Colin followed the Professor through a large room of servers, with Quinn close at his heels.
“This place is a maze,” he mused, as they weaved through the steel racks, each lit up with rows of blue and green lights that flashed as the drives and processors were accessed, presumably by the Higgins mainframe.
“It’s daunting at first sight, certainly,” Arturo said. “But it’s laid out in a logical, well-labelled fashion. Like a library, in a way.”
“How do you expect us to take all of this with us?” Quinn asked.
“All of this is merely processing power and redundancy,” he explained. “The core Higgins modules are stored on a series of quartz crystals at the heart of the facility.”
“Quartz crystals?” Colin glanced at Quinn, who shrugged.
Arturo led them into a circular room, with about twenty finger-sized crystals set into receptacles around the perimeter of the room, illuminated from behind with blue light. A series of lasers on robotic arms intermittently moved over them, injecting red beams into the transparent hexagonal minerals.
“Yes, apparently Doctor Beckett integrated some quite advanced technology in my absence. He did leave me an extensive manual, however, which I will now pass on to you.”
“We’re really going to abandon this place?” Colin said, as he marvelled at the unbelievable advancements.
“I’m afraid it can’t be helped now,” the Professor lamented. “Higgins detected a Manta Ship scanning the location of the energy surge for geological anomalies, and a vast cavern six stories under a university in an earthquake-prone city is sure to raise their suspicions.”
Well, when you put it that way…
“It does seem like an odd choice,” Quinn said, looking upwards at the ceiling. “Weren’t you worried this place could cave in?”
Arturo nodded. “Yes, which is why approximately eighty per cent of Higgins’s early iterations involved complex geological data collection and modelling. He predicted the strata we built in would be structurally sound until at least 2029.”
He grinned, looking towards the centre of the room, where a dome protruded from the ceiling that blinked with multicoloured lights. “The marvellous thing actually predicted the earthquake of 1989, corroborating with the notes you left me. It allowed us to significantly mitigate the death toll, and allowed us some cover with the government to operate as an independent geological survey and earthquake detection system.”
Quinn grinned, his eyes shining with excitement. “This place blows me away,” he said, patting his one-time mentor on the shoulder.
“Yes, well, as much as I’d like to take the credit, it was a team effort,” he said with a modest shrug.
Colin wanted to share in the wonder, but all he could think about was the fact that this amazing place was now doomed because of them.
“But enough accolades and self-congratulations,” Arturo continued. “I brought you here because there is still a chance to complete the mission that went awry, as long as you can escape here with the Higgins data.”
“Even if we take all this data, what’ll we do with it?” Colin asked, closely eyeing one of the crystals as a laser shone into it. He watched as the beam entered the crystal and began to move around within, in an intricate circuit board pattern, apparently writing data into the stone.
Arturo placed a hand on a panel, and his voice boomed. “Higgins, switch to secondary storage and eject crystalline components. Administrative authorisation: FP-454-029B.”
After a short hesitation from the computer, he added: “Post-haste, Higgins.”
“Ejecting data crystals,” Higgins said in his flat, mechanical tone. The robotic arms lifted away, and, one by one, the blue light behind each of the crystals went out, before the crystal popped out of its recess.
Arturo reached under a panel, pulling out a briefcase. He opened it up to reveal a numbered series of padded compartments. He walked around the room, taking a crystal and placing it carefully into its corresponding place.
“As I understand it, these crystals were a late stage implementation, and specifically designed so that our data could be taken with us in the event of an evacuation,” he said, as he closed the case. “Why they were left behind is part of the greater mystery of what occurred here, but now I’m relieved they were.”
He handed the case to Quinn.
“This briefcase is equipped with a series of compact discs that contain Doctor Beckett’s detailed manual on the use of this method of storage,” he said.
“You still haven’t answered my question,” Colin prodded.
Quinn looked down at the briefcase. “Well, what other place do we know has technology that has the chance of matching this?”
Colin let out a breath as it dawned on him. “That place where Maggie went in the future?”
“Yeah,” confirmed Quinn. “I think he called it Project Quantum Leap.”
“So we need to get back to the other Doc Beckett’s home turf, then,” Colin murmured, as his mind started to put things into place.
He had to admit that the thought of seeing that place excited him.
As they began to head out of the core, Colin felt the ground beneath him rumble, and his heart jumped.
“Uh, you said this strata was sound, right?” he said, looking at Arturo with wide eyes.
“That’s no earthquake,” the Professor replied, looking sadly at the little handheld device he’d been keeping in his pocket. “Our belligerent friends above have begun exploratory drilling. Higgins estimates twenty minutes until they breach the facility.”
“Well, shit,” Quinn muttered.
The Professor turned towards a door across from where they’d entered. “One moment,” he said, holding up a finger as he entered the room.
After exactly one moment, by Colin’s measure, the man returned, holding Quinn’s notebook, which was now yellowed and well-used. But the notebook wasn’t the only thing in his hands.
Arturo held out the contents of his hands to Colin. One notebook, and one small metal box with a latch. Upon taking them, Colin turned the box over, studying it.
“What’s this?”
“Fascinating,” mused Arturo. “You don’t recall giving me that in 1978, Mister Mallory?”
Colin narrowed his eyes. “No. You’re sure I did?”
Arturo scratched his chin, regarding Colin with an enigmatic smile. “Changing one’s own history is an interesting thing, isn’t it?”
He gestured to the items Colin held. “These keepsakes have remained unchanged even as history was rewritten. Higgins has theories as to why, but I shall spare you the lecture. They are a window into a past that no longer exists, and I suspect they’ll contain some answers for your altered memories.”
He headed back the way they’d come, gesturing for the brothers to follow. “Come, I’ll show you and your friends to the evacuation chamber.”
* * *
Quinn Mallory felt unwelcome.
It hadn’t been his fault that he had been the hapless guinea pig of a mad scientist and blended with someone else. He didn’t know squat about all this science stuff, which the other guy with his name seemed to, to a degree that rivalled Diana, and maybe even Doctor Geiger himself.
He was just a normal dude who only got caught up in all this because of a spinal injury that left him paralysed, until he was approached by Geiger and miraculously healed with technology he would never understand in a million years.
And now he was in another world with some enemy he’d never heard of bearing down on him, among people who would rather he not be here, and wouldn’t even call him by his name.
Mallory.
Sure, some people were referred to by their surname, and it was fine. But Mallory was a girl’s name. They could have chosen anything else, but no.
He was sitting, arms crossed, and hunched over. He supposed he looked like he was sulking, and that’s because he was.
The wordy man everyone called the Professor had taken the other Quinn and his brother further into the labs, leaving him with the gun lady, whose name was Maggie, and the singer, whose name was the same as a Dutch painter he’d heard of.
While he’d been fused, he’d felt an affinity towards these people, but now he just felt like he was among strangers.
I just want to go home.
In his periphery, he sensed Rembrandt approaching him.
“What do you want?” he asked bluntly.
“Just wanted to see if you were doing okay,” he said, taking a seat beside him on the bench.
“Besides being in a crazy post-apocalyptic wasteland? Yeah I’m doing great.” He raised a cynical eyebrow.
“Yeah, it’s a lot to handle, huh?” He chuckled, and leaned back against the wall. “I never asked to be on this ride, either.”
Mallory’s guarded facade faltered at this. “You didn’t?”
“I was just driving past Q-ball’s house when my whole Caddy got pulled into that portal. And when I eventually got back to my home world, the damn maggots invaded three months later. So I know how you feel, man. Just a pawn in someone else’s chess game.”
Mallory frowned. “If Quinn did all this to you, why are you friends with the guy?”
“Oh, I wasn’t his biggest fan for a good while. But in the end, he was just a kid who made a mistake, and I think he beat himself up plenty without me joining in. And it’s hard to stay mad at someone with as good a heart as Q-ball. Maybe he’s motivated by his guilt, but he’s done a lotta good, helped a lot of people.”
Mallory processed this for a while. This group really did seem tight, even if it was borne of necessity.
A great rumble shook the room, and Mallory instinctively gripped his seat. The sound of metal creaking echoed off the walls.
“What the hell was that?” he cried.
“I’m thinkin’ it’s our cue to mosey on out of this death trap,” Rembrandt said, making eye contact with Maggie across the room.
“I’m not going to argue with that,” Mallory said, standing. “Where are the others?”
“They’ll be here,” Maggie said. “Just be ready to leave.”
Mallory looked up at the high ceilings. A crisscross of reinforced girders, supported by steel pillars. Thoughts of them crumpling and crashing down filled his mind, and he felt sick to his stomach.
“Let’s go, people!” Quinn’s voice boomed into the room, and Mallory merely caught his arm beckoning, as it continued past the doorway.
The three of them followed, joining the three men, through a winding corridor. Mallory noted that Quinn was now carrying a black briefcase, and Colin had an old book.
Finally, they stopped at a large door. The Professor placed his hand on a panel, and it slid open to reveal a shallow room, no deeper than six feet.
“This is the evacuation chamber,” he explained. “Higgins will open up a wormhole against the far wall that should send you to a safe location on the surface.”
“Should…?” Quinn said, biting his lip.
“Well, we must trust that the focus beacon for the other end of the vortex is still operational,” he said, looking down at the little computer in his hand. “We are still receiving a signal from it, so I wouldn’t be too concerned.”
“What happens if it’s not working right?” Mallory’s voice wavered.
Arturo stroked his beard. “Best not to think about that.”
He exchanged a look with Quinn that Mallory couldn’t read.
Why do I get the feeling this is just a normal Friday for these guys?
“Higgins, execute evacuation procedure B92,” the Professor commanded.
“Evacuation gateway opening in three, two, one. Evacuation gateway engaging.”
Before them, the back wall of the room was replaced with a swirling blue, and another terrifying rumble began to shake the facility.
“Go now!” the Professor shouted.
Everyone else seemed to hesitate, so Mallory took the initiative, and jumped in.
Just a normal Friday, he thought as he was thrust through the tunnel, his stomach turning.
And then he was out, falling onto a dusty wooden floor. He pulled himself to his feet, leaning on what appeared to be a church pew. For a moment, he took in his surroundings. It was certainly a church; long abandoned, but largely untouched by the chaotic environment that other places he’d seen here seemed to have. It would almost be peaceful if he didn’t think about why he was here.
Behind him, he heard more bodies tumbling to the ground. Rembrandt was the first to sidle up to him.
“Well, thank you Jesus,” Rembrandt said, staring at the stained glass image of the religious figure behind the pulpit.
“Where are we now?” Maggie asked, joining them.
“Can’t be far, right?” said Rembrandt. “That was the shortest slide we’ve ever had.”
“I think I recognise this place,” Colin said, his arms still laden with the old notebook and some kind of box. “Then again, all churches look the same to me.”
“No, you’re right,” Quinn said, studying the architecture. “Our second cousin Gareth got married in this church. We’re in Los Altos.”
Mallory turned back, watching the vortex close. He furrowed his brow as he realised there was someone missing.
“Hey, didn’t the Professor follow you?”
He turned back to the others. Quinn’s head was bowed.
“No,” Quinn said shakily.
“But why?”
“Because he had to set the self-destruct. Can’t let the ’maggs get their hands on time travel.”
“What?!” Maggie was looking at him with wild eyes.
“Can’t he come through here after he does that, same as us?” Rembrandt asked, frantic.
“He will… if the Kromaggs don’t get there first,” Colin said.
Maggie produced the timer from her pocket.
“Well, we have one hour and thirty-six minutes,” she said, voice breaking. “So let’s wait right here and hope he shows up.”
“And if he doesn’t?” Mallory probed.
Quinn clutched the briefcase with both hands. “Then we finish his life’s work.”