Future Threat

34

“He did what?” Paige asks with a gasp.

“That does sound like something he’d do.” Jeremy picks at a loose string on his sheet and sighs. “He never wanted me to be part of Team Echo. He didn’t think I could handle it. I can already picture his face when I return and he finds out he was right.” He lets out a harsh laugh. “The best part is that I got shot because of him.”

“How?” Adam asks.

“After our team split up, I went back to Pharmateka to complete our mission on my own. Since my future self works for them, it was easy to get into the lab, and then all I had to do was find the design for the synthetic water generator. But on my way out, a security guard stopped me. He didn’t believe I was Future-Jeremy, and when I tried to escape, he shot me. Next thing I knew, I woke up here.”

“We all agreed to abandon that mission,” Paige says. “Why would you do it on your own?”

“I know we decided it was too dangerous, but it seemed so easy with me pretending to be my future self. And I thought if I brought the formula back, then my dad would be impressed or something.” He picks at the yellow hospital wristband on his arm and shakes his head. “Stupid, really.”

“Do you know where Ken is?” I ask. “Did he go with you?”

“No…he hasn’t checked in?”

“Not for a few hours,” Paige says.

“His flexi doesn’t seem to be connected either,” Zahra adds.

“What do you mean?” Jeremy asks, sitting up straighter and cringing. “What happened to him?”

“We’re not sure…” I trail off and glance at Adam. The others don’t know about Ken’s final fate.

Adam nods. “We should tell them.”

“Tell us what?” Paige asks, her eyes wide.

“Ken is going to die,” Adam says. “Unless we can stop it.”

03:40

Paige gasps and covers her mouth. Zahra just stares at us. Jeremy sits up even straighter, his face pale. “How do you know?” he asks.

“Dr. Campbell told us,” I say. “They knew all along and never told you.”

“Those assholes,” Zahra says, her thick brows pinching together. “How is he supposed to die?”

“We were told that he would be found dead at Griffith Observatory,” Adam explains. “But our future selves weren’t sure if he was killed there or somewhere else. They didn’t know how or why he was killed either.”

“This can’t be true,” Paige says, shaking her head. “Why would anyone kill Ken?”

“Does he have any enemies?” I ask.

“No, of course not. He’s the sweetest guy I know.”

“His file said he was arrested for drug possession before Aether recruited him,” I say.

The three of them exchange a look. They clearly know something.

“Ken’s mother is really sick,” Jeremy says. “He was trying to come up with a cure, or with something that would help slow her symptoms at least. He got hold of a large quantity of prescription drugs to study, but the police caught him in his car and he had enough on him that they could charge him with possession and intent to sell. But Aether got them to drop all charges.”

I raise an eyebrow. “In return for him working for them?”

“That’s how they got most of us,” Zahra says. “Except Jeremy, of course. He just has daddy issues.”

“What can we do?” Paige asks. “We have to save Ken!”

“The last member of our team, Chris, was trying to track him down, but we haven’t heard from him either,” Adam says. “Jeremy, did you see him at all?” He gives a brief description of Chris, but Jeremy shakes his head.

“Zahra said you and Ken took a car somewhere?” I ask.

Jeremy nods. “I went with Ken to visit his grave. I didn’t want him to face his death alone. But he told me he needed some time by himself, so I left. I haven’t seen him since then.”

Dammit. No sign of Chris or Ken and no hint as to where they’ve gone. At this point, all we know is that they were both at the cemetery—but what happened next?

“And after that you went back to Pharmateka?” Adam asks.

“Not right away. First I visited my future self’s house. Found out that he hadn’t spoken to my father in ten years, since before he left Aether to join Pharmateka. That’s when I decided to try to complete the mission on my own. I don’t want to end up like Future-Jeremy, passed out in a puddle of vomit on the floor of a one-bedroom apartment.”

Yikes. I feel bad for the guy. I know what it’s like to see a future you don’t want, yet feel powerless to stop. Makes sense he would do whatever he could to try to change it, even if it meant trying to patch things up with his dad.

“I’ve got access to Jeremy’s medical files,” Zahra says. “Says here he had a gunshot wound to the shoulder, but it didn’t hit anything major. They patched him up using something like those laser pens except on a bigger scale, then they pumped him with drugs to ease the lingering pain and help his body recover from the blood loss and trauma. They wanted to keep him overnight for observation, but I changed that in the system. He’s free to go now.”

I rub my thumb over the face of my watch. “Good. We’re running short on time, and we still need to find Chris and Ken before the aperture opens.”

“But where will we go?” Paige asks.

“Our best option is to go to Griffith Observatory, where Ken is supposed to be found dead,” Adam says. “Maybe if we go now, we can still prevent it. And Chris might be there too.”

I try to think of anything else we could do, but come up blank. Everything about this is wrong, but I’m not going back to the present without Chris. “We need to hurry.”

“Can you walk?” Adam asks Jeremy.