Firestone Key Read online

  With desperation the order of the day, the impenetrable thesis of a young woman with a stone necklace was recovered, dusted off and thrust back under her nose. Elaine and her friends were to be given a never-ending supply of money, a new state-of-the-art system of laboratories and the horrific burden of saving humanity… by inventing time travel.

  Chapter 2

  In the midst of a forest, the concrete cube of The Project arose under ever present military supervision. A creaking, groaning crane lowered a gigantic blue power cable into a trench. Sporting shiny red boots and matching scarlet coat, Leila peered into the hole.

  “Blue. I like blue. Red’s better, but blue’s fine,” she wittered.

  Clad in more muted overalls and industrial wellington boots, Elaine occupied her spinning thoughts by making notes, whilst Neil mucked in with the builders. Whatever dreams the trio may have harboured lay crushed beneath the weight of expectation and concrete.

  “Have we found any more skeletons?” Leila shouted across to Elaine, causing the milling soldiers to briefly look up.

  “No,” Elaine told her, for the hundredth time, and went back to making notes.

  “Pity.”

  The macabre find of a shrivelled and hideously distorted skeleton had been the only interesting thing to have happened on site for weeks. It had been unceremoniously carted away in a body bag and that was the last they had heard of it.

  Bored with her inspection of blue cables, Leila decided to half balance, half dance along a newly constructed wall, singing off key about the merits of blue.

  “If you don’t stop, they’ll shoot you,” Elaine offered.

  The surrounding soldiers promptly applauded, until they spotted their new commanding officer picking his way across the mud caked site.

  “Miss Forrester?” the newcomer enquired.

  Elaine pointed at Leila, just in time for an excruciating high note.

  “You’ll do,” he decided, turning back to Elaine.

  “Thanks. Elaine.”

  “No, my name’s Caleb. Sorry, old joke.”

  Ever Elaine’s jealous protector, Neil inserted himself into the eccentric exchange, stating, “Neil.”

  Caleb promptly knelt, to Elaine’s amusement.

  Neil instantly hated him. “Who are you?”

  “Major Caleb Grantham. I’m your new jailor,” said the officer, rising and holding out his hand.

  Neil took a moment too long to grasp it. Elaine, however, thrust out her hand a little too eagerly. Caleb delivered a devastating smile and duly shook it.

  “Hello, handsome,” chirped Leila, from behind him. “Welcome to our madhouse.”

  Caleb turned, leaving Elaine to witness his stunned reaction to her friend’s staggering beauty. Usually she wouldn’t have minded, but not today.

  Nearing forty, the silver haired Major Caleb Grantham wasn’t the most gorgeous man in the universe, his features were a little too rugged for that, but he had an aura about him, an air of concerned confidence that simply screamed, ‘Saviour!’ Being the most obviously in need of one, Leila promptly fell in love with him on the spot. Elaine, being the more reserved of the two, took another ten minutes.

  Neil, still nursing his unrequited love for Elaine, discerned this change in the emotional environment, his senses magnified by his own rejection. Hoping that Elaine’s guarded affection would only be a passing crush, Neil watched as his sister’s charm, energy and beauty had their inevitable impact on the Major; they began dating the next day. Unfortunately, this didn’t alter how Elaine felt. Over the following months, as The Project took shape, she persistently confided to Neil that she seemed doomed to perpetual friendship, oblivious to his own life sentence.

  * * *

  Time travel theory was impenetrable to all but Elaine and Leila, but it was sound. As months passed into years, they grew ever closer to breakthrough, whilst fending off the impatience of everyone else. The notion was relatively simple: travel back in time to trace the origin of the plague; travel forwards in time to trace its evolution. Unfortunately, the global loss of life had reached two billion by the time they were forced to admit that they had reached an impasse. All the money, assistance and genius available in the world could not take them any further. If they couldn’t crack time travel, then no-one could.

  * * *

  Elaine peered through the regimented wire fence that surrounded The Project complex. She knew every bleak inch of the concrete monstrosity that had been her home for so long now. She had ventured outside because a brief glimpse of any wildlife, lurking in the forest beyond, still had the power to lift her disillusionment. The misery that had engulfed the world showed no sign of slowing, yet a squirrel sat on a branch, juggling a nut as though nothing could possibly upset his game. She watched, enthralled, absent mindedly turning her necklace over and over in her fingers.

  She wore the black stone almost every day. It seemed to match the urban edginess that had descended with the passing years. Only three weeks ago, she had celebrated her thirtieth birthday, although no-one actually marked it, including herself. Neil would have showered her with presents, had he known, but she had always refused to inform him of the date. The appalling events of her twelfth birthday prevented her from ever wanting to discuss such matters with anyone, not even her closest friends. Thinking of Neil brought back the morning’s embarrassing conversation, when he had tried, yet again, to convince her to give him a chance. It had not ended well.

  A sudden gust of wind blew through the trees causing golden leaves to float on the moving air and spiral around the unconcerned squirrel. Elaine shivered, feeling as though a dark shadow was passing directly over her soul, although it was barely autumn and still warm. She spun on her heel, with determined precision, and headed back inside her open prison.

  Elaine strode down a sterile corridor, navigating the severe down gradient on her way to an imposing metal safety door. She leaned forward, allowing a red laser beam to pass over both eyes and process the retinal scan into a digital picture. A screen flashed up the invitation: ENTER ACCESS CODE.

  “44329864AS,” intoned Elaine, bored with this daily ritual. As she turned, she caught a glimpse of her own reflection in the metal door. Her fingers rose, as though to touch the facial scar, but she chose to avert her gaze. There was a mild click of agreement, replaced by a metallic grinding as the door began to slide upwards.

  It was dark in The Project, with no windows to brighten the gloom. Various lights blinked on and off as computer memory, equal to that of a nation, struggled to make sense of the tidal wave of data to come. Only Leila’s console did battle with the austere drabness of function; her trusty Tyrannosaurus Rex, tutu frayed at the edges, sat on top, surveying the proceedings with the superior air of the extinct. Elaine had long since become oblivious to the details. The Project’s every corner was known and loathed, from the horseshoe of consoles surrounding the central plinth and its two upright poles, to the restraining bolts suspended from the ceiling. Should the generated stream spiral out of control, the bolts would descend, cross and interrupt the helix. They had never yet moved; the Project had stagnated at stage three.

  “Glad you could join us,” Neil jibed. As always, he only meant to engage Elaine in conversation and force her to acknowledge his presence.

  “I’m not late, Neil,” Elaine snapped, inflicting her mood on her hapless friend. “Leave off.”

  “I’m joking. I…” he tailed off, kicking himself, again.

  “Morning, Ellie.”

  The deep, gravelly tones of the arriving Major Caleb Grantham caused Elaine to perk up, but she only ended up smiling inanely to his back. She caught sight of a scowling Neil, but chose to ignore him.

  The pristinely uniformed Caleb made his way around the horseshoe and arrived at Leila’s vacant console.

  “Where’s Leila?” he asked Elaine, launching one of his disarming smiles.

  “Hanging off you, usually,” griped Neil.

  Loitering behind h
im, Caleb went cross-eyed. Elaine dutifully giggled, never concerned that she was undermining Neil in a bid to connect with Caleb. Her joy faded when Leila sailed in, waving a mug of coffee.

  “Ready, girls?” she chirped, a fraction too cheerfully.

  “Watch the caffeine,” was Elaine’s tired response.

  Leila arrived at her console, took a swift and sturdy grip on her lover and kissed him for an interminable length of time. Suddenly needing to be occupied, Elaine lowered herself into her work station, situated between that of Leila and her brother. Neil chose to stare at a photo atop his screen: himself aged fourteen, his arms wrapped around a smiling Leila and Elaine, standing in front of the National Academy. His gaze swivelled to Elaine, but she swiftly looked away and savagely punched a button on her console. The safety door duly ground shut.

  Neil petulantly threw a switch on his own console, even more annoyed at himself. “Project on,” he stated, rather loudly given the confined space.

  The nameless, faceless parade of support staff went about their thankless tasks, reconciled to being invisible in the midst of a four-way soap opera. A metallic whine quickly rose in pitch and volume, causing the machinery to vibrate around them. The embarrassing kiss ended.

  “I have solved the problem,” Leila stated, once she surfaced.

  “Clever girl,” Caleb commented, sucking in breath.

  “It’s focus,” Elaine began, in a long suffering tone. “I told…”

  “Ah, but I, wonder that I am,” said Leila, raising one finger in the air and making an insufferable face, “know how to fix said problem. I have tightened the helix strain.”

  “We’ll get a feedback loop,” moaned Neil, singularly unimpressed.

  “Not if we keep a close watch on the spiral,” Leila chirped, patting her brother on the head as punctuation to each word. “Here...”

  She mercifully ceased to patronise Neil and typed into her keyboard, LEILA TRAVEL ONE. The program loaded and figures streamed onto the screen. Curious, Elaine peered over Leila’s shoulder at the unfolding data. Her stone necklace swung gently on its chain as Elaine leaned forward, coming to rest nestled against Leila’s bare arm.

  “Might work,” Elaine grudgingly admitted, having streamed the computations through her phenomenal brain at lightning speed.

  “It has to. Please make it work,” pleaded Leila to whatever Higher Power might be listening.

  Elaine had a logical and practical mind. She knew that Leila’s idea should be tested, counter tested and passed through a mock-up before ever reaching the Project itself. She was also tired of failure. “I say go,” was all she actually said; three small words that would change her life and that of every other living thing.

  An over-excited Leila performed a tribal victory dance, spilling coffee over Neil.

  “Coffee,” moaned Neil, way out of his depth.

  “Cal?”

  Leila circled the Major, willing him to give the order.

  Caleb laughed at her joyful enthusiasm. “Never understand a word you say,” he admitted. “But if Ellie agrees, go for it, or why are we here?”

  “Just a moment. Are we sure…?” an uneasy Neil intervened, uncertain as to why.

  Everybody ignored him, as usual. Elaine nodded at Leila, who duly punched a button with theatrical panache.

  “Power up,” Neil observed.

  The rising whine and pronounced vibration of the equipment announced the arrival of the flood.

  “System configuring,” Elaine said, watching the data stream across her screen, “and complete.”

  From all around her, the reports began to come in, as they had countless times before. “Flow capacity 20%...40%...80%...Full flow achieved. Beginning focus. Density…holding. Helix forming.”

  Bright blue beams blasted between the two poles and spiralled into an energy helix, suspended in space. It was utterly glorious to behold, but they had seen it many times before.

  “It’s working,” Leila said, with premature enthusiasm.

  “Don’t think so,” warned Neil, ever the voice of doom.

  As was her way, Elaine remained silent.

  The shrieking increased and the beams began their usual degradation. Although the helix had been more tightly focussed, the power steadfastly refused to expand and, yet again, showed signs of imminent collapse. Leila slumped back into her chair, defeat showing in her face. She had been so sure that it would work this time. Power flushed down the helix, as water downhill.

  “No,” Leila cried, slamming her mug on the console. It shattered, spraying what remained of her coffee everywhere. Whilst Neil and the nameless scrambled to mop up liquid before it dribbled its way into sensitive equipment, a curious Elaine decided to take a closer look at the tighter helix before it broke down. Making her way to the bottom of the slope, she approached the still spiralling light, fascinated by the changing shapes within the helix itself.

  “Look at it. The shape. That’s not the same,” she muttered to herself.

  Neil always heard every word she said. Noticing how close she was to the beams, he ceased mopping up and rushed towards her. “Careful. Elaine.”

  Edging even closer, Elaine was so enthralled that she didn’t notice her stone necklace rise, pulled by currents. Arriving at her side, Neil’s fingers closed around the stone, just as Leila hammered her soggy console, yelling, “Work, damn you!”

  Power surged through the Project in staggering quantity, filling the entire room with blinding blue light. The stream solidified into the helix, gaining focus like a lens to sunlight and spiralling too fast for the naked eye. The vibration magnified, making even the concrete walls shake and toppling T-Rex from his perch. Consoles exploded as equipment crumbled under the onslaught. The accompanying shriek hit a soprano note, so visceral, that Neil was forced to holler above it, “Feedback. Shut down!”

  Leila stabbed at her console, but there was no response. She tried Elaine’s console, yelling, “Restraining rods won’t engage!”

  Neil looked up. The rods were cracking at their base, unable to survive the spasms that were rocking the entire complex. He had barely moved a step when a swirling vortex took hold of Elaine, lifting her off her feet and sucking her into the helix. She thrust her hand towards Neil, straining to anchor herself to him.

  His fingertips reached hers, just as there was a blinding flash.

  Chapter 3

  Elaine had scarcely a moment to feel the cold stab of terror before the light engulfed her. The spiralling helix had expanded, so rapidly, that she found herself at the epicentre, inexorably drawn into an invisible vortex. The stream seemed to take a disorientating grip on her senses. She floated in the rotating floodwaters, adrift in an elusive void. It was not unpleasant, at first; a separation of body and thought, freeing the senses to drift where they may. All too soon, a coldness descended, as though ice had surrounded and penetrated those vulnerable senses, left unprotected by the flesh. Fear stalked in the darkness, creeping closer and closer, just beyond the reach of logic. And then...then…a touch; a whisper; a hint of a power, thrillingly great… and undeniably evil.

  Suddenly, it all went away, as though a switch had been thrown, allowing her to plummet back into reality. Stunned and terrified in equal measure, Elaine stared down at her sneakers. She couldn’t be sure whether those feet had ever strayed from this spot.

  “Be ye. Her. Elaine!”

  The angry yell interrupted her confusion and made her look up in surprise. The suddenness of the vocal intrusion was nothing in comparison with the visual shock that awaited her. Her feet were no longer positioned inside the gloomy Project laboratory, but firmly planted on cobblestones, darkened by the fact that it was night. Clear skies revealed a canopy of twinkling stars that would have been romantic, had a mob of angry people, all sporting medieval style leathers, not begun to point at her with an excited fury. Unfortunately, for Elaine, the lanky, wide-eyed, rat faced, young owner of the voice, going by the rather obvious nickname of Sworder, appea
red to be in charge.

  “Get her!”

  Gestures soon progressed to movement. The mob grabbed swords, knives or any handy implement and advanced on her vulnerable position. Panicked, Elaine swiftly scanned the area. She seemed to be standing in the middle of a courtyard, with a high surrounding stone wall blocking the view. Behind her, loomed a huge stone edifice; the walls of a castle, perhaps? An iron gate at the far end of the courtyard offered a slight glimpse of a greener location.

  It worked! The amazing thought flashed through Elaine’s mind. The Project actually worked. I’ve gone back in time. But how do they know my name? Now is not the time to think, self- preservation interrupted. Run!

  Elaine fled from her pursuers in the only direction open to her: towards the small iron gate. Sprinting across the courtyard and flinging her trembling body through the gap, she found herself in the midst of a semi-cultivated garden, although darkness and foliage hid its full glory. Hurling herself into shrubbery, she watched as Sworder set a guard at the gate, grabbed a flaming torch and commenced a search. Lying concealed within foliage, Elaine realised that capture was only a matter of time. The sound of voices filled the air, multiple torches illuminating the night.

  Desperately struggling to control her breathing, Elaine felt the tug of the stone necklace as it caught on a branch, delivering a sharp snap that seemed horrifyingly loud. Calling on every ounce of courage learned from her miserable childhood, Elaine peeped between foliage. Sworder and his men continued their random search, apparently not having heard. She swiftly tucked the necklace inside her clothes. She had barely begun to experience relief when a sudden rustle almost stopped her heart. With every muscle tensing, she watched as a large, black nose pushed its way through shrubbery, sniffed along the earth and stopped between her eyes. The slimy protrusion emitted a snort of victory and withdrew, only to be followed by the mangy fur of a large and very dirty black dog.