Extinct by RR Haywood

Author:RR Haywood [Haywood, RR]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781503902459
Publisher: 47North
Published: 2018-03-28T22:00:00+00:00

Twenty-One

Bertie’s Island

‘I know we’re all tired, but this has to be done now,’ Miri says in the shack on Bertie’s island an hour after coming back from Hyde Park. ‘There are two changes to the timeline that we are aware of. The Affa incident in one-two-six AD and a nuclear bomb dropped on London in nineteen forty-five. We need information on those incidents to find out where we can deploy to monitor them and establish who caused them.’

‘I think it’s bloody obvious who caused them,’ Emily says. ‘You said it yourself, Ben. Affa must be Alpha . . .’

‘We will investigate and draw conclusions from fact in place of guesswork, Tango Two.’

Emily bridles, ready to snap back, but swallows the rebuke and stays silent.

‘Why are we rushing?’ Safa asks, clocking the look between Miri and Ben.

‘We’re detached from the timeline,’ Ben explains. ‘And if we are then whoever else has a time machine is also detached . . . and there’s a risk we’re both now on our own timeline and we just lost two months. Why make two changes to the timeline? Miri and I discussed it and one of our theories is that they dropped the nuke because we failed to react to the changes in Roman times . . .’

‘Because we were gone for two months?’ Safa asks.

‘Possibly,’ Ben says. ‘We need to find out. Hence going into the place Ria used.’

‘Ready?’ Miri asks, not waiting for a response as she activates the portal that comes to life with the blue doorway shining between the floating devices.

The settings were stored in Bertie’s controller as Lambeth-not-Lambeth, with an entry point at the end of a deep dog-legged alley and they go through to venture out with Safa in the lead.

‘Harry, Emily . . . you two hold the alley,’ Safa says. ‘This our fall-back position. If it goes bent we do the same as before . . . Emily, you come to us if we need you. Harry, you protect the Blue. I am team leader. I have control on the ground.’

‘Give me a minute,’ Ben says quietly, sweeping his eyes over the street, the buildings, the people, the forms, structures, noises, sights, smells and a thousand other things all at the same time. Miri does the same, examining and assessing to absorb and understand the new environment.

‘You and me again then, Harry,’ Emily says from behind him.

‘Aye,’ the big man says.

‘Bring your smokes this time?’ she asks lightly.

‘Aye,’ he says, eyeing her suspiciously at the good-natured question that seems to be lacking any dig at their increasingly confusing situation.

‘Good,’ she says, nodding at him. Ben de-tunes from studying the area, waiting for the dig. Safa too. Miri just tuts to herself.

‘Nothing?’ Ben asks, turning to glance at Emily when no comment is forthcoming.

‘Nope,’ she says, looping her arm through Harry’s. ‘We’re all good today.’

‘Right,’ Ben says. ‘Great.’

‘All good,’ Emily says.

‘Awesome,’ Ben says.

‘Unless, you know, Harry gets drunk and wants to have sex with someone . . .’

‘And there it is,’ Ben says, facing back round to carry on studying the area.

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