The Time-Traveling Outlaw Read Online Free

storage. Some of the initial subjects are still on ice. But I’ve since moved on. Sam here has come up with something quite a bit more exciting. He’s going to give you some instructions, and I suggest you follow them. You’ll be the ninth human subject we’ve tried. Only two of the eight made it back in one piece. One of those died shortly after returning. The other went completely insane. Chewed off his own tongue. Clawed his eyes out. I do hope you fare better, my boy.” With that, Sturgess leaned forward and patted Logan on the chest. It was like being touched by the leg of a giant spider. Then Sturgess walked back in the shadows, the sound of his leather shoes fading away.
    Sam’s doughy face filled Logan’s view. “I’m sorry about this,” he said. “I really am.”
    “Then why are you doing it?”
    Sam looked genuinely surprised. “Science doesn’t move forward without sacrifice,” he said. “Unfortunately for you, you are that sacrifice. But then, there’s a chance you’ll make it. I’m calculating your odds at around eight percent.”
    That sounded about right to Logan. “Make it where?”
    A goofy grin spread across Sam’s face. “That’s the exciting part,” he said. “Not where... when .”
    It took a moment for that to register with Logan. He looked down at the armrests, at the chair that held him. He laughed, a full-bellied laugh, something he couldn’t remember doing in a long, long time. It felt strange, but it felt good, too.
    “You’re kidding, right?” Logan said. “I’m sitting in a goddamn time machine? Like in the movies?”
    Sam looked confused. He glanced at the Japanese man, still standing stoically to the side, then back at Logan. “Oh no,” he said, nodding at the chair and letting out a little giggle. “That’s not the machine at all.” He reached into the pocket of his lab coat and pulled out a tiny blue capsule. “This is.”
    Kazu stepped forward, his steely hands grabbing Logan by the head, one hand on his forehead, the other his lower jaw. Like a vise, he pried open Logan’s mouth. Sam leaned forward and popped the pill down Logan’s throat. Kazu pushed Logan’s mouth shut, pinching his nose.
    Logan squeezed his eyes shut, bucking against the restraints and the man’s powerful hands. But it was all in vain. Eventually he swallowed the pill.
    Sam clapped his hands together, and moved back to his computer. “Technically,” he said, “the trans-temporal particles in the pill you just swallowed are what we’re sending back in time. You’re just going to be along for the ride.” His fingers clattered across the keyboard, then he slid his chair to another computer and typed a few more things, numbers scrolling across the screen. He swiveled back around in his chair to look at Logan.
    “I’m only going to send you back for a short interval of subjective time,” he said.
    “Subjective time?” Logan asked, swallowing hard. The pill had left a chalky tickle at the back of his throat.
    “That’s what you experience,” Sam said. “Relative to us, you’ll only be gone a few seconds. I’m going to send you, then pull you right back. But while you’re there, several hours may pass. Don’t interfere with anything. If you can, just sit or lie down somewhere and wait.” He moved back to the first computer and typed some more. “I’m not exactly sure how this all works, whether changes can be made to affect the timeline permanently. But until we know, it’s better to be safe than sorry.”
    Right , Logan thought. He didn’t feel very safe. This whole thing sounded like lunacy, but in a way that sounded just like Harken Sturgess. The crazy son of a bitch probably wanted to travel through time to manipulate the stock market, maybe cripple his competitors financially, or maybe even physically. Logan didn’t plan on playing along. The minute he found an opening, whatever it was, he was taking it.
    “Okay,” Sam said, rubbing his hands together.