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  I walked through my small garden, admiring the flowers that were blooming and the few vegetables I had planted that were growing. I reached down to touch one of the flowers and could feel the softness of the petal against my fingertips.

  Why was I here?

  I wasn't sure, but as it was pleasant I didn't really question it.

  The actual reality of my situation was still present in the back of my mind.

  I was going to die.

  That didn't seem so bad.

  If you die, he wins, my mind spoke up.

  I paused for a moment. That was fine by me. If death meant coming here, I could handle it.

  You're going to let him get away with this? And let him do it to others?

  I frowned. Of course my mind wanted to get in the last word.

  But how could I stop him now?

  Even at this place, at my home, wandering my garden, I could feel my life slipping away.

  Could I prevent my own death?

  My mind seemed to think I could.

  I stopped, feeling the warmth of the sun on my face, feeling a cool breeze on my skin as well.

  I closed my eyes and could now see my body; I had been put into the trunk of a car (another car must have came after Thomas arrived in his Humvee) and I could see the bullet holes, the shattered flesh and bone, the blood that still seeped from these wounds.

  In my mind, I was visualizing a clock running backwards; I could see my flesh repairing itself, and finally, I could see the small bullet slugs falling out of my body, landing with a soft plop onto the trunk.

  I opened my eyes, still standing in my garden. I could feel in the back of my mind that I was going to be okay.

  Still, it was nice here and I wasn't quite ready to leave.

  Despite everything that had happened, this home was a great source of comfort. I had a lot of regret over what had happened with me and Melissa, but I was finally feeling some peace about it. What had happened was sad and disappointing, but it was time to move on; maybe part of me would grieve this loss for the rest of my life. We had had something special, and maybe it was time to reflect on that, rather than the elements that had ended our relationship.

  Maybe that's why my mind had taken me here, so that I could finally say goodbye to Melissa and move on to the rest of my life. That felt right.

  I closed my eyes again, and when I re-opened them, I was back in the trunk of the car.

  They hadn't bothered tying me up, since they assumed I was dead; they had covered the bottom of the trunk in plastic.

  I was feeling weak from blood loss. I hoped I'd have enough strength to get out of here.

  I'd need some time to recuperate. Closing my eyes again, I cleared my thoughts.

  Opening them, I was back home. For real, this time.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  I wasn't sure exactly how one recovered from blood loss; all I could think of were the times I had donated blood, where it was recommended to wait and not engage in strenuous activity.

  That seemed like a good idea to me. I wandered into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator; I found a carton of orange juice that still seemed good. I drank all of it, directly from the carton.

  There wasn't much food in the refrigerator, and it seemed pointless to try and figure out when I had last shopped. Digging around in the cupboards, I found a box of cookies; they weren't stale and I had a few, remembering how I had been given the same items to eat when I had donated blood.

  Satisfied for the moment, but still very weak, I wandered back into the living room and collapsed onto the couch. I was definitely going to need to be at full strength to finish this.

  I wondered how Thomas was going to react when he reached wherever he had been headed to dispose of my body, only to discover it was no longer there.

  I also wondered how I would deal with the invisible agent who had detained me and blocked me from using my abilities.

  It's not going to be a problem, my mind responded, and that was good enough for me. If it was going to be a problem, I'd deal with it when the time came.

  Aside from being exhausted and weak, I was also an emotional mess, alternating between fury and great sadness. I held onto those emotions; that's what I would need to concentrate on if I was to finish this. Thomas may have power in his world, but it wasn't going to be a match for me.

  This had to end, and nothing was going to stop me this time.

  I was very sleepy; I was going to fall asleep again on the couch. Part of me wanted to get up and head into my bedroom, but by then I was entirely too weak to do so.

  I drifted off to sleep.

  * * *

  This time I slept for over 24 hours. Apparently my body was going to catch up on all the sleep it missed in the years I had experienced chronic insomnia. Getting up (with a sore back, thanks to the couch) I felt better than I had in years; my mind felt sharp, and I didn't think any of Thomas' remaining agent could take me by surprise.

  I showered and changed into fresh clothes (when had I last done that?); I put on a pot of coffee, poured a cup, and headed into the living room.

  Sitting down, I reflected on everything that had happened to me over the last few...was it days? Weeks? Months? For the life of me I couldn't remember, and looking at a calendar didn't help (I still couldn't remember what actual date this had all started on). I guess time travel had that effect.

  I supposed Thomas wouldn't have had any troubles keeping track of time; I'm sure he had people who helped him with all of the details, especially when his people got involved with time travel.

  In the shower I had gotten a look at where Thomas had shot me; what had been left behind were tiny scars: one in my forehead, two on my chest, and another above my kidneys. The man was a crack shot, apparently. Anyone else seeing the scars wouldn't have known what had caused them.

  I marveled on that, how my body had somehow healed itself. Nothing like that had ever happened to me before.

  I also thought back to my old life, the life I had led on Thomas' world. The odd thing was, despite the memory wipe having been lifted, my memories of that time were still hazy. There were fragments that came into my mind; memories of school, of friends, glimpses of family, but nothing concrete.

  I frowned at that; shouldn't I be able to remember my family? What I had told Melissa when she and I started dating was that I was an orphan, my family having been killed when I was in grade school. I was at summer camp, and they had died in...

  In a car crash.

  Just like how Melissa had died.

  Was it just a coincidence?

  It didn't feel like a coincidence; had Thomas been involved in that as well?

  I supposed he could have been, and it wouldn't have surprised me.

  Despite that, I didn't feel any desire to investigate. Maybe when all of this was over, but for now it was best that I focus on the present.

  It seemed my clearest memories of the past, in fact, where from when I had come here, to this world. The initial struggles, but eventually settling in, getting a new career, and finally meeting Melissa.

  It seemed weird to me that I had been in a war and was considered a war hero...or had been. Even though I could remember that time, it seemed like something that had happened to a different person.

  Actually, it had happened to a different person.

  Really, I had led two lives: one as part of a world I barely remembered, and another on this world.

  This was the meaningful life, the one on this world, and it was time to make it so I could enjoy the rest of it.

  I finished my coffee, and wondered how exactly to take the next step. I'm sure the always-crafty Agent Thomas would be making preparations for me, having discovered that I wasn't dead, after all.

  Actually, I was surprised he hadn't sent someone here after me. Maybe he was preparing to do just that. Or maybe he was simply waiting for me to make a move.

  Maybe it was just a matter of time before someone tried to grab me, again.


  I felt I would be ready for that.

  The more I thought about it, the more likely it seemed that he would try to send someone here to get me, possibly even the same agent who had grabbed me before.

  I smiled. Let them try. I'd have a surprise for them.

  As usual, events turned out in ways that I wasn't prepared for.

  BOOK THREE

  Endgame

  CHAPTER ONE

  I was right about thinking Thomas would send someone to capture me in my home; I wasn't expecting who he ended up sending.

  As I sat, finishing my coffee and thinking of the past, I suddenly felt a presence in my home; it wasn't something I could see (the invisibility trick?) but I knew someone was there.

  I waited; I didn't want this person to know that I knew they were here.

  I closed my eyes and cleared my thoughts. In my mind, I was actually seeing my living room, seeing me sitting on the couch, and seeing the person Thomas had sent to abduct me.

  I watched in my mind as that person walked slowly towards the couch, a smile on their face, arrogant in the knowledge that they were (seemingly) undetected.

  The person approached slowly, silently, and finally put their hand on my shoulder.

  I opened my eyes.

  “Hi, Lynne,” I said.

  She gasped, from behind me.

  “Kind of a surprise,” I said, still not turning to face her. “You certainly had me fooled. Here I thought you were one of Thomas' weak agents, and it seems you're his most powerful agent.”

  Lynne said nothing.

  “Do you want some coffee?” I asked. “I just put a pot on.”

  I could feel a sensation in my mind, what I thought to be Lynne attempting to transport me out of my living room.

  “Look, it's not going to work, you might as well come sit down.”

  She let go of my shoulder and did just that. She sat next to me, and didn't seem particularly happy to see me.

  “I know, how did I not die after being shot four times?”

  “Jeff almost had a heart attack when he discovered your body wasn't in the trunk of that car,” she admitted.

  “I still can't believe you're on his side, Lynne, seriously. The man is bad news.”

  “He's given me direction and purpose,” she replied.

  “Yeah, like kidnapping people and being an accessory to murder.”

  She had no response to that.

  “Do you want some coffee? Or maybe a soda? I think I have a can in the fridge.”

  She sighed. “A cup of coffee is fine.”

  I headed into the kitchen to pour her a cup while topping up my own mug. Returning to the living room, I passed the mug to her.

  “So you like the direction Jeff has given you?”

  “I had this incredible ability and didn't know what to do with it or how to control it,” she said, taking a sip of coffee. “He showed me how, and gave me a purpose.”

  “Yes, a purpose. Like killing my wife. How did that feel, Lynne? Knowing you contributed to that?”

  “It seemed...right, at the time, when Jeff explained why we'd be doing it.”

  “Oh, he explained it, did he? How did he justify this?”

  She took another sip. “He...he said something about her role in a terrorist act in the future, and we'd be doing the world a favor if we prevented that, as it wasn't supposed to happen. It sounded reasonable when he told me, but thinking back, it does sound...far fetched.”

  “Melissa? A terrorist?” I said. “Yeah, it does sound far fetched. But you bought it, and now she's dead.”

  Lynne bit her lip. “I...I don't know what to say.”

  “Let's not forget you've been an accessory to my own murder. You're the one who captured me and took me to Thomas so he could put four bullets into my body.”

  “I...I didn't know he was going to do that! He just said he was going to put you away for the rest of your life.”

  “He wasn't lying about that, was he?” I said. “He just had a more permanent idea in mind. He's done more, hasn't he? Like my parents. They died in a car accident, too. That's a lot of deaths by car accident in my life.”

  She couldn't look at me. “Yes, he had me take him back and...take care of that problem.”

  “I'm sure he had a good reason for doing it.”

  “I...he didn't say. When I started to ask him about it, he just told me that it was related to national security.”

  “Sure it was,” I said, trying with difficulty to control my temper. “The man's a dangerous lunatic with power, Lynne, don't you see that? And he's obsessed with me. He's not the same man I knew 20 years ago during the war. I don't know if it was being tortured that did it or not...but he's blamed me for that this whole time, and now he's out of control.”

  “We...we're protecting national security!” Lynne cried, although I could see in her fact that particular justification wasn't sitting right with her. “People like you, the portal jumpers, put everyone else in danger!”

  “Do we?” I asked. “Do you really believe that? And the answer is to just take a bunch of us and...disappear us? This is fascism, Lynne. From my point of view, the people who are a threat are you, and Thomas, and his whole organization. It's going to stop, and I'm going to stop him, and no one is going to stop me.”

  Lynne nodded. “I understand, Charles, just...go easy on him. Despite what you've said, he has helped me over the years.”

  “He's going to get what he deserves,” I replied. “But first I'm going to give him something he never gave these other people: a chance. An option. The option to...resign from his position and find a new home. On a different world. And Lynne?”

  “Yes?”

  “I can help you, if you want. To deal with your powers. I'm not going to make you kill anyone, either. You don't need him. He doesn't even have an ability, he couldn't possibly understand.”

  She smiled. “Thank you, Charles. But you're wrong. He does have an ability.”

  That surprised me. “He does? What is it?”

  “He can...control people. Plant suggestions. He doesn't use it often, but he's done it. Sometimes the things he orders us to do can be...well, you know, questionable. And if someone objects, Jeff can get them to cooperate. He uses it with the government, that's how he can operate the way he does without interference. They didn't even believe that there were people who could portal jump. Jeff simply played some videos and then planted the idea of a threat in the minds of all of those government officials he worked for.”

  “I can believe that,” I said. “There must be some people in the government who don't believe it.”

  “No, he went to every single member of parliament and...had a chat with them. He's gone to the leaders of every province to tell them about this threat, he's consulted with the major police forces. They let him do whatever he wants to.”

  “Giving him a blank check,” I said. “Free reign to do what he wants, when he wants, with no repercussions.”

  “Yes,” she whispered.

  “And he's threatened you, hasn't he? That if you didn't cooperate with him and he was forced to use his mind trick on you, he'd punish you somehow.”

  She nodded. “He's pushed people to kill themselves,” she said. “I've seen it. Some agent who didn't agree with him, who'd been pushed by Jeff a certain number of times to do their job. He'd sit down with them and just suggest that their lives were falling apart, and that they'd be better off if they just ended everything.”

  “You didn't think that was...extreme?” I said, feeling revulsion rising through me. “How many people has he done this to?”

  “Not many,” Lynne said. “At least, not that I know about.”

  “And you just went along with that, too?”

  She looked stricken. “I did. Like I said, he can be persuasive. I never thought twice about it.”

  “Doesn't it sound like, now, that someone should stop him? He's out of control.”

  She nodded. “Hearing it
like this, yes.”

  “That's what I'm going to do,” I said. “I'm not going to wait any longer. This needs to end.”

  “You're just going to...let me go?” Lynne asked.

  “Why wouldn't I?”

  “The other agents...you wiped their memories, or something.”

  “Don't worry. You can leave whenever you want. Tell Thomas all about me if you want, it's not going to matter.”

  “He's going to have protection. You're not going to be able to just walk in and take him.”

  “I'm not really worried about that,” I said. “He can have an entire army with him.”

  “You're not worried about an army?”

  “No,” I said. “I'm not. No army is going to stop me now.”

  CHAPTER THREE

  Lynne left, and I followed her, in a manner of speaking.

  I pondered if I should just show up in Thomas' office, and thought I could be a bit more subtle than that.

  I really wanted to avoid having to deal with a lot of people and keep the casualties to a minimum – I didn't want any casualties at all, but it seemed like it would be inevitable.

  I had arrived outside of the office building Thomas worked at; from what I could tell, no alarms had been sounded when I arrived. There were cameras everywhere, and it seemed one of them would have captured my image by now.

  I knew the parking garage was below ground, and that seemed as good of place as any to wait.

  I concentrated and filled my mind with images of Thomas; when I opened my eyes, I was standing next to what had to be his own personal vehicle. To my surprise it was what would be a hybrid car in my world – Thomas never struck me as the type to be concerned about his gas mileage, but then again, I had no idea what the cost of gas was in his world. Maybe it was a lot.

  Thomas had a reserved spot with a sign that read, “J. THOMAS, DIRECTOR.” His spot was close to an elevator, and there were no other cars near it.

  I glanced around, seeking out a security camera, but didn't see one. Either it was well hidden or he didn't have any installed in this area.

  I looked down at my wrist and was surprised to see I was wearing a watch; I didn't remember putting it on. It showed the time as 2:43 p.m. I didn't know how accurate it was; it was a digital watch and was supposed to be able to automatically update the time via atomic clock servers.