Time Salvager (Time Salvager #1)(33)

“I’m sorry,” said James as he swung an arm, lashing out with a kinetic coil that struck the scientist in the stomach and threw her against the wall. The first scientist screamed and scrambled toward the exit. James let him go. There wasn’t anywhere to run. He closed the loop on the netherstore and made his way toward the Head Repository. The last one was going to be tricky. It was located near Sector Five, and there were bound to be crowds of people in the area.

He was running out of time. James bulldozed through the crowds, knocking anyone in his way off their feet. Between the drain on his netherstore and the platform sinking much faster than anticipated, his window of opportunity was shrinking rapidly.

There was also the matter of the chronostream residue from last night. It hadn’t been eight hours since he had detected it. It wasn’t a strong tear, but it could still hamper his escape jump. Standard protocol on a detected tear was to clear the tear by any means possible. In other words, abort the mission and leave the area or wait out the tear. But the promise of a golden ticket pushed both James and Smitt on. Right now, James had to be extra careful. He was operating without the safety net of a return jump.

James reached the Head Repository and used Elise’s badge to get inside. His mind drifted to her. She was no doubt with the rest of the hopeless masses trying to get on a transport. He hoped she died quickly and without pain. The building was unexpectedly full for a place that was about to sink into the ocean. Men and women ran back and forth, frantically trying to stem the damage and coordinate emergency services. Others shouted into communication arrays, desperately calling for help.

James had to credit them for their dedication to their work. They were still trying to save the platform. Most ignored him as he strolled down to the data center on the lower level. Here were where the critical central databases and control mechanisms for the entire facility were stored.

Elise’s access got him inside without any problems. The systems were still online, running on auxiliary power as they tried to upload as much of the databases as possible. James knew that the high radiation would corrupt the majority of the uploads, but the system would stay plugged in until the very last second.

He studied the blinking cores and weighed his options. He wasn’t sure if unplugging the systems now would cause a time line ripple, but he didn’t have much of a choice. He couldn’t afford to wait. If the sector fell into the ocean right now, he could die with it. He ripped the systems apart and moved them into the netherstore. It was near capacity and barely holding the containment field in place.

There was a loud squeal of bending metal and then the room tilted violently. James kept his balance and focused on the task at hand. He floated the last few components that made up the core system into the netherstore. A woman’s sharp gasp broke his concentration. James turned around, a coil ready to lash out. He saw Elise hanging on to the railings, staring at him with her hand over her mouth.

“I saw you walk into the Head…,” she stammered, her voice hoarse. “What are you doing?”

James froze and dissolved the coil. The smartest thing to do would be to kill her now. He had very little time left to finish the job as it was. The last thing he needed was a distraction. The exo around his hands lit up again. He looked into her terrified face. It was the same look he’d seen a hundred times before. She should be just another in a crowd of ghosts. But she wasn’t.

“You have to go,” he said. “Get to the transports.”

“You just blinked my life’s work into nothing,” she said. “How did you do that?”

“Go!” He couldn’t stand seeing her any longer. He didn’t need another ghost haunting his life.

“Not without the core!”

“This place is sinking into the ocean. Just go!”

Elise shook her head. “Security thinks this sector’s foundations will hold. This project is too important.”

If only she knew how wrong she was. He heard more grinding and another whine beneath his feet as the weakened plates and beams that held up the platform fragmented. The slant of the floor below his feet grew steeper. He had seconds left to finish this job. He moved the last few systems into the netherstore and tied it shut.

“Where did the core go?” she asked again, planting her foot on the floor and crossing her arms. “Answer me!”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about. You need to—”

The room shook violently, and then gravity abandoned them. Suddenly, they were in free fall. James powered on his exo and braced for the impact. He looked over at Elise, clinging to the railing for dear life. When the tower hit the ocean in a few seconds, she would die. The impact from falling across the room to the opposite wall would kill her. Or she would get impaled by the many jagged metal objects shifting in the room. Or if she somehow miraculously survived all those ways to die, she’d drown in the rising water. There were so many ways to snuff out her life.

Elise screamed, arms flailing as she lost her grip on the railing. She plummeted past him across the room. He gritted his teeth, caught her with a kinetic coil, and enveloped the shield around her. Half a second later, the tower struck the ocean. The entire room seemed to cave on top of them, burying them under an avalanche of electronics, steel, and concrete. Ten tons of debris stood between them and the exit. Then the ocean began to seep in. James prepared to jump. He reluctantly let go of her arm.