The Unknown: Part Two

            *In the future, far, far away from Hawaii. Far away from Trevor and Marin, and far enough in the future that they’re unaware of what is taking place*

            To everyone, he was known only as the boss, or the Major. He had no first name, he had no last. In fact no one really knew what his name was, other than the Major. For the forty-five years he’d been serving to where he was now, there was only one name he’d been known by when he was promoted. The Major. His real name had been lost years ago, to the point that he wouldn’t realize someone had said his name when he heard it. No one knew it anymore, he was the Major.

            That is, he was the Major to everyone but a certain time traveler who had a bad habit of sticking his nose where it didn’t belong. That man was the only one who knew his real name-and what he’d done.

            The Major sat at his desk and stared at his laptop. Enter Password, the message flashed, awaiting his secret code to get into the database. 

He merely fixed his eyes on the screen, his mind wandering elsewhere. Where is that dratted Trevor? Why can’t I smoke him out? The Major was used to having his way, he knew all the tactics to track someone down and find them. That’s why he’d been promoted at the young age of twenty-four, not two years since he’d joined the service. He could find anyone anywhere, his sharp mind could think like any criminal or lawbreaker. Trevor, on the other hand, was a different case. The Major couldn’t tap into his pattern or his logic, he couldn’t get his mind wrapped around what Trevor would do next. It was maddening, the search had been on for two weeks and not a single clue had been turned up. Where are you, Trevor? What am I not seeing?

            If there was one thing he knew, everyone leaves a trail. There is always a trail, no matter how cold or hard it is, it exists. Unlike the rest of the threats he’d tracked down for his country, Trevor’s trail was unique and well hidden. He knew it was there, he just had to figure out how to find it.

            Enter Password flashed again, jolting the Major out of his thoughts and back to reality. He leaned forward and tapped in the requested piece of information, then watched as the screen changed to the homepage of the division he belonged to. His sharp eyes instantly caught the tiny button on the right hand side of the screen, he had an email.

            Without much enthusiasm he clicked the icon and waited for the message to pop up. You maniac, how come you can hide from me? Why can’t I track you down? It didn’t help that his quarry was a time traveler-that alone made him a shadow that could pop up in any given time period. Still, you’d think there would be some documentation that would give him a clue as to where he’d gone. Something.

            The email loaded and the Major scanned the page. Regarding your request for more information on Project Thirty-six, we have turned up no new leads on Mr. Trevor Trekker… trash. It was nothing. Nothing. Another dead lead .

            “You trouble maker,” he growled under his breath, closing his inbox. “You fiend. I’ll bet you don’t even know I’m tracking you down, and yet you are able to perfectly conceal any trace of you. How do you do it?”

            He knew he wasn’t going to get any response, he had to find the answers on his own. If his men couldn’t turn up a lead it was time for him to get into the field. He had to find Trevor. He had to know where that time traveler was.

            If I was him where would I hide? He tried to reason. The Major had gone down this track many times before and each time had ended up at the same simple answer. Somewhere that hasn’t been discovered.

            “Doesn’t help much,” he muttered, then stood up and sighed. He’d run through a list of aliases they believed Trevor used. They’d checked on the story of Elizaveta Maklakov, but that didn’t bring them anywhere as far as Trevor’s case went. Her documentation that the Nazis had kept simply stated disappeared in bold letters, blaming it on the resistance for getting her out of Czechoslovakia.

            There was a trail. There was a trail that he couldn’t see and he had to find. If Trevor realized the information he possessed…

            His career would be over. He’d be jailed for life, probably put on death row. The Major couldn’t allow that to happen. It was the reason he’d worked so hard to convince the President Trevor was a danger to the American people. Why he’d insisted that the Scottish time trekker was meddling with historical events that could change the course of history, alter the outcome of wars and the constitution. If Trevor let anyone know about the information he’d obtained, it was goodbye Major and a good chunk of the CIA. Which reminded him, his boss was waiting for his response. He stared at his desk phone and bit his lower lip. This was a call he didn't want to make.

            The Major always liked to pretend he was the top of the pecking order. His men believed it, they couldn’t imagine anyone more menacing or harsh then himself. They didn’t realize he also had someone to report to, a man much more obscene and intimidating them he. A man who could easily dispose of the Major and get away with it, simply by a sentence or two.

            He had more power and influence then anyone could imagine, and he held that above the Major’s head. “If you get out of line, Major,” he’d say, a cutlass in hand as he twirled the weapon around, “you can be sure that some very important people will hear about the deed you’ve done to Harriet.”

            And of course that deed just happened to be in writing and in the possession of the carefree Scotsman, who had no idea he even had the evidence. Stupid man, the Major growled as he sat back down in his seat, how do you do it? How can you lead such a life where you’re so oblivious to everything around you and who might be lurking in the shadows, just waiting to stab you in the back? In a way he envied the man, he trusted that no one would harm him and if they tried he could escape. A life of freedom. Freedom the Major would never know or experience. His past wouldn’t allow it.

            The Major picked up the phone and punched a number in, then waited for the secretary to pick up. You could count on her answering, the man never answered any phone calls on his own. It would give the Major some time to think up what he was going to say.

            “Ah, Major, I’ve been waiting for your call.” The Major jolted and gulped down a yelp. Leave it to him to do the unexpected.

            “Yes, hello sir.”

            “How is it there in D.C? I hear you’ve had some good summer thunderstorms.”

            Why are we talking about the weather? Why doesn’t he get to the point? He answered anyways. “Fine, sir. Yes, we’ve had a couple of electrical storms, nothing to severe.”

            “I do love a good thunderstorm, I enjoyed them when I came stateside last August.”

            “Yes sir, nothing beats them.”

            “So, Major,” the tone of his boss had an edge of superiority, like he was rubbing it in that he could control the Major without having to outrank him. “How goes the search for the Scotsman time traveler? I’m impressed the CIA hasn’t leaked anything out about it, you know how eager the press would be to get a scoop on such a case.”

            The threat did not fall on deaf ears, the Major knew what he was implying to. “I have turned up no new leads, sir,” he admitted. “Though I have been doing my best.”

            There was a pause, then a slow chuckle. “I know. You’re not one to take this job lightly, I’m sure you’ve been turning up every stone and log you’ve come across in hopes of finding the man. I’d hate to hear what would happen to you if Trekker were to expose your past. I imagine it wouldn’t be very pretty.”

            “No, sir.”

            “Well I have news for you. I happened across an interesting article that you might want to check out. Look it up on the internet. Just type in Woody Guthrie Grand Coulee Dam, you might find some historical documents that would aid you in your search.”

            The Major put the phone on speaker and furiously typed in the words. He clicked Wikipedia and scrolled down the article, his eyes growing wide as he caught sight of a picture with the famed folk singer from the thirties. And it just so happened a man in a trench coat stood in the back, while an eleven-year-old girl sat in a seat near him. The picture was a bit blurred and hard to see, but even though they were wearing outfits to blend in the Major recognized them. Trevor and Marin.

            “I want you to find this time traveler as much as you do, Major. Now that you have a lead, I expect you to find a way to lure Trekker into the future and nab him and that little girl he’s adopted. But don’t harm them, no, don’t lay a finger on them.” He laughed again, then continued, “Take what you want from the man when you find him, but leave him to me. I’ve got a little surprise for our dear Scottish friend and his Czech sidekick.”

            Whatever his surprise was, the Major knew it wouldn’t be pleasant.

            Part three to come next month at the end of June!