The Man From U.N.D.E.A.D.'s Christmas Carol (7 page)

“
My husband is dead,
”
she informed me flatly, bringing out the figurative wet fish again
for a further slapping.

Husband?

Dead?

These were not two words that I had ever considered using about myself. One I had no real objection to and the other was inevitable, but I had considered them both to be a long way off in my future.

“
When?
”
I asked, shocked.

“
Three years ago,
”
she was surprised into telling me.
“
When the demons banded together and
broke open the Agency cells, my husband
was in the vanguard of the Resistance.
”

“
Demons banded together?
”
I repeated numbly.
“
They opened the cells?
”

Veronika walked all around me, sizing me up from all angles,
“
The reproduction is remarkable. You are just as he was in the early days. Before...
”

“
Before what?
”
I was eager to know.

“
I do not know what this game is that you are playing, but I do not have the time for it,
”
she dismissed me.
“
Take him away and kill him.
”

“
You need me to face Yule!
”
I said desperately as the soldiers grabbed my arms.

“
Wait!
”
Veronika ordered, turning back toward me.
“
What do you know of Yule?
”

“
He
’
s the one that you
’
re fighting. He
’
s the one behind all of this. He created this whole situation, this whole world. It
’
s a bubble universe, an alternate reality created for my benefit, or rather in order to test me.
”

“
Test you?
”

“
Preferably to destruction
,
from his point
of view.
A
demon in the
very
season
of his greatest power has created this future for me to die in, but he
’
s only a demon and there are limits to his power,
”
my mind was racing, looking for ways to convince her of a remarkably unlikely truth.
“
What is happening with the other units in the North?
”

“
You think that I am going to tell you that?
”
she asked, astonished at
what she saw as an obvious tactic.
“
Come in here with my dead husband
’
s face and I
’
ll tell you all my secrets?
Is that what you think?
”

“
You don
’
t know, do you?
” I asked, seeing through her bravado to the truth beneath.
“
You haven
’
t had any contact from them for a long time. What about France
,
down that way,
” I pointed in that direction,
“
any word from them? America? Germany?
”

Her face was eloquent enough.

“
No contact from anyone. How likely is that?
”
I asked, pressing.
“
What about new arrivals? Your men were surprised to find me, but there must be survivors wandering about out there?
A whole population of lost, frightened
people looking for help and not one
of them ever show
s
up on your doorstep?
How likely is that?
”

“
I deal with what I can see,
”
she said, but her eyes were clouded with doubt.
“
I have no time for anything else.
”

“
Then you should make the time,
”
a voice said from the entrance to the tent. It was the voice of Mikhail Kirov who I had known as the head of the Agency
’
s research and development arm Qoppa Branch, but the voice was the only thing about him that I recognised. Firstly, he was seated in a wheelchair and there was nothing where his legs had been. One arm was encased in metal and moved jerkily as though he was having muscle spasms. His head was shaved and all manner of wires projected out through the bare skull, running to various boxes of electronics located about the wheelchair.
“
He is telling the truth, or at least what he believes it to be.
”

“
Oh, so now you can read minds?
”
I asked archly.

“
Yes,
”
was his perfectly serious
response.
“
To a small degree.
Enough to know that you believe what you are saying.
You actually believe that you are Veronika
’
s husband.
”

“
No,
”
I corrected him.
“
At least not yet.
I mean
to say
that I come from a time before any of this could possibly have happened,
”
I waved at the tunnel in general. Locking eyes with Veronika, I told her,
“
We are just starting out living together.
Working things out as we go.
”

Her face softened for a moment,
“
I remember those times.
”

“
Do you?
”
I asked.
“
Do you remember that first Christmas?
”

“
I do,
”
she said and smiled slightly.

“
Do you remember the second?
”
I asked.
“
Do you remember what I bought you? Do you remember what we did?
”

She frowned.

“
Think about details.
Anything
.
Something
specific,
”
I pressed her.
“
You can
’
t can you? That
’
s because I come from the time of that first Christmas and so Yule can populate your mind with my memories, but he can
’
t use what I have yet to experience. Yes, he can create this scenario, but the details... It
’
s all about the details.
”

“
You believe him?
”
she asked Kirov.

“
It is a workable hypothesis from the known facts,
”
he replied.

“
I suppose that stranger things have happened,
”
Veronika commented.

“
Really?
”
I asked.
“
When?
”

“
Assuming this to be true, then where does that leave us?
”
she asked, dismissing the attendant soldiers as an afterthought.

“
You say that this is Yule
’
s world?
”
Kirov asked, trundling over to join us.

“
It
’
s his challenge,
”
I confirmed.
“
I have to overcome three spirits, or demons, one in my past, one in my present and one in my future.
”

“
Or a future of his creation,
”
Kirov amended.
“
The future has not happened. You cannot visit it.
”

“
I was really hoping to avoid a lecture on time mechanics,
”
I said plaintively.

“
We can assume that the demon here will come after you then?
”
the scientist continued.

“
I
’
m surprised it hasn
’
t already,
”
I said honestly,
“
and I
’
m kind of fed up of reacting to this situation. I want to take the offensive for a change.
”

“
Being offensive always was one of your talents,
”
Veronika quipped and I noted that she seemed to have accepted me for who I was.

“
If you
’
re around when this thing comes after me then you
’
ll all be in danger, so you want me as far away from you as you can get. I
’
ve been put here to go up against this demon, so that
’
s what I
’
m going to do. All you have to do is point the way.
”

“
You
’
d never get close,
”
Kirov informed me with certainty.
“
The Horned One has a base set up in a quarry in Hertfordshire. There are hundreds of lesser demons defending it. An army couldn
’
t take it.
T
rust me, we know. One man would not stand a chance.
”

“
If I understand things correctly, in your world view we are all just constructs from your mind and if you lose then we will all be wiped out
when you die
,
”
Veronika pointed out.
“
Correct?
”

“
Yes,
”
I admitted.

“
And if you win then the demon is killed and this universe, along with all of us, ceases to exist,
”
she continued.
“
Correct?
”

“
Yes,
”
I admitted again, rather more uncomfortably.

“
That is not much of a choice,
”
she pointed out.

“
I
’
m sorry, but I didn
’
t make the rules here. The only other option is to lock me up somewhere and keep hiding in this hole until the demon descends on you and ...
”

“
Kills us all,
”
she finished the sentence for me.
“
There seems to be a recurring motif.
”

“
That it sucks to be you? Yes, I noticed that. The only comfort I can offer is that when it
’
s over either way this world and this suffering will be finished and I can prev
ent it from ever happening
,
”
I offered. It wasn
’
t much, but I didn
’
t
have
anything else to go with.
“
And hey, if I
’
m wrong then all you
’
ve lost is one nutter who
happened to look
like your husband.
”

“
For this to work you will need our help.
We all go or none of us go
es
,
”
Veronika
said, looking into my eyes, searching for some sign to help her make the right decision.
“
Do you have some sort of crazy suicidal plan?
”

“
That does seem to be my modus operandi doesn
’
t it?
”
I agreed.
“
That depends on what this quarry is like and what you have lying around in here.
”

What they had was a
jetpack; a
n honest to goodness
(
and
actually works without burning your legs off
)
jetpack. It came with a protective helmet and an instruction manual that started with the words
‘
If in doubt, do not use
’
.
Hardly the most encouraging opening line.