Time Salvager (Time Salvager #1)(122)

In a split second, James powered up whatever remained of his exo’s power and launched himself straight down on top of Geneese’s head. He missed his head, but at this range and power, it didn’t matter. The focused energy of a single thrust blew through Geneese’s shield and sliced him in half. Geneese only had a moment to look surprised, then he keeled over.

As a safety precaution, James linked his coils around Geneese’s bands and broke them. It was too bad he couldn’t procure the auditor bands for himself. Auditor bands were so much more powerful and had a much larger energy level reserve, but the same security precautions that applied to his chronmen bands applied to auditor bands as well. Once Geneese died, those bands were worthless.

James checked Geneese’s body for any other useful items and prepared to finish off the rest of his stalkers. Levin was going to fly into a rage when he realized that James had killed an auditor.

James’s levels were now under 40 percent. The rest of the monitors he would have to defeat without wasting any more power. He had a feeling he’d need as many levels as possible once he got back to Elise. James crept out of the room and bided his time to set up his next trap.





FORTY-SIX

STALKED

Elise huddled in a fetal position in the corner of the small, half-collapsed closet. The jerk was taunting her. Elise didn’t know if this Shizzu guy was toying with her or not. His voice came from all directions. One moment, it seemed to be coming from down the hall, the next, close by in the room beyond her. Then it would fade again. Twice, she saw his shadow pass by the small opening of her closet, and each time her heart beat against her chest so hard she thought he could hear it.

When his voice came close, she’d begin to sweat, her hands would shake, and it would take all of her focus to stay still. When his voice was far away, she had to fight down the urge to run out of the closet and make a break for the adjacent tower. Neither of these seemed like a good idea.

She wished James were here. She heard his voice briefly when he got to the battle. At first, she thought she had hallucinated it, that it was wishful thinking. Then, when she heard his words, she realized he couldn’t just find her like he usually did. He had warned her and Grace to stay silent because anything they said through their comm bands could be tracked. Not being able to reach out to him made the situation even more difficult, since there was nothing she could do to bring him to her. He had said in that message to use the emergency channel as a last resort. What emergency channel? She felt more alone than ever.

“You know, little mouse,” Shizzu said, “I know more about you than you think. You see, we’ve met. I remember you. We’ve spoken before.”

How could that be possible? Elise didn’t know what the hell this guy was talking about. What did he mean they’d met before? There was no way they could have met before unless he was one of those two *s who tried to grab her at that hotel right before James saved her. It wasn’t as if she’d even seen their faces. They’d had those cones on their heads, after all.

Had he been hiding as one of the Elfreth? She gave a start; maybe he was a time traveler as well. James did tell her that there were others involved in Nutris’s destruction. Then it hit her; maybe he was the guy who planted the bomb that destroyed Nutris!

Elise bit her lip as she quivered in rage. This was the guy responsible for all her friends’ and colleagues’ deaths. Worst of all, if it wasn’t for him, the Nutris Platform team might have been able to cure the Earth Plague. She fought back the urge to stalk this jerk and shoot him in the face. Chances were, if he was anything like James, he would have that stupid force field around him that made him invincible. Or worse, with her terrible aim, unless he was in point-blank range, she would miss by five body lengths, and the only thing she’d accomplish would be giving away her location.

Be smart, girl, she thought to herself. She settled down and waited.

Shizzu’s footsteps and voice faded, and after a while, Elise lost track of the time. The sun was setting and it was getting chilly. The evening breeze was wont to blow through the many openings of the building. She had turned off her atmos as soon as this Shizzu guy started stalking her. She wasn’t sure if he was able to track her through her band use, so she was afraid to turn any of them on.

As the minutes passed, she became restless. It had been a while since she had last heard anything other than the high-pitched whistle of the gray winds that blew through the corridors. There were still sounds of fighting off in the distance, punctuated by occasional explosions and screams, but little else.

A nearby crash broke the stillness. Elise froze. There was another crash, this time accompanied by the groan of metal and the sound of drizzling debris. Then another. The far wall of the room Elise was hiding in collapsed, kicking up a swirl of dust. Elise huddled into a ball and held her scream inside. This guy must be punching holes into walls and leveling the floors in order to flush her out. Elise’s first instinct was to flee the room and make for the bridge. But then she would fall right into this Shizzu’s hands. If she stayed, she risked being discovered or shot. There weren’t any good options. The crashes continued.

Elise decided then that she wasn’t going to stay there until he found her. She’d rather run and have a chance of escape than stay in place for him to scoop her up. Crawling one slow limb at a time, Elise inched out of her hiding spot and got her bearings. The last orange hue of the sky bathed the entire floor, and only a thin slice of the sun was left as it sunk into the horizon. Shadows from every corner grew by the second.