Chapter 15: CHAPTER 13

Jake had almost reached the advisor’s rooms. While there were a few more checkpoints, no one else stopped him. As Jake crossed the final checkpoint, nodding to the guards, he turned towards the entrance to the advisors' chambers and knocked three times as he was told to do.

“Who is it?” a gruff voice asked as they opened the door. A head poked out. “Oh, it’s you. What do you want?”

 Jake gestured to the basket in his hand. “Here to get the laundry.”

 “Wait a second.” was the reply he received. The man who opened the door looked back inside and asked, “It’s one of the servants, Dr. Conners. He’s here to get the laundry.”

He must have received the positive answer because he looked back toward Jake and gestured for him to come inside. 

As Jake entered the room, he found himself observing the man who opened the door. He was a soldier, that was clear. If his uniform hadn’t given him away, his posture and his aura were definitely dead giveaways. 

He was wearing an advanced version of what Jake had seen Russian soldiers in their time wear. His hair was cut short. His face was covered in scars and his eyes promised a life of pain to anyone who came in his way. Considering that he looked like a veteran fighter, the thought of fighting him terrified Jake. but he had to. Their plan relied on Jake not just fighting, but also killing the veteran. He just hoped that there was no one in the room other than this soldier and the scientist. Sure, Jake had trained in hand-to-hand combat and knife fighting for months but even with his considerable skill, he wasn’t sure he could take this guy, let alone another one like him.

Jake turned his gaze away from the veteran and looked around the room. This was the room that acted as either a sitting room or a meeting room. It was decorated with light colors and there were two windows covered with dark curtains. There was an arrangement of chairs and sofas, capable of seating at least eight people. The wall had some beautiful paintings that Jake realized were of Czar and his family. There were a couple of doors on either side of the room which from the maps he had studied Jake knew were the bedrooms.

The soldier behind him cleared his throat. And taking that as an order to get to work, Jake got started.

In the lieu of collecting the laundry, he searched the room for any weapons and then entered one of the two attached rooms. 

The attached room looked like a mix of barracks and the royal rooms he had seen in the images. The room was well decorated with a marble fireplace, a chandelier on the roof, and four-poster beds. Except, there were 3 single beds in the room and they had an aggressive feel to them. While the beds themselves were made of polished wood, there was no mark on anyone ever sleeping on them. Same with the room. The room was immaculate, but at a glance, no one could tell you that three people were living in that room. 

Jake could immediately tell that this wasn’t Dr. Conners’ room. Even if he stayed with his men, which was improbable, he just couldn’t maintain that unlived look. Only a person who had spent time in the military and lived in barracks could ever live like this.

Still, he entered the room and did a sweep to see if there were any weapons. Satisfied with this room, he exited only to proceed to the next room under the watchful eye of the veteran.

As soon as Jake entered the room, he could immediately tell that this was the right one. Even if there wasn’t the man sitting at the dining table resembling the image of Dr. Conners that he had seen during his research, just the room itself was shouting that something out of ordinary is happening.

While the room was similar to the other one in design, there was only one four-poster large bed in the center of the room. The room itself was messy. And not the clothes lying around and cutlery still on the table messy, but rather maps spread on the dining table and hanging on the wall kind. There were locations marked on the map and on a closer look Jake noticed that it was France, Britain, and Germany. Before he could think about what it meant, he was interrupted.

“Uh, uh,” he heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. Jake turned to see the man, Dr. Conners was staring at him with one eyebrow raised. “Can I help you?” he asked Jake.

Jake looked down and apologized. “Sorry, Sire. I’m here to collect the laundry.”

Dr. Conners simply nodded and gestured for him to do his work. Jake entered deeper into the room and started collecting the clothes lying around, all the while looking around for weapons. He chanced a glance toward Dr. Conners to find the old man looking at him strangely while stroking his salt-and-pepper beard. The way he looked made Jake nervous as if he knew something Jake didn’t. And given the fact that Jake was here to kill him, that was a dangerous notion. 

After collecting the clothes all over the room, Jake bowed to Dr. Conners and exited the room, closing the door. 

‘This is it,’ Jake thought. ‘All the preparations, and it all leads to this moment.’

The soldier was looking at him expectantly.

“Sire, would you mind if I ask you something?” Jake asked him in a meek voice, slowly walking towards him.

“What?” the soldier growled at him.

“You’re the talk of the palace,” Jake replied. “There are stories about your group leaving Russia years ago and coming back with a secret weapon.”

“Oh?” the soldier asked in amusement, relaxed. “What other stories are there?”

And so Jake kept telling him one outlandish theory after another, all the while taking out his knife and holding it under the laundry basket.

As Jake reached the soldier, his body tensed to strike. At once, Jake hurled the laundry basket at him and used the distraction to close the distance. Jake thrust out with his dagger, going for the jugular. 

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“Wha-” his target blinked as he fumbled to catch the basket while dodging the blade. 

The strike was simply a bluff, and Jake shifted the angle of attack mid-swing.

The soldier used the basket to intercept the knife and caught the edge between the gaps. With a savage twist, the knife tore free from Jake’s hand and clattered to the ground. 

Jake cursed and fanned his stinging hand as the soldier tossed the basket aside while Jake dove for the dagger. He rolled past the soldier and came up in a crouch a few feet away, the knife now pointing at the soldier’s face.

The soldier looked like a veteran but he had hoped that he was relaxed enough to fall for a surprise attack.

“What the hell? Who the fuck are you?” the man asked Jake in an angry tone. Jake remained silent and raised his hands for a fight, the knife pointed toward the soldier. 

The soldier glared hard at him. “Very well. It doesn’t matter. I have ways to make you talk.”

Jake was glad the man wasn’t trying to kill him. ‘No, he wants to capture me and torture me to make talk.’ he thought.

The soldier advanced toward Jake confidently, his arms loosely hanging to his sides. He looked like he was underestimating him. ‘His loss,’ Jake thought.

Just as he reached him, the soldier threw a quick jab at his face. Jake stepped back, trying to study his pattern. The soldier kept moving forward all the while throwing punches at his face. Jake dodged most of them but I few did graze his shoulder. 

Finally, Jake was confident that he understood how the soldier fought. He took a few jabs on his forearm and when the soldier threw a hook, Jake stepped under his guard and punched him hard in the kidney. 

The soldier wheezed and bent forward to reduce the blow. Jake pushed his advantage and kneed him straight in the face. As the soldier’s face flew back up in a daze, Jake quickly moved behind him and grabbed him in a chokehold. 

The soldier threw back his head, headbutting Jake straight in the nose. Jake’s grip loosened as he felt his nose bleed. The soldier quickly took advantage of Jake’s dizziness. He turned around and sent a right hook straight at his face. 

Jake had recovered enough to see the attack coming toward him but couldn’t completely dodge the soldier’s fist as it hit his jaw. 

Jake reeled back, again creating some space. He could see the soldier’s eyes burn with anger. The man quickly moved towards him, balling his fists. Jake responded in kind. As they reached each other they started exchanging blows.

The soldier jabbed at Jake, who dodged straight into a right hook. Jake responded with an uppercut. And so they went back and forth until Jake hooked his leg under the soldier’s and twisted, bringing him straight to the ground.

The man fell on his back, his head banging on the ground. Jake pushed his advantage and tried to kick the man in his head, ending the fight. The soldier grabbed his feet and twisted the ankle, bringing Jake down with him.

While Jake was disoriented, the soldier climbed on top of him and started raining down punches. Jake raised his arms to cover his face. And for the first time since Jake got his second chance, he was afraid. He was afraid of dying a meaningless death. He was afraid of letting down Liam. He was afraid for the fate of the world if his mission failed. Most of all, he was afraid of leaving Zoe alone. The only ones they had were each other. Sure, Liam was there too, but the old man wasn’t able to connect with them. His days of protecting the timeline were long gone. And no matter how much he wished, he wouldn’t be able to go with Zoe on missions. And the thought of her going on these missions alone, without Jake to watch her back, chilled him to the bone. 

As Jake gathered his thoughts, his fear turned into red-hot rage. 

“Argh!” Jake screamed loudly, and with the power he didn’t know he had, he hooked his legs with the soldier’s and twisted. As he rained down blow after blow, straight on the soldier’s face, he lost himself to his rage. 

Jake didn’t know how long he was out of control but when he finally came back to his senses he saw that the soldier’s face was a bloody mess. There were cuts, and bleeding all over his face. His cheeks were sunken as if the bones were cracked, his jaw was hanging loose and his eyes were swollen shut. The soldier was hanging on to his life by a string.

As Jake looked at the once bold man, lying helplessly on the ground, unable to even open his eyes, he felt pity. After all, what was this man’s fault? He was only following orders. But he was following the wrong man. His allegiance to Dr. Conners meant that he was a threat to the timeline, and his very presence disrupted the future. 

Jake looked down at the soldier. He was mumbling incoherently. Jake doubted the man had enough sense to understand what he was saying. He was barely hanging on to life and would undoubtedly die soon. He spied his dagger lying nearby, fallen in the struggle. Jake quickly moved towards it and pulled it out with a grunt. He returned to the soldier’s body and looked at it. He had always thought that when the time came, he would hesitate. That he would look for some other option. And yet, right now, all he felt was cold determination. He would finish this mission and go back with Zoe. Maybe they would finally have that date. 

And with that thought in mind, he sliced the dagger across the man’s throat.

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