by C. J. Hill
She and Taylor unfolded their thermo-blankets onto some gel mattresses in the room that they shared. Taylor lay down on her bed and adjusted her pillow. Sheridan wrapped her blanket around herself and sat on her mattress with her back resting against the wall.
“We’ve got a long day ahead of us tomorrow,” Taylor told her. “You need your sleep.”
“I’ll be fine.” How could Sheridan explain to her that she never knew when she woke up whether she was in a VR program or not? It wasn’t rational. She had already proved to herself that this was real. She’d eaten. Taylor knew the truth about the QGP. But Sheridan was still afraid that if she went to sleep, when she woke up this would be over. She would be back in her cell. She couldn’t face it, so she couldn’t sleep. She didn’t even want to lie down.
Taylor watched her from her gel mattress. “Do you want me to stay up with you?”
“No,” Sheridan said.
Taylor didn’t hit the controls for the light. She eyed Sheridan with concern, waiting for her to say more. A minute went by. Taylor kept waiting.
“I killed Reilly,” Sheridan said. “I killed someone.”
Taylor shifted her blanket. “It was self-defense. And you didn’t actually kill him. He’s probably still alive. In the technical sense. Besides,” she went on, because Sheridan hadn’t spoken, “it was his own fault for putting you through all those VR programs. You didn’t know it was real.”
“But if I had known it was real,” Sheridan said, “I would have done the same thing. I just would have felt worse while I did it.”
“It was self-defense,” Taylor said again. “You can’t feel guilty about that. Everyone has the right to—” She paused, reconsidering. “You know, you actually saved Reilly’s life. Lee had orders to kill him. And Lee would have, if you hadn’t sent Reilly into the erasing chamber. I’m sure if Reilly still had the ability to speak and remember it, he’d want to thank you.”
“I’m not so sure he’d thank me,” Sheridan said, but she smiled at her sister’s attempt to make her feel better.
“You saved his life,” Taylor emphasized. “Think of it that way.” She watched Sheridan for another moment. “I can stay up with you if you want.”
Sheridan shook her head. “Get some sleep. I’ll be fine.”
Taylor turned off the light and settled into her bed. Sheridan stared out the window at the night sky, at the darkness that was now pierced and glowing with stars. Countless stars. Ones she couldn’t even see. Suns as bright as the one that gave Earth life.
The darkness wasn’t so bad as long as you could see the stars.
Sheridan pulled the blanket around her, tucking its edges in. Eventually she would be all right. Eventually she would feel like she was really free. She tilted her face upward and let a million points of light shine down on her.
Sometime during the middle of the night she fell asleep.
Chapter 41
On the last day of the trek, Echo grew nervous. Lee and Ren had called the leaders of Santa Fe to report on the mission and had told them everything from Xavier’s death to Reilly’s demise. The leaders knew that Echo was coming. Which meant his father knew too.
Jeth also knew that Echo had joined the Dakine, and that this bad decision had led to an assassination attempt against Joseph. When Echo got to Santa Fe, he would have to see the disappointment in Jeth’s eyes, the accusation, a coldness where love used to be.
Several times during the trip, Joseph had reassured Echo that Jeth would be happy to see him. But that was the thing about having a twin brother—Echo could tell when Joseph was shining up unpleasant facts. Joseph wasn’t any more sure what Jeth’s reception would be than Echo was.
As they flew the last distance on their airbikes, Echo began to sort out expectations, to quantify them. It was fine if Jeth was angry at him and yelled a lot. Echo deserved it. He hadn’t just made a bad decision; he’d crashed all their lives. Anger was fine. Just so long as Jeth still talked to him. Jeth might, after all, refuse to see him.
It would be all right if Jeth said he didn’t want Echo to live in the same apartment with him. Echo was twenty years old. Most children lived on their own at that age. Joseph only lived in Jeth’s apartment because they were both new to the city and it was crowded. Echo wouldn’t mind rooming with someone else. Just so long as it was near to Jeth and Joseph. He still wanted to spend time with them.
And then there was work. Originally Echo hadn’t even wanted to be a historian. He’d only gone along with it because he’d wanted to work with Joseph. But now the thought of Jeth not wanting Echo around, of him not sharing his theories and asking for Echo’s opinions . . . Echo’s chest felt tight every time he thought about it. What if he had to find a new profession, had to start over and apprentice at something else? Jeth might completely delete Echo from his life.
And that was the worst thought of all.
When Santa Fe was looming ahead of them, so large that they could no longer see the top of the dome, Lee and Ren landed their bikes and Joseph followed. As Lee dismounted, he told Echo, “We’ve got to wait here for the security team. They need to make sure we’re legitimate before they open any city gates.” Lee looked at his comlink. “We called in. It shouldn’t take them long to get here.”
It didn’t. Almost as soon as Lee finished speaking, Echo heard the rumble of vehicles coming their way. Moments later two large covered trucks pulled to a stop in front of them. Armed men hung from the back, scanning glasses on their eyes as they surveyed the area. “They’re alone,” one man called.
A ramp lowered, making room for the group to roll their airbikes onto the truck. Before the ramp even touched the ground, a man jumped down from the back of one of the trucks. Echo immediately recognized him. It was his father. Jeth’s maroon hair was shorter, and he no longer wore any sort of face dye. It made him look older somehow. Or perhaps the stress had done that—having a son killed, and knowing that the son had brought it on himself.
Echo stared at Jeth in surprised silence, searching for something to say. All he could do was swallow.
Jeth’s gaze ricocheted between Joseph and Echo. “Echo!” he called. In their camouflage dye, Jeth couldn’t tell who was who.
Echo stepped forward. There was no more putting it off, no way to deny any of it. His mistakes hung off him, raw and visible for his father to see.
Jeth came toward him, staring as though he still didn’t quite believe it. When he got within arm’s reach, he stopped and his face crumpled with emotion.
“I’m sorry,” Echo said. It was the only thing he could get out before Jeth broke into tears. Echo hadn’t ever seen his father cry before. This was going to be bad.
“I’m sorry,” Echo said again, feeling how inadequate the phrase was. His words tumbled from his mouth, too fast, disjointed. “I didn’t realize what would happen—I didn’t want—I never would have joined if I—”
“I know,” Jeth said, putting his hands on Echo’s shoulders. “I know you wouldn’t have.”
“Then why are you crying?”
Jeth wrapped his arms around him like he’d done when Echo was a little boy. “Because you were dead and now you’re alive.”
Chapter 42
Taylor wanted to go back to her apartment and rest. Instead the entire group went into council chambers, where they had to tell about their experiences all over again. Taylor told what had happened up until her group reached the courthouse lobby; then she couldn’t speak, couldn’t even look at the councilmen and councilwomen who watched her with heavy gazes. They already knew what had happened to Xavier. Lee and Ren had given Santa Fe a report when they’d reached the first base. But she still couldn’t speak. Her throat felt as though someone had tightened a knot around it.
Taylor remembered the day the team had left for Traventon. She had told President Mason, “Freedom means paying off your debts. After this is over, we’re even.” She would never be even now. Xavier had died for her. How did a person pay back that
sort of debt?
Echo finished their story while Taylor looked at the table, watching the wood grain go in and out of focus. As he concluded, she managed to say, “Tell Xavier’s family he was a hero. Tell them I’m sorry we couldn’t bring home his body. . . . Tell them I . . .” But then the words seemed to lodge in her throat and she couldn’t get anything else out.
She didn’t ever want to meet Xavier’s family. She didn’t want to know if he was married or whether he had children. She didn’t want to see them weighing the value of his life against hers.
Lee and Ren spoke next. They were surprisingly complimentary of each other during their report. That was something Taylor hadn’t expected. It was the first time she’d noticed, though she should have seen it on the trip home, that their earlier distrust of each other had gone.
President Mason thanked them for their efforts on Santa Fe’s behalf, but the words had a hard time finding purchase in Taylor’s mind. She was still back in the Traventon courthouse lobby, endlessly reliving those last minutes and trying to redo them. If only she hadn’t fallen down and delayed herself. If only . . .
Taylor didn’t realize that the president had excused the team, and given the council a recess, until everyone got up from the table and made their way to the door. Then she stood up and followed the others outside.
Joseph paused a little ways away from the building’s doors. “I was thinking,” he told Taylor, “that after we get Sheridan and Echo situated, we could take them on a tour of the city.” He turned his attention to Sheridan. “You’d like that, wouldn’t you?” The corners of his mouth lifted into a smile. “I’ve got a lot of credits now. We could look at jewelry. . . .”
Sheridan blushed and laughed.
Echo took Joseph by the arm and began leading him away. “Don’t worry,” he told Sheridan with exaggerated concern. “While we’re gone, I’ll have a talk with Joseph on the art of being subtle.” Echo gave Taylor a wink. “Message us when you’re ready.”
And despite what he’d just said to Sheridan, the smile Echo sent Taylor wasn’t subtle at all.
Taylor would have started off with Sheridan to their apartment, but President Mason walked up to them. His expression during the council meeting had been stern. Now it held different emotions: sadness and concern. It softened him, made him seem more human.
“I wanted to let you know,” he told Taylor, “that Xavier’s family doesn’t blame you for what happened.”
The phrase didn’t give her much comfort. It sounded like the polite sort of thing people in Santa Fe said to each other when they weren’t arguing. “How do you know that?” Taylor asked. She blamed herself. How could they not?
“Because I’m his father,” President Mason said.
Taylor heard Sheridan’s sharp intake of breath, but she didn’t say anything. Taylor didn’t either. Her worst fear had come true, was standing here looking her in the eyes. Eyes, she could see, that were tinged with the deep pain of loss.
“It was Xavier’s choice to give his life for yours,” President Mason went on, perhaps because she was still staring at him, horrified and mute. “It was always in his nature to help others. It’s why he became a surgeon. He wanted to save lives. . . .”
This only made Taylor feel worse. It had never been in her nature to help others. She felt the debt of Xavier’s life weighing down on her, heavy, impossible. A flash of fury ran through her at all of it. “You knew it was a dangerous mission,” she said, “and you knew what your son was like. How could you have let him go? Why didn’t you stop him?”
President Mason should have gotten angry at her. He had come over to comfort her, and she had turned around and blamed him for his son’s death. President Mason’s eyes were still kind though. “I knew the importance of the mission. Who would I have sent instead?”
The tears that had threatened Taylor throughout the meeting came now. She couldn’t stop them. She wiped at her face and didn’t say anything else. She was horribly bad at giving condolences and apparently just as bad at accepting them. What she should have said was thank you. She wanted to say it, needed to say it, but somehow she could only stand there and cry.
President Mason turned to Sheridan as though this was any other conversation and it wasn’t awkward for Taylor to be silent and weeping. “Ren and Lee said you couldn’t sleep on the trip home. Would you like an appointment at the MedCenter? They could help find the problem.”
Sheridan shook her head. “I already know what the problem is. I just don’t know how to deal with it. How does a person forget being held captive for a month and a half?” She forced a smile. “Do they have memory washes that work in small increments?”
Sheridan was joking. Well, at least mostly joking. President Mason answered her seriously. “We don’t erase memories in Santa Fe. We learn from them. Remember your captivity in order to better cherish your freedom.”
He turned back to Taylor, putting his hand on her arm. “If you want to honor my son’s sacrifice, then this is what you need to do: live well.” He dropped his hand away from her arm. “I’d better go back to the council chamber now. We’re hearing the last arguments before we decide the issue of populating the new cities.” He glanced back at the building’s doors. “Ren and Lee are both urging the council to vote for keeping our diversity intact. I was surprised by that.”
President Mason turned to leave, had already taken a couple of steps away, before Taylor found her voice. “Thank you,” she called to him.
He looked over his shoulder at her, nodded, then went back into the council building.
Taylor and Sheridan headed down the walkway toward their apartment. Neither of them spoke. Finally Taylor told her what the apartment was like. “It will be odd,” she added, “to walk in and not see your stuff everywhere. But on the bright side, I already know where to find the things you’re going to want, so it shouldn’t take much time to rebuy all of them.” She reached for her comlink. “I can order your clothes right now if you’d like.”
“That’s okay,” Sheridan said. “Choosing things is half the fun. Besides,” she said with a curving smile, “I’m going to want some clothes that match whatever jewelry Joseph buys me.”
Taylor looked upward past the outlines of buildings. Traventon and Santa Fe had a lot of similarities: cars that ran on rails; tall, clean buildings; domes that covered the city. Santa Fe’s dome was clear, though, so that you could see the sky. She couldn’t believe what a difference that made—seeing the sky. Blue today with fat, bunchy clouds.
Taylor turned to her sister. “You’re not really going to make Joseph buy you jewelry, are you?”
Sheridan laughed and didn’t answer. Trees lined the walkway, and she kept reaching out and touching the leaves on the lower branches, fluttering them with her fingertips. She was enjoying them, Taylor knew, because she’d lived for a month and a half without them.
“Joseph feels so guilty,” Taylor said, “he’s probably already scrolling through settings with sapphires and emeralds.”
Sheridan smiled. “Eventually I’ll tell him just to live well, but maybe I’ll let him buy me some earrings first.”
Taylor smiled back at her. It was okay to smile. It was okay to look up and think that the clouds looked like piles of white pearls spilled into the sky. Happiness was part of living well.
About the Author
C. J. Hill is the mother of twins. They aren’t identical, but this doesn’t mean she always calls them by the right name. In fact, she occasionally calls all her children by the wrong names (she has five) and has even been known to throw the dog’s name into the mix. Laugh now, but you’ll do the same thing when you have kids.
If C. J. had a time machine and could visit another century, she would probably go to the Regency era instead of the future. According to all the novels she’s read, the past was filled with a multitude of dashing lords and viscounts who were always on the lookout for damsels in distress, whereas the future is populated by scary dystopi
an societies.
Visit C. J. Hill online at www.cjhillbooks.com.
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Books by C. J. Hill
Erasing Time
Credits
Photo of girl © 2014 by Gustavo Marx/MergeLeft Reps., Inc.
Photo of boy © 2014 by Michael Frost
Cover design by Joel Tippie
Copyright
Katherine Tegen Books is an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers.
Echo in Time
Copyright © 2014 by C. J. Hill
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hill, C. J.
Echo in time / C. J. Hill. — First edition.
pages cm
Sequel to: Erasing time.
Summary: Taylor and Joseph are part of a team sent to Traventon to destroy the QGPs and, perhaps, Reilly, on a mission that could endanger Taylor’s twin and Joseph’s girlfriend, Sheridan, but reunite them with Joseph’s supposedly dead twin, Echo.
ISBN 978-0-06-212396-1 (paperback)
EPUB Edition NOVEMBER 2013 ISBN 9780062123978
[1. Time travel—Fiction. 2. Government, Resistance to—Fiction. 3. Twins—Fiction. 4. Sisters—Fiction. 5. Brothers—Fiction. 6. Science fiction.] I. Title.
