Redeemed (24 page)

“Seems to be working so far, doesn't it?” Kevin taunted. “Quick! Give me that Elucidator!”

Cira eased the small, silver Elucidator from her pocket. She held it high, as if to show Kevin that she was doing exactly what he wanted.

And then she screamed, “Think again, time primitive!” and aimed the Elucidator right at Jordan and Kevin.

Jordan didn't hear anything—not even a ping—but suddenly Kevin slumped toward the floor, pulling Jordan down with him.

“He didn't know our stun gun setting can work on the
second
body it encounters,” Cira crowed triumphantly. “It's so fun dealing with time primitives!”

“Uh . . . are you sure you didn't knock out
both
boys?” JB asked, a bit too loudly.

Even as he spoke, JB strode across the floor. Jordan could hear the footsteps. Then the toe of JB's shoe nudged Jordan's shoulder in a way that didn't seem accidental.

Is he trying to tell me something?
Jordan wondered.

He couldn't figure out what it was, so he just lay still a moment longer. He seemed to be covering Kevin's body; Kevin sprawled facedown and apparently totally unconscious beneath him.

JB grabbed Jordan's arm and yanked him away from Kevin.

“Keep your eyes closed, but be ready.” JB leaned close to whisper in Jordan's ear. He pressed his fingers against Jordan's neck—was he covering by pretending to check Jordan's pulse?

“This one doesn't seem injured, but he is unconscious,” JB said loudly, clearly talking to Cira again. “You checked out that Elucidator you confiscated and determined it would be safe to discharge in an emergency like this, correct? And you had it set for voice commands only for the person touching it?”

Why's he asking about that?
Jordan wondered.
Is he trying to tell me something? Does he expect me to leap up and wrestle the Elucidator from Cira and actually get away?

He decided to wait for Cira's answer.

“Of course,” Cira said. Her voice shook. “I followed procedure.”

“I'm sure you did,” JB said soothingly. “But . . . let me see that Elucidator myself. The one you took from this boy and used just now.”

He's definitely setting something up,
Jordan thought.
But how will I know when whatever I'm supposed to be ready for is going to happen?

He dared to open one eye just a crack, enough to see Cira reaching over him to hand JB the Elucidator.

“Got it,” JB said. “Oh—oops!”

Something hit Jordan's stomach: the Elucidator. JB had dropped the Elucidator on Jordan.

He did that on purpose, didn't he?
Jordan wondered. Then he told himself:
Who cares? It happened! This is my chance!

Jordan wrapped his hands around the Elucidator.

“Get me out of here!” he screamed.

JB, Cira, Kevin, and the hospital hallway all vanished instantly.

Jordan spun through time. It seemed to go on and on and on, just him and the darkness and the spinning.

“Where are you taking me?” Jordan asked the Elucidator.

YOU JUST SAID “OUT OF HERE”
the Elucidator glowed back at him.
I'M NOT TAKING YOU ANYWHERE AT THE MOMENT.

Jordan realized he was just spinning in place. No wonder he was starting to feel sick to his stomach.

“Take me to my family,” he said, and it felt so good to say those words.

SECOND TOLD YOU THEY WEREN'T ALL IN THE SAME PLACE, REMEMBER?
the Elucidator glowed again.

How could a mere glowing light actually look snarky?

Jordan remembered the wording Second had gotten him to use. This time he was going to add to it a bit.

“Take me where I can make a difference—in a way that leads to rescuing my family,” he said.

IF YOU INSIST
the Elucidator flashed back.

Jordan began to speed forward. Now he could see lights in the distance that seemed to be moving closer.

Jordan thought of something else to worry about.

“That girl Cira couldn't follow me, could she?” he asked. “I mean, because you're not a time-agency Elucidator. Or would there be tracking in the detox suit? Should I—”

He tried reaching for the collar of the suit, to pull it off, but it seemed to have vanished.

IT'S GONE
the Elucidator assured him.
IT FINISHED DETERIORATING WHEN YOU WERE SPINNING. SO DON'T WORRY. NO ONE FROM THE TIME AGENCY CAN TRACE US.

Jordan didn't quite trust the way the Elucidator put that.

“Can Second?” he asked. “Can the teenage Second—or Kevin, or whatever his name is?”

But before the Elucidator could answer, Jordan hit the point of time travel where he felt like all the tiniest particles of his body were coming apart. He stopped being able to think.

The next thing he knew, he was lying on his back on a hard floor.

Back in the futuristic lab again?
he wondered.
Or back in the time hollow? Or back home again in the kitchen? Or somewhere with at least one of my family members?

Dizzily, he sat up and blinked until his eyes started coming into focus.

Blank walls again. Featureless floor and ceiling.

“I'm in the time hollow again? Or is it a different one and I just can't tell?” he asked the Elucidator.

DOES IT MATTER?
the Elucidator flashed back at him.
MOST TIME HOLLOWS ARE PRETTY INTERCHANGEABLE.

Jordan tried to look around a little more carefully. He really couldn't tell if it was the same place he'd been before.

His senses came back a bit more, and he remembered the teenage Second landing on him the last time he was in a time hollow.

“So who's going to fall on me this time?” he asked. “What should I be prepared for?”

DON'T WORRY
the Elucidator flashed back.
YOU'RE ALONE HERE UNTIL YOU MAKE A DIFFERENCE.

Jordan snorted.

“How do I make a difference in an empty room, all by myself?” he asked.

YOU THINK. YOU LEARN. YOU GROW
glowed above the Elucidator.
AND MAYBE YOU'RE NOT AS ALONE AS YOU THINK. YOU NEVER ARE.

Jordan snorted again.

“That sounds like something Mom would say,” he complained.

He didn't want to think about Mom right now, not even about her annoying him.

JUST BECAUSE IT SOUNDS LIKE YOUR MOTHER, THAT DOESN'T MEAN IT'S WRONG
the Elucidator retorted.

Jordan swallowed hard.

“Can you at least . . . show me where Mom and Dad are right now?” he asked. He remembered how useless that question had been when he'd asked the same thing about Gary and Hodge. “Or at least . . . where Second took them after the last time I saw them?”

YOU'RE GETTING BETTER AT ASKING QUESTIONS
the Elucidator complimented him.

And then the wall in front of Jordan lit up with such a clear image that Jordan felt like the wall must have disappeared, and he was looking into another room.

There were the teen versions of Mom and Dad, standing absolutely still.

“Mom! Dad!” Jordan yelled, scrambling up and running toward them at top speed.

His face smashed into the very hard, very real wall. Even if he couldn't see it, the wall was still there.

“Let me
through
!” Jordan demanded, turning his smashed face toward the Elucidator. Nothing hurt, probably because he was in a time hollow, but what if he'd actually broken his nose? He had to run his fingers over it to make sure it was still okay.

YOU WANT TO BE IN THE DARK EMPTINESS OF OUTER TIME
AGAIN?
the Elucidator glowed back at him. It hurt to squint at the words. Maybe he'd broken his eye sockets.

“I want to be in that other room with Mom and Dad!” Jordan said. “The one just on the other side of this wall!”

THERE'S NOT A ROOM ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WALL. YOU ARE JUST WATCHING A—WHAT WOULD YOU CALL IT IN YOUR TIME?—A VIDEO OF YOUR PARENTS
the Elucidator told him.
DO I NEED TO EXPLAIN THE CONCEPT?

Jordan frowned. He was acting like a little kid who thought the people on TV were really inside the screen. And he'd seen this kind of thing before, back in the time hollow he'd landed in with Mom, Dad, Katherine, and Jonah.

It was easier to be fooled now that he was alone.

“They just looked so real,” he mumbled. “It confused me.”

He took a step back from the wall and peered toward the image of his parents. Now that he knew it was just an image, they seemed impossibly far away.

“You say this is
video
? Why aren't they moving?” Jordan asked. “They're still alive, right?”

Even as he asked the question, he wasn't actually that worried that they were dead. His parents were standing as still as wax statues, but they looked completely real, completely alive.

SECOND PUT THEM IN SUSPENDED ANIMATION
the Elucidator glowed back at him.

Motionless, both of his parents looked even younger than they had back home in their own kitchen or in the lab or time hollow they'd been in before. Dad looked like a middle-school boy who'd just heard a fart joke. Or was about to tell one. Mom's hair flipped out in a goofy way that she never would have allowed as a grown-up, and everything about her was so childish that it didn't seem weird that she was wearing Katherine's sparkly
CHEER!
sweatshirt.

Jordan remembered how, when Second had first taken his parents away, he'd wanted them back to fix all his problems. He remembered how, when he was a little kid, he'd thought they could do anything. He'd thought they were superheroes.

“Rescue me,” he whispered, too softly for the Elucidator in his hand to hear.

Right now, his parents didn't look like they could rescue anyone. They were the ones who needed him.

Jordan cleared his throat.

“Show me where Second sent Katherine and Jonah,” he asked, trying to sound authoritative.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE A SPLIT SCREEN, WITH THEM AS WELL AS YOUR PARENTS?
the Elucidator asked.

“Sure,” Jordan said.

Instantly it was like another window opened up on the wall, showing another pair of Skidmores. Katherine and Jonah stood just as motionless as their parents. But there was something fiercer and more defensive about their stance, as if they'd been trying to fight back against Second in the moment before he froze them in place.

“Let me guess,” Jordan said to the Elucidator. “Suspended animation again?”

YES
the Elucidator glowed back at him.

“Why?” Jordan asked. “What was Second trying to accomplish, freezing all of them?”

YOU ARE NOT READY TO HEAR THAT EXPLANATION
the Elucidator told him.

“Why not?” Jordan asked.

THAT IS NOT FOR ME TO ANSWER
the Elucidator glowed back.
YOU'LL UNDERSTAND WHEN THE TIME COMES.

“Oh, thanks a lot,” Jordan said sarcastically. “Can't I time-travel to wherever and whenever the time comes?”

He felt really smart saying that, but the Elucidator just flashed back at him,
NO
.

Evidently, the Elucidator didn't have much of a sense of humor.

Jordan spent a moment longer peering at his parents and Katherine and Jonah. Somehow it was Jonah his eyes kept returning to.

Take a selfie—it'll last longer,
Jordan told himself. Except
for the old-fashioned clothes and the placement of the chin dimple, Jonah really did look almost exactly like Jordan. No wonder people kept confusing them.

But the longer he stared at Jonah, the more differences Jordan saw. Jonah wasn't just Jordan's mirror image. In a way Jordan couldn't even put his finger on, Jonah looked braver. Also steadier, more composed, and better prepared.

So why is he the one frozen and I'm the only one who can do anything?
Jordan wondered.

He took a deep breath and turned back to the Elucidator.

“Okay,” Jordan said. “Tell me how I can rescue all of them without Second finding out.”

THAT IS NOT WHAT YOU SHOULD BE CONCERNED ABOUT
the Elucidator told him.

“Yes, it is,” Jordan insisted. “I have to rescue my family!”

YOU DON'T KNOW ENOUGH FOR THAT YET
the Elucidator replied.

“Then tell me! Show me! Whatever! Let me do what I need to do to get ready!” Jordan exploded.

ALL RIGHT
the Elucidator flashed back.
WATCH AND LEARN.

Its slow, steady light seemed maddeningly calm.

The images of Jordan's parents and Katherine and Jonah vanished from the wall, replaced by a familiar scene: JB and Cira standing over Kevin's unconscious body in the hospital hallway Jordan had just left.

Am I seeing what happened immediately after I left?
Jordan wondered.

“We're both going to be in so much trouble for that,” Cira was saying. She kept turning her head toward the spot where Jordan had been lying, as if she expected him to come back. So probably he had just vanished.

Cira cleared her throat, as if she was trying very hard to sound and act professional.

“Can you trace that Elucidator?” she asked.

JB was looking down at something cupped in the palm of his hand—probably his own Elucidator.

“No luck,” he said in a clipped voice. “Look, I'll make it clear in my report that I was the one who dropped that. None of the blame will reflect on you. Since it's my mistake, I'll do what I can to pursue the boy who escaped. You take care of identifying and processing that time criminal.”

He pointed at Kevin, who was still facedown.

I bet JB doesn't even realize who that is,
Jordan thought.
He probably never got a glimpse of Kevin's face.