Time Salvager (Time Salvager #1)(133)
“I have to go.” Sasha tried to walk in between them down the hall. Maybe they’d just let her go and pretend she wasn’t here.
The second one blocked her path with his beefy arm and put his hand on her shoulder. “Can’t let you go off on your own, girl,” he said. “Why don’t you come with us? You can meet some girls your age.”
Sasha tried to wriggle away, but the man’s grip tightened. She tried to cry out, but he put his other hand over her mouth.
“Now, now,” he cooed. “Let’s just take it easy. This won’t last too long, knowing Pael over there. I might be a little longer.”
“Hey, f*ck you, Bach,” the first replied.
The one known as Bach grinned. “Come on. This one likes to squirm. Go up front and watch the path for the guards.”
There was a yellow flash of light and Sasha didn’t know what happened, just that the man with the smelly hand covering her mouth suddenly flew through the air and slammed into the wall. The other man, mouth open and eyes wide, was staring at something behind her. He tried to take off in the opposite direction.
He fell forward and then started sliding toward her. He screamed as he clawed at the grating, his legs and hands flailing. He flipped over onto his back and began to blubber for mercy. Something covered Sasha’s mouth and eyes so she couldn’t see anything. There was a loud thunk and then everything became quiet.
The veil lifted over her eyes and she saw both men lying at her feet.
“Are they dead?” she asked, her body trembling.
“No,” a voice behind her replied. “Only sleeping. They will wake soon enough with very bad headaches.”
Sasha turned to see a glowing man standing next to her, sort of like one of those old pictures that Momma used to bow and make wishes to. Sasha remembered asking Momma what she was doing. Momma said she was praying to Yahweh to take them away from this place. Sasha had spent many days praying like Momma did when she and James first came to Mnemosyne Station a little over a year ago, but no one ever took them away. She hated it here. The Yahweh never came. Or maybe he was just late. She looked down at the floor and twisted her big toe back and forth on the metal grating, shyly sneaking a peek up at the man. He was so bright. Most of the station was always so scary-dark.
The man knelt in front of her and extended his hands palms up. “Hello, Sasha,” he said in a soothing voice.
“You know my name,” she whispered, her heart welling in her chest. No one on the station knew her name except for James.
The glowing man nodded, his voice cracking. He must be sick, because he was sniffling. “I know a lot about you. I’ve been missing you for a long time. Will you take my hand? I want to take you away to a better place.”
Sasha hesitated. This man seemed nice, and he kind of looked like that man in Momma’s picture that she liked to look at a lot. James liked to stare at that picture now. “Are you my papa?” she asked.
The glowing man smiled. “No, I’m not. No one can replace your father. I miss him, too.”
Sasha looked at the bodies of the two bad men who had tried to take her, and then back at the glowing man. He knew her name, and he had saved her from these bad men. The glowing man couldn’t be bad then.
She took his hand. The yellow glow seemed to wrap around her, tickling her nose and skin, and she felt all warm. She hadn’t felt this nice since Momma was around. The hallway around her began to light up and everything in sight turned yellow. Just before everything became too bright, Sasha saw James run to the far end of the hallway, screaming her name over and over again.
“I’m here!” she yelled, extending her hand toward him. “James!”
Then her stomach felt funny and everything went dark.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Wesley Chu is the bestselling author of The Lives of Tao and two-time finalist for the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. You can sign up for email updates here.