The Irregulars

Chapter 6

"Alec?" Benny said, looking at his chest in bewilderment.

He did not speak again, but instead slumped backwards and would have fallen to the floor if Alec had not been there to catch him. He held his friend and could feel the life ebbing away from him. Alec looked up at the three Germans, his eyes blazing. The pistol in Gunnar's hand was still smoking and the perpetual sneer he wore had widened into a grin of satisfaction.

"Filthy swine," he hissed.

Kruger sprang up, his face reddening with anger.

"Nein, you idiot! I needed them all alive."

The report of Gunnar's pistol had been muffled enough that the noise of the cabaret had obscured it. However, Kruger's outburst, coupled with the sight of Benny, lifeless and staring at the ceiling while bleeding out in Alec's arms, began to draw attention. A woman seated next to them screamed in horror.

Everything suddenly happened very fast. The woman's scream created a ripple effect in the cabaret and soon every head was turning to see what the commotion was. Once they saw the Nazi with the smoking Luger and the dead man on the floor, panic ensued and the room was filled with screaming and hysterical people making their way to the exits.

Alec, furious over Benny's death, stood up and clapped his hands together, releasing a furious blast of energy that sent Gunnar flying backwards about twenty feet, slamming against a far wall and dropping to the floor, inert. Kruger seemed thrilled by the display and, as Alec turned to face him, the German's face carried an expression of expectancy and eagerness.

"Yes," he said. "Show me, boy."

"Take my hand!"

Alec was only vaguely aware that it was Karl's voice in his ears. The anger in his head was like white noise, but Karl's insistent pleading managed to cut through it.

"Alec!" he said. "Foxy! Take my hand! Now!"

Alec looked down and saw that Karl was on the floor, cradling Benny's body in one arm while holding out his other hand for Alec to grasp. Quickly, Alec and Foxy reached out and each took one of Karl's hands. When Alec's hand made contact with Karl's, he immediately felt a strange sensation. He remembered being five years old and accidentally sticking his finger in a light socket. The sensation was eerily similar and unpleasant. He wanted to let go of Karl's hand, but found that he could not. Their grip was now locked together inextricably. Just then, the room began to spin around them. To Alec, the view was like being on a carousel, only he wasn't moving. Neither, for that matter, were Karl or Benny. Everything else around them swirled like oily colors interacting with water while they remained practically motionless, almost as though they were inside a bubble. Karl's face wore the expression of someone pushing themselves to near, if not beyond, their limits. His eyes were shut tight, his teeth clenched. Alec couldn't tell if the grimace was from exertion or agony. Maybe both.

Before he could contemplate any of this further, the room jolted to a halt so suddenly that Alec physically felt it, like being in a car where the brakes have been forcefully, and unexpectedly applied. He snapped forward, almost losing his balance, and when he snapped back, he was no longer standing and no longer clutching Karl's hand. He was sitting at the table again. The show was once again taking place on stage and the Germans were nowhere to be found. More importantly, Benny was seated next to him, and he was alive!

"Benny!" Alec said. "What happened?"

"I'm..." said Benny, his face green and bewildered. "I'm not sure."

"Goodnight ladies. This is where we part company."

Alec looked up and saw Eddie standing over them, once again with the two French girls on his arm.

"Myself, Mathilde and..."

"Heloise," said Alec.

"Yeah, I suppose you're right," said Eddie. "How did you...?"

Karl tugged at Alec's sleeve.

"We must go," he said. "Now."

"Yeah," said Benny. "Good suggestion."

"Enjoy the Folies Bergere," said Alec to Eddie.

"Will do, mate," Eddie said. "Wait...how...?"

"Let's go," said Karl, even more urgently, and the three of them ducked out of the cabaret into an alleyway.

Once outside, the adrenaline left both Alec and Benny at the same time and they leaned against the wall, trying to gather themselves.

"Care to tell me what just happened there?" Benny asked.

"I know what happened," said Alec, turning to Karl. "You're a chronomancer."

Karl nodded silently.

"A chronomancer?" said Benny. "You mean you can travel through time?"

"Not exactly," said Karl. "It helps if you think of time as a river. I have the ability to...change its direction."

"Right now the only direction I'm concerned about is towards home," said Benny. "Even if Herr Doom and his goosesteppers don't know about us, I'd still rather be gone before they make the scene a second time."

"Agreed," said Karl, and the three of them began to sidle their way through the darkened streets back to the underground. As they walked, Benny spoke up again.

"One thing that's bugging me," said Benny. "If you can change the course of time, why don't you just go back about ten years and stop all this nonsense from happening in the first place? You know, off the Fuhrer when he's still in art school or something?"

"It's not that simple," said Karl. "Time is a living thing. In order to alter it, you have to bargain with it. And it always asks for something in return."

To illustrate his point, Karl pointed to his temples. Benny and Alec both saw that, where once the hair had been a sandy blond color, it was now streaked with thin grey lines.

"So the farther back you go..." said Benny.

"The older I get," Karl said. "Time travel takes a toll, and the greater the exertion, the greater that toll can be. If I were to travel back to before Hitler rose to power, I would most likely be dead before I could even act on my intentions."

"Huh," Benny mused. "Kind of a bummer of a power, wouldn't you say?"

"I didn't hear you complaining when I used it to save your life."

Benny laughed and nodded.

"Fair enough," he said. "And thanks for that, by the way."

He put out his hand and he and Karl shook firmly.

"Could be that I was wrong about you," he said with a grin.

"Could be?"

"Well, you did alright for tonight," said Benny. "I'll give you that."

"That's very big of you," said Karl, the sarcasm in his voice unmistakable.

"Alright, alright," said Benny. "Look, I'm not too good with all the lovey dovey stuff, OK? Let's just say, I appreciate it and, uh, I owe you one, pal."

Karl nodded. "Let us hope the day never comes where I have to collect that debt."

The three of them continued on, working their way along shadowy, winding streets. Benny and Karl seemed at ease, the events of the evening receding in their memory. Alec, however, felt troubled. He kept hearing Kruger's words in the back of his mind. "Show me boy." What was it he had wanted to see? He tried to push the thoughts away, but every time he tried, Kruger's face rose again in his mind. A skeletal moon over a dark and barren landscape.