The sun hadn’t yet shown itself over the top of the foothills behind the WaterPure building. Only a faint blue glow tinted the eastern horizon. The misty air from the ocean spray chilled my back. I shivered from the cold or from nerves. Probably both.
Unlike most corporations that housed their offices in the middle of the Oasis financial district, WaterPure had theirs in rooms above the desalination plant where I worked with Dal and Evin in another life. I was glad of that. I preferred to do battle on familiar ground. We had discussed an attack on Petrov outside of WaterPure, but we couldn’t work out a decent plan. His house, which he never seemed to leave without an armed guard, lay like a fortress with more security than the old Fort Knox. Plus, with no discernable pattern, he took a different route to work each day in his bullet-proof car. Since his home and his car were impenetrable, we wound up here, hiding behind large rocks on the beach, the low waves lapping around our words.
“This is as low as the tide is going to be,” Dal said. “First light is in a few minutes. Grease up now.”
We threw our outerwear into the canoes and smeared our bodies with a mixture of beeswax and rosemary oil. Even at the height of summer, the Pacific Ocean was still frigid at about eleven degrees centigrade. The wax wasn’t as good as a wetsuit, but it would offer some protection from the cold.
I couldn’t help stealing glances at Evin as he rubbed the wax on his arms, his neck, his chest, his legs. A cavern of longing opened up in my chest. I hoped I would catch his eye, but he never looked at me. I felt someone else’s stare on me, though. I turned, and sure enough, Lech was watching my every move. He must have noticed where my attention was directed because I caught him stealing glances at Evin, too, probably sizing up the competition. Sadly, there was no competition. I was nothing to Evin.
In the increasing light, the water changed from black to midnight blue. The ocean was our way into WaterPure. Ori had recruited one of the security guards to let us in at a back entrance that was inaccessible by land due to high, jagged rocks that ran from the building’s back wall down to the water on either side. There was less need for guards at the back of the plant since the ocean acted as a natural barrier to intruders. Ten months out of the year, the large swells made the water deadly. We were lucky it was August when swells were at their lowest.
The guns couldn’t withstand the saltwater, so we used the only two canoes we had to keep them dry. The plan was to swim around the rocks, sneak in the back door, take out a few guards that weren’t on Ori’s payroll, and let the rest of our group in through the roof access. Once we distributed the guns, we’d be on our way to Petrov’s office at the front of the building. There wouldn’t be any workers there except Petrov himself with a few guards. He arrived early and left early, as if he didn’t want to associate with the plant workers. It made me wonder why he didn’t insist they have their offices in the financial district after all.
When it was light enough, we made our way over to the rocky shore. I stuck close to Evin, hoping that if I stayed close, maybe he’d get used to it. Maybe it would feel natural. Maybe he’d remember. I knew I wasn’t being realistic. Only the Marks that changed the past could remember the old timelines. Except for me. I remembered a timeline that Evin changed when Nile piggybacked his Memory Visit. I knew it was a long shot, but I kept wishing that Evin might have that same ability.
“A boat, a boat, my kingdom for a boat!” Lech shouted and then laughed at his own joke.
“Dal and I will go first with the guns,” Ori said. “My guard will recognize us. You three follow after.”
“You a good swimmer, Rain?” Lech asked.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said without looking at him. I gripped the mushy sand with my toes as the freezing water tickled my ankles. A tiny white shell with a chip at the edge floated around my instep. Then the water receded, taking the shell with it and sucking the sand from underneath my feet with a loud slurping sound.
“I remember swimming with you when we were little,” Evin said. “You were pretty good.” His friendly tone took me by surprise. All of my senses were attuned to his voice, which seemed to pull my entire body toward him. I dug my toes into the sand to stay rooted.
“But you haven’t lived in Oasis since you were ten,” Lech said. “There aren’t many pools in NorCoast.”
“I swam in the ocean,” I said. Since the WaterPure desalination plant was on the coast, I swam regularly before or after work, depending on my schedule. I used a wetsuit that made the cold temperatures more bearable. At the time, I felt like I was preparing for something. Maybe I was preparing for this.
“Good, because this isn’t going to be easy,” Lech said. We watched as Dal’s and Ori’s heads bobbed out past the rocks. The canoes rocked dangerously side to side. The key to ocean swimming was knowing when to exert yourself and when to relax and let the currents do the work. I could see how an impatient guy like Lech might have a problem with this. He started to wade into the water, his giant stature and long hair making him look like Poseidon himself. All he was missing was a trident.
“Don’t let him scare you,” Evin said, watching Lech. Then he chuckled. “Sorry, that must have sounded patronizing. If his gun to your head doesn’t scare you, I doubt a little cold water will.”
“I can’t say I’m scared of the water, but I am not looking forward to this,” I said with a chuckle.
“Me, either.” He took a look behind us. “Well, it’s getting lighter out. We better get in there before someone sees us from the parking lot.”
The freezing water climbed up to my calves. I cringed but kept walking. As the water rose higher up my legs, my muscles tightened. NorCoast was never this cold.
“Damn, this feels like an ice bath,” Evin said, his breaths coming in short gasps.
“Keep moving or your muscles will cramp,” I offered. Ten meters in front of us, Lech dove under a small swell. He emerged floating on his back, blowing a spout of water like a whale.
“I’m going under,” I said. “I can’t stand this slow torture.” I dropped down on my knees, immersing myself up to my neck, the frigid water taking my breath away. Even though the ocean was relatively calm, a small incoming wave still managed to knock me back onto my hands. Salt water sprayed my face, stinging my eyes and making my nose run. Sniffing and sputtering, I struggled to regain my balance. Evin grabbed my elbow to pull me up. Another wave made him stumble, but he was able to recover quickly still hanging onto my arm.
“Okay,” I said. “That wasn’t too smart.”
“Well, you had the right idea. You just executed a little too soon. Here comes another one.” We bounded through the water, the receding tide pulling us out toward the swells. Right before the next wave broke, we dove through and emerged together on the other side. Our feet touched the sandy bottom, but the water was up to our chest now. With the salt making us buoyant and the current tugging at our bodies, it was easier to float than to walk. I pulled my knees up so my feet wouldn’t drag in the sandy bottom.
“One more wave, and we’ll be past the breakers,” I said. A large swell rose in front of us, obscuring the horizon. We dove under.
“Hurry up,” shouted Lech, who was treading water a few meters ahead of us.
We were far enough out to see around the rocks to where Ori and Dal were pulling the canoes onto the beach. Directly in front of them stood a giant steel wall with huge glass windows on the second floor. The first floor was solid steel except for a lonely little door right in the middle.
“We need to swim parallel to the shore, just past the rocks, and let the waves bring us back in,” I said.
“Got it,” Evin said.
Lech had already started his freestyle, with Evin and I following close behind. It was a short swim, but my chilled, spasming muscles didn’t make it easy. A slimy strip of kelp knotted itself around my ankle. I scraped it off with my other foot and kept kicking. Lech decided not to wait for a wave and swam toward the beach where Dal and Ori were waiting.
Evin and I reached our mark and faced the horizon. Evin’s hand brushed my arm as we swayed in the water. With nothing but deep-blue ocean as far as we could see, it felt like we were all alone in the world. Even the cold couldn’t keep me from wanting to stay out here with Evin, forever.
“Here comes a big one,” Evin said. His voice was tight from either the cold or nervousness.
“Have you done this before?” I asked.
“Not since I was little,” he said, a smile brightening his eyes. He wasn’t nervous. “You?”
I had to think for a minute. “Just last week,” I said.
Was that for real? How was it possible to have a memory of body surfing from a week ago that never happened until I altered events in a Memory Visit I took yesterday? A Memory Visit that erased everything I had worked so hard for. I was able to save Evin and Dal, but not the relationships I had with them. I missed them. They were right here with me, but Dal wasn’t the brother I knew, and Evin wasn’t my boyfriend.
I swore that if this plan worked, if killing Petrov ended WaterPure’s reign of terror, then I would never take another Memory Visit for as long as I lived. I was sick of having my life deleted over and over again only to be replaced by a life that tore me away from the ones I loved.
Evin nudged my arm under water and nodded to the swell on the horizon.
“That wave promises a fun ride to shore,” he said, his eyes shining.
“Okay, it’s all about the timing,” I said, shaking off the depressing thoughts of a moment before. “Turn around, and I’ll tell you when to start swimming.”
I waited until the swell was almost on top of us. “Go!” I yelled. Evin took off in a sprint, his feet kicking water in my face. I was right behind him, my strokes a little slower. Too slow. I missed the wave, but not Evin. He rode it perfectly to shore where it broke into cascading white foam, sending him tumbling onto the beach next to Lech. Lech gave Evin a playful punch on his arm as he lay sprawled on the sand, laughing and snorting salt water from his nose. Dal was enjoying the show, too. I think I even saw a smile on Ori’s face. It felt like we were kids on a summer vacation, not assassins there to kill someone.
By the time I laboriously paddled to shore, the rest of them were dressed and had their guns. Dal handed one to me, an automatic this time. I had practiced with one before we left camp, but the thing still made me nervous. My aim was bad to start with, and the recoil made it worse. I could cause a lot more damage with this than I could with a regular gun. What if I accidentally shot someone on our side? It seemed the only way to avoid a friendly fire incident would be to take the lead. Only bad guys in front of me then.
We loaded up a bag of six more guns for Trinity, Tule, Honey, Hanna, Kern, and Bitan, who were waiting on the roof. We huddled around Ori, who explained the guard had already disappeared after leaving the door unlocked for us. All we needed to do was head down the hallway about twenty meters until we saw a stairwell on the left. The stairs would lead us up to the roof where we could open the door to let the others in.
“The guard obscured the lens on the security cameras out here, in the hall, and on the roof, so we’re out of sight until we enter the second floor,” Ori said. “There shouldn’t be any guards on the staircase. Once we get everyone in from the roof and exit the stairwell on the second floor, there will be two guards next to Petrov’s office. When the security cameras spot us, a small army will be on its way. Keep your eyes open and fire at will!”
I imagined keeping my eyes closed while firing at will. I might have better luck that way. Ori opened the heavy door into a wide hallway with windowless solid steel walls and only two other doors—the steel security door at the end of the hallway leading directly to the plant and the stairwell door twenty meters ahead on the left. So far, so good.
We clanked up the metal stairs, past the second floor, to the roof access. When Ori pushed on the release bar, the door opened a crack and stopped. She gave it a hard shove. It barely budged. Lech joined her on the third push, throwing all of his weight into it. The door opened with such force that Lech and Ori stumbled onto the roof where a small crowd of people waited for us.
They weren’t our people.
Our people were on the ground.