Disclaimer: I don't own Back to the Future.
Author's Note: Yet another update, and once more a two-for-the-price-of-one package. What can I say, I was inspired. Jay for progress at returning the world back to normal!
Chapter Eleven
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
07:30 AM PDT
Hill Valley, California
On the morning he was scheduled to be executed, Emmett Brown awoke early. That was only natural – after all, an impending death wasn't something one could easily sleep over. Yet, he felt like he shouldn't have anything to worry about. After all, Marty had ensured him that he would be rescued. But this Marty was not the Marty he knew, and he might decide to go back on his words. And if that would happen… Emmett shivered. Things would not look well for him then.
His breakfast came and went without too much trouble. It wasn't much, and for a supposed last meal, it was especially bad. Emmett barely took a few bites to get some strength, but left the rest. He was then exposed to some taunting by the guard, which left him resisting the urge to lash out at the man. He knew he couldn't do anything, confined as he was, but it was still frustrating. More than ever, he wished to be home again.
At roughly 7:20, or at least that was what their watches said, a small group of three guards came to fetch him. He was released from his chains, made a token attempt to struggle, and then stopped resistance as they pulled him across seemingly endless stairs, towards the open square the execution was supposed to take place. Emmett gulped, as the stairs ended and he could see some lights around him. Now death was getting really close…
"Halt there!"
Emmett looked up to see Marty approaching the guards, dressed in formal attire. "Excuse me, you can't take this man."
The guards looked at him, puzzled. "Your brother gave us explicit orders to transport prisoner Brown to the execution centre, Mr. Tannen" the one guard said.
"I'm aware of that" Marty said, feigning calmness. "But the orders have been changed. Prisoner Brown will need to come another way."
"Why?" the guard said. "This is the right way to the execution facility…"
"That's correct" Marty replied. "But prisoner Brown has asked us whether he could see a priest, first. He needs to clear his soul before getting executed." He smiled. "Don't worry, it won't take more than a few minutes."
The guards shrugged. "Fine" he said. "We'll be waiting here for him."
"Good" Marty replied. "Come on, Brown."
"Thank you, Mr. Tannen" Emmett replied. Marty took his arm and pulled him over to a sideway. When they got there, Emmett turned to his friend and gave him a quirky smile. "Having to see a priest, really? I'm not even Catholic. Or Anglican, or Orthodox, or whatever religious branches have priests."
"It sounded plausible to me, and apparently to them too," Marty replied, rapidly undoing Emmett's chains. "My brothers' goons aren't the brightest bulbs. Now, we need to get this done quick. This hallway has no end and it'll be just a few minutes before they realize you've escaped."
"Fine," Emmett said, as Marty undid his chains. "But where do you want to go then? If there's no way out of here…"
"I didn't say that" Marty said, smiling mischievously. "There's a secret exit to the roof right here – I found it when I was researching everything last night. And there is a chopper on the roof." He looked at Emmett, concerned. "Can you walk? You've been tied up for quite some time…"
"I think I can manage" Emmett ensured him. "But where is that exit of yours? It doesn't look like there is something around here anywhere…"
In response, Marty softly pressed on a tile on the right side of the sideway. The wall slid out of the way, and there was a small hole viewable. "Right here" he said. "All we have to do is to go through now – although we'll have to stay on our knees, it's not exactly the most comfortable place of all."
Emmett soon saw what that meant. The exit was very small, and he had to pull himself up to basically crawl his way up through the tunnel. He was glad that he didn't have claustrophobia, since that would have made the situation even worse. Luckily Marty didn't seem to have any problems either, but nevertheless neither one of them said a word before they arrived at the end of the tunnel.
"There we are" Marty muttered. He pulled himself up to the roof and pushed off some sand and dust.
"You think we've been tracked down?" Emmett asked, following him out of the tunnel. It was just so good to be able to breath in fresh air again. "How long has it been, anyway?" He really missed having access to the time. It was bad enough that he couldn't control it, not having a time machine, but having little clue what time it was…
Marty shrugged. "Can't have been more than a couple of minutes. Anyway, there's my chopper."
Emmett looked up. Indeed, on the other end of the roof, a small private chopper could be seen. The letters 'TANNEN INDUSTRIES' were painted on the side. He looked at Marty. "That yours?"
"That's right" Marty said. "We should probably be flying it out of Tannen Valley close to the road, as if we were a car – if there is any trouble, they'll come looking for us in the sky first."
"Whatever you say, Marty" Emmett replied. His friend probably knew this place better than he did.
They got into the heli, Marty taking the steering wheel. "All right, Emmett" he said, as he took the chopper into the sky and flew it away from the Courthouse. "What's your idea?"
"I don't know" Emmett admitted. "What's yours?"
"Well, I thought you wanted to change history" Marty replied. "That's what you were saying, right? About how all this is some messed up timeline because an alternate version of Dad went back to 1920 and…"
"Yeah, I know what I've said" Emmett replied. "But I can't go back to change it. Not without a time machine." He shook his head. "Biff… your father has stolen my time train, and without it, I can't go back." He sighed. "I just wish I knew where he had taken it. Then at least I would have known whether Clara and the boys are safe."
"Clara and the boys?" Marty asked. "That's right, you were married… gee, that must be tough, not knowing when they are."
"You can say that again" Emmett replied grimly. "But musing over it won't do me any good. We've been together for ten years now… or one hundred and thirty-one, depending on how you look at it... and I know Clara wouldn't want me to waste time worrying about her." He looked at Marty, bemused. "What made you change your mind about me, anyway?"
"Well, of course there was that photograph" Marty said. "And after the evidence I discovered last night… well, I've begun to realize I have only seen the top of the iceberg when it comes to the horrors my family has committed. To imagine Cliff would be capable of all this…" He shook his head. "You've put my entire sense of reality on its head, Doctor Brown. To think that no member of my family was ever a genuinely nice person…"
"Well, there's still your mother" Emmett said. "She might have been brainwashed by the rest of the family, but that doesn't mean she can't be regarded as a nice person anymore." He looked at Marty, again wondering just what was going on in the mind of this man that was similar and yet so different from the Marty McFly he knew. "You don't have any regrets about breaking me out, do you?"
"None whatsoever" Marty assured him. "I must admit, I'm not feeling all right about betraying my family. I know it's the right thing to do, it's just that I've known them for so long, and…" He shook his head. "Well, never mind. I know what I should do now, and I'm going to help you no matter what it will cost. You said you needed a time machine?"
"That's right" Emmett confirmed. "I don't suppose you have one around here somewhere?"
"Not in my pocket" Marty joked. "But I will help you anyhow. We have those papers retrieved from your safe – surely you should be able to do something with that."
"I should" Emmett said. "I know I had some papers stacked in there that should go a long way, and I have my knowledge of how to build a working time machine – I've done it twice, after all. Perhaps getting an actual car will be the biggest problem. And finding a safe place to build the machine."
"Don't worry" Marty said. "I'll help you out wherever I can."
"I'm not sure how much that'll be, though" Emmett said. "You'll have to remember, your family is no longer going to support you once they find out that you've helped me escape. After all, you are coming with me now – you wouldn't have done that if you had figured that Cliff would just welcome you back with open arms."
"I should still have some money stacked away somewhere" Marty muttered. "No matter what happens, I think I'll still be able to access it. They won't be quite so radical to freeze all my cash right away, and I'll get to work immediately on getting money off my account."
"Whatever you say, Marty" Emmett muttered. "I'm not sure if it'll work out, though – time machine building requires a lot of cash. Like I said, I've done it twice."
"And I'll do whatever I can, like I said" Marty replied, slightly annoyed. "And if that's not enough, then we'll think about what to do next when we get there."
"Now that's the spirit" Emmett agreed. "I like to plan ahead, but sometimes, you've just got to hope that everything will turn out fine."
Marty was about to say something in response when they suddenly heard an engine behind them. "What's that?" Emmett asked. "You don't think they're onto us already, do you?" He doubted it considering the short period of time that had elapsed, but with these dangerous alternate Tannens he was prepared for the worst.
Marty shrugged. "I don't think it's them" he said. "Would you mind taking a look?"
Emmett turned around, but at the same time, Marty let out a shrill gasp. Emmett looked around to see that both in front of them and behind them, cars were coming to a halt. In the sky, they could see other choppers menacing them. "What do you-" Emmett began, but then, a gunshot silenced him.
"Holy shit" Marty whispered. "Uh, Emmett, you're the scientist – our chances of getting out of here?"
"Negligible" Emmett replied. "We could try to make a break for it, but one shot into vital engines and we're toast. I would recommend you to land."
Marty nodded, and he put the chopper down the final inches towards the ground. He opened the door, and Emmett opened his own. They were greeted by the unpleasant sight of several armed men walking towards them.
"Who are you?" Marty asked, in a tone indicating that he was still used to being in command, and did not like the experience of someone forcing him to cave in.
"We're members of the anti-Tannen resistance" the first man said. "I believe Mr. Brown has had some experience with us already. We're here to arrest you, Mr. Tannen."
"On what authority?" Marty snarled.
"On the authority of our leader, Miss Jennifer Parker" the man said, undisturbed by the looks Marty was shooting him. "We're sure she'll be very interested in what we found here. Cliff Tannen's very own brother, and that no-good traitor we wasted effort on liberating."
"I'm not a traitor" Emmett snapped. He knew it probably wouldn't help, but his sense of justice stopped him from just permitting that insult without doing anything against it.
"We'll let the boss decide that" the man said. "Come on, you two."
Emmett looked at Marty, and sighed deeply. He just wished this would turn out all right.