories of the way things used to be would be lost and we wouldn’t even know we are in an alternate timeline," Tim answered.

"How are we supposed to escape?" Shane asked.

Before Tim could come up with an answer they heard someone walk by; it was Nathan! Somehow he had escaped from his cell! He would have walked right by Tim and Shane’s cell if Tim didn’t grab his attention by calling his name. Nathan stopped in his tracks and looked at the duo.

"How ironic; the time police end up arrested for the very crimes they’ve strive to prevent," he said, grinning as if in satisfaction.

"Nathan, how did you escape?" Tim asked.

"I kept a special key hidden within my clothes. These poor fools didn’t even think to search me. It’s made of plastic so their metal detector wouldn’t have detected it," Nathan answered.

"Look, you have to let us out; we have to fix the timeline," Tim pleaded.

"Why should I do that? You captured me when I just wanted to improve my life."

"I know that but right now none of our lives are going to be better. I don’t know what kind of world this is but I have a feeling it’s a very harsh one. If you help us to escape and correct all of this, it will go a long way towards your case. I will even testify on your behalf. The three of us working together have a better chance of escaping then just you alone. Even if you manage to escape from here where will you go? Somehow, I doubt anything you know is still around. If you let us out, you can help to save the entire world. You wanted to make the world a better place then fine; help us and we can do just that," Tim said.

Nathan thought about it for a minute before deciding to go along with it. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out the key, quickly unlocking Tim and Shane’s cell.

"Thank you," Tim said.

"So, what do we do now?" Nathan asked.

"We need to get back to the chambers; if we can ascertain what happened to Zack, hopefully we can prevent it and restore history as we know it," Tim answered.

"And how exactly do we find out what happened to him?" Nathan asked.

"Maybe we can find a library; it might have access to news archives. There might be a record of what happened to him," Shane suggested.

"It’s worth a try; now the question is, where would we find such a library?" Tim asked.

"I have an idea. Hide in the cell, there should be a guard on patrol coming back in a few minutes," Nathan said.

Tim and Shane went back into the cell and waited behind Nathan, who stood at the front of it with the door opened just a crack. On schedule, a guard walked by their cell, walking from their right to their left. Nathan hid on the right wall and once the guard walked by, he quietly opened the cell door and snuck up behind the guard.

The guard, hearing his approach did quickly turned around but Nathan was ready and kicked him in the stomach, causing him to drop his rifle. Recovering, the guard punched Nathan in the face twice; Nathan responded which a kick to the man’s groin and backhand to the right side of his head. With the guard stunned, Nathan grabbed him and shoved him into the right wall, knocking him out. Quickly grabbing the guard’s body, Nathan dragged it into the cell, laying him on the bed. He started removing the man's uniform before removing his own clothing.

"Get his gun, I’m going to pose as him and ask someone where their library is; assuming they have one. It may not fool them for long but…" Nathan started

"Hopefully we won’t need long," Tim finished as Shane retrieved the weapon. Seeing him walk back in, Tim looked at the navy blue assault rifle; shaped not unlike a machine gun; however it was a particle weapon that fired pulses of particles rather then bullets. "Just make sure that thing is set on stun, assuming it has such a setting."

Shane looked it over and it appeared to be set that way by default.

Nathan had finished putting on the guard's uniform, while it wasn’t a perfect fit, the navy blue shirt, pants, hat and boots fit well enough. As he dressed the guard in his own clothing, he looked himself over before taking the rifle from Shane.

"I hope this plan of yours works," he said.

"It’s our job to make sure it does," Tim sternly and confidently stated.

Nathan led them out of the cell and through the door they had originally entered the cellblock from. The other guard was still stationed there and Nathan didn’t waste any time before firing a shot that struck the guard in the chest, instantly knocking him out. As he walked over to the door leading away from the detention area, Tim felt for the man’s pulse. Seeing that he still had one, he took the man's pistol and stood up.

"I’m sure they have hidden cameras all over the place. We’ll probably be swarmed with guards in a matter of minutes. Somehow I doubt any of them are going to be forthcoming for information," he said.

"Maybe I can hack the computer and find map of this place," Shane suggested, pointing out the desktop computer on the table the guard was sitting at.

"We don’t have time for that! The way I see it, we’re going to have to find someone high ranking and take them hostage, forcing them to tell us where to get the information you need," Nathan angrily said.

"You said you wanted to make the world a better place; such tactics are hardly befitting of such a view," Tim responded.

"Desperate situations call for desperate measures. We’re not going to get out of this being ethical," Nathan restored.

By then, Shane was already sitting on the computer. He seemed a bit frustrated, as its operating system was different from the one he was familiar with. Fortunately, he had an advantage. Computer technology appeared to be slightly behind what he was accustomed to; security protocols were similar to ones he had learned about. Since a map of the facility was apparently not considered high risk, it only took him a few minutes to gain access to one.

"Maybe we won’t have to do something like that. I’ve found a map," Shane said. Tim and Nathan soon stood behind him as he brought it up on the screen. "According to it there is a library. We should be able to get to it by following this route," he said pointing out the route which involved going down several hallways. There no doubt would be guards on the way but Nathan was confident that he could bluff his way through long enough to get them there.

"Then let’s get moving. Somehow, I doubt that time is on our side," Tim said.

Tim concealed his stolen pistol and with Nathan carefully following behind, they left the detention area and slowly began making their way towards the library. The halls were cold and dark; without any windows into the outside world they had no way of knowing what time of day it was; they suspected that it was night and the dimming of the lights was to simulate that within the building. When they were only a short distance from the library, a guard stopped them. The guard, a man a bit shorter then Shane walked up to Nathan, looking at him very suspiciously.

"Who are you and why are you escorting these two in this direction?" he asked.

Nathan thought for a few seconds before responding. He slightly felt the area around the trigger of his weapon, ready to shoot the guard if need be.

"I am escorting these two to the library; one of the computers is malfunctioning and they have the skills to repair it. They have agreed to do in it as part of a plea bargain," he answered.

"I haven’t heard anything about that; I’m going to have to ask the commander to verify these orders. I don’t recognize you either. Stay here while I contact him," the man said.

Shane looked at Tim with a worried look on his face. Tim looked at Shane and then at Nathan. Nathan sighed before frowning and aiming his rifle at the guard.

"No, I don’t think that’s a good idea," he said.

"What is going on here?" the guard loudly asked. "Are you rebels that have managed to infiltrate this facility or is this some kind of cruel joke? Answer me!"

"Like I said, I am escorting these two to the library to make repairs; nothing more nothing less. Now, if you don’t mind, we need to get going," Nathan responded.

The guard slowly turned to walk away; he didn’t get more then a few meters away before the trio saw him reaching into his shirt, pulling something out. When he quickly turned around and they saw it was a weapon, Nathan quickly shot him, knocking him out.

"This isn’t good. Come on, we have to hide his body; if anyone discovers it we’re as good as dead," Tim said.

With Nathan following, Tim and Shane dragged the guard’s body into the library. As they entered, they saw a closet to the right. Shane opened it before he and Tim dragged the guard into it, closing the door. Fortunately for them, the library was empty enough that no one saw them. However, they knew that once that guard didn’t check in or when the body of one of the two other guards was found that they would be in big trouble; they had to move quickly.

"The computers are in the southwest corner," Shane said.

Tim and Nathan nodded and the three ran through the library, past shelves of books and several onlookers and into the computer lab. Shane sat down at the closet computer while Tim and Nathan stood guard at the door.

"Okay, I’m looking up news articles for the past forty years, starting with anything on Zack Landress," he said as he accessed the information and inputted the search parameters.

The search took a few minutes and several hits were found. Shane accessed the earliest one, a news article from a tabloid magazine from nearly forty years ago. What it mentioned was very strange to say the least. Turning towards Tim, he asked him to come and see the article. Tim did so, walking up behind Shane.

"My friend was turned into a raccoon by a strange man! Am I reading that right?" he asked.

"Yes," Shane answered, reading through it. "According to the article, Zack and his friend Joey were walking home from school them they were accosted by what Joey described as a strange man. Joey claimed that the man grabbed Zack and injected him with some kind of needle before running away. Soon after, Zack started growing fur and shrinking; after all was said and done, a raccoon climbed out from his clothing. Zack soon ran towards the woods in a panic and was never seen or heard from again. No one really believed Joey’s story, they thought that Zack was kidnapped and Joey was traumatized by what he saw and invented this story as a way of dealing with it. No trace of the man that attacked them was ever found."

"Does it give a date of when this happened?" Tim asked.

"Yes, apparently it happened on April 23, 2004."

"Then we need to get to their cambers and go back to that date. With today’s technology what Joey saw is certainly possible. I can only hope we can stop whoever did this to him before it’s too late," Tim said.

As Shane stood up, a loud and pulsating alarm sounded. It was looking like they would have to fight their way to the chambers.

"We’re out of time; what’s the closest route the chambers?" Tim asked.

Shane quickly accessed a map of the facility using a similar method he had used back in the detention area. Looking over the map, he quickly studied it.

"Okay, if we turn left after getting out of here and then follow that hall to its end and turn right, after about 10 meters we will come to a small room. There is a grate leading into a service crawlway in the room. We can use it to get all the way down to just outside the chambers," Shane answered.

"Service crawlway? Would they really leave such a security hole open like that?" Nathan asked.

"Well, apparently they are normally used for servicing various parts of the buildings utilities and computer systems from the inside. Intruders would have a very difficult time getting in here. I guess they don’t feel it a security threat," Shane replied.

"We don’t have time to think about it, let’s get moving!" Tim yelled.

Shane got up and with Nathan leading the way; they quickly exited the computer room. Already they could hear security forces converging on their area. Tim motioned Shane to take cover behind some book shelves while he and Nathan took them out. Shane did so while Tim and Nathan readied stood ready behind the shelf directly across from Shane’s.

When they heard the library doors being smashed open followed by heavy footfalls of the security forces approaching, they darted out and opened fire. The security forces were not expecting an immediate assault and three of the four of them fell where they stood. The forth one quickly darted behind a bookshelf, circling around it.

Shane heard the man approaching his position. Thinking quickly, he pushed several books on top of him. It was unfortunately, not enough to take him out, evidenced by the man’s angry swearing. Beads of sweat dripped down Shane’s forehead when he heard the man circling around to approach his position. Fortunately for him, he could see Tim doing a similar maneuver as Nathan guarded the entrance.

The sound of the man's boot steps grew louder as he drew increasingly closer. Shane flattened himself against the side of the bookshelf backing onto where the guard would approach from and waited. Only seconds later, he saw the barrel of the man's rifle and grabbed with his left hand.

Quickly turning around, he also grabbed it with his right hand and started wrestling for control of the weapon. A struggle was soon ensuing as Shane struggled to keep the weapon from being pointed at him. The guard unfortunately got the upper hand when he kicked Shane in the abdomen, knocking him to the ground. With a smile on his face, he aimed his rifle. Shane was certain he was about to be killed. Immense relief came when he heard the guard yell in pain before falling to the ground. Shane had to roll out of the way to prevent being fallen on. His heart racing and himself breathing quickly, he looked up at Tim as Tim approached and offered him his right hand to help him up.

"Thanks, I was sure I was a goner," he said.

"What are friends for?" Tim asked with a smile, looking down at the fallen guard, he pointed towards his rifle "Here, take his weapon, we’re going to need all the firepower we can muster."

Shane nodded and picked up the rifle. When he looked at its setting, he saw that it indeed was set to kill. Changing that setting to stun, he followed Tim towards the door. Nathan was waiting and looked at both men.

"I can hear more coming, let’s move!" he yelled.

Tim and Shane didn’t waste any time in arguing with him and they all made their way towards the door. Nathan stepped out first, quickly ducking out and firing six shots to his right. The sound of bodies hitting the ground was evidence enough that he had taken out at least a few guards. Looking back at Tim and Shane, he motioned them to exit. They did so and the three ran out into the hall, turning left and running as fast as they could towards the room.

"Even if we do make it to these chambers, then what? We don’t know exactly when this incident took place. What if we get there an hour to late or even only a few minutes too late? Your boss, or at least the young version of him will be stuck as an animal forever," Nathan said as they reached the end of the hallway and all three men stood against the wall, Nathan closest to the end.

"If that’s the case, we’ll have to find the person or people that did this to him and use whatever means are necessary to make them change him back," Tim answered.

"How do you intend to find your friend if he’s an animal? You can’t exactly call him on his cellphone or e-mail him," Nathan answered.

"We’ll cross that bridge if and when we come to it. For now, I suggest we focus on getting out of here in one piece," Tim answered.

"Very well," Nathan answered, peering around the corner. He could see several guards approaching. Looking back at Tim, he held out his left hand with four fingers up to indicate how many guards were there. Tim and Shane nodded and Nathan soon dashed out into the hall, firing a burst of shots. Two of the guards went down; unfortunately, Nathan was struck in the right arm by one of the shots. While it wasn’t enough to kill or stun him, it was enough to knock him on his back and make him to drop his rifle. Tim swore and motioned Shane to drag Nathan to safety as he covered him.

Shane crawled into the hallway and slowly dragged the obviously in pain Nathan by the underarms as Tim fired an almost continuous burst of fire with his pistol. Soon, the remaining two guards were down.

Nathan slowly stood up once Shane had him back around the hallway and held his upper right arm tightly, cursing.

"Can you go on?" Tim asked.

"As if I have a choice," Nathan said. Tim looked at the nasty looking wound before checking the power level on his pistol. He could see that at most, it had two or three shots left. Swearing, he holstered it before ripping a strip of his right pant leg off. Tying it around Nathan’s wound, he looked him in the eye. ‘Not exactly advanced medicine but it’s the best I can do for now."

"It’ll do. Let’s go, we don’t have the time to stay and chat," Nathan said. Slowly peering back into the hallway and finding it clear, he walked into it and picked up the rifle. Unfortunately, he found it to be damaged from a direct hit to the power cell; it would not fire again. Looking at Tim and Shane, he shook his head. "I suggest you conserve those shots of yours."

Tim and Shane nodded and they walked into the hallway. They quickly ran down it and arrived at the room, finding it locked. They weren’t about to let this deter them however as Shane asked them to step back. Aiming his rifle at the lock, he fired it twice, destroying it. With a smile on his face, he kicked open the door and the trio ran in as they heard the heavy footfalls of more guards approaching.

"I’d say we should take their weapons but I don’t think we have the time," Shane said.

"Forget them, we’re almost there. We’ll have to make do with what we have!" Tim answered.

Shane nodded and they all ran into the room, closing the door behind them. Looking around the mostly empty room, Shane saw a chair as Tim and Nathan approached the grating blocking the service crawlway on the rightmost wall. Shane picked up the chair and propped it against the door. He knew it wouldn’t hold off the guards for long but was hopeful they wouldn’t need long.

When Tim and Nathan removed the grating covering the crawlway, they could hear the guards pounding at the door.

Nathan went first, quickly followed by Tim. While it was painful for Nathan to crawl on his hands and knees with his arm injury, his determination to escape fueled him enough to tolerate the pain. Shane draped his rifle over his neck and right arm, taking up the rear, picking up the grating and reattaching it behind him. By the time they were only a few meters into the crawlway, the guards had already broken through.

"It’s only a few meters more before we come to a junction. Something tells me we’d better hurry," Shane said, looking back and seeing the guards running into the room.

They crawled down the crawlway; the inside cold and dark; only a few dim lights providing illumination. A quiet hum inside created a mild vibration in the plates they crawled over. The air was raw, with an odd scent of metal. They could hear the guards running into the room, swearing and yelling at them to surrender. The trio had no intention of obeying.

After a few minutes, Nathan came to a junction; it was a small room with ceilings just high enough for Tim to stand and enough room for all three of them to be in together. On the wall opposite their tunnel was a ladder leading up and down as well as tunnels leading left and right. Nathan held his wounded arm as he looked down the ladder.

"We need to go down three floors then we’ll almost be there. Can you manage the climb?" Shane asked.

"I don’t think I have much choice in the matter," Nathan responded.

They could hear the guards opening the grate leading into the crawlway and knew they had to hurry.

"Okay, I’ll go first. Nathan you go second. That way if you have trouble at least there is less of a chance of you falling," Tim said.

Slowly but steadily, they climbed down it. Nathan withstood the pain enough to manage the climb. Within a few minutes they were at the bottom and all slowly got off of the ladder standing in another junction. There were two ways to go south and west. Shane remembered from the map that south was the proper way.

"Down that way. After that it’s only a short distance before we come out right ahead of the airlock leading into the corridor with the chambers," Shane said.

"Let’s go then, those guards are right behind us!" Tim added.

Nathan and Shane nodded and with Shane leading, got on their hands and knees and made their way down the south crawlway. This crawlway was brighter and warmer, possibly from the additional power in the area needed to run the chambers.

They arrived at the end of the crawlway in about ten minutes. Shane removed the grating and cautiously peered out into the corridor; it was thankfully empty. Crawling out of it, he readied his weapon and stood guard as Nathan and Tim got out. The airlock was to their left, the controls for it on the wall opposite the grating.

"Why do they need the airlock anyway?" Nathan asked.

"The chambers operate best at a specific air pressure and temperature. As you can imagine, the last thing anyone would want is to end up days or even years after where they intended to go," Tim responded as he walked over to the controls to access the lock.

Nathan and Shane could hear guards coming down the hallway and knew their time was running short. In the nick of time, Tim managed to access and open the large white door. As it opened, the guards ran into the corridor, yelling demands for the trio to stop.

"Go!" Tim yelled, motioning into the airlock.

They didn’t waste any time in doing so and dashed into it as Tim pressed the commands to activate it. As the door slowly closed, the guards opened fire. The trio jumped to the ground, Shane taking a prone position as he returned fire and Tim doing the same. Two of the four guards went down, the other two charging down the corridor with ferocious determination as the door edged closer and closer to the ground. Eventually, their shots struck the door, hitting it with a loud clanging it as it made contact with the floor and formed a vacuum seal.

The air pressure in the room slowly decreased; the air feeling thin as the temperate went from fifteen Celsius to a cool ten. After a minute, the other door slowly opened into the chamber hallway. There were two doors on either side.

"Which one?" Nathan asked as they left the airlock.

"Any one of them will be fine," Shane answered.

Tim walked to the far right one; approaching the controls. It took him a few minutes to figure them out, as they were a bit different from the ones he was used to. Eventually, he was able to ascertain that no others teams were out on missions; something that would make restoring history less problematic then if teams were out and returning.

"Okay, I’m setting the date; April 23, 2004. Location," he was suddenly cut off by the sound of the airlock activating yet again. "That we don’t need!" he yelled.

"Here, give me your weapon. I will hold them off until the portal is activated. Every few seconds will count," Nathan said.

Shane handed him the rifle and stood by the door as Tim finished entering the information.

"Location: Albany, New York State. I’m setting it for 2:15pm Eastern Time. That should give us enough time. Activating the chamber!" he said.

The door to the chamber slowly opened, just as the airlock door began to do the same. Nathan readied his rifle, yelling for Tim and Shane to go. Tim and Shane did so, running into the chamber. They instantly heard the sound of weapons fire, seeing Nathan firing several shots. Unfortunately, they also saw him being struck in the chest twice just before he fell to the ground.

"No!" Tim yelled. Pulling out his pistol, he rolled into the corridor. Unfortunately, the guard was ready and struck Tim’s forehead, knocking him to the ground. Tim quickly kicked the back of the guards left leg with his right, knocking the guard onto his rear end, making him drop his rifle. Both men quickly got up, the guard roundhouse kicking him in the chest, knocking the wind out of Tim, making him drop his pistol. Before Tim could recover, the guard punched him in the face twice, knocking Tim to the ground. Picking up his rifle, the guard smirked at Tim. He was about to shoot Tim when a beam of blue light struck him in the chest, causing him to yelp in pain before falling to the ground.

Getting up, Tim turned to see Nathan holding the pistol, having fired it. Tim slowly pulled Nathan into the chamber. Shane ran over to his side. There were two singe marks on Nathan’s chest; the smell of burnt flesh emanating from them. Looking up at them Nathan shook his head.

"Looks like they got me. At least I got you two this far. You’re going to have to go on without me," he said gasping for air.

"We can’t just leave you here!" Tim yelled.

From the corridor, they could the airlock again activating and knew their time was short.

"You have no choice, they’ll be here soon. Do your job and save your friend, restore history. Don’t let this be in vain!" Nathan said.

With that, he closed his eyes and fell limp. Obviously upset, Tim felt Nathan’s neck for a pulse and found none. Looking at Shane, he shook his head. They could hear the airlock slowly opening and Tim quickly stood up, running to the side of the chamber to close the door and activate the portal.

As the chamber door closed with a clang, the two cylinders at the opposite end of the chamber pulsated quickly, glowing brightly before a portal opened. It glowed brightly with whites, blues and reds.

"Go!" Tim yelled.

Shane took one last look at Nathan’s body before looking at the door to the chamber, turning towards the portal, running towards it and jumping in seconds before Tim did the same.