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July 15th, 2003 Downtown Manhattan
ANYA loitered in Foley Square across from the entrance to the Javits Federal Building. She looked at the trees in full blossom and glanced occasionally at the locator screen on her watch to make sure Kirin’s helper device wasn’t being moved. If the authorities decided to take the watch someplace else, she wanted to know—that might be her only opportunity. So far she hadn’t been able to devise a plan to get it out of the FBI’s field office.
Once in a while she’d look at the people passing in and out through the main doors, hoping for inspiration. She’d been at this for two weeks and hadn’t found any. Then she saw Nye exit the building.
Anya stood and stared at the girl as Nye strolled away, oblivious to her leader’s presence. What was she doing in there? Nye was heading north, swiveling her head back and forth as she went, but not appearing to pay attention to anything. Anya hurried to follow. Whatever had brought the girl to the Federal Building, it could provide the opportunity Anya needed to obtain Kirin’s watch. She needed to talk to the girl anyway about getting herself into trouble, and she could find out what the current mess was all about, and see if there was any way to make use of it. There had to be.
Ignoring Hollingsworth’s admonition to let him see what he could do to retrieve the watch, Anya had lingered outside the Whitaker Building to follow the police investigation. She’d tracked the device from there back to the local precinct and later to the Federal Building. It had been the lawyer, however, who had discovered that the case, and the evidence, had been taken over by the FBI.
He’d said he didn’t want to tip anyone off to the interest they had in the watch and had been careful with his inquiries, but he had found out the mystery man with Kirin’s device had been a hired killer. So Anya didn’t feel too upset about being inadvertently responsible for his death—but it did complicate any idea of trying to get the watch back. If she could just get close enough, she might be able to Travel it away from the FBI. But getting into the secure building to get that close would be a challenge. Nye had been in there, though.
Anya continued stalking after the girl, who was walking in the direction of their rooms at the Ngaio. Anya would tackle her there. And if whatever mess the girl had gotten into didn’t present an opportunity to get Kirin’s watch, Nye would have to lend Anya her own helper device. With a second device to multiply the range, it might be possible to Travel Kirin’s watch away from the FBI from outside the building. That would leave the simple task of tracking it down with the locator app.
With everybody else gone, the only other device Anya could borrow would be Tate’s, but she couldn’t bring herself to tell him what she’d done. But if Nye was in trouble, then Anya wouldn’t need to give her any explanation for why she wanted her watch.
She followed her back to the hotel without difficulty, but hesitated before the door to Nye’s suite. It wouldn’t be easy confronting her nominal assistant, not when Anya hadn’t actually been supervising the girl for a long time. When she’d prepared her mind and summoned her authority, she knocked.
Nye opened the door just a moment later, blinking furiously at Anya and somehow making her feel at a loss. Then the girl stepped back from the door. “Come in, Cousin Anya.”
Anya took a deep breath and made herself walk in, following Nye to the sitting room. As soon as the girl turned back to look at her, Anya took the initiative. “I don’t know what you’ve gotten yourself involved in, but I saw you leaving the Federal Building downtown, and you need to tell me what’s been going on.”
“And what were you doing hanging around outside the Federal Building?”
“I’m your leader, remember, and I asked you a question. Look at all the trouble I’ve had to get you out of, and now this—whatever this is. What is it?”
Nye shook her head. “I’m not in any trouble at the moment, Leader. The FBI just wanted to ask me some questions—but they’ve been following me and they have probably been following you, so I doubt it was a good idea to skulk behind me all the way back here.”
Anya paused. “I didn’t think you saw me. And I wasn’t skulking.”
“Whatever you call it—you probably looked suspicious to them—you did to me. Do you want me to run the video through my kinesics analyzer and see how it describes your body language?”
“I don’t think that’s necessary. And you haven’t yet said why federal agents should be following you—or me, for that matter.” Anya tried to pull herself together. “Why would they?”
Nye cocked her head. “That’s what I wanted to ask you. What have you been up to? Something to do with Samantha?”
“Samantha?”
“They showed me one of our Travel devices and it was displaying a picture of her. At least it wasn’t a leader device, the way they were handling it. Somehow they’ve connected the watch to you, which was why they asked me about it.”
“The watch?” Anya felt a little light-headed. “I think I’ll just sit down, if you don’t mind.”
Nye nodded brusquely and sat down in an armchair and waited for Anya to follow suit. “I hope you can explain what’s going on, Leader.”
“I suppose I ought to tell you about it.” She certainly wasn’t going to talk about trying to save John or how she’d mucked that up. “It’s Kirin’s watch. It must be. According to Sam it had gone missing.”
“It is Kirin’s—I saw the designation on the back. It can’t Travel on its own, at least, but if the authorities start taking a particularly close look at it...”
Anya sighed. “Which they will, eventually. It’s why I’ve been trying to figure out how to get it away from them.”
“But how did they get it in the first place?”
“Apparently it had fallen into the hands of some kind of assassin—I don’t have any idea how—and he was killed, and the watch was on the body.”
Nye squinted. “They told me about the hit man and little else. But how can they connect the watch to you?”
Anya couldn’t lie. “I saw the blip on my locator screen and got close enough to see the corpse. But I couldn’t get near enough to take the device. The police saw me on surveillance video, though, and after that business with the professor’s watch...”
“I’m surprised they didn’t haul you in.”
“The New York police were suspicious, and they had some questions, but the video proved I didn’t go near the man, and I had Mr. Hollingsworth running interference for me.”
“Well, the FBI have the device now. And I’d be surprised if they didn’t pull you in for questioning, even with Hollingsworth for your attorney. They’ve got a reputation for tenacity that I think is earned.”
Anya felt her shoulders droop but rallied. “Suppose they do. There’s no evidence to show I did anything wrong, and it would give me the chance to use my own watch to Travel Kirin’s out of the building.”
Nye’s mouth actually popped open as she stared back. “Have you lost your senses, Leader?”
“What do you mean?”
“If they actually brought you in to the New York field office, the agents would search you, and they’d find your watch. Then they’d have hard evidence of a connection between you and this hit man. They’d also have your leader device, and we’d all be in a lot of trouble.”
Anya felt sweat suddenly break out on her forehead. What’s happening to me? She kept her cool and her head in crises, of which she’d been through many—that’s who she was—so why was she losing it now? It had all started with her foolish idea of Traveling back to the summer of two thousand to try and save the professor. She’d known she shouldn’t even try, and yet she’d gone ahead anyway.
Everything had gotten progressively worse after that, to the point where now she had to sit and listen to a lecture from one of her assistants. Removing a handkerchief from her pocket, she wiped the sweat from her brow, then held her head in her hands.
Anya needed to get a grip. Otherwise she would only create more problems. That meant she needed to stop trying to do anything until she’d gotten help for herself. Then she realized something.
Lifting her head, she asked. “If the FBI brought you in for questioning—that’s how you know all this, isn’t it—did they take your watch?”
Nye shook her head. “I leave it here in the room safe, because I don’t need it when I’m out doing my research.”
“Of course. You learned that lesson from your brief stay in the psychiatric hospital. You’ve grown quite a bit since we started this.” And she felt Nye needed to mature more still. That could come with greater responsibility.
Anya smiled at Nye, then took the leader device off her wrist. “It looks like the only way to retrieve Kirin’s watch will be to Travel it from a distance. I’d planned to borrow your watch to multiply the effect of mine, but since you seem to know so much about how the FBI does things, perhaps you should be the one to recover the device.”
Nye looked at the watch Anya was holding with a blank expression. “What do you mean by that?”
“I’m not making you leader. But your own device is useless for Traveling Kirin’s out of FBI hands so I’m lending you this one. And giving you the job of getting it back.” I certainly shouldn’t be trying to handle that task myself, but it’s got to be done.
The girl hesitated for a long moment, staring at the watch before reaching out to take it. “Alright. I accept the challenge. But what about Sam?”
“What about her?”
“A professional killer had that watch—with her picture on it. I don’t know why or what that’s about, but the FBI might. Anyway, I don’t like it.”
Anya sighed. “There’s nothing we can do about Samantha. We don’t have any idea where in space and time she might be. We’ll be blessed if we recover Kirin’s watch and avoid a complete catastrophe. But if you think you can solve that problem too—”
Nye shook her head. “I’m just curious. I wish I had enough time to do all the research I want to do, and now I’ve got to retrieve this errant device. That may not be as simple as you’re making it out. If it’s been what—two weeks or more since that watch has been worn by a living person? It might not have the charge it needs to create a sympathetic field to Travel at all.”
Anya sighed again, deeply. “I’d thought of that, but surely it’s worth a try. If it doesn’t work, I hope you can think of something else that will actually get the job done.” She was especially glad she’d passed on this responsibility now. It would be a relief to go back to Tate and the house in Chickadee.
“And what if it did Travel, while some FBI agent happened to be holding it?”
She could not stop a tiny groan escaping. “Then what will you do?”
Nye lifted her eyes to the ceiling. “I’m going to have to examine this dilemma from a lot of different angles. One thing I’ll have to do is see Mr. Hollingsworth and ask how he might be able to help.”
Anya nodded. “I’ve already talked to him about it, and he’s looking into it.”
Nye lowered her gaze and peered at Anya’s face. “I don’t suppose he recommended skulking around the Federal Building?”
“No, I was definitely acting against advice.”
Nye nodded. “That’s what I thought. Well, Mr. Hollingsworth has been quite useful, and we’re paying him already—so I’ll consult with him right away. What will you do?”
Anya smiled again. “I’m going to go back to my own research. It might get boring, but right now I would be happy with boring. You can still call me if you need my help with anything though.”
“I will. Speaking of which. I need more time—why don’t you let me take the slow path? I can stay here year-round and get more work done.”
“I have no objection. But since I’m lending you my leader device, you’d have to give that back first.”
“Or at the end of the summer, if I haven’t yet recovered Kirin’s watch, I could come to Chickadee to Travel you and Tate to the following summer. And then return on my own.”
“We’ll see, Nye. You’ve got a lot of work to do—focus on that first.” Anya was still this girl’s leader, and that was probably more than she could handle. It was a good thing Tate never needed her help.