“You’re welcome.” The strokes on my back were gentle. “All will be well now. You’ll see.”
I leaned against his arm. My own muscles didn’t seem to want to work particularly well. I’d temporarily borrow his. All I’d done since opening my eyes was ask questions and drink broth. How could I feel like I’d run a marathon?
I must have passed out because I woke up when Rohan placed me down on a bed not in the Med Bay. A beep sounded and then stopped.
“Where?”
Ari sat down on the side of the bed. “Dane let us take you out of the medical facility. You have your own doctor who is going to watch you like a hawk. You slept through the whole transport, and it’s cold outside.” He touched my cheek. “You’re in with us now. We moved your stuff when you were sick. If that’s presumptuous, you can get mad at us next week, okay?” He leaned over to kiss my cheek. “Scared the shit out of me, Waverly.”
Rohan knelt down next to the bed. This was… Jackson’s room. I recognized it from bringing him in and out of it. I guessed it made sense to bring me to this one. It was the closest to the exit. If they needed to get me out, this was the easiest one to do it from.
Where was he? I was in his room, but I didn’t see him anywhere. I stared at my two guys. Warmth immediately filled my soul. “You guys are why I’m alive.”
“You’re alive because you held on. We were almost too late. Canyon said it was all but over. I tried to get here, the hallucinations took me under. Poor Keith, he’d never seen it before. He tried to be you, and it didn’t go so well. Ro punched him square in the jaw while he was under.” Ari shook his head. “But Canyon got there. He saw you. Later, he told us just how bad it was.”
I remembered that. He had come, in the yellow suit with the others. “How does he do that?”
“I don’t know.” Ro shrugged. “He’s not stronger than me.”
I stroked the side of his face. “We’re all different, right?”
“Right.”
I yawned. Talking was exhausting. Ari lay down next to me. “I’m going to stay here with you. Rohan is going to go check security footage. And Canyon is out cold because he didn’t sleep for six days straight. When Jackson gets back here, if you happen to be awake, get him to stay here, will you?”
“Is something wrong with him?”
“Not wrong,” Ro answered. “He’s found something, and it’s making him… obsessed.”
I wanted to ask him what and get more details. Instead, I curled into Ari. I’d never been this weak, never imagined I could be.
“It was unbelievably bad, what they created. I’ve never seen anything that looks like it before, and neither had the med machine. Fortunately, with directions, they were able to synthesize the cure. I… I wanted to save you.”
I listened to him talk. I hoped he didn’t expect an answer. The bed on the other side dipped. “The footage can wait an hour or two. Jackson’s made this his personal mission. I think I’d only get in his way until he calms down. We will find the filth that did this.”
I lifted my head, and Ari pressed it back down into the pillow. “Explanations later. You got sick very fast, but you’re going to recover slowly. Sleep, my love. Okay?”
They were both there. They were warm. I did as they said.
At some point Ro must have left because some time later, I felt Ari rise and the bed was empty. Whispers reached my ears from the other side of the room.
“Yeah, well, you need to see her. And if I have to force the issue that’s what I’m going to do. Call me an asshole. Go ahead. You didn’t cause this. No one, let alone Waverly, is going to blame you.”
In the darkness, it was hard to see, but I found Jackson with my tired eyes. He ran a hand through his hair. “I have to fix it.”
“Tomorrow. You can fix it tomorrow. Nolan, CJ, Rohan, Quinn, Melissa, they’re all looking into it. Take a break. She didn’t die. Don’t act like she did.” Ari patted his arm before he left the room.
I raised my own. I wasn’t entirely with it, but I could see from the way Jackson’s shoulders slumped that he was exhausted. “Jacks.”
He turned at the sound of my voice and strode toward his bed. “Lady, hi. You’re okay.”
“I can get out of your bed if you want it back and to be alone.” It sounded like neither Ari nor Ro had asked. Jackson might not like other people in his space.
He tugged off his shirt and his shoes and instead lay down next to me, on his side, careful not to touch me. Or at least it seemed that way.
I cleared my throat, which was dry. I’d have to get some water soon. “I don’t think I’m contagious or they wouldn’t let me out.”
“What?” His eyes widened. “Oh, look, no. I’m not worried about catching something from you. I wasn’t sure you’d want me nearby.”
He handed me some water that must have been on the table next to the bed. I sipped it. “Why wouldn’t I want you near me?”
“This was my fault. I set the protocol. You got sent in because of them. You nearly died. And it turns out someone has managed to get around my security to cause the whole thing, and I can’t find them.”
The last part was new information. “Didn’t those people get sick on the space station?”
“No, the shelf life of the illness isn’t long enough. They got sick here. And I have no stream to see who did it. The code they used to get in are my codes. I didn’t do this.”
The last part was the worst. Jackson needed people to trust him because of what his family had done. “Of course not. No one with half a brain would think you did.”
He scooted closer. “Thank you. For saying that. For believing that.”
“Jacks, I’m not okay right now. I’m in and out of consciousness. I’m sorry. I want to talk, but my brain is shutting down. Could you hold me?”
“Oh, yes. Of course. Love to do that.”
I felt his arms go around me, and then nothing for a while.
It turned out Jackson snored. Or maybe it was just when he was really exhausted, as I had a feeling he’d been when he came in. With me tucked against his side and another arm thrown over his head, he breathed very loudly next to me. I was awake and, for the first time since I’d regained consciousness, alert.
I was also hungry. But I hated to disturb Jackson, so I lay there, listening to him breathe and watching the sun come in through the windows. He was shirtless. I’d only ever seen the spade on his wrist before, but he was all but covered in ink. His entire torso and abdomen had designs, save for a place right above his heart, which was empty.
I put my hand there to feel his heart beat beneath my fingertips. Why had he kept that space blank?
Maybe he was still trying to figure out what should go there. The door opened and closed quietly. Canyon, for such a big man, moved silently. He stood next to the bed and then got in next to me on the other side.
“Hi.” His whisper was right in my ear. “Ro says if I wake Jackson, he’ll be a bear and it’ll be weeks before we can get him to rest again.”
I squeezed the hand that held me against him. I whispered back. “I was trying to figure out if I could get out without waking him. I’m hungry.” I also had to pee, but that wasn’t at all sexy to talk about with Canyon. Some things were probably better left unsaid.
The fact I could even think that was a good sign.
“Yes.” He scooted out of the bed, barely making a ripple, and gently lifted me out of it. Jackson didn’t even move. The fact that Canyon could only see us as heat signatures was really impressive considering he did stealth like he’d been born doing it.
We both stared at Jackson for a moment, and then as quietly as he’d come into the room, he took me from it.
“Set me down, okay?” I asked once we’d closed the door. I pointed toward the bathroom. “I need to use it.”
“Can you by yourself?” Ari asked from across the hall where he leaned in his doorway. “Are you able to walk, stay upright?”
Canyon set m
e on my feet. I held onto his arm for a second. “I guess we’re going to find out.”
I managed to get there, take care of myself, and leave the bathroom before I collapsed in a chair. The room that looked like a classroom had been shifted around. A big table sat in the center and chairs surrounded it. Five of them. I smiled. Just enough for those of us who lived here.
Canyon sat next to me. “Ari is going to cook you something. I’m not good at it. I can see the tech, but my taste buds aren’t right. The things I like the taste of, others hate.”
“So tell me what happened on the Evander ship. I don’t dare wait. I might pass out again.”
He placed his hand on my knee. “It went relatively smoothly. We knew the ship was there because we saw it blow up on our monitors. We thought it would be safe, and it was, to board it and go in the hours leading up to the explosion knowing a lot of the data wouldn’t have uploaded into their main system by the time it blew. They might not know we were there.”
“I got into the mainframe, and Ari located the specifics of your illness.”
I really hoped it was not about to be regularly called Waverly’s illness, named after the woman who had the unfortunate luck to get it. Six people were dead. Probably more if Evander used this regularly. It was a nightmare. We could call it that. The nightmare illness.
“What did they call it in the computer? What was it titled?” Assuming they had done so. I didn’t know why this was so important to me.
Canyon rubbed my knee. “They called it C2098. Nothing very exciting.”
C2098 had almost killed me. I’d never forget the name. Ari arrived with the food. He’d been smart to keep it light. Toast. A little peanut butter. Some tea.
I kept it down but felt full right away. I ate about half the toast before I had to stop. “Thank you for this.”
Ari nodded, sitting down finally on the other side of me. “You’re welcome.”
“No chance Evander has the technology?” I was almost afraid to ask. But I wouldn’t hide from what happened, the whole ugly picture of it.
Ari laughed, which was a startling response. “That was funny?”
He groaned. “We found ourselves in the middle of a paradox situation.”
“It actually wasn’t that complicated. Waverly will get it. We knew where the ship was for us to travel back to because we watched it blow on our monitors a few days earlier. Okay. We went. We got the information we needed, and it dawned on me that in no way did the ship seem about to explode. There were no system errors. No one in the vicinity to battle it. I therefore determined we were the cause of the vessel’s destruction. So I made arrangements for it to happen the second we left. It blew. We simply completed a cycle we had already completed.”
Wow. My head hurt. “I… I get it. I’m not sure I would have seen it that way. I would have thought, hey, someone else will come to destroy it.”
Canyon shrugged. “When you’ve looped around time and space, bending it, shaping it, watching it move as much as we have, things change. You would have seen it.”
Ari shook his head. “I didn’t.”
Canyon pointed at Ari. “You’re a genius. You can see what’s wrong in the human body before the machine designed to do so tells you what’s wrong. The machines can’t catch up to you. I hear them trying. You don’t allow them to complete their purpose. You pretend to, you let them confirm it, but you already know the answer. It’s amazing shit. Three dimensional with an edge of some kind. Keeps you in this dimension. My own abilities are something else. Trust me, that was right.”
Ari held up a finger, adding another with each statement he made. Since Canyon couldn’t see him that was kind of pointless, but I wasn’t going to point that out. “One, thank you for the compliment. Two, whenever you talk about hearing the machines, it freaks me out but in a good way. I’d love to study your brain. Three, I didn’t say you were wrong. Four, careful with arrogance. When I was at the height of my power, I got kidnapped and tortured. The universe tends to laugh at our faults as it pours us through a proverbial black hole.”
“I think you’re both amazing,” I added.
Canyon sat up straighter. “Ro needs Jackson. And you, Ari. Those three assholes who tried to kill Waverly claim to have information about what happened. They want to cut a deal. Jackson needs to hear the terms, and you need to go take care of them because Ro beat them up pretty badly.”
I looked around. How did Canyon know that? Oh, that was right. Super hearing. Ro was probably just talking aloud. So cool.
Ari jumped up. “I’ll get Jackson. I’m coming.” Presumably he spoke to Rohan who could hear him like they were in the room together.
Ari kissed me on the cheek before he left the room. I turned to Canyon. “What’s going on? What info do those guys have?”
Canyon smirked. “I was legitimately only paying attention to this conversation. I don’t know.”
“Right.” Canyon couldn’t listen to everything all the time.
Ari came out of the room. “He’s coming. He’s such an ass to wake up.” Ari stopped moving abruptly. “Waverly,” his voice shook. “Are there clowns everywhere? Filling up the room?”
I rose on shaky legs. “No clowns.”
“Thank you.” He dropped his head. “Can’t tell you how fucking weird it is.”
Jackson came through the door, nearly colliding with Ari. “Hey man, little space to move around. Lady, you’re okay? I missed you in the bed. Got cold in there.”
When he got close, I hugged him tight. “I’m okay.”
“You were snoring. It woke her,” Canyon provided, and I winced. I would not have told Jackson that.
He pulled back. “For real? I’m… I don’t usually snore. I don’t think. Maybe I’m sick. Shit, I can’t get you sick, Waverly. Your immune system needs gentle care for a bit and I…”
Ari patted him on the back. “You’re not sick. That’s called ‘sleeping at one’s desk for one hour every night isn’t good for you and you’re exhausted.’ I…” He shook his head. “Fuck me. The clowns.”
“Are you seeing clowns?” Jackson winced. “That sucks.”
“Have you ever considered they might not be hallucinations?” Canyon’s question threw the room quiet.
“Um.” I felt the need to speak. “I know you can’t see this stuff, but there aren’t any clowns here right now.”
Canyon sat back in his seat. “Oh, I know that. No, I mean have you considered the possibility that what you are seeing is something else entirely? Perhaps those drugs messed with your mind in such a way that you are now able to see other timelines occurring simultaneously.”
Ari’s expression had gone blank. “What?”
“Is that possible?” I looked between him and Canyon.
Jackson rolled his eyes. “I can only deal with timelines we can travel to. The rest can kiss my ass. No clowns here, Ari. Come on let’s go.” He tugged on Ari’s arm, and they left together.
I turned to stare at Canyon. “Is that possible? Are there timelines we’re not in?”
“Infinite numbers.” He picked me up out of his chair and set me on his lap. It was warm, and I yawned. I groaned. Just what I needed. Another nap.
“And there is a timeline where there are clowns in here right now?”
He shrugged. “Why not?”
“Are some things the same?” I really could discuss this forever.
He placed my head on his chest. I could hear his steady heartbeat. It was soothing.
“Your light is.”
16
First Times
I’d never been so bored in my life as I was over the course of the following week. Every day I grew stronger, but I wasn’t allowed back to work or even to leave our little compound. The Farm was under assault. Shuttles came and were shot down in their attempt to attack us. Rohan called it the last ditch attempt of my father to do something about the fact he was losing the war.
I could picture him ranting and raving. He’d
never know how we appeared and disappeared. He’d never understand it.
Rohan was in strategy meetings all the time. So far, no one wanted my Time Warriors—the nickname I’d given them in my head—to travel again. Why risk it? We had what we wanted. Sandler Cartel was almost all the way back on Sandler One, nearly entirely defeated, and Trenton and his brigade were going to take the planet.
Ari had been called into the Med Bay to help with what injuries were coming in. We hardly saw him. He’d check in with me, read my vitals, kiss me, and pass out on his bed. Rohan had more energy, but I’d seen the strain start to appear on him, too. These guys had been through so much lately. An incredible amount of time travel plus worrying about me.
The three jackasses who had tried to kill me had told Jackson, in exchange for not being executed, that they had received information with my work schedule on it from the Med Bay computer. Not a specific account but the computer itself. That was weird. Canyon hadn’t made sense of it yet, but since they’d used that information to find me, and I was also the one who got sick, it made sense that somehow I was tied up in all of this mess.
We knew Evander had made the virus but now, considering that it was Jackson’s code that had gotten the person into the ship, they were somehow connected to him. The whole thing felt like it was all linked to me, even though no one said that. Maybe I was becoming a narcissist. Why were they so gung ho to get me? There were five other Sandlers here, and I made six. Why bother me? I was the least interesting of all of them.
I sighed. Jackson was deep into figuring out things in the security office and also handling what to do with the three assholes now that they weren’t going to be killed. That left me with Canyon.
He silently worked at his terminal all the time. If anyone could work out how or why the Med Bay computer targeted me, he could.
It was really important we find out. Only, I was tired of doing nothing. I couldn’t even read my book anymore. I walked over to Canyon and leaned on his back while he stared at numbers on the screen. Evander had so distorted his vision that he could see that but not me.