The Time Portal 2: Escape in Time (6 page)

Mickey blindfolded the man, had the guys walk him around the house a few times, and turned him around in circles. Lucky opened the door to the saferoom and motioned for the professor to leave and put his index finger to his lips signaling the professor not to speak. Lindstrom did as told. There was no way that Lucky could have the two men in the same room, no excuse for sloppiness regarding Lindstrom’s security. Inside the
saferoom, Nicky chained the guy’s right hand to some bars, similar to those found in prisons, anchored and drilled into a cement wall – the one ugly wall designed for this purpose, should it be needed one day. Dukie removed the blindfold and while Nicky kept his gun trained on the man, ordered him to take a seat in the chair that Mickey shoved next to him.

Lucky broke the silence.

“Do you want to die?”

The man looked at him, laughed, and in his slight accent, answered, “I do not fear dying.”

It was a safe guess that the man was Russian so Lucky decided to go with it.

“What does Putin want with me?”

The man seemed a little surprised by the question.

Lucky knew what the answer might be. It was something that had concerned him for a long time. He lived each day knowing that someone might discover his secret, his ability for time travel and he, like the professor, would or could become a highly treasured commodity.

Lucky had learned from his trials with CIA officials Dirk Sommerville, Jack Kinsey and Director Stewart, to always have a secret weapon. For Lucky, that something was a truth serum. He had seen its effects many times – an ultra short-acting barbiturate that produces general anesthesia, also used in narcoanalysis for psychiatric disorders. Its name was thiopental sodium, also known as sodium pentothal – a yellow crystal, with a garlic-like odor, that dissolves in water or alcohol. The doctors at the agency’s hospital compound had added another chemical to it that caused the patient to talk quickly, speaking the truth without reservation and without deliberation, yet would leave the patient with no recall of any of the conversation or events. Lucky had absconded with enough of this serum to disarm his enemies for the rest of his life. It was the ace up his sleeve and no one, not a soul, other than his childhood friends, knew of its existence.

The Russian smiled as Mickey inserted the needle into his vein.

“I have been conditioned by our best technicians,” he said, “to overcome the effect of any formula or truth serum. Sorry to disappoint, but you will not get anything from me.”

Lucky and his gang waited a few moments for the drug to be absorbed into the man’s system and then Lucky began.

“What is your name?”

  There was no answer.

Lucky, Nicky, Mickey and Dukie all stood around patiently, waiting for the liquid blabber to kick in, generally around ten to fifteen minutes. Mickey kept looking at his watch and every few minutes gave the guys a countdown.

“Okay, should be good to go,” he said to Lucky.

Lucky asked, “Are you an American citizen or are you Russian?”

“Yes.”

“Yes, what?” Lucky asked.

“Yes, Russian.”

“Is that your van that you’re driving?”

“No.”

“Do you live in New York City?”

“Yes.”

“What is your name?”

He answered slowly, “Marcov.”

The Russian was a tall man, blonde, well built, with blue eyes and close-cropped hair. He looked exactly his nationality, Russian.

“Did Putin send you?”

“No, Oleg Karpov.”

“Who is Karpov?”

“Head of Security for KGB.”

“Did Putin order Karpov to bring me in?”

“Yes, I believe.”

“What does he want with me?”

“He has tape. It shows you disappearing. He wants to know how you do it.”

Lucky shook his head and said under his breath, “Not again.”

Lucky continued, “Is that all he wants from me?”

“No, he also wants man who invented system.”

“What system?” Lucky asked to make sure the man knew what he was talking about.

“Propulsion system,” the Russian answered.

“How many of you are there?” Lucky asked.

The man ignored that question and kept talking, “I was contacted by Karpov with assignment because I live here, New York City. They will deny involvement if any of us, or them, are caught.”

Lucky asked him. “Are there any others coming to get me?”

“Yes, there will be others coming to relieve me. They will be here tomorrow.”

“Will your people split up into groups or will there be one group?”

Marcus answered slowly, trying unsuccessfully to fight the drug. “Yes. No. There will be two different groups.”

“How did you intend to get us out of the country?”

“We have Russian jet at Kennedy Airport to take you and scientist to Russia.”

Lucky left the room and walked into the kitchen where the professor, Sam and Bobby the pilot were sitting.

“Bobby,” he said, “I want you to go now and get the plane ready. File a flight plan for Monte Carlo. We’ll change it once we’re in the air. I have to make some phone calls, but I want to leave as soon as soon as possible.”

He walked back inside the hidden, saferoom and asked Dukie to step outside. “Dukie, take a few Heckler and Koch G. 36 automatic rifles. Make sure we have plenty of ammunition and give each of the guys an automatic with four full clips.“

The G. 36 is fed from the standard NATO thirty round magazine. The original German magazines were made from translucent plastic with special studs placed on each side. They allowed the shooter to clip together two or three magazines so as to have ninety rounds of ammunition at the ready. The G. 36 can also be fed from one hundred round dual drum magazines. The men were taking a condensed version of a larger gun. This one fit inside a topcoat, was easy to reload, and was a killing machine, which is precisely why Lucky wanted it (them) on the plane. Should the Russians come looking, there would be a heavy toll in body count.

Chapter Six

Lucky picked up the phone and dialed Jack Kinsey’s number. Jack was at one time CIA Director Dirk Sommerville’s second in command. It was money that had made Jack an accomplice to Sommerville’s evil plot to kill Lucky, money he needed for medical expenses related to a surgery his son so desperately needed. But to his credit, once Jack was free of Sommerville, due to his mysterious disappearance, he aligned himself with Lucky and was instrumental in helping him capture a terrorist and thwart his goons from dispersing nuclear suitcase bombs to major cities in the United States. When Kinsey answered, Lucky told him he was calling from the safehouse and explained the Russians’ intentions. Lucky filled him in on Doctor Henry Lindstrom and his invention.

“We have a Russian operative chained in the safehouse in Astoria, Queens,” Lucky said. “Jack, my suggestion is to get some people over here as quickly as you can and take this guy to the compound to debrief him. Do me a favor, Jack. Make sure you send enough men so that some can stay at the safehouse to corral the others that will be coming. We were told to expect them tomorrow morning. The Russian was using a DirecTV truck so you might as well take that with you too. Who knows? You might find something useful in it.”

Lucky brought Jack up to date all the while trying hard to contain his anger.

“How the hell did the Russians get their hands on a copy of the tape Dirk Sommerville took of me, Jack? I thought all the records were destroyed.”

“Lucky,” Jack responded, “I didn’t know another tape existed. We destroyed all the records. I have no idea where that tape came from, but I intend to find out. I’m putting a call into my boss, Murray Manheimmer to see if he knows anything. I can tell you this, if I didn’t know about this mystery tape then, I’ll bet everything I own now that nobody else does either. This will be news to Manheimmer.”

“Jack, get on this right away. I need to know what I’m up against.”

“I’ll get right on it Lucky. I’ll have men on their way to the safehouse the minute we hang up. Two of them will bring the Russian to me and I’ll work on him as soon as he gets here. The rest of the men will stay behind like you asked.”

“Sounds good and Jack, just so you know, I’m leaving town tonight with the professor, but I’ll be in touch with you periodically using an encrypted satellite phone.”

“Gotcha,” Jack answered. “Take care of yourself, Lucky. I have you covered on this end.”

Lucky placed the phone down and retrieved another cell phone from his coat pocket, this one a temporary, pre-paid phone. He made a call to Charlie Hodge in Alice Springs, Australia. Once he got Charlie on the phone, he asked how he would like a few houseguests for a while, already knowing the answer. Charlie was a friend from way back. Lucky had met him when he escaped from the CIA compound through a portal in the jail. When Lucky emerged, he found himself in the bush, the Australian Outback. After traveling for a day along the river scouting out the area and searching for a new portal, Charlie, traveling in his old beat up truck, happened to see Lucky walking along the road. He stopped to give him a lift. Lucky was so grateful to him that he bought him a new truck and a new friendship was forged, a strong one. Yes, Lucky could have retreated to the original portal and returned to the compound, but what use was that? He needed a safe haven and Charlie provided it.

“Good,” Lucky answered, “cause we’re arriving day after tomorrow late afternoon,” he chuckled and so did Charlie. Just like Lucky, Charlie thought – always the thrill seeking, fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants type of guy. “I’ll ring you when we’re just about a half hour from landing,” Lucky said and then hung up.

Charlie was happy to be having guests at his ranch. It was a pleasant change from the lonely solitary life he led. Whenever Lucky visited, he always brought excitement with him.

The Alice Springs airport has two runways. The largest can accommodate a Boeing 747 or 777. Lucky and entourage landed on the larger one. The only scheduled flights to use the airport are normally domestic, although international charters do occasionally fly in. The airport is not subject to a curfew and operates twenty-four hours a day. Charlie, as planned, was there to meet them just as they touched down. With Charlie’s help, the passengers loaded their gear into the back of his truck then Sam, Mickey and Professor Lindstrom hopped inside. Nicky, Bobby Boots and Dukie followed behind in a cab. About an hour later, they arrived at the ranch. Charlie showed each of his guests to their rooms. Each, but the professor, agreed that a nice shower and a cozy bed might be what they needed as the trip was a long one, over twenty hours. As nice as the private plane was, equipped with loungers and beds, there was still no substitution for a bed on the ground.

Charlie asked the professor if he’d like to take a quick tour of the ranch. He readily agreed and the two of them began a slow walk around the property as Charlie pointed here and there, explaining what everything did. But it was the barn that caught the professor’s eye. It was a large. One section held stacks and rows of hay and another was the horse stalls. The professor knew he could build his flying machine, here if Charlie would first agree and if Lucky would allow it.

Lucky’s vision, his secret ability, remained the same. No matter where he looked, he could see it, that energy field surrounding every object. Whatever he looked at spewed this force field as if he were looking at a solar flare. He began to recognize a system to the time portals, those mystical gateways into the past, the doors to cultures and countries ripe with history, the avenues of explanation, the foundation of today. Every portal he discovered seemed to have a second portal nearby, and at times multiple portals. At the compound in Ossining, New York, Lucky had discovered two portals, and while in twelfth century England, at the castle, he discovered two more portals. At the Coliseum, he discovered two portals. At the Great Pyramid he discovered four, but here in Australia, so far he had only seen one, the one he had discovered while being detained at the compound’s prison, the one that had landed him right here on Charlie’s ranch and the one responsible for their friendship. According to past experience, there had to be another portal. He would look for it the following day.

The next morning, Lucky arose early and knowing that Charlie, being the rancher he was, would be up, asked his friend to take him for a tour of the Outback.

“What time do you want to leave?“

“Now,” Lucky answered.

“Well, dang, Lucky, what are we waiting for?”

The men piled into Charlie’s new truck and headed out. The truck made a right onto Undoolya Road. Undoolya turned into Stott Terrace. They continued on Stott Terrace for a while, made a left onto Telegraph Terrace and drove past Traiger Park. Charlie made a sharp left, almost a U turn, and drove onto Gap Road which took them back to Undoolya Road. The men continued on Undoolya, chatting and talking about old times, as they drove for about forty-five minutes until the road ended. Charlie pulled over, put the truck in four-wheel drive, and the two buddies drove for what seemed like hours until they were deep into what appeared to be completely uncharted territory.

“Damn, Charlie,” Lucky said. “I have a good sense of direction but every mile we drive looks the same as the miles we’ve already traveled. Good thing there’s a river beside us. It’s the only thing keeping me focused right now.

Charlie laughed and said, “And we’re not even there yet.”

They drove and drove until Lucky finally spotted something familiar. It was the copse of woods, the area where he landed after making his way through the prison portal.

“There,” Lucky pointed. “Head that way.”

Charlie pointed the truck in that direction.

“Stop here,” Lucky said as they approached the outer rim of the woods. Charlie obliged and parked the truck near the river close to the woods.

Lucky and Charlie hopped out and began to walk around. Unbeknownst to Charlie, Lucky was hoping to find a second portal he believed had to exist. It was almost like a given now – find one portal, find two . . . or more . . . close by.