by Nina Croft
She glanced at the transponder on her wrist. It was dead, completely inactive when she swiped her hand over the screen. Presumably, the time machines were gone in the future. Blown up? Or perhaps they had never come into existence. “I don’t know,” she said. “Have you any idea where we are?”
They were on a grassy hillside. In the distance, she could make out the skyline of a city.
“I think that’s New York,” Quinn said.
The sun was high in the sky, so it had to be around midday. No one was in sight, though she could hear the drone of traffic. The highway must be on the other side of the hill. She’d expected something here. Some sign, some idea of what they needed to do. Where was the time machine, with its bomb? Or Quinn’s friends? What were they supposed to do—just hang around and wait for something to happen?
“Holy shit,” Quinn said.
He was staring up at the sky. She followed his gaze and her breath caught in her throat. High up, she could make out a spaceship. It was distant, but hurtling toward them at great speed, its course erratic as it zigzagged across the sky, careering out of control but heading straight for Earth. Straight for them.
Now it filled the sky, blacking out the sun, turning day to night. It was huge, maybe a mile in diameter. A trail of fire followed in its wake. Could they run? But it was too big, they could never outrun it. She turned and wrapped her arms around Quinn, needing his closeness. Needing to hold him to the end.
Had they been wrong? Was this the Cataclysm?
It had nothing to do with the bomb after all.
She stared mesmerized. Now she could feel the heat from the fires that burned the great ship. This was the end. They were going to die. But at what must be the last second the ship veered away. It crashed to Earth about a mile from where they stood, the force of the blast hurling them both backward. She lay there, staring up at the sky, which was clear once more. She waited for another blast, one signaling the Cataclysm. Nothing happened, and she sat up and stared at the huge burning ship, the heat washing over them in waves. But as she watched, the fires were extinguished, leaving the ship almost unmarked.
“Wow,” Quinn said. “I wasn’t expecting that. Where the hell did that come from?”
She’d seen images of the ship in her history classes. “At a guess, and a long time ago, the planet Krell. That, I think, is the missing Krellian mothership.” And suddenly everything made sense. “That’s why the Krellians were sending the time machine back. To save their mothership.” Or maybe just to retrieve something from it. The DNA databases perhaps. A chance to rebuild their world.
“And presumably the Bhaxians found out and decided to stop them. That’s why they sent the bomb here and now.”
And they hadn’t cared that they’d nearly destroyed a planet in the process. Except the time machine and the bomb were nowhere in sight. “So where are your friends?” she asked.
Quinn shrugged. “Perhaps the time machine really was damaged and is stuck in Uganda. Or maybe Kane found out what his mission was and decided blowing up the world was a bad idea after all.”
But at that moment, off to their left, a hundred feet away, the air shimmered and rippled and the silver time machine appeared. She stared at it for a moment. Prickles shivered across her skin as she accepted that her whole world had been false, and if they succeeded now, it would likely never exist.
But she’d made her decision back in the future.
She held out her hand to Quinn. “Come on,” she said. “It’s time to save your world.”
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Acknowledgments
To everyone at Entangled Publishing, especially my fabulous editor, Brenda Chin, for working through my story, telling me when it made no sense (honestly, this time-travel stuff is complicated!) and helping me change that.
To all the great women at Passionate Critters for reading my stories and letting me know what they really think.
And also, a huge thank you to my long-suffering husband, Rob, who has to put up with me regularly zoning out of the real world and playing around in worlds of my own making.
About the Author
Growing up, Nina Croft spent her time dreaming of faraway sunnier places and ponies. When she discovered both, and much more, could be found between the covers of a book, her life changed forever.
Later, she headed south, picked up a husband on the way, and together they discovered a love of travel and a dislike of 9 to 5 work. Eventually they stumbled upon the small almond farm in Spain they now call home.
Nina spends her days reading, writing, and riding under the blue Spanish skies—sunshine and ponies. Proof that dreams can come true if you want them enough.
If you’d like to learn about new releases, sign up for Nina’s newsletter here.
www.ninacroft.com
Don’t miss the Beyond Human series…
Unthinkable
Unspeakable
Also by Nina Croft…
The Cutting Loose series
Falling for the Bad Girl
Blackmailing the Bad Girl
The Bad Girl and the Baby
The Order series
Bittersweet Blood
Bittersweet Magic
Bittersweet Darkness
Bittersweet Christmas
the Dark Desires series
Break Out
Deadly Pursuit
Death Defying
Temporal Shift
Blood and Metal
Flying Through Fire
the Saddler Cove series
Handle with Care
the Things to Do Before You Die series
His Fantasy Girl
Her Fantasy Husband
His Fantasy Bride
the Babysitting a Billionaire series
Losing Control
Out of Control
Taking Control
the Melville Sisters series
Operation Saving Daniel
Betting on Julia
Blackmailed by the Italian Billionaire
The Descartes Legacy
The Spaniard’s Kiss
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Entropy
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