Chapter Thirteen
It all felt never-ending.
We trained another hour, another day, another week .
. . and repeat. But today was the day things were looking up.
It marked twenty-five days since Anali and Antonio had sent a chair to the future, and fourteen days since they’d sent the dead rabbit.
We were nervously excited to see if both made it intact through a time jump this far ahead.
After that, we would try sending a chicken through a few hours.
And if that also worked, the next step was choosing one lucky member of the group as our time-travel guinea pig.
I could feel the tension building in my neck. Or was it the tension in the air? We were all in the backyard, anticipating the moment of arrival. “The clock slows when one is counting the seconds,” Dr. Ryder said.
And yet, we all stood in a circle, staring at the designated spot in the center. Jack played with his toys in a playpen. I couldn’t keep my eyes from constantly darting toward him. Out of all the things or people that could be sent into the future, he was my biggest concern.
“It’s time,” Anali whispered, getting our attention.
“Not yet,” Antonio said. “The phone hasn’t rung yet.”
At that, Nick’s cell phone buzzed, and he quickly turned it off.
“Okay,” Antonio said, “now.”
Then, the sound of a pin dropping would have caused a commotion while we waited. As the next second went by, you could hear a collective intake of breath from each one of us . . . none daring to release it. Not just yet.
There was a soft pop of light, and I could see a couple of faint shapes that looked like Antonio and Anali’s ghosts setting the chair down. Antonio’s ghost looked at himself and smiled before disappearing. They would snap back to real time after transferring the objects through time.
Suddenly, the air shimmered, and the chair materialized in front of us. And sure, I knew there was a ninety-nine percent chance it was gonna happen, yet I must admit I jumped back.
It had been fascinating to watch them get better at it.
The further out in time they sent objects, the more in awe it left me.
According to Dr. Ryder, it didn’t matter if they sent big or small items or even if it was organic matter; their powers could handle it all .
. . it was their inexperience that could mess everything up.
Anali inspected the chair before plopping herself in it. “All right, then! It worked long-term.”
“Now we’ll see if the rabbit comes through.” Nick nodded, his brows so tightly furrowed that I thought he might pop a vein.
“It will.” Antonio smiled and went to give his sister a hug. “You did well, Ana Banana.”
“What else have you seen?” I asked him as Anali let out a long, deep breath.
“Nothing else yet. I don’t know until we try something. And sometimes I dream it, but I don’t remember it all.” Antonio shrugged. “I have a hard time telling my dreams apart from time-travel déjà vu experiences.”
“Got it,” I said. “You knew Nick’s phone would ring before the chair appeared, and then past you made eye contact with yourself, so I thought you might’ve seen someth—”
“Wait, you saw that? You can see me through time?”
“Yes, I saw you guys. Both when you left time twenty-five days ago and just now when you two placed the chair down. Did I not tell you before?” I looked at the twins as they shook their heads.
“How does it work?” Antonio asked.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. It doesn’t always happen. But now I wonder if you’ve seen us already. A few years from now?”
“Nah. It doesn’t work like that. I only saw it because I did it already. I won’t know when we’ll appear until the moment we do the jump.”
“I see.”
“And by then it will be instant for us anyway, since Kevin is doing the teleporting part in real time.”
“Right. We’re all going to experience it at the same time and the same way,” Ana said, looking at Antonio.
“Yes, yes! That’s correct, young lady. I’m glad you’ve been paying attention.”
“Oh, Dr. Ryder, most of your quantum talks give me a headache, but some of it does make sense.”
“Facts.” Antonio nodded and turned to Nick. “You should return that call.”
Nick walked away to do just that. He’d kept the phone in his hand the entire time, and it didn’t escape me—or Annie, for that matter—that he kept glancing at it, itching to make sure everything was okay.
We’d been in communication with the New York gang the whole time, so it could’ve just been a check-in.
But then why were they suddenly so anxious?
The way they kept making eye contact and staring at the phone made me feel like trouble was calling.
But why would they keep anything from us?
I was still staring at Nick’s back when Kevin startled me by pulling me closer to the others.
“Okay, Nick’s busy,” he said. “I’m thinking we skip the live chicken, and we test it on me instead.”
I turned and gently elbowed him. “Sorry, but no. We have to test the chicken first to make sure it’s safe to do this.”
“I’m perfect for this, Ry. Think about it. My genes are so used to teleporting, this would be the best way of making sure it works. I will be okay. I know it.”
Annie came up behind him. “I think he’ll be okay, too.”
“Oh yes. Yes, indeed.” Dr. Ryder gave Kevin a hard slap on the back. “This young man has the highest probability of survival. And for the other factors, when you consider . . . oh, never mind.”
“Consider what?” I asked.
“No worries, none at all.” He shook his head. “We simply do not know all the risks. Temporal instability is a true problem, you know? But this young man? He teleports. He understands space; we shouldn’t have to worry about ending up in different years.”
“We shouldn’t have to?” I could feel my eyes bulging. “That’s a possibility?”
“No. No. Well, yes. We best be prepared for anything.” He looked at Kevin and gave him yet another slap on the back. “You should try first, young man. Best chance, indeed.”
“Okay. So it should be him,” I said, looking at Kevin, who was staring at Dr. Ryder in a very unfriendly way. Even so, he nodded while reaching around to rub the stinging spot.
“Yes,” Jay answered. “His body is the most prepared for this. And I mean, none of us wants to sacrifice a real chicken.”
“We don’t.” Kevin shook his head. “Which means we all agree I’m many things . . . but a chicken I’m not.”
“But it’s so iffy.”
“Sooner or later, we’ll have to try it.”
I sighed. This was true.
There was some time left before the dead rabbit was scheduled to appear.
As Dr. Ryder pointed out, watching the clock did make it go more slowly.
It had been less than ten minutes since the chair appeared, and that alone felt like I was a snail on a highway.
The next fifty minutes were going to kill me.
Nick came back in a hurry. “We’re out of luck. This all has to work a little sooner than planned.”
“Are they okay?” Annie asked.
“Yes, but we’re not.” He went to sit on the chair and rubbed his temples. “We have two problems. Give me a minute.”
I didn’t like the unsettled vibe from him. I’d never sensed anything but confidence and stability off him, no matter what was going on. I frowned. “Nick! What problems?”
He looked up at me. “Problem one, they’ve issued a million-dollar reward for anyone who turns you in.
And a million more for each one of you.” He pointed at Kevin, Anali, and Jay.
“Which brings me to problem number two. There’s a video of the four of you at a motel.
The owner had hidden cameras in the hallways and recognized Ryan.
He gave them a still of the four of you. And it’s circulating.”
It took a few seconds before it hit me. “The cabin’s landlord,” I said.
“Yes. He’s seen Kevin and Jay with me. He might give us up for the money. So now we’re out of time.”
“We’re here to help,” Beth said, walking out of the portal with Andrew. “We don’t have much time. Whatever you’re doing, wrap it up.”
“Kevin, let’s take Dr. Ryder’s equipment back to Gabby’s,” Nick said, already walking away.
Nick, Kevin, Beth, and Andrew went back and forth to New York, taking anything that could give us away.
Especially anything that belonged to Jack.
Every bottle, diaper, and toy had to disappear.
The smallest hint of a baby’s presence would be the one breadcrumb we couldn’t afford to leave for those coming after me.
The rest of us grabbed our essential belongings and came back to wait on the rabbit. I looked at Jack in his mom’s arms. “Annie, listen to me! You need to stay with Nick and the baby.”
“We can’t stay, actually. The landlord knows what Nick looks like. And I won’t leave him. And we won’t leave Jack.”
“Annie, I’m sorry.” I could feel my heart racing, realizing the situation had escalated far beyond anything I could’ve predicted.
“There’s no choice.” She shook her head. “It’s been decided for us.”
“Okay.” I turned to each one of them. “Dr. Ryder, you should go back to Gabby.”
“And miss out on this opportunity to time-travel? Oh no, no. I cannot do that, young lady. This is the thing we scientists live for. You need me with you.” He nodded. “Indeed, yes.”
“Jay, you—”
“Forget it, Ry. I’m coming too. You need another teleporter with you.”
The palpitations in my chest intensified with every failed attempt to save their lives. Why won’t they allow me to protect them? My eyes darted to everyone in my vicinity before landing on the twins.
Anali immediately raised her chin. “We have to come. Our faces are everywhere with yours.” She hooked her hand in her brother’s arm. “And it’s time.”
She hadn’t finished talking when the rabbit appeared. Its body was freshly preserved in the box, lying on a bed of ice, each cube still perfectly frozen. Not a hint of any melting.