The Barnes Wallace (standard:science fiction, 2165 words)
Author: Richard Egan	Added: Apr 10 2001	Views/Reads: 3727/2129	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
A time travel adventure serial that spans over a hundred years. Leigh is a twenty year old student, home for the Christmas holidays. She is expecting a quiet couple of weeks with her family, before returning to the heavy routine of university li

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part secretary, part Personal Assistant.  The two of them had been 
staying late in order for Reuben to spend time on a personal project he 
was working on, a system which he had christened "Cyrex".  Cyrex was a 
new computer Operating System that would completely automate every 
process involved in the running of a modern building, from the security 
cameras and the lifts, to switching the lights on and off and ordering 
lunch.  Reuben had presented his initial ideas for the project to the 
selection board for funding, but had been turned down.  In their 
opinion, his ideas were too far fetched, and they didn't want to invest 
in a project that they believed had to much to prove in order to be 
successful.  Reuben was sure that once he got the project off the 
ground and past the initial stages the board would reconsider its 
decision.  So now he was spending his lunch breaks and as much time as 
he could after office hours working on the Cyrex project himself. 

There was a 'ding' and the elevator doors slid open to reveal the ground
floor lobby of the SynTec building.  The reception area consisted of a 
large square shaped room, with a security desk in the middle.  The 
majority of the floor was carpeted with purple velvet, there was just a 
small border of wood paneling around the outside.  The walls were also 
wood paneled, and there were exotic potted plant situated on low coffee 
tables around the sides of the room.  Greggs and his receptionist 
ignored all this, as they had seen it many times before.  There paused 
briefly in their conversation in order to say goodnight to the two 
security guards, before disappearing through the automatic doors into 
the deserted parking lot outside. 

Leigh crept forward, peering cautiously into the darkened subway before
her.  The steady drip of collected rainwater echoed around the enclosed 
underpass, and she could make out the sounds of traffic on the road 
outside the station.  She made it to the other side of the passage 
without encountering anyone, and climbed the stairs up to the main 
building.  The building, just a single room really, was small and 
completely deserted know.  At one time the two ticket kiosks would have 
been in regular use, but now that the new tram system had taken over on 
this part of the railway, there was no need for human officers.  Two 
tall silent ticket machines stood on either side of the doorway out 
onto the main road.  She crossed the room quickly, glancing from side 
to side, and peering briefly into the shadows for anyone who might be 
concealed there.  But the strange man, whoever he was, was nowhere to 
be seen.  With one last look behind her, she stepped out the door into 
the growing twilight to begin her walk home. 

Steve took a glance at his watch as he waited for the lights to change. 
It was twenty to eleven.  He hated working late shifts, but with a full 
time college course, evening work was all he had time for, and he 
needed the money.  He glanced back up at the lights, and saw that they 
were still on red.  They weren't out of order again, were there?  The 
lights at this junction always seemed to be out of order.  He looked up 
into his rear view mirror, preparing to indicate and pull out into the 
left turn lane.  But a young woman, approaching on the left hand side 
pavement, distracted his view of the road and the traffic behind him.  
From the nervous backward glances she was making, it was clear to him 
that she thought she was in some kind of trouble.  He hesitated a 
moment, then flicked the indicator switch left, as he had intended to a 
moment earlier.  This time, however, his intentions were different.  
There was a pedestrian barrier on the left hand side pavement, 
preventing people from crossing at what could be a very dangerous 
junction.  The young woman had entered the area restricted by the 
barrier, and now the only way she could go was round the corner.  There 
was no way she could cross the road for another five yards, unless she 
climbed the barrier first.  Steve turned the corner, but kept the 
indicator on as he pulled up on the left and slowed down; winding the 
window down as he passed her so he could catch her attention. "Hey," he 
called, having to shout above the sound of the rain and the other 
traffic.  "Are you okay?"  The young woman glanced round briefly; 
making sure that there was no one else about whom he could have been 
directing the question at. "Are you talking to me?"  She asked.  She 
had stopped moving but did not come any closer to the car, even though 
she was having difficulty hearing what the young man was saying. "You 
looked like you were in trouble," Steve continued.  "I just wanted to 
make sure you were all right."  He wished she would come closer, so he 
could hear her better, but could understand why she was so reluctant.  
A young woman on her own at this time of night would be stupid not 
realize the possible dangers of getting too close to strange men in 
slow moving cars. "I'm fine," she said, with a weak smile that told him 
everything was far from fine.  Before he could say anything else, 
though, she had started moving again, this time increasing her speed.  
Not wanting to get stopped by the police on charges of curb curling or 
attempted abduction, he prepared to move off himself.  He continued to 
watch her, between glances in the mirrors and out the windows as he got 
ready to move off, but his foot never made it to the accelerator.  Just 
as he was about to ease up off the clutch, and return power to the 
engine, another young woman rushed out from the shadows of a side 
street and almost knocked the first woman to the ground. 

Leigh didn't see the woman coming, but she felt her as she rammed into
her.  Surprisingly, despite the force of the assault, neither of the 
two women lost their balance.  Leigh's attacker grappled with her, 
apparently trying to get a firm hold in order to drag her back down the 
road from which she had emerged.  Leigh struggled, glancing around as 
she did so for someone who might be able to help her, but there was no 
one in sight.  At least, no one who seemed to be in a position to help. 
 At this time of night, the few people who were still out would be in 
the small town centre, at one of the few pubs or in the single 
nightclub.  Saleton had been quite a prosperous small town at one time, 
but now the small shopping centre was almost totally deserted.  Of all 
the shops, only two or three were well known, high street names.  There 
was one shop that supplied newspapers, books and stationery, a 
well-known pharmacist and a single supermarket.  At one time there had 
been another supermarket, not far from the one that still stood, but it 
had been heavily damaged by fire.  Another one had been built recently, 
on land that had once been held by an office block.  It was due to open 
some time in the next couple of months. 

Leigh's only possible rescue seemed to be the young man who had spoken
to her a few moments before.  He had appeared to be getting ready to 
pull out, back into the middle of the main road.  There was no chance 
of the other cars slowing down or stopping to aid her.  She began to 
scream for help, hoping that the driver would see her and come back. 

To be continued.


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