After Eden (16 page)

“She won’t say anything. You can trust her.”

“Maybe I can. But can I trust you? This isn’t a game, Ryan. This isn’t a little vacation to the past where you get to meet a celebrity and pick up a pretty girl before heading home to your old life. This is everything. This is the past and the present and the future.”

“I know I screwed up.”

“You’re so immature,” Cassie said. “You couldn’t keep your eye on the prize. You allowed yourself to become
infatuated by a twenty-first century girl and then spent half your days hanging out with her instead of working on Connor, which is what you should have been doing.”

“It’s not like that,” Ryan said, his voice rising. “I know I messed up! I shouldn’t have brought her home and let her find the book. But I did and she did. I’m not wasting my time with her. She’s important.”

“Is that right?” said Cassie. “I thought your brief was rather straightforward: make friends with Connor Penrose and make sure he doesn’t discover Eden. I don’t remember the part that instructed you to fool around with a high-school girl.”

“I’m not fooling around with her.”

Cassie’s laugh was razor-sharp. I could sense a pounding on the periphery of my senses. It pulsed to the beat of my heart. Bang-bang thump. Bang-bang thump. I gulped a mouthful of cold water.

“What would you call it, Ryan?” asked Cassie. “Falling in love?”

“Eden isn’t just some random high-school girl. She’s the girl Connor falls in love with. His best friend. The one who breaks his heart. The one he argues with just before he discovers Eden.”

Cassie looked at me and then back to Ryan. “And how exactly does you falling in love with her help us?”

Ryan’s jaw clenched and he glanced at me. I was waiting for him to announce that he wasn’t in love with me. “She’s helping me.” He went on to explain how we had plotted together to get Connor to the ball and to spend his money on a games console.

“And you never thought to include this information in your daily debrief?” asked Ben.

Ryan frowned. “Of course I thought about it. But I worried that if I said anything she’d be vulnerable in the cleanup mission.”

Cassie and Ben looked at each other.

“He’s broken the First Law of Temporal Integrity,” she said. “You know what that means.”

The clock on the wall chimed eight.

“Could we finish this conversation another time?” I asked, standing up. “I really should get going.”

“Sit down again, Eden,” said Ben. “I think you’re going to need the whole story.”

Ben made a fresh pot of coffee and ordered in pizza. The headache that had been sprouting deep within my skull for a couple of hours was now beginning to bloom. Privately I promised myself I would never again touch raspberry Juiska—or any alcohol—if the pain would go away now and let me think. Ryan poured me glasses of cold water and encouraged me to eat lots of pizza.

Ben began by going over the stuff that Ryan had already told me. Connor would discover a habitable planet on the twenty-third of June. Thirty-two years later Nathaniel Westland would discover a method of traveling great distances through space and time. One of the first places was Eden. But I knew this already. I knew from the pictures in Connor’s autobiography that it was a pink-rock planet with a lush jungle of green plants under a clear blue sky. By the
time he had reached the part about Earth’s habitats dying out and billions of people dying, the dusk was deepening from blue into purple and the shimmering moon was a hard, white scar in the sky.

“Fast forward to 2122,” said Ben, “and you get to our timeline. Do you know the population of Earth today?”

“Over six and a half billion?” I offered.

“That’s close enough. In our timeline there’s less than one billion. Some people think that’s a good thing. No overpopulation, more space and resources for everyone. Of course, they’re not the people who watched their own children dying from starvation.”

“It’s even more serious than the deaths of billions of people,” said Cassie. “The way things are going, many scientists believe the human race won’t survive another fifty years. So you see, we can’t fail.”

“So you had to travel back in time,” I said.

“Not everyone saw it that way,” said Ben. “Some people felt strongly that there is never a good enough reason for backward time travel.”

“But surely, if the human race is dying out, if the planet is dying, you have to? How could anyone oppose that?”

“It’s gone terribly wrong before,” said Ben. He hesitated. “Do you know why the dinosaurs died out sixty-five million years ago?”

“A meteor in Mexico?”

Ben laughed. “Is that the current theory?”

“I think so.”

“There will be many theories. But it was time travelers
from the late twenty-first century. One of the travelers had influenza. He was symptom-free when he left his timeline, but began to get sick after returning. The flu virus wiped out the dinosaurs.”

“I need a moment,” I said, pouring myself a mug of coffee. “You mean to tell me that there was no meteor?”

“There were several, actually,” said Ben. “But the dinosaurs were already dying out long before any meteors crashed to Earth.”

“The dinosaurs died of the flu,” I said to myself. I began to laugh. More in disbelief than anything.

“I know it’s a lot to grasp,” said Ben gently. “And because you’ve always been told something else, this must seem absurd. But it’s important for you to understand why our mission protocols are so strict. The extinction of the dinosaurs isn’t the only massive disaster caused by time travel.”

“What else?” I whispered.

“The Black Death, which wiped out one third of the population of Europe,” Ben continued.

“The bubonic plague,” I said.

Ben shook his head. “A different bacteria altogether. A bacteria that is well tolerated in humans in the twenty-second century, but was deadly in the fourteenth.”

“How many of these disastrous missions have taken place?” I asked.

“Those two are the worst,” said Ben. “They happened in the early days of four-dimensional travel. Very few time missions have been approved since then. But this one was allowed because so much is at stake.”

“I understand,” I said. “But if it’s so important that Connor doesn’t discover Eden, why not kill him? Surely that would be a safer bet.”

“We’re not assassins,” said Cassie. “We’re here to do a job, which is to prevent Connor from discovering Eden. We don’t have to kill him to do that.”

“But wouldn’t it be easier?”

“It would be easier,” said Ben. “And perhaps if Connor went on to become a nobody who did nothing with his life, our mission would be to eliminate him. But Connor’s descendants are very influential.” He glanced at Cassie. “They only approved this time mission provided Connor’s timeline was left largely intact.”

“I see.”

“The only person around here in danger of being killed is you,” said Cassie.

“Cassie,” said Ben. “Cut it out.”

“It’s true. She knows about the planet, she knows about time travel. If our cleaner gets wind of what she knows, she’s history. And Eden needs to know that.”

“Our cleaner isn’t going to know,” said Ryan. “Eden can keep a secret.”

“For the rest of her life?” said Cassie.

“Be quiet!” said Ben. He turned to me. “Did Ryan tell you about cleaners?”

I vaguely recalled him saying something about them all those weeks ago when I first found out he was from the future, but I didn’t think it would be a good idea to admit it. I shook my head.

“Every time mission has a cleaner,” said Ben. “Someone who arrives in the timeline before the rest of us and leaves after we have gone. They make sure we follow the mission directive and don’t stray from it. They also make sure we obey the Laws of Temporal Integrity. One of those laws is that we don’t alter the timeline by revealing the future to inhabitants of the past.”

“Which is exactly what Ryan has done,” said Cassie, her voice loud in frustration.

“If our cleaner discovered what you know, your life would be in danger,” said Ben.

“What’s so bad about me knowing your mission?” I asked. “I’m on your side.”

“The thing is,” said Ben, “you know there’s a planet out there somewhere that harbors life. You know that humans can live on it. You also know that one day it will be possible for humans to travel there. In many ways, even if we stop Connor from discovering the planet, our mission has failed because you know about Eden. You could choose to discover it. Or you could mention it to someone else in a throwaway remark one day.” He sighed. “I hope to God Ryan wasn’t foolish enough to tell you which star the planet orbits.”

“No. He didn’t,” I said quickly.

“That’s one blessing, I suppose,” said Ben. “But you still know about things that haven’t been invented yet and events that haven’t happened yet. That’s dangerous for the timeline.”

“But I won’t say anything.”

“I believe you. But our cleaner won’t.”

“What will happen to me if your cleaner does find out?”

“He’ll kill you,” said Ben.

My hand trembled as I poured myself another glass of water. “Why is it okay to kill me but not Connor?”

“As I said, Connor’s family in 2122 is powerful and influential. You, however, are just a regular person. There’s no one here to look out for you. Our cleaner would consider you collateral damage. He would take a risk that your death wouldn’t significantly affect the timeline. Not as much as your revealing the truth about the planet Eden.”

“What do I do?” I asked.

“We have two options,” said Ben. “The first is that we do nothing.”

“How is that an option?” asked Cassie, her voice rising again.

“Our options are few,” said Ben. “Doing nothing may be the best thing. Eden keeps her mouth shut for the next hundred years.”

“I can do that,” I said.

“And the second option?” asked Ryan.

“She comes with us when we leave. Any knowledge of the future comes with us. The cleaner won’t have anything to clean up.” Ben looked at me. “Travel to the future is perfectly legal. It doesn’t affect the timeline too much.”

“What about her descendants?” asked Ryan.

“Again, collateral damage,” said Ben. “A risk worth taking, given the circumstances.”

“Shouldn’t I be the one to decide if I go to the future?” I asked.

“No,” snapped Cassie.

“It will affect our fuel supplies,” said Ben. “We’re only equipped to transport three people. We might not be able to stabilize the portal for long enough. It’s not without risk.”

“So we put all our lives in danger,” said Cassie.

Ben nodded. “I’m leaning toward option one. Fewer lives in danger.”

“Just mine,” I whispered.

Ryan squeezed my hand. “You know how important it is never to reveal what you know. So long as you do that, everything will be okay.”

“So what happens now?” I asked.

Ben smiled at me. “We’ll finish our mission, save the planet, and go home. Everything will work out.”

“What happens if you fail?” I asked.

“We fail,” said Ben. “That’s it. End of story. This is our only chance to get it right.”

“Couldn’t you just come back and try again?”

Ben shook his head. “No. We distort four-dimensional space when we travel through time. It becomes dangerous and unstable. The more times you travel the same route, the more likely the portal will collapse in on itself.”

“Like a black hole,” Cassie explained.

“You don’t go back to the same place twice,” said Ben. “It would be like playing Russian roulette. You might get there safely. But probably not.”

“It’s down to us to get it right this time,” said Ryan.

* * *

Ryan drove me up the lane in silence. There was no parking space left at our usual hidden-away spot around the corner from my house, so he parked up at the end of my street. He switched off the ignition, unbuckled his seat belt, and turned to face me.

“I’m so sorry,” he said.

“It’s not your fault.”

“It’s entirely my fault. I should never have dragged you into my life.”

“I wasn’t exactly kicking and screaming.”

He laughed. “There was a bit of kicking and screaming when you thought I was using you to complete my mission. Actually, it was more like sulking and the silent treatment.”

I gave him a playful shove. “Well, I think this afternoon put any lingering doubts to rest,” I said, smiling at him. “It’s clear to me that Cassie and Ben wish you’d never met me.”

Ryan reached across for my hand. “I’m glad I’ve met you.”

I felt the now-familiar blush sweep across my cheeks. Except that now our time was running out, every moment of pleasure was accompanied by an aching anticipation of loss.

“Are we still going to spend the day together tomorrow?” I asked.

“Definitely. Come down to the farmhouse at noon and I’ll make lunch.”

He was still holding my hand, still looking deep into my eyes. Feeling self-conscious suddenly, I lowered my eyes and turned toward the door.

“Oh, crap,” I said, recognizing the couple ambling along
the sidewalk hand in hand. Miranda and Travis. They hadn’t seen us yet.

And then she locked eyes with me.

“Incoming,” I said.

Ryan squeezed my hand and then released it. “It can’t be worse than the Cassie and Ben interrogation.”

“Miranda does guilt really well,” I replied, watching her slow march toward me.

“Shall I speak to her?” he whispered.

I shook my head. The last thing I needed was an audience when Miranda tore me to shreds. “It’s okay. I’d prefer to face this one alone.”

“How gallant of him,” Miranda said stonily as Ryan pulled away from the curb.

“He offered to stay,” I said, rising to his defense. “I told him to leave.”

“Wise advice,” she said. “If I get my hands on that boy …”

“Miranda,” I began.

“Home!” she said. “I’m not having this conversation out on the street.”

We walked in silence down the street to the house. Travis stood by the front door holding a carrier bag of beer from the corner shop. He gave me a sympathetic shrug behind her back.

Miranda slammed the front door and marched into the kitchen. “I don’t even know how to begin,” she said.