Time Salvager (Time Salvager #1)(126)

He saw his three hallucinations off to his right stop what they were doing and watch the events in the room unfold. They were no longer jovial as their eyes stayed fixed on Levin. Little Sasha walked right up next to him and tugged on his arm.

“What are you looking at?” said Levin.

I don’t like him at all, Sasha said, tugging again.

“Let’s deal, Levin. Mistakes were made,” said James, eyes focusing back on the auditor. “I’ll concede that I’ve broken the Time Laws. I’ll give myself up, but everyone around me is innocent. Let them go.”

Levin chuckled with no trace of humor in his voice. “You don’t get to negotiate, James. We’re way past that. You need to hand over the woman as well.”

“They were wrong,” James said. “ChronoCom. The Vallis Bouvard Disaster. It’s all a lie. There are no consequences for bringing someone back. I didn’t hurt the chronostream. The time line wasn’t affected.”

“Irrelevant. You broke the most important Time Law.”

“Don’t you get it? We’ve lost. Look around you! In the hundred and fifty years since ChronoCom has been around, what have we accomplished? How have we saved humanity? Now, we have a real chance to fix things.”

“You brought someone back from the past. There is nothing more forbidden.”

“Listen, the scientist I brought from the past … she can help,” pleaded James.

“You don’t get to choose who to save and who to bring back!” roared Levin, fists clenched as he took several steps forward. “We don’t make those decisions. You’re not a god.” He took a step forward. “Now, drop your bands and come with me.”

James had to keep Levin talking as long as possible. Elise had to realize that it was now time to abandon him. As a last resort, he dropped his hands. “We both know I can’t beat you.”

“So unlink all your bands and surrender. Explain your case before a tribunal.”

James sneaked a look to his left again. She was still there. Damn girl. Now he had little choice. “I won’t,” he said, resigned. He powered on his exo.

“Don’t throw your life away like this.” Levin’s exo pulsated and expanded. “You won’t stand a chance. I’m not Geneese or Shizzu.”

“I have to.” James gritted his teeth.

He charged, focusing his levels at a central point in Levin’s shield. If James had to die for Elise to realize that it was time to abandon him, then so be it.

Or maybe James would get lucky. Perhaps Levin’s exo was drained from the battle. His left arm was in a cast, after all. Maybe James had a chance. In any case, it was too late to second-guess his actions.

The first thing James noticed when his exo smashed into Levin’s was that the auditor’s exo was near full power. James’s already wavering and weakened shield was a shade of the auditor’s. He bounced off Levin’s exo and crashed into the wall.

James picked himself up off the ground and felt a force smack him from the side, this time throwing him through the far wall. He got up and extended eight kinetic coils, the most his exo could create in its current state. He attacked, weaving his coils back and forth, through the ground, and in random waves designed to throw off defending chronmen.

Levin wasn’t fooled in the slightest as he countered with sixteen of his own coils, tying up James’s strands and striking him with the others. James felt his exo crack as he flew backward through a windowpane and fell off the side of the building. He closed his eyes and accepted his fate. He didn’t have the levels to fly anymore. Falling to his death was as good a way to go as any.

Suddenly, he stopped in midair and was pulled back to where Levin was standing. “You don’t escape justice that easily,” he said, wrapping James up and holding him captive. The bastard had even robbed him of a good death.

“Can you just cut it out with this talk of justice,” James said, resigned. He snuck a peek at Elise’s hiding place; the foolish girl hadn’t moved. “Do you even know what your precious ChronoCom has done? We’ve been sold out, Levin. Our past is for sale to the highest bidder. This agency you cherish so much is just a figment of your imagination.”

To his surprise, Levin pursed his lips and nodded. “I’m aware, and my decisions will have consequences that I will pay once I bring you in. However, whatever taint the agency now has in its heart, it doesn’t change the right thing to do; in this case, it’s to bring you in.”

The auditor actually seemed remorseful, his usual stoic facade cracking as if he had his own demons to face. James grunted; he knew better. Levin wasn’t the type of person to second-guess himself. However, the pain on his face was unmistakable. It was the same James had felt every day since Sasha had disappeared.

Then he realized: Levin knew about ChronoCom breaking the Time Laws. He knew that the agency he held in such high regard was nothing but a sham. It was eating him up inside, but he still obeyed their orders.

“You’re a f*cking hypocrite!” James spat.

Levin floated James close. “I assure you; I derive no pleasure from taking you in. We used to be friends, James, and I mourn that loss. You used to like my rigid morality.”

“Yeah, until you stabbed our friend in the back.”

“Obviously, you don’t know what rigid means. No matter—”