campus, I can breathe without feeling like a shuttle is sitting on my chest.
We set out across the grassy area behind the main building and take a seat on the nearest bench. I stare at the flowerbed across from us. It’s full of pink, yellow, and purple flowers. Whatever they are, Vika always liked them.
“So what’s been going on with you?” Zed asks. “You haven’t answered any of my comms.”
“Yeah, mine either,” Elijah says.
I quickly explain all the drama with Mom and how she took away my DataLink. I leave out the part where Shan let me borrow his. I wasn’t exactly in the mood to talk to anybody.
“Have I told you before how I really feel for you?” Elijah asks. “Because I do, man. Your mother is impossible.”
“Truth,” Zed says. He pats me on the back. “But at least you’ve got us. Now doesn’t that make you feel better?”
“A little,” I reply, looking from him to Elijah. Worry is written on their faces. The tight smiles, the concern in their eyes.
Sunlight glints off my DataLink, drawing my attention. I want to show them what I found. I can trust them. Still, I hold back. I don’t know why. Probably because what Dad asked me to do is illegal. Or it could be because I haven’t figured out who asked Dad to save the ghost in the first place. Or if he even went back to 2013. I could be wasting time fooling around with this.
This leads me to another question that’s been bothering me. If he did an illegal shift to 2013, was that when he died? General Anderson said Dad’s last mission was classified. What if that’s just a cover? The DTA might not even know the truth themselves. That would explain why the general questioned me himself in the exam room.
I have only one way to find out the truth.
I have to go back to 2013 to see for myself.
The rational part of me screams in protest. If I’m caught, my time-bending career will be over. I’d most certainly receive a nulling sentence.
I jump when Zed asks, “Are you okay, Bridger?”
“I think so,” I say, and before I change my mind, I spill the truth. If I’m going to do this, I’ll need help. I don’t tell them where the ghost chick was from or the exact year she lived in. If the DTA ever found out, whatever Dad was planning would be ruined.
Both are them are speechless.
Elijah manages to say, “Man, I don’t know. Do you think it’s a good idea to shift by yourself? And where are you going to get a Chronoband?”
“I could do a free shift.”
“Oh, hell no,” Zed says, shaking his head. “You know what could happen.”
He’s got me there, but that’s something I’ll have to risk. Before Chronobands were developed, Time Benders could only free shift. That meant utilizing the gene that allows us to manipulate time without the benefit of a device to deliver us to a specific time and date. Time Benders would arrive hours or even days before or after their intended target. Dad used to say with enough training we could learn to accurately free shift, but the Department of Temporal Affairs would never allow it. They prefer us dependent on their technology.
“What about your inquiry? Do you want to get permanently kicked out?” Elijah asks.
I want to argue, but everything they say is right. I have too much to lose if I’m caught. But how can I go forward with my life when Dad asked me to do this?
Voices drift across the green from the direction of the main building. The group from the memorial ceremony is moving outside. Colonel Fairbanks and the rest of Vika’s family are in the lead. If Vika had a father, he would have been at the head of the procession with her mom. But Vika never knew who he was. Colonel Fairbanks used a sperm donation from an anonymous Time Bender to conceive her. I let out a sigh, remembering how much that used to bother Vika. She once tried to research who her biological father was, but her mom found out and had the records permanently sealed. That pissed Vika off so much.
The group
We set out across the grassy area behind the main building and take a seat on the nearest bench. I stare at the flowerbed across from us. It’s full of pink, yellow, and purple flowers. Whatever they are, Vika always liked them.
“So what’s been going on with you?” Zed asks. “You haven’t answered any of my comms.”
“Yeah, mine either,” Elijah says.
I quickly explain all the drama with Mom and how she took away my DataLink. I leave out the part where Shan let me borrow his. I wasn’t exactly in the mood to talk to anybody.
“Have I told you before how I really feel for you?” Elijah asks. “Because I do, man. Your mother is impossible.”
“Truth,” Zed says. He pats me on the back. “But at least you’ve got us. Now doesn’t that make you feel better?”
“A little,” I reply, looking from him to Elijah. Worry is written on their faces. The tight smiles, the concern in their eyes.
Sunlight glints off my DataLink, drawing my attention. I want to show them what I found. I can trust them. Still, I hold back. I don’t know why. Probably because what Dad asked me to do is illegal. Or it could be because I haven’t figured out who asked Dad to save the ghost in the first place. Or if he even went back to 2013. I could be wasting time fooling around with this.
This leads me to another question that’s been bothering me. If he did an illegal shift to 2013, was that when he died? General Anderson said Dad’s last mission was classified. What if that’s just a cover? The DTA might not even know the truth themselves. That would explain why the general questioned me himself in the exam room.
I have only one way to find out the truth.
I have to go back to 2013 to see for myself.
The rational part of me screams in protest. If I’m caught, my time-bending career will be over. I’d most certainly receive a nulling sentence.
I jump when Zed asks, “Are you okay, Bridger?”
“I think so,” I say, and before I change my mind, I spill the truth. If I’m going to do this, I’ll need help. I don’t tell them where the ghost chick was from or the exact year she lived in. If the DTA ever found out, whatever Dad was planning would be ruined.
Both are them are speechless.
Elijah manages to say, “Man, I don’t know. Do you think it’s a good idea to shift by yourself? And where are you going to get a Chronoband?”
“I could do a free shift.”
“Oh, hell no,” Zed says, shaking his head. “You know what could happen.”
He’s got me there, but that’s something I’ll have to risk. Before Chronobands were developed, Time Benders could only free shift. That meant utilizing the gene that allows us to manipulate time without the benefit of a device to deliver us to a specific time and date. Time Benders would arrive hours or even days before or after their intended target. Dad used to say with enough training we could learn to accurately free shift, but the Department of Temporal Affairs would never allow it. They prefer us dependent on their technology.
“What about your inquiry? Do you want to get permanently kicked out?” Elijah asks.
I want to argue, but everything they say is right. I have too much to lose if I’m caught. But how can I go forward with my life when Dad asked me to do this?
Voices drift across the green from the direction of the main building. The group from the memorial ceremony is moving outside. Colonel Fairbanks and the rest of Vika’s family are in the lead. If Vika had a father, he would have been at the head of the procession with her mom. But Vika never knew who he was. Colonel Fairbanks used a sperm donation from an anonymous Time Bender to conceive her. I let out a sigh, remembering how much that used to bother Vika. She once tried to research who her biological father was, but her mom found out and had the records permanently sealed. That pissed Vika off so much.
The group
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