At 9:49 am, Axon stands in a customer line-up at Northpac Savings, while Donner waits for him outside. At precisely 9:50AM, a "time wave" hits the bank switching it to an alternate time line. The bank sign changes to read Global Military Banking System, and three Old West outlaws, Carl Brewster, Lenny Brewster and Earl Carpenter, burst into the building brandishing six-shooters. They fire at the security guard and take the bank manager, Sidney Fineman, into the vault where they hold him hostage, telling him they've come for the gold. Carl pulls out a device - a "temporal dialer" - and places it on the gold bullion. All three men wear similar devices. When Carl pushes a button, the men and the gold begin to dematerialize. But Carl and Lenny rematerialize and only Earl disappears with the treasure. Police Captain Falsone has his force stationed outside the building. This is the fifth bank that the notorious "Houdini Gang" has hit this year and it remains a mystery how they always manage to escape from inside the vaults. When the police get a look into the vault by means of a tiny fiber optic cable, they are shocked to discover that there are only two outlaws inside. The third one has disappeared along with the gold. Trapped inside the vault, Carl and Lenny now fear that the someone they call "Old Man" will track them down and is sure to find them soon. Carl strikes on an idea - trade their hostage for Axon whom Carl seems convinced will be able to fix their dialers and help them escape. Meanwhile, Donner checks the computer for matches and is shocked to find photos of these outlaws dating back to the 1880s. She suggests it's a case of time travel but Falsone scoffs at the notion. However, Carl and Lenny reveal the truth to Axon - the dialer is a time machine that Axon developed. He is also told that his discovery of the Axon Time Web Theorem earned him a Nobel Prize. Outside, Donner is confronted by a strange old man who tells her that he's been after the outlaws since their armored train heist in Abilene and is now determined to catch them. Donner realizes she has come face to face with an Older Axon. He explains that these outlaws had been maintenance workers in his Houston lab and they have perverted his discovery of time machines by using them for a treasure hunt. He blames himself for their crimes. Now he must get to the Younger Axon and warn him not to invent the atrocity. Donner tells Falsone that she must get the Older Axon into the vault. He's the only one who understands the nature of the temporal dialers; the Younger Axon has not yet made the discovery. Disguised as a technician, the Older Axon enters the vault with Donner. He reveals himself to the outlaws, then tells the Younger Axon that they must stop these criminals. Older Axon fixes one of the dialers and urges the Younger Axon to conceal it in his pocket. He then uses another device to bring back Earl and the gold bullion. Stunned and confused, Earl pulls a gun on him. Donner goes for her concealed weapon, but Earl spins and fires - killing her. As Earl prepares to activate his dialer, Older Axon hits a button, which eliminates the outlaw, scattering his DNA all over the time web. He threatens to do the same to Carl and Lenny. But Carl holds his gun on them, refusing to surrender. He grabs the dialer from Older Axon then punches in some numbers on the dialer, and tells Lenny they're leaving. He activates the dialer - but it's Younger Axon that actually time jumps into thin air. Suddenly, Axon is standing back in the bank line up. Everything seems to be back to normal - except for the dialer he finds in his pocket. |