The White Rabbit Chronicles - Part V

A shower of broken glass leapt out of the frame in the watchtower, giving vision to the splattering of shots that zipped towards Sainne. The Anarak dropped to the ground, any fragmentary notions of temporal calculus quickly swept away by a river of adrenaline.

They weren’t giving him any room to breathe. The continuous pursuit was rather impressive, really, he mused to himself. As the sharp popping of fresh rounds continued to punctuate the moment, Sainne found a strange serenity in the excitement. While his blood flowed hot, his excited mind found a rhythm, assembling thoughts relentlessly, one piece at a time.

The Thetas were firing from lower ground, up into the tower. If they had any brains, they would be careful not to hit the instruments, lest their own Rabbits be stranded on this forsaken strand of time. Denying him would be denying them, which would only be handing victory to Zhao, an outcome they would want even less than he did. Of course, relying on the intelligence and restraint of grunts was a dubious gamble, but there remained a possibility nonetheless. And with that assurance of chance, Sainne’s mind quickly strode to the next step in a tentative plan.

Reach up for the instrument panel. By leveraging the angle of their fire and the slanted layout of the controls, his arm would be shielded from any harm. As his fingers alighted on the dials and switches, he was delighted to discover the second domino in his design tipped as calculated. He could reach the controls. Now, if he remembered the layout, the power tuner was there…

A few tantalizing near misses later, he aligned his tactile sense with his memory. He could still set the destination. And much more. With a deft touch, he twisted a dial at the far end of the panel, and then fished his pocket watch from his tunic. Flicking the golden lid open, he slid his fingers along the case to a flush button and pressed it in.

A quick conference later and he had all the pieces in place. Two time gates primed and at his command – one a diversion and the other the destination. But before he pressed the final button, he caught himself. This last wave of reinforcements would face an uphill climb if the Thetas had hunkered down like smart little rabbits. In and of itself, that didn’t matter a wit – all lives were forfeit as he fled this meta-timeline. But could they provide enough protection to make this last gambit manifest?

And no sooner had his mind given shape to the problem than it began to bubble up a solution. It would mean taking a great risk to his favorite toy, but this was the moment for sacrifices.

Sacrifice! Sainne almost laughed at himself as he tore at the invisible case lining on his Talhesian Torture Device. When this was over, he could swipe a new one from his counterpart on the new temporal trail. Of course, that alone would spell trouble… but the device would be of no service in for that particular hurdle.

Coaxing the power tap to pull more and more energy into the capicitors, Sainne pondered the precarious balance between risk and necessity. Yes, a little farther still, he mused silently. What a miserable end this would be if he judged wrongly. A humiliation to his next incarnation. The thought stoked his determination.

That should be sufficient, he finally decided. The silver sphere positively hummed in his gloved hands. Truly, it was a marvel he had yet to see in all his myriad lifetimes. A grim smile played at his lips. This sort of miracle was a necessity at times such as these.

Without giving himself another second to ruminate on the possibilities should things go awry, he swung himself up and pressed the button on the side of his precious device. With a startling whoosh, the thing nearly leapt out of his hands and bleached the entire bridge in its stinging brightness. Instantly, the incessant pinging of bullets off the back wall ceased.

Sainne twisted himself up into a running position and fled from the tower, his free hand just grazing the start buttons as he flew from the perch. Sliding down the ladder towards the splitting paths below, he was met with a new symphony to consider. The familiar and welcome sucking and whirling crescendo of a rabbit hole tearing through meta-time, but also growl and snort of a stout internal combustion engine, followed quickly by the intemperate percussion of automatic fire.

He was dashing towards the gate as that last layer cut in, and his head snapped around to see who had escaped his plan. A black jeep came barreling towards him, fire spewing from near the driver’s seat. It was wild, and so far Sainne was unscathed, but it was only a matter of time – of seconds – before that changed. He dove for the only cover available – a lip made by the edge of the bridge and a passageway into the lower ramps of the complex.

Somehow, he managed to flit below the edge without so much as a scratch from the frenzied fire. He he seized the moment to catch his breath and pondered the options he still had. The Rabbit Hole was within reach! He could feel the air being sucked into its vortex, beckoning him. If only he could–

A thunderous explosion rocked the ramp. Sainne staggered and caught himself. Something had gone horribly, awfully awry. Pulling himself up and peering over the ramp, to his horror, he saw the far time gate flash and pull itself asunder in a stuttering flash, the smoldering wreckage of a vehicle jammed within it, and the bodies of his soldiers scattered about.

Sainne rubbed his eyes as a few cracks of gunfire punctuated the scene. Fury rose up within him, twisting his features. And then he spotted him. A lone soldier – the lone soldier – lying battered on the ground. And swinging a pistol towards him.

For a moment, Sainne stood resolute. Bullets were beneath him. But the thought was struck from his mind by a spontaneous and rising fear. His eyes darted towards the rabbit hole. He dove back below the lip as the survivor pulled the trigger.

Outrageous! Sainne seethed inwardly. He had been outplayed by insanity! It would have been clever if the odds hadn’t been so ridiculous! But now he was cut off from his very own rabbit hole, and he couldn’t afford to rematerialize. The one who had struck down the Ashen Phoenix had also denied him his power. To take the bullet would be to leave an open invitation for Time Peace’s white rabbit to use the very portal that he had worked so hard to open.

The injustice burned his veins and he clutched at the torture device. A tempting option, yes, but it was far from a guarantee. It had been pushed to its limits, and the soldier would already be aware of that ploy. Even if he didn’t have the presence of mind to shield his eyes from a second blast, the effects might not be sufficient to stay his hand long enough for Sainne’s sprint to the rabbit hole. An alternative would be needed.

But what?

And Sainne’s eyes fell on the roads twisting underneath the bridge. Sometimes the simplest solutions truly were the best.

***

Twenty-Six’s boot jammed itself into White Rabbit the Eighteenth’s cheek, and she took a tumble away from her twin. Twenty-Six didn’t miss a beat in finding her feet and darting towards the watchtower. She could only have one plan in mind, and it was truly insane.

Eighteen picked herself up, shaking out the rippling numbness from the impact. Pain would soon trickle in, but for now, the electric action was keeping it from sinking into her synapses. She watched Twenty-Six run for a dull moment, her mind still reeling a bit, then her eyes twitched towards the swirling energy of the familiar. A rabbit hole. Eighteen had already dove through one of those whirlwinds once before, leaving behind another reality in which Time Peace’s war with Anarakia had come to a sharp conclusion. The visions of that voyage still lingered in her dreams, and haunted the backsides of her eyelids.

And someone had to do it again.

White Rabbit had been selected for many things. Her compatibility with the necessary drugs to steady her for the passage through meta-time was one. Her bravery was another. But above all, she was selected for being cool under pressure. And that part of her mind processed the cold facts.

She couldn’t reach the rabbit hole before Twenty-Six climbed the watchtower. She’d be shut out before she could make the dive.

Eighteen whipped out the silver ATEP gun and took aim at Twenty-Six. The first blue-white bolt burned through the air behind Twenty-Six as she clambered up the ladder, lighting her hair with a ghostly radiance as it passed behind. The pseudo-halo against her shadowed face caught in Eighteen’s eye, as if revealing her mirror image’s true nature. A deluded savior.

Eighteen didn’t waste a beat, though, and fired again and again. But Twenty-Six was just as quick on the uptake. She spun around on the ladder, flipping to its backside, protected behind the support beams of the watchtower.

Eighteen was stymied, but not for long. She made a break for the tower herself and flicked the cap on the back of the gauge gun. Maximum power. She didn’t switch to a crystal ray because she might still need the arena and–

No! She suddenly realized that the arena wouldn’t deploy. Twenty-Six and she had the same IFF transponder settings on their time gauges, because nominally, they were on the same side! Maybe she should switch over to the crystal ray and go all out. No, no, no – it was simpler than that. She could manually deploy the arena if–

Twenty-Six was about to flip back to the right side of the ladder and pull herself into the watchtower. Eighteen had just reached the foot of the ladder. She swung her gun up to finish off the little traitor, but Twenty-Six caught the motion. She twisted back around, trying to shield herself with one of the support beams. It was shallow cover and the beam nearly took off her nose.

Eighteen unconsciously grabbed a rung in her hurry, even as her other arm made the minute adjustment in aim. Twenty-Six lashed out, kicking with all her strength against the ladder. The shudder ran down and through Eighteen, and her next bolt cut through one of the rungs, leaving a sizzling hole in the bar.

Eighteen paused just a second. She half considered cutting down the ladder and bringing Twenty-Six down with it, but that would leave her with no access to the gate’s controls. Instead, she hopped onto the ladder and started pulling herself up. It was a race, but she had a clear path. Twenty-Six could try to cut her off – but that would turn out in Eighteen’s favor, too.

Twenty-Six seemed to guess Eighteen’s game and twisted around. She clamped her legs together and swung away from the rungs. At the apex of the swing, she released her grip.

In a flash, Eighteen realized what was coming. She tried to pull away as Twenty-Six fell down towards her. She had just pulled her weapon around when Twenty-Six’s hands clasped a bar anew, and she careened inward, snapping her legs up. With outlandish precision, Twenty-Six’s boots swept through the space between rungs and into Eighteen’s chest.

Eighteen’s grip nearly fractured and her feet came unglued. In her scramble to reclaim her grip, the gauge gun clattered away. Twenty-Six didn’t waste a second to twist around and scramble into the control room. Gasping, Eighteen could only watch as she flitted into the room above.

Forcing herself to focus, she found her footing and gave chase again. As soon as she reached the lip into the watchtower, she threw herself to the side.

Just as she anticipated, a boot came flying towards the space where her face had been a moment before. Quickly, Eighteen reached out and grabbed Twenty-Six’s leg and pulled. But with the meager leverage she had, she only succeeded in pulling her counterpart to the floor, and nearly unseating herself from the ladder.

Both girls scrambled for the interior, Eighteen trying to pull Twenty-Six out in the process. But no dice. Twenty-Six managed to scramble back into the room, Eighteen right on her tail.

Twenty-Six flicked a switch on the control board and then kicked yet again at the other white rabbit. Eighteen sidestepped and returned with a jab that fell short as her target nimbly backpedaled.

Twenty-Six twisted a dial.

“You’re going to blow the gate!” Eighteen warned and rushed at her. Twenty-Six’s hand slipped from the slider it was on as she ducked out of the way.

Stumbling back to more even footing, she shot back, “I know what I’m doing – do you?” A wild swing was easily dodged by Eighteen. Twenty-Six continued, “This would run a lot smoother without you throwing a wrench into the works!”

“I can’t let you go to Oblixis!” Eighteen insisted, taking a defensive posture in front of the controls.
“Twenty-Six, think about it, you’re unraveling!”

“And you aren’t?” Twenty-Six scoffed. “Listen to yourself – you’d rather break the rabbit hole than take the best shot Time Peace has ever had.”

“Six, this isn’t a good shot,” Eighteen tried again, forcing calm into her voice. She glanced back at the board and with a shock of apprehension saw an overload beginning to brew up.

“You set the rabbit hole that late in the game and you’re wrong, and it all goes up in smoke!” she continued, hoping to keep Twenty-Six wrapped up in the conversation. “We can’t play this out again! Not like this!”

“You just don’t get it! You weren’t there!” Twenty-Six exclaimed, taking the bait perfectly. Eighteen hurriedly and subtly pulled the slider back down and reached towards a dial.

“We had them on the ropes, Eighteen!” Twenty-Six raved. “Half the Anaraks bagged, the rest of them scattered – all before the Phoenix returned. All thanks to Oblixis. With a few tweaks, we could even outmaneuver the ol’ AP himself. But if we don’t–”

“Six, Anarakia knows your game plan – they have Sainne!” Eighteen burst out. “They’re not going to let Oblixis pull the same stunt again!”

“They won’t know what hit them. And I’m not going to let you stand in the way of our greatest victory!” Twenty-Six declared and pressed the middle crown of her time gauge.

…

END TRANSMISSION