Chapter 7: Reuniting

  —August 31, 2160, 11:10:00—

  Tina stood in the shadows watching it unfold. It was surreal. She had been here before, except this time it was like an out-of-body experience. The last time it was completely different. Judith had explained how it worked, but the mechanics of it all still hadn’t completely crystallized in her mind.

  There she was, across the room. Her distinctive red hair was the same color and sheen as her own, but it wasn’t cut short. She wore it loose and flowing, like fire in the wind. Her build, that voice–even her mannerisms–she could have been a younger version of herself. A doppelganger twenty-five years removed. It nearly took her breath away watching her interacting with Silas and Judith.

  Tina had spent the last two years learning everything possible about this young woman. Cam had relayed to her every memory he could recall. She had been through all of the pictures and videos their small family had saved a hundred times. She was briefed on every family story they used to tell together–memorized all of their inside jokes they repeated throughout the years. All to prepare for this moment.

  She had to be perfect. Convincing. She had to be the woman Evie lost. She had to become her mother. And there could be no question in Evie’s mind about it.

  Now it was about to happen. Tina remembered it well. Judith–the version from her own timeline–had been training Adam for a mission. A mission that was so critical that the future of their world depended on it succeeding, she was told. The link between Adam and Evie had to be so perfect that Judith could bridge him into her world. In fact, Judith wasn’t just bringing Adam. Tina, herself, was riding with them. She was sharing a ride with Adam to this reality where she now lived. Two passengers in the void with two very different destinations.

  She watched as Evie and Judith stepped closer to the Chrono Loom. Silas was finishing his sequencing on his control pad, making final calculations and checking over the destination parameters. Adam was to go to the year 2137 to prevent some catastrophic disaster from happening and would be retained as an asset by Temporal Command. Judith had told them both that they would not be able to see each other again after they made their jumps. It was the price the universe needed them to pay for its salvation.

  Elliot. She reminded herself. That was her consolation. She had sacrificed everything for him. And yes, it had, so far, been a welcome consolation.

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  Before her, she watched as Judith reached out her hand to Evie. This was it. This was the catalyst. This was the part Tina hadn’t fully understood but inherently knew was the key. What was it about Judith’s touch that allowed her to be a conduit across the timeline? To allow Adam to not only see Evie and explore her world, but to actually access and interact with the Loom?

  As Evie lifted her hand up to accept Judith’s outstretched fingers, Tina saw it. Evie looked like a jolt of lightning had just passed through her. Judith did not even flinch. She saw nothing for a brief moment. Through her memory, she could remember this instant with vividness. Holding onto Adam’s hand, she and her son had dashed toward the active blue sparks emanating from the Loom.

  In an instant, that version of herself would be standing in that very same location in the year 2158. Exactly two years ago to the day. The Loom would be sending Adam back twenty three years. Somehow the machine was able to accept them both and send them each to their own destination–like a sieve, it knew how to separate each of them. That was the mastery behind Silas’ genius and skill with the machine.

  Tina watched the aftermath. The Chrono Loom roared to life. The gentle hum escalated into a deafening whir, and loud, cracking snaps of raw energy erupted around the curtain. And then, as quickly as it came alive, it settled back down to a gentle hum until all that was left of the experience was a hint of ozone and a scent like burnt sugar in the air.

  It was time. This was her moment. She watched a look of horror building on Evie’s face. She was putting everything together. Evie was looking over to Judith’s calm, placid face, with a look that confessed a need for someone else in the room to be shocked or awed by what just happened. She would not get any of that sort of reaction from Judith.

  Tina was closing in, slowly, ready to be her distraction.

  She watched as Evie’s breath hitched and it appeared that her emotions were about to burst into the roar of a thousand screams. Tina quickened her gait, hearing her own footsteps tapping on the ferrocrete floor.

  Evie froze. Then she turned. The scream never came. Instead, a look of recognition. Then confusion. Finally, it appeared that all of her raw, untethered emotions fused together into pure adrenaline. Evie was running toward her now.

  “Mom!” It was a sloppy scream–an unadulterated release. Evie collided with her, wrapping her arms so tightly around Tina that it caught her off guard and spun her around. “Mom!” her voice ringing out again.

  Tina felt Evie shuttering so violently she hadn’t even noticed that she too was weeping and clutching so tightly onto this red headed blur of motion. She suddenly knew it. It was undeniable now. This wasn’t theory anymore. This was real.

  It was instinctive. She didn’t need the training. She didn’t need to think. It just came out with hot tears already streaking down her face.

  “Evie!” she gasped. “My daughter!”