Future Lost

10

A door opens, and two older men in lab coats walk in. The first man, Dr. Walters, has a full head of gray hair and sadness etched into every one of his wrinkles. The other is an Indian man with tufts of gray in his black hair and shrewdness in his eyes.

“Elena?” Dr. Walters asks.

I’m so shocked to see him that everything else momentarily disappears. “What are you doing here?”

Shame clouds his eyes behind his glasses. “I’m so sorry.”

“You’re a part of this?” I ask. “Seriously?”

“I had no other choice.”

“She shouldn’t be here,” Dr. Kapur says from beside Dr. Walters. Him, I’m not surprised at all to see. He never had a problem doing what Vincent wanted, even if it involved drugging teenagers and locking them in a time machine.

But Dr. Walters, of all people, shouldn’t be helping them. He created the original accelerator, but after our first time-travel mission resulted in death, he tried to destroy the machine and was fired by Vincent. Later, we coerced him into fixing the accelerator so we could save Chris and Ken from the future, but after that, he helped us blow it up. Yet now he’s here, working for Aether again, sending more people to the future.

“This accelerator was built right after the original one,” Vincent explains. “Dr. Walters left before it was finished. We convinced him to return and complete the project.”

Dr. Walters looks miserable, and I wonder what they did to him to make him change his mind. At least Dr. Campbell, the other physicist involved in Project Chronos, isn’t here. She quit working for Aether after she secretly helped us destroy the accelerator, but I’m not sure what happened to her after that.

I cross my arms. “Fine. It doesn’t matter. Turn on the accelerator and send me to the future.”

“No, I don’t think so,” Vincent says.

“You don’t think so? You sent my boyfriend to the future by himself and now you expect me to just let him stay there?”

“Sending him alone was obviously a mistake, since he hasn’t returned. Which is why we won’t be repeating the same mistake by sending you after him.”

I stab a finger at his chest. “You’re going to send me, by myself, right now. I will bring Adam back. And if you’re lucky, I won’t tell the whole world about the shady experiments you’re running in the basement of your office building.”

“We need to run some tests on you first,” Dr. Kapur says.

“Screw your tests. The longer we wait, the more likely the future will change before I get there to save Adam. You need to send me now.”

Dr. Kapur gives me a disapproving stare. “You’re almost nineteen. The risk of future shock will be higher now. Especially since you’ve been to the future so many times already.”

“I’ll take that risk. Just like Adam did.” He’s older than I am, by about six months. That i***t. When I find him, I’m going to strangle him.

“We’re hoping Adam returns safely on his own,” Dr. Walters says. “We’re opening the aperture every half hour for a few seconds. He might still make it back.”

“If he’s not back by now, he won’t be coming back on his own. You have to send me after him. Our future needs Adam in the present—and I’m not leaving here without him.”

Vincent rubs his chin, then looks between his team and the accelerator as he considers. When I’m about to start pleading my case again, he sighs. “Fine, we’ll send you. Shall we contact the rest of your team?”

“No. I won’t risk anyone else’s lives, not after what happened last time. I’m going alone.”

“That’s what Adam did, and look how well it turned out for him. At least let me send Nina with you.”

I glance at the girl with the tight ponytail, who looks like she’d rather knock me flat on my back than help me. “No offense, but I’d rather work alone. I don’t trust anyone who works for Aether. It’s your fault we’re in this mess at all. I’ll fix it on my own, thanks.”

Vincent’s lips flatten into a tight line, but he nods. “Very well. But if you don’t return with Adam through the aperture at the scheduled time, I’m sending Nina after you.”

“That won’t be a problem. How soon will the accelerator be ready?”

“An hour,” Dr. Walters says.

Perfect. “I’ll need some things before I go.”

“Such as?” Vincent asks.

“Weapons. Food. Water. A lantern of some kind. I’ll make you a list. I want to be prepared for anything.”

He waves a hand dismissively. “We’ll get you whatever you need.”

An hour later, I’m standing in front of the accelerator with a backpack on. I don’t get déjà vu, but if I did, it’d probably feel a lot like this.

Dr. Walters moves beside me, looking at his creation with resignation. “There’s something else you should know. This accelerator isn’t fully ready yet. I warned them not to use it. I wanted to do more tests. But Adam didn’t listen.”

“What are you saying?” I ask.

“The temporal navigation system isn’t as precise as I’d like it to be. I’ve done my best to program you to arrive as close to Adam’s arrival as possible, but there’s no guarantee.”

This keeps getting better and better. “Adam was the first to use it?”

“Yes, he was.” Dr. Walters pinches the bridge of his nose. “I’m sorry. I wish neither of you had gotten involved with this.”