The Last Train to Dawn Part Two — The Future Beneath the Ice

The Last Train to Dawn Part Two — The Future Beneath the Ice “We have plenty of time,” Mara said. But this time, she did not believe it. The words belonged to another life. A life in which Daniel was beside her, laughing at her habit of counting minutes. A life before the train. Before the wreck. Before Professor Bell. Before she had learned that time was not a road leading forward, but a house with doors that could open in every direction. Now there was only snow. Snow beneath her knees. Snow in her hair. Snow covering the place where Daniel had fallen. Mara lay flat on the mountain ridge, one hand buried in the torn fabric of his coat. Her fingers closed around nothing. “Daniel!” The mountain gave no answer. Only wind. Only the distant crack of ice. Only her own breathing. She crawled toward the edge. Nothing. A white slope descended into darkness. He had fallen somewhere below. Perhaps twenty feet. Perhaps two hundred. She couldn't tell. “Daniel!” Still nothing. She wanted to climb down. Every part of her body screamed at her to do it. Then she heard footsteps behind her. The men from the laboratory. She looked over her shoulder. Three figures stood on the ridge. One raised a pistol. “Miss Vale.” Mara stood. “You killed him.” The man lowered his weapon slightly. “We didn't touch him.” “You chased us.” “We were ordered to retrieve the machine.” “By whom?” The man hesitated. That hesitation saved Mara. She ran. She ran blindly. Down the opposite side of the mountain. Through waist-deep snow. Her lungs burned. Her injured shoulder throbbed. She had lost her gloves. Her boots were soaked. Behind her, someone shouted. A shot cracked through the air. Mara stumbled. Another shot. She threw herself behind a rock. Silence. She waited. One minute. Two. Nothing. Then she noticed something beneath the snow. A metal hatch. She brushed the snow away. A symbol had been carved into it. Twelve circles. The same symbol she had seen inside Bell's laboratory. Her heart began beating faster. She lifted the hatch. A staircase descended into darkness. She should have turned back. Instead, she climbed down. The tunnel was warm. That frightened her more than the cold. There was electricity. Old lamps flickered along the walls. Someone had been here recently. Mara walked carefully. The tunnel stretched for hundreds of yards. At the end stood a steel door. It opened before she touched it. Beyond it was a laboratory. Not abandoned. Active. Machines hummed. Copper wires covered the walls. Glass tubes glowed blue. And in the center stood a circular device almost ten feet high. Mara stopped. There were photographs pinned to the walls. Scientists. Engineers. Governments. Newspapers. Wars. And one photograph made her blood run cold. Professor Bell. Standing beside a younger man. Mara recognized him. Daniel. But Daniel was only twenty-three in the photograph. The date underneath it read: 1908. Mara stared. “No.” She moved closer. Daniel was smiling. Beside him, Bell looked exhausted. On the back of the photograph was a handwritten sentence: Subject D remains resistant to temporal displacement. Mara's knees weakened. Temporal displacement. Daniel had known. He had been involved long before tonight. She looked around the room. “Daniel?” No answer. Then a voice came from behind her. “You finally found it.” Mara spun around. Inspector Graves stood in the doorway. He was bleeding from his forehead. His coat was torn. But he was alive. Mara reached for the pistol she had taken from one of the men. Graves raised his hands. “Don't.” “You followed me.” “Yes.” “You killed Daniel.” “No.” “You were there.” “Yes.” “Then tell me where he is.” Graves looked at the machine. “He's exactly where he was supposed to be.” Mara's anger faltered. “What does that mean?” Graves walked to the nearest control panel. He touched a switch. A screen flickered. An image appeared. A mountain. The ridge. Daniel. He was falling. But the image didn't stop. It continued. Daniel struck a lower ledge. Rolled. Then disappeared through a crack in the mountain. Mara stared. “He survived.” Graves nodded. “How?” “The machine.” “Where is he?” Graves turned. “Not here.” “Then where?” “1916.” Mara couldn't understand. “That's five years from now.” “Yes.” “How?” “Exactly as Bell intended.” Graves explained everything. Or enough. The Chronos Engine had been built around a phenomenon Bell called temporal displacement. The machine could not physically send a person backward or forward through time. Not exactly. Instead, it could shift a person's position between possible timelines. Every moment contained countless possibilities. Most vanished instantly. But the machine could preserve one. It could move a person from one possibility into another. Daniel had not fallen into the mountain. He had fallen into another version of the mountain. A version in which he had survived. A version five years ahead. Mara stared at the screen. “So he is alive.” “Yes.” “Where?” “Norway.” “1916 Norway?” “Yes.” “How do we bring him back?” Graves looked at her. “We don't.” Mara's expression hardened. “I wasn't asking permission.” “You don't understand what will happen.” “I don't care.” “You should.” She stepped closer. “You've spent weeks following me. You kidnapped my father. You destroyed Bell's laboratory. You chased us onto a train.” Graves flinched at the mention of Bell. “Tell me where Daniel is.” Graves was silent. Mara pointed the pistol at him. “Now.” He looked into her eyes. “Bergen.” The machine had a map. Not a normal map. It showed layers of reality. Thousands of faint lines crossed one another. Each represented a possible history. Mara watched them move. One line was bright. It contained Daniel. Another contained her. A third contained both of them. And hundreds contained neither. She touched the line showing Daniel. “That's him.” “Yes.” “Then open it.” “We can't.” “Why?” “Because you aren't supposed to exist in that timeline.” Mara stared. “What?” “In that version of history, you died in 1912.” She felt cold. “Who?” “You.” “How?” “An explosion.” “Where?” “London.” Mara shook her head. “Then why am I here?” “Because you were displaced.” “So?” “So if you enter Daniel's timeline, reality will correct the error.” “What does that mean?” Graves looked at her. “It will kill you.” Silence. Mara lowered the pistol. “How certain?” “Very.” “How?” “Bell tested it.” “On whom?” Graves did not answer. Mara already knew. “People died.” “Yes.” “How many?” “Twenty-seven.” She looked at the machines. “Twenty-seven people.” “Twenty-seven attempts.” Mara swallowed. “And Daniel?” “He was the first successful displacement.” “Why?” “Because he was already connected to the machine.” “Connected how?” Graves hesitated. “Because Bell built it around him.” Mara stepped back. The room seemed to tilt. “What does that mean?” Graves opened a file. Inside were medical records. Daniel's name. Photographs. Measurements. Brain scans. Mara stared at them. “He was twelve when Bell met him.” “Yes.” “Why?” “Daniel had an unusual neurological response to electromagnetic fields.” Mara looked up. “You knew?” “No.” “Bell knew.” “Yes.” “Why didn't Daniel tell me?” “Because he didn't remember.” Mara felt something crack inside her. All those years. All those conversations. All those nights. Daniel had never known. Bell had studied him secretly. Used him as a foundation for the machine. The machine worked because Daniel could somehow perceive the alternate timelines. He wasn't the passenger. He was the key. Mara closed the file. “I am going to him.” Graves shook his head. “You can't.” “I can.” “You will die.” “Then I'll die trying.” “That is exactly what Bell feared.” Mara stared. “What did Bell fear?” Graves answered softly. “That you'd say that.” The laboratory began shaking. Dust fell from the ceiling. A warning alarm sounded. Graves looked toward the machine. “Someone has activated the other stations.” “What stations?” “There are six.” “Where?” “London. Paris. Berlin. Vienna. New York. Tokyo.” Mara's blood ran cold. “What are they doing?” “Looking for Daniel.” “Why?” “Because whoever controls him controls the machine.” “And who controls the stations?” Graves looked at her. “The British government.” Mara's stomach dropped. “You work for them.” “I did.” “Did?” “I stopped.” “When?” “When I saw the first future.” “What future?” Graves looked toward the machine. “The one where the world ends.” The machine activated. A screen appeared. Mara saw London. It was 1914. Crowds filled the streets. Soldiers marched. Flags waved. Then gunfire. A man fell. A newspaper headline appeared. ARCHDUKE ASSASSINATED Mara whispered: “The war.” Graves nodded. “Bell believed the war was inevitable.” “Was it?” “No.” Mara looked at him. “Then why did it happen?” “Because people saw it coming.” She frowned. “What?” “Governments knew the machine could predict political events. They began using it.” “For what?” “To prevent threats.” “And?” “They created them.” Mara stared at the screen. A diplomatic meeting. An assassination prevented. Another assassination. A treaty broken. An army mobilized. One decision led to another. The future changed. But every attempt to stop the war pushed history closer to it. Graves whispered: “The machine didn't predict the war.” He looked at Mara. “It caused it.” Mara wanted to destroy everything. The machines. The records. The people who had built them. But Daniel was still alive. She couldn't leave him. “Take me to Bergen.” Graves shook his head. “No.” “Why?” “Because I won't help you kill yourself.” “Then I'll go alone.” “You don't know how.” “Teach me.” He stared at her. For a long time. Then he walked toward the machine. “You have three minutes.” Mara stepped closer. “What happens?” “You'll experience multiple timelines at once.” “Will it hurt?” “Yes.” “How much?” “Enough to make you forget which one is real.” She nodded. “I can handle it.” “No.” He looked at her. “You can't.” Mara met his eyes. “Then I'll handle it badly.” The machine opened. Light filled the room. Mara stepped forward. For a moment, she was in London. Then Norway. Then London again. Then somewhere else. She saw Daniel. She saw herself. She saw a child. She saw herself dead. She saw Daniel dead. She saw both alive. She saw both old. She saw herself married to another man. She saw Daniel with another woman. She saw a world without either of them. She screamed. The machine showed her everything. Every choice. Every possibility. Every regret. She saw herself refusing to board the train. She saw Daniel going alone. She saw Bell living. She saw Bell dying. She saw Graves becoming prime minister. She saw Graves being executed. She saw herself becoming a scientist. A criminal. A mother. A murderer. A queen. A corpse. A stranger. Then— Daniel. He was standing in snow. “Mara.” She ran toward him. He disappeared. “Daniel!” Another version. Older. “You shouldn't be here.” She reached for him. He vanished. Another. A child. “Are you my mother?” She froze. The child smiled. Then the world shattered. Mara fell. She woke on a wooden floor. Snow blew through a broken window. A fire burned in the corner. Someone was kneeling beside her. Daniel. Alive. She stared. He looked older. Not much. Perhaps thirty. His hair was longer. There was a scar along his jaw. But his eyes were the same. Mara touched his face. He closed his eyes. “You came.” She laughed. Then cried. Then hit him. “You idiot.” He smiled. “I deserved that.” “You fell off a mountain.” “I noticed.” “You could have died.” “I nearly did.” “You've been here for five years.” “Yes.” “Five years.” “I know.” “Why didn't you come back?” Daniel looked away. “I couldn't.” “Why?” “Because I wasn't in the same world.” Mara sat beside him. “What happened?” Daniel told her. After he fell, the machine shifted him into another timeline. In this world, Bell's laboratory had never burned. The British government had taken control of the Chronos project. Daniel had spent five years hiding. He had learned how the machines worked. He had learned the terrible truth. The machines weren't portals. They were mirrors. Every time someone crossed between possibilities, both realities became less stable. Too many crossings would cause the timelines to collapse. “How many people have crossed?” Mara asked. Daniel looked at her. “Hundreds.” “Then—” “Yes.” “The worlds are already collapsing.” “Yes.” “How long?” “Months.” Mara looked toward the window. “Then we have time.” Daniel smiled sadly. “No.” They spent the night talking. Mara told Daniel about the war that was coming. Daniel told her about the future he had seen. They discovered something strange. Their memories were different. In Mara's world, Daniel had fallen. In Daniel's world, Mara had died in 1912. Neither knew which memories were real. Perhaps both were. Perhaps neither. At dawn, Daniel took her outside. A small village lay below. Children played in the snow. Smoke rose from chimneys. For one moment, Mara imagined staying. A quiet life. No machines. No war. No governments. Just Daniel. She wanted it desperately. Then she saw the sky. A faint crack of light ran across the horizon. The world itself was splitting. Daniel saw it too. “It's beginning.” “What?” “The collapse.” “How long?” “Three days.” Mara looked at him. “Then we have three days.” Daniel smiled. “You always were good with deadlines.” They returned to the laboratory. Daniel had discovered the original machine. It was hidden beneath the mountain. A massive chamber. At its center stood the first Chronos Engine. The one Bell had found. The one that had started everything. Mara stared at it. “Can we destroy it?” “Yes.” “Then let's do it.” Daniel shook his head. “Not yet.” “Why?” “Because if we destroy it now, every displaced person will be stranded.” “Can we bring them back?” “Some.” “How many?” “Maybe half.” “And the rest?” Daniel didn't answer. Mara understood. They would die. She looked at the machine. “How many people?” “Twenty thousand.” Mara closed her eyes. Twenty thousand lives. Her life. Daniel's life. Millions who might die in the war. There was no good choice. Only different kinds of suffering. She turned to Daniel. “What would Bell do?” Daniel smiled. “He'd try to save everyone.” “And fail.” “Yes.” Mara looked at the machine. “Then we need someone less intelligent.” Daniel laughed. She smiled. For the first time in years, they laughed together. Then the alarm sounded. Someone had entered the mountain. Soldiers. Hundreds. Graves appeared on a screen. He looked terrified. “They found you.” Daniel stared at the screen. “Who?” Graves answered: “The British government.” Then another face appeared. Mara froze. Professor Bell. Older. Alive. He looked directly at her. “Mara.” She stepped closer. “Elias.” Bell smiled. “You finally understand.” “Understand what?” “That the machine was never the problem.” Mara looked at Daniel. Then back at Bell. “Then what is?” Bell's expression became sorrowful. “Us.” The screen went black. A massive explosion shook the mountain. The laboratory doors began closing. Daniel grabbed Mara's hand. “We have to go.” “Where?” “Down.” “How far?” “All the way.” “To where?” Daniel looked at the machine. “To the beginning.” Mara stared. And for the first time, she understood why Professor Bell had chosen them. They weren't meant to stop the future. They were meant to reach the moment before it began. The moment when the first machine was turned on. The moment when everything could still be changed. Daniel squeezed her hand. “Ready?” Mara looked at him. “No.” He smiled. “Good.” They stepped into the machine. The world disappeared. And somewhere, far ahead in time, a clock began counting backward. 11:47. 11:46. 11:45. Until, at last— there was no time at all.