A Chronetic Perspective (The Chronography Records Book 2) Page 15

  “I know it does. It felt pretty real to me too. What if we test it?”

  He nodded, his eyes bright. “Because we’re scientists, right?”

  “Exactly. We don’t accept things without testing them, but we don’t dismiss them either. So how can we test it? Do you have any ideas?”

  He lowered the chair to a normal height, put both elbows on her bed, and cupped his chin in his hands. “Do you remember everything, like I do? We could compare.”

  “I didn’t see much. This is the first time I’ve had this dream.”

  “Maybe I saw something you saw. Would that be a good test? If we saw the same thing?”

  “Only if it was something I haven’t already heard you describe. And you can’t have heard me describe it either.”

  “Oh.” He sat up and put his feet on her bed.

  Dani winced. “Careful there. When you move the bed, it makes my legs and ribs hurt.”

  “Sorry.” He took his feet down. “Is it better now?” He looked so concerned. She patted his hand. “I’m fine. Just be gentle, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  “We should wait for Mom. We could both tell her.”

  “Have you told her about your dreams?”

  “Not really. Just how pretty they are.”

  “That could be a good test, then. Or maybe…” She paused to think through the details.

  “What?”

  “How about if I tell you something I saw, but I only tell you part of it? Then I’ll ask you a question about the rest.”

  “And if I’ve seen it, I can tell you the answer!”

  “And if you haven’t seen it, maybe you can go looking for it tonight when you dream.”

  “Okay! I like that. What do you want me to look for?”

  Dani considered. She could pick something she’d seen on the main ribbon, but many of those were things she and Jored had shared memories of. She assumed the branching ribbon was a product of her groggy mind. That would be the best test. She owed it to him to make the test real, although she hated to crush his imagination.

  “There was a place on the branching ribbon…”

  “The one I wasn’t on?”

  “Yes, that one. I saw myself on it, at your house. And something happened that made me really upset.”

  He was nodding. “The time you screamed, you mean?”

  “You saw that?”

  “Yeah, I’ve watched it a bunch. I can’t figure out why you screamed, though. Uncle Royce came and gave you a pill and you went to sleep on our sofa like this—” He leaned forward and planted his face on the bed, continuing in a muffled voice. “—and then everybody just waited around for you to wake up.” He sat up again. “Like we were doing last night. Waiting for you to wake up.”

  That all matched with what she had seen, except he didn’t know why she was screaming. Could it possibly be that they were seeing the same images? If so, was it a dream or something else?

  “Did you see what happened before I started screaming?”

  “’Course. You rode up the slidewalk to our house. You were carrying something yummy looking.”

  The truffles. Could he be coaxed into remembering something she hadn’t seen? “Ah, you mean the apple pie?”

  He frowned. “I didn’t see any apple pie. You were bringing something chocolate. Little flat chocolate squares. They looked really good.”

  “They were truffles.”

  His face lit up. “So you saw it too?”

  “It’s starting to look that way.”

  “Cool.” He drew the word out like a piece of taffy. “Hey, Dani?”

  “Hmm?”

  “Do you know why you were screaming?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Why?”

  “Because I couldn’t find you.” She found his hand and squeezed it.

  “I love you, Dani.”

  “I know you do. I love you too. C’mere. Give me a hug.” She reached over, twisting as little as possible, and gathered him gingerly into her arms. The pain was absolutely worth it.

  The door whooshed open and Kat came through with a pillow under each arm. “Jored, be careful of Dani. Remember how sore her sides are.”

  “She hugged me!” he protested. Kat glanced at Dani for confirmation, and she nodded. “He’s being really careful.”

  “Is he? I guess you’d know, huh? Sorry it took me so long. Apparently, they move the pillow cart around the floor, and it took the nurses a while to get free long enough to find it.”

  “That’s okay. We had a nice talk.”

  “Do you want some help sitting forward? I’ll tuck the pillows behind your back.”

  “Maybe for a little while. I’m getting sleepy again. I might want to lie back down.” At Jored’s disappointed look, she added quickly, “But not right now.”

  He smiled. “Can I play with your views?”

  Dani nodded and handed him the controller. He darted over to the viewglass window, and soon the image of autumn foliage gave way to a view from inside a big wave, fully accompanied by sound effects, followed by a satellite view of a brewing storm system, complete with beeps.

  It made Dani dizzy. She looked away and nodded at Kat. “I’m ready for the pillows.”

  Kat helped her lean forward and positioned the pillows perfectly on the first try. “How’s that feel?”

  “Much better. Thank you. I wish I knew how long I was going to have to deal with this.”

  “They won’t tell you, either? I just got shrugs when I asked.”

  “I don’t think they know.”

  “However long it is, we’ll keep you company. We’ll visit as often as we can.”

  Dani nodded. “I know you will. How long can you stay today? Jored said something about Marak picking him up when he was done at work.”

  “Yeah, what time is it now?”

  That was an odd question. “It’s 1002. Why, is your eyescreen broken?”

  “Oh.” Kat chuckled sheepishly. “I guess I could have checked that myself. I don’t know where my mind is this morning.”

  It really was not like Kat at all to be so distracted. “Are you worried about something?”

  “A little,” Kat admitted. “Have I told you about what I found in the bag?”

  “No, you hadn’t checked, last we talked.”

  “Well, I checked yesterday morning.” She wrinkled her nose. “Not a pleasant task.”

  “What’s in it?”

  “You remember what I told you? That Uncle Royce sent me to get it, and he implied—although he couldn’t actually say—that there would be something in it we could use to help him get home?”

  Jored turned to face them, frowning. He tilted his head. “Why does Uncle Royce need help getting home?”

  Kat laughed. “You’re a curious one, aren’t you? He just needs some…permissions to travel.”

  Jored turned back, but he was shaking his head. Dani thought she heard him mutter, “Yeah, he’d need permission all right, to get away from that place.”

  Startled, she shot a look at Kat that asked, How does he know that? But Kat wasn’t paying attention. Had she talked to him about where Uncle Royce was?

  The viewglass was full of dogs and puppies, and emitting barks and yelps. She cleared her throat. Kat looked over at her.

  “So, if there is useful evidence in the bag that could get him…permission…why didn’t he give them to his…representative…at the hearing?” She didn’t want to use the words “released” or “lawyer” unless Kat used them first.

  “Because they aren’t that kind of evidence. It’s not good evidence, if you know what I mean.”

  Suddenly, Dani got it. Could Kat have found all his blackmail evidence? Wouldn’t Detective Rayes have had a field day with that!

  “What are you going to do with it?”

  “I don’t know. I can’t very well use it, can I? But if I don’t do anything with it, what kind of crimes am I covering up?”

  “Is that where you�
��re going today?”

  “Yeah, I’m visiting again.”

  “I think you should give it to Detective Rayes. Don’t even look at it.”

  “Then what about the timestream thingy? The disturbance? I thought that was pretty serious. Don’t we need something?”

  “Yes.” Even though Dani wasn’t working with the team any more, she was well aware of the dangers they all faced if they didn’t find a solution. “Has Marak given up?”

  “No, he’s working some angles today.”

  “Okay, so how about if you hold on to the bag until he finds something. Then you can hand it over and not worry about it.”

  “Except for all the people’s lives I might be messing up. Auggh. I wish he’d never sent me to get it.”

  Dani yawned. Her energy was flagging already. “I don’t know why I’m so tired.”

  “Because your body is working on healing.”

  Jored had settled on a beach scene, with a gentle sound of incoming waves. He returned to the bed. “Can I stay here, Mom? Can Dad come pick me up here?”

  “Oh, no, honey. He’s going to meet us at home. Dani needs to get some rest. We don’t want to get her too tired, right?”

  Dr. Brant poked her head in the door. “Is this a bad time?”

  “No, it’s fine,” Dani said. “Come in.”

  “I was so sorry to hear about your accident. That must have been awful.”

  “All I remember was floors flashing past. And then nothing but dreams until I woke up here.”

  “Sometimes it’s nice to be unconscious and not aware of what’s going on.”

  “True! I wouldn’t have wanted to be awake when they installed these.” Dani gestured toward the sheaths on her legs.

  Jored stepped between them and stuck out a hand. “Hi, I’m Jored. I know you.”

  Dr. Brant reached down and shook his hand. “You do? Have we met before? I’m sorry, I don’t remember.”

  “No. But I’ve seen you. You were in an accident too, weren’t you? Only it was in a helicar.”

  The doctor’s eyes widened. “I…was. But that was a long time ago. A very long time ago. How old are you?”

  “I’m seven.”

  “You weren’t even born yet when I was in my accident. Maybe it was someone else you saw?” She glanced up at Kat with a quizzical expression, inviting her to provide a reasonable explanation.

  Kat shrugged. “I don’t know what he’s talking about, sorry.”

  Jored sat down on the chair and spun around. “It was a bad accident, but you didn’t know, did you? You were asleep when it happened.”

  Dr. Brant put a hand on the wall to steady herself. “There is no way you could know that.” She looked up at the other two women. “How does he know that?”

  Kat threw up her hands and shrugged. “I have no clue! Jored, how do you know that?”

  Dani’s thoughts went back to the ribbon dream. Could he possibly have seen it there?

  “I saw it on the ribbons. In my dreams. You were asleep the whole time. You were even asleep when Uncle Royce put you in the car.”

  “Uncle Royce was there?” Kat asked.

  In her mind, Dani heard words from her earlier dreams, words in Dr. Brant’s voice: “I’m so glad Royce was there to take me home” and “What will happen to Lexil if Elena doesn’t wake up? This is all my fault.” This dream experience she and Jored evidently shared still made no sense, but she couldn’t dismiss it any more. Could Dr. Brant have been involved in that accident?

  The doctor’s shoulders sagged. She looked beaten, resigned, but also relieved. “I guess I knew this would come out someday. I never expected it to be from a child’s dreams.” She took a deep breath and straightened up. “Yes, I was in an accident. And yes, Royce was there. But no, I wasn’t sleeping when he helped me into his car and took me home. I was awake.”

  “No, not then.” Jored shook his head. “Before. Before the accident. You were asleep when Uncle Royce put you in your car.”

  “This is from a dream, you say? I don’t know how you got so many details right, but your imagination must have added that part. I was in my own helicar that night, which is always parked at my house. I’m sure I got into the car on my own.”

  “No.” Jored’s mouth tightened to a thin line and his chin jutted forward. “I know what I saw.”

  Kat walked over to give him a hug. “I’m sure you do, and I’m sure you’re telling us truthfully what you saw. But you know that dreams aren’t real, don’t you?”

  “Dani? Tell them.”

  She was so tired. If she could just corral her thoughts, maybe she could say something to help the others make sense of this. But it didn’t even make sense to her yet. How could she explain it to someone else?

  “I don’t know. I don’t know if the things he sees are real, but I dreamed about them too. I’ve seen some of the things Jored saw.”

  A curious mixture of guilt and shame crossed Dr. Brant’s face. “You saw me?”

  Dani shook her head. The effort made her dizzy. “No, not you. Other things. I can’t think straight right now.”

  Kat’s face betrayed her concern. “Oh, Dani, I’m so sorry. We were going to leave so you could get some rest. We can talk about this later. Come on, Jored. We need to get back to your dad anyway.”

  After a few quick goodbyes, which seemed almost too rushed, they went out the door.

  Dr. Brant was standing. “I’ll leave too, and let you get rest. I really came by to let you know everything was going well at work, and to tell you to take all the time you needed. I didn’t mean to tire you.”

  “Wait,” said Dani. She struggled to find the words. “An alternate timestream—it could exist, right?”

  The doctor nodded. “We know that there has been at least one. We have those notes from an alternate Lexil.”

  “If someone on our timestream…didn’t…exist…when time flowed to the other one…” she closed her eyes. Just for a moment.

  “Yes? Go on.”

  “I guess I’m asking…would that person…um…who should be on the other one…be...um...somewhere else?”

  Dr. Brant frowned. “You mean outside of time? I suppose it’s possible. More likely though, that he wouldn’t exist at all.”

  Dani was having a hard time staying awake. But she had to know. Was there any scientific basis for Jored’s experiences? Or were his dreams just dreams? She gathered herself for one more question.

  “But what if he was? And he saw stuff?”

  Dr. Brant’s eyebrows rose slowly. “Is that what you think happened to Jored?”

  “Could it?”

  “I don’t know, Dani. We’re still learning about timestreams. But I’ll bet, if we all put our heads together, we could test that theory somehow. Let’s look into it when you get back to the lab, okay?”

  “Mmhmm.” Dani felt consciousness slip away and she slept.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  Intensity

  NORTH PACIFIC DOME PRISON, Pacific Ocean. 1205, Friday, September 15, 2215.

  When Uncle Royce’s image entered the holographic image of the visitors’ room, Kat didn’t waste any time on small talk.

  “I found it. I have it at home.”

  His face brightened, and he leaned forward.

  He’s got a list of people he wants me to put pressure on, Kat thought. Well, I’m not going to do it.

  After she had dropped Jored off with Marak, she had taken her husband aside to show him the oilskin bag and its contents. She knew he was working his way through dozens of contacts of his own, trying to find those who could help get Royce released. She knew how absolutely essential it was to the timestream that he meet with success. She knew the recordings might provide the push needed to get the right people involved. But she also knew her husband, knew what his response would be to even a suggestion of blackmail.

  And she had been right. He had backed her up completely. “We’re not going to victimize people to get them to work f
or their blackmailer’s release. It doesn’t even matter whether or not they’ve broken a law. We’ll find another way.”

  So she had made the decision to turn the contents of the bag over to Detective Rayes. All that was left was for her to tell her uncle. He wouldn’t be happy about it.

  Uncle Royce was nodding. “You know what it is, then.”

  “Yes. It wasn’t obvious, but I figured it out.”

  “Was Marak able to use any of it?”

  “No.” Might as well cut to the chase.

  His eager expression faded to concern. “What? In none of them? Did you figure out how the lists worked? If I weren’t being monitored here….” He frowned and glanced up. “I could find some for you. I know I could.”

  “But if you weren’t in here being monitored—”

  “I know. I wouldn’t need them.” His mouth tightened to a thin line. “I hate this feeling of helplessness. It’s foreign.”

  She wasn’t used to that kind of candor from him. He had always been the confident uncle she had gone to for advice. “It’s weird for me to see you this way too. Hard.”

  They sat for a moment in silence.

  He shifted in his chair. “If I pointed you to the right spot on the lists, could you find the right recordings? You figured out the code, right?”

  “That was easy. Numbers on the lists, numbers on the recordings. But…” She hesitated.

  “What?”

  “It’s just…Marak and I talked about it, Uncle Royce. We’re not going to play any of those recordings. We’re not even going to look at the names. I don’t know what those people did. I don’t want to know.”

  “I don’t understand. I thought Lexil said there’s a reason for concern. The timestream?”

  She nodded. “Yes. We’re still working on getting you out. Marak has some contacts, people who understand something of the science behind it. They helped get those new laws passed, you know.”

  “What new laws? I’ve been out of touch for months.”

  “RIACH—and everybody else, I suppose—is forbidden from making physical recordings. Neuro-linked observations are permitted, but no permanent records like yours.”

  He looked around nervously. “Don’t say that here.”

  She nodded. “You know about the papers Lexil found, back in June?”