The Bureau of Time (15 page)

“I am not doubting you, Timewalker Wright,” Anderson said. His hands moved in placating gesture, but his voice had a sharp edge to it, and he used her title like a weapon. “But
officially
speaking, we’re considering this a Temporal anomaly. We can’t find a way to replicate the environment, and until then – well, it’s just another unexplained mystery.”

That’s not good enough
. She bit her lip, silencing the retort. At the same time, her Affinity pricked sharply, distracting her. Detecting changes in Temporal Energy was becoming easier; she could sense Shaun coming toward her, his signature burning like a wildfire in her mind.

“The second reason I brought you in here,” Anderson continued, “was to discuss something with you and Timewalker Briars. But first, I wanted to say something to you alone.”

She realized she was fidgeting with her hands, picking at her nails – a nervous habit her mother chided her about constantly. She bounced her knees up and down instead.

“You haven’t been here long,” the Director started, “I know that, believe me. In a perfect world, I would have preferred for you to stay here for several months, complete your physical training, have a dozen more field deployments before something like
this.
”

There was something heavy and tangible in his voice that filled her with sudden dread. Shaun came closer in her mind, and she realized how badly she wanted him beside her. His presence calmed her in a way that defied logic or explanation.

In this together. That’s what he said. No matter what happens, we can always rely on each other.

“Eaglepoint has presented me with some very concerning data. Temporal Spikes are occurring more regularly along the eastern seaboard. They are increasingly more random, unpredictable and with shorter Temporal Spikes than we would like. The last three Spikes alone – including the one you were deployed to – weren’t even targeting Timewalkers. The Adjusters are more active, but their motives less clear.”

Cassie wanted to ask,
What’s this have to do with me?,
but she couldn’t form the words.

“I know we – I, the Bureau – are asking a lot of you. We wouldn’t do this if we had any other options, but there comes a time, when you’re in a position like mine, when you have people higher up the chain asking questions you can’t answer. You understand, right?”

She nodded like she did.

“I’m getting calls from the White House daily,” Anderson added, glancing at the phone on his desk. “The Bureau needs to do something drastic, something we haven’t done before. It won’t work without you, Cassie.”

There it was, the reason for the summons. A heavy weight was pressing against her chest, restricting her lungs, shortening her breaths.

“You’re a smart girl. I won’t make promises I can’t keep. This is risky, and we might not be able to protect you. But if this
works,
we could be saving dozens of lives – lives of Timewalkers like yourself. And we could potentially put an end to this war against the Adjusters. Wouldn’t you want that? To help
finish
this, once and for all?”

Her mind said
no
, it screamed
self-protection
, a base instinct that wanted her to crawl into a dark space and hide from the world. But her heart – not the organ, but the essence of who she
really
was – said
yes;
it was what kept her going every day, the part that had pushed her through every challenge and hurdle so far.

I can’t run from this. I can’t run from who I am.

“Yes,” she said. It sounded like the words were coming from another person, not her. “Of course I would.”

Anderson nodded, satisfied. He pressed a button on his desk. “Lenore, send Timewalker Briars in.”

Cassie’s Affinity flared even brighter, and she turned to see Shaun walk into the room. He snapped to attention like the perfect soldier, only sitting down when Anderson told him, “At ease, Timewalker.”

Shaun looked at Cassie and gave her a confident smile that she couldn’t return.

“I wanted to tell you two about this before anybody else,” Anderson began, his voice deep and commanding. “Soon the entire Bureau will know, and there will be a lot of pressure on you. I know you can handle that pressure. I have faith in you.”

Cassie was numb. She was just waiting for the moment when her world would shatter – she could feel it coming, she could sense it in Anderson’s tone, as though the universe itself was preparing for this moment.

“The Bureau needs a new source of intelligence.”

Anderson cleared his throat, and said simply,

“We plan to capture an Adjuster. And we plan to use you two as bait.”

THE PREPARATION

A moment stretched into a minute, and neither of the Timewalkers spoke.

Then they both exploded, arguments overlapping each other while Director Anderson stared at them both, his face an emotionless mask.

“This is
crazy—
”

“—too dangerous, what if they—”

“—expect the rest of Clockwork to go along with—”

“—haven’t trained for something like—”

“—we could
die out there!
” Shaun bellowed, his voice rising above Cassie’s. He stood, fuming. He paced back and forth around the office, trying to expel his anger – and realized it wasn’t entirely anger, or shock, but mostly
fear.

“Timewalker Briars,” Anderson said, his tone curt. Shaun turned back to look at the Director. Cassie sat between them, her face paler than usual, her knees bouncing up and down.

“You swore to give your life in service to this agency,” Anderson rumbled. “You took the same oath we all did. In order to protect your country, and your fellow Timewalkers – wherever they may be – we need to outmaneuver the Adjusters. This is how we will do it.”

“That’s bullshit,” Shaun spat. Cassie gave a startled gasp, and Anderson’s expression turned to stone.

“Watch your tone,
soldier.
”

“That’s bullshit,
sir.
There
has
to be other things we can do before we try and capture one of those monsters.”

“You think we haven’t tried that already?” A new voice said.

Shaun spun around to see General Lehmann enter. The older man’s presence filled the room, hushing the argument. His hair looked grayer than ever, and he crossed the office slowly, as though all those epaulets weighed him down.

“General!” Shaun snapped out a salute. Of all the Bureau’s Directors, Shaun respected Lehmann the most. He could
feel
the years of combat experience rippling off the General’s body. He was a true soldier, a man who had served his country in his youth, and in his older years, was protecting his country against a threat nobody had seen before.

“At ease, Briars,” Lehmann said, waving his hand. He ambled over to the spare chair and sat down, looking at Shaun from beneath wiry eyebrows. “I understand this must be difficult to accept. You’re right, solider, it’s incredibly risky.”

Anderson made a disagreeable grunt and opened his mouth to speak – but fell short at a piercing glare from Lehmann. Shaun turned a snort of laughter into a choking cough.

“My point is,” Lehmann continued, “that we’ve tried everything we can think of. Eaglepoint Station has been monitoring Adjuster activity for over twenty-five years, and we still can’t accurately predict when and where Adjusters will appear. We have no way of tracking or identifying Timewalkers – they don’t show up on our radar until they use their powers, and by then, it’s far too late. Most of the time, we’re just hoping to get there before the enemy does.”

“How do we even
capture
something like an Adjuster?” Shaun said, desperately trying to forestall the inevitable.

Anderson hesitated, sharing a quick look with Lehmann before speaking. “This plan has been
discussed
before. Down in Sector 9, we already have a cell prepared.”

A shiver went down Shaun’s spine, and his mouth became dry. “You can’t be serious. I thought Sector 9 was sealed off years ago.”

“What’s Sector 9?” Cassie asked, her voice small.

“It’s our Security division,” Lehmann answered. “We haven’t had reason to use it in a long time. Originally, the agency had thought we might need to contain Temporal-capable beings – rogue Timewalkers, even Adjusters.”

“We’re re-activating that division,” Anderson said, as though he felt obligated to take control of the conversation again. “Our engineers have modified ordinary handcuffs to produce a strong electromagnetic field, the same way that our fence does. Clip those onto an Adjuster, and in theory, they shouldn’t be able to use their powers.”

“In
theory?
” Shaun growled. “So, you haven’t tested it?”

“Do you see an Adjuster around here to test it on?” Lehmann asked, glaring at Shaun. “Listen, Timewalker, there is no argument here, no discussion. Temporal Operations
will
capture an Adjuster, and you
will
be tasked on that mission.”

“As bait? We just – just stand out in the open somewhere, and hope an Adjuster doesn’t teleport behind us and slit our throats?”

“You’ll be protected at all times. We’ll have an eye in the sky, and snipers too.”

“I don’t like it,” Shaun said, shaking his head. “Too much could go wrong. Look at what happened at the factory – that level of Temporal Energy, coupled with Adjuster involvement? God knows what could happen.”

“Timewalker Wright, you’ve been quiet through all of this,” Anderson prompted. “Don’t you have anything to say?”

Cassie looked up from her lap, as though suddenly realizing there were three other people in the room. All eyes turned toward her, and a blush crept from her neck onto her cheeks. She fidgeted nervously, her hands squirming. Despite everything, Shaun couldn’t help but gaze at a lock of fiery hair that had fallen into the crook of her neck.

“I – I don’t know,” she said, her voice barely above whisper. She cleared her throat and said, slightly louder, “I trust the Bureau.”

Shaun lowered his eyes, disappointed in her.
She’s wrong. The Bureau doesn’t have a clue. They send us in blind, every time, and hope for the best. When does it end? With another Hayden?

“It’s decided then,” Lehmann said, even though the mission had never been in doubt. He stood, straightening his immaculately pressed fatigues. He glanced at the Timewalkers in turn. “Wright, Briars, there will be a briefing this afternoon. You don’t speak a word of this until then, understand? The operation goes ahead tomorrow.”

Tomorrow. Not even a full day to prepare.
Shaun took a closer look at Lehmann, and noticed the shadows hanging under the General’s eyes, the sallow color of his cheeks, the stress lines around his mouth.
They know something we don’t,
he realized.
They’re terrified of the Adjusters, of losing this battle.

Shaun managed a salute as Lehmann left the room.

“There’s absolutely nothing to worry about,” Anderson lied, finally standing from his chair. “Timewalkers, if you’ll excuse me – I have other matters to attend to.”

Go away now, little children.
Shaun repressed another snide comment. He held a hand out for Cassie. “Come on.”

Her hand was sweaty, but he gripped it tightly anyway. She walked unsteadily, her head down, following him out of the Director’s office and back to the main section of the base. Neither spoke – there was nothing to say. They were both frightened, forced into a life-or-death situation. Shaun saw a few questioning glances sent his way and quickly dropped Cassie’s hand.

Agent Hunt found them both, somewhere near the firing ranges.

“There you are!” she huffed. “I heard the Director wanted to see you?”

Shaun remembered Lehmann’s warning. “It was nothing,” he lied. Cassie wore her emotions more openly, her bottom lip trembling. He felt something come loose inside of him, and all he wanted to do was wrap her in a warm embrace, and tell her everything would be fine. The thought made his stomach churn, but not from the fear he had become accustomed to.

“Well,” the Agent said slowly, “the General himself ordered me to brief Cassie on non-lethal disarmament techniques.” She hesitated. “That’s not something we would teach a recruit so early on. Is something happening that I should know about?”

“You’ll find out soon enough,” Cassie said, her voice a dull echo. Her hand found Shaun’s again and he squeezed it without hesitation.

“I guess I’ll see you later,” she told Shaun. He offered a thin smile that turned into a pained grimace. Her hand slipped from his grasp.

He watched her walk away with Agent Hunt until they had rounded the corner and vanished from sight.

*     *     *

Operations Room One was crowded to capacity and beyond.

It seemed like the entire Temporal Operations division had been crammed into the conference room, every available seat taken until agents and operators were forced to line up along the walls. The room was darkened and a low rumble of chatter filled the air – four people in the room knew what was about to be announced, while the rest could only speculate.

Rumors circled around the room like the cafeteria of a middle-grade school, ranging from the General retiring – “he’s getting old, surely it’s time to move on?” – to a new Timewalker discovered – “so close to the last one?” – and an even more persistent rumor about a new ‘mystery facility’ that Blackforest had discovered up in Wisconsin.

Shaun ignored the idle conversation, his attention focused on the lectern in front of the projector screen. The Bureau’s seal shone brightly on the screen – an eagle in mid-flight, an hourglass caught in its talons.

All five of the Bureau’s directors were present, standing just off-stage. Director Anderson outranked them all, but he was conspicuously silent; General Lehmann was the most vocal, arguing intensely with Director Patricia Randall of Intelligence and Monitoring. The elusive Director Leonie Sullivan, who ran the Bureau’s Support and Containment Division, chatted animatedly with Doctor Timothy Pratchett – the director of Science and Research.

The room fell quiet when Anderson stepped behind the lectern. He tapped the microphone twice, then cleared his throat and spoke.