Edward Graves: Temporal Detective
Chapter 26: The Best Offence

Edward bolted down the corridor with his cane clutched firmly in one hand and his coat splayed out like a giant set of wings. Jessica managed to match his speed and keep more or less in step with him.

People were running all over the place, sirens were echoing everywhere and every minute or so the whole place shook violently, making it incredibly hard for Jessica to keep her footing. They rounded a corner at full speed and Jessica cast a sideways glance at Edward, surprisingly, he was smiling. Even more surprising, so was she.

They practically skidded through a metal sliding door as the floor shook beneath them, sending Jessica tumbling right into a pair of strong arms.

“I knew that you’d fall for me, but I didn’t expect you to do it in such a literal way.”

Jessica looked up into the eyes of Sean Hendricks, or as he was better known, Geoff Proton. She pushed herself away from him and then in a single, smooth motion, she punched him right in the nose.

“Owwww!” she bellowed as she shook her hand, “That was totally worth it!”

Proton was wearing a simple grey shirt and pants – a prison uniform – and his hands were bound in front of him with ordinary handcuffs. He rubbed at his nose with his bound hands and examined the blood that was there. “I probably deserved that.”

The room shook again but this time Jessica steadied herself on a table, rather than a criminal, sorta ex-boyfriend. She also took notice of where they were for the first time. It looked like an interrogation room, with not much more than a table, some chairs and a water-cooler.

“You two got here just in time,” said Ahmed, who was standing to the left.

“Ahmed,” Jessica said happily.

“Good to see you again old boy,” said Edward. “Where are the others?”

“Archie’s working with external security, Justin and Annie are working on internal defence, Melanie’s trying to boost the shields and Solomon’s guarding her.”

“Good. Now please excuse me while I do some investigating.”

He grabbed Proton by his shirt and then slammed him into a wall, but he timed his attack with the next attack on The Watch, so that they were propelled at a faster rate, knocking the wind out of Proton as they hit the wall.

“What did you do?” snarled Edward. “Tell me!”

“It wasn’t me,” gasped Proton.

“He’s telling the truth,” said Ahmed, “he’s been in lock up, under surveillance ever since he arrived. We used a Time Trace on him and he definitely hasn’t been anywhere near any of the security systems.”

Edward narrowed his eyes at Proton, but then he let him go and picked up his cane, which he’d dropped when he grabbed him.

“I was certain that it was him,” said Edward. The floor shook again and they struggled to keep upright, especially Proton. “OK, wrong point of inquiry right now. Ahmed, any idea what’s actually going on out there?”

“Well, from what I’ve heard, the shields have been disabled and we’re being fired upon by Wash Ships. Melanie and Solomon are in the Security Hub, working on boosting the Intrinsic Field – she’s the best Systems Operator we’ve got, so if anybody can do it, it’s her.”

“What are Wash Ships?” asked Jessica.

“Small, one man vessels which can travel through Timespace,” said Edward.

“So they’re trying to blast their way in? That’ll never work, will it? I mean, this place has defences, doesn’t it?”

“Oh yeah, but they won’t help if they’re all turned off.” Suddenly Edward smacked himself in the face, “Stupid! Stupid! Stupid McStupid, son of Stupid!”

“What?”asked both Jessica and Ahmed at exactly the same time.

“The shields are down, don’t you see what that means? They can Flux in!”

“Then what’s with the full on assault?” said Jessica.

“It’s a distraction, we’ve got to get to the Furnace right now! Ahmed, keep an eye on him, don’t trust him.”

Jessica wished Ahmed luck and then went to leave but Proton called for her to wait.

“I don’t have time for you,” she snapped, as The Watch rocked once more.

“I just want you to know that I’m sorry,” he said. “I really did like you and I honestly just wanted to settle down; retire. I really hoped that you might have been somebody I could do that with.”

Jessica stared at him; she had so much more anger which she wanted let loose upon him. But then she heard Edward call for her and so, without giving Geoff Proton a second thought, she turned and left him.

She caught up with Edward and they ran back along the corridor they’d just come along.

“So how do we get to the Furnace?” She did her level best to not puff as she spoke.

“The Watch is a big place, more of a city than a space station. Fortunately for us, we’re in the Command Cluster, which means that we’re where all the important stuff is.”

She stopped in her tracks as she caught a glimpse of something strange. There was a man walking through the corridor, but there was something wrong with him. He flickered and fluctuated with blue light, like he was Fluxing, but he never completely vanished, he just kept limping along with one arm outstretched, like he was reaching for something. His face, or what she could see of it, was in pain.

“Jessica, stay away from him,” Edward snapped, grabbing her by the wrist and pulling her away.

“Hey!” yelled Jessica. “What’s wrong with him?”

“He’s a Paradoxical,” said Edward, “someone who’s Timeline has been corrupted by a paradox. Never let one touch you – if you do then your Timeline will become corrupted and you’ll become one yourself.”

Jessica threw a glance back in the direction of the Paradoxical. “Isn’t there something that we can do for him?”

“No,” said Edward, definitively. “And even if there was, we don’t have time.”

“Right,” said Jessica softly, casting one last backwards glance.

They came to a bank of tele-pads, like the ones at the museum, only in far greater number. People were ushering in and out them, disappearing and materialising all over the place.

“The Furnace is at the very heart of The Watch, which means we’re going to have to go down.” They climbed into the pad and less than a second later, they were there, with only the slightest blur of colour to mark the interim.

Edward ushered her out of the pad, the only one in the area where they’d arrived. It was a lot warmer down there and the whole place was bathed in a dull, red light, like some kind of engine room.

Jessica choked on acrid smoke as she followed Edward across a metal catwalk, doing her best not to look down into the cavernous space below. Her shoes made loud clanging noises as she trotted along, bringing to mind, the story of the Three Billy-Goats Gruff.

“How much further?” she asked, trying not to choke as she inhaled the noxious fumes that filled the air.

“We’re nearly there,” responded Edward without slowing down or looking over his shoulder.

Steam mixed in with the smoke, billowing up from what appeared to be some sort of molten metal contained below. The heat was getting more intense, the further they ventured. Jessica could see why it was called the Furnace. She had her sleeves pulled over her palms so that her hands wouldn’t burn on the metal railing and she was constantly wiping sweat from her brow. This combined with the thick, fog-like steam meant that her field of visibility was extremely diminished.

Finally, Edward stopped when they reached a metal hatch with a wheel on it. He leant his cane against the wall and began straining against the wheel, trying to make it budge. Slowly she heard a squeak as it gave way and gradually loosened up. It was obvious that people didn’t come down here very often.

“I can see why they call this place the furnace,” she said as she wiped a few sweaty strands of hair from her face.

“Oh this isn’t the Furnace,” said Edward, his face glistening with sweat.

“It’s not?” She said, surprised.

“No...”

The door swung inwards and they were bathed in a mesmerising, fluctuating blue light coming from within.

“Oh my god,” she said.

“This is the Furnace,” said Edward.