Time Salvager (Time Salvager #1)(71)

Levin led them down the flight of stairs two levels to a large open room with a circular table. He had commandeered this area as his command center and ran the operation in this region from here.

Sourn looked around, sniffed at the layers of dust caked on everything inside. “Intolerable,” he muttered. He looked at Levin’s three officers working in the room, and then back at Levin.

“Leave us,” Levin ordered. The three men dutifully complied, leaving him alone with Sourn and Kuo.

When his men had left, Levin sat down in his chair at the head of the table and gestured for Sourn and Kuo to do the same. He leaned forward. “So to what do I owe this visit?”

Sourn was about to sit down on one of the chairs, and then thought better of it. Instead, he walked to the map of Europe and studied the markings Levin and his team had made on it.

“The culprit with the woman from Nutris is still at large?” he asked.

“Chronman Griffin-Mars and the individual suspected to have been brought from the past are still unaccounted for,” Levin said.

“And the search from that unauthorized jump?”

How much of his operation does Sourn already know about? How deep is Valta’s feed into ChronoCom? Were any of his men reporting directly to them?

Levin took a deep breath and checked his anger. “I sent a scout party to analyze the jump. There was an unauthorized return jump as well. Unfortunately, my team did not arrive at the location in time to intercept the return.”

“A salvage then?”

Levin nodded. “Originally, I hypothesized that it could be the fugitive chronman trying to escape to the past. Instead, monitors indicate he made a distance jump far back in the past.”

“For what purpose?”

“Unclear. Supplies, food, another human? Who knows what a chronman who no longer follows the Time Laws is capable of?” He emphasized his next words. “That’s why it is imperative that control of time travel be strictly regulated and controlled by the agency.”

Sourn grunted. “Seems you guys cause as many problems as you regulate.”

“I assure you we have this under control. In any case, this is a ChronoCom operation, one that Valta has no authority or vested interest in. If there is anything—”

“Valta has a vested interest in your mission. Do you have any information on who he brought back?”

“Negative, we believe it must be a straggler he had become infatuated with while he was on the salvage. Chronman James has a history of being alone. Perhaps…”

Sourn raised an eyebrow. “We could care less about your chronman. We have reason to believe the temporal anomaly that was brought back could be one of the lead scientists from the Nutris Platform. Your mission parameters are now changed. She needs to be captured alive.”

“That’s not possible,” Levin said. “Time Laws are not flexible. Violations cannot be allowed to stain the time line. Our objectives are clear.”

“Your objectives are now to support the capture of this fugitive. Confirm with your superiors if you must.”

At the same time, a message from Young popped into the queue in Levin’s comm band. He didn’t bother opening it. Of course Young would back up Sourn. The director and most of the leadership were in the pocket of the corporations. Now, it seemed even the Time Laws could be bought.

“How can I assist Valta?” Levin said, gritting his teeth.

Sourn gestured to Kuo standing next to him. “The securitate has been monitoring your progress and has made some recommendations. There are developments that have elevated Valta’s interests in this operation. From this point on, Securitate Kuo here will assume a larger role in this operation. You are in command, but she will be protecting that interest, starting with a direct order to keep the anomaly from the past alive. Follow her direction when she feels that intervention is necessary.”

Levin gave Kuo a slight bow. “ChronoCom welcomes your active support in our operation.” He emphasized every one of those words.

Kuo’s face finally changed just a bit and the corners of her mouth curled up. Levin wouldn’t quite call it a smirk since there wasn’t much of a smile there. “Happy to be of assistance, Auditor.”

“Very well.” Sourn nodded. The guy seemed like he couldn’t wait to leave this squalor. “I’ll leave you two to your work. I want results, Securitate. See it done.”

“Yes, sir.” Kuo bowed. That was the only sign of deference Levin had seen from her.

The two of them watched Sourn bolt out of the room. Two minutes later, Jerkis sent word that Sourn’s ship had taken off. Levin and Kuo sized each other up, both trying to take control of the situation.

Kuo broke the silence first. “From now on, I will need access to all of your communication channels, not just the ones you deem necessary. Inform your men of the new chain of command.”

“Since you are officially only functioning in a support capacity, I will be happy to relay the requests I approve of to my men,” Levin said.

Kuo didn’t miss a beat. “I had hoped not to trivialize your role to that of a gopher, but you may do as you wish.”

“Thank you for such consideration.”

“Have you investigated the fugitive’s personal relationships?”

“Increased surveillance has been applied to his former handler, yes. However, ChronoCom does not feel it is necessary to cast an invasive net over everyone who has ever interacted with him.”