by Nina Croft
“As far as I can tell.”
She blew out her breath. “I’d hoped… That machine of your friend’s must have come from somewhere.”
“But even if this machine went back—it was sent to 2020. Kane’s machine had to have been around a long time before that, at least a couple of hundred years. More likely thousands.”
She rubbed her forehead. “What do we have? The Krellians planned to send a time machine back to 2020, allegedly to discover what had caused the Cataclysm so they could help clean up the mess. Except they had some other purpose in mind. And I have no clue what that could be.”
“And, according to our new friend, the time machine never got to 2020. It was destroyed first.”
“And he believes that to be true?”
“As far as I can tell.”
“Anything else—” She broke off as the door slid open. “Trouble,” she murmured.
“What is it?” Quinn asked.
“My father.” She cast him a rueful smile. “This isn’t exactly how I would have liked to introduce the two of you.”
At that moment, the captain stepped into the room, two agents at his back, both with weapons drawn. “Special Agent Melody Lyons, you are under arrest.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Holy shit. The guy had wings.
He was tall and looked sort of human, if you discounted the whole wing thing. They were black and furled tight against his back, but Quinn could see the tips quivering. His skin was dark gold and his eyes were the only other inhuman feature; they were yellow and reptilian with a black slit down the middle. He stared back at Quinn, unblinking. And he couldn’t read anything from the guy—presumably, he had an implant like Mel’s.
The whole scene was bizarre, and Quinn had an urge to laugh out loud. But really, there was nothing to laugh about. Except he was two thousand years in the future, standing in front of an alien, who was also the father of the woman he loved. And that might be the weirdest part of all. He stepped a little closer to Mel and spoke quietly, “Is this the right moment to ask for your hand in marriage?”
A snort—halfway to a giggle—escaped her. And her father gave her a sharp glance. “Probably not,” she said. “Though it might take his mind off the arrest thing.” She blew out her breath and straightened her shoulders. “Captain. What’s this about?”
Her father took a step farther into the room, followed by the two men. Through the open door behind them, Quinn could see Toril and another man—or rather another alien—same height, same color, but twice as wide.
“That’s the Bhaxian ambassador,” Mel murmured. “What the hell is he doing here?” The question was directed at her father, and she didn’t sound happy. Mel had obviously decided whose side she was on in the Bhaxian/Krellian fight.
“He was kind enough to offer us a fast ride down here when we heard what had been going on.”
“And what did you hear?”
“That you’d incapacitated a time shift technician, brought an illegal forward through time”—his gaze shifted briefly to Quinn, who held himself still under the steady stare—“and commandeered a space shuttle for an unsanctioned interview with the Krellians.”
It sounded bad, even to someone who didn’t know the rules. Quinn waited to hear what she had to say. “Since when do I need to sanction interviews that are part of an ongoing investigation?” She sounded pissed.
“Any interviews should be logged beforehand. You know that. And for some reason, you decided not to follow the chain of command. Why, Mel?”
For the first time, Quinn recognized the personal relationship between the two of them. The atmosphere in the room shifted, the edge of danger subsiding. Her father turned slightly and waved a hand at the two men—yup, they were definitely men, no wings in sight—and they holstered their weapons.
“I have reason to believe that there are traitors within the Bureau,” she replied.
He pursed his lips and studied her for a moment. “You have evidence?”
“On my last time shift, I was attacked by two agents from the Bureau. Brent and Tyler tried to kill me. Brent was shot in the attempt. Tyler made an emergency shift back.”
“You have no proof of this?” That was from the big blue guy who had entered the room. “And this Tyler should have returned by now?”
“He’s not due back for another two days. But I have proof.” She turned to Quinn. “The transponder,” she said.
He realized she meant the one still on his wrist. He unfastened the strap and handed it over to Mel. She took it to her father. “I took this from Brent,” she said. “You can check the recorded shifts, then compare them to the log ins. They were illegal. There’s no record of his trip logged at the Bureau. He was paid by someone, and he paid the technician to alter the logs.”
Her father studied the transponder for a minute, swiping a finger over the screen, reading whatever was there. He turned away and spoke into some sort of comm unit, the words too low for Quinn to hear. When he turned back, there was a frown on his face. Now, he wasn’t happy. But then he had just been told he had traitors in his organization and that was bound to piss off any man.
“Do you plan to arrest them?”
The question came from the broad blue guy.
The captain’s frown deepened at the comment, his mouth a tight line. “I’ll do what’s needed to be done.”
“You will not allow family sentiment to sway your judgment?”
Quinn was starting to dislike the Bhaxian ambassador. What the hell business was it of his anyway? He took a step closer to Mel, ready if anyone tried to go for her. Not that he could do a lot. He was unarmed. But he’d die trying.
“She should be prosecuted.”
He edged a little closer.
The captain raised one brow and studied him for a moment. Quinn stared back, refusing to be daunted by those alien yellow eyes. He had the urge to grab Mel’s hand and hold on for dear life, but that might not be appropriate, given the circumstances.
Finally, the captain broke the connection and turned back to the Bhaxian ambassador. “I resent the implication that I would allow sentiment to sway me from my duty, Ambassador. Be assured my duty will be done. And now, thank you for your assistance, but this is a Bureau matter and I will handle things from here.” He smiled, an expression not reflected in his eyes. There was some sort of staring/pissing contest going on between the two, but the captain clearly won, and the blue guy whirled around and stalked out of the room. The captain exhaled. “My transport has landed. I suggest we head back to base and discuss this further.” He turned to Mel. “I gather your interview was interrupted. Did you get what you needed from the Krellians?”
“I got all I’m going to get,” Mel muttered.
“Then let’s go. We’ll leave the rest of your…debrief until we are away from here.”
He turned and headed out the door. Mel followed him, then Quinn, with the two guards falling in behind. They walked back the way they had come and arrived at the parking area just as a shuttle took off and headed out the airlock. “The Bhaxians,” the captain said. “I would have preferred them not to be involved, but I was in a meeting with them when I got the news. I wanted to get here as fast as possible—”
“You were worried about me,” Mel said. “Go on, admit it. You came racing to rescue me.”
“I came racing to arrest you. What the hell got into you? You’ve broken about every protocol there is. It’s a wonder we’re still here.”
“Well, we are. And I had…good reasons.” She paused beside the shuttle they’d come in. “Should we meet you back at the station?”
Her father shook his head. “No. You’re under arrest. Both of you. My men will take your shuttle back. You and your…friend will come with me.”
Mel gave him a look and a shrug, then followed her father to a much bigger shuttle. They walked up the ramp and into a round room, one without a console. Quinn was guessing this had a cockpit and he wouldn’t be flying.
>
“Sit down,” Mel suggested, nodding at one of the seats around the outside of the small room. He sat, fastened the harness, felt the ship come alive beneath him and couldn’t help a small smile curving his lips. That was the art of a good life, enjoying the moments of pleasure in amongst all the shit. Yeah, the whole world was about to end, or maybe, it already had, but he was on a space ship and heading for the moon. Or at least, close to the moon.
Mel was in the seat next to him and her father across from them, in what looked like a chair specially designed for people with wings.
“I know you want to see where we’re going,” she said, leaning across and pressing a button. A screen opened up, filling one wall and showing the view outside. The ship lifted, almost seemed to drift along the corridor and then into the open air. They were flying upward, through a dense layer of black cloud and finally, they were through and into space. Far ahead the moon was a huge orange circle hanging low in the sky.
As soon as the ship leveled out, the captain released his harness, stood and came toward them. He halted in front of Mel, hands resting on his hips. “So talk.”
Mel licked her lips. It was sexy as hell, but maybe not something he should be thinking with her father standing right in front of him.
“What do you want me to say?” she said.
“Everything. I want a full debrief. But first, you can perhaps introduce me to your friend.”
She sighed. But took the time to unfasten her harness before she answered, so he did the same. He might need a quick getaway, but what was he supposed to do? Dive headfirst into space? “This is Quinn Sutherland,” Mel said. “Quinn, my father, Captain Haran Lyons of the Federal Bureau of Time Management.”
Quinn pushed himself to his feet and held out his hand. Maybe if he didn’t act like a prisoner, then he wouldn’t be treated like one. The captain raised a brow but took the hand. The shake was brief but firm.
“Mr. Sutherland. So are you going to tell me where you come from, and more to the point, when?”
“It’s more complicated than that, Dad.”
Was she calling him Dad to soften him up, or did she always address him that way when they were alone? She touched Quinn lightly on the arm and he glanced down at her. “Lose the disguise,” she said.
He pulled the wig from his head, tossed it onto the seat next to him and then carefully removed the contact lenses. He dropped them on top of the wig.
The captain stared at him a moment, eyes narrowing. “He’s Tel-group?”
“No. But somehow connected.”
“Is he telepathic?”
Maybe it was time to prove he could actually speak. “I am, sir, but I can’t read you. Or Mel.”
The captain snorted. It was almost the exact sound Mel made occasionally. “And are you aware that by allowing Mel to bring you here, she has broken protocols and could be punished?”
“Hell, I didn’t allow her. I told her not to. So she banged me over the head with a blunt object and when I woke up, here I was.”
“Why?” The question was directed at Mel, who scowled.
“Because he refused to come.”
“Of course, I refused to fucking come. I wasn’t going to run away to the future and leave all my friends to die.”
She swung around to face him, hands on her hips, eyes narrowed. “They’re all going to die anyway. You can’t do anything to save them.”
“Says you.”
She prodded him in the chest. “Yeah, says me.” She sighed, and the steel melted from her spine and she drooped. She turned to her father, who was standing watching the two of them, a bemused expression on his face. “Quinn comes from just before the Cataclysm. If he stayed, he would have died.”
“And you don’t want him to die?” He sounded as though the idea was incomprehensible. Perhaps it was. Hadn’t Mel said that her father’s people didn’t do emotions?
“No.” She sighed again. “I’ve explained to him that the Cataclysm has to happen. That we can’t change the past—not something of that magnitude.”
“You know we have to send him back.”
“No, we don’t. He’s here now and nothing has changed. Why send him back? Just because of the rules? Damn the rules.”
His lips twitched. “No, I was thinking more along the lines of—because he wants to go back.”
Her eyes narrowed. “But I don’t think he belongs in that time, anyway. Any more than he does in this one.”
The tips of those black wings twitched. “Why don’t you tell me what actually happened back then? Sit down, Melody, and calm yourself. I’ve never seen you like this. At least, not since you were a child.”
“Sorry. But he’s so stubborn. You’re both so stubborn.” She sat down, though, and Quinn followed her, sitting next to her. Her father took his seat across from them.
“Go on.”
“I found the source of the anomaly. Well, I didn’t actually find it, but I know what it is—I’m just not sure where it comes from.” Mel quickly and succinctly recounted everything from when she had joined them at the airport, through the crash, meeting the tribe. The attack and finally everything she’d learned about the tribe and Kane and the time machine. “So, you see,” she said. “There’s a very good chance that Quinn’s people originally came from the future.”
Her father turned to Quinn. “You’ve seen this machine.”
“No, but my friends have, and I’ve seen in their minds. They can’t lie.”
“And that’s why you wanted to talk to the Krellians—you thought the machine was one of theirs.”
“Yes, but they’re all accounted for. Or at least, they say they are. But it had to have come from somewhere. So maybe he’s got a right to stay in this time,” Mel said.
“I’m not staying.” Not that he had a chance of getting back if he didn’t somehow persuade them to help him.
She ignored him and continued talking to her father. Quinn was starting to get a little pissed off, but he held on to his temper. She was only doing this because she cared. She just didn’t know him well enough yet to understand that staying here without one hell of a fight was not going to happen. “He knows too much,” she said. “What if he went back now and managed to stop the Cataclysm? That could create a huge ripple.”
Quinn gritted his teeth. He knew what she was saying, and the whole ripple thing was a big worry, but something had been turning in his mind, nudging at him. Something huge. “What if the past isn’t really the past. What if it’s already been changed?”
Mel and her father had been facing off against each other but now they turned to look at him. “What do you mean?”
“What if the Cataclysm happened because someone went back in time and caused the Cataclysm to happen?”
“Why would you think that?” Mel asked.
“Well, don’t you think it’s a big fucking coincidence that the Krellians were sending someone back to 2020, and that’s when the Cataclysm took place?”
“Of course, it’s not a coincidence. They were going to get information on why the Cataclysm happened.”
“But he was lying.”
“Anyway,” Mel continued. “He said that the machine never went. That it was destroyed. So, it couldn’t have caused the Cataclysm.”
He thought back to Toril’s mind, what was in there, and tried to make sense of it. While he hadn’t understood the man’s thoughts, he’d got a good feel for his emotions and they hadn’t matched up to what he’d been saying. “Well, maybe that was wishful thinking on his part. There was a whole lot of guilt in his head about something. Why the hell would he feel guilty if the machine never went? And not only guilt, but worry as well. He was terrified about something. What the hell is he so worried about? Unless he thinks that just maybe, his fucking time machine was responsible for the Cataclysm. And his people might not be too popular if anyone found that out.”
She was looking thoughtful now. Her lips pursed as she thought it through and he pushed on. He was o
nto something. He knew it. “It’s at least worth trying to find out.”
“And how would you suggest we do that?” Mel asked.
“We know when the time machine went, and where it was sent from. Can’t we go back and take a look? See if it actually did go or whether it was destroyed, as they claim.”
“And what happens if we discover it left?”
“Then at least we know that my theory has some merit. That it might be the case. That the Cataclysm would not have happened without intervention by the Krellians.”
“Then what would you do?” her father asked.
“I’d go back and fucking stop it. Isn’t that what you’d do? Stop people changing the past?”
He rubbed his chin. “It would change everything, the world as we know it. Melody might never be born.”
“She’d come with me.” He turned to her. He was asking her to leave everything and everyone she had ever known. For him. “Would you?” He held his breath as he waited. What would he do if she refused?
She bit her lip. “I don’t know. Anyway, you’re getting ahead of yourself. We don’t know if the machine went back yet.” She turned to her father. “Will you send us back to check?”
He didn’t look happy but, in the end, he nodded.
Christ, Quinn hoped he was right. Let them see something there that would prove his theory. Like a fucking great bomb heading back to 2020.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Mel opened her eyes. If everything had gone as planned, she was in a corridor at the Krellians’ time machine facility back in the year 3896, a few minutes before the Krellians’ time machine was due to go back to 2020. They’d researched the place, and this appeared to be the best option for getting in without being seen. She was in a wide corridor with curving silver walls, which reminded her of the Krellians’ base where they’d met Toril.
She was alone, and for a second, she panicked. Where the hell was Quinn? Had something gone wrong?
Then he appeared beside her, and she released her breath.
She had no clue what she expected to see here. Or what she wanted to see. If they got proof that the machine had never gone back to 2020, would Quinn give up and be content to stay with her? Somehow, she doubted it, but she knew that he would likely have no choice. If they didn’t get proof that the Cataclysm might have happened because of time travel, then he wouldn’t be allowed to go back. Because he’d made it clear he’d try to stop the Cataclysm if he could. No way would her father allow that, so Quinn would be stuck here whether he liked it or not and she had no idea if he would ever forgive her. But if the machine had gone back…what then?