The Children Who Time Lost (63 page)

I frowned at him. “You know, I always knew there was something off about you. The whole ‘I’m too perfect thing’—it just wasn’t flying.”

Michael laughed and put his arm around Doug. “But I bet you never sussed him out, though.”

I looked at Doug with a hint disappointment. He met my gaze with steely eyes.

“But why the charade?” I asked Doug. “All the lies about your wife. What was all that about?”

“They weren’t lies. Sophie was my wife.”

My eyes widened. “And you let them take her? Just like that?”

Doug nodded. “And I’d do it again. The whole crying thing when I saw her, I guess, was mainly for you.” He paused. “Maybe some of it was real. She was my wife, after all. But we just needed you to get the motivation to fulfill your destiny and discover who you really were.”

Michael stepped forward. “You’re special, Rachel. More than you can imagine. We needed you to make your own path. We couldn’t tell you anything. We had it all planned out. You were meant to win your baby, and everything was going to go as we intended. But then Tristan had to go and get that message to you.” He smiled at Doug and then faced me again. “But everything since just showed us how special you were.” He pointed at Lorenzo and the scores of other men who had walked into the room. “They didn’t know any of our plans. Their objective was to use whatever means necessary to capture you. Hell, they didn’t even know who we were. They could have killed us both. But those were the risks we were willing to take to make sure you found your way home. Why else would the containment chambers be here waiting for you?”

I eyed the core for a few seconds and then the trigger.

“Careful with that, Rachel,” Doug said. “Why don’t you just hand that over? Nice and easy.”

I looked back and forth between the portal and the core. Confusion filled my mind. “Am I one of … Am I a Shrinik?”

“Of course you are,” Jarrod said, stepping forward beside Michael. “You’re a miracle, Rachel. You’re almost like our version of Christ. The first of our kind on Earth to give birth naturally. It was divine intervention that brought you here safely.”

“Screw your divine intervention,” I shouted. “And I’m human.” I hit the left side of my chest twice. “I feel it in here.”

“That was part of the program,” Michael said. “To make you feel human. What do you think your medication was for? Or Kevin’s asthma inhalers? It wasn’t because of any kind of condition. It just kept the other side of both of you suppressed.”

I swallowed and lowered my hands. I almost dropped the trigger but grasped it just in time.

Doug took another step forward. “So you see, Rachel, you’re with family now. Just give us the trigger and it will be over.”

I stared at Michael and Doug. “So which one of you is the Orchestrator then?”

They looked at each other and laughed. “I don’t know what to tell you,” Michael said. “We didn’t create that name. But it was a good enough cover, so we kept it. It sounded mysterious.”

Doug sniggered, the pain in his face from his wounds now gone.

“Why do you keep saying
we
?” I said.

“Because it wasn’t just one of us in the car when our parents died,” Michael said.

My eyes narrowed. “My God. So there were two of you? You’re—”

“Brothers,” Doug said. “But no one knew that, so we just used the name they gave us.”

I eyed the trigger again.
I’m human. I’m not a Shrinik. You know what you have to do.

Michael whispered into Lorenzo’s ear and he walked out of the room. I looked back at the portal five feet beneath, struggling to grasp what was real. No one spoke until Lorenzo returned. This time the large man I’d seen outside Suzanna’s apartment in 2043 and at Angela’s place walked in. The man I’d thought was the Orchestrator at Carrie’s party.

Michael put his arm around him. “Rachel, meet our father.”

My eyes widened.

“Not our biological father,” Doug said, “but our true father. He saved Michael and I. He gave us another chance at life.”

“But I thought he—”

“Died?” Michael said. “He should have, but we brought him back. Thanks to people like you, we’re bringing back more and more of our people. That is why we need you to continue with the program. To help our kind. Nothing you do for us is going unnoticed.”

“But you’re human,” I screamed. “Both of you. Why would you help them destroy your planet?”

“Because Earth will destroy itself if changes aren’t made,” Doug yelled. “Look at us, aiming missiles at each other, talking about war every day. It will happen eventually. We’re just saving the planet before it destroys itself.”

I shook my head and eyed the portal again before I heard someone else enter the room. I almost screamed when I saw Holly standing beside Michael and Doug’s Shrinik father. When she’d greeted me outside my parents’ house, I saw only a kind and caring person. But now this? I didn’t know what was real anymore.

“I believe you already know our mother,” Michael said.

I stared at Holly before shaking my head. She placed her palms together and lowered her head, as if begging for forgiveness. But she didn’t speak.

Doug stepped closer to me. “Please, Rachel, drop that trigger. All is already forgotten. Just come home to your family.” He nodded at Lorenzo, who clapped his hands twice.

A tall woman with long black hair walked in and waved at me. It was Angela. More came, but I didn’t recognize them. Then I saw two women walking toward me. One had full lips and dark shoulder-length hair. The other had short blond hair and bright blue eyes. I swallowed and felt like I would faint.

“Jenny. Suzanna. You’re alive.”

They stood beside Michael and smiled at me. “We’ve missed you so much, honey,” Suzanna said.

Tears dropped from my eyes. Two men stood beside them, their partners, Jake and Rob. They all looked like they’d been on holiday somewhere warm, with perfect tans. I wiped the tears from my eyes and staggered back. Just then, another man walked out, carrying a baby. They drifted closer and closer until I recognized them.

I felt as if my heart would stop beating. I dropped to my knees and wailed. My husband was alive, and so was Dylan. My angels. My life. My family. Kevin stood beside Rob and handed Dylan to the same woman who had treated Doug’s wounds. I stood up and took a step back. Then I wiped more tears from my face. Younger Kevin was also in the containment chamber, and Michael had said his asthma inhalers also stopped him from changing. Did that mean he was a Shrinik, too? Did that mean all my friends were Shriniks? And what about Dylan? Was he one of them … us? Could I walk away from him now even if he was? I’d sworn to look after him like he was my own flesh and blood when I won him. I came here for him. Everything was to save him.
But who am I?

Kevin walked toward me, a smile on his face.

I raised the trigger. “That’s enough,” I shouted amid the crying. “Don’t take another step or I swear I’ll push the button.”

“Baby, it’s me,” Kevin said. “Just come home. I’ve missed you so much.” He glanced at Dylan. “Your son misses you.”

I looked at all the faces from my past. People I’d thought had left me. “I don’t belong here. I’m not one of you.”

“Now who’s lying to herself?” Doug said. “Look around you. These people are your family. We sent you all back here because we knew you were special. It’s a shame that Selena couldn’t be here, too. She shouldn’t have died like that. But the rest of you are all here, one big happy family again. Just do the right thing and drop the trigger.”

I saw Jenny and Suzanna staring at me with pleading eyes. I shook my head. “I’m not a Shrinik. I can’t be.”

Kevin glanced back at Michael and Doug before facing me. Then his body trembled and a white glow surrounded his head.

“No,” I screamed, more tears falling.

Moments later, Kevin’s human body was gone and a Shrinik stood in front of me. I backed away from the core and headed toward the portal. Kevin walked toward me but stopped when I raised the trigger again. He changed back to human form and moved back toward Doug.

“Enough of this, Rachel,” Michael said. “It might not be completely clear in your head, but you know who you really are. Even in the restaurant you recognized my words.”

My chest tightened. I didn’t know what he meant at first, but then it hit me. “That was you?”

Michael nodded.

“Gianfranco’s restaurant in 2043. The thing about robots taking over from humans. That was you? You’re… you’re Martin.”

Michael nodded again. “Don’t you see? I’ve always been there. We’ve been watching all of you the entire time.”

Doug stepped beside him and held his hand out. “Just give us the trigger. There’s no other way.”

“I want my son.”

No one spoke.

I raised the trigger in the air. “Now.”

Doug nodded at the blond woman, and she stepped forward with Dylan. I took him with my left hand and he smiled at me. Tears fell from my eyes. His skin was as soft as I remembered. I couldn’t believe I was holding him in my arms. I stared at Kevin for a moment, blocking out what he’d just transformed into. All I saw was my handsome husband. He had the same kind face and sincere eyes. I needed him as much as I needed Dylan.

“Come on, Rachel,” Michael said. “Come be with your family.”

I shook my head. “I’m not one of you and I never will be.” I moved farther from the core.

“Stop being a spoiled brat,” Doug growled. “If you push that button, you’ll destroy everything. How do you think you survived here in 2013? If you destroy the portal, we won’t be able to keep you or Dylan alive. Do you think you can get your medication at a pharmacist’s? If you blow the core, there will be no future for either of you. Your young self won’t make it to 2014, let alone 2043. You’ll cease to exist before you even get to the other side.”

I gazed at Kevin again. He smiled at me and held his hands out. I sniffled and shook my head. “Come with us.”

He retracted his hands and hardened his face.

“Please, baby,” I said. “Come with us.” I glanced at the portal. “Whatever is waiting for us on the other side, we can face it together as a family. Please just come with us.”

Kevin didn’t speak. Michael stood beside him and patted him on the shoulder. “You should hear yourself,” Michael said. “There’s nothing for you through there. Your life is here.”

I felt faint and my body seemed to shut down. I’d changed so many things by coming back for Dylan, but I couldn’t stop now. I kept recalling what Curtis said to me about my future’s being unwritten. Maybe I hadn’t failed. Maybe in every version of this particular moment, I made the wrong choice. After all, the Shriniks had seen the future. They probably knew that I always ended up not pressing the trigger. But this was my chance to change things, my chance to make the right decision, even if it meant giving up my husband and maybe mine and Dylan’s lives. I felt my son thrashing and looked at him. He laughed at me again. More tears fell from my eyes.

I heard movement and took another step back. Michael held his hands out. “Don’t do it, Rachel. Even if your young self does survive, if you blow the core, there’s no telling where you might end up. You could end up in a whole new dimension where our type doesn’t even exist. Hell, humans might not even exist.”

A sharp thrust shot through my body. It felt like my insides were burning up, but it stopped almost immediately.
I just need my meds. I’m human. I’m not a Shrinik.
Michael, Doug and Lorenzo ran forward, but I raised the trigger once more with trembling hands. The pain came back and intensified. My stomach retracted inward as if being sucked in by a vacuum. I screamed and Dylan started crying. What was happening to me?
Please don’t change. Please don’t change.

I regained my composure and placed my finger on the button. “I don’t care what happens to me, but you won’t take the Earth.” I pushed the button.

A huge explosion sent me to the floor and smoke was everywhere. Sparks flew from the core before the blue light faded. I hurried to my feet and moved toward the portal. The circular light was fading. I had maybe six seconds left before the gateway back home would close forever.

Ahead, Doug, Michael and Lorenzo had their guns drawn and shoved people out of their way amid the commotion as they headed toward me. I looked down at Dylan again. His smile had returned. I rubbed my forehead against his for a moment and pressed his body against my chest. Then I closed my eyes and let myself fall into the portal. Everything went dark. I didn’t hear any wailing sounds or see any bright lights.

My eyes felt heavy, but I forced them open. Thick trees surrounded me, and questions filled my mind. Did I save the world? Was I back in 2043? What happened to Kevin and all my friends? A faint light shone through gaps in the trees. I looked up and gasped. A crescent moon was in the sky, but it was green, just as it was in the dream I had about Madeline at Jarrod’s clinic in 2043. I couldn’t be on Earth, could I? Was I even awake, or was this yet another dream, with me still falling through the portal, in limbo somewhere? I heard a cry beside me and saw small green organisms slithering like snakes, illuminated by the green glow from the moon above. A small lizard snout came into view, staring straight at me. Dylan. It had to be.