Edward Graves: Temporal Detective
Chapter 16: Finding Edward

The quiet chill of an October night was broken by the sound of glass shattering as an Englishman in a burgundy three-piece suit flew through a window and out onto the footpath, the violent thumping of mid-Twenty-First Century dance music following him out. He looked indignant as he stood up and brushed the glass from his jacket.

“That was awfully rude!” yelled Archie Wright through the broken window.

“I take it that things didn’t go so well,” said Jessica, who was standing by a blue car. She looked ethereal in the midnight moon which cast a glow over her face and the brown leather jacket that she wore over her white business shirt and green vest.

“Negotiations have hit a bit of a snag,” said Archie. “But don’t worry, I think that he’ll come around once I make my new counter-offer.” He leapt back through the window, disappearing into the glow of strobe lights and the heavy thump of the music.

They were in Chicago and it was 1am on the twenty-fifth of October, 2044 and the man whom Archie was negotiating with was Jason Hollister, an ex-enforcer for the Black Glove. They’d gone to his nightclub, The Paradox, for a polite chat but it seemed that things weren’t going Archie’s way.

Jessica ducked as a chair hurtled over her head. “This is getting ridiculous,” she said to herself. She walked straight through the club doors without any resistance, it seemed that the Bouncers were inside, helping their boss.

The club was an insult to her senses, with its loud, jarring music and flashing, coloured lights and everything else that made Jessica hate nightclubs. She felt out of place in her jacket, vest, dress shirt and tartan skirt, as she saw all of the other girls jumping and bouncing around in dresses that left little room for pockets, nor imagination.

She forced her way through the writhing mass of sweaty twenty and thirty-somethings until she saw a crowd that had gathered at one edge of the dance floor. She knew instantly that she’d found Archie. She forced her way through the sea of silver jackets, hair gel, high heels and too much make-up, until she could see Archie rolling on the ground with Hollister on top of him. There were four other men laying on the ground, all unconscious and not likely to pose a threat any time soon.

She looked around for something of use and saw a blonde girl holding an empty Vodka bottle, transfixed on the fight. Perfect!

“Excuse me,” said Jessica, barely audible over the music, as she snatched the bottle from the girl’s hands.

Jessica was pretty sure that the girl yelled some obscenity or another, under the thumping beat of the music, but she didn’t particularly care. She strode over to the wrestling men and pelted Hollister on the back of the head with the bottle, letting his body go limp. The music finally cut off and there was only the sound of murmuring as the drunken party-goers tried to comprehend what was happening.

“I nearly had him,” said Archie as he rolled Hollister to the side and slapped a pair of cuffs on him.

“Sorry, I was getting bored. And he was running out of windows to throw you through.”

Archie hauled Holister to his feet in the alleyway outside that smelled of smoke and who knows what else. He tapped him gently on the cheek, saying “Jason,” in a soothing, sing-song manner, “time to wake up.” Then he slapped him right across the face, “Wake up!”

“Great bedside manner,” said Jessica, “you should be a parent.”

“Who says I’m not?”

Before Jessica could respond, Hollister stirred and opened his eyes.

“Ah good,” said Archie, leaving Hollister to stand on his own, “now as I tried to explain to you before Mr. Hollister, my friend and I need to have a little chat with you.”

“Oh no,” he said groggily, “I’m not telling you anything Wright, that life’s behind me now. I’m a legitimate businessman.” He saw Jessica and snorted, “Jessica Lazarus. So you’re here too eh? What a reunion.”

Jessica glanced at Archie, then back to Hollister. “How do you know my name?”

“What do you mean? You and that top hat wearing partner of yours have busted me half a dozen times...” suddenly a switch flicked in his mind, “Ah, this is your first time meeting me, eh? Interesting. Where is the esteemed Mr. Graves then? No offence buddy,” he said, looking back at Archie, “but Edward Graves, you ain’t.”

“That, my not so good man is why we need your help.”

Jessica tried to discretely stand on her toes in an attempt to make eye contact with him, but even with her finite height boost, she doubted that her intimidation factor increased very much. “Your old friends in the Black Glove have Edward and you’re going to help us get him back.”

“Really,” he scoffed, “and how do you figure that? I’m retired now; I run a nightclub, which by the way, needs some new windows thanks to you.”

“You threw me through the windows, not the other way around.”

“We’ve got reason to believe that Edward has been taken to Crawlfield’s mansion,” said Jessica, “which is time-sealed; it’s impossible for us to replace it, let alone Flux into it. But you were part of Crawlfield’s inner circle for years, so surely you know how to get to his little bachelor pad.”

Hollister bowed his head and laughed. “Now that is rich!” What makes you think that I’m going to throw my life away to tell you the location of the Black Glove’s most secure base of operations?”

“Because,” said Archie, “you may be ‘retired’, but you certainly haven’t been pardoned by the Temporal Council. You’re still wanted for over a dozen, very serious, crimes. We could run you in right now if we wanted to. I have it on very good authority that the Dispersal Chamber is waiting for you.”

Hollister’s face twitched as he tried to conceal the intense terror which had just struck through his body. “You’re bluffing!”

Jessica had no idea what Archie was talking about, but whatever it was, it must have been bad. She could see beads of sweat beginning to form on his forehead, ready to race down towards his jaw line.

“Why would I bluff?” said Archie. “You’re a dangerous criminal and a despicable human being. We have you in our custody and all I have to do is activate those cuffs to put you in stasis for the Flux back to the watch. Your trial would be over in under an hour and in less than two you’d be in the Chamber, having your Timeline shredded out of existence. They say it’s quite painful, but at least you won’t remember it. You won’t remember anything actually.”

Jessica shuddered, so that’s what Dispersal meant.

“I wouldn’t even lose a wink of sleep,” said Archie.

“Alright,” he said finally, “I’ll talk, but you have to guarantee my protection!”

“OK, deal,” said Archie.

“I mean it!” He bellowed, “I’m putting my life on the line here; you have no idea what kind of man he is! He’s a monster; I need guarantees that I’m going to be protected from him.”

“Don’t worry,” said Archie, “I’m well aware of Hayden Crawlfield’s psychotic tendencies and can assure you that the Temporal Council will invest all of its power into your protection.”

“You idiot,” said Hollister, “it’s not Crawlfield that I’m worried about, it’s the other one, the one that Crawalfield’s working for now; the guy that even he’s afraid of!”

Jessica turned to Archie and said, “This mysterious new leader again.”

Archie nodded, “You have my word that we’ll protect you, now tell us how to replace Crawlfield’s mansion.”

“No, that’s not how this works. You take me somewhere safe and then you’ll get your information.”

“Fine,” said Archie, “have it your way.” He put his arm around Jessica and spoke so that only she could hear. “I’ll take him in to The Watch and see what else we can get out of him. I’ll be in touch as soon as there are any new developments.”

“Or I could just go with you, which would make a lot more sense.”

Archie shook his head, sorry Jess but I think you’d better sit this one out. Taking you to The Watch could pose some uncomfortable questions for you and Edward, me too actually. They tend to frown upon Archaics not passing through their system.”

“Fine,” said Jessica reluctantly, “but what am I supposed to do in the meantime? Now that we’ve Synched, I could be waiting for days to hear from you.”

“Well you could probably go to your other job, you know, the one that actually pays you.”

“Taken care of, I had a lot of sick days and holidays saved up, it’s not a problem.”

“Well then I’m sure that you have some catching up to do in your personal life. You’ve been working non-stop over the past few days, when was the last time you spent more than an hour at home? I mean, the little sleep you’ve got has been spent on the couch in my office. Go home, Jess, get some proper sleep, recharge, stay on top of your personal life and then when I’ve found us a way in, you’ll be ready. Balance is key, remember that.”

Jessica folded her arms and shifted her weight onto one leg. “Does living a longer life turn everyone into a substitute parent?”

“Only the charming, handsome English ones.”

When she returned to her little home, it had been twelve hours since she last left, putting it at just after eight in the morning, and about three days since she’d left with Edward, both relatively and chronologically. She’d been taking Edwards advice about allowing the amount of relative time passed for her, to match the time between her departure and return, a practice which Archie also endorsed.

It wasn’t until she hung her jacket up on the hook and slipped her shoes off that she realised exactly how tired she was. She dropped her satchel on her bed and made straight for the shower, tossing clothes to the floor as she went. She realised that it was the first time that she’d ever let clothes lay on the floor, but she figured that she had a pretty decent excuse.

She hated to admit that Archie was right, but the minute her head hit the pillows that night, her mind went blank and she didn’t have another conscious thought until she was awoken at 7am by some obnoxious pop-song playing on the radio. She’d completely forgotten to switch off her alarm, which was probably a good thing, or else she may have slept for a whole day or two.

She spent the morning doing housework but the whole time her mind was elsewhere. She didn’t feel right, being at home while Edward was being tortured by Hayden Crawflield. She kept trying to reassure herself; to force herself into believing that she was doing everything she could for him, but self-deception can only go so far. ‘Keep faith,’ Edward had said, but faith, though hard to break, could be shaken.

Halfway through scrubbing the bathroom floor she noticed a drop of water hit the tiles. Then another rolled off of her rubber glove. Then she collapsed to the floor in a fit of sobs, drawing in sharp breaths as tears ran down her cheeks and pooled on the floor. She wanted to be strong, she wanted to be tough, but she wasn’t, she knew she wasn’t. For three days she had put on a brave face, but now all she wanted to do was cry in peace.

She had several missed calls from her mother and Jenny from the previous few days and though she didn’t feel like dealing with her mother, she actually felt the need to see a friendly face. So she called Jenny and they arranged to meet for lunch at Nicola’s, a nice little cafe on the main road of town.

But even as she sat with her closest friend she found herself twinging inside. She was in such turmoil and she wanted to let it all out, but she couldn’t. Could she? She wanted nothing more than to tell Jenny all about Edward and Archie and The Black Glove; to let it all out, but she just couldn’t bring herself to do it.

“Jess have you decided?”

Her mind was brought back to the present, back to the table she was sitting at outside of Nicola’s. It was a sunny day and she could hear the steady flow of traffic passing along the main road that ran next to them, leaving behind the faint but noxious aroma of exhaust fumes; sparrows were flitting and tweeting in the hedge that bordered the curb. Jenny was seated across from her wearing a flowery summer dress. She looked at Jessica with a worried gaze, longing to know where her friend’s thoughts were. Standing by their table was an impatient looking waiter, barely older than Jessica, tapping his pencil against his notepad with agitation.

“I’m sorry,” she said, barely able to contain her embarrassment. She began scanning through the menu, trying to replace anything, anything at all to order. She settled on a simple burger and chips, the waiter took their menus and then left them alone.

“So Jess, talk to me. What’s wrong?”

“What do you mean?”

“Come on Jess, I’ve known you like, forever, I can read you like a book and I know that something’s wrong.” She paused for a moment and patted Jessica’s hand, “Feel like talking about it?”

Jessica felt the words building up in her mouth, ready to just spill out and tell Jenny everything.

“It’s nothing,” she said. “I’ve just been feeling a little down, that’s all. You know, since that date went so...”

“Cataclysmically disastrous?”

“I was going to say bad, but sure, I’ll take that.”

“Bah, don’t let one bad date get you down. Besides, I hear that you’ve got a new suitor, a real gentleman who wears a Top Hat and everything.”

“Oh let me guess, Mum?”

“I’m sorry but I can’t name my sources, for their own protection of course.”

Jessica laughed for the first time in days, there was always something refreshing about Jenny and she was beginning to appreciate that quality now more than ever before.

“Jenny,” she said, grasping her friend’s hand, “please don’t ever change, you weirdo!”

“Hey, don’t go trying to distract me with compliments, spill the beans; how long have you been sneaking around with Mr. Darcy?”

When Jessica returned home that afternoon, she nearly felt like her old self, so much so that as she walked up the stairs to her unit, she felt a pang of guilt again. She pushed the feeling back down as she fished out her keys, then was startled by a voice speaking from just outside of her peripheral vision.

“I see that you’ve done well putting Temporal Defences around your home, but you need to remember to be alert as well.” Archie was leaning in the corner, his hands tucked casually in his pockets. He’d changed into a white three-piece suit with a red shirt and black tie, looking charming as ever. “Use your Archaic senses, feel for disturbances in Timespace. And just as importantly, use your good old fashioned Linear senses, keep your wits about you.”

“Sorry,” said Jessica, not really feeling like a lecture, “I’ve got a lot on my mind.”

“Yes, well,” said Archie, “just be thankful that there aren’t any more unsavoury characters lurking around your hallway. Not today anyway.”

Jessica set back to unlocking the door and invited Archie in. “So what did you replace out from Hollister?”

“Nothing much, he was shot.”

“What?”

“I left him in a holding cell while I organised his protection detail, when I returned, his guards were unconscious and he had two holes in his head and chest.”

“You mean that somebody on the Temporal Council killed him?”

“Not likely, but somebody on The Watch is definitely a traitor.”

“I thought they were the same thing?”

Archie shook his head. “The Watch is the base of operations for Council, which is only made up of twelve members. Besides them though, there are tens of thousands of Archaics living and/or working there; engineers, analysts, trainees and teachers at the Academy, as well as Time Enforcers, like Edward and I used to be.”

Time Enforcer? Edward had never mentioned that phrase before.

“So we can’t trust anyone and our only way of getting into Crawlfield’s mansion is dead.” She dropped down onto her couch and kicked her shoes off, putting her feet up on the coffee table, rubbing her face slowly. “This is hopeless, how are supposed to break into a fortress and mount a rescue with just the two of us?”

He took a seat beside her. “Well I never said that it was just the two of us. I’ve picked a few people whom I know I can trust to help us.”

“How many is a few?”

“Well,” said Archie hesitantly, “five.”

Jessica gave him a look that didn’t exactly betray a lot of confidence.

“But with us that’ll make seven,” he said happily.

“I’m sure that’ll even out the odds a lot more.”

“Small numbers are good Jessica, it gives us stealth and manoeuvrability.”

“Yeah and it means that they won’t have to waste as much ammo to kill us all.”

“I think that you’re attitude could have a negative effect on team morale. Just have faith Jess, I have a plan.”

Jessica smiled, “Have faith, that’s what Edward said before they...before they took him.”

“He always says things like that.” He stood up, “Come to the club tomorrow morning, about nine. I’ll introduce you to the team, lay down my plan and then Jessica we are getting Edward back.”

When she awoke the next morning, a little after 7:30, her heart was thumping in heavy, steady beats. It was as if a wave of anxiety had crashed over her during the night and left her drenched in fear and trepidation. It was a reasonable reaction, she supposed. After all, how often do you wake up knowing that your to-do list consists of items like ‘storm heavily guarded mansion’ and ‘rescue kidnapped Temporal Detective’?

After she had eaten breakfast and she showered, her nerves began to settle a bit more and she forced herself to focus on what was really important: getting Edward home. She had to be brave for him; strong for him, if not for herself. What fear she was feeling was miniscule compared to the pain and fear that Edward was feeling.

She changed into what she now dubbed her Archaic clothes; a white collared shirt, a green vest, a tartan skirt and stockings. She looked at her brown leather jacket thoughtfully and then pulled it on, just to be safe, then slipped into her red joggers and grabbed her brown leather satchel. The satchel was a much sturdier option than her regular handbag and could hold a lot more, so she had stocked it with various odds and ends which could come in handy.

She ensured that her home was secure, both physically and temporally and then stood in the middle of the room. She reached out with her senses and felt the flow of time all around her. Concentrating, she matched the resonance of her body with the flow of Time around her. She reached into it and pulled herself in, feeling asuction around her body as she was pulled inward. Everyrthing around her took on a blue light and began vibrating as she entered Timespace. She thought that she was actually getting pretty good at Fluxing, after all, she had had a lot of practice over the last week or so.

She focused on the Chrono-Logic and Archibald Wright and the world around her began to shift around and beneath her as she was hauled through an ever-changing landscape, until she reached the opulent structure that was the pinnacle of the Archaic social scene. The club’s strong defences buzzed with an intense, vibrant energy, preventing her from entering the building, so she came to a stop at the end of the line of people waiting to get in.

She left the line immediately and went straight to the door, something that was becoming a bit of a habit. But as the doorman let her in without any fuss, for once she didn’t care about the countless angry eyes boring a hole in the back of her head. Social niceties be damned, her friend’s life was on the line.

OK, so maybe she still felt a little bit guilty.