Time Salvager (44 page)
“Grace!” he yelled. “Levels at three percent. Container about to lose integrity!”
The familiar yellow flash came and he felt the pull of the jump suck him in, then everything went black. After the light faded, everything was still black.
James found himself floating, the fiery light and the intense heat of the fire now replaced by pitch-black darkness and the feeling of crushing pressure pounding at his body and dragging him down. Then the lag sickness hit, and for a brief instant, he succumbed to the pain and passed out.
“James, are you there? James!” Grace’s voice screamed into his head.
He woke to her voice, and instantly choked on a mouthful of water, his lungs spasming as he swallowed another gulp of the ocean. In a panic, he threw on his shields and spewed what little he had in his stomach out of his body. He gagged and clutched his chest, heaving spittle and fluids that dripped down his chin and neck. The pain this time was overwhelming and he hunched over, incapacitated by the feeling of his entire body being shredded from the inside out.
“You’re under three percent, James. I’ve sent the collie toward you on the western edge of the city. Go!”
He wiped his mouth on his arm and saw a long red streak. His nose leaked blood. No, his mouth as well. Well, it didn’t really matter what he bled out of, as long as he got what he came for. James checked his AI band for orientation, found west, and shot through the wall of the now-submerged room, puncturing holes through this underwater coffin as he followed the pull of the collie’s signal out into open water. It was going to be close. The netherstore and exo were draining his levels too quickly. James sucked in one last breath and then turned his other bands off, including the atmos, and waited again for the ocean pressure to squeeze into him. He had no choice. He reached the edge of the city and saw the collie floating a quarter of a kilometer away. He was fortunate that Grace had had the foresight to summon it this close; otherwise, he would not have made it to where he had left it.
He reached the collie with seconds to spare and slipped into the hold just as the exo’s power faltered. Within seconds, he had latched his netherstore container to the ship’s charger and pumped the water out of the ship.
He collapsed onto the floor, gasping for air as the last of the water filtered out of the interior. He struggled to flip onto his back and waited while his eyes focused on the ceiling. The pain from the jump was still there, the lag sickness as strong as it had been right when he made the jump. He struggled to his knees and threw up again.
“James,” Grace buzzed in his head, her voice filled with worry. “I’m recalling the collie. We need to put you in cryosleep immediately. You’re not well.”
“I’ll … I’ll be fine,” he managed to say. “I could really use a drink right now.”
His head felt like one of the Farming Towers had fallen on it. Even thinking hurt. His body couldn’t handle much more of these jumps without a miasma regimen. It took him several more minutes to get to his feet. He checked the
Collie
’s autopilot and then collapsed onto the bench.
The ship wasn’t built for underwater travel so the trip would take three days, but it couldn’t be helped. It didn’t matter. James intended to use that time to catch up on some much-needed sleep.
“Charge your bands now,” Grace instructed. “I’m turning your cryo band on.”
“No,” he said. “I’d rather sleep naturally.”
“Not taking the chance,” she said. “Don’t fight me. You know I’ll get my way in the end, regardless.”
That much was true. In the weeks since she had joined them, James had yet to win one argument. In this case especially, he knew he was just being stubborn.
“Fine.” He lay down on the bench and plugged his bands into the collie’s system. “It’s three damn days anyway. I’ll probably end up just getting bored.”
“You know, in my time, the TIs could get to Saturn in less than three days.”
“In your day, you guys got your ass kicked by the equivalent of cavemen in space,” he replied, “so I wouldn’t puff up your chest that much.”
“Being outnumbered ten to one does have its disadvantages.”
“Technically, it was only six to one, and the Neptune Divinities were fighting you with a hundred-and-fifty-year technology handicap. The reason you lost was because your people spent more time thinking about doing something than actually doing something.”
“Hindsight is always smug and unbecoming.”
“One of the advantages of being from the future, I guess.”
The collie began to coast, swaying back and forth in a lulling and comforting motion. James shut off all the nonessential systems, relying on his atmos for life support as always.
He activated the cryo band and filtered its readings to his AI band. It wouldn’t be as good a sleep as a natural one, but he hadn’t had much luck with those lately anyway. He was actually looking forward to a nice long rest.
Smitt had last reported that he was able to smuggle out a batch of the miasma regimen without being detected. That would have to be James’s next priority after he set up this stealth hood for the Elfreth. It would be good to see Smitt again. The two of them hadn’t spent more than two weeks apart since they were teenagers, and even those two weeks were only because of a salvage he had to run in ancient Mesopotamia for a shipment of gold that had to be spun into circuitry.
“You ready to turn in?” Grace said. “Keep your atmos at sixty percent, your comm band open, and make sure I can monitor your vitals and thought patterns.”
“You’re not going to watch over me the entire time I sleep, are you? Feels a little creepy, Grace.”
“In your current state? Every single second.”
James made a face. “As long as you’re not poking around in my skull while I sleep. I know how inquisitive you geniuses get.”
“Don’t worry about that. We geniuses have better things to do than look into your brain. You’re just not that smart or interesting, to be honest. Sleep well, James.”
“Good night, High Scion,”
James’s eyes grew heavy as the effects of the cryo band washed over him. He felt himself sinking into the metal bench as the interior of the collie grew darker and darker. Then, just as he felt blissful sleep sweep over him, he heard a loud bang that spasmed his body, every muscle tightly clenched.
“James?” Grace yelled into his head. “Your brain scans just spiked. Is everything all right?”
James tried to think to her, but his mind couldn’t formulate the words. He tried to say something, but his mouth wouldn’t open. It took all his effort to open his eyes, but when he did, all he saw was the night sky falling on top of him. His last thoughts before everything went dark was wondering just where all the stars went.
The first thing that touched James’s senses was the sound of lapping water as it splashed onto the deck and receded, again and again. Then he felt the tingling of heat against his face, followed by a breeze that made the hairs on his arms stick up.
He thought about opening his eyes; that would be the smart thing to do. After all, he had no idea where he was, or when, for that matter. The latter was an important question in his line of work, after all. Still, these sensations shouldn’t be possible. He should be in his collie, passed out and resting. Heck, shouldn’t his atmos be filtering out these sensations? These were all questions that needed answering, but damn it, he was so comfortable right now.
“Are you going to spend the entire day thinking to yourself?” Elise’s voice asked somewhere off to his left.
James opened one eye, then the other. He was immediately struck by the brilliant glow of the sun on this impossibly clear blue morning. He shielded his eyes with his hand and blinked away the stars exploding all around him. Then he turned to the side and saw Elise, sporting that control suit she wore the day they first met, which split apart down the front, exposing half her naked body underneath.
She poked him playfully. “About time you got up. Come on; there’s a lot to do before it happens. We’d better get going.”
She stood up and walked away, looking back once seductively, urging him to follow. By the time he picked himself off the ground, she was already an impossible hundred meters away, standing at the top of the stairs leading to the main section of a glistening platform, backgrounded by silver buildings rising up into the sky. She beckoned him again.
James’s eyes followed the tallest spire until it seemed to touch Luna. He was on the Nutris Platform, and he must be back to 2097, or at least a time before the platform exploded. But even then, he didn’t remember the platform glistening as it was right now. He looked over to the water below. Visibility was at least sixty meters. Schools of fish swam in circles below him as if trying to cause a water funnel right below where he lay.
Wasn’t he supposed to be wading through an ocean of shit right now…? Of course. He was in a dream. A blissful three-day dream in paradise alone with Elise. Part of him hoped the cryo band malfunctioned and he never woke up. James couldn’t think of a better way to die.
Not quite alone, pet.
Grace smiled, sitting up on his other side.
James scowled.
Assuming this was a dream—James wasn’t sure yet—if Grace was here, that would mean there might be more ghosts here. He looked up at the top of the stairs, where Elise was still waving.
You going to keep her waiting much longer?
Grace said.
“She might decide that you’re not worth it. After all, you’re just a pitiful wandering soul; why would she tolerate having you around? You and that false sense of control.
James stood up and heard an “ahem” and saw Grace, hand raised, looking expectantly at him. He helped her up and, together, they walked down the path toward the stairs, with her draped over his arm.
“What do you mean, I have a false sense control?” he asked. “Of course I’m in control. I’m…”
Alive?
The Nazi soldier appeared on his other side, chuckling.
Haven’t you learned anything yet?
He has a point
, Grace said, leaning into him.
The three of them walked up the stairs to where Elise waited. She nudged in between the Nazi soldier and James and took his other arm. Together, they continued down the impossibly bright pathway toward the heart of Nutris. The platform was quiet, without any other signs of life nearby. Not even birds dotted the sky. James remembered quite a few floating on the winds while he was there. The only thing he could hear now were the waves splashing against the platform’s supports.
They turned the corner and ran into a group of people huddled next to a building. James remembered some of the faces from his dreams; a building had collapsed on them. He wanted to apologize, to say sorry for not doing more, but they didn’t acknowledge him..
He turned to Elise. “Can they see us? Are we invisible?”
“They’re dead,” she said. “They have no choices.”
“I don’t understand,” James said.
You’re replaying what’s already happened, pet,
Grace murmured, stroking him on the arm.
What is it you’re so fond of saying? ‘Their story’s been told. The past is already dead’?
“It’s different here,” he said.
How?
James didn’t know how to answer that. Their small group continued on, passing through a pristine sector of the platform, turning down a ramp on the left and continuing along the water’s edge. James wasn’t sure who was driving this train, but obviously someone here was leading. Just then, he realized that they were retracing his path from the morning of the disaster.
He looked to his left, where another path led down to where the first mark was located, expecting to see the entrance tunnel that led to the underwater lab. Instead, he saw a pile of floating wreckage marring otherwise perfectly blue waters.
“What happened?” he said. “Why is it destroyed here but not anywhere else on the platform?”
Elise frowned. “The subparticle filterer must not be here. I wonder where it went.”
Haven’t you learned anything yet?
Grace said.
The odd group continued retracing James’s path. More and more of the poor souls he had encountered before appeared along the way. Most just stood around chatting with each other, completely ignoring James’s group. He had an urge to wave his hand in front of their faces or bump them, just to see how they’d react.
They passed by the building where the bacterial sequencer had been stored. Again, like the first mark, the building was leveled, though all the other buildings around it looked shiny and new. Along the way, he ran into several members of the tribe. Qawol, his arms around Franwil’s waist, waved and beckoned him to join them. Always shy Sammuia, hiding behind Rima, peeked at him over her shoulder.
“Why are you all here?” James asked. “You don’t belong here. None of you do.”
They laughed.
“You brought us here, Elder Chronman,” Sammuia said.
“We belong here more than you,” Qawol said.
Now a full entourage, the group continued until they reached the Head Repository, which also wasn’t there. He thought they would stop there, since the next place he had gone in 2097 was straight down into the water. Instead, the group turned up a side path he had never gone down before and continued walking to Sector Four, a lively, talkative group of ghosts passing by other groups of ghosts, yet seemingly unaware of the others.
Finally, they reached the heart of the platform, where a massive turbine spun, making rising and falling humming noises. James walked over to the railing and looked down over the side to see hundreds of blades churning in the water.
“Is this what destroyed the platform?” he asked.
Grace chuckled her high-pitched chuckle.
Of course not, pet. Don’t be absurd.
That’s what destroyed the platform,
the Nazi soldier said, pointing at a gold cylinder sitting on the ground. The cylinder was plain, except for a large red V on its side. And in case it wasn’t obvious enough, the name Valta Corporation was displayed in equally bright red letters below it.
