"Liam! Get into the displacement cylinder! You have three minutes!" Maddy screamed from her chair. She had been excited. Now she was terrified.
"I'm coming already!" Liam yelled, as he ran towards the displacement cylinder. "I hate that goldfish bowl, I do" Liam half-muttered to Sal. Sal grinned.
"I'd do anything to go backwards and forwards in time, like you" Sal wished aloud. Maddy walked over to join their conversation.
"No way, Sal. Last time was an exception. And why aren't you in already?" Maddy asked Liam as she lowered herself in, wincing at the cold water. Liam grumbled some more and obliged. Bob was already waiting.
"OK Sal. Computer Bob already has the coordinates and we'll be sent off automatically. Becks is here if you need her, alright?"
"Right" Sal agreed, nodding her head.
"And-" Maddy begun, but Sal out-yelled her.
"Thirty seconds!" Sal yelled. Maddy was fussing like a mother hen. Sal knew Maddy felt guilty about leaving her on her own, but Sal could look after herself; she was fourteen now! Maddy sighed, and pulled Liam down with her when they had five seconds left. With a loud pop, Bob, Maddy and Liam all disappeared along with the water inside the displacement cylinder. Sal grinned mischievously. Maybe she wasn't going back in time…but now no one would complain about the music being loud. Well, there was Becks, but she wouldn't mind.
"Hey Becks!" Sal called. The AI quickly appeared.
"Yes Sal?"
"Listen to this, I found it in our music files. It's called 'A Bar in Amsterdam'. Amsterdam's in France right?"
"Incorrect Sal. Amsterdam is located in Holland" Sal shrugged
"Listen anyway" She said, turned the volume up so high that the Domino Pizza boxes were all but jumping off the desk.
Maddy put the clothes she'd bought in the bag on as quickly as possible. Liam was already dressed and staring around the corner at the version of London that'd they'd found themselves in. Bob had got his clothes on the quickest and he was assessing the scene for signs of danger, or where the other field base might be.
"You should see this Maddy! It's nothing like how I imagined London…It's all flashy and…" Liam searched for a word "Futurey!" Maddy stumbled with her jeans. When she was done she walked towards Liam. Maddy gasped. She'd never been to England herself, but she'd seen photos of London. She could see the Thames, bursting with strange boats that looked like white squashed pods, with windows around the side bobbing on the green-black, polluted water. And surprisingly she could still see the London eye. She hadn't expected it to be there. She frowned and wondered why it was moving so slowly, she'd always thought it was like a giant Carnival wheel.
"…and just look at that big wheel! What's that?"
"It is known as the London Eye or Millennium Wheel. It was first erected in 1999, but after an accident in 2030 it was removed, but restored in full in 2037" Bob answered.
"Wow…" Liam breathed. "Can we have a go on it?" Maddy grabbed Liam by the arm and began walking towards the Thames.
"No. We're here to find another TimeRiders field office"
"But if we have time left when we're finished…?"
"No! We need to find…We need….Bob? Which way?" Maddy stopped and looked around confused.
"Unknown. I recommend I begin a scan for tachyon particles in the surrounding area" Maddy nodded, Liam continued to stare at the world around in wonder.
"Just a moment….scanning for tachyon particles….Just a moment…"
"Is your friend OK?" An old lady asked as she walked past.
"Oh, yes. Bob's just…Bob here's just talking to himself, so he is" Liam assured as he patted Bob's meaty shoulder. The old lady frowned and hobbled away. Maddy watched the scene frowning worriedly.
"Hurry up Bob!" She hissed under her voice.
"No particles detected in the area" Bob finally concluded.
Liam and Maddy spun around when they heard a loud Thud! Bob turned his head. A tall girl about Maddy's age was staring at them. She looked down, shocked, when she saw she'd dropped her paper bags. After she picked them up, she hurried towards Maddy, Bob and Liam.
"What did you say?" She asked Bob.
"Unauthorised information"
"Why do you want to know?" Maddy asked with an edge of hostility. The girl faltered.
"It-He just-He sounded like…like a…an…AI" Maddy narrowed her eyes at the girl suspiciously. She couldn't go trusting this girl just because she'd spotted Bob was an AI. It was common technology in this time period, or at least that's what she assumed.
"And?"
"Well, it's just...do you know about something called The Agency?" Maddy stood up very straight
"Excuse me…are you….are you Freya?" It was the girls turn to look surprised.
"Yes" She answered, surprised. Maddy grinned.
"I've been looking for you! I'm Maddy, this is Liam, and this is Bob. Can you…take us to your…?" Freya seemed confused for a moment, then opened her mouth and raised her eyebrows in understanding.
"Oh! Yes, of course, come with me. You're lucky I found you. You sound very American" Freya giggled as she picked up her shopping bags. Maddy snorted.
"Hey!" Liam protested. "I'm not American" Freya smiled.
"No. You're very Irish, and that's quite rare nowadays. Come with me"
Freya walked quickly between the people. Maddy wondered at how some things seemed so similar to 2010, whereas other things seemed amazing. People still bustled about, men and women in suits, mothers with babies all going about their daily business. But the men and woman wearing suits stepped onto the 'boat pods' as if it was normal, which Maddy supposed it was for them. And the mothers pushed their children along in push chairs that looked nothing like the ones she knew. They were covered entirely, Maddy wondered how the children inside could breathe. Also the air seemed foggier, Maddy supposed it must be some form of pollution. The thing that really put her on edge was the atmosphere, the way everything was. It all seemed so temporary. As if it were about to break down, it definitely wasn't a happy place.
"Why are all the push chairs covered like that?" Maddy asked.
"It's the air. Some of the gas could be dangerous to small children." Freya answered matter-of-factly. Maddy still thought that they looked sinister. "The air is worse in the cities. In this time period lots of small towns have been expanding because so many people move to the country...which kinda makes the whole thing redundant. London is half the size it was five years ago." Liam listened in fascination. But it was so big! Well, he supposed New York in 2001 was much larger, but still.
Freya walked away from the Thames. They walked past less and less people, until finally Freya stopped in front of a boarded up underground entrance, covered in graffiti and old-looking newspapers.
"Through here." She pointed at the wooden boards "And careful when you go through, some of the edges have splinters on" Liam, Bob and Maddy couldn't see how they were supposed to go in. But Freya put her hand in the small space between the rough wood and the cold ground. She searched around the back of the wood for a second, and a moment later they heard a loud click and a section of wood swung open like a door. Freya gestured for Bob, Liam and Maddy to enter.
"Not much of a home…" Liam commented as he stared around at the bleak scene around him. There was no light and the darkness was cold. Freya laughed as she shut the door.
"I know. But just walk down here a bit. There's a light switch further down." Maddy and Liam squinted to see Freya in the dark. Bob brought up the rear.
"Now careful here. There are some old ticket machine things. You can tell this station hasn't been used in a while, can't you? This is technology from almost 20 years back" Freya giggled as she held the barriers open.
"Thank you very much" Liam nodded. Freya smiled in acknowledgement.
"Down the stairs?" Maddy called from the darkness.
"Yeah…uh…wait there. The path splits at the bottom. Wait for me; I'll be just there…" Freya called. Maddy could hear Freya juggling her shopping bags as she hurried towards them. "OK, just walk down to the bottom, and then turn left. Keep on going down the corridor and then turn right onto one of the platforms. That'll be where Tom is, because we keep the computers there. I swear he is glued to that seat"
"Is there a light switch?" Liam asked nervously, unwilling to step into the eerie darkness.
"Oh yes! I'll just pull the…it'll put all the light on in the corridors"
"Thanks!" Liam thanked her. The lights turned on slowly, one by one, to reveal a passageway full of creepy old advertisements for old movies and plays. Maddy shivered. This place was just a little freaky.
"Sorry about the old décor. We were thinking of painting over them in blue. What do you think?" There was no answer. Freya shrugged. "Tom'll be ecstatic to see you. He loves it when he's right" Freya rolled her eyes just thinking about it.
"So…Is this some sort of old Subway station?" Maddy asked.
"Underground station. In England we call it the Underground. And yes, it is. Still has the sign on the platform and everything. This way." Bob stopped Liam from turning the wrong way and Maddy ran a bit to catch up with Freya.
"So…I came looking for you for a number of reasons, but…is Diana OK?" Maddy asked nervously. Freya's eyes clouded over.
"She corrected the timeline. But when she got back she was not in a good way. She's broken both her legs and one arm, and Greg was killed. We've had to grow another AI. Thankfully we have most of Greg's memories stored onto the computer"
"What do you do if you need to send Diana back in time? Surely she couldn't do much with two broken legs and a broken arm?"
"Yeah. No, we thought of that, Tom had to find someone to replace Di for the time being, after that I suppose we'll have to keep her. Tom went and got her whilst I went out, so we'll meet her in just a sec"
"Slow down!" Liam called, racing towards them with Bob. "What're you talking about?" He asked.
"Nosy" Maddy replied, but then gave in. "Diana's OK, she made it."
"Oh. Good. I did like her"
"Freya, who's with you?" The voice was male and it echoed a bit in the silent underground station. Freya grinned mischievously.
"Well, whilst I was shopping I was approached by three very tall and very blonde girls. They made me take them here to see you…Said they couldn't wait to tell you all about how they-"
"NO! Keep them away! Don't let them see me!" The voice was full of terror now. Freya walked forward through the archway and looked at someone Maddy, Liam and Bob couldn't see.
"Sorry Tom. Just messing with you. You won't believe who it really is, but you'll like it. Maddy? Liam? Bob?" Freya gestured for them to walk towards her.
The platform had better lighting than in the passageways. A sign told them that they were in 'Hyde Park Corner'. Freya saw her looking.
"There used to be a park round here, gone now. Every last blade of grass." Maddy spun her head around when she heard someone clear their throat very loudly. A boy with white blonde hair and rectangular black glasses sat on a swivel chair behind a desk which held the same treasure trove of screens that Maddy was always sat at back in New York. He was tall, but Maddy guessed he could be only 15 at most.
"I'm Tômas. But please call me Tom" He them looked behind Maddy and smirked at Freya. "Told you that they'd find us, didn't I?" Freya smiled good-naturedly and rolled her eyes. Maddy cleared her throat.
"I'm Maddy Carter." She smiled nervously. Diana had talked as if Tom was a genius, and despite his younger age, Maddy was nervous.
"And I'm Liam O'Connor. This is my big friend Bob" Liam introduced himself and Tom smiled again. Maddy wondered if a subway train zoomed past the station if his face would get stuck like that. She felt disappointed when she saw the tunnel was bricked up.
"So…" Tômas started. "Let me guess. Bob is the AI, obviously. And I'm guessing Maddy's from…between 2000 and 2015, right?" Maddy blushed and nodded. "And Liam…late 19th century?"
"Eh…a few years off" Liam shrugged.
"But I'm right?"
"Yes Tom. You're right" Freya sighed, in exasperation. Tom grinned once more. Maddy really was getting tired of his pearly whites.
"Didn't you bring your observer? Sal?" Tom asked
"No. We left her with Becks, our other AI. How'd you know her name?" Maddy asked, suspicious once more. Tom laughed, so that Maddy could see yet more teeth.
"Diana broke her legs, not her tongue. She's been on about you for ages. So Maddy. D'ya want to come sit down here? I want to know everything you've got on the agency. The more I know, the happier I am."
"I want what you know too" Maddy warned as she sat on the wooden chair beside the desk.
"Of course! We can write it all down!" Maddy felt a stab of jealousy as Tom opened an internet page. If only she had smooth, wireless connection like him, with Facebook, Twitter, Youtube…
"You guys want to come with me? We can check on Diana, I'm sure she'll be pleased to see you. And we can see if this other girl is awake yet." Freya asked. Liam shrugged and followed Freya down more underground passages with Bob.
"So what's this bee Tom has in his bonnet about those girls?"
"Oh, those are his sisters. The only people he's ever met that are smarter than him. You see, Tom likes being right, and he likes to be the smartest. Those girls scared the heck outta him. We call it Tomasophobia – the fear of being stupid." Freya laughed, and then stopped. "We keep the beds in here, it's the old train driver's room, I think." Freya opened the door. It was stiff, and she had to throw her weight against it.
Inside were three bunk beds, a wardrobe, bookcase, and another door which Liam assumed led to a bathroom.
"Hello?" Came a familiar voice from the bottom bunk of the nearest bed.
"Diana?" Liam asked. He walked over to see that the girl looked pretty banged up. Black and purple bruises patterned her face. She looked like she'd been to a hospital; Liam didn't know how they pulled that one off.
"We took her to the hospital, used the Time Machine to visit her everyday and bring her back. The Doctor said she should stay in bed for 12 weeks. She broke her femur in her left leg." Freya explained as if reading Liam's mind. He hated it when people did that, it creeped him out.
"Yeah. It's driving me crazy already, sat in the bed all day" Diana smiled shyly
"How did you get so bad?" Liam asked. Diana smiled, then winced.
"I advise you to always take Stephan Von Essen at his word when he says 'Tell me where the machine is or I break your limbs.' I didn't think he could do it, that man has as much muscle as a worm."
"Stephan Von who-now?" Liam asked. Diana flicked her hand in a dismissive way that Liam was all too used to.
"Leader of this terrorist group. He figured out we had a Time Machine and thought it would be a good idea to destroy America, England, the Continent, India and half of China with it." Liam was about to tell her how sorry he was for her, when he was startled by a loud scream from above his head.
"¡Jesús! ¿Dónde estoy?" Liam looked up to see a girl about Sal's age with olive skin and dark brown hair and eyes.
"Uh…Does she speak English?" Liam asked Freya nervously. Freya looked worried.
"Maybe. I think she's Spanish. But it almost sounds like something Tom'd do. Recruit a Spaniard so only he could talk to them"
"I'm not Spanish." Came the complaint from the top bunk. "I'm Honduran. Spanish is the main language spoken in Honduras. Where am I?"
"Um…you're in London. I'm sorry, I'm afraid Tom didn't tell me anything about you. What's your name? What year do you think it is?" Freya asked cautiously.
"My name is Ana-Cristina Caliez. Its 2007, May 17th. How did I get here? Where did the water go? Where's Maira?"
"Really? I was born on May 17th 2007! Look, you ought to talk to Tom about this. I'm no good." Freya answered, ignoring Ana Cristina's growing, frantic questions.
Liam and Bob walked with Freya as she escorted Ana-Cristina to the platform. Tom and Maddy were talking and writing like there was no tomorrow.
"Tom?" Freya called. "She's awake. You could've at least briefed me. Now tell her what's going on, please." But when Tom turned to look at them, Ana-Cristina walked forward and punched him in the face.
"Hijo de puta! Dejas que se ahogan, ¿dónde diablos me has traído?" Tom rubbed his fast developing bruise and glared at Ana.
"¿Qué fue eso? Me salvó la vida lo siento! Si no fuera por mí estarías muerto! A quién le importa si su hermana no lo hizo?" Tom screamed back.
"What are you two talking about?" Liam asked.
"She called me a son of a bitch! And she's blaming me that her sister's dead! Who cares?" Tom continued to glare at Ana
"I do!" Ana Cristina protested.
"How come you speak Spanish?" Maddy asked. Tom finally broke his eyes away from Ana's to look at Maddy.
"My father was Spanish. My mother was Swedish. I grew up in Oxford." Tom explained as quickly as he could. "Freya, take Ana Cristina outside and explain it all to her" Freya grabbed Ana Cristina's hand firmly and all but dragged her away.
"Found out anything new about this agency?" Liam asked Maddy eventually, under the pressure of the awkward silence.
"No. Absolutely nothing. Tom is basically making the rules as he goes."
"So what do we do now? The window will appear soon"
"Well, at least I know that these guys are here, it'll be good if we ever need help, and also, they're breaking the rules and they're fine, so why not us?" Liam nodded and Bob continued to remain silent.
Suddenly there was a loud crash from above them, Maddy heard Tom swear.
"Damn, 4.29. This happens every Friday, which I suppose is every other day. It's the reasons we're stationed here" Maddy wasn't sure if she wanted to know why, but she asked anyway.
"Today, 178 people will break English law and die in the houses of Parliament. The Prime Minister among them. After today, the world will truly begin to die. England was the glue keeping the world thinking marginally positively. Now it's been attacked, the end is coming" Tom said darkly.
"The end?" Liam asked "When's tha-"
"The window will open in fifteen minutes. Recommendation:We should await the window at the drop-off point"
"Good idea." Maddy said quietly "Bob, can you take us back? I guess...we have have to leave now. See you" Maddy waved to Tom. Tom said nothing for a while, and then just before they were out of sight, he called out.
"You should drop by again sometime, you should know how lonely this gets, boring too. And of course, we'll be happy to help next time you have an issue. Gods knows when that'll be though. Nothing ever goes wrong for us" That stopped Maddy in her tracks.
"Nothing? Lucky! It's two a penny for us! And thanks for the offer. Maybe Sal could come around sometime, though with Ana Cristina around now I can't imagine that your life will be very boring any more. She hates your guts!" Maddy yelled before leaving down the passageway with Liam and Bob.
"Well, that was interesting. Can I go on the big wheel quickly before the window appears?" Liam asked desperately.
"No. There isn't enough time. Besides, we need to get back for Sal. I'd be surprised if she hasn't broken our sound system already"
Sorry about my terrible Spanish! I'm not great at the subject and most of it was thanks to Google Translate, so if you happen to have a better knowledge of the language I'll be happy and grateful if you could help me out, cos' I'm well aware how weird it's written out!
