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  ‘I’ll be all right, Jac. I’ve done my homework. I know the city, almost as well as a resident. I know where it’s safe and where it isn’t. I’ll be careful, I promise you!’

  His arms came around her then, and she could feel his repugnance at the feel of her short skirt and top. He wanted her covered up, so she wouldn’t attract predatory interest.

  But if she wore anything more conservative, she would stand out like a sore thumb in that relaxed and casual environment. Her job was to blend in. And a skirt and little floral top was the way to go. Not sexy, just nice, ordinary, casual fashion that any tourist from the States would wear. She’d buy a small bag, and restock her wardrobe as soon as she arrived. But, she’d come and go in what she was wearing now. That was Protocol.

  ‘Let’s get going then,’ he said stiffly. He pushed her away to turn for the door he’d just entered. She followed along behind him, aware that the rift between them might finally have grown too wide to ever be repaired. Her heart broke, as she fought back the tears.

  One, one hundred, two one hundred, three one hundred, four one hundred, five one hundred.

  The portal hadn’t yet reopened. He kept counting.

  Six one hundred, seven one hundred, eight one hundred.

  There was something wrong. It should have opened by now.

  Nine one hundred, ten one hundred…

  He glanced around the room. All eyes were turned to the Portal dais, watching… waiting… It was too soon for another fatality. It was less than twenty four hours since they’d lost Hakon. Everyone was dreading the empty Portal and the passing seconds.

  What was he up to? God, he couldn’t think. It was too long. It was far too long, for the gate not to open. It wasn’t as if there could be a delay. Even if she had to postpone her return on the other side, she’d still Set Down here at Start Time, seconds after leaving. A delay like this meant she never came back.

  ‘Give me a PA, I’m going in,’ Jac barked at one of the assistants who was standing frozen by the stairs, looking up at the empty gate.

  ‘You cannot go dressed like that, Jac. Go to wardrobe. I will get the rest of your equipment organised.’ It was the short, portly Benjamin Kent, the Centre Manager, who spoke. He had risen from his console, and come to stand at Jac’s side.

  ‘I can’t wait… I…’

  ‘Jac, do you want to find her? Do you want to bring her safely back?’ The man’s patient voice was an anathema to Jac’s panic. All he could do was nod. Words had deserted him.

  ‘Then get organised. I should send someone else, but I can see you would fight me on this. So, if you want to go after her, get your head in the game. Get dressed, review her Target’s dossier and the Set Down details. If you go in with your mind in chaos, you will be useless to her. Do you understand me?’

  Jac nodded. He understood all right. Understood too well. He was undertaking an almost impossible task. And they didn’t expect him to succeed. They were letting him go, as a kindness, knowing he had to at least have the opportunity to search for her.

  He hardened his heart, calmed his breathing, and waited for his vision to clear. They were wrong. Dead wrong. He would find her. And he would bring her home. There was no other option. He would stay until he found her, or die in the attempt. He would not live without her.

  The next hour passed like a nightmare. He dressed in jeans and T shirt, collected his documents, checked the cash was the right currency, collected his own PA, and had it calibrated for Cara’s Set Down time, plus ten minutes. Any closer and they could cause a temporal displacement.

  He wished they had tracking devices that worked on inactive PAs. It would make finding Jumpers that much easier. But such devices only worked if the PA was activated. And if Cara had activated her PA on the other side, they would have known about it here at Start Point. And she hadn’t done that. So she was lost to them. And he was going in blind.

  The Set Down was not one he was familiar with. Each Jumper tended to operate within certain specified regions. Local knowledge and familiarity were valuable assets. Australia, with its small, widely scattered population, was not a common Retrieval point. That was probably why the newbie Cara had been allocated it.

  From what he could tell from the dossier, this Set Down was new. Located in a quiet, north shore suburb called North Sydney, it was chosen for its safety, even in the early hours of the morning. It was a place of private residences, busy main roads and shopping centres. No nite clubs or late night entertainment venues existed here. But the only large plot of greenery they might have used for Set Down was allocated to a Church of England Grammar School. Private property was a risky choice.

  So the Set Down was calibrated, using records of Google Earth at the time, for a much smaller, tree covered space, just behind the Greenwood Shopping Plaza.

  There were supposed to be half a dozen small hotels within walking distance. Cara would aim for the closest one of these, but because of the lateness of the hour, her options might be limited. It might require several attempts, before she found one that was still open. The longer she was on the streets alone, the more danger she was in.

  In the morning, she would recon her environment and start to trace her Target, a middle-aged business man who would go missing on a bush walk in the Blue Mountains, on Australia Day, January 25th.

  Ready to go at last, his senses became icily focused. He noted the anxious spectators all around him, and the medivac team waiting beside the dais. Even Karl Ontario had joined them. They were here for Cara, if she was brought back injured. If she was brought back at all.

  As he stepped through the Portal he never expected to traverse again, he gritted his teeth. Determination galvanised every muscle. He would bring her back.

  She’s only ten minutes ahead of me. Only ten minutes!

  25 December 2009, Sydney AUSTRALIA

  Jac stepped out into the tree studded green space, to the sound of a barking watch dog and the woosh of speeding traffic nearby. He took off at a jog before the Portal had completely closed.

  Once out on the backstreet, he quickly scanned his surroundings. Yes, he was at the back of the shopping mall. It towered over him like a monstrous concrete giant. The dark, cave-like loading bays were locked up tight.

  It was midsummer here, and the heat was oppressive, even at midnight. The traffic on the main road, not far away, battered at his sensitised ears. The smell of gas fumes and garbage assaulted his olfactory senses, even as his nose registered the scent of eucalyptus from the trees he’d just passed.

  He checked his map for nearby accommodation. She’d start with the closest, and work out until she found one that was open. The air was suffocating him, wrapping around his body like an unseen, humid blanket.

  Cara, where are you?

  He moved silently through the garish, electric-lit streets, listening for footsteps or voices. All he heard was traffic, barking dogs and the heavy, anxious beating of his own heart.

  The first hotel was little more than a Bed and Breakfast, and was closed up for the night. A ‘No Vacancy’ sign illuminated the front window.

  With growing agitation, he set off for the next hotel marked on the map. This time it was a bar that offered accommodation upstairs. Not a place he wanted Cara to be staying. Yet anything was better than being on the streets alone at night.

  But the bar was closed for the night, and the door to the hotel rooms, at the side of the building, was locked too. The small hotel foyer was in darkness.

  It seemed that Night Staff was not the norm in this area.

  He was growing increasingly anxious now, as he checked the location of the next hotel on the map. It was several streets further over, closer to the main road and the many small alleys that ran off it.

  The harsh brightness of the street lights here hurt his eyes. Everything took on the surreal quality of humid, illuminated darkness. Sweat trickled from his forehead into his eyes. He wiped it away absently, as he jogged on toward his next destination.
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  Surely she wouldn’t have got this far in ten minutes? She wouldn’t have been moving as fast as he was, and would probably have spent more time checking each place out before moving on. If she wasn’t at the next hotel, he would have to admit defeat. There would be no way of finding her this night. He’d have to find a doorway to hunker down in, and wait for morning. Wandering around like this would attract too much attention. A cruising police car might spot him.

  But even as his logical mind told him what he needed to do, he knew he would not be giving up the search this night. He’d keep walking these streets until he found her, or until his legs gave out beneath him. He would not give up on Cara!

  An image of her sad face flashed before him. He’d been so angry that she had insisted on Jumping this time, that he’d turned his back on her as she’d headed up the dais stairs for the Portal. But even as infuriated as he was, he hadn’t been able to stop himself throwing one quick, final glance over his shoulder, as the buzz of the activated Portal told him she was ready to go.

  Cara had been standing at the Portal, staring at his back. She’d been hoping he’d turn around and say good bye. But he’d gritted his teeth and glared at her, instead.

  And her face had been so sad. Like a lost child’s. Like a rejected lover’s. That sad, betrayed look would haunt him forever. How could he have let his fears hurt her that way, and rob him of those precious last moments?

  He knew he’d been behaving like a spoiled brat, who couldn’t get his own way, ever since he got back to New Atlantis with Cara. She wouldn’t behave as a New Atlantean should. Always questioning, always trying to make changes to a world they were all happy with. Always feeling smothered by his world. And by him.

  How he’d hurt her when she’d taken on her clone. He’d intentionally stayed out of their bed because he’d hated her for taking his Cara away, hated her for forcing change on him. For being so open to change. It had been unfair and petty of him. And even though he’d finally reconciled himself to the change, and become happy with the new Cara, that didn’t take away the hurt he’d caused her that day.

  What was wrong with him? He’d fallen in love with a quirky, headstrong woman. They weren’t traits she’d kept hidden from him, until it was too late. He’d known who she was, right from the first moment they met. He’d known the impact she would have on his world.

  If it had been anyone but Cara, he would have rejected her as a candidate for their world as soon as he started seeing those challenging traits coming through. If she was having trouble in New Atlantis, it was his fault, not hers.

  He wanted her to be like everyone else, when the person he’d fallen in love was like nobody else. Foolish, irrational, selfish bastard!

  And now he’d lost her.

  NO, he would not give up on her. He would never give up on her! She was what made life worth living, after all those interminable years. She had given him back his life.

  Cara, where are you? I’ll find you…

  As Jac jogged down a short side street, heading for the next hotel on the list, he heard it – the sound of a struggle. It struck him like a bucket of ice water. All his senses went into over-drive. He was running toward the sound before his brain had time to properly consider his options.

  Not Cara. It has nothing to do with Cara. Just drunks or druggies fighting. Not Cara!

  The sound was getting louder. He heard a scream. A woman. There was a woman. Then there was laughter – how many men? Two, at least two.

  He was on them in a second, barrelling into the closest, who stood with his back to Jac, laughing as he watched his companion struggling with a woman on the ground. The man went down with a grunt, hitting his head on a metal dumpster.

  Then Jac was on the second guy. Ripping the man away from the woman, Jac punched him in the face. By the weak streetlight, he saw the young man’s nose was now broken and bleeding. But he wasn’t out.

  He came at Jac, throwing a punch that missed him by mere inches. He was unsteady on his feet, drugged or drunk, Jac didn’t know which. But it was putting his aim off. Jac took advantage of his lack of co-ordination, spinning and aiming a round house kick at his head. It caught him on the jaw, and sent him flying backwards into the wall. The attacker didn’t move again.

  Then Jac turned to the victim. His heart shuddered, as he saw the familiar skirt and top, and the long blonde hair strewn across the dirty tarmac. She was curled into a foetal ball, her arms covering her face. One leg was strangely angled and covered with blood.

  ‘Cara,’ he said urgently, reaching for her.

  She was panting from the struggle, and he wasn’t sure she heard him. He said her name again, louder this time, as he reached for her shoulder.

  At his touch, she jerked back away from him, looking up for the first time. Her eyes were wide with terror. Her lip was split and bleeding, her shirt torn down the front revealing her lace bra. Her skirt was in place, so they hadn’t got far with their plans. But it was far enough. Cara was traumatised and in shock.

  ‘Cara, it’s me, Jac! You’re okay, I’m here,’ he said again.

  He could hear movement behind him, and he spun to check the danger. The first guy was scrambling to his feet. It was unclear whether he planned to come at him again or run. Jac waited, every muscle tensed for action, ready to take revenge for the terror these would-be rapists had caused his woman.

  ‘Jac?’ she whispered, her voice shocked and fragile.

  He glanced back at her quickly, and then returned his gaze to the threat standing in front of them again.

  ‘Get the Portal open, Cara,’ he said softly, eyeing the shadowy assailant, who still remained poised for action, no more than eight feet away.

  He heard her moving around behind him, and fought the urge to check up on her.

  Then the guy in front of him did the unexpected. He drew something from his belt. In the weak light, Jac could see the outlines of a gun in his hands.

  What the hell? Hand guns were illegal in this country! The unexpectedness of the weapon rocked him.

  ‘Don’t move, bastard! I just need one good reason to put a hole in you, right now.’ The guy waved the gun around with wild bravado. This was not a gunman. This was a kid who’d got his hands on a weapon somewhere, and was dying to get a chance to use it. But he was scared to use it, too. And that was what Jac was counting on.

  There was suddenly bright light in the dark street, as the curtain on falling sparks materialised behind him. He could hear its soft hum. The man in from of him jerked back in surprise.

  In the glow from the Portal, Jac could see his enemy more clearly. He was little more than a kid covered with multiple piercings on his face and tattoos over his bald head. Sweat was trickling down the side of his face, along with blood from a cut just above his eyebrow where he’d hit the dumpster.

  ‘Go now, Cara!’

  ‘I can’t get up. My leg’s broken.’ Her words were little more than a whimper, but he could hear her trying to drag herself toward the Portal.

  What to do? Move quickly, and hope to get through the Portal before the guy had a chance to pull the trigger? Or go for him, and hope to knock the gun out of his hand? But he was a good body length and more away, whereas the Portal was only a few feet behind him.

  He took the gamble that the kid wouldn’t fire. Twisting around, he scooped his woman off the ground and made a dive for the curtain of lights. The deafening sound of gunfire was instantly covered by the fizzing light of the Portal. And, after what felt like forever, he fell with Cara onto the stone dais.

  They were home!

  ‘Jac? Oh God, Jac!’ Cara was screaming. He could see her face above him. Her eyes were crazed, and tears were running down her dirty cheeks. She was safe now, why was she upset? It didn’t make sense.

  He saw the Portal close. There seemed to be chaos everywhere. Cara was crying and screaming his name, over and over. He tried to get up. He wanted to get to her, but she seemed to be moving away from him. Reaching w
ith his arms, he tried to touch her, but his arms didn’t obey him. It was as if he was in the first hours of a new clone.

  This was wrong, all wrong.

  ‘Jac… stay with me, Jac…. Please don’t die!’

  Die? He wasn’t going to die! He had a hundred good years left. She couldn’t get rid of him that easily. He had a lot of making up to do, for his boorish behaviour. But her voice was getting softer, and she seemed to be moving further and further away from him. Then, as she faded from sight, only darkness remained.

  Summer 2330, New Atlantis GAIAN CONFEDERACY

  The nightmare wouldn’t end. It just seemed to get worse and worse. The empty humid streets, the No Vacancy signs everywhere she went. Desperation and fear. Then the two young guys staggering toward her. She’d tried to hide in the shadows, but they’d seen her. And then they’d been on her, dragging her into a more secluded and darkened part of the back street.

  Her training had included basic self-defence, and she’d been pretty good at it. But when faced with a real attacker, two real attackers, all thoughts of what to do went out of her head. She was frozen in terror, as they dragged her away from the light. Her leg was wrenched so badly, the pain almost made her black out. She couldn’t even scream.

  Then, when one of them tore the front out of her shirt, survival instincts had kicked in, and she’d screamed, louder than she thought possible. And she was fighting them, kicking with her one good leg, scratching and biting anything that came close to her. One of them punched her in the face. It stunned her, and she fell back on the hard tarmac. They were laughing at her, as one of the guys started to unzip his pants.

  No, God no, not this!

  And then he was coming for her, and she tried to curl up in a little ball. She’d tried to keep him away by curling up like a little ball, burying her head in her arms, protect her face, trying to block out what was happening.