The Split Second (32 page)

Just an idea, but perhaps on “cataclysmic”-level Missions like this, it may be worth calling in a team of Fixers, multiple specialists whose talents could mesh into a cohesive unit, and thereby maximize safety for The World. That and combining the Receiver into the next series of Blinkers. It’s a pain to carry both.

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Signature

SEEMS CROSSWORD

*For solved puzzle, please visit
www.theseems.com
> Fixer’s Lounge

Across

1. He only got a C+, but it sure came in handy

5. They’re usually in Alton Woods (if you know where to look)

8. “A ______ in Time Saves Nine”

12. Connects The Seems and The World

13. 2400 is perfect

14. Loves to watch Jinx Gnomes (or from Charlie Brown)

16. Rachel Adler Bat-Mitzvah, in a manor of speaking

17. Jennifer Kaley’s Case Worker

18. Their “Tom Sawyer” rocked both sides in the 80s

20. Simly’s grandpa Milton’s favorite baseball team

22. Last sighted near Tatoosh

23. 12th Sense

24. Fixer #1 meditates here

25. Casey tried to surf these (you shouldn’t)

26. He can be found flipping burgers at this side

27. National holiday in The Seems

Down

2. Sweeter than a blackberry or a boysenberry :-)

3. Simly ______ Frye

4. Little Unplanned Changes of ______

6. The Glitch and Permin live there now

7. Sleep ingredient--not Refreshment, not Snooze

9. Comes in regular and messenger bag styles

10. “____ to Fix, Fix to ____”

11. The Institute for Fixing & ______

13. “You can’t be twenty on _____ mountain, though you’re thinking that you’re leaving there too soon”

15. Easier way in than a Door

17. Freck family winter chalet

19. Only place to get a newspaper (or Soft Drink) in the In-Between [Hint: BeckerBlog]

21. Becker’s friend Connell Hutkin’s mother’s second husband

Deleted Scenes from
The Split Second

In every Seems book (and all books, really) there are many scenes that end up on the cutting-room floor. But in this book, dear reader, you are in luck! We have decided to release two never-before-seen deleted scenes from
The
Split Second
. Read on and enjoy.

Deleted Scene #1: “Stanton & Rivington”

This scene was part of a larger subplot involving Fixer
#11, also known as Lisa Simms. In her “real life,” Lisa is
first violinist for the London Philharmonic Orchestra, but
she is famous in The Seems for being one of the three
Fixers who took part in the Mission known as “Hope Springs
Eternal.” This thread was meant to explore the complicated
relationship between Fixers Simms, Jelani Blaque, and
Tom Jackal, who broke Lisa’s heart long before he “died”
on The Day That Time Stood Still. In the end, the authors
decided to save that story (and the fate of escaped Tide
operative Lena) until
The Lost Train of Thought
.

———

Corners of Rivington and Stanton, New York, New York

“Simms to Central Command, come in.” Lisa Simms ducked into the shadows of a construction scaffold and whispered into her Receiver. “I’ve got her.”

In an apartment across the street and three stories up, Fixer #11 could just detect the slender outline of a woman nervously pacing and smoking a cigarette.

“Where is she now?”
came back the Dispatcher.

“Appears to be a Tide safehouse.” She upped the magnification of her Trinoculars™ and took a closer look through the gauzy white blinds. “I think she’s alone, but I can’t be sure.”

Lisa had just arrived at 274 West 12
^th
Street to investigate the loss of radio contact with Becker Drane when she had spotted a female dressed in black scaling down the fire escape and making the final ten-foot jump to the sidewalk. The fugitive matched exactly the description of the Tide operative named Lena. She was listed as “at large” in the most recent Mission Update, and the Fixer had immediately given chase through the streets of the West Village, below Washington Square Park, across Broadway, and finally to here, at the corner of Stanton and Rivington.

“Should I take her down?” The violinist knew that her classical training applied not only to Beethoven and Rachmaninoff, but to the art of Fixing, and if she needed to extract Lena from New York City, she wasn’t afraid.

“Negative.”
The Dispatcher’s voice was hoarse beyond recognition from the longest day of his career.
“Maintain surveillance until further
orders or ground situation changes.”

“But, sir, I was hoping to assist Drane with the Fix.” Lisa snuck a quick peek at the Blinker on her belt. “Mission Update says
‘Split
Second repair in progress.’”

“That’s a double negative, #11.” The Dispatcher’s tone left no room for argument.
“This is the best chance we’ve ever had to observe
the Tide’s World based operations. Besides, #37 is already being assisted
by Fixer Jackal.”

In her twenty-plus years as a Fixer, Lisa Simms had experienced more surprises than she cared to remember, and she felt quite confident in her ability to roll with the punches. But nothing could have prepared her for the words that she’d just heard in the ear-piece of her Receiver . . . or what it felt like to hear them.

“Fixer who?”

Deleted Scene #2: “The Small Blue Envelope”

Cutting this scene from the book definitely hurt, because
the authors wanted to return to the place where the story
began. It was removed from the last chapter in the interest
of pacing, but hopefully readers will enjoy finding out what
happened to the people we met there . . .

———

Los Angeles, California

A tall, skinny kid in hospital scrubs took off his headphones and stepped beneath the overhang of a weather-beaten bus stop. The noontime sun was high in the sky, and since most of the commuters who used this stop were still at work, the bench sat unoccupied. Which was all good as far as Harold “C-Note” Carmichael was concerned.

This had probably been the craziest week of his life. He’d gone from down to up to up to down so many times, he didn’t know which end was which anymore. But when Tony the Plumber had slapped him on the back and told him the one thing that every Briefer longs to hear— “I think I’m looking at #39!”— C-Note thought he’d finally, FINALLY, arrived at the top. And then he came back to The World . . .

There, tucked into his mail slot at USC Medical School was a small blue envelope, which he knew meant only one thing: the score on his dreaded surgical exam was in. Two weeks ago, C-Note was pretty sure he’d shanked the thing, which would pretty much end his notion of becoming Dr. Harold Carmichael. Or at least the kind of doctor that his mother always dreamed he could be.

As he sat upon the bench and tried to work up the courage to open the same blue envelope, two people he recognized as regulars on this bus line stepped in from out of the sun. It was that nice but shy young Mexican girl and that really NOT nice guy in a business suit who C-Note usually did everything he could to avoid. But what he couldn’t figure out was why they were holding hands . . .

“Hola,”
said Albie Kellar, noticing the Briefer’s stares. “How you doing over there?”

“I’ll tell you in about thirty seconds.”

Albie whispered something in the ear of Anna Morales, and she smiled, as if some secret were passing between them. Together, they watched as the student/pizza delivery driver/car detailer who would in two weeks be promoted to the ranks of Fixer opened up the envelope in his lap and read the score that was printed on the page. Interestingly, his face had no reaction whatsoever—not until he picked up his cell phone and chose one of the numbers programmed into speed-dial. At that point, it was pretty clear to Albie and Anna exactly how C-Note was doing over there . . .

“Hey, Ma . . . guess what!”

Office of the Administrator,
Department of Thought & Emotion, The Seems

Eve Hightower stepped to the front of the executive suite, having exchanged her judge’s robes for the business casual attire of her office. But there was nothing informal about the way she cleared her throat and began to address the four others who’d been asked to join this classified briefing.

“I know you probably expected the administrator of T&E to run this meeting, but as you’ll soon see, Dr. Thinkenfeld’s absence is not a coincidence.”

The Second in Command grimly turned to the first page of the Mission Report and continued.

“Yesterday morning at exactly 07:35 a.m., a train loaded with all The World’s Thought for the next six weeks departed on schedule from the End of the Line. Unfortunately, it failed to reach the next station stop in Seemsberia—let alone deliver its precious cargo back to this department.”

The gasp that slipped from Becker Drane’s mouth wasn’t the only one in the room.

“When all attempts to reach conductor or crew proved futile, the decision was made to assemble a team of Fixers whose combined skills made them uniquely qualified to locate and retrieve the missing train.”

Eve Hightower pressed the intercom button at the head of the table.

“Kevin?”