The Operator

  LB’s face went ashen in the dim glow from the flashlight. “I don’t need any help.” Gesturing wildly, he began to walk away. “Shoot them. Take them to the pit and shoot them.”

  “Get your hands off me!” Harmony shouted. “You gave her a safe word! You said your mother’s name was Rose, you son of a bitch!”

  LB stopped dead in his tracks, and Peri kneed the man holding her.

  Sneering, the man backhanded her. Stars exploded. Dizzy, she punched out, hearing them swear and dance back. Men were shouting, but it wasn’t until three shots echoed that everyone backed off and she could make sense of the world.

  Peri wiped the blood from her nose, flicking her hand to send it splattering against the snow. “You told me your mother’s name was Rose,” she said, panting. She didn’t remember, but she trusted Harmony. “You told me so you’d listen when you came out of it. LB, what I can tell you will turn you into a god.”

  LB hesitated, his fingers tracing the mouse tattoo on his wrist as he thought about that. “Let her go,” he said softly, and a protest rose. “I said let her go!” he shouted. “Both of them.”

  Peri jerked out of the man’s grip. Beside her, Harmony pulled her shirt straight, muttering about goddamned animals. “You okay?” Peri asked.

  “Yeah. Is he really a drafter?”

  “Yep.” Peri’s eyes fixed on LB. “He’s a feral drafter. I’ve never found one before. I don’t know what to do.”

  “You’re not going to tell him, are you?” Harmony asked, voice hushed. “He’s a—”

  “I’m a what?” LB said as he shoved Fat Man out from between them.

  At the top of the alley, Jack sniffed, flicking a piece of dirt off his sleeve, untouched and perfect in the snow. “Even she knows it’s a bad idea, babe.”

  Jaw clenched, Peri looked at LB’s gang, imagining the trouble he could cause if he was aware of his abilities. Then she remembered the horrible dissociation, the confusion and shame she’d grown up with until Cavana had found her. She wasn’t insane. The blackouts had not been a weakness. She was skilled, not a basket case. “You’re a drafter,” she said. “Same as me.”

  “You ain’t gonna bring them in the house!” Fat Man said, and Peri frowned at Jack until he threw his hands in the air and walked away.

  “I lost three years once,” she said loudly. “I killed the man who did it to me,” she said, glancing at Jack’s back. “I don’t forget that much anymore.”

  LB patted Fat Man on his shoulder. “Maybe if I kill you, I won’t forget, either.”

  She smiled. “It’s science, LB, not magic. But I know the rules. I can help.”

  “LB don’t need help. He’s got us, and we got him!” someone shouted.

  But LB was looking at his hand and the faded note inked there. Slowly he made a fist, his eyes rising to her eyes. “Where’s that napkin you took from her,” he said, his gaze never leaving hers.

  “Shit, man, I threw it away,” one of them said, scooping it up and handing it to him.

  Peri’s pulse pounded as LB carefully smoothed it open, her chin lifting when he read the words BILL DARTED ME WITH EVOCANE. She hadn’t written it in case she might forget, but he didn’t know that.

  LB wadded it up and threw it back into the shadows. His eyes held a new question. “The cops might drive through. You want to come in?”

  “LB,” Fat Man protested, hunched in distress, but she smiled—until someone pushed her from behind and she stumbled into motion

  “I want to talk to her,” LB said, escorting her and Harmony to the end of the alley and into a burned-out shell of a building. Jack hustled forward, staying at the edges so no one would walk through him. The men trailed behind, cell phones turned into flashlights and talking loudly as they crossed the broken floor.

  LB stopped at a huge chest freezer, dented and too heavy to move. “Ladies first,” he said as he tugged the door open.

  “Damn,” Harmony swore when thumping music echoed out with the bright light of electricity and the sweaty warmth of bodies. A hand-hewn tunnel went down, probably to the basement of the building next door. LB gestured, and when neither of them moved, he went first, his sneakers clumping down the rickety staircase hard enough to shake it.

  “You do realize he’s going to kill you when he gets what he wants,” Jack said, and Peri ignored him. The deeper she went, the warmer it was. Calls rang out ahead of her, and she blinked when she came out into the light.

  It was like a giant living room, with worn couches and mismatched tables. Bags of chips, beer, nic caps, and drugs were scattered everywhere. Women wearing more guns than the men played a car game on their phones. A big-screen TV tuned to cartoons blared, and someone turned it down when Fat Man shouted.

  “Oh my God,” Harmony whispered, and Peri followed her gaze to two figures tied to chairs set in front of the TV. Allen was in one, and beside him was Jack. The real Jack.

  Peri stared, heart pounding.

  “That’s me,” her hallucination said, amazed, and he vanished in a pop of blue sparkles.

  Eye swollen shut, Jack turned to her, trying to smile. “Hi, babe. I can explain.”

  Furious, Peri shoved her escort into the men behind her, spinning to grab a rifle. Breath held, she swung it up to her shoulder and reached for the trigger.

  Something heavy slammed into her. The gun went off as she fell. A woman screamed, then laughed as Peri hit the floor, Fat Man on top of her.

  “Let me up!” she demanded, wheezing, the men ringing her more amused than alarmed. “I’ll kill the son of a bitch. Let me up!”

  LB leaned down, and she squirmed, breathless under Fat Man as LB brushed the hair out of her eyes. “Hey. Hey!” he shouted, and she tore her gaze from Jack. “Looks like you know everyone, huh? You going to be nice, Peri Reed? Or do I have to tie you up, too?”

  She thought for all of three seconds, an eternity for her. “I’ll be nice,” she rasped, having to spit the hair out of her mouth.

  LB straightened, hands on his hips as he considered it. “Sit. Right there,” he finally said, and Peri took a huge breath of air as Fat Man got off her. “I want to talk to your friend first,” he said, gesturing for Harmony to go before him. “Hell of a night,” he added, calling for a beer even as someone yanked her up and he walked away.

  CHAPTER

  NINETEEN

  The couch had lost its springs years ago, and Peri sat gingerly on it, still in her coat despite the warmth of LB’s underground lair. Who knew what kind of bugs might be in it? That LB had her Evocane held her more firmly than any guns or straps, and she pushed herself up to sit on the very front of the couch, elbows on her knees as she wondered how she was going to get out of here with it without killing everyone.

  Someone had brought in pizza, and the smell of it made her stomach growl despite it being near midnight. Allen and Jack were still tied to their chairs set mockingly in front of the big TV, but they’d managed to shift them somewhat before LB had sent a second man to watch them. Harmony was at the other end of the large room where LB and Fat Man had a semi-private area of couches around a low table. LB was constantly checking his state-of-the-art glass phone, making Peri wonder what Harmony was telling them. It had been at least a good half hour.

  “I wish you hadn’t come,” Allen said, glancing at the nearby man more interested in the TV than watching them.

  Her neck hurt, and she tried to stretch it out. “I missed you, too.”

  Allen winced at her sarcasm. Blood still clung to his face where something had hit him, and his clothes were filthy, the same ones he’d had on when he’d been abducted. “I wanted you to escape, not get caught up again.”

  Her lips pressed together, and she glanced up at a loud shout at the card table. “I don’t leave anyone behind, remember?” she said, then turned to Jack. “Except maybe him.”

  Jack’s head came up. “Same old Peri,” he said, trying to smile around a swollen face.

  “Shut up.” Peri rubbed
her forehead, wondering why he was here instead of Michael. LB had confiscated both their supplies of Evocane, and it stuck in her craw that a part of her felt a sliver of gratitude to Bill for trying to get her some even as she despised the man.

  “You should just accelerate yourself,” Jack said, and her teeth ground together. “If you’re hooked on it, you may as well get the benefit of it. It makes good sense.”

  “Shut up!” she shouted, blowing off steam and garnering laughs from the card table.

  A high-Q drone with a government shield was hovering at the ceiling, clearly hijacked and reduced to a toy. Peri stared at it when it dropped down to hover annoyingly before them, its red eye winking as it focused in on her chest. From across the room, LB shouted, “Quit sending me that shit, Hinks! Get your ass upstairs!”

  Catcalls rose, and the drone flew to a corner of the room, where it landed. A burly man in a ragged jeans coat picked it up, a controller in his grip as he headed for the stairs. Two more men followed him, each with their own flyer. At the table, LB leaned over his phone and frowned at Harmony. LB’s gang was clearly tech savvy, and Peri would bet her panties that all the information was being funneled into LB’s phone. It reminded her of how the space missions that once took a room of monitors could now be run by one man at a single station.

  Impatient, she turned to Allen. She could see his pity past his swollen eye, and she hated it. “Bill said Michael was going to make the drop.”

  “Bill nixed it. He was afraid Michael was going to snuff you. The man is certifiable,” Allen said, and Jack bobbed his head, wincing as something hurt. “I don’t know how anyone can anchor him. Bill and Jack are playing him like a badly tuned guitar, but they are playing him.” Allen sighed. “He will kill you, Peri.”

  “Jack?” she blurted, almost laughing.

  His eye was nearly swollen shut, and Allen hesitated as he pulled his first words back. “I meant Michael, but yes. I think Jack will kill you, too. Only a little slower is all.”

  Jack stiffened. “I’m not going to kill Peri. I want out. You think I’d risk being caught with you and enough Evocane to keep you safe if I didn’t?”

  “I said shut up!” Jack’s story of wanting asylum from Opti was weak at best. No one believed it. Especially her.

  “Bill is betting that once you can work without depending on anyone, you’ll come back,” Allen said, eyes pinched from his hurts. “That’s why he let Jack leave with the Evocane.”

  “No one let me go. I left on my own,” Jack said.

  Peri stretched a foot out, grunting as she shoved his chair over.

  “What? Hey!” Jack exclaimed, hitting the floor hard. LB glanced up as a laugh rose, but no one moved to set him upright again. “What is wrong with you, Peri Reed!” Jack said, his face red with anger as he lay on the floor and struggled, still tied to his chair.

  Ignoring him, Peri looked at her chipped nails, wondering whether they would ever be clean again. “I’m not going back to Opti,” she said, but it was soft and unconvincing. She wasn’t going back, even if she’d almost been a goddess, able to flaunt the law with impunity, live the way she wanted. But if she was hooked on Evocane, what she wanted might not enter into her choice.

  “I know,” Allen said as Jack began to wiggle in earnest. “But as long as you aren’t accelerated, you might be able to get yourself off the Evocane.” He hesitated. “Ah, have you been craving salt lately?”

  Her head came up, fear sliding through her as she remembered Silas mentioning a sodium uptake inhibitor. “No. Why?”

  “Possible side effect,” Jack said breathily from the floor. “You’re not the only drafter Bill’s tried this on.”

  “Shut up,” she said softly, “or I’m getting up out of this ugly couch and pounding you.” She looked away from Jack, eyes tracking the fast-moving man who’d come in. He was making a beeline for LB and Fat Man. Bad news? she wondered, taking in his stilted pace.

  “How about uncontrolled tremors?” Allen said, bringing her attention back. “Sensitivity to light? More angry than usual?”

  “Just at Jack,” she said, not liking it when Fat Man whistled for some of his people.

  “Good.” Allen’s smile was relieved. “You’re metabolizing the Evocane okay then.”

  Peri’s eyes closed in a long blink. Hurray for me. Steiner would have a cow if he knew the flight risk she was. Probably lock her up in a cell—for good reason. Worried, she looked across the room at Harmony, wondering how long her decision to not tell him would hold.

  “You’re okay, Peri,” Allen said, misunderstanding her expression. “If you weren’t, Bill would’ve never let Jack go to get the stopgap serum to you. You don’t need me anymore,” he said, voice softening. “You don’t need anyone. You never did.”

  On the floor, Jack squirmed. “Hey! Some help here, maybe? Come on, Peri . . .”

  Peri couldn’t meet Allen’s eyes. LB got along just fine with no anchor and no training, but her confusion not one hour ago when she forgot that LB had drafted was all too real. Her gaze lifted to find that people were leaving—some with pizza, but all with weapons. Even as she watched, Fat Man took Harmony’s shoulder and led her away. Harmony looked back, her expression saying nothing. She seemed bone-tired, ready to drop—but not afraid.

  LB was on his way over, and Peri stood. Something was happening. Everyone was moving, darting out the door even as they checked their ammo clips. She stayed silent as LB scuffed to a halt before her, his still-wet sneakers torn at the toe. Still on the floor, Jack looked up, pleading for some help.

  “You’re a drafter,” LB said as he tucked his phone away. “And they are anchors who can recall both timelines and tell you what happened when everyone else only remembers the last?”

  Clearly Harmony had been giving him the basics, and Peri nodded. “They’ve been trained to recognize and destroy the first timeline in my mind so I can safely remember the correct one.” She looked at Jack, her jaw clenching. “Usually.”

  LB turned to look at Harmony, now sitting at the abandoned card table. Fat Man was beside her, arms over his chest. “She says you hallucinate Jack.”

  “Hey, can you stand me up?” Jack said, and was ignored. “Hello-o-o-o-o . . .”

  Peri frowned. She hadn’t realized that Harmony had known that. “That’s not normal,” she said, embarrassed. “It’s a lingering scar from when I was forced to remember two timelines at once. It was either that or die of paranoia. That’s kind of why we forget them.”

  LB moved closer, sitting on the edge of the couch across from her. “And when I black out, I’m rewriting time?” Smirking, he took one of her injector pens from his pocket and undid the cap. “This must be some good shit. That’s one hell of a story. Maybe I should try it.”

  “Don’t,” she said when he made motions to inject it, and he paused, his expression telling her he’d only done it to get a rise out of her. “It’s the kind of story that makes a king into a pig herder, or vice versa,” she said, and he put the cap back on.

  “It’s true,” Allen said, voice rough. “There’s lots of you out there.”

  “But those not found and trained are usually in a medical facility,” Peri added, her intuition pinging when LB stiffened. He’s been in one, she thought, wondering whether that would work for or against her.

  LB fiddled with the pen, watching her watch it like an addict. “And this will help me remember my blackouts?”

  “Not on its own, no.” Peri shifted her weight, not liking that the place was emptying out. “I said I can tell you what’s going on,” she continued. “Help you control it. Tell you ways to keep from looking stupid.” Something was happening. Michael? she wondered, exchanging a worried glance with Allen as more people left. “Are we going to talk, or are you just going to let me sit here watching cartoons?” she finally asked.

  “Don’t do anything stupid,” LB said, gesturing for her to walk before him.

  Nodding, she started forward. “Can I have my
injection pens back?”

  “Doubt it. What’s in them?” LB took her arm and angled her to his little table. “Drafter to drafter,” he said softly, leaning in toward her to whisper it.

  He believed, she thought, elated. And not only that, but he had already found a sense of worth in it. She’d tell him the truth—inasmuch as she could.

  “The pens hold a maintenance drug called Evocane,” she said, hoping he hadn’t already wasted one. “Forgetting a draft is natural, but you can destroy the part of the brain that causes that to happen. Only problem is we can’t handle both timelines. We go crazy. It gets really bad, really fast. Evocane stops that,” she said, sitting down when LB indicated for her to.

  LB confidently slumped into the chair across from her. “And lets you remember.”

  Peri shook her head. “No, the accelerator does that. Evocane enables you to survive remembering. You can’t regrow brain tissue, and once your body’s natural defense is destroyed, you’re on Evocane the rest of your life.” Her lip curled, remembering the shame of shooting up in Harmony’s car. Every twenty-four hours. She was going to kill Bill for that.

  Eyes narrowed, LB thought about that. “I know people who get themselves addicted to all kinds of shit just to feel good for a few hours. Being able to remember . . . It might be worth it.”

  “Yeah. Okay. Whoever controls the Evocane controls you.” Peri frowned, then forced herself to let it go. “It’s not as if you can pick it up on any street corner.”

  “That’s just a matter of lab time.” LB idly checked his phone. She’d been right. He was looking at a view of the city being piped in from one of the drones. There were lights coming up the expressway, too many for the early hour.

  Concerned, Peri watched Fat Man take Harmony to the couch, leaving her there to amble back to them. Jack was still on the floor, swearing and demanding someone stand him up. “You’ve known him long?” she asked, indicating the large man, comfortable in his own skin.