The Loved and the Lost (21 page)

His look of desperation was mirrored in the identical face that was staring back at him. Young Hansum's teeth were gritted, determination and anger showing. Suddenly another set of eyes were looking at him. These other eyes were hovering right in front of his face, now blocking the younger Hansum and Guilietta.

“Pedang!”

“We must hurry, sir,” the young sword said. “Rapids.”

“The saddle cinch,” Hansum shouted. “Cut it. Follow me,” and he ducked underwater.

Even under water, the roar of the rapids was deafening. It was like they were in a large drum that was being constantly beaten. Hansum grabbed the flat, woven rope cinch and pulled at it with all his might. He pointed and Pedang slid under it. The A.I. sword twisted and the rope sliced apart. Independent now, the dead horse started to float away. Hansum kept hold of the rope cinch and wound it around his fist, to make sure it wouldn't get away from him. Then he held out his hand and looked at Pedang, willing him to understand what he wanted. Pedang spun his blade around and placed his grip in Hansum's hand. Hansum pointed upward with his chin and Pedang started pulling him. As they broke the surface, Hansum saw they were just entering the rapids. There were huge rocks and trunks of trees just a few paces from them.

“Pull us to the shore!” he shouted to Pedang. “Secure Guilietta,” he cried to the younger Hansum. He tensed as Pedang began pulling one arm toward land, while the current forced his other arm to bear the weight of a waterlogged saddle and two people being pulled in the opposite direction. The younger Hansum grabbed Guilietta around the waist and hugged the saddle to himself, so when the saddle was pulled, it wouldn't strain her wrists. As they slowly made their way out of the rapids and toward the shore, the older Hansum looked back to see the poor dead horse tumble into the rocks, slamming and breaking against them. Its four limbs spun upward to the sky and then back into the water before being crushed against another huge bolder. As Hansum looked away, it was disappearing underwater.

As the shore came nearer, the current slowed somewhat, but it was still too fast to swim in.

“Transport us, Sideways,” Hansum called, and the A.I. cloak's face appeared in the fabric.

“I can't yet, Master Hansum. You're too spread out. When you can stand in the water together . . .”

Hansum turned to see how Guilietta was doing. His younger self was lying on his back, the saddle in one arm, Guilietta in the other, her head on his shoulder. Her eyes were now closed, her lips blue. The younger Hansum caught his gaze and looked back at him with cold hatred, as if questioning, “How could you let this happen?”

Hansum felt the bottom, a few slippery rocks and submerged tree trunks at first, and then sand and stone. He nodded to his other self.

“Can you touch bottom yet?” The younger Hansum struggled with his feet and then stood. “Stop!” the older Hansum shouted to Pedang. When he felt he could stand against the remaining current, he let go of the sword and pulled himself toward his other self. He grabbed the saddle with both hands, allowing his younger self to get a better hold of Guilietta. “Pedang, the saddle. Cut Guil's rope.” Pedang was there in an instant and the older Hansum moved his hand to Guilietta's. He hesitated before he touched them. They were raw and blue. Emotion caught in his chest, but he pushed it down and, as gently as possible, forced his way between her hands and the saddle. The opening created, Pedang slipped under and, without hesitation, cut the bonds. Just like that, Guilietta was free.

The older Hansum now pulled the saddle away and released it into the current. It instantly took off down river, sinking before it got far. Then the two Hansums moved together, each putting their arms under Guilietta, forming a sling and raising her up. They started stepping toward the shore.

“I can transport now,” Sideways said and, instantly, they were on the shore, standing on a patch of soft grass. There was still a roar in the air, but they could already feel the radiant heat from the sun. They put Guilietta gently down on the ground and knelt beside her.

“She not breathing,” the younger Hansum shouted.

“Give her artificial respiration,” Sideways said.

“I don't know how,” the younger one cried.

“I do!” the older Hansum said, that being one of the first classes during general training.

Hansum breathed into Guilietta's mouth and alternatively pumped her chest. As he did, he could hear his younger self cursing him.

“How could you, how could you let this happen? Come on, come on, breathe Guilietta, breathe. Please Cristo, let her breathe,” and, as the older Hansum switched from breathing to pumping, he could see his younger self cross himself.

Finally Guilietta coughed, convulsing as she did, and water came up from her lungs. The older Hansum quickly turned her on her side, and she winced. As she continued to cough up water, both Hansums noticed her dress was torn and a circle of red was forming. She had been speared by one of the broken branches. The younger Hansum gently put his hand there and Guilietta winced again.

Suddenly, Sideways moved away from Hansum, morphing from a tunic into a heavy blanket.

“What the . . .” the younger Hansum cried.

“It's okay,” shouted the older one, the bright scar cross now exposed on his bared chest.

“I'm going to warm her and scan her injuries,” Sideways called, and he lay himself over Guilietta.

The older Hansum watched as the younger one went to Guil's head and tucked the edge of the blanket under her, like a pillow. Then he moved her wet hair from her eyes and spoke soothingly.

“It's all right. I'm here now, sweetheart. I'm here. You're going to be all right.”

The older Hansum had to shake his own head and refocus. He looked down at the blanket and Sideways's face formed.

“She's got internal injuries,” he whispered. “A punctured lung.”

“A punctured lung!” the younger Hansum yelled. “She has to be operated on. Take her back. Take her back with you.” Guilietta coughed again, cringing in pain. More liquid came out from her mouth, but this time it was a frothy pink. “Don't just stand there, do it now!” the young Hansum shouted.

The older Hansum looked at the younger one. “You've got the pendant. You'll go back with her.”

“What?” the younger one said, exasperated.

“You're supposed to take her back. It will make things right.”

Guilietta coughed again. The younger Hansum put his hand to her mouth and his fingers turned bright red.

“I don't care who takes her,” he screamed. “Do it now!”

“Sideways, take them home,” the older Hansum said, and he bent down and put his face close to Guilietta's. “Take them home.”

“Good bye, Master Hansum,” Sideways said. “It was an honor.” Sideways looked over at the younger Hansum. “Sir, you must take hold of me. A vortex will form.”

Both Hansums' faces were close to Guilietta's now.

“Good bye, Guilietta,” the older Hansum said. “I love you,” and he kissed her gently on the temple. Her eyelids fluttered.

“Please step back, Master Hansum,” Sideways said. “The vortex. Come, Pedang.”

“Goodbye, sir,” Pedang said. “I'm sorry that . . .”

“Go,” the older Hansum shouted, and he raised his hand in farewell. He stood there, wet and shirtless, his face showing serene sadness.

“And thus I call the vortex,” Sideways said. A wind came up, lifting leaves and sand off the ground. A circle started, but then it died. “I call the vortex,” Sideways called again, but this time absolutely nothing happened.

“What's going on?” the younger Hansum asked in frustration.

The older Hansum stepped forward.

“It's like the first time Arimus and I tried to save her,” Sideways said. “Guilietta just can't seem to go through a time vortex.”

“What first time?” the younger Hansum shouted. “I don't understand.”

The older Hansum fell to his knees.

“My plan didn't work,” he said. “I've failed again.”

“What first time?” the younger Hansum screamed. “What plan?” and he was up and at his older self. He got down on his knees and grabbed the other Hansum, shaking him. “Tell me what's going on! We've got to save her.”

“I can't,” Hansum moaned pitifully.

“Don't tell me that!” the younger Hansum screamed. “I'll kill . . .”

“Romero,” the weak voice of Guilietta whispered. “Is that you, Romero?”

Instantly, both Hansums were back to Guilietta, one on each side.

“Don't turn her on her back,” Sideways said.

The younger Hansum lay on the ground, looking straight into Guilietta's eyes. The older one hovered above.

“I'm here, Guilietta, I'm here, my love.”

“My . . . husband,” Guilietta whispered painfully. “You came to rescue me.”

“Of course, of course. I would travel across time for you, my darling.”

“You are all right?” she asked.

“I'm fine. Don't worry about me, darling.”

“You're safe. That's good.” She coughed again. More blood.

“We've got to get you home. I'll make a litter. Go find the Podesta . . .” He started to stand, but Guilietta's hand came out and touched his.

“No, stay with me, my husband. Stay with me while I go to Jesus.”

“No, Guilietta, no,” the younger Hansum pleaded, his eyes instantly full of tears. “You can't die. I haven't had enough.”

“Who's to say what's enough?” Guilietta said, trying to smile. “Not those who say it. I am content that yours is the last voice . . .”

“Can't you do something?” the older Hansum said to Sideways.

“I've been trying, sir,” Sideways said.

Guilietta looked up and saw the second Hansum. Her eyes widened and her composure left her. She became terrified. “What?” she gasped. She looked back to the younger Hansum, then back at the older. Fear filled her eyes. “Am I already dead? Am I in Hell? Am I in purgatory? Sweet Jesus, save me,” and she began coughing, spatters of blood spraying on both Hansums. “I'm afraid of Hell!” she wheezed, then began gasping for breath, unable to speak.

“Her lungs are hemorrhaging,” Sideways said.

“Guilietta, Guilietta!” the younger Hansum cried, cradling her in his arms. She looked up at him, her eyes wide with fear, her mouth moving but unable to form words as blood and mucus began to bubble from it. She saw the second Hansum and her face contorted. She closed her eyes, burying her head in the younger Hansum's chest.

“Guilietta,” the older Hansum screamed, but as he came to her he felt his counterpart's hand shoving him away. He fell back to the ground, out of her sight. He stayed there.

“Hush my darling, hush,” the younger Hansum cried. “Hush my darling, hush my . . .” and in a fit of pain her body, trying to breathe, broke free of her husband. It arched up off the ground, even throwing Sideways off. Her face, a bloody mask of pain, hung there frozen. Her heart was pounding, her body screaming for oxygen that her blood-filled lungs couldn't deliver. Her eyes focused on her husband's pleading and helpless face . . . and then . . . and then her gaze went blank. She collapsed to the ground, still. The A.I. cloak slowly rose off the ground and gently wrapped itself around the now-still body and face.

“I'm sorry, Master Hansum,” Sideways said to the younger man.

He was sitting there, his unbelieving eyes in shock. Finally he grimaced and screamed.

“GUILIETTA!”

The older Hansum lay on the ground in a fog of exhaustion, unable to move as the white terror he had worked so hard to master, reclaimed him. The terror swelled up from the depths of his soul, the fear and grief from his first two losses, hidden by his training, raced up like ghosts from the grave and devoured his entire being.

But his countless hours of training
was
still with him. He ground his teeth and forced himself not to succumb to the situation. “Not yet!” His face pale and drained of blood, the older Hansum looked at the young man bent over Guilietta. He saw the dangling pendant around the other's neck, the temporal time protection. He knew that new waves of time were rolling across the cosmos and that they would soon catch up to the 24th-century, changing everything. Any second now, without that device around his neck, he would disappear and the Hansum in front of him would take his place.

That had been the plan, but could he let it happen now? Guilietta had died sooner. No cannons would be made before their time. But without his wife or the experience with the Podesta, perhaps the Hansum he saw in front of him would be so different, when he finally did get back to his century, maybe he wouldn't make the same decisions and come back to save Guilietta. Could he take that chance?

In his grief, the thought crossed his mind that perhaps that would be better. Guilietta was out of pain now. Maybe it was best. But then the older Hansum forced himself to stand, his conditioning to complete his mission coming to the fore. He walked over to his younger self and kneeled, putting a hand on the other's shoulder. The younger Hansum tensed and looked up, tears streaming from his eyes, grief, confusion and anger on his face.

“I made things worse,” the older Hansum said. “I'm sorry.”

Anger took over what was on the younger one's face.

“Who the hell are you?” he growled. “Who the . . .” Pedang levitated beside them both, his eyes moving between the two.

“I'm you,” the older Hansum said quietly. “About a year from now. I . . . I came back to fix things, to save Guil . . . I made them worse.” The younger Hansum's eyes flared. He looked down at the blanket covering Guilietta. The older Hansum reached and took hold of the chain of the time pendant necklace. “I need this, so I can try agai . . .” but before he could finish his sentence, a fist from the younger Hansum smashed into his face, driving him onto his back. The younger Hansum leapt upon him, throwing more punches.