10: Losing Fate’s Confidence

Confidence is ignorance. If you’re feeling cocky,
it’s because there’s something you don’t know.

Eoin Colfer

“I still can’t believe how near we came to losing you,” Alison reflected. “How could we possibly explain it to Leon or your kids. Regardless of how you broke up, he’d have a right to know.”

“Unfortunately, there’s no way we could,” Dan said, “aside from assuring the police she simply died in her sleep in our bed. They’d undoubtedly have a lot of questions, but I assume the cause of death would be straightforward.”

“While that seems sensible,” Laura countered, “given what Peter and Adam already know about you, they’d undoubtedly seek you out for answers. In most cases, children aren’t so easily put off, and have a right to know, as you so aptly said.”

“Well, one thing is certain:” Dan stated, “one is the maximum I can safely guide. Though your first trip might have been extremely lucky, Alison. I’d rather not risk anyone else, given how close we came to losing her.”

“I wouldn’t be so quick to assume,” she cautioned. “Could you tell us what the issue was? Did Laura just ‘slip away’, did you not respond quickly enough, or was it something else? Like everything else, we need to understand what’s happening before we shut the whole operation down.”

“It’s hard to say. It’s not a straightforward process. Once in spiritual form, I somehow instinctively pull you along. However, I’m not actually aware of you until I adjust and can see your faint spiritual images. When I did, Laura was already drifting away. Until I saw the portal waiting for her cross, I assumed we were heading in the same direction, but somehow, the setting you take makes all the difference.

“But I honestly don’t know what happened. I guess I simply wasn’t close enough to reach her, and without me tethering her, she started heading into the natural direction that lost spirits go. Frankly, I’m surprised we were able to bring her back. Since her mind and spirit wasn’t linked like ours were, there’s no reason her body wouldn’t have died. Without understanding how our bodies realize we’re still connected this could happen at any point doing these journeys.”

“Actually, from a medical perspective, I don’t think it’s as simple as you think,” Alison cautioned. “There’s no ‘lost soul’ medical diagnosis, but clearly she wouldn’t have died from heart failure. If anything, it would’ve been a systemic failure, with her entire body shutting down simultaneously, which would’ve set off all kinds of alarms during an autopsy.”

“Well, whatever the story, I can’t believe how energized I feel,” Laura said, glancing around. “I can definitely understand why you wake up so energized each morning. By the way, where are we heading? At some point, I’ll need to call the kids and check in.”

“We’re heading for the theater, but ultimately, I’d like to meet everyone at the final blast site. It’s safer. Typically, those seeking to hide their activities operate at night, thus they operate in the late-night/early-morning hours, but they wouldn’t stick around when they’d be easily noticed. Most early risers are clear eyed and observant, as there aren’t many shadows to lurk behind. This is probably a better time to evaluate the sites than later in the day.”

“Do they know they’re meeting us?” Alison asked.

“No. When we left, it was still dark, and they wanted to see whether anyone was active at the site overnight, hoping to gather some more intel. They’d be discreet, lest they give our knowledge of their actions away, but they could determine whether someone’s active or not. But I’ll call them once we reach the theater. It’ll give everyone a chance to wake up yet still meet us further uptown, when we’ll need breakfast anyway. These bursts of energy only last so long, and then you’re left feeling famished.”

“I thought we were getting close,” Laura observed, as the street came into view. “We’ve made good time this early. Everyone else is still commuting and the only ones out are dog walkers or joggers, which leaves us pretty much alone.”

Dan’s hectic walking pace slowed. “Something’s up,” he cautioned.

“What is it?” Alison asked, as the two women became alert, glancing around, trying to spot anything amiss.

“I don’t know, but something just doesn’t feel right.”

The theater was now in sight, and there weren’t many people on the streets yet, those who were, were heading somewhere and not standing around and gawking. Dan watched the glass and steel building beside the theater, as if expecting it to speak to him, but when they reached it, he stopped. They girls had to turn, as they passed him by. When they did, his eyes were wide.

“Damn! Things have changed. The explosion is no longer happening here. Instead, it occurs across the street. It’s still close enough to rattle the nearby buildings, but people fleeing wouldn’t be as organized. It helps us, but it’s either an unexpected backup, or they realize we’re onto them and are trying to counter us.”

Alison glanced around, trying to note any subtle clues surrounding them, but finding none. “There wasn’t anything to alert them, was there? The power was only off for a short time, but that wouldn’t necessarily indicate anything. It could’ve been a truck blocking the signal, or even routine maintenance.”

“Unless they actually know someone working in the building, who might’ve observed a plain-clothed officer examining the security tapes.”

“That seems unlikely,” Laura noted. “They wouldn’t have moles in each building, otherwise they’d invariably attract attention. If they’re keeping this a secret, they’d minimize their profile, not link themselves to the people employed here.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. It’s likely a backup, which means this will be even more difficult. If each building has a secondary device, it’ll make isolating each one that much more difficult.”

“Oh, that reminds me,” Laura continued. “Someone named Peggy warned you to ‘check yourself’. Do you know who that is?”

“Peggy?” He glared at her, stunned. “She was my aunt and doted on me as a child. We always had a close relationship.”

“Wait,” Alison cut in. “When did Aunt Peg mention this to you? You’ve been with us this whole time.”

“Oh, it was just as we were leaving the netherworld.”

They both stared at her now, any thought of this newest mystery momentarily forgotten. “They spoke with you? We couldn’t make heads or tails, and we tried everything we could think of to communicate. I thought we made progress, but we’re a long way from actually talking.”

“Frankly, I couldn’t understand anything either, but first my mother told me that I needed to return. That I was needed here. And then later, just as we were leaving, Peggy gave me that message for you, and she was very insistent about it.”

“Laura, this is ... astounding. After all this time, Dan hasn’t yet managed to converse with anyone there, despite their clearly wanting to. We managed to send messages back, but that’s the best we could do. This is a major advancement.” She blinked a few times. “Damn! Now I wish I’d slipped away for a little while. Apparently, traveling to the land of the dead isn’t enough, you have to actually die while there to get any bonus points from it.”

“It’s not so simple,” Dan cautioned, “though I can’t figure out why she was affected. There are plenty of people who have near-death experiences who don’t develop the ability to commune with the dead.” Dan stopped, considering her. “Try asking your mother why you couldn’t remain.”

“Isn’t that obvious?”

“Don’t worry, just ask her and see what she says.”

Laura frowned and her eyes glazed for a moment, then she frowned, her brow crinkling, but she shrugged. “Nope. I can’t talk with them like you do. Apparently, I can only do it there, not here.”

“We are going to need to further explore this,” Alison said, “but let’s finish this other point. Specifically, could you determine where the second bomb was?”

“There was a huge explosion with debris flying everywhere. But to trigger that widespread of an event, it would necessarily be positioned in the front of the building, rather than a support structure within the interior. It shouldn’t be difficult to isolate, but again, this complicates the entire operation. We may need reinforcements after all.”

“Well, there’s nothing we can do about it now,” Laura said. “Let’s keep moving, as we still have to schedule our meeting soon.”

Dan texted everyone about their plans, and they continued on without saying much. Despite the dour news, everyone was still in a positive mood, and were simply appreciating the warm, sunny day before the temperatures started to climb. Further on, Dan hesitated again, reaching out for Laura’s arm.

“What is it?”

“Everything’s changing,” he declared. “I still die, in generally the same location, but rather than getting shot after the explosion, this time I get trampled by the panicked crowds.”

“You couldn’t have triggered anything, could you?” Alison asked.

“I don’t know, I was considering requesting a room to observe the multiple actions here while leaving the events at the other sites to the other team members. But the timing’s off, plus I die in the street, never reaching the building. Before, I was shot on the street after the initial detonation. This time, it appears I was caught as the crowd first passes, before the explosion. The timetable’s accelerating!”

“That doesn’t seem likely. You’re merely planning it but haven’t set anything in motion. I’d expect you’d see changes once you begin taking actions, like when we started searching for the buildings you saw. That was a definite physical action which led to the new visions. But plans, they change all the time?”

“No, there are multiple things changing at once. It’s almost as if fate is resisting our efforts. The more things we do, the more the future changes!”

“I’m sorry, but that doesn’t make sense. The future isn’t conscious, and it doesn’t make decisions. It just ... happens.”

“Actually, there’s a physics theory about it. The idea is, if you travel through time, anything you changed would trigger other changes, which would produce the same historical results. It’s like if you went back and killed your grandfather. Since he’d die before you were born, you’d then never be born, and history would never change.”

“Yours certainly would,” Laura noted.

“Not necessarily, if you’re changing the past and caused you to die, then you’d never be born and thus couldn’t have changed the past. Theoretically history would simply reset, going back to its original trajectory.”

“That seems a little too pat,” Alison observed. “Besides, there have been other prophets in history. They’re uncommon, but there is an established history. If it’s physically impossible to change the future, there simply wouldn’t be any prophets forecasting events. If you’ve been given this gift, and the spirits guiding you know what you’re capable of, they confident you’re instrumental to what happens. Thus, I think it’s safe to bet that the future isn’t set, or else we wouldn’t be dealing with this. History would already have corrected itself.”

“Well, all I know is that everything is changing. I’d hoped the revelations would continue speeding up, but it doesn’t make sense that these things would be changing unless these guys actually know that we’re attempting to stop them.”

“Again, we won’t answer this now,” Laura insisted. “In those instances, its best to simply put a pin in it and let it rest, giving you mind time to make sense of it. If you’re aware of it, but blank your mind and don’t focus on it, your subconscious will typically figure it out for you. Basically, your subconscious it smarter than your conscious mind.”

“All right, I’ll give it a try, but I’m not letting this go. We need to figure this out, or else we’ll be in a world of hurt. After all, what’s the benefit of knowing what’s going to happen, if it keeps changing?”

The nerves grew the nearer they drew to their final destination. But it was still early, still bright, the sky was clear and you could see every stray piece of trash lining the streets. The only ones on the street, besides them, were on their way into work, so the three followed suit, walking briskly, heads held high, their eyes on their destination and not on each other or those around them.

As they neared, Dan absently held his hand up. The women gave him room, letting him draw ahead, but they watched his every move. He stopped dead in his tracks, slowly turning to the west and then continuing until he faced east, when his head jerked slightly.