by Wesley Chu
The Frankenstein nearly collided into them when it finally reached their location. James had to move the group out of its way, lest they get smashed. They got into the ship through the hatch with what James estimated was less than thirty minutes of levels to spare on his bands. Maybe an hour if he had jettisoned that punk Cole.
He had decided early during their time sharing body heat that he detested the young ex-chronman, which shouldn’t have been surprising, since he was Levin’s flesh and blood. The two apples must have grown from the same branch. If anything, Cole was an even bigger asshole than his uncle. He had a chip on his shoulder and was unpleasant to be around. At least with Levin, you knew what you were getting with his arrogant sense of righteousness. Cole was just an angry young man who faulted anyone and everyone for his problems, and generally was only looking out for himself. The boy could not be trusted.
The three of them stumbled out of the compression chamber and collapsed onto the deck of the collie, sucking in air as they tried to regain feeling in their frozen fingers and toes. James rolled onto his back and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to will the splitting brain freeze out of his head. His vision was blurry, but he could tell Grace was huffing down at him.
“This tub handles like a nightmare!” she yelled, nudging him with her foot.
“Great to see you, too.” He sat up, groaning. The three of them had taken to staying as still as possible to conserve energy, and now his joints were protesting their intended use. “I told you to get some practice before I left, but you said you were going to be fine.”
“I was fine,” she snapped, “until I had to move this unwieldy cow around a sea of flying rocks.”
“You mean there’s more to flying a ship then plotting courses and going straight?” James allowed a grin to appear on his face.
Grace looked like she was about to hit him, but then she threw her arms around him. “I didn’t think I was going to make it in time.”
Her show of affection and concern surprised him. James sat there awkwardly, unsure of how to react. Her body was shaking; she must have been really worried. He reached up and patted her on the back. “There, there.”
Grace pulled away and the High Scion was back in an instant. “Don’t patronize me, pet. Just because you’ve seen me naked doesn’t mean we’re on equal footing. I’m still the—”
“Wait, what?” Levin exclaimed, looking indignant. “You slept with her? You sacrilegious bastard.”
“It was for a job,” James muttered in a low voice.
“Best he’s ever had,” Grace said smugly. She looked over at Cole. “Who’s the boy?”
Cole stood up. “Who are you calling a boy, old hag?”
Levin got to his feet and bristled. “Watch your mouth around the Mother of Time.” He turned to Grace. “Apologies. This is my nephew, Cole.”
Grace looked Cole up and down. “You two were in prison together? Certain habits must run in your family.”
“You could say that,” Levin said dryly.
Cole’s eyes widened at the mention of the Mother of Time, and he looked her up and down as well. Then, with a shrug, he walked to the back and to find the food locker. A few seconds later, he appeared with an armful of rations. He gave them all a sullen scowl and then went into one of the side rooms.
“That young man could use some manners, or a spanking,” Grace observed.
“Prison obviously didn’t help with rehabilitation,” said James.
“It’s been a difficult few months for him,” said Levin.
“Not for you though, right, Levin? You haven’t changed a bit,” said James.
Grace waved them both off. “Let’s get down to business. Levin, you have me to thank for your freedom.”
Levin stood up. “Thank you for saving us, Mother of Time.”
“Don’t thank me yet. I intend to put you to good use. You are going to be our new salvager.”
“From auditor to pirate salvager,” Levin mused. “This story just gets better and better.”
“Not a pirate but a crusader. You are being recruited by those of us who wish to cure the Earth Plague and save the planet.”
“It’s still illegal jumps, no matter how rosy you’re painting the picture.”
“Hardly. Pirating is much more profitable. This will be more rewarding.”
“Can I say no?”
“Of course you can. James can also throw you out off the ship, but neither of you boys will do such things, will you? You need us as much as we need you. You have an inherent desire to keep the chaos at bay. You want a cause to believe in and fight for. You thought ChronoCom was your tool to maintaining that order, but then you looked under the hood. That’s the real reason you chose to go to prison, wasn’t it? You didn’t want to be part of the corruption. Let us provide you with purpose again.”
Levin grunted. “All you had to do was say no. I already assumed this is what you were breaking me out for.”
“Good. I’m glad we’re on the same page, because you’re jumping as soon as we reach Venus next week.”
Levin shrugged. “All right then.”
“You’ve already found a mark?” James asked.
Grace nodded. “I’ve been putting that chron database access hack to good use. Found just the candidate for us. I actually knew of the old man. One of the best inventors to have ever lived. He was a great military inventor, a creative genius, and a mediocre doctor.”
James frowned. “How does that make him a good candidate if he’s a garbage doctor?”
“There’s a lot of variables involved in determining jumps,” Grace said. “You know that. With the time frame we’re working with, I found someone who was dying roughly around Venus’s current orbit and rotation, one we can detour to on the way back to Earth. He’ll be a good pick because he will also be useful to Elise’s research as well as the Elfreth. And he’s a doctor. The only catch is that he’s just not a very good one.”
“Wait a minute,” said Levin. “You want me to pick up a person?”
“This is my sister we’re talking about,” James said. “I’d prefer we skip all the other accolades and focus on the doctor part of the equation.”
Grace scoffed. “Well, he’s who we’re retrieving, unless you want to spend sixty hours querying the damn chron database to find a better subject. Be my guest.”
“Stop,” said Levin.
“He really is our best choice?” James pressed.
“He’s our only choice,” said Grace. “Trust me, pet, he’ll be fine. This will all work out for the best.”
“Fine, I trust you.” James turned to Levin. “I hope you’re not too rusty.”
Levin moved in between them and put his hands out. “I’m not doing this jump.”
Both of them looked at him quizzically.
“What happened to not saying no?” James asked.
“I will bend my morals for this higher goal and salvage for you, but I will not break the Time Laws, especially the first one. That’s where I draw the line. I won’t bring anyone back from the past.”
Grace’s hands curled into claws and she scratched the air in frustration. “Always those fucking Time Laws. I wrote those damn things. Can everyone stop throwing that shit back into my face?”
“What good are you, then?” James grabbed Levin by the collar and pushed him up against the wall. “My sister is sick, you asshole. You’re going to help me cure her, or you will find yourself on the other side of that airlock.”
Levin’s face didn’t change, and he kept his hands folded in front of his chest. “Don’t threaten me, James. It didn’t work when you were a chronman. It won’t work now.” He looked over at Grace. “You want me to do your dirty work? Fine, but it’ll be on my terms. Take it or leave it.”
“We’ll take it,” Grace said. “Let him go, James. We’ll find someone else.”
“You said he was our only choice.”
“He is, but we’ll find another way.”
Somethin
g in James snapped. After weeks of not being able to find a doctor, and then being offered this glimmer of hope, only to have it thrown away, his frustration boiled over and he slammed his fist against the wall, sending a reverberating ring across the entire ship. He forced himself to step away from Levin before he did something permanent that he might regret in the future.
After twenty years of grief and guilt, the universe had given his sister back to him, only to force him to watch her slowly waste away. James felt like the entire world was against him, was mocking him. Well, fuck the universe. Screw them all; he wasn’t going to stand by and let it happen. Not again. He’d die before they took his sister from him again.
James inhaled, held his breath, and slowly let the air escape through his nostrils. He turned and looked at them both. “I’ll go.”
“You can’t. You’ll die,” said Grace. “I won’t allow it.”
“I’m not needed anymore.” He gestured at Levin. “You have your salvager now. I’m expendable.”
She shook her head. “You’re not expendable. What about Elise? You’re going to abandon her in the present?”
That hurt him. James had promised to protect Elise no matter what. She was the one person in his life other than his family whom he ever loved. However, Elise had the Elfreth now. She had Grace and now Levin and others to watch over her. Sasha had James. She’d always had only him, ever since their mother had died. He had let her down once; he wasn’t going to let it happen again.
“My mind is made up,” he said. “I can’t think of a worthier way to sacrifice my life. If I make it back, then great. If I don’t, then it’s in a higher power’s hands. Please watch over my sister.”
Grace shot Levin a glare. “And you’re going to let this happen?”
Levin’s expression did not change. “Every man must make decisions in his life that defines who he is and what he stands for, even if it costs him everything. I have already done so.” He walked toward the back supply room, and stopped just as he was about to pass James. Levin put a hand on James’s shoulder. “You do what you must. I will do the same. Godspeed.”
TWENTY
FIRST ALLIES
Two more days.
Elise couldn’t sleep, which should have been weird, because she was always bone-weary these days. The past eight days had been a godsend for the Elfreth. The Flatirons had given them two floors of the All Galaxy Tower, and the tribe had taken full advantage of the respite to recover from their long journey. However, with the knowledge that they had to be back on the road soon, it had been anything but restful for Elise.
As the Oldest, she still had a million things to do every day: managing the daily issues of the tribe, checking to see if her research was still intact, making sure Sasha wasn’t getting any worse. The weight of the world seemed to rest on her small shoulders, and Elise was just getting tired of trying to hold everything up.
Two more days.
She tossed and turned on a tattered, lumpy couch in an old office. In forty-eight hours, the Flatirons wanted them gone. Tomorrow was going to be a busy and sad day. The Elfreth would have to start packing again. It was a shame.
The two tribes had gotten along fairly well, though most of the time, the Elfreth were quarantined to the floors given them. The entrances were guarded at all times, though after a few days, the Flatirons relaxed their vigilance and began to trade goods and mingle.
She had initially hoped that this growing trust would allow her to negotiate with Teacher Crowe to let them stay a few more days, but so far, he had been adamant about enforcing their ten-day stay. She didn’t blame him. One extension could lead to another, and before anyone realized, it could become a permanent stay, and the Flatirons were not willing to double the size of their population out of charity, even though they had more than enough space on the upper floors. The Mist Isle tribes jealously guarded their territories.
She pulled the thin blanket over her head as the guardian on watch banged the nightstick, letting the rest of the tribe know not only the time but that they were being watched over. It might not make as much sense to keep watch now that they slept within the safety of the walls of the All Galaxy Tower, but Franwil insisted they keep as many of their traditions as possible. Elise agreed. Especially with their current state, their past was the only thing they could cling to. Who knew what the future was going to bring.
Sounds of stomping and shouting came from the lower level. Elise’s quarters were near the stairwell at what used to be a set of elevator banks, so sound was often carried far up the shaft. She turned over. This was the second time these late-night noises had occurred. Was something going on down there?
It was times like this she missed James at her side. She prayed to Gaia he was all right. What was that man up to? Was he on his way back to her now? She squeezed her eyes shut and thought of his face; that scruffy face of his. One of these days, she would have to ask Grace to reinvent an electric shaver. That was what she was going to ask for, for Christmas. Well, whenever that was. No one seemed to know what date it was anymore.
The shouting below got louder. Elise sighed and sat up. It wasn’t like she was getting much sleep anyway. She got off the couch, threw on her shoes, and made her way to the stairwell.
She knocked on the stairwell door. “It’s Elise.”
The door swung open and she greeted Nayad, the Flatirons fight, as their warriors were known, who was guarding the Elfreth’s entrance. Right now, she was more doorman than guard. The first few days, she had guarded the Elfreth vigilantly, wearing full body armor and carrying an old shotgun. Now, she wore a loose shirt and pants, and the shotgun leaned against the wall.
“Oldest.” Nayad bowed. “Is there something I may help you with?”
“What’s all that racket downstairs?” she asked.
“A raid against the building. This time on the east.” She shook her head. “In all my years as a fight, I have not seen so many raids.”
Elise was puzzled. “Another? How many times do you get raided?”
“Almost nightly. Entire tribes. They have increased in frequency lately. Wait, you cannot go there right now. It’s too dangerous.”
Nayad called after Elise as she took off down twenty-two flights of stairs to the thirty-fourth floor, where all the barricades and bridges connected to the building, and aptly named the barricade floor. When she exited the stairwell, her mouth dropped. The entire floor was alive with activity. There was a makeshift triage in the center of an open area—the actual infirmary was one level higher—and armed people dashing back and forth down the main hall. On the north end, a cluster of them huddled at the base of the barricade. She also saw several Flatirons sprint toward the east.
Elise grabbed a boy carrying a stack of spears. “What’s going on?” she asked.
“Double raid,” he replied, and then ran off.
“Double…” Elise turned and sprinted toward Teacher Crowe’s office. She found Crowe surrounded by his group of closest advisers hunched over a ripped blueprint of the building. The guard manning the door blocked her way, but she could hear the Teacher speaking.
The attack was coordinated. It had hit the north side first, pulling the guards’ attention away from the other barricades. Then it had hit one of the east bridges fifteen minutes later. The second attack had broken through and taken much effort to push back. Casualties were high.
Elise seized this chance. “Teacher Crowe.”
One of the military leaders, a mean one who was adamantly against extending the Elfreth’s stay, noticed her standing at the door and scowled. He stalked toward her and slammed the door in her face.
Outraged, Elise banged her small fist on the thick wooden frame. There was a loud crash to the side, and she saw a few of the Flatirons fights on the parapet of the north barricade fall off. More ran to reinforce the faltering forces. She hammered on the door more insistently. The door opened and the scowling jerk who had shut it in her face caught her wrist as her fist flew tow
ard him.
“The Flatirons are busy, floor vulture.” That was the derogatory term used in the downtown area for the tribes who did not live or hold any floors in the buildings.
“Don’t touch me, asshole,” she snapped, trying to pull away.
“Let the Oldest in, Maanx, and show some manners.”
“Yes, Teacher.” Maanx reluctantly stood to the side.
Crowe’s advisers parted ways as she hurried in. “You’re under attack on two fronts, and your casualties are climbing.”
“That news was not worthy of interrupting our planning, Oldest,” Crowe said with an entirely straight face.
“Let me send in the Elfreth guardians.”
“Teacher,” Maanx said, “The street vultures should not be with weapons on our floors! They cannot be trusted.”
“Look at what you’re facing, Crowe,” she said. “If you don’t get backup and you lose containment of the barricades, you could lose the floor. You lose the floor, you might lose the entire building.”
Crowe leaned toward Maanx, and the two had a heated whispered discussion. He turned to Elise. “We will allow fifty of your guardians to assist with the east barricade. How many more days are you asking to stay for this help?”
She was tempted to ask for another week. Instead, she took a risk. “Let’s call it a freebie this time around.”
He nodded. “Maanx will go with you.”
Elise sprinted out of the room and made her way back up the stairs with Crowe’s military officer at her side. She had a hard time keeping up with him as he took the stairs three steps at a time. His face wore a perpetual scowl. She reminded herself that the young man had influence over the Flatirons’ leader. Elise was huffing and puffing by the time they reached the first Elfreth floor. Nayad got out of their way as Elise went to pull the door open. She had opened it just a smidgeon when Maanx slammed it shut again.
“I don’t trust you, street vulture,” he said in a low voice. “Do not try anything. My fights will be watching your guardians. Do not try anything wicked and evil.”