CHAPTER EIGHT

Pris and Gabe headed to the Precinct One Tactical Briefing Room One while Rista reported to her squad room. Walking in they found the room empty except for Gloria. "Where is everyone?" Pris asked.

"Tac Two going over the mundane stuff related to planning a building breach. Meanwhile, I need to brief you two on some of that pesky top secret stuff we all hate." She activated the room's main viewer. Hundreds of financial documents appeared. "Gabe, back when you saved Orta, your daughter, Saffron, did some digging and found all this," she said while waving her hand at the big screen.

"And this is?" Pris asked.

"Zoe Muntz's financial records detailing her latest project: time travel."

"I thought time travel was impossible."

"That's the cover story. In reality, it is very possible. We even have a name for the science: temporal mechanics. The hard part is actually moving matter through time. According to these documents and a lot of other data we've been able to pull from the dark InterWeb, Dr. Muntz has figured out a way of doing just that: moving matter through the time stream."

"Wait, she can go forward or back in time?"

"Yes. She manipulates chronons and tachyons to influence an objects position in the time stream."

"So, how does this help us find Zoe?"

“Spill over. I took a chance that Dr. Muntz is still in the habit of cutting corners, so I reprogrammed a weather satellite to look for chrono radiation. It found a hotspot about 200 clicks north of here. Anne's quantum spin signature is also present at that location."

Gabe looked at Pris, then Gloria. "You just happened to have a weather satellite that could be reprogrammed to detect a new form of radiation. How long have you known about this time travel crap, Doctor? Look, even with the nanorobots coursing through my bloodstream, I’m nowhere near being a genius. All I've got are my cop instincts, and they're telling me that there is something definitely rotten in Denmark, so why don't you make my life easier by telling me what the hell is going on?"

"Gabe!" Priscilla said having had enough. "How about we focus on saving our family and Anne, hmmm?"

"So, you're in on it as well? And neither of you are going to tell me what is really going on?"

Gloria looked down at her shoes. "We can't, so I guess you'll just have to trust us."

"Fine," he said. "What next?"

She tapped her earcomm. "This is Gloria. We're set. Got it." She tapped the comm to end the call. "The Earth president and the League council have declared a state of emergency. We are go for an extraction."

"We, Doc? You're a civvie, remember?"

"Special circumstances. I'll be in the thick of things on this op. Let's go."

###

While the SWAT team prepared to storm the farmhouse, Gabe transformed into his camo stryker form and surveyed the area around the stronghold using several passive and active sensor systems.

"Camo?" Pris asked. She ran her hand over it. "I like it."

"Yeah, Gloria helped me access the skin controls. Now, I have a whole color and pattern pallet to choose from. "

"Find anything?"

"Well, the building is a trap. There are no labs, equipment, or people inside, just a large bomb buried in a wall at the building's center."

"Dammit, I knew it was too easy. So, where the hell's the source of the chronon radiation?"

"You're standing on it," Gabe replied casually while pointing to the ground. "My scans indicate an underground complex spanning several acres to a depth of two hundred feet." His hand darted out and grabbed something next to Pris. "Shut it down or I start disconnecting things."

A young woman appeared as her stealth field collapsed. "Taz sent me, dammit. Let go!" Gabe dropped her. "Brute!" she spat out while straightening her clothes.

"Interesting. Who are you?" Gabe demanded.

"Stella Muntz, and before you ask, I'm Zoe's cousin."

"So, what does old Taz want?" Gabe asked referring to one of Zoe's scientists.

"He needs to talk to you. It's urgent. He thinks Zoe's gone way off the deep end. Something about changing the past."

He looked over at Pris. "I need to do this."

"Not alone. I'm sending in an officer with you."

"I'll go," Rista said.

"No!" Pris and Gabe replied.

"With all due respect, I am a fully trained officer of Earth Security, and I volunteer for the assignment."

"Yoh, this is not the time for a family moment!" Stella reminded them.

"Fine! Go, but I expect you two to remain in one piece. Got it?"

"Yes, ma'am," they replied.

"Stella, get them inside safe or I will land on you like a pallet of bricks, got it? "

"Why the hell are you picking on me? I'm just the plarking messenger..." She saw the look on Pris' face. "Fine, Yes, they will be safe, OK?"

"Get out of here," she told the three, "while I brief the troops."

Gabe retracted his armor and kissed his wife. "Try not to worry," he said as he returned to camo stryker form. Rista took her turn hugging her mom before following Gabe and Stella into the night.