Time Salvager (Time Salvager #1)(112)

“Are you going to spend the entire day thinking to yourself?” Elise’s voice asked somewhere off to his left.

James opened one eye, then the other. He was immediately struck by the brilliant glow of the sun on this impossibly clear blue morning. He shielded his eyes with his hand and blinked away the stars exploding all around him. Then he turned to the side and saw Elise, sporting that control suit she wore the day they first met, which split apart down the front, exposing half her naked body underneath.

She poked him playfully. “About time you got up. Come on; there’s a lot to do before it happens. We’d better get going.”

She stood up and walked away, looking back once seductively, urging him to follow. By the time he picked himself off the ground, she was already an impossible hundred meters away, standing at the top of the stairs leading to the main section of a glistening platform, backgrounded by silver buildings rising up into the sky. She beckoned him again.

James’s eyes followed the tallest spire until it seemed to touch Luna. He was on the Nutris Platform, and he must be back to 2097, or at least a time before the platform exploded. But even then, he didn’t remember the platform glistening as it was right now. He looked over to the water below. Visibility was at least sixty meters. Schools of fish swam in circles below him as if trying to cause a water funnel right below where he lay.

Wasn’t he supposed to be wading through an ocean of shit right now…? Of course. He was in a dream. A blissful three-day dream in paradise alone with Elise. Part of him hoped the cryo band malfunctioned and he never woke up. James couldn’t think of a better way to die.

Not quite alone, pet. Grace smiled, sitting up on his other side.

James scowled.

Assuming this was a dream—James wasn’t sure yet—if Grace was here, that would mean there might be more ghosts here. He looked up at the top of the stairs, where Elise was still waving.

You going to keep her waiting much longer? Grace said. “She might decide that you’re not worth it. After all, you’re just a pitiful wandering soul; why would she tolerate having you around? You and that false sense of control.

James stood up and heard an “ahem” and saw Grace, hand raised, looking expectantly at him. He helped her up and, together, they walked down the path toward the stairs, with her draped over his arm.

“What do you mean, I have a false sense control?” he asked. “Of course I’m in control. I’m…”

Alive? The Nazi soldier appeared on his other side, chuckling. Haven’t you learned anything yet?

He has a point, Grace said, leaning into him.

The three of them walked up the stairs to where Elise waited. She nudged in between the Nazi soldier and James and took his other arm. Together, they continued down the impossibly bright pathway toward the heart of Nutris. The platform was quiet, without any other signs of life nearby. Not even birds dotted the sky. James remembered quite a few floating on the winds while he was there. The only thing he could hear now were the waves splashing against the platform’s supports.

They turned the corner and ran into a group of people huddled next to a building. James remembered some of the faces from his dreams; a building had collapsed on them. He wanted to apologize, to say sorry for not doing more, but they didn’t acknowledge him..

He turned to Elise. “Can they see us? Are we invisible?”

“They’re dead,” she said. “They have no choices.”

“I don’t understand,” James said.

You’re replaying what’s already happened, pet, Grace murmured, stroking him on the arm. What is it you’re so fond of saying? ‘Their story’s been told. The past is already dead’?

“It’s different here,” he said.

How?

James didn’t know how to answer that. Their small group continued on, passing through a pristine sector of the platform, turning down a ramp on the left and continuing along the water’s edge. James wasn’t sure who was driving this train, but obviously someone here was leading. Just then, he realized that they were retracing his path from the morning of the disaster.

He looked to his left, where another path led down to where the first mark was located, expecting to see the entrance tunnel that led to the underwater lab. Instead, he saw a pile of floating wreckage marring otherwise perfectly blue waters.

“What happened?” he said. “Why is it destroyed here but not anywhere else on the platform?”

Elise frowned. “The subparticle filterer must not be here. I wonder where it went.”

Haven’t you learned anything yet? Grace said.

The odd group continued retracing James’s path. More and more of the poor souls he had encountered before appeared along the way. Most just stood around chatting with each other, completely ignoring James’s group. He had an urge to wave his hand in front of their faces or bump them, just to see how they’d react.

They passed by the building where the bacterial sequencer had been stored. Again, like the first mark, the building was leveled, though all the other buildings around it looked shiny and new. Along the way, he ran into several members of the tribe. Qawol, his arms around Franwil’s waist, waved and beckoned him to join them. Always shy Sammuia, hiding behind Rima, peeked at him over her shoulder.

“Why are you all here?” James asked. “You don’t belong here. None of you do.”