Time Salvager (Time Salvager #1)(57)

Elise looked skeptical. “Really? You want me to mentally call each of these hunks of metal by their name and think at them? This is ridiculous.”

“Close your eyes,” he said and touched the bands one at a time again. “Rad band, comm band, atmos, wrist beam. Identify. Now think at them.”

Fidgeting, and feeling stupid, Elise obliged him and closed her eyes. “Okay. Now what?”

“Think at them to close.”

Elise did so, and squawked in surprise when all the bands tightened around her wrist. She lifted her arms and gaped at how snugly each band fit, as if it were made for her wrists.

“Amazing,” she murmured.

A small smile escaped James’s somber exterior, and he gave her an encouraging pat on the shoulder. “Well done. Which one is the rad band?”

Elise pointed at it.

He nodded. “Think at it: ‘Activate full spectrum.’”

She closed her eyes again. A moment later, she knew the rad band was powered on. She couldn’t explain exactly how she knew, just that it was. She opened her eyes again and nodded.

“Keep that on at all times unless I tell you otherwise. The rad band will protect you from most of the radiation and toxins in the air. Now, do the same for the atmos. Think at it: ‘Activate all-coverage twenty-six Celsius.’”

She did, and the air around her warmed up immediately; she no longer felt a breeze. She inhaled and noticed that the air felt clearer. She looked down at these little magic bands. “This is incredible.” She sniffed the air. “It still smells like crap. Does the band work on scent?”

James nodded. “It will only filter out identified toxic substances. There are settings to filter out all smells if you wish. We can go over its other settings later. For now, let’s move on to the wrist beam.”

They spent the next few hours practicing shooting her wrist beam. Elise hated to admit it, but she was having fun with these new toys, especially the wrist beam. In a way, she felt like one of those superheroes she used to read about in the digital comics as a kid. Sure, she was an awful shot and would fail to discharge the weapon more often than not, but that just took practice, right?

She was surprised to discover that James was actually a very good teacher. He was patient and gentle, but at the same time methodical, making sure she knew every step of a lesson before moving on. By the time the sun had climbed up the sky and its rays were coming in through the window openings, she felt comfortable enough with her new bands to practice on her own.

“That’s enough for now,” he said as she fired off her twentieth round of groupings at the concrete wall on the other end of the room. “Let’s move on to the comm band.”

Elise lifted her right arm up and stared at it. She didn’t have to look at it in order to turn it on, but it helped focus her thoughts. Again, she got the feeling that the thing was on. She wasn’t sure how; she just knew.

“Good,” James said. “I want you to focus on frequency channel E9V1A55. It’s a subchannel I created for personal use. You should be able to communicate with me through it.”

She did so and again, felt nothing, but somehow knew it was open. “Hello?” she said. “Anyone there? The sixth sick sheik’s sixth—”

“Close down the channel! Close it down!” James suddenly barked in a very loud voice.

Startled, Elise complied, shutting down the entire band. “What happened? What did I do wrong?”

Looking worried, James scanned the room and then glanced out the window. “I need to check something,” he said. “Why don’t you keep shooting at those targets? I’ll be back soon.

Then, without a word, he leaped into the air as if he were Superman and disappeared into the wreckage of what was once Boston, leaving Elise to wonder what in Gaia just happened.





TWENTY-ONE

COMPROMISES

Panic seized James as he hurtled across the half-submerged buildings to get as far away from Elise as possible, only stopping once he got to the far northeastern edge, where the ocean met the city. It took him several leaps across the rooftops of these ruins, but he soon reached the last building still standing against the ocean’s constantly crashing waves. He walked to the edge and stared at the violent dark brown ocean swirling beneath him. He should be far enough from her now.

He lashed out at the source of his anxiety. “What the abyss do you want? Don’t even bother trying to trace me. I’ve already altered—”

“I’m not trying to track you. I’m off-book,” said Smitt. James could hear the desperation in his voice. “Hear me out. Please, my friend.”

James was going to cut Smitt off right there but he was curious. “How did you know about this subchannel?” he asked. “I’ve cut off all our previous lines.”

“Come on, James, it’s me. I’ve been your only friend since the Academy. I was there when you took three days to set this thing up. Two more than anyone else, I might add. Hell, you might not have ever finished the firewall setup for this thing had I not helped.”

That much was true. James was always on the low end of the technical skill sets for chronmen work. Smitt tutoring and helping him cheat was a major factor in his graduating from the Academy.

That was a long time ago, though. James was impressed. “And you remembered it after all these years?”