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there really was another life with another family, one that existed in the not very distant past for her fiancé.
He didn’t need anything else to understand the seismic shift Penny wrestled: there really was another life with another family, one that existed in the not very distant past for her fiancé.
Kin knew what he was fighting for. With only hours remaining, he hoped Penny felt as sure.
One of the first lessons during agent training involved the psychological approach to missions: keeping a clear mind to avoid any potentially fatal distractions.
“We can’t change what happened—” “Technically, that’s what we’re trying to do.”
White. A blinding white, an all-encompassing lack of color in an endless web around and through all points. It came with the totality of silence, something that, had Kin been conscious, would have lit all his nerves on fire. But he wasn’t conscious. Aware, perhaps. He was aware of a lack of form or sound, though details remained elusive, only arriving in flashes of silhouettes against the white and a stinging pressure closing in on him. The flashes grew more and more frequent, enough that he saw the white bleed into a bright sun and a cloudless sky for a sliver of a moment. Other details
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In an instant the world went to black, and as sound faded in, Kin realized that the darkness didn’t come from any neural or ocular dysfunction but from his eyes reflexively closing with the booster flowing through his body. His lungs ate up the hillside air—shallow at first, then gasps out of his control. The post-jump scent, a burn similar to a day-old barbecue pit, tickled his nose and his memory, though Kin was simply happy that anything tickled. “Look,” the woman said, “he’s breathing. Come on, here you go.”
Landing from a time jump was never quite like this.
“Please. We need to get you to a hospital. Then we’ll get to Miranda.”
The case for the injections lay open at his feet, probably from Penny fumbling it when they landed. Kin kept a straight face while scanning despite only seeing two syringes in the case. There should have been three. The two in the case were the booster injections they would take prior to jumping back to their native era. Where was the extra stabilizer, the post-jump injection that only he needed? Panic fluttered through Kin’s body, pricking his throat and lungs in the form of stuck air. He maintained his stoic face while searching through the brush and dirt when his fingers came across
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Time jumps max out at a hundred fifty years. Go any further and the energy needed literally implodes you.”
“That was Markus. He must be monitoring us. The fact that he didn’t say anything means he’s wearing a communicator for the mission. Standard protocol when agents and retrievers are actively teaming up.”
Be careful. Stay out of surveillance. The FA is at the safe house monitoring audio only. I can falsify tracking her to the parked car but not much else if she actually makes it there. Grab her before that happens. Go now. If she shows up at her car, I won’t be able to fake it and I’ll have go through with the TCB’s plan. Don’t be conspicuous, they’re listening.
“Who knows how she might react if she sees me? If we cause a scene, the FA will hear it over the monitor. You need to convince her to come with you. Discreetly. I think even mentioning me would be a bad idea.”
“I know you can do this. I know this so much that I’m trusting you with my daughter’s life.”
He peered into the restaurant, distance measurements and foot traffic patterns superimposing over what he saw. A bar. A waiting area. Rows of tables. Ideas came to life, quicker than his racing pulse.
“The Penny? You mentioned a Penny right before you disappeared. Oh, god, Dad, how old was she when you ran off with her? This is sick. She’s younger than me!”
“It’s like that show you like. Doctor Who.”
“Why haven’t you killed Hitler?”
“After I returned, the TCB recognized you—your existence—as a timeline corruption. You didn’t originally exist in this era. You’re only here because I got stranded, because I met your mother when I never should have and.... Even though they pulled me back, they agreed to let you be. But I couldn’t just leave you here alone. I was never supposed to contact you, but I found a way and set up a system to cover my tracks. It was perfect, almost. I got sloppy. They found our emails. The last one you got from me—the one that encouraged you to quit soccer and focus on what you love—that moment is
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“Why not prevent me from getting that knowledge in the first place? Couldn’t they go back to when I was fourteen and steal the journal from the garage before I saw it?” “Point of detection. The TCB reacts to the point of detection to avoid grandfathering the situation. Um,” Kin said, realizing he was using company lingo among the uninitiated, “what I mean is that it creates a thing called—” “The grandfather paradox,” Miranda said. She knew. Of course she knew. This was the girl who would rather go to a science fiction convention than a school dance. “What does your grandfather have to do with
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Even though you’ve escaped this particular attempt, they’ll just reorganize and come back for you. They know who you are and where you live, so staying here—being you—they’ll find you. If not today, tomorrow, or next week, next month. The only way this stops is if they believe you’re dead. Then the mission is accomplished and archived as a success.”
My life is different now. It’s the same, yet different. It’s scarier because all these unknowns are now part of it.”
“I’ll go,” she said in a slow, even cadence. “But there’s one person I need to say goodbye to.”
“She tried to play it off. Told me we could only control our lives. But I’d catch her sometimes, staring off into space. Or I’d wake up in the middle of the night and hear her watching Star Trek for hours. She wouldn’t let me see her trying to cope, but I knew.”
“Mom missed you,” Miranda said, breaking the silence. “She tried to play it off. Told me we could only control our lives. But I’d catch her sometimes, staring off into space. Or I’d wake up in the middle of the night and hear her watching Star Trek for hours. She wouldn’t let me see her trying to cope, but I knew.” She leaned forward, and her voice cracked with the next words. “She thought her headaches were just stress. We found out too late. You traveled through time to get here. Can you... I mean...” She gulped loud enough for Kin to hear, but nothing else came out.
“She was defiant like that.” Kin couldn’t stop a grin from taking over. “She’s probably standing here right now asking why I haven’t seen Star Trek II yet.”
This was Heather, after all. Simple and square, he traced the carved letters with his fingers. Flashes of that last evening together came back to him, the fear in Heather’s eyes as he’d tried to convince her that she must blindly trust him. After all they’d been through, that wild, terrifying moment was how it ended.
Stop overthinking things.
Father and daughter watched as Penny approached the grave, her fingers fluttering in an awkward wave.
while Miranda and Kin wanted to say goodbye to Heather, Penny simply took a minute to say hello.
In theory, things ended well. They’d traveled across time to find Miranda, but it was Heather who ultimately brought them all together. And after they each made their peace with that, they hit the road.
Kin reached into the glove box and pulled out the package of materials Markus had prepared for Miranda. Things that were impossible to accurately replicate in twenty-one-A—security seals, hologram patches—could simply be printed in the modern era.
Kin reached into the glove box and pulled out the package of materials Markus had prepared for Miranda. Things that were impossible to accurately replicate in twenty-one-A—security seals, hologram patches—could simply be printed in the modern era. Markus, who falsified records as part of his job, often joked about how easy it was to create people, and now he had proof. “Passport. New identity. Birth certificate. Cash. Prepaid credit card. Basic paperwork and life history. Penny’s brother has hacked official records to match. You exist, or at least this person does. Oh, and we bought a wig for you on our way to Davis.” He handed the stack over. “Wherever you want to start a new life, you can. And when you get there, lay low for at least a few months. No social media, cover your face with sunglasses and hats as much as possible. After that, time and distance should keep you safe as long as you don’t give them a reason to believe you’re not you.”
“I can’t know your name. I can’t know your destination. I can’t know anything. It’s safer that way.
“I’ve spent my whole life trying to figure out who you are. My project was like a therapy session wrapped in code.
Kin wasn’t like Markus. He didn’t toe the company line with precision. He found rules to be guidelines, not unbreakable barriers. Still, this decision came with the highest risk.
“I can’t believe this food is legal.”
They sat in the corner booth, faces covered by hats and high collars to minimize security risks. Despite the garb, Penny’s smile was unmistakable. “I can’t believe this food is legal.”
“Dad hardly ever let us get it. He always insisted he could cook something better.” Her voice dropped in pitch and she waved a mocking finger. “‘ Do you think the people on Home Chef Challenge eat this stuff?’”
“Home Chef Challenge?”
“A TV show I wanted to try out for.” The gentle mocking led to laughter around the table, an impossible moment in time that couldn’t be captured again except in memories. “And it’s true. I doubt Home Chef Challenge contestants eat this. It’s terrible for you.”
“It feels so bad for you, but it’s so good. The MOME exhibit doesn’t even come close.”
The human body’s not meant to time travel. We support it with a bunch of different medications. My body’s worse off than most because I was stuck here for so long. There’s an injection I need after I jump back.” His posture, which remained rigid and taut like an agent taking the field, began to slump as he explained the smashed syringe.
“Trust me, the desserts are never good at fast food places.”
Kin thought those final moments would be filled with heart-wrenching torment, a scratching and clawing to get one more second together. Yet while the emotions ran deep and the words came out a little blubbery, it lacked the drama of a Hollywood film.
“This isn’t going to cause timeline corruption?” “No,” Kin said with a laugh, “it’s just a penny.”
“When she was old enough to go places on her own, we came up with a list of things we needed to know before she left.”
“That place in Santa Cruz,”
First question—where are you going?”
“We shouldn’t say anything,” Kin said. “Timeline corr—”
“That place in Santa Cruz,” Penny blurted out, her voice muffled with her head still buried in Miranda’s shoulder. She let go of her stepdaughter-to-be, then hooked her arm around Kin’s waist. “You said you used to go hiking there.”
“Point Davies?” Miranda asked.
Kin’s fingers squeezed into fists, every word exchanged working opposite his agent directives. “Turns out, the reason I knew it so well is because it’s a TCB jump point. I’d just forgotten.”
“Who’s going to be there?”
“Who’s going to be there?” The questions were directed to Kin, despite Miranda watching Penny’s reaction the whole time.
“No one.” The answer seemed neutral enough. “Just us.”
“What time will you be home?”
“What time will you be home?”
“We can’t say. And really, we wouldn’t know.”
A gust of wind blew past; Penny shivered and hugged herself before locking on to Kin’s arm. “I’d like to see a sunrise from there. Wouldn’t that be nice?”
“In case of emergency, is there anything I need to know?”
Miranda opened her mouth for the fourth and final question and stopped midway. In the cold night breeze, he watched her huff air out to form small clouds that dissolved away. “In case,” she started. Her lips pursed, and she turned away for a moment before recentering herself. “In case of emergency, is there anything I need to know?”
“No,” he said. He met Miranda’s eyes, his stoic surface covering up the creeping fear that he refused to acknowledge. “We’ll be fine.” His fingers drummed for a moment before taking Penny’s hand and giving it a reassuring squeeze. “And you, you shouldn’t give up on your dream. A new identity doesn’t change who you are.”
“Let’s go home.”
“So, trans fats are illegal. Deep-frying is a dead cooking language. We know that the old ways are terrible for you. Modern methods have pushed it all out. It’s never tasted the same as the old ways. Every cooking historian says that. The retro places, they’re just not that good. Until now.”
“So, trans fats are illegal. Deep-frying is a dead cooking language. We know that the old ways are terrible for you. Modern methods have pushed it all out. It’s never tasted the same as the old ways. Every cooking historian says that. The retro places, they’re just not that good. Until now.”
Penny looked up, the brightness in her eyes nearly uncontainable. “The Mars spices.”
Kin thought back to Penny’s dessert, all those nights ago. A rare balance of sweet and savory, something that required precision to truly bring it out. “The Mars spices,” he repeated.
“Everyone’s using it for desserts, for baking. Like my mum.” The words flowed out of Penny at a nearly incomprehensible pace. “But no, you could use it for entrées, too. The timing has to be perfect, but that blend, that flavor, it finishes the recipe. That’s what I’m gonna sell. That’s what will convince the bank. One taste and I know they’ll approve the loan.” Despite carrying a backpack on her shoulders, Penny threw herself at Kin, rapid-firing kisses at him until they lingered in one, her side filled with celebratory passion and his absorbing the sweetness before the great unknown. He held her, balancing the two of them on a dark path overlooking the Bay Area. Her laughter was broadcast out, head tilted back and hair swishing with the breeze. “We did it. We really did it. We saved Miranda and found my angle.” She let out a holler, one so pure and direct it might have been detected in 2142. “Let’s get home. I have a business plan to write.”
“Wait a minute. Don’t we need some shots after we land?”
Kin’s metabolizer-healed body was capable of swirling Penny around, her laughter providing them with a triumphant soundtrack. Except there was still one thing she needed to know.
“Same deal as before, right?” Penny pulled out the equipment piece by piece while Kin programmed the accelerator for the time jump. “Kneel down, grab the handles, and don’t let go?”
Kin punched in the arrival coordinates and leaned back to take in the view. This era was outside his jurisdiction of twenty-one-A, somewhere between his old life’s near future and his new life’s ancient past. Funny, then, that an out-of-time era for both of his lives would reunite him with Miranda, reconcile him with Heather, and probably be the cause of his death.
The zip pouch opened on the bag, and Kin pulled out the small case of remaining syringes—only two pre-jump boosters. Like before, he would administer the boosters, one to himself and one to Penny. Unlike before, though, he didn’t have any post-jump instructions for her. “That’s basically it.”
“Wait a minute. Don’t we need some shots after we land?”
“You don’t. The transponders that the TCB planted in the ground make the jump back faster, more accurate. It puts less pressure on your body. You’ll be fine. Healthy agents don’t need stabilizers upon returning to the present.”
Penny stepped forward. For the first time since they’d left Miranda, her face soured, moonlight casting harsh shadows across it. “But you’re not healthy.”
Kin nodded without looking back at her.
It was the best headache he’d ever had in his life.
“Kin Stewart,” a voice came in return—the same voice they’d heard before the jump. “I’m looking for Kin Stewart.”
“He’s here.” Her voice wobbled as she jumped up and down, arms in full waving motion. “He’s here, and he needs help! Hurry!”
Kin wanted to yell his objections, to tell her to stay quiet, remain hidden from a sure TCB trap. Who else would know it was him, here, now? His voice echoed in his own mind, filling the space with a silent scream.
Footsteps cut through the brush, going from a thin pat-pat-pat to a full-on stomp that crushed the foliage and kicked up dust clouds. The man knelt down beside him, his face out of view. “I’m a doctor. I was told to find Kin Stewart here.”
“By who? Did Markus send you?”
“Markus?” His words flew out at breakneck speed, only eclipsed by his hands opening pouches from his backpack. “I don’t know anyone named Markus.” A small device beeped in his hand as he waved it over Kin’s fallen body. “Brain swelling. Minimal respiration and circulation. Barely detectable by the scanner. Probably can’t even see it,” he said, snapping his fingers in front of his vision. “No reflexive motion. Come on, prognosis.” The device beeped again, and the man focused in on the holographic text it projected. “Okay. That’s it. A few more things. We can do this. Stabilize.” More pouches and pockets opened from his bag, and Kin’s whole world shook as the man jabbed him in the neck. He heard a hissing sound. “Eight...nine...ten. Okay, now this one.” Another hissing sound came by, and within seconds a familiar pounding hammered Kin’s temples.
It was the best headache he’d ever had in his life.
“Who is the AD?”
Instead of listening to Kin, Penny came over with a tentative step. “Who are you?” she asked. “Why are you here? Is this a direct order from the AD?”
“Who is the AD?” The man coughed into the ground. “I’m here to help, I swear.”
“My grandmother. I made a promise to my grandmother.”
Kin readjusted his weight, his strength returning enough to try to hold the man down with meaningful purpose instead of dumb luck. “Who sent you?”
“My...” The man turned his head, dirt peppered on his cheek. “My grandmother. I made a promise to my grandmother.”
Kin’s grip on the man’s wrist loosened, and he looked over at Penny, whose expression changed from determination to shocked curiosity. “Your... grandmother?” she asked.
“I promised her. When I graduated med school, she asked me to do the strangest thing, but I promised her. She told me to remember four answers to four question. Kin Stewart. Point Davies. After sunset but before sunrise. Come alone but with emergency medical treatments.”
“Four questions...” Penny said, her voice barely audible.
The four questions.
“That was forty-two years ago,” the man said. Kin let him go and stumbled back onto his heels, only to have Penny catch him. The man pushed himself up to his feet and dusted himself off before kneeling back down to meet him face-to-face. “You are Kin Stewart?”
“Yeah.”
“She wanted to give you this.” He reached into his pocket, and it took several seconds for Kin’s eyes to adjust enough to clearly see what the man held up between his thumb and finger.
A coin.
Even in the dim light, he could see it. The bit of oxidation on Abraham Lincoln’s hair. The etched “1978” by Lincoln’s lapels. The scratch across the top half of the dull surface.
They remained in silence, sinking into the moment: a quiet morning on a hillside, the culmination of moments that spanned a century and a half. But now, finally, it was finished.
