Erasing Time

by C. J. Hill

  “I can’t just—”

  Sheridan didn’t let her finish. “If you keep going east, you’ll meet up with the group from the clinic that was coming for us. They must be close by now.”

  “No,” Taylor said. “Maybe Mendez will—”

  Sheridan didn’t waste any more time arguing. “Go,” she said. “Don’t let my sacrifice be for nothing.” Then she shimmied out from under the camo tarp, leaving it for Taylor.

  Sheridan moved slowly, stayed low so as not to draw the Enforcers’ attention too soon. Dry pine needles poked into her palms. Helix’s men were halfway up the hill, moving only inches with every kneeling step they took. Still, each second brought them closer.

  Sheridan kept crawling, ignoring the pain from the pine needles, twigs, and rocks that dug into her hands and knees. She tried not to wonder if she would ever see Taylor again, or Joseph. She couldn’t let herself focus on anything but crawling. A minute passed. Maybe two. She looked up the ridge to see if she could spot Taylor moving. She couldn’t. Good. That meant the Enforcers couldn’t see her either.

  “There! On the hill!” one of the Enforcers yelled. He was pointing to Sheridan.

  She dropped to her stomach, flattening herself as much as she could. Shots ripped the air around her. She didn’t dare move.

  Down on the mountainside a man screamed. One of the Enforcers must have stood to chase her and had his knees shot. Either that or Mendez had been found.

  The firing stopped. She lifted her head to peer down the hill. Through the foliage she could see black patches—Enforcers—three on the ground now and three still moving toward her on their knees. Helix took up the rear, glancing over his shoulder.

  If she could slither away faster than they could move on their knees, they’d have to stand again, providing Mendez with a target.

  She pulled herself along the ground, scraping across grass and rocks, pushing through clumps of weeds that caught around her arms. It was like swimming in dirt and not nearly fast enough. Her hands stung; the green dye on her skin was dotted with drops of blood.

  More shots crackled around her.

  Then a shot found her.

  Her body was slapped with pain. Her muscles went so rigid, she couldn’t breathe. She felt herself falling, rolling down the hillside, and couldn’t put out her hands to stop herself, couldn’t even shut her eyes.

  She heard one of the men say, “We hit her.”

  And another said, “Finally.”

  She came to stop against a tree trunk, her face upward, staring into the sky. A few limp clouds floated forlornly above her. Below her, pine needles crackled. They were coming.

  She needed air and couldn’t draw it. The ache in her lungs grew into a sharp pain. She would pass out soon.

  She concentrated, used all of her strength, and was able to gasp in some air. More pine needles snapped below her. She blinked. Some of her feeling was returning. Her back stung from where she’d rolled over rocks and sticks on the way down the hill.

  She tried to move her fingers, but couldn’t. Her hands felt as though they weren’t connected to her body.

  She heard one of the men call out, “I found someone else on the scanner.”

  “Take care of it,” Helix said.

  It had to be Joseph. He was probably in his hiding place on the other ridge, not even aware of what was happening to them. Sheridan jerked her head so that she could see the hillside. One of the Enforcers was creeping downward. Helix and the other two were taking kneeling steps toward her. They were only a dozen feet away.

  “She’s moving,” Helix called. “She didn’t get a full stun. Shoot her again.”

  An Enforcer raised his laser box, pointing it at Sheridan.

  Nothing happened.

  “Shoot her,” Helix shouted.

  The Enforcer’s thumb pressed down on the black box.

  Still nothing.

  “Are you waiting for a moving target?” Helix yelled.

  “It won’t fire,” the man said.

  Which meant Joseph was nearby. He had used the disrupter. Sheridan smiled. The feeling had come back to her lips. She looked down the hill to see if she could spot Joseph. She saw someone in camouflage coming up the hill but couldn’t tell if it was him or Mendez.

  Helix set down the QGP and aimed his laser box at Sheridan. He gave her a daggered look as his thumb came down on the button. He was close enough now that she heard it click.

  Nothing happened.

  “Sangre!” Helix took the laser box in two hands, pressing the button so hard, he could have snapped the box in two. “Sangre! Sangre! Sangre!” He threw the box to the ground, his face flushed with rage. On hands and knees he came toward Sheridan like an angry, black-and-gray-striped dog.

  Sheridan glanced downhill again. Joseph—she could make him out now—was still far away, but rushing up the ridge. Relief and fear mixed together inside her. He was coming to help her. They were still outnumbered, though, and one of the Enforcers was headed straight toward him.

  Off to Sheridan’s left side, the pine needles crunched. A moment later Mendez appeared in her view. Instead of a laser box, he held a large stick.

  Helix looked at him, unconcerned. “Rossmar, Graham, kill the sniper while I bind our prisoner. We need to find the other girl and return to the city quickly.”

  The first Enforcer lowered his head and ran toward Mendez like a football player going in for the tackle.

  Mendez sidestepped him. As he went past, Mendez brought the stick down on the back of his neck. A sharp crack sounded, and pieces of bark flew through the air. The Enforcer was knocked to the ground. Mendez turned to face the next man.

  Sheridan didn’t see more because Helix knelt in front of her. He pulled a silver rope from his belt, tugging it outward like a spider laying a web. “You’ve cost me time and men. I’ll see to it that you suffer before your memory wash. I’ll shatter you a hundred times.” He rolled her over so she was facedown in the dirt, then yanked her arms backward to tie them. She tried to move away from him, but her limbs were as motionless as the stones beside her. “Then when your memory is erased,” he said, giving her arms another tug that shot pain across her shoulders, “I’ll tell you that you’re my daughter.” He turned her over and took hold of her chin so that she was forced to look into his cold eyes. He smiled to let her know he was enjoying this. “You’ll do everything I tell you to do then.”

  chapter

  43

  Joseph had spent several minutes crawling up the ridge on his hands and knees to avoid being seen. His coming up the hill that way was perhaps more dangerous than helpful.

  As long as the Enforcers knelt, their shields protected them from his laser fire. The coverings diffused energy and scattered it with a harmless flash. But if the Enforcers detected Joseph, he’d be shot. He didn’t even dare use his disrupter, because even without laser boxes, the Enforcers would be hard to beat. Their armor had a stiffness to it that could take several more blows than Joseph’s unprotected head and torso.

  Joseph needed to wait until he and Mendez could bring down the Enforcers’ numbers before he used his disrupter.

  Joseph kept moving forward. He was breathing in dust and dirt. It coated the inside of his mouth. He watched as the Enforcers discovered and stunned one of the girls. He couldn’t tell which.... No, that wasn’t right. Even though he couldn’t identify her from this far away, he knew it was Sheridan. She had come out of the camo tarp to lead the Enforcers away from Taylor.

  He crawled faster, the disrupter gripped in his hand. He had to keep reminding himself that they wouldn’t kill her.

  And then he heard one of the Enforcers yell out, “I found someone else on the scanner!”

  Joseph couldn’t wait any longer. He switched on the disrupter, left it there pulsing on the ground, then stood and ran up the hill toward the group.

  One of the Enforcers headed downhill toward him, but Joseph had the element of surprise. The man held out his laser box
and pushed Fire. Nothing happened. In the time it took him to push it again, Joseph picked up a rock and heaved it at the man. It hit him squarely in the chest, and he staggered backward.

  Out of the corner of his eye, Joseph saw that Mendez had appeared from behind the trees, a thick stick in his hand. A stick, yes. They would have to fight like vikers now, with any weapons they could find. The armor might shield the Enforcers, but it made them move slower too. If he could get in enough hits, he might be able to stop the Enforcers long enough to rescue Sheridan.

  Joseph spotted a low-growing tree branch. He would rip it off and use it like a club. He reached up and grabbed hold of the branch, trying to use his weight to tear it off. It didn’t tear. It only swayed downward. He pulled harder. How could a tree branch that was smaller than his arm support his weight this way? He didn’t have time to ponder the physics; the Enforcer ran toward him.

  Still holding on to the tree branch, Joseph swung both his legs forward and kicked the Enforcer’s chest.

  The man sprawled backward, hitting the ground. Joseph didn’t wait for him to get up. He leaped on top of him, wrestling like he’d wrestled Echo a thousand times. Only this time it mattered who won. In a few swift moves, Joseph pinned him facedown. Joseph’s arm wound around the man’s neck in a move that had always been illegal. Too much pressure, and you could break someone’s neck. The man’s armor protected him from that, but the Enforcer knew he was at a standoff. He called out for help.

  Joseph glanced up. Mendez had just thrown an Enforcer to the ground. Taylor was with him, trying to fend off the second Enforcer with a stick. The Enforcer who Mendez had thrown on the ground stood up and headed toward Joseph.

  Pues, that would help Mendez and Taylor take care of the other Enforcer, but it meant Joseph had to work fast.

  Keeping his weight on the man, Joseph used his free hand to unsnap the Enforcer’s med kit from his belt. He shook out the pain-eraser syringe, then thrust it into the slit where the helmet attached to the shoulder armor. As the liquid went in, the man stopped struggling. With a full dose, not only could he not feel pain, he couldn’t feel his limbs either.

  Joseph released him, just in time for the second Enforcer to reach him. The man yelled as he dived toward Joseph. Joseph rolled out of the way, and a second wrestling match began.

  People who wrestled in armor didn’t have the advantage.

  It occurred to Joseph, the way one calculates any contact game, that if Helix had left Sheridan alone and fought alongside his men, the Enforcers would have overpowered Mendez, Taylor, and him. But Helix hadn’t left Sheridan. He was so obsessed with capturing Tyler Sherwood, he hadn’t even thought to help fight. Helix tied her hands, then heaved her over his shoulder. It was only after he had secured her that he looked to see the progress the Enforcers had made.

  And by then it was too late.

  chapter

  44

  While Helix lifted Sheridan, she caught sight of the fight. Joseph was on the ground struggling with one man. Another man lay unconscious on the ground beside him. Mendez had a stick across an Enforcer’s throat in a choke hold. And Taylor—when had she joined the fight?—was taking something from the Enforcer’s belt.

  After Helix flopped Sheridan onto his shoulder, she couldn’t see anything except the center of his back. She struggled against his grasp, twisted, but her efforts did little more than make her bump against his shoulder. If Helix disappeared into the forest, the others wouldn’t be able to find her. She wanted to yell out, but she didn’t dare distract anyone while they were fighting.

  Helix took a few steps, then cursed. She could tell it was cursing by the way he spit the words out: sharp and full of hatred. He slid Sheridan from his shoulders so that she stood in front of him. She couldn’t feel her feet. She didn’t have any strength in her legs and thought she would topple to the ground again. Helix wrapped one arm around her waist and the other around her neck, keeping her upright and trapped against him. She tried to press her chin down so that his arm wouldn’t cut off her air supply, but she didn’t have the strength for it.

  “It won’t result,” Helix yelled, taking a step backward and dragging her with him. “You can’t have her.”

  Mendez and Taylor stood over the last of the Enforcers, checking to see if he was completely unconscious. Joseph strode toward Helix, halting only when Helix tightened his arm around Sheridan’s neck, making her gasp for breath.

  Joseph stood still, his hands clenched into fists. “You’ll never make it to Traventon with her. Let her go, and we won’t hurt you.”

  Helix shook his head. “Both girls will come back with me, or this one dies here.”

  No deal. Sheridan looked firmly at Taylor, saying with her eyes what she’d already said in words. Don’t you dare let my sacrifice be for nothing.

  Taylor understood her. She covered her mouth with trembling hands and shook her head.

  Mendez wiped the dirt and pine needles from his hands. “Even if we let you go, you won’t make it back to the city. Not with vikers around. Once they realize you’re more unarmed than they are, you’ll be their next menu item.”

  Helix tugged Sheridan closer. His breath brushed against her cheek. “Then the only way you save this girl’s life is by coming back to Traventon with me to guard us from the vikers.”

  Mendez took a measured step toward Helix. “Without lasers, a couple of guards won’t keep them away.”

  Helix turned his head, his gaze darting around the surrounding trees. “I see the rest of your men. I know you’re not alone.”

  And then Sheridan saw them too. A half dozen men painted in camouflage greens and browns were scattered among the trees on the hillside, moving toward them. She couldn’t tell at first—he looked so different without his maroon hair and green circles—but on second glance she was sure one of them was Jeth.

  Helix watched them, then turned around and pulled Sheridan so hard, her feet twisted and dragged across the dirt. Several more men had been coming up from behind, surrounding him.

  “Don’t come closer!” Helix shouted, his head swinging from side to side. He tightened his arm against Sheridan’s throat. She struggled to free her hands but couldn’t.

  Joseph walked to where Helix could see him. His voice was a controlled calm. “If you try to take her back to the city, the vikers will kill you. If you hurt her now, I’ll kill you. If you let her go, we’ll make sure you reach Traverton safely.”

  “No,” Helix spat out. “If she doesn’t help us, she doesn’t help anyone.”

  Joseph slowly stepped toward him. “You don’t even know if you have the right twin.”

  Helix tensed and jerked his eyes in Taylor’s direction, but after a moment’s thought, he relaxed. “I have the right one. Otherwise you wouldn’t be here bargaining for her. You would have taken Tyler Sherwood and left.”

  Joseph took another step. “You only think that because you don’t know anything about twins.”

  The pressure on Sheridan’s throat increased. She couldn’t breathe. It would take Helix only a few seconds to break her neck, and Joseph was still too far away to help.

  She wanted to call out to Taylor—to tell her it wasn’t her fault. Some problems didn’t have good solutions no matter how much you thought them out.

  Sheridan fought against the pain in her throat, fought to fill her lungs. The world around her was dimming—Joseph rushing toward her was just a blur—and then a blast shook the trees. They flew up all around her, though she couldn’t understand why. She didn’t realize she was falling, and not the trees, until she hit the ground. A slap of pain went through her, then Helix’s weight pressed into her back. He’d fallen on top of her.

  Joseph yelled, “Sheridan!”

  She took deep breaths, couldn’t get the air into her lungs fast enough.

  Footsteps ran toward her. Taylor called out, “Are you okay?”

  Sheridan wasn’t sure. She wanted to roll over and push Helix off, but couldn’t mov
e.

  Someone heaved Helix off of her. Jeth’s voice was directly above her. “Is she alive?”

  “I don’t see any blood.” Joseph turned her over, and then she understood.

  Jeth, with trembling hands, was holding the handgun from her century. He had shot Helix.

  Sheridan smiled up at him. “I thought you said the gun didn’t have bullets.” Her words slurred because her tongue was still partly numb.

  Jeth slipped the gun into his pocket. “I lied.”

  Joseph smoothed her shirt out, looking for a wound. “The bullet didn’t pierce you anywhere?”

  “I don’t think so.” Her body was still half numb, and what wasn’t numb hurt from falling.

  One of the men from the clinic had joined them. While he and Joseph cut the rope from her hands and feet, Jeth kept inspecting her for wounds.

  “I was expecting the bullet to knock Helix over,” he said. “I didn’t know it would go through his armor. If it had gone through twice, it might have killed you. I should have thought of that.”

  In a wave of emotion and gratitude, Sheridan threw her arms around Jeth. “You saved my life. Thank you.”

  He patted her back awkwardly instead of returning the hug. “Pues … I … yes … of course.”

  Joseph watched her. “I saved your life too.”

  She released Jeth and flung her arms toward Joseph. He pulled her into an embrace. Held her. She shut her eyes and tried not to think about Helix’s arm on her throat. She shuddered anyway. “Joseph, I was so—” She never finished the sentence.

  “Joseph?” Jeth said, his eyes registering shock. “Joseph?”

  Sheridan felt Joseph stiffen and wished she could take back the words, hide them. How could she have given away his secret so easily?

  Joseph released Sheridan and turned to face his father. His eyes were rimmed in pain. “I wanted to tell you, but there were things I couldn’t explain.”

  “Tell me now,” Jeth said.

  Joseph swallowed hard. His gaze remained on his father. “Allana recruited Echo into the Dakine. She told me about it, and when the Dakine found out, they ordered my execution. Echo switched places with me to save my life.” Joseph’s words wavered, stumbled under the weight they’d carried. “How could I tell you I let him die for me? How could I tell you that Echo had joined the Dakine?”