On Through the Never

My adrenaline kicks into high gear as I race down the stairway. I have to hang on to the railing as I run to keep from falling down. I’m just passing the twenty-third floor when the door I went through crashes open and footsteps pound on the steps. The soldier shouts, “Stop where you are!”

Yeah, like I’m going to do that. I’ve got to get out of this building so I can shift back to my time.

My whole world revolves around trying not to trip over my feet as I fly down the stairway. But then a noise from below brings me to a screeching halt. More soldiers have entered the stairway from the floor beneath me. Fure, I can’t catch a break.

I don’t have a choice. Closing my eyes, I try to block out the footsteps getting dangerously close to me, and concentrate on my present. February 18, 2147.

I’ve never been so relieved to enter the Void. But a thought occurs to me while I’m in there—as soon as I emerge in my time, my cloak will set off an alarm in the DTA building. Around the year 2133, they finally developed the tech to the point where sensors could be placed throughout the building to constantly monitor for cloaked individuals.

I’m not sure if I can deactivate my cloak in the Void. As far as I know, it’s never been done before. But I’ve got to try. I reach up and press the button on my collar.

As soon as I’m out of the Void, I hold perfectly still until reality sharpens again. It’s weird how the stairway looks almost exactly the same now as it did in 2126. All gloomy gray. Still, I’m too afraid to move. I could be in a sector of the stairway that is invisible to the sensors. Or I could be uncloaked. I don’t know. Well, it’s not like I can just stand here. I have to find out, one way or another.

Breathing deeply to calm myself, I take a few tentative steps. Then a few more. Then I walk down to the level below me.

But the relief doesn’t last. I’m not supposed to be in the building at all. How the hell am I going to explain that? And I’m still wearing my illegal comm-set. I take it off, fold the ear- and mouthpieces against the lenses, and slip it into my pocket.

I pass a few people on the stairway. Nobody recognizes me. And then I see Captain March. I lower my gaze, hoping she won’t recognize me.

“What are you doing here?” she asks, her brows drawn together in disbelief. “The tour ended over an hour ago.”

Think, Creed, think. “I’m going back to my grandmother’s office. I think I left my portacase in there.”

Okay, now she’s just being nosy. “She’s at lunch, waiting for me to get back,” I lie, hoping that she won’t comm Grandma to see if that’s the truth.

A pressure begins to build in my head, gradually increasing. I try to keep surprise from registering in my eyes. Evidently Captain March is a dual Time and Mind Bender, like her brother. Thinking fast, I throw up a mental block, like Dad taught me. When she realizes she can’t get past the barrier, her eyes narrow to slits.

I must look like an idiot, with my mouth hanging open. I have to play this cool, make her think she’s being unreasonable. Time to pull out some of my Grandma’s tactics.

“I haven’t done anything wrong. I told you all I was doing was looking for my portacase. And I know that you just tried to do a mind probe on me.” I pause and cross my arms. “Can you tell me how that’s possible? You’re a Time Bender. You shouldn’t be able to do that.”

The annoyance on her face fades into a controlled, blank expression. She looks back over her shoulder, then back at me. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I most certainly did not try to probe your mind.”

“Well, then, if that’s the case, why don’t you let me go? I need to check my grandmother’s office, and I don’t think she will be happy with you reporting me for something minor.”

She thinks for a long moment, looking at me like she wishes I would burst into flames. “You remind me a lot of your father and your grandmother. That’ll be an asset to you if you work here in the future. In the meantime, I don’t ever want to catch you in here unattended again. Is that clear?”

My uniform feels positively drenched in sweat, and I’m sure I smell as bad as a Purist by the time I get to the floor with Grandma’s office on it. I glance up the stairway to see if Captain March has followed me, but it doesn’t appear that she did. From here, I could follow my original plan. Or I could actually go to Grandma’s office. She should be out for a while, and I might be able to slip in and access the DTA’s network using her office TeleNet. It’s a golden opportunity to see if there are any records about what my dad is doing now, or where Alora’s father may be.

It doesn’t take long to reach Grandma’s office again. I glance around, checking through the partial glass walls that indicate entrances to other offices. Most are empty, but in I see an officer sitting at his desk. At least his back is to me—but if he turns around he’ll see me.

Heart pounding, I stand in front of the retinal scanner. Earlier, when we visited Grandma’s office on the tour, we had to have our eyes scanned before we could gain entrance. I cross my fingers, hoping like hell that my pattern is still in the system. Otherwise, I’m screwed.

The longest three seconds of my life pass before the light on the scanner changes from red to green. The door slides open and I rush inside. Without knowing exactly how long Grandma will be away, I need to work fast.

Once I get the TeleNet out of sleep mode, I whisper, “Search for last known information relating to Colonel Leithan Creed.”

The results only show reports about his death and subsequent burial. The official cause of death is listed as a gunshot wound from an unknown assailant while on a mission. Nothing else. My fingers curl into fists. I give several more commands, looking for any information about General Anderson’s connection to Dad, my dad’s trip to 2013, or even my involvement. Nothing is available. I even search for Vika’s last known whereabouts, but all that I find is the report about her death last year.

I want to slam my fists on the desk. Break something. I’m in the furing DTA’s mainframe and still can’t find information about what happened last year. General Anderson is definitely hiding all of this. And I want to know why.

Before I leave, I say, “Search for last known information about Nathaniel Walker.”

Fully expecting nothing to show, I’m shocked when the screen displays dozens of documents about him. I quickly search through them, wishing I had time to read everything. One document, dated May 20, 2136, stands out because that’s the date Alora was kidnapped and taken to the past by her father.

I get a surge of adrenaline when I realize I’m reading a report of the events leading to his death. I wasn’t expecting to see that. I glance over at the door again before I scan over the contents, slowing down to read the passage detailing how he died:

Walker returned to Mason’s apartment an hour after kidnapping their daughter in order to abduct her as well. Officers from the Department of Temporal Affairs and the Department of Teleportation, already on the scene due to the earlier kidnapping, were able to arrest Walker and fit him with an Inhibitor to prevent him from fleeing the premises. While en route to DTA headquarters, Walker’s transport shuttle was destroyed in an explosion. Efforts to determine the cause of the explosion have been unsuccessful due to the dangerous nature of bending into the shuttle mid-flight. The deceased included Captain Mary Baker, pilot, Lieutenant Jonas Lake, arresting officer, and Walker.

I take a few steps back from Grandma’s desk. I wasn’t expecting to discover this. I really thought Nate was being held somewhere, or that he had been Nulled. The thought of having to tell Alora fills me with dread.

I check the time on the TeleNet. Fure, I’ve been here way too long—I need to get out now. By the time I make it down the stairs and to the lobby, I’m out of breath. I’m just glad that nobody else tried to stop me. Maybe being the grandson of one of the superior officers here is a good thing. Still, I’m not supposed to be here anymore, and the guard knows that. I wait until he’s distracted before I slip behind him and out the door.

Half an hour later, I’m pacing in the alley. Alora hasn’t showed up yet, and I can’t comm her. My mind keeps conjuring one disaster scenario after another. I’m almost certain she was caught in 2126 and interrogated. That could contaminate the timeline. But if that had happened, wouldn’t things be screwed up here? Wouldn’t reality already have been destroyed?

I whirl around. Alora has appeared behind me for the second time today. This time, I rush over to her and fold her in a hug. She clings to me—starts sobbing. I want to look her in the eye, to ask her what’s wrong, but I can’t bring myself to let her go. I never want to let her go.

Finally, she pulls away from me, wiping her eyes. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have done that.”

I place my hands on her shoulders. “You don’t have to apologize. I can’t imagine what you saw.”

She shares what she learned. How the DTA created Project Firebird to find natural-born Dual Talents and clone them. How the clones were used to create Dual Talent children in our time. And how she had to witness the moment just before her father’s death—and his resurrection.

I don’t know what to say. I know I should tell her what I discovered about Nate, but one look at her face makes me forget about it for the moment and pull her into a hug. She stays in my arms for a long time. Then she pulls back, tilting her face up to me. Her eyes are so blue. So beautiful. I’m overwhelmed by the urge to kiss her.

And then I tell myself to stop being so selfish. She’s hurting. The last thing she needs is for me to try to kiss her. Especially since I’m about to break her heart with what I know.

“Do you really have to ask? For being here. For listening to me, and shifting back in time with me to day. Suddenly her face lights up. “I forgot to tell you. I also saw some people I recognized.”

“One was the man who wiped my memories. His name was Thomas Anderson, and he wasn’t happy about my dad being cloned. He argued that Space and Time Benders like me would be too powerful and dangerous, and he wasn’t crazy about having other Dual Talents either.”

“General Anderson?” she asks, frowning a little, then dawning lights up her face. “Crap, that’s the guy who was after you when you went back for me. Right?”

“Jeez, that’s just great. The head of the DTA doesn’t like Dual Talents. But then … why does he allow us to be trained? Something isn’t adding up.” She shakes her head. “Anyway, there was also a woman who was in the room when Dad was revived—Vika’s mother. Oh, and the person heading up the project was Professor March’s mother.”

Her words hit me like an icy wind, numbing me to the core. Somehow, I knew it. I knew that Halla Fairbanks was involved with the cloning. And I’m honestly not surprised to hear that Professor March’s mom was involved, as well. Not since both of her children are Dual Talents.

But what I still don’t understand is why my dad was cloned. He’s definitely not a Dual Talent.

“Because when we went into the Void, I thought about my father and ended up in the same room with him. I could just do that now and see where he is.”

She looks so hopeful and trusting. I wish I could keep what I learned to myself, but that wouldn’t solve anything. I’d be lying to Alora, and I can’t do that to her. We’ve both been told too many lies. I have to let her know the truth.

Reaching out both hands and placing the on her shoulders, I take a deep breath. “I’m so sorry, but I have to tell you something.”