Twisted Time

12 - Labyrinth

The laboratory and hallways, 00:53

Caught in the dizziness and nausea of the transfer, Dan leans against a counter, fighting for a clear head with closed eyes. As soon as she feels better, she looks around. The place is still brightly lit, but Ric has gone missing. Her limbs feel wobbly, so she stays put while her eyes scan the lab. There is no doubt he left—as soon as she is fit enough to check, she finds even the cold store to be empty.

Disappointment hits Dan like a fist into her unsettled stomach. Though she must admit, it would have been surprising if he'd waited for her. He needs to catch some criminals, has a job to do. Still, it's not my fault I'm thrown back and forth between times like a rubber duck bobbing on a tidal wave.

She fumbles for her flashlight while she studies the light switch beside the door. The functions of the sensor plate are not intuitive for someone from the past. When she figures them out and succeeds to dim the lights, Dan turns the doorknob. Her heart drums fast against her ribs. The hinges are well oiled, and the door opens without a sound to a dark hall. She swivels the narrow light cone of her torch to both sides, wondering which way Ric took.

To the left, the sterile hallway ends after a few metres at a shiny metal sliding door, perhaps an elevator. So to the right, it is. Walls, floor, and ceiling are covered in smooth plastic of an indefinite eggshell colour. Doors line the walls at regular intervals, all of them closed. Dan stops at the first one to try the knob, but it is locked.

Now she regrets not bringing the latex gloves from the first aid kit in her car's trunk. Instead of protecting her from a disease, they would prevent her from leaving fingerprints on every surface she touches. I'm hopeless as a criminal. But at least the chances are minor the future law enforcers have my prints on record. And if they do, they'll be in for a surprise.

She tries three more doors in vain until she reaches a T-junction and must decide again: left or right? Both sides look identical, and in the flickering beam of her torch, she makes out junctions at both ends. If only the standard doors were marked or numbered. But this place is as sterile as a top-secret government test area in a dark thriller. A cold sea of dread sloshes back and forth in her stomach at the thought. What did Ric call it a while ago? A bunker. That's exactly how it feels, with the charm, paint job, and sterility of a hospital.

She turns right again because she chose this direction at the first junction. Somewhere, she read this is the only systematic approach to find a way out of a labyrinth. Now, I know how Theseus felt. I just hope I don't meet the Minotaur—or whatever the future equivalent is.

An unbidden flood of pictures of gruesome aliens floods her mind. When she is jolted sideways by a painful grip on her arm, Dan gasps and suppresses a shriek. She struggles against the display of rough force, and her flashlight hits the floor, clatters as it rolls away, and winks out. The last things she sees in the fading beam are a pair of dark shoes and trousers. An arm wraps around her chest, and the pressure of a hand over her mouth prevents her from screaming. Panicked, she sucks air through her nose, claws at her captor's arm, and tries to bite him. He doesn't budge, not even when she kicks his shin as hard as she can.

"Ouch. Stop thrashing and be quiet, Dan." His laboured breath caresses the skin behind her ear. "I think I discovered something important. Calm down. Can I release you now?"

It takes a beat until she recognises Ric's whisper. Quivering, she nods her consent in the darkness, her heartbeat racing and her cheeks burning. At least he can't see how much his proximity affects her in the dark. His grip loosens but a hand continues to hover over her trembling lips, ready to clamp down again. She doesn't intend to scream, but her whisper is loaded with fury. "Do you take me for a sissy? It's your fault for scaring me out of my sneakers."

"Sorry, I thought I heard something." He pulls her closer, his warmth giving her comfort.

"Gee, Ric, that's no reason to attack me." A few steady breaths calm her, and she leans against the support his shoulder offers.

"Shh, quiet. Come, we must move to a safer place." His whisper is so low she only hears it because his lips almost touch her ear.

Dan shivers and nods. He must have sensed the gesture and pulls her sideways. Dan resists.

"Hang on, I dropped my torch, let me get it."

"Hurry." He lights the tiny, red led of the grey box he used before. In its beam, she scans the floor for her flashlight. Ric lets the light travel down the aisle. The torch rolled a few metres and nestles now in the angle of floor and wall. Dan bends to pick it up when a muffled voice from further down the corridor reaches her. She drops the flashlight again and looks up, panic tightening her chest. But the hall remains dark.

"Quick." Ric's hiss is urgent, and she grabs the torch before rushing back through the door he holds open for her. In the eerie red light, he locks it behind them and reaches for the light sensor.

Dan blinks to adjust her eyes to the blueish glare of the ceiling panels. The room is big, at least four times the size of the lab. Control desks and working stations line the walls. But the middle of the piece is dominated by a monstrous, complicated contraption reaching from floor to ceiling.

A cylindrical metal chamber forms its centrepiece, with an assortment of countless tubes and wires snaking around it. It is at least a meter wide, and the once-polished surface is covered by streaks where innumerable condensation droplets followed the call of gravity. Some of the pipes show rusty stains, and a few valves are wrapped with duct tape.

Dan studies the adventurous installation with a frown. "What's this supposed to be?"

Ric steps up behind her, close enough for her to smell his aftershave. "What's your guess, Doctor Lent?"

She inhales and bites her lower lip to suppress the tirade she craves to deliver, when the countless electronic displays around the room all dim and brighten in sync. Taken by surprise, she leans back against Ric's solid chest and stares at the flickering lights, sure they announce another time shift.

Video is Tribute to HR Geiger, courtesy of RainerSalt. Thanks, mate!