Erasing Time (38 page)

Authors: C. J. Hill

Tags: #Fantasy, #Young Adult, #Science Fiction

BOOK: Erasing Time

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Joseph said, “We should study it first.”

It hurt Sheridan to say the next words, but she knew if she didn’t, someone else would think of it soon enough. “We can’t go to Santa Fe. We’ll be tracked there. Traventon might attack the city if we’re there.”

Joseph translated, but Mendez didn’t look concerned. “The other governments already know where our city is, and it’s been attacked many times. It will stand.”

Sheridan glanced at Taylor to see her reaction, but she and Joseph were staring at each other.

Taylor ran a weary hand through her hair. “We need to find a way to sabotage or destroy the QGPs’ data—all of it—before Reilly figures out a way to make them functional.”

Joseph nodded, and it seemed to be a pact between the two of them. “We’ll work on it in Santa Fe.”

Mendez didn’t comment, just turned to the group of men still huddled over Helix. “We need to leave. What’s his status?”

One of the men looked up. “The bleeding is too deep and too heavy for the blanchers in the med kit to fix. He’s alive now, but that may pass by the time we reach the clinic.”

“We’ll have to carry him anyway,” Mendez said. “We can’t leave him here for the vikers.”

“What of the others?” another man asked. “Do we carry them to the clinic too?”

“We’ll take them as close to Traventon as we can. When they regain consciousness, use their comlinks to signal someone in the city to reclaim them.”

As soon as he spoke, several of the men retreated into the forest. Not long afterward they came back, leading nearly a dozen horses.

Horses. Sheridan smiled despite everything. One of them was a palomino like Breeze. Even the saddles didn’t look very different—thinner, lighter, but the same concept. She turned to Joseph and saw him staring at them openmouthed. “I think you’ll like Santa Fe,” she said, taking hold of his hand. “I think we all will.”

Together, they walked over to meet the animals. And despite everything that Sheridan had said about animals not talking, she spent several minutes stroking her horse’s mane and whispering to him.

Acknowledgments

A lot of people should be in my acknowledgments because they helped inspire this story, even if they didn’t know it.

To all the Brits I met in England. I was fairly certain they were speaking English, but sometimes it was hard to tell.

To MC Hammer for his song “U Can’t Touch This.” I still have no idea what it means, even though he is definitely speaking English.

To whoever put the ichthys in the original Jack in the Box logo. I mean, how covertly cool is that?

And of course to my family for all their love and support.

Also a big thanks to my editor, Sarah Shumway; my agent, George Nicholson; and his assistants, Erica Silverman and Caitlin MacDonald. You guys helped me turn coal into diamonds … or at least into words with considerably more shine.

About the Author

C.J. HILL
is the mother of twins. They aren’t identical, but this doesn’t mean she always calls them by the right name. In fact, she occasionally calls all her children by the wrong names (she has five) and has even been known to throw the dog’s name into the mix. Laugh now, but you’ll do the same thing when you have kids.

If C. J. had a time machine and could visit another century, she would probably go to the Regency era instead of the future. According to all the novels she’s read, the past was filled with a multitude of dashing lords and viscounts who were always on the lookout for damsels in distress, whereas the future is populated by scary dystopian societies.

Visit C. J. Hill online at www.cjhillbooks.com.

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Credits

Cover design by Joel Tippie

Copyright

Katherine Tegen Books is an imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers.

Erasing Time
Copyright © 2012 by C. J. Hill
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hill, C. J.

Erasing time / C. J. Hill. — 1st ed.

p. cm.

Summary: Eighteen-year-old twins Taylor and Sheridan are pulled into the future and must find a way to stop the evil government from using the time machine again.

ISBN 978-0-06-212392-3 (trade bdg.)

EPub Edition © JULY 2012 ISBN: 9780062123947

[1. Time travel—Fiction. 2. Government, Resistance to—Fiction. 3. Sisters—Fiction. 4. Twins—Fiction. 5. Science fiction.] I. Title.

PZ7.H547687Er 2012
[Fic]—dc23

2011044624
CIP
AC

12 13 14 15 16 CG/RRDH 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1