Reversion (The Narrows of Time Series Book 3) (33 page)

“Maybe the blast was accidental and she was embarrassed to tell you?” Zed said, crouching down to inspect something in the dirt.

“No, that’s not it. She’s hiding something, but what?” Rocket answered, moving closer to Zed and looking over his shoulder.

Zed pointed at two sets of footprints—one set significantly larger than the other. “I think it’s a who, not a what. A boyfriend-what.”

“I find that hard to believe. My sister wouldn’t know what to do with a set of cock and balls.”

Zed laughed, hard. “I don’t know. If I was her and you were my brother, would I really want to tell you about a new man in my life?”

“Out here? In bum-fuck-Egypt?”

“Sure, why not? She obviously wasn’t under duress, otherwise she would’ve said something when she was alone with us. So, these prints must belong to a friendly. The question is, how friendly?”

“Yeah, fuck you, too,” Rocket said. He shook his head, thinking about his sister’s decision to bring a stranger into the family compound. His father never would’ve approved. “Well, if she met someone, it was in town. Definitely not out here.”

“Then she might be getting a taste for city life.”

“You may be right. If that’s true, it worries me more than her shacking up with some random dude.”

Rocket swung his eyes around to take in the sprawling outline of Tucson, sitting off in the hazy distance. “Looks like a road trip.”

“I was hoping we could avoid that.”

“Me, too. But where Masago goes, we go.”

“Ten-four,” Zed reported, starting the twenty-yard walk to where they’d parked the Tumbler.

Snap! Pop! Crack!

Rocket froze, turning his attention to a heavy stand of desert brush on his left.

The sounds came again, this time louder than before. He realized they were too loud to be made by a rodent or some other four-legged animal. A two-legged creature was approaching.

He pulled his sidearm from its holster, racked the slide to inject a .45 caliber hollow point round into the chamber, and pointed the weapon at the tall thicket.

Zed must have heard the noises, too. Almost instantly he was on Rocket’s flank with his weapon drawn and in the firing position.

“Identify yourself!” Rocket yelled, keeping his eyes sharp and his shoulders hunched. The beat in his chest was no longer measured and quiet, neither was his breathing. An adrenaline-charged tremor washed over his hands, making it difficult to keep the gun sights steady.

Zed moved two steps to the left, tracking his gun with precision as he searched from point to point, waiting for a target to appear.

“Don’t shoot. Please. I’m unarmed,” came a male voice from somewhere inside the foliage.

Rocket tightened the grip on his Glock Model 30, moving his finger from the slide to the trigger. “We have you surrounded. Come out slowly with your hands up. No sudden moves or we’ll kill you where you stand.”

“Okay! Okay! Hold your fire,” the man yelled in a desperate, somewhat feminine voice.

More branches and twigs snapped, sending Rocket’s blood pressure into overdrive.

“Anyone else in there with you?” he asked, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly to calm his nerves. It worked. The gun held firm on the center of the vegetation, precisely where he wanted it.

“No, just me. Nobody else. I’m coming out.”

A few seconds later, a pair of hands made their way out from the green, followed by legs and a tiny body wearing a face that seemed familiar.

Rocket scanned the trespasser’s appearance, studying the contour of every detail for facial recognition. His brain searched its memory files for a match: small stature, sculptured nose, weary, dark eyes, Asian descent, soft cheekbones, tiny hands, shaggy black hair—shoulder length—and a swatch of recessed age lines painting his forehead. Just then, a familiar name came to him. His heart wanted to call it out, but his logic vetoed the idea after it couldn’t reconcile what he was seeing, or feeling. How could this be?

Then, without warning, his lips spoke on their own. “Dad? Is that you?”

“Yes, Rocket. It’s me.”

“Riku Fuji?” Zed asked the stranger.

“Yes. Dr. Riku Fuji, to be exact. The one and only.”

All at once, Rocket felt the muscles in his chest and abdomen tighten. He wanted to run and hug his old man, but his feet wouldn’t move. Something was holding him back. “I thought you were dead.”

“No, son. I’ve been held in captivity since the night I left you and your sister. But I’m back now. Can you please secure your weapon? It’s me, son.”

Rocket lowered the Glock without thinking, focusing all his thoughts on the war raging within. Heartache and anger had just squared off in a battle for supremacy, and he wasn’t sure which one of them would win.

“Captivity? Who? Why?” Rocket asked his father with shortened breath and a dry mouth, trying to make sense of the situation.

Riku lowered his arms and held them out, waist high. “An evil, sadistic man named Starling. He forced me to create technology to further his empire. But I escaped.”

“Escaped? How?”

“I used my technology against the men holding me. And with the help of another prisoner, I was able to flee and make my way here.”

“On foot?”

“I hitched part of the way, but I would’ve gladly walked barefoot across a thousand miles of toxic wasteland and broken glass to see my children again. Only one thought was driving me—get home.”

Rocket’s anger waned. “Where’s this other prisoner now?”

“We split up once we were clear. He needed to go in search of his people, and so did I,” Riku said, brushing strands of his stringy mop from his face. He pointed at the rubble. “What happened here? Where’s Masago?”

“I’m not sure. I just arrived from my place and found her bunker like this. But don’t worry, I’m pretty sure she’s not inside. She came to my place earlier and borrowed my truck. I think she’s in town.”

“Her bunker? Your place?” Riku asked in a concerned, fatherly tone.

Rocket dropped his eyes to the ground, not wanting to admit he broke his word to his father. He was supposed to watch over his sister and keep her safe, not run off and play survivalist with his half of the family’s money.

“Yes, Father. We split up. When it was clear you weren’t coming home, I moved out and sold my half of the gold eagles to fund my own operation.”

Riku’s eyes sharpened and his face turned a deep shade of red, but he said nothing. Rocket thought his old man’s head was going to explode in anger. He needed to soften the detonation.

“I know I let you down, but I thought you were dead! The stress of you not coming home took a toll on the two of us. I should’ve stayed like I promised, but I had to get out of here. Just too many memories, and I needed to get on with my life. When I looked for a property to buy, I made sure it was relatively close so we could stay in regular contact. If she needed my help, all she had to do was call, though she never did. You should be proud of her, Father. She’s a better person than me, and perfectly capable of taking care of herself.”

“That may be true, but family is family and Fujis stick together, no matter what. I am very disappointed in you. You gave me your word.”

Rocket sighed, letting his pride slip away. Despite all his training, weapons, and personal strength, they were no match for the stinging words of his father. They cut through his defenses like a red-hot laser slicing through steel. His dad always seemed to know exactly what to say and how to say it, breaking him down and commanding respect.

Fathers must have that innate power over their sons, he decided. Maybe it was a genetic ability, or perhaps it was all part of some divine master plan, passed down and honed over the millennia. Either way, he was worried his response was going to make him look weak and vulnerable in front of Zed, but it wasn’t going to stop him from saying what he needed to say.

“I’m sorry, Father. I truly am, but I don’t know what else to say. If I could travel back in time and do it all over again, I’d do it all differently. Just give me a chance. I swear, I’ll make this right.”

“Doubtful. You can’t un-ring a bell,” Riku said. Pointing at Zed, he asked, “Who’s this guy?”

“Zed Bradshaw. My second-in-command.”

Zed nodded confidently. “Heard a lot about you, sir.”

“You know my rules about outsiders,” Riku snarled at Rocket, folding his arms across his chest.

“You can trust him. He’s a stand-up guy and a believer in the cause, too. He came here with me to find Masago.”

Zed straightened his posture, taking a firm stance in the dirt. “I stand at the ready, sir. Whatever you need.”

Riku hesitated while his eyes wandered for a bit, obviously thinking things through.

Rocket expected this level of cynicism from his old man. It wasn’t the first time or the last. But he’d manned-up and offered his apology and it would just have to do for now. There were more important issues at hand. He made firm eye contact and switched to his confident voice.

“Did you see that intense flash earlier? In the direction of downtown?”

“What flash?” Riku asked without hesitation.

“I take that as a no. Trust me, it wasn’t something you see every day.”

“You didn’t answer my question,” Riku asked.

“Neither did you.”

“Get to the point, son.”

“It was damn far away. Possibly near downtown Tucson, but yet, it was still massive and bright. It only lasted a second or two and wasn’t followed by any sound or signs of smoke. I’m guessing you were on your way here and had your back turned.”

“Obviously.”

“If Masago’s in town like I think—”

“Then we need find her.”

“Sort of my point, Dad. Earlier, there was a low-level air force flyby of our camp on their way to Tucson. Then we saw a massive flash in town and it looked like it was directly under their flightpath. I don’t know what’s going on, but if we’re looking at some kind of attack or a prelude to military occupation, things could get out of hand quickly. If it escalates, it’s only going to bring the worst out in every survivalist, militant, and prepper in the area. The desert’s filled with them.”

“I agree. Where do we start?” Riku asked.

“Thanks to your son’s quick thinking, we planted a GPS tracker on your daughter, but we’ll—”

“Need to be in range to pick up its signal,” Rocket said. “If she’s in town, we have to head there now.”

Riku’s face tensed. “No, we activate the device now, just in case your sister is not where you thinks he is. Let’s pray that’s the case.”

“Roger that,” Zed said.

“We can’t cover much ground alone. How many men do you have?” Riku asked.

“Plenty,” Rocket told him, trying to decide how many men he should task in the search for his sister. At first thought, his heart wanted to send them all. But his logic took over and reminded him he had a duty to protect those in his camp.

“How many do you think we need?” he asked his dad, hoping the number was small. Otherwise, he’d have to debate the decision with his old man, wasting even more time.

“I’d suggest—” Riku said, stopping in midsentence with his mouth hanging open. He pointed at the horizon. “Are those what you saw earlier?”

Rocket spun his boots in the dirt and saw three brilliant, white-colored objects off in the distance. Again, they were in the direction of Tucson, but this time they didn’t blink out after a second or two. They were pulsating and shaped like massive domes.

“Hell no. This is something new. We need to move, now!”

Lucas Prime couldn’t believe his eyes when they locked onto three brilliant objects out the back window of Masago’s truck. A trio of energy domes had just spawned in sections of the city they’d just left behind. He pointed from the front seat, trying to get Bruno, Drew, and Lucas two’s attention. “Shit! It’s already started!”

Everyone in the backseat spun their heads and shoulders.

Lucas two gasped. “What the hell?”

“Faster, Masago, faster!” Bruno yelled.

“I’ve got it floored now,” she yelled back. “This is as fast as this beast goes!”

“What are they?” Drew asked.

“Krellian energy domes,” Lucas Prime said.

“What?” Drew asked.

“You’ve seen them before?” Lucas two asked, now with a makeshift bandage wrapped around the self-inflicted gash in his arm. Drew had cut a strip of his T-shirt off to make the wrap and tie it around the gaping wound.

“Oh, yeah. Many times. Even had one of them chase me.”

“What are they doing?” Drew said.

“They’re sucking up everything in their path, pulling matter into their universe for processing. This is how it starts. This is what I was trying to stop.”

“Oh my God!” Masago yelled. “All those poor people! And children!”

“An invasion?” Lucas two asked with a steady voice.

“An extinction.”

“Jesus Christ! Why?”

“Because you ran the experiment without permission and did so at full power.”

“Me? I’m responsible?” Lucas two said.

“Yes, you and NASA. Haven’t you been paying attention? This is what I’ve been trying to tell you this entire time.”

“Yeah, I heard you. But I thought you were exaggerating. You know, to get my attention and drive home a point.”

Prime turned to Bruno. “Was I really like this?”

Bruno shrugged and nodded, almost as if he was embarrassed.

Prime dropped his head for a moment, then locked eyes with the security guard again. “Wow. I’m sorry.”

“What’s NASA got to do with this?” Drew asked.

“NASA built technology very similar to yours. When you powered up your reactor, so did they, amplifying the E-121’s incursion effect across spatial dimensions.”

“Those bastards! They stole our ideas?”

“I’m afraid so.”

“Since you’ve lived these events before, you know what’s coming next, right?” Bruno asked Prime.

“Not exactly.”

“What the hell does that mean?” Lucas two sat forward in his seat.

“Events are different this time, both in the future and in the past.”

“A predestination paradox,” Drew added, with a touch of excitement in his voice. “I’m right, aren’t I?”

Prime nodded. “Yes, the bleed-back effect seems to be intensifying as I move forward in this time thread.”