| |
THIS TIME, instead of falling forward, I fell backward.
Pain shot through my tailbone. From my seat on the ground, I looked up at Nick, who was firmly planted on his heels and grinning. “Sorry, friend. Given all the excitement back there with the TSTA guards, it seems I forgot to let go of your foot.”
I kicked his hand away before standing and brushing myself off. “Don’t worry about it. I’ve endured much worse.”
“That was close. We made it through, though, just in the...nick of time.”
“That’s how you came up with your nickname, isn’t it?” I shook my head. “That’s terrible.”
“I needed a name that would represent what I’ve become, a beacon of hope with a knack for getting out of scrapes—” He squeezed his thumb and forefinger together, stopping just before they met. “At just the right moment.”
“I prefer to confront attackers,” I said. “But, seeing as we were on our way back here anyway...”
Nick frowned. “Mm, hmm. Well, as you can see,” he said, pointing to his skeletal arms and legs. “I’m a Keeper, not a fighter. I don’t stick around where I’m not wanted.”
“No one’s going to force you to fight.” I chuckled. “That’s why we have Ivory on board.”
Nick’s lips formed a lopsided smile as he turned toward the Clock Tower. “Never was there a finer woman.”
I had my doubts, and personal preferences, but I nodded all the same. “She’s strong, also talented.”
Nick responded with a smirk of sorts before changing the subject. “How long do we wait until we follow them to Plaka?”
“Let’s give it the better part of a day. Ivory and Ray will likely travel there by jet.”
“A licensed TSTA vehicle?”
“If not, Ivory has her own collection of aircraft. Since we don’t know where they’ll be exactly, I can travel to them with the travel glasses, and then travel with them to Plaka. We’ll meet one way or another.”
“This is starting to sound like less of a plan, friend.”
“It’s more than the wandering around I did for months—Earth time.”
“Hmm, yes, not a significant amount of time according to your timeline.”
“But a good part of Calla’s lifetime, wasted.”
Nick squeezed his stomach and frowned. “We still haven’t had lunch. What do you say we have a bite to eat and go from there?”
I didn’t need to eat or sleep as often as individuals born of Earth or Aboreal, but Nick looked like he could use something to pad the skin on his bones. My stomach grumbled anyway, as if it decided the matter for us. “Fine with me.”
The ground rumbled in response to...my stomach? No.
I spun around to see shapes swirling through the sky, followed by a flash of lightning. Human forms—three of them—flew toward us. Nick and I both knelt on one knee, grounding ourselves.
I let go of the breath I’d been holding. The visitors looked familiar.
They weren’t The Chars.
All three persons landed on their feet, like cats, poised to fight. But they were smiling in a nonthreatening way. One of the visitors tucked a small stringed instrument inside his cloak before all three fell to one knee to let the impact of their arrival subside. Ivory, Ray and Plaka.
The ground twitched and trembled. Timepieces on the tower swayed in the wind, some chiming as they clanged against each other.
I pressed myself up from the ground before the rumblings faded.
Plaka looked at me as I opened my arms to greet my friend and healer. Light eyes exuded self-entitlement. His expression was more than smug.
His unruly hair—curls dark like Calla’s—appeared to have been recently groomed, half tied back across his shoulders. He no longer wore the threadbare attire from the Fire Falls. His clothing was fresh and new—a cloak with a metal button, trousers with leather strips across the knees and a belt for his various knickknacks and traveling instrument, the baglamas. Time had been good to him since we’d last met.
Plaka squeezed my shoulders. “Good to see you, Valcas. I’m relieved you’ve stopped wandering the Everywhere and Everywhen alone. Together, we must find Calla. I fear she is lost and that it will take a great deal of healing to bring her back.”
“I should be happy to help, friend,” said Nick, looking at Plaka over my shoulder.
I stepped aside and introduced my best friend to the Time Keeper.
***
NICK GAVE A TOUR OF the Clock Tower, explaining to Plaka, Ivory and Ray all that he’d told me about the portals, and with a note of pride, that he was the Key.
Plaka and Ray listened with interest. Both gazed at the tower, examining its timepieces and murmuring when Nick made the representations of the different worlds glow with his touch.
Ivory wore an expression on her face so complex that I didn’t know where to begin unraveling the mystery there. “So, this is where you’ve been all this time?” she said. “Alone?”
“Yes, love. This was the safest place to go, a refuge of sorts. It’s also where I’m most needed.”
Ivory quirked her brow, but didn’t argue. Instead, she suggested we share a meal while we regrouped.
Nick led us to his loft in the tower. Ivory sliced bread and hard cheeses while Plaka prepared a paste of dried meat and garlic. And, using one of his signature Chascadian techniques, he brewed a tea using his light sticks.
I passed steaming mugs to Nick and Ray, who’d planted themselves on cushions scattered along the floor. Then I sat, enjoying Plaka’s tea, wishing he and Edgar would have met while Edgar was still alive. I’m sure they would have enjoyed discussing time travel. And maybe Plaka could have taught him to make a proper cup of tea.
When we were settled together on the floor, I turned to Plaka. “You must have traveled here by baglamas.”
Ivory crossed her arms. “Only because Plaka wouldn’t let me bring the jet. He said it was too conspicuous.”
“And it is,” bellowed Plaka. “But I didn’t expect Ivory to give in to my suggestion so easily.”
“Suggestion? More like a command.” She gave him an Aborealian military salute.
“Although, I admit your efforts toward creating a sense of order in the midst of chaos are endearing.”
“Ah, so you’ve noticed that too, friend?”
Ivory snorted. “If I can’t find my jet after this mission is over, you’re a dead man, Healer.” She sipped at her tea and shoved a slice of bread topped with meat paste and cheese in her mouth. After a larger gulp of tea, she added, “Well, maybe I’ll keep you around for the decent grub.”
Ray remained silent during the banter. He stared at Nick more than the rest of us, the way he did when he recorded. But also with respect, the way he looked at Calla. At first Nick didn’t seem to mind the attention, but if there’s one thing Aborealians (expatriates or not) can’t stand, it’s being stared down.
Mid-bite, Nick threw up his hands and turned to Ray. “Can I help you with something, Technician?”
Ray bobbed his head, unfazed and without blinking. “I hope so. It’s why I’m here—in addition to wanting to help Calla.”
The air in the room stilled. Even Ivory stopped chewing.
“I’ve been researching my tattoo. Ever since we left the Fire Falls, I can’t stop thinking about it.” He lifted his shirt, revealing an inscription beneath his left rib: Never forget Susana. “I still don’t know how I got this, but I’ve been trying to find a lead.”
Ivory swallowed and wiped her mouth. “What have you found out so far?”
“The TSTA has no records of a person named Susana who has any connection to me. I’ve searched everything I’ve been given access to, including every person relating to my family and past.”
Ivory wrinkled her nose. “The tattoo is a written reminder, which makes you a Daily Reminder, Ray. Is Susana someone who may have gotten lost?”
Ray shook his head. “I don’t know. Seeing as I don’t remember anything by looking at it, the reminder must not have been meant for me. But there are records on the lost. They’re labeled as still existing, unless confirmed dead.” He stared at the space in front of him. “Every single person. I scanned through as many as I had access to, and,” he said, tapping his head. “I recorded some of them.”
He gloomed before continuing, in Ray’s way which was similar to staring off into space. “But there was this one file labeled The Found. From the metadata, I could tell it was pretty small.” He shrugged. “Depressing, if you think about it. All those TSTA missions geared toward seeking the lost, and that tiny file. I suppose not too many people have come back from being lost—alive.”
I heard an intake of breath from my right. “Come back from where, though, friend?”
Ray shrugged. “That’s part of the puzzle I’ve been trying to understand.”
In response to Ivory’s narrowed eyes, Nick’s mouth pulled into a self-satisfied grin. “Maybe Susana is not a person at all. Perhaps it’s a place.”