Time Riders

CHAPTER 31

2001, New York

Maddy walked alongside Foster as they crossed the Williamsburg Bridge back over theHudson River to Brooklyn. In the darkness, the lights of the city danced on the watermagically.

‘It really is a beautiful city,’ she said.

Foster nodded. ‘Tonight is special,’ he said. ‘I always think of thisevening as the last one of the “old” New York. Tomorrow, when those two planesarrive, it’ll change.’

They walked in silence for a while, watching the others ahead. Sal and Liam seemed to beteasing Bob, laughing at the stiff, unnatural way he talked. There’s no harm in that,she supposed. Bob needed to sound a lot more like a human if he was going to blend in,particularly if he was going to be sent alongside Liam on assignments back into the past.

She noticed the old man was looking a little frailer than he had when he’d pulled herout of that plane. He rarely seemed to sleep. Almost every night, after they’d alltucked themselves up into their cots, she heard the archway’s door creak open.

‘Where do you go at night?’

He looked at her.

She shrugged. ‘I hear you sneaking out.’

‘I walk around Brooklyn.’ He smiled. ‘I clear my head. The fresh air doesme some good.’

She studied him silently for a moment. ‘Are you OK, Foster?’she asked.

Foster took his time replying. ‘You’ve noticed, then?’ he saideventually.

‘I’m not sure what you mean.’

‘That I’m dying,’ he said quietly.

‘What?’

He looked at her. ‘I figured you would’ve worked it out soon enough.’

‘Actually, I was just thinking you weren’t looking too well… that’sall.’

He smiled again. ‘That’s kind of you. But, in fact, I’m dying… veryquickly as it happens.’

‘What’s… what’s wrong? Do you need a doctor?’

‘No, it wouldn’t help,’ he said, shaking his head. ‘This is somethingyou need to know, Maddy,’ he said, grasping her forearm.‘You can’t tell the others right now. Particularly not Liam.’

‘What?’

Foster took a deep breath. ‘It kills you, eventually.’

‘What does?’

‘Timeriding,’ he replied, ‘going into the past. It only has a gradualeffect at first — so gradual he won’t notice to begin with. But the more he doesit, the further back he goes, the greater the harm he’ll be doing to his body. Theprocess will gradually corrupt the cells in his body, prematurely ageing him.’

She looked at him, alarmed.

‘Yes… ageing him. At first it won’t beapparent. But towards the end, when the corruption has reached a certain level, he willsuddenly age fast.’

A thought occurred to her — a question she didn’t want to ask, but knew she hadto. ‘So, Foster, could I ask you — ?’

‘You want to know how old I really am?’

She nodded.

He shook his head sadly and she thought she saw the glisten of a tear nestling in the deepwrinkled fold beneath one eye.

‘I was pretty young when I made my first trip.’

‘And now?’

‘If I add up all the Mondays and Tuesdays I’ve served in that fieldoffice,’ he said, running a hand through his fine snow-white hair, ‘I supposeI’d be about twenty-seven now.’

Maddy covered her gasp with a hand. ‘Oh God…’

He managed a wry smile. ‘About ten years older than you. Although inside I still feelyoung, I’ve become an old man,’ he said, his voice tapering off with the sound ofregret, even bitterness in there somewhere. ‘He can’t know, Maddy,’ headded. ‘Not yet… He’s not ready.’

‘But it’s unfair that he doesn’t know what this is doing to hisbody!’

Foster raised a finger to his lips. Even above the noise of traffic rumbling past them overthe busy bridge, her voice might just carry enough for him to hear.

‘He has no choice, Madelaine. Either he does this or he has to return to the Titanic. At least this way he gets another seven or eight years oflife.’

‘What if he left? What if he decided to walk away right now, and never cameback?’

‘He can’t do that. It would cause problems.’

‘This seems…’ She felt her voice thicken. ‘This seems sounfair.’

He shrugged sadly. ‘Life is unfair. You make the best of what life deals you, Maddy. InLiam’s case, he’s been given a few more years of life that he wouldn’t havehad otherwise. And think of all the incredible things he’s going to see in those years.What about all the incredible things he’s seen already? He’s ayoung man who was born in 1896, and yet just now he’s enjoyed a cheeseburger, fries andan ice-cold soda whilst gazing out on twenty-first century New York. What do you think JulesVerne or H. G. Wells would have given to trade places with Liam? Just for five minutes? Justfor a glimpse of this world?’

‘But it’s not right that he isn’t allowed to know,’ she replied.

‘Perhaps the kinder thing would be to keep this truth from him as long as you possiblycan,’ said Foster. He looked at her. ‘That’ll be your call, Madelaine, whenI eventually go and leave you in charge as the team leader. It’ll be your decision how and when you break this to Liam.’

She bit her lip unhappily and looked at the others again, still giggling and goofing about atBob’s expense.

Oh, Liam… poor Liam.

‘I mean you both sound so… wrong,’said Sal, pulling her hood up over her head. ‘Real freak show. Like characters out of anold black and white movie.’

Liam scowled. ‘What do you mean? Do I not sound enough like everyone else aroundhere?’

She shook her head and laughed. ‘No. That funny Irish way you talk — ’

‘I’m from Cork — that’s how we talk there,’ he replieddefensively. ‘Anyway your Indian accent sounds funny to me too. Sort of likeWelsh.’

She laughed. ‘Bob,’ she said, jabbing the support unit lightly in the ribs,‘do your impersonation of Liam.’

‘You wish me to replicate Liam O’Connor’s speech patterns?’

‘Go on.’

Bob’s eyelids momentarily fluttered and ticked as he retrieved data stored somewhere inhis tiny computer mind.

‘Oi’mLiam O’Connor, so Oi am… and Oi come from Cork in Oireland,so Oi do,’ uttered Bob with an expressionless face.

Sal giggled. ‘Perfect.’

‘Argghh! Don’t be taking the mickey like that, Sal. Hang on…’Liam’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. ‘You’ve not been training him to do that,have you?’

She nodded, clamping her lips tightly.

‘Affirmative,’ said Bob dryly. ‘Sal Vikram assisted me in replicating yourspeech pattern, Liam O’Connor.’

Liam shook his head with a show of good-natured disgust. ‘Well, at least I don’tdress like some sort of carnival street beggar, all ripped clothes and messy orange paintsplashed over me front.’

‘Uh?’ Sal looked down at the neon logo on her hoodie. ‘Oh, that…It’s the logo for a rock band. Ess-Zed.’

‘Rock band?’

‘Bangra rock… my parents really hate it. Think it’s too western, tooAmerican.’

‘Oh,’ said Liam, nodding politely but not really understanding what she wastalking about.

‘But it’s ten times better than American stuff… much darker, with, like,hip-hop dance loops and scream-rap.’

Liam frowned. Hip-hopdance loops?

He looked at her. ‘Dance… ahhh! So is it a kind ofmusic we’re talking about?’

Sal looked at him, her face half smile, half bemusement.

He shrugged and grinned. ‘Hey, I like music too. I like the brass bands. Marching bandsas well. I tell you, you can skip merrily along to that, so you can. And then there’sthe folk tunes where I come from. Would you have heard of “The Galway Races”?“Molly Malone”?… “The Jolly Beggarman”?’

She stared at him in silence.

‘No? I guess not.’ Liam shrugged. ‘Ah well… thoseare ditties you can really dance a sweat to. And then there’s…’

Sal listened to him chattering on about the dance halls back in Cork, secretly delighting inthe fact that he sounded like a walking antique — an old-fashioned young gentleman fromanother century, all manners and quaint charm — and so unlike the boys from her time.She loved the curious sound of his accent, despite teasing him.

Sal smiled. What a strange little group we make.

Like some kind of odd family.

For the first time since she’d ‘died’, since she’d been plucked awayfrom the life she knew, she felt almost… almost happy. In astrange way, this felt like it could be a new home to her, a new life she could get usedto.

She looked out at the glittering lights of Manhattan, pleased that their field office washere… and now in this time, pleased that she was privileged enough to be seeing New YorkCity at its prime before the world started to change — the global crash, the depression- before it all began the long slide downhill.

The night sky above her was thick with churning clouds, bathed in amber light from the citybelow.

Red sky at night… shepherd’s delight.

It looked like it was going to rain this evening.

A gentle breeze tossed hair into her eyes and touched the bare skin of her forearms, amurmuring breeze that seemed to quietly whisper in her ear a promise of more than just alittle rain.

A storm’s coming, Sal… Can you feel it yet?