Twisted Time

31 - Museum

The stairs, 03:03

Ric wraps an arm around Dan's shoulders, pulling her closer. "Stop Buddy, quiet." His voice is not loud, but stern.

To Dan's surprise, the dog obeys the command. In the sudden silence, Ric's whisper sounds jarring. "What's the matter? Have you seen anything?"

"Not sure, there was a movement. Too small for a person, a cat perhaps."

She fumbles for her flashlight and points the narrow beam up the stairs. The concrete steps in the dark staircase are littered with torn, crumpled paper and empty plastic cups. When her light reaches the next landing, Dan winces. This time, she sees them well enough.

"Rats." Ric recognised them, too. "This neighbourhood might be dubious. Come, let's go." He stows the Metec in his pocket.

Dan follows without complaint, Buddy at her side, the beam of her small light scanning the steps ahead. From the dirty landing, another flight of stairs leads in a right angle towards a rusty metal grid. Her torch loses power fast, now. In the mellow light, they climb the last steps to a paled gate.

"Switch off the torch to save the batteries. Besides, someone out there might see it."

Dan complies, surprised she still can see something. A slight draft stirs the paper on the steps. They might lead them out of the building. Hand in hand, they reach the top landing. Tall buildings conceal the night sky, but a few stars twinkle above a rooftop. Ric pulls out his Metec to inspect the gate in its dim glow. It is locked with a heavy chain and secured by a fat padlock. A deep frown mars the time agent's forehead. His magic device won't safe them, this time.

Dan runs her fingertips over the frame of the gate. "Ric, check this. I think I found a weak point."

The light of the Metec shows her a pair of simple hinges. A smile sneaks onto Dan's face when she realises Ric doesn't understand. She pulls out the wrench from her waistband and reaches for the empty cylinder of the extinguisher. Ric hands it over with a frown. Dan places it in front of the gate on its side. Then she inserts the long wrench in the gap beneath the door to use it as a lever, with the red cylinder as a counterpoint. Ric crouches down beside her. "Brilliant. I'll work the lever, and you make sure the gate doesn't fall inwards."

The process of lifting the gate from its hinges is painstakingly slow, and the squeaking noise of the rusty metal not moved for a long time disrupts the silence. Ric hesitates, and Dan strains her ears for signs of pursuers. But everything remains quiet.

When the gate comes loose, Dan holds it in place until Ric picks up all their belongings and helps her to pry it open enough for them to pass. Buddy lopes ahead into a vast courtyard surrounded by tall buildings.

After a quick glance, Dan turns around. Together with her partner, they lift the gate back onto the hinges from the outside. She blows the rust flakes from her hands. "This will slow down our potential followers."

"I doubt it. Either the owners will have a key or a bolt-clipper ready."

"Ah, don't ruin my hopes. What do we do now?"

"Find our where we are, and how we can send you and your dog back to your own time." He takes her hand, leading her into the courtyard. The dog runs a circle around them on the pavement, obviously happy to be outside.

"And what will you do?" Dan studies the night sky, partially obscured by fast-moving clouds reflecting the lights of a big city.

"I'll wait this out. I need to be sure my virus works. And if your fire has an effect on the building."

Dan studies the buildings surrounding them, rows of windows lining heir uniform fronts, all dark and keeping the secrets of the interior. They lack balconies or any sign of individual life. "No flowers or curtains. Is this an office complex?" Her gaze wanders back to the entrance they used moments ago, and she spots a faded sign to the right. The plastic is bleached by the sun and cracked, but the writing still legible. She reads it in the dim light of Ric's Metec: Emergency shelter. Danger. No access. The director of the museum.

Ric studies the sign frowning. "Not an office building, a museum. They installed their hideout beneath a historical building. No one would inspect the subterranean parts or wonder what lies beneath the precious ancient walls."

"Historical building? To me, it looks like one of these concrete sins of ugliness, sprouted in the late twentieth century."

"Exactly, a unique example of early concert architecture and of high cultural value. I'm sure it is protected by law and thus the perfect decoy for an illegal hideout in the basement. To judge by the state of conservation, the museum lacks the funds to sustain the gem."

Dan shakes her head, musing about facts that never change. However, this is not the time or the place to engage in a discussion about historical value, taste, and the individual measure of uniqueness. She follows him across the deserted courtyard in search of an exit. "If a fire rages down in the bunker, it's probably a question of minutes till someone arrives up here, right?"

"Yes. Then we should be out of sight. Or me. You might be better off in your own time."

"And reappear moments later in the middle of a hostile crowd? No thanks, mate."

"Right. And to keep you home permanently, we'd need to destroy the TA that pulls you back here. The fire might take care of it, but let's search for an escape route."

In the front wall of a building on the other side of the yard, they find a sliding door. But neither Ric's Metec or the wheel brace prove adequate to open or break the glass panels. While Ric studies the lock, her glance falls on a fire-ladder mounted directly beside the door. Shouldn't these offer a way out of a burning house towards the street instead of a closed yard?

"Ric? Do you think we could climb these?" She points at the lowest metal rungs of the ladder. They end more than two metres above the ground, too high to be within easy reach.

Ric lifts the Metec to illuminate the mechanism, a grin forming on his lips. "Far the better solution than running in circles until they arrive and capture us. The lock of the door won't open, it's an old one, without electronic safety measures. We'd need a real key or old-fashioned burglary equipment to break in. Come, climb on my shoulders, there must be a method to lower part of this ladder further down."

Dan steps into Ric's offered hands and, supporting herself against the wall, onto his shoulders. The rusty latch holding back the movable lower part of the ladder is easy to find. To operate it, she needs her wrench though, the metallic hits booming through the abandoned courtyard. She is glad when she finally can pull the extension down and hops off her partner's shoulders.

"Great. And how—" Dan interrupts herself when the light of the Metec flickers and Ric grasps her hand. "Buddy? Where are you? Come here."

The dog lifts its head and runs towards her in long leaps. Dropping the wrench, Dan reaches for her companion, her fingertips almost touching Buddy when she disappears in a rainbow swirl of sparks. Only the echo of a surprised yelp lingers in the empty yard.