29

NATE

MARCH 15, 2147

It’s still pitch black outside when a piercing siren shatters the silence. Someone’s triggered the new sensors that can detect anyone who is cloaked.

Nate’s eyes fly open and he sits up, instantly alert. Years of training as a soldier, in his former life in the twentieth century as well as in this century, have sharpened his senses. He also learned long ago to never sleep too deeply. As if he could do that, anyway. When he sleeps, he always has nightmares.

His bunkmates are all alert as well. Everyone at the compound is required to sleep in their clothes, even with their shoes on, just in case they are attacked by the government. Jode Lincoln, their leader, puts them through drills at random. Daytime, nighttime. It doesn’t matter.

Immediately, they retrieve their weapons from the wooden cases assigned to each of them, and don comm-sets stolen from the government. Not for the first time, Nate feels a surge of resentment as he slips on his lenses. Lincoln refuses to let him carry a weapon unless he’s on a mission.

“What’s happening?” a bunkmate asks.

Before anyone can answer, their door flies open. Lincoln strides inside, barking orders. “Everyone to your stations. We’re under attack.”

Nate’s bunkmates march out, as if they’re on autopilot.

“Are you going to let me have a gun now? I can’t defend myself otherwise,” Nate says, trying to keep his tone neutral. He learned years ago never to be confrontational with Lincoln.

“No. I have one.” Lincoln peers outside the window, also wearing a comm-set. “Damn Space Benders are everywhere.” Looking back at Nate, he says, “You’re with me. Your job is to get me and my family to safety.”

Nate breathes in, hard, through his nostrils. “And how am I supposed to do that without a weapon?”

“That’s not my problem,” Lincoln snaps. “If you don’t help us and then report to your next assignment, I’ve left orders for my next-in-command to have your daughter terminated. Is that clear?”

It takes everything in Nate’s power to stop himself from punching Lincoln repeatedly in his face. Clenching his fists, he says, “Yes, crystal clear.”

“Follow me,” Lincoln barks.

Before he leaves the room, Nate glances out the window. Four black-clad Space Benders are standing around a large white Department of Temporal Affairs transport shuttle that has just landed near the barn. Members of Lincoln’s team that have already been captured, including the new recruits who were housed in the barn, are being herded into the shuttle, hands held high in the air.

For a moment, Nate thinks about shifting away, but Jode’s threat to have Alora killed reverberates in his mind. He has no choice but to follow orders. How could he ever have thought Lincoln was a good person? Lincoln clearly took Nate in all those years ago and nursed him back to health for his own benefit, not Nate’s. Lincoln knew he’d struck gold when he discovered that Nate was a Dual Talent on the run from the DTA.

Nate’s senses take in everything as he follows Lincoln down the narrow hallway. Shouts coming from outside, voices issuing commands within the lower level of the house, tense voices yelling through his comm-set earpiece. Gunfire. A bitter scent fills his nostrils, making it hard for him to breathe. Great, he thinks. Now they’re using tear gas on us. Would have been nice if Lincoln had thought to get gas masks for them to wear.

Nate and Lincoln make it to Lincoln’s bedroom. Nate’s been in here a few times. It’s nothing fancy, just a standard double bed with a blue cover, white walls, and blue checkered curtains. Lincoln’s features contort into disbelief as he checks in the closet and under the bed.

“Damn it, they’re supposed to be here!” he shrieks. “I told her not to leave until I got here with you.”

A hint of a smile touches Nate’s lips. Lincoln’s wife runs the whole show with him, though Jode is the official leader. But when it comes to their son, her protective instincts always take over. “Where would she have gone?” Nate asks.

“I have a small shuttle stashed about a mile from here. Just in case something like this ever happened.” Lincoln runs his hands over his head. “She wasn’t supposed to leave yet.”

“I think we need to head there right now,” Nate says in a tense voice. From what he’s hearing through his comm-set, there are around ten Space Benders surrounding the premises, possibly more. Lincoln’s men outnumber the agents, but the Space Benders have the advantage of having superior weapons and specialized training.

The same training that Nate once went through.

Hating himself for helping such a violent Purist, Nate says, “I’m going to shift outside, just below your window. I’ll secure the immediate area while you climb down. Do you think you can handle that?” Nate already knows the answer, but he can’t resist taking a jab at Lincoln.

Jode bristles at Nate’s tone. “Of course I can, you simpleton. Why do you think I bothered drilling everyone all this time?”

Bowing his head slightly, Nate murmurs, “My apologies. I just want to make sure you’re ready. Now may I ask again for a gun? I need something to distract the Space Benders.”

Letting out a loud grunt, Lincoln goes over to his dresser and pulls a small pistol out of the bottom drawer. He hands the pistol to Lincoln. “Just go, already. I’m heading down now.”

Nate checks to make sure the pistol is loaded, then quickly scopes out the immediate area through the window. Space Benders are stationed at all of Lincoln’s personal shuttles, and one is standing between the two sheds on the property. “I’m going to shift to just behind the barn and see if I can draw their attention away. You get down to the ground and I’ll meet you there in three minutes.”

Lincoln gives a terse nod. Nate closes his eyes, visualizing the small clearing just behind the barn, picturing himself there. Instantly, cool night air kisses his cheeks. From this area, the gunfire sounds more distant. The temptation to flee is overwhelming, but he remembers Alora.

He can’t let her down.

Pointing the pistol into the air, Nate yells and fires it twice. He starts running toward the woods and fires two more shots. Just as he crosses the treeline, he closes his eyes and pictures the large oak next the farm house. It’s close to Lincoln’s bedroom window—the closest place he can go to hide while waiting for him to climb down.

Nate appears behind the trunk and finds himself facing a Space Bender. The man’s eyes widen, clearly surprised by the sudden appearance of one of Lincoln’s men. Reflexes kicking in, Nate knees the man in the groin. He doubles over, allowing Nate time to grab him by the hair and slam his head against the tree. The man crumples to the ground, unconscious. Guilt tears through Nate, just like it does every time he hurts someone for Lincoln, especially when he’s ordered to take innocent lives. At least this way, the man has a chance to recover.

Scanning the immediate area, Nate counts seven Space Benders still in front of the house. At least three of them must have taken the bait and gone to search the area near where he fired the gun. But then one of the Space Benders disappears and immediately reappears behind the house, close to where Lincoln should be any second.

“Are you on the ground yet, Jode?” Nate hisses into his mouthpiece.

“Yes, I’m next to the bushes.”

“Be careful. You have company.”

Before Nate can say anything else, he hears a muffled shot and the Space Bender close to Lincoln’s location crumples to the ground. Nate flinches.

Crouching down, he closes his eyes again and visualizes Lincoln’s face, then appears next to him.

“Can we go now?” Lincoln asks.

“Depends on what direction we need to go in. Most of the agents are concentrated near the front of the house, from what I can tell.”

“The shuttle’s in the woods on the far side of the cow pasture. I figured if we were ever ambushed, that would be the safest direction to go.”

“What about the others?” Nate asks. “They’re risking their lives for you. Don’t you think we need to help them?”

Lincoln shrugs. “They knew what they were signing up for. They’re loyal. If they’re caught, they won’t reveal anything. There’s too much at risk.”

A part of Nate agrees with Lincoln, but he still hates leaving them behind.

“Let’s go, then. We need to catch up to my family and hope like hell they haven’t left us.”

Before they set out, Nate turns to Lincoln. “Do you realize that the government will send Time Benders back to investigate this? They’ll follow us until they figure out where we are.”

His eyes narrow. “I’m aware of that, Walker. That’s why your job is to just get me and my family to the shuttle. They can follow us to an extent, but only after a certain amount of time passes. You know how they feel about their precious rules. But you, in the meantime, will shift directly to where I tell you to go and await further instructions.”

Nate and Lincoln set out running across the moonless field, hoping nobody notices them.

Lincoln leads Nate down a narrow path for a half-mile, where a tiny black shuttle is parked. As they approach the shuttle, Jode slows down, looking around wildly. He activates the door to open the shuttle, enters, then reappears a few moments later, shaking with rage.

“They’re not here! Damn Space Benders. They must have caught them.”

Nate thinks to himself that he’s not surprised. Lincoln’s wife is tough, but their son is sick. It would have taken a miracle for her to sneak him past the Space Benders without being detected. “What do you want to do?” Nate asks.

Lincoln doesn’t answer for a few moments, and the silence is heavy with the night sounds of the forest: owls hooting, crickets chirping, wind blowing gently. Then a few sporadic rounds of gunfire in the distance.

Lincoln balls his hands into fists and takes several deep breaths. “We can’t do anything about them now. I need to get to the next enclave and regroup from there. You better be there when I arrive.”

“Understood,” Nate mutters. Before he can say anything else, a word flashes across his lenses: Ridgemont.

“You’d better be there when I arrive,” Lincoln growls.

“Yes, sir,” Nate says in a clipped voice, while thinking of Alora. He’d love nothing more than to shift to her right now, escape from this madman, but he knows he can’t. Not if he wants to keep her alive.

So, as Lincoln pilots the shuttle away to the enclave in Ridgemont, Georgia, Nate closes his eyes and shifts there. Hopefully, by following Lincoln’s orders, he can buy some more time and figure out a way to see his younger daughter again.