10

BRIDGER

FEBRUARY 11, 2147

After a moment, I realize I must look like an idiot. My jaw is slack, and I can’t speak. Dad is really here. Or at least, the cloned version of him. Still, it’s my dad, wearing the standard navy Time Bender uniform.

“Son, are you all right? You look like you’re about to pass out,” he says, with a trace of amusement in his voice.

The only thing I can do is nod.

Dad scopes out our surroundings, then inclines his head to the left. “I only have six minutes before I have to leave. Walk with me to my shift point.”

Still feeling numb, I manage to shuffle along beside him as we walk through the Green Zone. I can’t stop staring at him.

“You need to quit doing that,” Dad says. “We don’t want to draw unwanted attention.”

“I don’t understand. Where have you been? Why are you here now?”

Dad looks at me as if I’ve grown a third eye or something. “I’ve missed talking to you. I miss being with you and your brother. It’s been hell, having to stay away from the both of you.”

I think for a moment. From my perspective, it’s been over ten months since I last saw him. But I don’t know at what point in the timeline Dad is from. He refused to share the year with me when I last saw him, which was the night that Alora was almost killed in 2013. After I was forced to kill the cloned version of Vika because she had just murdered Dad—and was trying to do the same to Alora—Dad’s clone appeared to us. He stayed long enough to let me know that he—not my real dad—was the one responsible for sending me back to save Alora in the first place. “How long has it been for you?”

Dad lets out a light laugh. “Nice try, son. I can’t disclose that information.”

“I don’t get it. Why all the secrecy?”

Dad grows quiet as we pass two military Space Benders in dark gray uniforms, patrolling as we leave the Green Zone and set off down the street. Once they’re past us, he says, “I’m not supposed to exist, for starters. Technically, you shouldn’t even know about me. Your memories were wiped, so you’re supposed to think I’m dead, remember?” He leans close to me and lowers his voice. “But if you still thought I was dead, you would have wilded out when you first saw me a few minutes ago. So it seems you’ve got your memories back.”

Regret sinks inside me like a stone. I’m an idiot. How could I let that slip, having a conversation with him about things I shouldn’t even know? I know I can trust Dad, but I didn’t even think about what I was doing before I told him those things. I can’t make mistakes like that if I’m going to make it in the military. I need to be sharp at all times. Not like this.

“It’s okay. I already knew you had restored your memories.” His face hardens. “I saw what that girl did to you.”

“You saw that? If you didn’t think she should restore them, why didn’t you stop it?”

“Because from my point of view it’s already happened. I can’t change it.”

I stop walking. “Wait. Exactly what time are you from?”

“I can’t tell you that, son. You know it could influence your actions, and I have to let things play out like they’re supposed to.”

“They why bother coming back to see me at all?”

“This is the only way I can check in on you. The DTA monitors my whereabouts when they send me on missions in the present, but they can’t when I’m on assignment in the past. This is a detour for me. In fact, it’s my second one. Right after the protests, I checked in on you at the med center. You were sedated, so you never saw me.”

I feel detached, as if I’ve stepped out of my body. “I just … this is too much to take in,” I manage to say. “Am I in trouble? You know, for getting my memories back?”

Dad laughs. “Of course not. I’m not telling anybody. Honestly, I’m glad you have them back, even though I don’t approve of you spending time with that girl. Just to make it clear, I wasn’t around when Anderson gave the order to have you erased. Maybe I could have talked him out of it. You’re old enough to handle the truth.”

With those words, the tension in my body begins to ease. “So, what exactly can you tell me? Why are you talking to me now? Aren’t you putting the timeline at risk by doing that?”

“No. In fact, I’m helping you. It’s important that you continue to act like you don’t remember anything.” Dad turns down an empty alley between two skyscrapers. “Don’t try to look for me. Don’t help that girl. Don’t tell anybody you saw me. Not your friends, not my mother, not even your brother—he tells your mother everything. Your objective is to maintain the status quo, so you can stay safe.”

I follow Dad halfway down the alley. He stops and rests his back against the wall of one of the buildings, then lifts his left arm to check his Chronoband.

“Wait, you have to leave now?” I ask. My pulse begins to race. “You just got here.”

“It’s time for me to go. If I’m late, General Anderson could send someone back to check on my whereabouts.”

“So Anderson is behind everything,” I say, not even bothering to hide the bitterness I’m feeling. “What’s his end game?”

“Can’t talk about that now, son. Just know that he’s one of the good guys. I’ll be in touch soon. And remember, stay away from that girl—and from Telfair.”

Before I can say anything else, he activates his cloak and vanishes.