Revealed: Part Four

To read the first part, click HERE.


I knew right away what Mykola wanted to do. When we'd arrived in the time period, the town. It was obvious- he was going to rub everything in with the second person I'd met. It was someone he'd met as well. This was not going to be fun.
"Mykola," I groaned as he gestured for us to follow him. He'd pulled out his pistol once more, a triumphant look on his face. He waved the gun towards the door and we followed him out of the hotel, Dominik tagging along like a loyal dog. "Do we seriously have to do this? Oui! Why do we have to go there? She's just a kid, you don't need to gloat in front of her."
"Not just a kid, Trevor," Mykola retorted. "Do you recall what you gave her?"
"I gave people a lot of things."
"Stop beating around the bush and focus for once, will you? The ambulant, Trevor, the ambulant!"
"I don't remember a specific ambulant..." I snapped my fingers. "Oh, you mean the Inca ambulant! Yeah, I remember now! I gave that to her for her fourteenth birthday, right?"
Mykola rolled his eyes. "For a genius, Trevor, you can be so stupid. But yes, that's the one I'm talking about. I figured it would be fun to pay her a visit, don't you think?"
"Who's he talking about?" Marin murmured under her breath, coming to walk next to me. I noted that the man Mykola claimed was her brother was walking next to her closely, and a twinge of fear worked its way through me. What if Dominik wants to bring Marin back with him to his time period? He was her brother, after all. Maybe he thought I had no business in caring for her and that I couldn't do it on my own.
Well, it was kinda true. I did have a hard time keeping up with everything that went on. He'd witnessed that on more than one occasion, if he was the same man who'd been following us through all those time periods. Yeah...
"He's talking about a mutual friend of ours," I explained, turning to Marin. "I took Mykola here on our first test to figure out if 4T could transport two people at a time."
"Who's your friend, then?" Marin asked.
"A certain Audrey Ripply." Mykola grinned. "She's about your age, Elizaveta. I'm curious why Trevor never introduced you to her."
I glared at him. "Because I couldn't mess up her life anymore than I had. I encouraged her involvement with the Underground Railroad. It's my fault that she gets injured later on in the Civil War. She almost died. I couldn't bring myself to face her after that. The poor kid was doing what I'd said she should."
"You're in luck," Mykola informed me. We'd been walking through the small town for quite some time, ignoring the strange looks we received from the townsfolk. It was with little wonder- we did look like a bunch of weirdos, what with me in my crazy lab coat, Mykola in his suit and overcoat, Dominik wearing a Soviet uniform and Marin in a normal looking dress. In fact Marin was the only normal looking one among us, attributing to the strangeness of the situation. "I've programmed my TTGS to sync with your 4T and transport us to 1963." Mykola's grin grew wider. "So you haven't come here and told her she should join the Underground Railroad and help save the slaves."
I stopped in my tracks. "Wait. 1963? Doesn't that mean..."
"You're about to come and tell her she should join the Underground Railroad and help save the slaves." Mykola laughed.
I groaned and did a face-palm. "So this is all about rubbing it in and making me feel horrible?"
"As a start. I also need that ambulant."
Marin muttered something under her breath in Czech, to which Mykola turned around and replied, "Now is that any way to talk about someone older than you, Elizaveta?"
Marin narrowed her eyes at him. "I prefer Marin, Mr. Mykola."
He shrugged. "I only thought you might prefer being called by your real name."
"I like the name Trevor gave me much more."
I gave her a grateful smile, hoping Dominik would notice what she'd said. He didn't look like he'd been paying attention.
"We're here." Mykola stopped at the last house on the edge of town, where several chickens were scratching in the front yard. A little dog yipped from the backyard, and I could hear children laughing. "You go and knock on the gate, Trevor. I'm pretty sure that's where our friend Audrey will be." He made it clear I was to do what he said by a wave of his gun.
I moaned. "Audrey, forgive me for this," I muttered between gritted teeth. I stomped towards the gate and gave a sharp rap, mentally imagining myself arriving here before Mykola and hiding the ambulant from him. Future self, if you ever get out of this situation, make sure you get here before Mykola and one up him.
The gate swung open, and before I knew what was happening Audrey leapt out and gave me a hug. "Mr. Trekker!" she squealed. "I haven't seen you in several months!"
"Hi Audrey," I greeted, having to smile a little at her enthusiasm. "Has it only been a couple of months? I haven't been here in four years."
She stopped and stared at me, her brown eyes growing wide. "Really? Why not?"
"Long story," I murmured under my breath as Mykola approached, Dominik and Marin trailing behind.
"Hello Audrey." Mykola smiled. "How are you doing?"
Audrey frowned. Why I had never noticed how she glanced at Mykola nervously, I didn't know. But I noted for the first time she didn't seem to like him too much. "Just fine, Mr. Shapoval." She caught sight of Marin and Dominik. "Who are they?"
"Audrey," I rushed before Mykola managed to say something snarky, "I want you to meet my adopted daughter, Marin Maklakov."
Marin did her best to give a polite smile and not seem afraid. "It's nice to meet you, Audrey."
"And that's her brother, Dominik," I finished, waving towards the young Soviet soldier.
"Oh, nice to meet you both. I didn't know you had a daughter, Trevor!"
"She's a new addition," Mykola cut in. "But that's not why we're here, Audrey."
"That's why I'm here," I muttered under my breath. "But not why he's here."
Audrey looked from Mykola to me, her eyes betraying her nervousness. "What do you want, Mr. Shapoval?"
Mykola stepped forward and withdrew the gun from his pocket, aiming it at Trevor. "I'm going to be needing that ambulant Trevor gave to you on our last visit."
Her eyes widened. She stepped back. "I knew you were someone that couldn't be trusted," she hissed. "You had a look in your eye I didn't like from the beginning."
"Enough chit-chat, I want to know where it is," Mykola growled.
She glared at him. "Well I'm sorry, but I don't have it anymore."
Dead silence. Marin shot a look at me, knowing how I operated well enough to send me a question look. Did you really...? she mouthed.
Could it be? I wondered. Was it possible that my Future Self did get out of this situation-
"Where is it?" Mykola snapped.
"I gave it to Mr. Trekker," she replied defiantly. "Last week. He told me something was up and that he needed to hide it from you before you got it." She looked over at me. "I hope I did a good enough acting job. Did I seem surprised?"
Mykola flew into a fit of curses in Ukrainian, kicking the dirt and searing his head off.
I turned to Audrey and whispered, "Yeah, I think you did a good job."