“I buried him there,” she repeated the oft-told story. “I wanted a spot of unparalleled beauty with a clear view of our blue earth.”
Odell laughed. “Only someone with Hubble-like telescopes for eyes could see the blue earth from there.”
He always laughed the same way and said the same thing. It was their old, familiar joke. It helped ease any awkwardness from the many months of separation. For Odette visited but once a year on the Autumnal Equinox.
“Nothing mysterious,” she had explained when their little custom first began, “I just like this time of year.”
He turned to look directly at her. She always wore the same thing, the outfit when he had first seen her. When she had come to his room at the university and found him nearly out of his mind, a victim of time distortion sickness. That altered dimension seemed like several lifetimes ago, but seeing her in the boots and cape brought it all back to him; the shock of seeing a sister he had believed long dead.
He tugged playfully at the hood of her cloak as they turned to walk back into the room. “Where do you keep these clothes?”
“What do you mean?” she reprimanded. “This is what I wear… my uniform, so to speak.”
He pulled down the corners of his mouth in mock disapproval. “But that starry, flowy thing.” He waved his hands around his waist to indicate a skirt. “It was much more suited to your position as Master Time Traitor.”
She wagged a playful finger. “That term is not accurate, Odell, as you well know.”
He laughed. “As a matter of fact, I don’t. Not really. I stopped trying to understand how you do what you do long ago.”
“Is that why you do what you do?” she asked looking around the laboratory which was a perfect study in organized chaos. The room was stocked with all sizes of tables and benches, among which were scattered various computers, mechanical prototypes, and glass aquariums in which things both aquatic and terrestrial lived.
Odell was the preeminent inventor of his time. His creations had done much to improve the lives of people all over the world and help preserve the environment for future generations.
He nodded. “You have to agree, it’s a better use of my skills and energy,” he replied. “I couldn’t get away with another time incursion anyway. Not with your little minions lurking everywhere and in between.”
“They are not my minions,” she scolded. “In fact they are not minions at all, as you well know. The Feralon are Liberi, albeit ones we cannot completely explain as yet. Ambrosius is determined to solve that particular mystery. Though I’m not so certain we will ever have the answer.”
He smiled, but said seriously, “I’m grateful they just are. They allow our better selves to flourish, although there have been some notable slips.”
She shook her head with resignation. “No world is perfect, Odell, because people aren’t. And time is a crafty adversary. Still, you are masters of your own destiny. The Liberi just try to level the playing field.”
Odette had walked over to a desk. It was pushed up under a large bow window that looked out over the lush rooftop gardens that dominated the skyline. She glanced down at the framed photograph of a large family, one where she was conspicuously absent. They were grouped together on a mountain trail. Behind them a spectacularly clear lake reflected a blue, cloudless sky.
“They are all well,” he told her gently. “Ettie, especially, would like to see you.”
Odette shook her head sadly, still staring at the photograph. “My way is better. It is harder for me when there is too much… too much emotion.” She gave an odd little chuckle and added, “Ettie also asks too many questions. She always wants to know about her friends.”
“Who can blame her?” he asked, lifting his eyebrows questioningly. “There are a few I’d like to know something of as well.”
“No,” she said firmly, “their stories are their own. You… you both must be content with that.” But then she looked at him with sad eyes, as if to say she was sorry not to give him what he wanted.
Odell felt the immediate prick of his conscience. She had so much responsibility… so much riding on her. He stepped close to hug her tight and felt her slowly yield against him. It wasn’t often that he initiated physical contact. It clouded her mind and slowed her reflexes and was something she rarely allowed. But this time, she put her arms around him and rested her cheek against his shoulder.
“We know it was you…” he finally said, “…you who brought Ava and Charlie back to us.”
He could feel her smile against his shirt, and then pull away from him. “As if I would do such a thing…”
Odette had always insisted that her role wasn’t to play God, only to keep the temporal byways open, to allow for greater connection and community. But seeing her smile, for the first time, Odell began to wonder if the Liberi used humans as time did. Maybe they actually exploited their better selves. Certainly he, with his science, and Ettie, with her art, did their small part.
He opened his mouth to ask her, but was startled by a small voice that floated up to him from the vicinity of his knees.
“Why are you talking to the air, Pop-Pop?”
She was only five, and her voice was high-pitched and squeaky like a cartoon character’s.
“Anita, what are you doing here?” He bent over to pick her up and gave her a quick hug before resting her on his hip.
She smiled at him mischievously, and his old heart melted. She was the beautiful amalgamation of so many different peoples, it hurt his eyes sometimes just to look at her.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head against his.
“It’s pretty.”
“What?” he asked perplexed.
“The shimmery air.” She pointed a couple of feet in front of Odell where Odette stood. “Right there.”
He raised his eyebrows at Odette, who mirrored the expression. It seemed that even a few generations removed from its source, the Liberi blood still showed up here and there.
Odell set his great-granddaughter down.
“Back to bed with you, pumpkin. Your folks will be mad at ole Pop-Pop if they find out you’ve been up so late.”
“You have to come with me.” She grasped his hand and wouldn’t let go, pulling him toward the door.
“Okay, but I can’t stay.” He smiled at Odette and made a little swirly motion with his hand, indicating that he would be right back. “I’m not done talking to the air, pumpkin.”
In her bedroom, he tucked Anita in next to her little sister and turned to leave.
“Come back and read to me, Pop-Pop,” she pleaded in her small voice.
“We’ll wake your sister,” he whispered
She looked at him scornfully, as if he were trying to trick her.
“You know Pooky never wakes up at night. She just sleeps and sleeps, but I’m not tired.”
Anita was right. Pooky slept the sleep of the innocent. Not like her big sister, who was precocious and troublesome.
“Okay, I’ll come back and read to you in a little bit,” he agreed. “What do you want to hear?”
“Pluribus et Concordis,” she replied decisively.
Odell sighed. She was far, far too bright for her age.
“All right, I guess it’s never too early to explore the philosophical foundations of our collective humanity.”
She smiled brightly at him and clapped her hands together, bouncing a little on the bed.
Back in his study he called her name, but he knew it was no use. She was gone. She never stayed long. Still, he was disappointed.
Shaking his head tiredly, he ascended the mahogany staircase to the office above. His knees creaked a little, finally beginning to feel their age. The loft was as cluttered as the laboratory below, but here with bookshelves and telescopes, maps spread out across a large desk, and a small computer screen glowing and tucked away to one side.
He walked to a massive oak bookshelf where he kept his most prized editions and stood staring at the empty
space where Gabriel’s book had been. He smiled sadly. This wasn’t the first time she had taken it. Over the years, he had found it missing more than a few times. He knew it would eventually show up. One day, he would find it back in its place of honor as if it had never been gone.
Odell snapped abruptly out of his reverie. If he wasn’t quick, Anita would come looking for him again. He turned to the wide windowsill where a pile of well-worn and tattered paperbacks were stacked. He pulled from its midst a particularly dog-eared edition of The Time Machine by H.G. Wells.
Odell turned and made his way back to Anita’s bedroom. There he would read to her until she fell asleep.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Epilogue
Table of Contents
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Epilogue
Twin Speex: Time Traitors Book II Page 39
