“Let’s go back,” I say to Alora. “We still have the Chronobands. It’s only been a few days. How much could we alter the timeline by saving Zed—and maybe a few others?”
Alora doesn’t say anything right away.
But Tara does. “Are you serious? Bridger, you could completely destroy the timeline by doing that. The rules are in place for a reason.”
I look to Elijah for support, but he slowly shakes his head. “She’s right, man. You know I’d give anything to get Zed back. But we can’t change what’s already happened.”
I back away. “No, I don’t believe that. Ellis is planning to change the timeline. If he’s going to save everybody, then why can’t we save Zed?”
Alora has been quiet, but now she speaks up. “I don’t see how going back a few days could hurt. I mean, we shouldn’t only be able to travel to the past to record history or save artifacts. We should be able to change things if they’re really recent.”
Hearing her say that makes me feel more alive than I have in days. “Then let’s go. Now.”
Elijah’s mouth drops open. “Bridger, you can’t do that. And you can’t miss the memorial ceremony.”
I grab Alora’s hand and head toward the rear exit. “This ceremony won’t exist soon.”
I want to break into a run across the grassy area that’s between the main building and the rest of the buildings on campus, but I force myself to walk. I keep looking over my shoulder, but nobody is following us.
“Do you have your Chronoband in your room?” I ask.
“It’s at home, but I can get it.”
“Okay. Get that and the comm-set, and change into your uniform.”
As soon as we enter my quarters, Alora shifts. I race to my room and dress as fast as possible. Right after I finish, Alora reappears next to my bed. Her face is flushed.
“Since we’re shifting from here, we need to go back to at least an hour before the bombs go off to give us time to get downtown.”
“You mean to give you time?” Alora asks.
I take her by the hands. “I know you want to just pop over and do this yourself, but we need to stick together on this one. It’s too dangerous for us to be alone.”
“Then let’s do this,” she says, punching in the destination date on her Chronoband.
I barely have time to do the same before the door to my quarters slides open. Professor March enters, followed by Elijah and Tara.
“You told him?” I ask, feeling my face warm.
Elijah can’t even meet my eyes. “I’m sorry, man, but you can’t do this.”
“Why?” I ask. “We can save them. Don’t you want that?”
“We didn’t want you and Alora to get in trouble. So I thought we should bring Professor March to convince you,” Tara says.
The professor steps past them, hands on his hips. “And it’s a good thing they did. You two need to think about what you’re doing. You might as well throw your lives away if you do this.”
Alora’s brows are creased and she looks from Professor March to me.
“I don’t care anymore,” I say to her. “Let’s do it.”
“No, Bridger, please!” Professor March pleads. “If you do this, I won’t be able to help you this time.”
Even though Dad doesn’t trust Professor March anymore, I know now that the professor cares about me. But now he’s starting to sound like a hypocrite.
“Yeah, sure. It was okay for you to take part in interfering with events just because Anderson ordered you to. Breaking the law is fine if the order comes from a big shot at the DTA.”
The professor’s brow knits. “You know that was different. Anderson knew those events had to take place. What you’re going to do will have unknown consequences.”
“Okay, fine, I get that. You did what you had to do because of orders. But I’ve been talking to a Time Bender from our future who says he’s going to stop a bioweapon attack that’s supposed to happen two days from now. I think Dad is working to help stop it, too. So if they can do that, why can’t I save Zed?”
The look on Professor March’s face is almost comically shocked. “What do you mean? Leithan is dead, Bridger.”
“No he’s not,” I say. “General Anderson had him cloned.”
“That’s not possible,” the professor says, taking a step back.
I glance at Elijah. “Show him the Sim that Ellis gave me. It’s in my portacase.”
“Bridger, what do you want to do?” Alora asks again, glancing toward the door.
Professor March shakes his head. “Bridger, Alora, don’t do this. We need to talk instead. Tell me about Leithan. About the Time Bender from the future. Everything.”
I’m done talking. I’m done having others deciding my fate.
“Now, Alora. Shift!”
33
ALORA
MARCH 30, 2147
As soon as we emerge from the Void, we take off running. It’s weird, thinking that Zed is still alive on this date. I just hope we can reach him in enough time to save him.
It takes us nearly forty minutes to get to the New Denver terminal. We hadn’t taken into account that the transport shuttles to and from the Academy only run at certain times, so Bridger and I had to wait twenty minutes in the shuttle at the Academy’s transport lot, with our cloaks on so no one knew we were in the shuttle. To make it worse, only one other cadet even boarded the shuttle. Most everyone else had already gone to New Denver earlier in the day for the celebrations.
I was about ready to scream. I mean, I could have shifted straight to New Denver and found Zed already, but Bridger did have a point about sticking together.
As soon as the shuttle touches down in New Denver, Bridger jumps out of his seat and pushes past the lone cadet. I almost laugh at his expression. He had no clue that he wasn’t alone.
“If we somehow get separated, meet me at the fountain on the southern side of the square, where the celebrations took place,” Bridger says.
“Okay, but don’t you think that’s too close to where the first bomb exploded?” I ask. The targeted booth—a Purist attraction selling antique jewelry retrieved from the past—was on the right side of the large square, the fountain on the left.
Bridger shakes his head. “It’s far enough away from the blast radius. We’ll be fine.”
The next few minutes are a blur of pushing through I don’t know how many citizens. Their clothes blend together into an endless swirl of color. Somehow I tune out all of their chatter and hear only the sound of my breathing and my feet pounding on the pavement.
Bridger checks his DataLink. “Hurry! It’s about to happen!”
I try to run harder, make myself move faster, but it’s impossible when you’re constantly having to dodge people.
That’s why we’re a block away from the square when the first explosion hits.
I recoil in horror. We’re too late. But still, we keep running.
When we reach the square, Bridger slows to a stop, his mouth parting in surprise.
Everywhere, we see white outlines of people through our comm-sets, indicating cloaked Time Benders. Near the booth that just exploded, several are hunched over some bodies, the outlines of their hands hovering over the foreheads of the dying.
“Bridger, go! We can make it!” I scream.
We take off again, and barely get three steps away before the second blast hits—the one directly across from the first. That means we have thirty seconds to get to Zed. He was killed in the third blast, when the officer shot and killed Jode Lincoln.
But it’s even harder to move now that everyone around us is screaming, shoving, and trying to get away.
“We’re not gonna make it,” I say, tears filling my eyes. It’s not fair. We’re so close.
Bridger ignores me and keeps pushing his way through. It’s only when the third explosion happens that he stops. We stand helpless, staring at the smoky ruins just ahead of us. Cloaked Time Benders are already appearing, uploading the
consciousnesses of more dying Talents. But again, only certain ones.
Why are they doing that?
I can’t help but notice that there is no cloaked Time Bender around the area where I know Zed’s body lies. I let out a choked sob. This is so beyond cruel, having to watch his death again.
Bridger says, in a strained voice, “We can go back again. Let’s go somewhere clear and shift back thirty minutes.”
“I don’t think so,” says a voice from behind us, just as two powerful hands grab my arms.
34
BRIDGER
APRIL 4, 2147
The holding cell I’m in at the DTA building is small. Much smaller than the one I was in last year at The Black Hole. Back when I thought I was going to be Nulled, thanks to General Anderson and his manipulations.
I wonder if Grandma knows what I’ve done. It doesn’t really matter if she does or not. I broke the law, and now I’ll suffer the consequences.
I’m sitting at a table in the room, and I’m shackled with an Inhibitor. There isn’t anything else in here. And I’ve been in here for over an hour. I don’t know what they’re waiting for. Whatever it is, I wish they’d just do it.
So, when the door to the cell finally opens, I feel a slight sense of relief. That is, until I see who it is. The puppet master himself, along with my dad. I’m shocked to see Dad with Anderson. I thought nobody at the DTA was supposed to know that Dad had been cloned.
The last time General Anderson visited me in a cell, he played up the bad-tempered act so I’d completely trust Professor March when he came in afterwards to talk to me. This time, he appears to be much calmer. Dad, though, looks as if he’s been in a fight recently. His hair is messed up, and his right eye is bruised.
“Hello, son,” Dad says calmly, as if everything’s perfectly normal.
“What happened to you?” I ask.
Dad snorts. “Oh, nothing much. Just had a little trouble. Everything’s fine.”
A worried look briefly crosses the general’s face, but then he composes himself and asks, “How are you, Bridger? Are you comfortable?”
I stare at him incredulously. I broke the law, and he wants to know if I’m comfortable?
“What’s going to happen to me?” I ask, looking from Dad to General Anderson. “Am I going to be Nulled for real this time?”
“You’re not going to be Nulled, son,” the general says. “I told you once before, I always take care of my own.”
I cringe, but keep my mouth shut, still wondering what the hell he means by that. In the meantime, maybe I can get some answers out of him. Namely, why did he clone my dad in the first place? What did he gain by doing that? That’s the one thing I could never get Dad to answer.
Before I say anything else, my eyes drift up to one of the cameras in the room.
“Don’t worry about those,” General Anderson says, following my gaze. “I had them turned off.”
That really unsettles me. “Why would you do that?”
General Anderson exchanges an amused look with Dad, but doesn’t answer. He shakes his head and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Bridger, I’ve done so much for you, and yet you keep messing everything up. It’s like you’re deliberately trying to sabotage yourself. How could you even fathom going back and trying to save your friend’s life? He’s dead. He’s never coming back.”
“That’s funny, because you didn’t think twice about having Vika and Dad cloned last year. And there’s the fact that I saw a lot of cloaked Time Benders uploading the consciousnesses of Talents killed in the bombing, But nobody did that for Zed. Why?”
I’m not sure what I expect to hear, but it’s not a chuckle from Dad. “Now we’re getting to the good stuff.”
That’s a punch to my gut. Why would he mock my grief at Zed’s death? This isn’t like Dad at all.
“To answer your question, the Talents we chose to upload at the Unity Day bombing are valuable to us. We simply have to clone their bodies and reanimate them when we need them,” Dad says, now grinning.
The general glares at him. “Enough of that, Leithan.” Turning his attention back to me, he says, “Bridger, you know a lot of things you shouldn’t know. I had your memories erased for a reason. There are some things you can’t know just yet. You’re not ready. All I ask is that you trust me and your father right now. We’re going to take care of you and Shan.”
The door to the cell opens again. This time Grandma enters, looking livid. “Why wasn’t I told before now that my grandson is being held?”
General Anderson waves a dismissive hand at her. “It wasn’t necessary at the time. But now you know.”
Her face turns pale when she notices Dad. For a moment, I think that Grandma might faint. She leans to the side for a second, then squares her feet on the ground. “Leithan?” she asks tentatively.
“I wasn’t expecting a family reunion so soon,” Dad says. “Hello, Mama. I’ve missed you.” He opens his arms wide, like he expects a hug.
Grandma regains her composure lightning fast. Glaring at the general, she asks, “You cloned him? What stabilizer is he using?”
“Clonitin 28.”
“And how is it working?”
“Like a charm,” Dad says. He comes over to stand next to Grandma. “It’s me, Mama. Same memories, almost same body—just a newer model.”
Grandma seems unsure of what to do. “I never thought I’d see you again.”
Her arms twitch, as if she wants to reach out and hug him, but she remains still. Then, looking directly at General Anderson, she asks, “Why did you do this?”
“That’s not necessary for you to know, Judith,” General Anderson says.
“Oh, come on,” Dad says. “This is getting ridiculous.”
The general doubles down, saying, “I will decide when or if I will share that information. Now is not the time.”
“Dad’s right,” I say. “This is ridiculous! I’m sick of everyone saying we can’t know the truth. Just tell us what’s going on!” I’m yelling so hard my voice is strained.
“Don’t,” the general warns Dad.
But Dad ignores him and focuses on me. “The answer is simple. You already know that my mother chose to use a sperm donor in order to have me. What you don’t know is that she was matched with the general. He offered to be a part of my life, but she refused. So, in a nutshell, General Anderson is your grandfather. That’s why he cloned me. That’s why he did all that investigating when I died, why he covered everything up. All because we’re family.” He lets out a crazed-sounding laugh. “Now, are you finally satisfied?”
The rest of the world seems to shrink away. I can’t believe it. All of that elaborate scheming. All of it was because the general wanted to protect my father. His son.
I look up at Grandma, hoping she will deny everything. She doesn’t. She’s too busy glaring daggers in the general’s direction. At least he has the sense to not say anything.
“May I have a few minutes alone with my grandson, sir?”
“Denied,” he replies.
“And may I ask why?”
“Certainly. You’re about to be transported.”
Grandma places her hands on her hips. “I’m not going anywhere, and I won’t allow you to take Bridger, either.”
“Try and stop me, Judith,” General Anderson sneers. “I outrank you, remember? You will go where I say to go.”
I’m practically seeing red now, so I can imagine how Grandma feels.
Dad breaks the tension by clasping his hands together so loudly that the sound reverberates around the room. “Okay, this is getting awkward. I thought our family reunion would be a little less hostile.”
“Where are Mom and Shan?” I ask.
“They’re on the way now,” General Anderson answers. “Or rather, your brother is. I’m not sure what Leithan decided to do with Morgan. I left that up to him.”
“What did you say?” I stand up, ready to hurt the general. I refuse to think of him as my g
randfather.
Dad laughs. Actually. Furing. Laughs. For the first time in my life, I want to punch him.
“She’s fine, son. I went to retrieve Shan, and she didn’t want him to go. I didn’t listen to her.”
“You better not have hurt her!” I shout.
“Are you kidding? She hurt me. Look at this.” Dad points to his injured eye. “It’s gonna be swollen for days.”
I begin to pace. All I can think about is getting away, finding out what happened to them. “I’m not going anywhere with you.”
“You don’t have a choice,” the general says. “In fact, the transport is already here. We really should be going.”
“You never said where you want to take us,” Grandma says.
Dad and General Anderson exchange a look that I don’t like. I stop pacing. This must be the part where they admit that the Purists are planning to detonate the bioweapon.
“You’re going to an underground military base thirty miles north of here,” Dad says.
“Why?”
“Because it’s time for The Cleansing,” Dad says. He’s grinning, as if this is the best news he’s ever shared.
But my stomach sinks. Ellis never said who detonated the bomb, but I figured it would be Purists. But the way Dad said those words leave me with a sick feeling. A cold uncertainty forms in my chest, slowly spreading out to numb me. This can’t be right. Dad is supposed to save innocent people, not kill them. I can only stare at him, blinking, wondering if I heard him correctly. But I know I did.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Grandma asks in a sharp voice.
“That’s none of your concern now,” General Anderson says. He makes like he’s going to leave the room, but Dad rushes ahead and blocks the door. “What are you doing?” the general asks.
“They have to know the truth,” Dad replies, still smiling.
Anderson looks back at Grandma and me before telling Dad, in a more forceful voice, “Now is not the time.”
Dad ignores him and charges on, talking to Grandma and me. “This society is sick. Full of Purists who are nothing but a burden. And now we’ve introduced Dual Talents, who are increasing in number and will one day overthrow us if we don’t stop them. Not to mention regular Talents who support those abominations, and thus are dangerous.”
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