Soul Seekers by Dean Crawford

in any way. There is no reason to risk undoing all of his hard work by tampering further with the past.’
    Siren nodded as though understanding. ‘And if it was mom who was trapped in 1776?’
    Her father’s big head jerked to look down at her. ‘Don’t challenge me, young lady, or I’ll have you grounded for a month.’
    ‘Fine, do it,’ Siren shot back. ‘We’ve already lost mom but Cas’s father is still within reach. Are you going to put him through what we’ve been through? Are you going to make his mother feel the way you do now?’
    General Winchester stared down at her as his anger shrivelled, a brief glimmer of horror flitting like a dark shadow across his eyes.
    ‘I have no choice,’ he uttered.
    Siren’s eyes welled with tears of disbelief and she turned her back on him and walked to the office door. As she opened it, she glanced back at the general.
    ‘Then I’ve lost my father, too,’ she whispered.
    The door closed before the general could reply, and he stared down at the picture frame and the two telephones on his desk.
    * * *

22
    ‘I’m going back.’
    Cas stood in front of Jude and Emily in the hospital corridor. Their parents were standing nearby and Siren was walking toward them all looking strangely downtrodden.
    ‘You’re doing
what
?’ Emily uttered.
    ‘I can go back any time I want to,’ Cas insisted. ‘I’m special.’
    ‘You sure are special, Cas’,’ Jude replied. ‘How the hell are you going to go back?’
    Cas took a breath and explained his idea.
    ‘The military people who worked on this experiment were able to see the past by wearing special headsets that amplified their brain’s ability to see the past, but they only saw glimpses by looking into that sphere of energy. We already have the ability to see the past since we fell through the energy field. If we just put the headsets on then we should be able to see everything in the past just like we did before.’
    ‘You don’t know that,’ Cas’s mother said and knelt down before him. ‘I know you want to help but even I don’t understand how all of this works. If you went back again you might end up like your father, like a ghost and trapped between the past and the present. You wouldn’t want that would you?’
    Cas looked into her eyes.
    ‘I’d rather that than do nothing.’ His mother smiled as a tear trickled down her cheek. ‘How did you do that to the general?’ Cas asked her. ‘It was way cool.’
    Karen managed a laugh and shrugged.
    ‘I was a judo instructor before I met your father,’ she said. ‘I haven’t done anything like that for years.’
    A reply rumbled down the corridor from behind them.
    ‘And you won’t be doing anything like it again,’ General Winchester said.
    Cas, Jude, Emily and Siren turned to face the general as he looked down at them from where he stood in the corridor, his broad shoulders almost touching the walls either side of him. Doctor Harrison was behind him. There was a long wait for the general to speak, and when he did so his voice was laden with concern as he looked over his shoulder at Doctor Harrison.
    ‘You’re sure that this will work?’
    ‘It’s possible,’ Doctor Harrison replied. ‘Right now it’s the only chance we have to reach Captain Ryan before the signal from the past is lost.’
    General Winchester looked down at Cas.
    ‘You have a remarkably resourceful young mind,’ he rumbled. ‘Ensure that you use it or this will all be for nothing. Either way it’s almost certain that my career will soon be over.’
    Siren looked up at her father, a twinkle of delight in her eyes. ‘Have you got orders to go ahead with this?’
    The general looked down at his daughter and shook his head. ‘No. I have not informed the Pentagon.’ Then he looked at the rest of them. ‘Follow me.’
    The group followed the general back into the facility, where a group of soldiers had moved Joshua on his bed. Around Joshua’s head was a large contraption