Erasing Time

by C. J. Hill

  He’d kept it hidden in a drawer, forgotten, until the Dakine killed his brother. Then he’d added a new feature to it: a signal-jamming detector. If the sensor ever lost all signals, it would vibrate to let him know Dakine assassins were near.

  Echo wore it clipped onto the inside of his belt next to two other illegal devices, which he’d spent the last month building: a lock disabler and a laser disrupter.

  Echo hadn’t needed the lock disabler to sneak into the Scicenter. He and Taylor had coincided their entrance with the morning shift change and they’d simply strode inside, past the front station with the crowd of incoming workers. The hallways had been so full that no one paid any attention to them as they branched off and went into the restricted area. And once they were there, no one had been around to see Echo use his lock disabler on the door.

  Leaving would be harder.

  They couldn’t stay here till the next shift change. That was seven hours away. They would have to find a time when the hallways were empty. True, the building’s surveillance cameras would record that they’d been here. Eventually the scientists would figure out what had happened, but by then Echo would be out of the city.

  Echo fingered the clip that kept the disrupter hooked inside his belt. It wasn’t a perfect invention. He could use the device only once. The disrupter put out such a strong electromagnetic pulse that it not only froze nearby laser boxes, it destroyed itself in the process. He had engineered it in case he needed to escape from Dakine assassins. He hadn’t ever imagined he might have to use it in the Scicenter.

  Echo watched Taylor’s symbols marching across the screen and tried to quell his impatience. “You created a recursive loop there,” he whispered, and pointed to the screen.

  “I know. I have to give the security codes something to do while I access the database.”

  “Oh.” He nodded. “I’m impressed.”

  “Don’t be. I was up all night figuring this out, and I’m still not positive it will work.”

  As if all night was a long time to come up with this type of program.

  Taylor pushed the Send command, then sat back and watched the screen. Her eyes darted across the rows of numbers that returned. “It didn’t work. The signal bounced back as inaccessible.”

  “Check your input for a mistake.”

  Her foot jiggled against the floor in frustration. “There isn’t a mistake. It’s …” She sat forward in her seat, and her fingers flew over the panels again. “It’s something that someone else did to it. So I can’t turn off the QGP right after I left, but I bet I can turn it off after he left, and I happen to know the date that was.”

  Echo had no idea what she was talking about but didn’t want to distract her by asking for explanations.

  Taylor completed typing a sequence of commands, then copied and attached her earlier equations to it. “Let’s try it now.”

  She hit the Send command, then clenched the armrests of her chair. This time when the numbers returned, they marched across the screen declaring the job was done.

  “Bingo,” she whispered.

  Another new word. One that meant success.

  Echo helped her with the shutdown functions, then turned his attention to his sensor. No one occupied the hallway in front of their room, but several people walked nearby in the next corridor. He and Taylor would have to wait until it was empty. Once they were in the main corridor, they’d hope for a clear path, or at least an empty room to dash into until they had another clear path.

  It wasn’t the best plan; and as he sat here watching his sensor, he could think of more and more problems with it. Still, what choice did they have?

  chapter

  22

  Sheridan sat on the floral couch and discussed the role of women in society.

  “High heels weren’t some sort of punishment inflicted by men on the female gender. Women chose to wear them because they thought high heels made them look elegant. No, really. They even paid a lot of money for them. Well, I don’t know why anyone thought pointy toes looked elegant. They just did.”

  In between her explanations, she wondered how long it took to send a signal to the QGP. Any moment now Jeth was going to ask Sheridan exactly what a father’s interview entailed, and then she’d have to make up some hugely inaccurate story like the gender-segregated-shopping thing yesterday.

  No wonder Echo hadn’t believed her about talking animals. It was so easy to lie about the past when it suited your purpose.

  Elise sat across from Sheridan on the plaid couch, silent, arms folded. She was probably worried that Taylor was telling Echo about her Doctor Worshipping friends, afraid that by the end of the day the Enforcers would drop by to pay her a visit. Sheridan had no way to reassure Elise or explain anything.

  Sheridan was in the middle of talking about why girls wore jeans with pockets, shirts with pockets, coats with pockets, and then carried everything they needed in purses, when Jeth’s comlink beeped.

  At first Sheridan was relieved. It had to be Echo and Taylor. They were calling to let everyone know where they were.

  The wall lit up, and Helix appeared on the screen. Without issuing any sort of greeting, he barked out, “Where are the time riders?” His gaze landed on Sheridan and his brows furrowed. “Is that one of them?”

  Helix didn’t recognize her with her hair and face dyed. She hoped, wildly, that Jeth would deny it.

  Instead Jeth stood up and nodded politely. “This is Sheridan. Taylor is out with Echo. Do you want me to beep him?”

  Helix kept his eyes on Sheridan, a penetrating stare that made her insides shiver. “I’ll talk to him myself. My men will come over to get that one.”

  Jeth remained calm. “What’s the problem?”

  “The problem is that not one of those scientists can read data. They’re a bunch of vikers, and unless you want to be equated with their incompetence, you’ll keep that girl tight. They’re property of the Scicenter. You’ve no reason to let them wander the city.”

  A cold shower of dread drenched Sheridan. Helix knew. The scientists had finally figured out that the Time Strainer hadn’t malfunctioned but had just brought them twins. And one of them was Tyler Sherwood.

  Taylor was in danger, and there wasn’t a thing Sheridan could do to warn her.

  The screen went blank, and Elise muttered in her modern accent, “Yesterday they wanted them memory washed, and today they’re too valuable to wander in the city.”

  “Pues,” Jeth said, “that’s the government. They never know what they want, and it’s always your fault.”

  Sheridan realized she should say something. She should pretend she hadn’t understood the call. “Did Helix find out I didn’t have the memory wash?”

  Jeth shook his head. “The appointment time hasn’t come yet. They couldn’t already know we deleted it.” He relaxed his shoulders. “That’s probably it. They decided not to do the memory wash and want to be sure the Enforcers don’t take you. I knew they’d be reasonable about it.”

  Elise’s face was still drawn with worry. Apparently she didn’t share Jeth’s confidence in the government’s reasonableness.

  Jeth unclipped his comlink and pushed a button. “We’ll coordinate with Echo.”

  Sheridan stood up, urgency twisting inside her stomach. Her only hope was that Elise would be able to help somehow. Sheridan walked over, sat beside her, and whispered, “You can’t let Helix take us.”

  Elise forced a smile. “They probably just want to run more tests.”

  Jeth strode over to the computer. “Why would Echo turn off his comlink?” He gave a small laugh as he slipped his own comlink back onto his belt. “You’ll have to tell me exactly what happens during these father’s interviews. It must be highly interesting.” Jeth fingered several panels on the computer, then froze. The smile dropped from his face, as did much of his coloring. “Sangre, this is a problem....”

  “What?” Elise asked.

  “Echo’s tracking crystal,” Jeth s
aid. “It says he’s at the cemetery.”

  “The cemetery?” Sheridan repeated. Unless Jeth was about to explain that there were now sophisticated computers at cemeteries, something was very wrong.

  Elise said, “Echo’s crystal always says he’s at the cemetery when he doesn’t want anyone to know where he is. He must think no one will bother him if he’s visiting his brother’s grave.”

  Jeth took out his comlink again, pushing a button repeatedly. It beeped, but no one answered. “Helix won’t care about disturbing him. He’ll send Enforcers to the cemetery.” Lines of worry gathered around Jeth’s eyes. “I told Echo not to tamper with his tracking signal. It’s illegal.” He pushed the button harder, pacing now. “He needs to go to the cemetery or transmit his true signal. They’ll think he’s Dakine if he doesn’t.”

  Sheridan nearly asked why, and then remembered. The Dakine had ways of keeping their crystals from being tracked.

  Of course the government would think Echo was Dakine if they knew he could change his transmissions. Why hadn’t Jeth come to the same conclusion?

  But then, perhaps he knew and didn’t care.

  Could that be possible after his other son was killed by the Dakine?

  Jeth strode to the door, still pushing his comlink button. “I’ll search the building. If he comes back, tell him the situation.”

  Jeth didn’t wait for an answer before he left.

  chapter

  23

  Echo checked his sensor. The hallway still wasn’t empty. Why were so many people walking the corridors? He sighed and watched Taylor twist strands of her long white hair around one finger. A nervous habit. Funny how people had the same nervous habits four hundred years ago. He wondered if they bit their nails back then too.

  Then he chided himself for wondering. When had being a historian overtaken his life? Here he was with a fugitive from the government, pondering his safety, waiting for the right moment to escape, and he was still analyzing data.

  Echo—the old Echo—would have at least made good use of the time by flirting. But then, the old Echo was dead, and there was only so much he could do to resurrect the persona.

  Besides, he didn’t want to land in another romantic tripod. And Taylor reminded him of Allana: bold, flippant, and self-assured to the point of arrogance. Allana had ruined him for that sort of girl.

  Sheridan, however—with her soulful eyes and earnest sincerity—she had a warmth to her like you felt before you drifted off to sleep. When you could finally relax. It was ironic that he’d met her now, a girl who intrigued him on so many levels, right when he hardly had a say as to what he did or who he was.

  “The hall still isn’t clear?” Taylor asked. “How long will we have to wait?”

  “There’s no way to tell.”

  She let out an exasperated huff, stood up, and walked restlessly around the room. “When do you think the scientists will figure out what we’ve done?”

  “Hopefully not until we’re away from Traventon.” He stared at the clip as though this would help give him the reading he wanted. “What have you set up with Elise?”

  Taylor looked at the door and not at him. “Nothing yet. Well, I mean, Elise wants to help, but she’s not sure how. She’s going to make some inquiries to see if she can connect with someone who knows someone who is a Doctor Worshipper. She said it might take a while.”

  Echo frowned. Elise wouldn’t have to make inquiries. She knew people who were DW. She probably was a Worshipper herself. Which meant that either Taylor or Elise was lying. Probably Taylor. He wondered why.

  The lights on Echo’s sensor glowed, showing an increase in activity. More people were walking in the main corridor. Some of them were moving quickly. Maybe they were late for a meeting.

  “We’ve been gone too long,” Echo said. “I’d better tell Jeth we went somewhere.”

  Echo turned on his comlink and saw a list of his missed calls, most of them with urgent notices. Jeth had also left him several messages. Instead of listening to them, Echo called his father.

  Jeth answered immediately, his voice strained with anxiety. “Where are you? I’ve been beeping you every minute for the last fifteen minutes. Helix is looking for you. He said he was going to track your crystal.”

  Echo couldn’t speak for a moment. It had already happened. By now, Helix was on his way to the cemetery. There was no way to fix it. Echo shut his eyes wearily. “What does Helix want with me?”

  “It’s not you he wants, it’s Taylor. They’ve decided the girls are Scicenter property, and they’re not allowed to wander in the city.”

  Sangre. That was life for you. Echo was about to be caught, and it wasn’t even him the government was looking for.

  Jeth said, “Just bring Taylor back here. I’ll beep Helix, tell him you’re at the Histocenter, and then we’ll claim his tracking computer malfunctioned.”

  “He won’t believe that.”

  “He might if you have Taylor with you.”

  Echo checked the sensor again. More signals. More people in the main corridor. It was only a matter of time before some of them came down the hallway to this room. He turned away from Taylor to give himself some privacy. “Listen, I want to tell you something. I love you. Joseph did too. Maybe neither of us said it enough, but we both felt it.”

  Jeth’s voice came over the comlink, shaky. “You’ll be fine. Just bring Taylor back, and everything will be fine.”

  “I love you, Dad.” Echo shut off his comlink but didn’t clip it back onto his belt. With the right equipment, comlinks could be traced too. When Helix didn’t find Echo at the cemetery, he’d run a comlink trace. Echo couldn’t be anywhere near his comlink when that happened. And yet he couldn’t leave it here in the Scicenter either. That would be as good as telling the government what he’d done.

  Reluctantly, Echo replaced the comlink on his belt. He’d have to destroy it once he got out of the Scicenter.

  If he made it out of the Scicenter.

  chapter

  24

  As soon as Jeth left the Wordlab to search for Echo, Sheridan turned to Elise. “We’ve got to leave. Right now. Before they come for me.”

  Elise held up one hand to indicate silence, then walked over to the computer to turn off the record function. It seemed to take forever this time, and Sheridan felt the anxiety running through her like an electric current.

  At last Elise said, “I can’t take you anywhere. They’d track me and find both of us.”

  Sheridan paced back and forth between the couches. “If you can’t leave, at least show me where to go. Give me a map and tell me who to contact. They can’t track me.”

  Elise shook her head. Lavender-and-pink hair swished angrily across her shoulders. “I told Taylor that Echo couldn’t know anything about my friends or leaving. Absolutely nothing. And now she’s out with him. Maybe she’s trying to lead him to the friend I introduced her to yesterday.” Elise folded her arms tightly across her chest. “She won’t be able to. I took precautions, but sangre, I thought I could trust the two of you.”

  “You can trust us. Taylor won’t tell Echo anything. She knows he’s Dakine.”

  Elise’s arms remained folded. “Then why are they together? Don’t give me that excuse about an interview. Echo could have told Taylor his intentions for you with one word: none. And why did Echo mask his signal and turn off his comlink?”

  The door to the wordsmiths’ room was still closed. That didn’t mean the Enforcers weren’t already in the building, though. It didn’t mean they weren’t walking down the hallway. “I can explain, but we need to leave first.” Sheridan took a step toward the door, then a step back to Elise. “We have to find Taylor and warn her.”

  “If either of us leaves this room, I’ll face a questioning.”

  Sheridan had no choice. She had to tell Elise. “Taylor and Echo went to splice into the Time Strainer’s mainframe computer. Taylor thinks she knows how to shut it down.”

  Elise le
t out a grunt and tilted her chin down in disbelief. “Why would Taylor know how to shut down such a complicated machine?”

  “Because she built the other end of it—the part that works back in our time.”

  Sheridan couldn’t hear the breath that Elise drew in, but somehow she still felt it. Elise was holding that breath like she was a tightrope walker keeping her balance. “What do you mean?” she asked.

  The record function on the computer was off; still Sheridan only mouthed the words, “She’s Tyler Sherwood.”

  Elise shut her eyes and let out a shaky breath. “Sangre.”

  “Now will you help us?”

  Elise turned back to the computer. Sheridan walked toward her. “What are you doing?”

  “Silence,” Elise hissed. She put her hand on a panel and said, “Jeth, Sheridan locked herself in the back room. I can’t get in. I’m afraid she went out the window. I’m going to look for her. I’ll be back as soon as I find her.”

  Elise removed her hand from the panel, pushed a few more buttons, then motioned for Sheridan to follow. Once they were in the back room, Elise tapped a button by the door to lock it. Next she opened the box-seat underneath the window. “Fire escape,” Elise whispered, and pulled a tangle of white crisscrossed ropes that made up a flimsy ladder. Giant suction cups were attached at one end of the rope.

  Sheridan stared at them. Really, with all the technology the future had, people couldn’t come up with a better fire escape ladder than this? And suction cups—wasn’t that about as safe in an emergency as, say, Velcro?

  Elise attached the suction cups to the wall and lowered the ladder out the window. Without another word, she took hold of the ladder and heaved herself through the opening.

  Sheridan watched the suction cups, ready to grab them if they slipped. They didn’t, and when she looked out the window, Elise was several rungs down. She motioned for Sheridan to follow.