‘Huh?’
Chad grinned. ‘Seriously?’ he said. ‘That didn’t occur to you? You’re a complete dummy sometimes. Sure, we don’t know our pasts or real identities or anything about our families—but maybe that’s not the most important thing. We’re alive! All of us! We could have been killed a dozen times over, but we’re all here.’
‘But don’t you want to know who your parents are?’
‘Sure,’ he said. ‘But it doesn’t mean I’ll care about them. Maybe they were awful people. Maybe they were killers or drug addicts, or maybe they’re dead! The same could be true for you or any of us.’
I thought about this. There was some truth in what Chad was saying. I’d always envisioned my parents as being perfect people and that I’d had a perfect life. But maybe it wasn’t like that at all. We’d been told by The Agency that our parents were dead or had abandoned us. Later, that had turned out to be a cover story concocted by The Agency.
But maybe there was some truth in it anyway. Our parents had never followed up on trying to find us. Maybe they were dead. Or—worse—they simply didn’t care.
‘But isn’t it important to know the answer?’ I said.
Chad sighed. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Knowing the answer is important, but answers aren’t everything. It’s a cliché, but maybe this whole thing isn’t about the destination. Maybe it really is about the journey.’
I stared at the ocean. ‘I’m sorry,’ I said, finally. ‘You’re right. I’ve wrecked everything.’
‘I’m sorry, too,’ he said. ‘But it doesn’t mean it can’t be fixed.’
I frowned. ‘What do you mean?’
‘We have a time machine, dummy!’ he said. ‘We can go back and fix whatever you wrecked.’
I thought about what he was saying. ‘Maybe,’ I said. ‘But I don’t even know what I broke in the first place.’
‘Fortunately, we know the smartest guy on the planet,’ Chad said. ‘Let’s ask him.’
Chapter Twenty-Six
‘Ferdy,’ I said. ‘We need to ask you some questions.’
‘Are Axel and Chad wondering how the timeline was disrupted?’ Ferdy said.
‘You’ve already been thinking about it?’
‘As well as playing seventy-six games of chess, understanding the universe’s state immediately after the Big Bang, and solving the Beale Papers’ mystery. The answer, if you’re interested, is—’
‘Maybe some other time,’ Chad interrupted. ‘Ferdy, what we need to know right now is how Axel broke the planet.’
I gave Chad a sideways look. ‘Uh, yeah. I suppose you could put it that way.’
‘Axel will need to relate to us who he interacted with after he left the ship,’ Ferdy said.
I shrugged. ‘Basically, no one,’ I said. ‘I left here and went back to where I’d first woken up.’
‘You didn’t go inside?’ Chad said. ‘You didn’t speak to anyone?’
‘No. I hid across the street. Then I went to Cygnus Industries. I saw the Swan, got the book from him, and came straight back here.’
‘You didn’t talk to anyone else? Didn’t go saving the world in your spare time?’
I shook my head. ‘I came back to the ship. We took off and ended up here.’
Chad furrowed his brow. ‘I don’t see how that could have wrecked things. Unless…’ He stopped. ‘Ferdy, could it be that Axel indirectly did something that changed history?’
‘That’s possible, friend Chad.’
I thought about the book sitting in Liber8tor’s console. ‘The book ended up in Ravana’s possession,’ I said, slowly. ‘That didn’t happen this time around.’
‘I’m not sure how that could make a difference,’ Chad said.
Ferdy spoke up. ‘There may have been a domino effect from Axel’s actions,’ he said. ‘Axel was very close to not saving New York City from nuclear destruction. Ferdy recalls it was only a matter of seconds, and the bomb would have detonated.’
‘That’s true,’ I said.
‘Not getting the book from the Swan may have meant that Ravana coordinated his actions earlier with General Wolff from Typhoid. A few hours difference—or even minutes—may have caused Pegasus to be fired earlier.’
I felt a lump in my stomach. ‘You’re right,’ I said. ‘I can’t believe I was so stupid. I stopped the bomb from exploding with only seconds to spare. If I’d been any later, the bomb would have detonated.’
‘That must be it,’ Chad said, slowly. ‘Everything got put forward sooner than it should. They fired Pegasus before we could stop them.’
‘But we can fix this,’ I said. Chad had been right. We have a time machine! We can still change history. ‘All we need to do is go back in time and…’ Here I trailed off. ‘And do something. I’m not sure what. I already have the book. I’ve already removed it from the timeline. How can I delay Ravana and Wolff long enough to stop them from firing the weapon?’
‘There is an additional problem,’ Ferdy said.
‘Really?’ I said. ‘Another? Being responsible for the deaths of millions of people isn’t enough?’ My voice was rising, and I struggled to keep myself under control. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘The time travel device on Liber8tor has become inoperable,’ Ferdy said. ‘We are unable to travel in time.’
‘Of course!’ I said. ‘What else can go wrong!’
This is all my fault! Why didn’t I leave things alone?
Chad was calmer. ‘Ferdy,’ he said. ‘Are you able to fix it?’
‘There are two issues. One is that the francium in the device is exhausted. Francium is the rare element that is required to make time travel possible.’ He directed me to the device where the francium had to be added. It was a simple chute set into the hull paneling. ‘There also seems to be a minor fault in one of the relays. It’s fixable, but it will take some time.’
‘Can we fix it?’ I asked, returning to my seat.
‘We need someone better qualified than Axel and Chad.’
‘Wow,’ Chad said. ‘It’s a problem that even Ferdy can’t fix.’
‘Ferdy is not perfect,’ Ferdy said. ‘Only superior to everyone else.’
Chad shrugged. ‘Of course.’
‘But won’t that break the timeline even more?’ Then I realized it wouldn’t. ‘No. It won’t if we go back in time and fix what I’ve broken. Nothing we do here in this time will have occurred. These changes will cease to exist, and the timeline will go back to normal.’
‘Correct,’ Ferdy said.
‘But who can we ask for help?’ Chad said.
I snapped my fingers. ‘The Agency.’
Chad stared at me as if I’d lost my mind. ‘The Agency?’ he said. ‘You’re joking.’
‘They’ve got everything we need to make this happen. We’d be crazy to not ask for their assistance.’
‘We don’t exactly have a perfect relationship with them.’
‘But we’ve always come together in the end,’ I said. ‘They’ll be on our side if we explain that we can stop this disaster from happening.’
Chad considered this. ‘All right,’ he said, finally. ‘But where do we go?’
After thinking for a long moment, I asked Ferdy to search the internet. It took half an hour, but we found what I was seeking.
‘It looks like Mister Brown is located at The Agency in South Carolina,’ I said. ‘There’s no other mention of him. In this timeline, the United Nations haven’t admitted the existence of modified humans, and The Agency is still a secret organization.’
‘All right,’ Chad agreed. ‘It seems like the only way forward.’
We zoomed back over what remained of New York City and headed south down the coast. My mind went back over the events of the last few days. I tried to think of how I could make things right. Providing we could fix the time machine—and that wasn’t a certainty—I had to go back a year in time again and somehow delay Ravana.
But doing that might not fix the timeline anywa
y. I could make everything worse!
Why hadn’t I left things alone?
Soon we were approaching the front entrance to The Agency. It occupied the old South Carolina Military Base, most of which was underground. All there was to see from here was a bunker set into the side of a hill. The last time I’d seen this place was when we left The Agency the first time.
A few security guards were at the front gate. Decloaking, we landed the ship and disembarked. It wasn’t a good idea. Apparently seeing two teenagers appear from an invisible, alien ship was too much for these guards to handle. They immediately started shooting. I threw up a barrier and deflected the bullets while Chad erected an ice shield to protect us. More guards poured from the building.
‘Wait!’ I yelled. ‘We’re not here to cause trouble.’
A guard stepped forward and ordered us to get down on the ground. Chad and I lay on the concrete road as the guards surrounded us.
‘This wasn’t quite the welcome I was expecting,’ Chad said.
‘Me neither,’ I admitted.
Several minutes passed before the main doors opened, and another group emerged. I glanced up.
No. That’s not possible.
The man in the lead turned to the soldiers and told them to lower their weapons.
‘I don’t know what’s going on here,’ Twelve said. ‘But I’m sure there’s a good explanation.’
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chad and I followed Twelve through The Cavern.
In many ways, it was almost as if we’d never left. Scientists were still working on various projects I couldn’t identify. There were experimental flying machines, different kinds of weapons, and some kind of colossal gate. I had no idea as to its purpose.
The biggest difference was the number of army personnel. The last time I’d seen this place—in our reality—it had mostly been a civilian facility. The Agency had been an independent organization. In our world, a lot had changed, and it worked hand in hand with the military. Here, it looked like the military was running the entire place.
Chad and I exchanged glances at one point but said nothing. The last time we’d seen Twelve was when we killed him in a life and death battle. After dropping him into a hole, we’d poured molten metal over him, reducing him to a metal statue.
I don’t think I’ll mention that particular incident.
We were finally taken into an area the size of a small supermarket. The floor and walls were concrete. Tiny halogen lights were set into the ceiling. This whole place had more of a feel of being a shooting gallery than a place where we should be questioned. The only break in the wall was a blackened window in one corner.
That’s two-way glass. Someone can peer through from the other side.
Our captors formed a circle around us with Twelve in front. The door opened, and a man walked in to assist Twelve.
It’s Mister Evans.
In our world, after going insane, Twelve had turned the poor man into sulfur. Here, he still lived and breathed. I felt a tinge of regret. If we succeeded in changing history, Mister Evans would end up dead again.
I diverted my eyes. The life of one person couldn’t compare to that of millions. It was tragic, but we had to do what was necessary.
Twelve glanced first at Chad and then me. ‘I suspect there’s a good explanation for all this,’ he said. ‘Although I have no idea what it could be.’
‘We’re here to make things right,’ I said.
‘And what would right look like?’
‘We can save New York City from destruction,’ I said. ‘But we need your help.’
The alien did not react at all. He simply stared at us. One of the guards, though, dropped the sight on his gun slightly. Another frowned. I wondered if they’d lost loved ones when Pegasus hit.
‘All right,’ Twelve said. ‘I’m listening.’
I didn’t go into a full explanation of everything that had happened. That would have taken too much time. It would have also revealed a lot of unpleasant details, including the fact that he’d lost his mind in our world and tried to kill us all.
Instead, we gave him the abridged version: we had traveled back in time, and this timeline had been created by mistake. Whatever hatred he held for us, he kept well hidden under his impassive face. I finished by saying we needed The Agency’s help to go back in time again and stop Pegasus from hitting New York.
‘The time machine in Liber8tor has stopped working,’ I said. ‘And we need a new supply of francium.’
Twelve nodded. ‘You’re saying that you’re from an alternate universe,’ he said. ‘Can you prove this?’
‘The ship we’re flying is an advanced Tagaar vessel,’ I said. ‘Isn’t that enough?’
‘No.’
Then a voice came over the intercom.
‘Chad and Axel are telling you the truth.’
The voice belonged to Ferdy. I had no idea how he’d hacked into The Agency’s system.
‘Who is this?’ Twelve demanded.
‘This is Ferdy.’
‘How—’
‘Ferdy was killed during one of our adventures and now inhabits the computer system of our ship, Liber8tor.’ He paused. ‘Ferdy has the power to delete backup storage of all Agency files,’ he said. ‘That is in this building and across the entire Agency. Of course, Ferdy would not do this because that would be wrong.’ He added. ‘And actor James Dean’s middle name was Byron.’
Something that almost looked like a smile flashed across Twelve’s face. ‘Well,’ he said. ‘That sounds like Ferdy.’ He motioned to the panel of blackened glass. ‘You can enter.’
I exchanged glances with Chad.
Who can enter?
The answer came a moment later when the door opened.
Of course, I thought. How stupid can I be?
The Ebony, Dan, and Chad from this alternate world came in, followed by someone I hadn’t seen for so long that my vision blurred—Ferdy. He’d been killed saving the earth in our universe. He was alive and well in this world and still looked the same: he had thin, black hair and did not look directly at us. Instead, his gaze was focused entirely on the ceiling.
I glanced at the others. Ebony’s face was unreadable, but her focus was only briefly on my Chad for a moment before turning to me. Dan was also staring at me as if I were a ghost. Chad Two—the Chad of this future—glanced once at me before staring at Chad One. He shook his head.
‘This isn’t possible,’ he said.
‘It’s possible,’ Chad One said. ‘You’re looking at him: The Chad.’
‘I’m The Chad.’
‘No, I’m The Chad.’
‘I’m The Chad, you idiot—’
‘Quiet!’ Ebony snapped.
She looked stressed and genuinely annoyed. I wasn’t sure what had happened to her in this world, but she wasn’t the carefree person I knew in our universe.
I wonder what’s wrong.
Ebony’s eyes turned back to me. ‘In your universe,’ she said, ‘you stopped Pegasus from destroying New York City? Is that true?’
So they had been listening.
‘That’s right,’ I said. ‘For the sake of conversation, why don’t we refer to my world as Earth-A and your world as Earth-B?’
Chad Two began. ‘Instead, why don’t we reverse that and—’
‘Shh,’ Ebony said and turned back to me. ‘And you’re flying around in some kind of alien spaceship.’
‘We are,’ I said. ‘Although Dan does most of the flying.’ A smile played on my lips. ‘Turns out all that video game playing came in handy.’
Dan looked pleased with himself.
Ebony glanced over at Chad One. ‘If you’re my brother—or a copy of my brother at least—then where did we wake up without our memories?’ she asked. ‘And what happened after we did?’
Chad One spoke immediately. ‘We woke up on a beach outside the city,’ he said. ‘I set a boatshed alight, and you turned a park bench into water.’
Ebony raised an eyebrow. ‘That’s pretty accurate.’
‘Hello friend Ebony,’ Ferdy’s voice came from the ceiling. ‘It is good to see you again. And Chad, Dan and of course, Ferdy.’
‘Hello Ferdy,’ Ferdy Two said.
‘Hello Ferdy,’ Ferdy One replied.
‘I think we need to sit down and talk,’ Ebony said. ‘Have something to eat.’ She glanced to Twelve. ‘If that’s okay?’
‘That sounds like a fine idea,’ Twelve said. ‘Restoring New York and the other cities destroyed in the One Day War must be our priority. Take them to the mess hall and make our guests feel at home. Ferdy, will you work with the Ferdy onboard the spaceship to fix their time machine?’
Ferdy did not meet his gaze. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘And Abraham Lincoln was born in 1809.’
‘Thank you,’ I said.
Chad Two scowled. ‘This doesn’t mean we trust you,’ he said. ‘Only that we’re prepared to listen.’
Chad One murmured to me. ‘Am I always this stupid?’
‘I’m afraid so,’ I said.
‘Boy,’ he said. ‘I gotta make some changes.’
It occurred to me that there might be a faster way to get everyone working together. Somewhere, there were other versions of Brodie and me running around. ‘I hope I’ll get to meet myself,’ I continued. ‘And Brodie if she’s around.’
‘I’m sorry,’ Ebony said, pain flashing in her eyes. ‘Our version of you was killed in New York when you tried to stop the bomb from detonating. Brodie died ten months ago when she stopped the release of a doomsday virus.’ She paused. ‘It’s just us now.’
Chapter Twenty-Eight
‘Hello Ferdy,’ Ferdy One said to his living counterpart.
A few hours had passed since Axel and Chad had arrived at the South Carolina base of The Agency. Since then, Twelve had asked the Ferdy of this world to help the Ferdy onboard the alien spaceship called Liber8tor.
Ferdy had never been aboard an alien spaceship before. Now he settled into the Liber8tor cockpit and stared at the console. ‘So you are Ferdy as well,’ Ferdy Two said, running his hands across the metallic console. ‘That’s good. It means Ferdy will have someone to speak to.’
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