Future Threat

10

At first I can only stand there with my mouth hanging open, too stunned to speak. His words won’t sink in. “You locked us in here,” I say slowly. “You changed our clothes. And you want us to go back to the future? No way. Not in a million years.”

“I know this must be very upsetting for you, but please hear me out,” Vincent says. “Over the past few months, we’ve been sending another team of time travelers to the future.”

Another team? They promised to shut down the program after what happened with us. Dr. Walters swore he would destroy the accelerator. And yet, here we are, trapped inside it. I should have known better than to believe Aether would really stop trying to chase the future. I just never thought they would get us to help them again.

“The first few missions went well,” Vincent continues. “The team brought back technology and information from the future for us to study. We had no problems at all. Until now.”

Idiots. Of course they would have problems eventually. Going to the future isn’t like heading to the store to pick up something for dinner. It’s an entirely different world full of new technology, unknown laws, and the most dangerous thing of all—the temptation to find out your own fate.

“We sent the team to the future last night for the third time,” Vincent says. “None of them returned through the aperture. We need the three of you to travel to the future, find the other team, and bring them back.”

I can’t help it. I laugh. A mad, wild laugh that I can’t control, that sounds a lot like a sob. But really, what other response is there?

“This is crazy,” Chris says, crossing his arms. “There’s no way in hell we’re doing this.”

“What about future shock?” Adam asks.

A second later, Dr. Kapur’s voice comes through the speakers. “We’ve confirmed that younger people can handle the effects of traveling through time much better than adults can, due to the fact that teenage brains are still in development, particularly in the pre-frontal cortex. The cutoff age for future shock seems to be at about twenty years of age, so you will all be safe.”

The three of us glance at each other, and Adam clears his throat. “But we did have future shock…”

“We know that was a lie,” Dr. Kapur snaps. “There’s no reason for you to keep pretending.”

“How?” Adam asks.

“After studying your medical tests and interviews, we knew something didn’t add up. You all reacted much differently from how our previous subjects did, and there was no physical evidence you were suffering from future shock. Your brain scans were all normal, and you showed no long-term side effects in the months that followed. It didn’t take us long to realize you weren’t being honest with us.”

I should have seen this coming. In the future we visited, Aether shut down Project Chronos because I killed the others and myself, which they believed was a result of future shock. But we changed the timeline when we got back to the present, and with Lynne exposed as the killer and most of us still alive, Aether figured out we were lying and decided to try going to the future again with another team.

“Is this why you’ve been watching us?” I ask. “To see if we really had future shock?”

Vincent Sharp answers this time. “That was one of the reasons, yes. We also wanted to monitor your health and make sure you didn’t break the confidentiality agreement.”

“Screw your confidentiality agreement!” Chris yells. “We’re not going to the future. End of story. So open this door and let us go.” He bangs on it again, and the sound resonates throughout the entire chamber.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t do that,” Vincent says. “You will be going to the future.”

“Why us?” I ask. “Why not get someone else to go?”

“Unfortunately, it has to be you. You’re the only other team we have right now.”

“Then find another one!”

“It’s not as easy to find willing teenagers as you might imagine, especially with the right skills. But even if we could, I want the three of you. You went to the future and came back safely. You know something of what to expect.” There’s a sharp intake of breath. “And nothing else can go wrong with this mission.”

“Why is this so important?” Adam asks.

Vincent pauses so long I think he’s going to ignore the question. “One of the people we sent to the future is my son, Jeremy.”

“You sent your own son to the future?” Chris asks.

“Yes. Something I deeply regret now. But I can’t go back to the past and convince myself not to do it, which is why I need your help.” His voice changes, softening. “I’ll give you anything you want in return for bringing my son back. Anything. Just name your price.”

“Go to hell,” Chris says, glaring at the door. “My son is about to be born. I won’t risk going to the future again. I barely made it out alive last time. Find someone else, ’cause there is not a damn thing you can offer me that I want.”

Adam is silent, staring off into the distance with a frown. My hands are still clenched at my sides. I slowly open them as I consider Vincent’s words. We’re trapped in this machine, and they’re going to send us to the future against our will. We have no choice but to go, even if it’s the last thing we want to do. And if there’s another group of people stuck there, someone has to bring them back. We can’t leave Vincent’s son and those other teens trapped in the future, and I can’t deny that the three of us are the best people for the job—even if I hate the idea.