44

BRIDGER

APRIL 29, 2146

“Ican’t believe you two just did that,” I say.

“Don’t look so shocked, man,” Elijah says. He extracts a key card out of his pocket and swipes it across the cuffs binding my hands together. The lock releases with a click. I slide the cuffs off and then he does the same to the Inhibitor around my neck. When I remove it, I feel lighter.

Free.

“Yeah, you look like you’ve seen some real ghosts.” Zed twists around from the pilot seat and laughs. “I wish I could’ve taken a digigraph.”

“What . . . how did you do it?” I ask, sinking down on the nearest chair. I remember Professor March’s message just before they burst in the med facility. “So Professor March helped, right?”

“I’d like to take credit for this whole ingenious plan, but I can’t lie. Professor March was indeed the mastermind. We were merely his instruments of chaos.” Zed puffs out his chest and waggles his eyebrows. “But I won’t turn down any pledges of your undying gratitude.”

“Hey, how about stick to the piloting?” Elijah shakes his head and takes the seat across the aisle from me. “So are you okay, man? I know all of this has to be a shock.”

I don’t speak for a few moments. Something isn’t right. I ask Zed, “Are we being followed yet?”

“No. We’re in the clear.”

“Are you sure? They can track the transport.”

“It’s all part of the plan,” Elijah interrupts. “Professor March made sure they wouldn’t be able to track us. We’re safe.”

They’re fired up about the plan, but I can’t relax. The whole thing reeks. I know how much General Anderson wanted to have my memories extracted. He couldn’t wait for me to become a Null. He’ll move the heavens to get me back in his custody.

Unless he wanted me to escape. And if that’s the case, then Professor March is working with him. Against me. I lean over like someone punched me in the gut.

“Are you sick?” Elijah asks.

“Not like you’re thinking.” I can’t believe Professor March would betray me. My suspicions spill out like vomit.

Elijah lets out a low whistle. “So March didn’t tell you anything? That is weird, but I don’t think it means he’s working with Anderson.”

“But don’t you think this is too easy?”

“Not if March is stalling them,” Elijah reasons. “That’s what he said he was going to do.”

I want to believe him. Professor March was Dad’s best friend. It doesn’t make sense for him to use me to get info about where Dad went.

I go over everything I’ve learned so far about Alora. The pieces of the puzzle are sliding in place. If I could only find the last few. Adalyn mentioned that Nate thought he was cloned. Why would the DTA do that when cloning was outlawed so many years ago? And when did Dad shift to the Foster Assassination to tell me to save Alora? Before his death?

Or is he really dead?

I know Adalyn asked Dad to go back and save Alora, but I wonder if there’s another reason he was there. I mean, he risked throwing his whole career away.

And I think of Alora’s death date. My heartbeat quickens—that’s where I’ll find Dad. Alora doesn’t belong in the past, but what if I can’t save her? Dad obviously didn’t. If he couldn’t, how can I? Losing Dad and Vika so close together was the worst thing to ever happen to me. I’m not sure what I’m feeling for Alora, but the thought of losing her forever makes my stomach lurch.

“Hey, did Professor March happen to leave a Chronoband in here?” I ask, remembering the whole problem I had with free shifting.

Zed pipes up, “Yep, it’s up here with me. Safe and sound. And he left a comm-set, too.”

He tosses them back to me, one at a time. I fasten the Chronoband to my wrist and place the comm-set on the seat next to me.

So Professor March thought of everything. I should be glad. Instead, a sense of dread descends over me. I have to make myself say, “Okay then. Let’s get to Georgia.”

Two hours later we land behind the inn-slash-museum. Nobody from the DTA is there. I guess they were recalled after my capture. We make our way into the forest. I don’t have a cloak, so I need to materialize where nobody will see me.

“We’ll wait here for you,” Elijah says. “Good luck.”

“Yeah, ditto that,” Zed says. He play punches me on the arm and then grows serious. “Just make sure you do come back.”

I start to make a smart remark about Zed getting sentimental, but it suddenly hits me—I could die. Just like my dad.

But I’ve got to try. I place the comm-set on my head and force a smile as I say my goodbyes. Then I activate the Chronoband and shift.