Car Versus Car

Maitho was worried about the calm. In his life, it was usually a precedent for a destructive storm. It did not help that inside the car, the atmosphere was borderline relaxed. He guessed that it could be his adrenaline slowly finishing its job, leaving him with mild exhaustion. Yet he couldn't allow himself to become lethargic. At least, not yet.

But the silence that permeated the car gave him nothing to focus on.

Thankfully, Quinn came to the rescue. "Are you in trouble, dear Maitho?"

It was an interesting question and one that made Maitho ponder for a few seconds. "Trouble, I can handle. I don't know what this is and that unknown part is concerning."

"Our world is filled with the unknown. Even the gods who know too much don't know enough. You just have to look at the unknown and look for something known."

"I thought staring into the abyss means that something usually stares back at you."

"I'm not talking about looking into the unknown, dear. I'm talking about looking at it. How are you going to solve a problem you cannot understand?"

That was a fair point and one that Maitho could not argue against. Before he could delve into his thoughts and become submerged in its claustrophobic collection of questions, Quinn saved him again.

"Is it Jonathan Cray?" said Quinn.

"For now. He's a pharmaceutical giant and a defense contractor. These guys have an army big enough to occupy a small country. Who knows what other threats we are going to face in the future?"

"Strange that he didn't have any army at his house."

"That's what worries me as well," said Maitho.

"What if he's not that powerful anymore?" said Bevan, who seemed to have finally decided to join in the conversation. Perhaps he didn't want to remain silent, despite being chastised by Brigid earlier.

"He's got his own island. He has properties in places you might need to sell at least a hundred kidneys to own a square foot of land. There's no way a man like that is not powerful."

"Maybe money isn't the only requirement for power," said Bevan, shrugging his shoulders to show that he wasn't entirely confident about the truth of his words.

"But money is the biggest magnet of power," said Quinn. "He who has wealth does not need to have strength. He can buy it."

"I'm just concerned about the fact that two different missions had the same victim," said Brigid, her voice distant, as though she was also thinking. For whatever reason she seemed to participate in the conversation. Perhaps she might have figured out that it was better to join hands for the moment. "Why did Maitho have to save the same person we did?"

"I've been thinking about that," said Maitho. "And it seems someone must have hijacked the system."

"What do you mean hijack?" said Bevan. "And what do you also mean by system?"

"Think about it." Maitho allowed a pause to follow as he collected his thoughts. "We get to know about the person we are supposed to save at the beginning of our time loop." He looked into the rearview mirror and caught Brigid's eye. "I heard from Bevan that you get three months to save people."

Brigid nodded, but then looked at Bevan, who suddenly seemed busy with the sights outside the window. "That is correct."

"There are two ways we know about the future victims. The next victims are all chosen randomly. If that is true, then Jonathan Cray has found a way to force the system to skip the randomness and pick him." Maitho placed his elbow on the window sill and gently began pinching his lower lip as his thoughts ran a mile a second. "The other option is that everything is not random. The victims we are supposed to save are predetermined. That would mean that Jonathan Cray has access to that predetermined list." He took a deep breath before continuing. "Either way, and this is all just speculation so take it with more than a grain of salt, but it seems that Cray is not just powerful. He might be somehow connected."

"Easy there Maitho," said Quinn, a note of concern in his voice. "You're basically suggesting that Jonathan Cray has a friend among the Gods or the Guardians. Or both."

"As I said, it's just speculation. A frightening one, but a speculation nonetheless."

The silence that followed was heavy with deep ponderings, at least from Maitho's side. When he looked in the rearview mirror, he noticed the frown on Brigid's face and the lost gaze of Epona as she looked outside the car. What he said might have gotten them thinking as well.

Quinn interrupted yet again, but this time with a note of alarm in his voice. "Someone's following us."

The effect was instant. Maitho sat up straight in his seat. He heard movement around him, letting him know that the others were alert too.

"That's not possible," said Brigid, looking out the rearview window. "I made sure no one was tailing us. How sloppy were you Maitho?"

No response was offered. Maitho let the jab pass. He looked into the side-view mirror, checking to see if he recognized any of the vehicles behind them.

"It's not his fault," said Quinn. "I didn't notice this car back at the cafe. I think we must have picked it up somewhere along the way. I'm going to catch the next exit."

"Bit that would mean we tak' th' long wey back tae oor base," said Epona.

"Exactly. Because we are not leading them to our base. We will take care of this problem now."

Quinn deftly navigated between vehicles while maintaining his current speed. He obviously did not want their pursuers to know that he had discovered them. Without making sudden maneuvers, he took a turn into a two lane road.

A few seconds later, another car entered the street behind them. Maitho watched in the rearview mirror as a figure leaned out of the passenger side window.

A faint pop sound was heard, followed a split-second later by a loud ping from the driver's side door.

"Now that hurt," said Quinn, raising his voice in surprise.

"That wis a gunshot," said Epona.

Brigid instantly took out her revolver, holding the weapon in both hands.

"Are you okay Quinn?" said Maitho, placing his hand on the dashboard.

"I'll be fine dear Maitho. That one will barely even leave a scratch."

There was another pop sound. A bullet struck the rear window, creating a crack that looked like an intricate spider web. Maitho watched in wonder as the crack began to shrink. It was as though time was going backwards. The bullet was ejected out with force and the resulting hole was quickly covered up. Within just a few seconds, the crack had disappeared and the rearview window looked as good as new. It was as though Quinn had healed himself.

"That wasn't nice," said Quinn, anger now flooding his voice.

A barrage of gunfire erupted. Some of the bullets struck Quinn's body. Others struck the windows, the cracks instantly undoing themselves and tossing the bullets outward.

"Alright this is getting annoying," said Quinn and switched off his headlamps. "Seatbelts please, everyone."

No one said a word in protest. Maitho pulled the strap and plugged the tongue into the buckle. He heard three more clicks, confirming that the others had followed Quinn's request.

Immediately, Quinn spun around. It was a magnificent display of car maneuvering and one that might not have been possible if it wasn't for the fact that the car was blessed with godlike magic. It was almost as though Quinn swiveled on an invisible axis, all the while not losing any speed. Maitho didn't even hear the noise of tires scraping against asphalt.

Eventually, Quinn was facing the other vehicle while moving in reverse.

Two more gunshots created two cracks on the front windshield. The damage instantly dematerialized.

"My turn," said Quinn.

The headlamps turned back on suddenly, the brightness so intense that it made Maitho instintictly close his eyes and turn to his side. He was fortunate he was inside the car and looking against the light. He wondered what it might be for someone directly looking into the light.

He discovered his answer a quick moment later.

He heard a screech, followed by a loud bang of metal and glass crashing against other metal and glass.

When Maitho opened his eyes, the headlamps had returned to a bearable luminosity. Through the front windshield, he spotted the other car. It had swerved off the road and crashed into an SUV parked on the side of the street.

Once again, Quinn performed his smooth rotating movement to return to his original position. He was now driving straight.

"You're an absolute marvel Quinn," said Maitho, grinning from ear to ear.

"Why thank you," said Quinn, humor lacing his speech. "You sure know how to charm a car."

"A'm ginnae murdurr Jonathan Cray whin ah git th' chance," said Epona, her teeth bared and her fists clenched.

"We might have to wait for a while to get that chance," said Maitho. "If that was part of Cray's plans, then it seems like he is finally making use of his army."

"It's a good thing he didn't know about Wave Sweeper," said Bevan, patting the steering wheel with affection. "I mean, Quinn."

"No time to discuss," said the car, his voice sending chills down Maitho's spine. "There's two more vehicles on our tail."