The doorbell sounded its asynchronous buzz, which brought Jonny back to reality from the nice place he had been holed up in for the previous hour while meditating. Thankfully he was fairly clear headed from the session and was able to roll off the bed and get through the door by reflex alone, without needing to open the curtains to find his way. He put his hands over his eyes as he stepped into the small hallway, to acclimatise himself to the un-shaded light bulb. He automatically smoothed down the loose piece of wallpaper next to the button as he pressed it down, putting his mouth near to the microphone, which hadn’t worked properly for at least a year. ‘Hello, who is it please?’
The voice coming back through the intercom sounded metallic, ‘Let me in Jonny, it’s Jessica.’ Jonny stepped back, letting go of the button. Unbidden, the rudest word he knew sprang from his lips. He struggled with himself, then hesitantly reached up for the other button and held it down. He heard the front door slam itself shut and stepped back, putting hands to his temples to stop all the shouting in his head. The footsteps coming up the stairs suggested she was in the unfeasibly high heeled boots she insisted on wearing when it was just the two of them. He wondered blankly if she did it on purpose, as she gently tapped on the door to his flat.
He attempted to compose himself, retying his pony tail and shaking his hands out to get some life back into them. He undid the chain and unbolted the deadlock, the handle turned and the door protested slightly as it was pushed open from the other side. Jessica stepped into the hallway, looking everywhere but at Jonny. ‘You really need to do this place up mate!’
He was surprised that this was the first thing she said to him. ‘I’ve tried to get the landlords to do something about the décor, but they say that’s not included in the lease and tenants aren’t allowed to redecorate.’ He felt a little more confidant now because the conversation wasn’t anywhere near where he had been fearing it would head. ‘I’ve actually stuck a few new pictures up since you were here last time, to try and brighten it up a bit.’ He led the way through to the living room, ‘Do you like them?’
Jessica put a hand on one hip and stared at the rectangles of bright colours, on the wall over the sofa and between the two wooden framed, single glazed windows. She smiled, ‘That’s exactly what I would have done in here. They’re nice.’ She turned towards him with a big warm smile on her face. ‘Are you going to get me a coffee or do I need to beg?’ Jonny kowtowed his way out of the room and she heard him scrabbling about in the kitchen cupboards next door, as the kettle started hissing away to itself.
After a few minutes Jonny returned, holding two big steaming mugs and an unopened packet of chocolate biscuits, which were clamped under his arm. He put one of the cups in front of Jessica and sat down next to her on the sofa, staring for a little too long at the mug. Or possibly her knee, it was a little hard to tell. He tried to think of something to say but could only come up with weather related topics so he thought a little longer. Before he could find a subject Jessica said, ‘So, how are you mister?’
Jonny stared forlornly at his tea and started absent-mindedly fiddling with the tab at the top of the biscuits before actually opening them, taking one out and making a small incisor shaped cavity in it. ‘To be honest, I don’t really know how I feel.’ He nearly raised his eyes to look into Jessica’s but couldn’t quite bring himself to and they dropped to the floor again. ‘It wasn’t that I didn’t want to see you, it’s just that, I couldn’t think of how to…’ his voice trailed off as he realised he didn’t know exactly what it was he didn’t know how to do.
Jessica took a mouthful of the coffee, it was hot but not burning. She reached an arm towards him and put her finger under his chin, so she could lift his head up to look at her. ‘Jonny, I’ve realised something since Darwin showed me those pictures,’ Jonny winced, Jessica ignored him. ‘What I’ve realised is that while I may not have been comfortable seeing those images, the reason for that isn’t what you might think. It’s because I care so much about you and don’t think I could bare to see you get hurt.’ Jonny was used to hearing women talk about him like a brother, so he wasn’t too surprised to hear her say this. Jessica looked confused but then realisation dawned as to why he hadn’t reacted, so she thought she better get the hammer out. ‘When I say I care for you, I’ve discovered that I don’t mean platonically. I really like you. Like I think you like me, you idiot!’
Jonny’s eyes continued to gaze at the carpet, he took another bite from his biscuit and then laid it on the table, where it hung precariously over the edge. After he’d finished chewing he took a gulp of tea, then rested the cup next to the biscuit. Finally, with his face close to blank, he looked at her. ‘You mean you did like me! Surely not still, after what Darwin showed you? I’m not right Jessica.’ He put his hands one on top of the other, then put them between his knees.
Jessica reached out and grabbed his closest hand, then put it on her thigh. As Jonny looked up in surprise she smiled at him, ‘Of course you’re not right, I always knew you were hiding something important from me. It’s just that I know what it is now, so I can finally tell you how I feel without expecting a surprise revelation that I might not want to hear.’
‘But surely this is what you were expecting?’
‘Jonny, you’re a fool! There are any number of things that would be less preferable than what he showed me.’ She leaned over and kissed him gently on the lips, Jonny just stared at her. ‘Anyway, right now this isn’t important,’ Jonny looked like he was about to suggest that actually it was, but Jessica went on. ‘Darwin is still hijacking our group, and our lives. I think we need to do something about it, and I have an idea what.’ She emptied the rest of the coffee into her mouth and stood up, taking both of the empty cups and the almost untouched biscuits through to the kitchen, putting the washing in the sink then, after searching through a couple, finding the right cupboard for the biscuits. ‘Here, take my hand.’ Jonny looked at her, expecting something more but she only waited with her arm held out towards him, until he tentatively clasped his fingers around her own. ‘Right, now we’re going for a walk, come on.’ She grabbed Jonny and pulled him towards and through the front door.
***
For a change Michael was lying on his bed alone. Emily had needed to go and have some kind of girlie chat with Celia and Andrea, so he had picked up the book from his bedside table, untouched for goodness knows how long, opened it up shaking the bookmark on to the bed beside him and tried to remember what was meant to be happening.
The storyline had just about resolved itself and he remembered why he had been enjoying it, when the silence was quietly demolished by a knock at the door. Michael resignedly put the book down on the bed, resting open over the bookmark and stepped towards the door, finding Robert outside, looking from side to side as he came in. ‘I have a plan but I need you to tell me if it’ll work or not.’
Michael had to think for a moment before figuring out what Robert was talking about, ‘You mean to find the infiltrator?’
‘Yes. Do you think it would be dangerous to send someone back in time, to join the group that I think is responsible for these unofficial jumps? So they can check that my suspicions are right?’
‘From what we’ve learned so far I don’t think it would cause any major problems. Just out of interest who do you think is responsible and who are you planning on sending back?’
The guy I’m sending is a colleague of mine. His name is Ian Brookfield, he’s a Captain in one of my units. I’ve been posted with him more times than anyone else and I trust him with my life. Rather handily he also has qualifications in environmental science so he should fit in nicely. The group I want him to join is called the EARTH Force, have you heard of them?’ Michael shook his head. ‘They’re a worldwide organisation of environmental activists who want to reduce humans’ impact on the planet. They used to be quite harmless but they seem to have changed their tack in the past year or two. They’ve become quite troublesome to a number of large international companies, who allegedly produce a lot of waste and toxic pollutants. There’s a particular branch I think are responsible for our problems, but I need to make sure it’s them before we can disband them and find out exactly what they’ve been doing, from the horse’s mouth so to speak.’
‘How far back do you want to send this Brookfield?’
‘It needs to be long enough that he has time to get involved before they start using the Jump Box, I think about six months.’
Michael rubbed the days’ worth of stubble on his chin and stared at the wall while he was thinking. ‘Okay then. I think it’ll be fine but he needs to be well briefed, so he knows he can’t make any assumptions based on what he knows about the future, and isn’t allowed to take advantage of what he does know.’
‘You mean like lottery ticket numbers, that sort of thing?’
‘Roughly speaking yes. If he reveals himself in any way it could jeopardise his own well-being and the mission. You said you trust him, do you think he’s well enough disciplined to be able to keep from revealing anything about what he might know?’
Masterson nodded, ‘He’s been undercover before, when you do that your ability to act outside of your normal sphere of experience can be the difference between life and death. We’ll give him a fake name, set him up with somewhere to live and give him an invented background, so he seems genuine to them.’
‘Okay, when do you think he’ll be able to start?’
‘It could be a week or two. He’ll need to be withdrawn from whatever he’s doing at the moment before I can bring him in.’
‘The reason I ask is, I don’t think it would be a good idea for him to report back until after he’s been sent into the past, it could have some…odd effects! So the sooner he can be trained and transported, the better.’
‘I’ll go make some calls. If you could write up guidelines for what he should and shouldn’t do it’ll make it quicker to get started when he’s available.’ Michael said that wouldn’t be a problem and after shutting the door behind Masterson he sat at his desk, picked up a pen and started the list.
***
The door opened smoothly, which surprised Jonny as the corners of the wood were scuffed and bare of paint. He was expecting at least a squeak that called for an oiling of the hinges, but it swung back without protest. He walked into the room, which was small but functional. He couldn’t help but notice the double bed taking up most of the footprint of the floor, but tried to put any thoughts of sleeping arrangements out of his mind. He poked his head into the small bathroom, which didn’t really justify the name as there was no bath, a simple glass shower screen was all that sectioned the tiled room up. The sink was probably big enough to do whatever was necessary, but was a little too close to the toilet for comfort and hygiene.
Taking a look through the window, a grey sky hung overhead with little chance of improvement. The edge of a park nearby stretched off between rows of houses and offices. He sat on the bed and fiddled with the television to see if he could find anything remotely worth watching, while he waited for Jessica to reappear from the involved discussion she had been having with the receptionist, to make sure she had everything she needed. He didn’t have to wait long.
‘You found the room then?’ She had given Jonny one of the room key cards and kept the other one for herself. Jonny nodded and turned off the TV, which only appeared to be showing severe worldwide weather reports anyway. ‘I first stayed here when I was going to the interview for my job you know, I needed somewhere to sleep so I was fresh the next day and this place was close and seemed to have everything I required. Then I realised they have a pretty solid network and don’t ask too many questions, so I kept it in my speed dial.’
Jonny smiled but Jessica could see he wasn’t really following her. ‘Did you understand any of what I was telling you on the way here?’ He sheepishly shook his head. Jessica took a seat beside him on the bed. They looked at each other’s reflections in the mirror, which was above the desk the television inhabited. Jessica started again, but without the technical detail. ‘Well we know Darwin is obviously a real person, we’ve met him for one thing and have some experience of how he works. That’s why we’re here rather than at yours or mine. I’m sure both are bugged in some way, but I don’t want to give him the satisfaction of seeing me crawling around searching for the damned things.’
‘I’m with you so far, it’s the next bit I’m not that clear on.’
‘Okay, so the guy doesn’t have anything like my level of computer know how, which means my kit at home is safe, it’s all encrypted and locked down so there’s no way he could get at it. What I need to do is get into my PC, so I can use it to help me sift through data and return likely results, which might give us hints as to the man’s identity.’
‘Surely we need to be at your house then?’
‘Ah, but like I say he’s watching us, so what I’ll do is fire up this beauty,’ she reached into a bag and produced a slick looking laptop, which she had plugged in and online before Jonny really had a chance to see what she was doing, ‘and VPN to my home network.’ Jonny’s face got that look again. ‘I mean set it up so I can work on the machine at home, as if I’m sat at it! It means I have all the processing power I need without having to be physically in front of the computer in my house. It’s quite cool…’ She looked a little ashamed after saying this, ‘If you like that sort of thing!’
Jonny had never really seen Jessica work before so he stayed next to her, watching supple fingers move faster over the keyboard than he would be able to think of things to write. Initially she seemed to be starting things up, then suddenly the desktop background changed and she announced she was in. She began opening programs and typing things which were way beyond his comprehension. After a while she stopped. ‘Right, I’ve got it trying to recognise images that match his and cross referencing that against criminal activities. Now we can get on to the slightly less exciting task of physically searching for him. My guess would be he’s not using the name Darwin in any other capacity than to keep himself anonymous within our group, so there’s no point searching for that again. When did he first get in contact with you about joining?’
Jonny reached into the inside of his jacket and came out clutching a handful of imprecisely folded, crumpled bits of paper. He knelt down on the floor next to the bed and started placing them, one at a time, on the covers, checking each one as he did so. Somewhere in the middle of the pile he let out a small exclamation and tried to flatten one of the notes out as he handed it to Jessica. She read ‘”email new group member, wouldn’t give name??? August 14”. Is that when he first contacted you?’
Jonny nodded, ‘It was a weird email to be honest, I should have known there was something up with him there and then, but I was trying to be inclusive, you know?’
‘Yes Jonny, I know! That’s cool, we can start our search for the guy from that date backwards and see if we can find anything useful.’
Initially she searched through sites for other local groups with similar sorts of people, to see if anyone had been having similar problems with any members. Nothing! Then tried looking at news stories relating to illegal activities in the local area, still nothing. Jonny started throwing suggestions now he was getting the hang of what they were looking for, but none of their ideas seemed to return anything of value.
After about an hour Jessica snapped the laptop lid shut, rather startling Jonny out of his current meditative line of thought. ‘I’m hungry, and we have all night. Do you want to go and get something to eat?’
‘Um, sure. What can I get you?’
Jessica pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and then lightly hit herself on the middle of the forehead, ‘I mean both of us, together! You seem to think you’re a burden Jonny,’ he looked awkward at the thought. ‘You’re not, I want to spend time with you. I thought I’d made that clear. They do a good bean burger in the bar. I think you’ll like it, come on.’
‘But I don’t have any money.’
‘If you’re going to be a kept man you need to get used to having me pay for you,’ he spluttered but Jessica put her hand up. ‘Stop your moaning. I have money and there’s no way I’m going to live at your place, so you’ll just have to suck it up and try to enjoy it.’ She opened the door and stepped through, dragging Jonny by the hand. He wondered if she was going to continue being so domineering and realised that he’d probably quite enjoy it if that was the case, giving himself a half smile as he was steered towards the stairs.
Jump 