Exist Once More

by Trisha Leigh

  Jean, Teach, Jonah, and I stayed at the house. Sparrow and Analeigh went to the place where we’d spotted the Elders on our last trip and Sarah, alone, went to have breakfast in town and keep an eye out. She still had her tattoos and her glasses, after all, so she made the most sense. It also made sense for the strongest four of us to stay behind, because the house was where the fight would take place, but I hated sending Sarah out there alone.

  We would be too far apart to use telepathy to speak, but the wrist comms should work. We’d never tried them in the past, but Sarah said there was no reason they shouldn’t.

  Jonah stood with his back to the front door, looking somber in his heavy, sonic-wave blocking cloak. “Okay, we’re short on time. We know they attack those men in less than two hours. We have only about two hours and ten minutes to get back to the ship and take off before the Council finds and arrests us. We’ve got to take care of them discreetly, but quickly, so if you see them out and about and you have a weapon, take them down.”

  Sparrow and Analeigh had stunners. With the element of surprise they could most likely take out three aging Elders, but getting them back here and hidden would prove a challenge. We needed them to come here, first. For luck to be on our side, just this once.

  I resisted the urge to give my friends hugs as the groups split up, not wanting to give in to the fear that this might be the last time we ever saw each other.

  It wouldn’t be. I refused to think that way.

  As we waited, a million scenarios traipsed through my head. The Elders could return to Sanchi before we could catch them. They could get loose and report us, twist the story before we could figure out the best way to tell the truth. They could be hiding weapons of their own, which they could use to take us out and ensure that everything would go the way they planned. All of this would be for nothing.

  We had one chance. After today, our actions would be part of recorded history, at least at home in the Academy, and the Elders could come back again and skirt our intervention.

  Jonah’s exhaled hiss an hour later said that for once, we were going to get lucky.

  He stepped away from the front window, where he’d been peering through the curtains, and into the dining room with Jean. Teach and I shuffled into the parlor on the opposite side of the door, readying ourselves to enact the ambush we’d discussed.

  The Elders opened the door, stepped into the foyer, closed the door, and then everything happened at once. The entire group was tied up before I had the chance to tell the pirates that there had been a slight hiccup.

  Because the Elders hadn’t been alone.

  One of the people they’d accosted and hog-tied had been a man who belonged in this time and place—a member of President Truman’s cabinet. It was too late now, since they were all in an unconscious heap on the floor.

  Oops. Still, mostly a success.

  The Elders hadn’t had time to do anything but form expressions of almost comical surprise before crumpling to the carpet. And they’d only seen the pirates, not me, which had been our best possible outcome.

  I quickly sent Sarah a wrist comm and told her to grab Analeigh and Sparrow and get back here, then helped the guys drag our victims into the parlor.

  Maude, Rachel, and Zeke. They looked so old and helpless passed out that way, but even though the sight made me sad, I wasn’t sorry to see them out of commission.

  They had chosen to wreck our lives for their own selfish reasons.

  The fourth person was, according to my glasses, General Leslie R. Groves. I pointed at him, my lungs tight. “He’s not one of them.”

  “Yeah, I realize that now, Special K, but there was no time to discuss it.” Jonah ran a hand through his hair, the same chestnut color as mine, as worry crinkled in lines around his eyes. “So what do we do with him?”

  “The Elders were detaining him, so let’s go ahead and assume he needs to get to that Interim Meeting later today to give his two cents about dropping the bomb.” I bit my bottom lip. “And get him up onto the couch. Untie him and take the tape off his mouth. I’ll talk to him when he wakes up.”

  “This is bad, right?” Jean asked, his eyes bright. “I mean, you guys aren’t supposed to meet anyone and be all ‘I’m from the future, listen up.’”

  “Not so much. But I don’t see another option. It’s not like we can toss him out on the street and expect him to go about his day like nothing happened when he wakes up.” I folded my arms, supervising as they hauled the rather imposing man into a seated position in a wingback chair. “I’ll do my best to reassure him without breaking the universe.”

  We weren’t even dressed the part today since we hadn’t expected to encounter any locals and the pirates didn’t own period-specific clothes, anyway. They were wearing a hodgepodge of scavenged items, whatever they could steal or find, and the majority came from the twenty-first century or later. Sarah and I had worn our Kevlar and Analeigh had a dress on that could possibly fit into the forties, if we squinted.

  She’d traded outfits with Sarah before going out. I’d swap with her before they returned to the Anne Bonny and I stayed behind to make sure this guy got to his meeting and the Elders didn’t escape and interfere again.

  A wrist comm came in, nearly startling me to death. It was only from Sarah. Of course.

  Hey, found the others. We’re going to wander for another thirty minutes or so and make sure we didn’t miss anyone.

  I relayed the message to the pirates, who were not pleased about having to stick around any longer than necessary.

  Jonah held up his hand to quiet their protests. “You two go get Sparrow and then go back to the ship, but leave Kaia an extra stunner just in case. Get the Anne Bonny ready so she’s ready to go the second we return. And Teach?”

  The handsome pirate stopped on his way to the door. “Yeah?”

  “If you have to, leave us.”

  “We’re not going to do that, man.”

  “That’s an order.”

  The other pirate paused, a look on his face like he wanted to argue, but in the end he only gave a tight nod. Jean gave Jonah a long look as he handed over his stunner. He didn’t argue either, but it was clear neither guy was happy with their marching orders.

  Pride in my brother’s abilities swelled in my chest as I sent Sarah a comm back to let her know what was going on, hoping she was right about the Council not being able to track our tats in the past.

  Teach and Jean are on their way to collect Sparrow and get back, ready the ship. Come back soon.

  Okay, came the quick response.

  “You don’t have to stay with me,” I told Jonah after a moment of silence. “They’ve never used the cuffs before, so it might be better if you went along.”

  “Maybe.” He grinned, but the worry didn’t leave his eyes. “I know you’re all grown up now and saving the world and everything, but you’re still my kid sister.”

  “It has to be me that stays, Jonah.”

  He gave me a long, appraising look. Like his friends, his expression twisted into a coming argument that never materialized. Instead, he punched me lightly on the arm and smiled again. “If you say so, Special K. Just don’t go leaving me for good.”

  “We’re family, Jonah. We never leave for good.”

  A groan interrupted our moment before we decided whether or not a hug was totally awkward. Thank goodness. It was the scientist, who perhaps was rousing faster because we’d sat him up and made sure he could move his arms and legs.

  I quickly checked the Elders and found them fast asleep, then crouched in front of the man who’d found himself—for the second time that morning, apparently—in the wrong place at the wrong time.

  My clothes were wrong. My tattoos were glowing, unaided by our typical travel process through the Academy portals. There was no hiding what I was, if he looked carefully enough, but I pulled down my sleeves, tugged my hair loose from its ponytail, and put on my best disarming smile.

  Jonah moved away a fe
w paces, within reach and hearing distance but not hovering over me like an intimidating hulk. By the time the man—General Groves—managed to peel his eyes open and keep them that way, all he saw was me.

  “Hi,” I told him, wondering how a time-traveler from the future made herself less arresting. By the widening of his gaze and the way he tried to scramble backward in his chair, I wasn’t doing a very good job. “Calm down, sir. I know you’ve had a bit of a fright this morning, but it’s time for you to get on your way, now. Don’t want to be late for your meeting.”

  His gaze narrowed and he went still, surveying the room, the Elders still splayed out on the floor. “What is the meaning of this? How do you know about the meeting? Are you working for Germany? Japan?”

  “No, sir. I simply…took care of the men who accosted you and brought you inside so you could recover after you fainted. You’re free to go.”

  “Am I?” He glanced down at his wrists, seeming to realize then that he wasn’t bound. Maybe only just remembering that he had been tied, and what had transpired before he’d walked into this house earlier and been stunned out of consciousness.

  Literally.

  “Yes. You really should get going. That meeting is important.”

  “It is, but…I don’t…I don’t like what’s going on here. I’ll have to report it.”

  “And what will you say, I wonder, that won’t sound as if you’ve gone a little off your nut? I promise that if you bring someone back here there won’t be anything to find, and telling crazy tales can’t be good for a man of your standing, can it?” My tack was mean, but we were desperate. I needed to give General Groves every reason in the world to never, ever talk about what happened here this morning.

  It seemed to work, at least after he went over his options in his head for a moment or two. Then he climbed slowly to his feet, gingerly rubbing his wrists and tottering toward the front door.

  “I had a briefcase,” he mumbled, almost to himself.

  “You weren’t carrying it when you came in. Perhaps you dropped it earlier?”

  He didn’t answer, the huff from his chest and the glare shot from the side of his eye making it clear that he was already trying to forget we were in the same room.

  Or the same world.

  Jonah had disappeared entirely, which was for the best. One simple girl was easier to dismiss than a girl and her strange guardians.

  Heaven knew people like General Groves would spend far too many decades dismissing the skills that women could, and did, bring to the table.

  He left, slamming the door behind him. I watched out the window as he hurried down the steps and away, muttering to himself as he straightened his tie and jacket. Jonah stood next to me and we were silent until the man turned and slipped out of sight.

  “I guess that went about as well as could be expected,” my brother commented, his tone dry. “Do you really think he’ll keep his mouth shut?”

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. He might since I’m a girl, and he doesn’t want to seem crazy. I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”

  We kept looking outside at the world our ancestors had left behind. My mind went to the Elders’ plan, and I couldn’t help but wonder what Earth Before would look like now if they’d managed to accomplish their crazy plan. Whether Jonah and I would be normal and happy, going to school or falling in love, spending Sunday dinners with our parents.

  The others trudged up the steps ten minutes later, providing a welcome distraction. They looked tired, but otherwise none the worse for wear. We locked the door after they’d piled into the house. We gathered around the dining room table to debrief for a few minutes, largely because the parlor floor still contained unconscious Elders.

  “We didn’t see anyone else, at least not more Elders,” Analeigh started. “No one that seemed out of place, really.”

  “I didn’t see any other scientists, either,” Sarah added. “But that doesn’t mean they aren’t here.”

  “True. But with no other Elders, hopefully there won’t be any more abductions we didn’t hear about.” I sighed. “Letting these three get to the committee meeting will hopefully be enough to convince Truman to drop the bombs.”

  “What now?” Analeigh looked tired. “Do we just go back? How do we know it worked?”

  “I’m not sure, but I’m going to stay behind and make sure the Elders don’t go anywhere until after the meeting has concluded.”

  “No, Kaia. Let Jonah do it.”

  I shook my head. “Jonah has his own responsibilities on the Anne Bonny. This is my job. I’m doing it.”

  “We established the second rendezvous on Roma,” Jonah reminded them. “We’ll pick Kaia up there in twenty-four hours, figure out a way to verify that the bombs dropped, and then go after the Elders with the evidence we have.”

  No one spoke. No one argued, even though there were so many gaps in our plans we could fall straight through them if things didn’t go exactly right.

  One thing at a time. Detain the Elders. Get back to the Anne Bonny.

  Go witness what we’d done to Hiroshima.

  For some reason, I felt that it was our duty to do so, even though it would be hard. Ugly. Horrifying. Even if we hadn’t done it the first time.

  Truman had done it the first time, but now their blood was on our hands, too.

  Yumi’s blood.

  “Let’s get going,” Jonah continued when no one spoke. “I’d love to get in under that three-hour window just to be safe, and we’ve got a little time to make that happen.”

  “Kaia, you have a weapon?” Analeigh asked, sounding like a nervous mother. “A cuff? You have the coordinates?”

  “Yes, Mother.” I gave her a weak smile, one that would have contained a sarcastic retort in another time and place. “All three. The Elders are still out and we’ve secured them. All I have to do is sit here for a few hours.”

  “I’m going to double check those bonds,” Jonah muttered, walking across the foyer into the other room.

  “Are you sure you don’t want one of us to stay with you?” Analeigh asked, still fretting.

  “I could stay,” Sarah offered. “It might be better, seeing as we’re not sure they can track me here.”

  “That’s a good point,” I hedged. As much as I’d been set on staying alone, on doing my duty, relief flooded at the idea of having help. “Only if you want to.”

  “I’ll stay. It will be better to have two of us in case something goes wrong.” She turned to Jonah as he returned from the parlor. “Grab one of the Elders’ cuffs off the coffee table and use that to get back, okay? I’ll feel better if we both keep one, just in case.”

  We’d taken off their cuffs as a precaution, in case they woke and managed to use them to travel back to the Academy. Jonah didn’t question Sarah, a look of relief passing over his handsome face as he turned to do as she’d asked.

  “You two go,” I said to Analeigh once he’d returned. “We’ll be close behind, don’t worry.”

  And so they did.

  Once they were gone, an eerie feeling settled over this house that wasn’t ours, in a time that didn’t belong to us. Sarah and I stared at each other, presiding over the still forms of the Elders who had once been our teachers.

  They had become our betrayers, and us the avengers of Genesis, even though people were mostly unaware of what had happened. What had changed. How close we had come to destruction.

  All we could do now was hope that we’d done enough. And that the people back home would understand, and forgive us the mistakes made in the process.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  It turned out that even here, in the past, it wasn’t hard to know when another big disturbance hit the timeline.

  The Elders had been awake for a couple of hours, watching Sarah and me with murderous eyes as we all sat in silence. We checked our wrist tats every few minutes, it seemed like, and the hours crept past. I was endlessly glad for the tape over their mouths, since I had no desire to
listen to their baloney.

  How long was Truman’s meeting? When had it started? Had we done what we came here to do?

  Not knowing drove me crazy, and Sarah’s getting up and down, pacing, and picking at her cuticles seemed to indicate the same frustrations curled through her blood.

  Then it happened: a dizzy spell like I’d experienced twice before in the shower. Only this time, instead of things being muddled and wispy, memories slammed into me like bricks flung from the heavens.

  Oz.

  He’d disappeared, along with his father. Someone had assassinated President Truman because he’d decided against dropping the bomb and it must have wiped out their entire family somehow.

  Tears sprung to my eyes, burning and hot. I remembered my dream, how he’d wanted me to remember but I couldn’t.

  No one else had even noticed.

  I put my head between my knees, willing myself to stay conscious. Sarah watched me as if I’d lost my mind, then at the Elders with tape on their mouths and ties at their wrists and ankles, confusion wrinkling her brow.

  Before I could find words, she’d walked over and ripped the tape off Zeke’s mouth.

  “What have you done, you foolish girls?” he spat, his voice scratchy and dry.

  I shot to my feet, still wobbly, still woozy, but mad as all get out. “Fixed what you wrecked,” I snapped. “You erased one of your own in the process, did you know that? Did you mean to?”

  They exchanged surprised glances, but Zeke said nothing. They hadn’t noticed—or had pretended not to—when Elder Truman disappeared. It was more than possible that they, like everyone else, had simply forgotten the family ever existed.

  Why hadn’t I? Not totally, anyway.