The ELI Event B007R5LTNS

Event. Sure, no worries, piece of cake. Smoke me a kipper, I’ll be back for breakfast.”
    Arty’s cheery demeanor suddenly vanished. He closed his eyes for a moment, breathed slowly and deeply. Denes and Aurora looked at each other nervously, then back at Arty. At long last he blinked and looked at them squarely.
    “Well, hell,” he said matter-of-factly. “I’m sick and tired of being a janitor anyway. If this works, you win and I win—and nine million innocent people don’t die. It’s worth a shot.” He stood and with mock bravado stuffed the useless revolver into the waistband of his coveralls. “I’m in. Where do we start?”
    “Let us not get ahead of ourselves,” Denes said. “Our group has done extensive research on the Eli Event. There is a great deal more to explain to you about the various principals involved, their situations, and their actions. I’m afraid there is much you must know before being relocated to 2015.” Denes produced from his shoulder bag a third callback unit and placed it carefully on the desk. “But I think you should begin by learning how to use this.”
    “Oh, crap,” Arty said.

Fourteen
    Sazar set the Federal Police cruiser down on its pad and watched his troopers as they landed. He joined the small group and pulled off his helmet and gloves. “Results,” he demanded.
    Corporal Kuvak answered for the team. “Negative, sir. No visual, thermal, or radar trace in any of our search quadrants.”
    Sazar nodded. “Nor in mine, as I expected. Certainly these dissidents are smart enough to hide their laboratory underground and shield it from standard probing methods, but we had to check. Corporal.”
    “Sir.” Kuvak snapped to attention.
    “The squad is to remain on twenty-four hour alert with a three minute assembly to the cruiser pads. Understood?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Very well. Dismissed.”
    He entered the headquarters building and took the turbolift down to the surveillance center. He stepped into the huge, bustling room, hoping that Jalin would not be running the scanner console. She was.
    “Oh, look,” she said sarcastically to no one in particular, “it’s soon-to-be ex-Squad Leader Sazar.”
    “Hello, Jalin. I’m sorry we haven’t had a chance to speak since—”
    “Since you got my fiancé killed?” she sneered.
    “Valik was also my partner. I regret his death.”
    “Yeah, well, I regret it wasn’t you. What the hell do you want?”
    “Jalin,” he began gently, but her glare told him she was beyond solace. He decided to stick to business. “We have been unable to locate the remaining scientists through conventional search methods. But we know they’re engaged in illicit upstream travel. If they have used a relocator to escape to another time, perhaps we can pinpoint their lab by scanning for local temporal disturbances.”
    “And you want me to help you. Well, you can piss off, Sazar,” she said loudly. Several of the other techs were already watching them.
    “You are the current scan technician, are you not?”
    She ignored the question and stood to face him. “You’ve got a lot of nerve to ask for my help when you’re the reason Valik is dead!”
    “I am under direct orders from the Vice Governor,” Sazar said quietly. “Do not push me.”
    “Screw your orders!” Jalin shouted. The whole room was watching them now.
    “That’s exactly what Valik did, and it cost him his life.”
    “ You cost him his life, you bastard!” She raised her hand to lash out at him, but he had her arm in an instant. “How dare you! What do you think you’re doing?”
    He pulled her face close to his, nearly lifting her from the floor. “My job,” he snarled. “And if you don’t do yours—right now—I’ll have you removed from your position and arrested.” He released her with a push, and she stumbled back into the console.
    Jalin’s eyes blazed. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
    “No,” he replied truthfully, “I would not. But I will do it if necessary. Your choice.”
    They glared at each other in silence. Finally she straightened her tunic, retrieved her chair, and sat at the console.
    Sazar looked up at the dozen or so faces and stared them down. One by one, the technicians looked away and resumed their duties.
    “Thank you,” he said to Jalin. “Now please perform a scan of the area outside the security shield. Look for any temporal anomaly, any disturbance that might indicate an active relocator unit.”
    She