42

BRIDGER

APRIL 5, 2147

Just after I kill the cloned version of my father, President Tremblay gives the order for Space Benders to arrive again. Alora, Professor March, and I are immediately taken into custody. Medical personnel arrive to take away Ellis and my cloned father’s bodies.

But a strange thing happened while nobody was looking.

Ellis’s body vanished.

I choke back a sob. I wanted to say goodbye to him. Now I can’t even do that.

Shan is still alive, I remind myself. Ellis got his wish. He saved us. Now all I want to do is hug my brother and never let him out of my sight. To step up and help guide him into adulthood. That’s the best way I can honor Ellis’s memory. His sacrifice.

When investigators inquire about him, I share the year that Ellis was really from. That he was in fact my younger brother. They don’t believe me, but they still send Time Benders back to investigate the time that he initially approached me on the camping trip with Grandma and Shan.

And when they return with their report, we’re officially cleared.

I’m still numb. Vaguely, I make out excited chatter from the investigators. Some speculate that Ellis’s Chronoband automatically returned his body to the year he was from. Others argue that he ceased to exist because we changed his timeline. No matter what, he’s still gone.

Captain Olivia March arrives next, and Professor March greets her. “I was wondering when you would get here.”

“Normally I would have been here to help with the investigation, but since you were involved, I wasn’t allowed to do anything.” She glances at me. “Bridger, your grandmother is on the way.”

“What about my mom?” Alora asks.

“She will be here shortly. But in the meantime, I’m going to escort you and Bridger downstairs to take your statements. You too, Telfair,” she says, giving her brother an exasperated look. “I had no idea you were going to pull a stunt this wild.”

“It was this or have everyone die. What would you have chosen? And besides, you pulled your own stunt by helping Alora escape yesterday.”

She gives him a rueful smile. “Touché.”

Professor March pats me on the shoulder. “How are you holding up?”

I consider lying, but what’s the point? We all just went through a traumatic experience. “I’m not so great right now, professor. But I’ll live.”

“I’m here for you. That’s never changed, and it never will.”

I look up at him, blinking back more tears. “I know. Thank you.”

As we’re about to leave the banquet hall, I’m happy to be able to see General Anderson’s face when he and President Tremblay are officially arrested. The investigation took a while to complete, but it clearly showed that they were guilty. I thought, because I didn’t see him in the banquet hall during the fight, that he had escaped. Turns out Nate had stunned him first, and he was lying on the floor behind the cloth-covered table.

“How could you betray me?” Anderson bellows in my direction as he’s handcuffed and hauled away. Then he looks at Alora, his face contorted with rage. “If I’d know you would have been here today, I would have left you to die in the past!”

Tremblay doesn’t say anything, instead keeping his head down.

I want to let out a string of curses at both of them, but I keep quiet. I have nothing left to say at this point. Seeing him and Tremblay get what they deserve is good enough for me.

Still, nothing will ever make up for the fact that I’ve had to lose my father—twice now. That is so furing messed up. Imagine that, having to deal with your father dying, being brought back from the dead, then taken away again. And Alora is going through the same thing.

We’re going to need lots of Calmer.

As Captain March escorts us out of the banquet hall, I take Alora’s hand. She looks at me, but doesn’t really seem to see me. I know exactly how she’s feeling. It’s not fair. We both searched so long for answers about our fathers. We both thought they were dead and gone, only to find them again.

What a cruel joke that we lost them again at the same time.

“Did you find out where your father shifted to with the bioweapon?” I ask.

“One of the investigators told me there was a huge, unexplained explosion above the surface of the planet.”

I freeze. “Do you think it was him? I mean, could he really have shifted there?”

She thinks for a moment. “Yeah, I think he could have. His abilities were stronger than mine.”

Alora and I are placed in separate holding cells to be questioned. I’m only in mine for a few minutes when Grandma cruises into the room in a shiny silver motor chair. I should have known a minor gunshot wound wouldn’t keep her away.

I feel a surge of panic when I realize my brother isn’t with her. “Where is Shan?”

“I took him to the hospital. He wanted to be with your mom while I came here to see you.” She looks down at her lap for a moment, where her hands are folded together in a white-knuckled grip. “I don’t think he could handle knowing the truth about Ellis. It might be too much for him to find out that the older version of himself was murdered by that clone of Leithan. He’s already been through so much.”

“So you don’t think it’s a good idea to tell him?”

“I’m going to talk it over with Morgan to make sure we’re in agreement, but I think it would be best that we keep this from him.”

We emerge from the DTA building late in the afternoon, after spending hours being questioned. On top of being cleared of wrongdoing in the banquet hall attack, we’re not in trouble anymore for trying to save Zed. We’ve been officially pardoned because we successfully stopped the detonation of the bioweapon. Pardoning us was the least they could do.

Still, it doesn’t make it any easier. None of this will bring my father back, or Alora’s father, or Zed.

We meet up with Alora and Adalyn in the courtyard.

“What are we going to do now?” Alora ask, grasping both my hands.

“I don’t know,” I say. I look away from her, toward the street. It’s weird—all around us, people are going about their days as if nothing major happened. I know a lot of people know an attack was thwarted—they just don’t know what could have happened. I meet Grandma’s eyes. “I think we need to see my mom and brother right now.”

Grandma inclines her head in agreement.

“I have an idea,” Adalyn says. “Why don’t we all go visit her?”

I consider it for a moment. Before, Adalyn was determined to keep Alora away from me. I know for a fact my mom has said some nasty things about her in the past, and I’m sure Alora must know that. Normally I’d refuse to bring Alora into that environment. But under the circumstances, I’m willing to make an exception.

“I think she would like that.”

We take a Pod to the hospital, courtesy of Grandma. Once we get to Mom’s room, I immediately rush over to Shan and hug him. He awkwardly pats my back, slightly weirded out. “I’m okay, Bridger. Really. I’m sorry about what you went through today. From what I hear, you and Alora are heroes.”

“That’s right. I’m proud of you,” Mom says. I hug her next and quickly pull back when she winces. “Are you going to be okay?” I ask in a rush.

“I’ll be fine. The docs say I only need to stay one more night for observation, then I can go back home to torture you two again.”

I look from Alora, to her mom, then to Grandma, to Shan, and back to Mom. “I think I’d like that more than anything in this world right now,” I say.

Adalyn clears her throat. “I hope you don’t mind us being here. I’m sorry you were hurt. If there’s anything I can do for you, I’ll be happy to help.”

For a moment, I think letting Adalyn and Alora come here was a big mistake. Mom stares at them, her eyes giving none of her emotions away. Finally, she says, “Thank you. I appreciate it.” Then her expression softens as she glances from Alora to me. “Maybe we should all get together some time. I think we have a lot to talk about.”

“I’d love that,” Adalyn says, offering a smile.

With those words, the tension evaporates. Shan begs us to give details about what happened at the DTA building. While Alora and I share a censored version, my mood begins to shift.

It’s strange. Maybe it’s because a medic gave me a dose of Calmer before we left, but I’m feeling better now. My emotions were so raw just a few hours ago. I’m still hurt. I still can’t stop thinking about how Nate and Ellis sacrificed themselves. I can’t get the sight of Dad’s body out of my mind. And I know Alora is hurting, too. Even now, I can’t help but notice the sadness in her voice, the dark shadows under her eyes.

But I know we’ll be okay. We have our families and each other.

It’s time to put the ghosts of our past to rest, and look forward to our future.