Part 20 (1/2)

Mantis raked his hand through his hair.

”I vote for different docks. Why else would there be two?” said Dr. Ford in an excited tone, forgetting his ban on speaking.

Clearly, he's overcome any concerns about my safety, thought Abbey darkly.

Mantis and Simon both glared at the little man.

”Whose side are you on, Ford?” said Simon.

Dr. Ford rearranged his face into a look of wide-eyed innocence. ”Just trying to move things along and get Abbey back to us safely.”

”Paul has a point,” murmured Mantis. ”Try a dock each.”

Abbey gingerly stepped out onto the silvered wooden planks. The docks almost vibrated with life, pulling her in all directions and yet nowhere. She remained rooted to the spot, her wet sneakers caked with dirt and mud encasing her icy feet. Jake stepped onto the second dock.

”I'm going. It's taking me,” he yelled. His edges were blurred.

”I'm not,” Abbey yelled back.

”Grab her hand,” Mantis hollered. ”The docks are close enough.”

Jake extended his large paw to Abbey. She slipped her own into it. She'd never held hands with a boy before and the surge of energy nearly knocked her off her feet. The familiar pull and whoosh surrounded her, like the torrent of a powerful river that couldn't be escaped.

”I have one more question,” Jake yelled. ”How do we get back?”

But the forest had already been replaced by the tumble and blur of black. They were thrust, blinking and scattered, onto the causeway of Simon's future. Floodlights lit the walkway where the s.h.i.+ps were moored. Although it was night, a few people still roved up and down the causeway, loading and unloading cargo, checking guy ropes, and heading toward the mirrored building, wheeling their luggage behind them. s.h.i.+ps ascended into and descended from the starry sky. It was like an airport at night, sleepier than by day, but never really asleep.

Abbey looked down. They'd landed on two square dock-like platforms situated on a wide portion of the causeway where the main commercial path branched off the central one. Abbey recalled seeing the docks before, walking past them, and glancing at them in semi-curiosity. Each had a wooden bench on its back edge and, like the path of stones, looked like street art, a refuge for meditation and relaxation.

Abbey felt a strong urge to step off the docks onto the safety and solidity of the causeway. Jake must have felt the same way, for he stepped forward at the same time. Her hand remained clutched in his for a fraction of a second and then both of them let go. She experienced a vague sense of loss.

”Well, it works I guess. Shall we head back?” Jake said.

”Why are you doing this, Jake? Is Mantis paying you?”

Jake shoved his hands in his jean pockets. ”Look, I know this probably looks bad. I've been invited to train with some of the farm teams for the major leagues at a camp this summer. It's a big deal. But my parents can't afford it. They can't even afford to let me not work in the restaurant for the summer. Mantis is going to take care of all of that and pay my way. It's my shot at the majors, and my shot at getting my parents out from under their restaurant. Mantis holds the mortgage on the restaurant and, since the economic downturn, it's not doing too well. It's all they have, and I have a younger brother and sisters. Mantis and I have a contract that says if I complete this for him, he'll rip up the mortgage and pay for my training camp. And besides, he told me we're helping these people. I wouldn't have agreed if I didn't think I was helping. I've met with that Caleb guy a couple of times now and he seems like a stand-up kind of guy.”

Abbey studied Jake. He appeared so earnest, right down to his long black eyelashes and the dark brown hair that curled around his ears. She wondered if he was dying already, if she should tell him to see a doctor. Later. Maybe.

”So, you're not planning to kill Simon or Caleb?”

”What? Who? No! I'm not planning to kill anyone.”

”We saw your emails-to Mantis-and we thought... You said in one of your emails that someone's not too happy about hurting Sinclair or something like that. What did that mean?”

Jake dropped his gaze to his tattered Nikes. ”As part of his end of the deal, Caleb agreed to sabotage some guy named Sinclair's computer program. n.o.body will get hurt. And this Sinclair guy is rich already. It won't really hurt him. Caleb wasn't too happy about it, but he agreed to do it.”

The pieces of the emails shuffled into place for Abbey. Mantis had made a deal to move Caleb's people to this new future. Caleb, in exchange, would find a way to prevent Simon's future company from developing its new operating system, probably giving Salvador Systems a compet.i.tive advantage. The move to the new future was to take place after the Holding the Light event, which apparently happened that evening. It all made reasonable sense.

She couldn't believe Caleb had agreed to do something that would hurt Simon, even if it was just his company. He must feel like he had no other choice. Mantis had turned one of her brothers against the other. She pictured her adult brothers alone and angry with each other. Somehow they seemed more vulnerable as men than as boys. Maybe Simon would be okay with it-if he knew why Caleb had done it. Maybe. She gulped back a sob and turned to Jake. ”But what were you doing here in this future? We saw you.”

”This is Mantis's future. I had to come here to make sure I knew what it looked like so I could be sure it was the right place to bring Caleb and his people. And I have to be able to picture the future, and know whose future it is to go there.”

”But how did you know to go looking for the future Caleb? Or that he needed your help?”

”I don't know. That was before I came into this, and Mantis doesn't tell me much. He just told me about Caleb's future and I was able to go there. Now we'd better get back or Mantis is going to start freaking.”

”Fine,” said Abbey. ”How do you think we do that?”

”I dunno. Same way? Go back out onto the docks and hold hands?”

”I guess.” Abbey was mortified to find that her heart had started to beat a little faster at the thought of holding Jake's hand again. Or perhaps it was just at the thought of traveling back over the docks.

Mark's head pounded and his mouth still felt sour from vomit. He counted to ninety by threes, over and over again, driving his wooden spear deeper into the dirt. He watched Simon, Mantis, and Dr. Ford mill around the docks waiting for Abbey and Jake to return, their body movements jerky and quick. They were giving each other a wide berth and n.o.body was speaking. They all just watched the docks. The full moon cast a gla.s.sy river of white on the beaver pond. All that was needed was the group of people dressed in white, the people he'd already seen this evening who were evidently expected to arrive at any minute, and this would be the precise image of his future. The future in which he killed Abbey and then disappeared with Dr. Ford.

Forty-five...forty-eight...fifty-one...fifty-four...

At least fifteen minutes had elapsed since Jake and Abbey had departed, and Mantis and Simon's pacing had become faster and more erratic. They both had their mouths pulled into thin white lines. Anger? Or worry? Mark fingered the laminated yellow cards he still had in his pocket from the previous day. Dr. Ford, by contrast, had taken a seat on a large rock and wore an expression that reminded Mark of Ocean in pursuit of a bird. (Mark had decided Dr. Ford was definitely not a trusted adult.) Fifty-seven...sixty...sixty-three...sixty-six...

”We should hold hands before we step out on the docks so I don't accidentally leave you behind,” said Jake.

She took his proffered hand, feeling the brush of skin against skin, and together they stepped slowly onto the docks. The whoosh and darkness didn't startle Abbey anymore. But the wind on her skin was wrong. Instead of the cool dampness of the forest, it was the warm dryness of a blow dryer. She opened her eyes to see the Madrona tree. They were in the atrium at Livingstone Labs, standing on two square slabs of stone embedded in the garden. It was night here, too, like all the futures operated with the same rise and fall of the sun. A few security lights illuminated the halls of the laboratory, but the desks and the halls were empty.

”Where are we?” Jake sputtered. The hand holding Abbey's tightened its squeeze.

”We're in my future now.” She dropped his hand and stepped off the stone slab. ”Did you and Mantis have any idea how the docks work before you embarked on this ridiculous scheme? We could have to cycle through any number of futures before we get back. If we get back. The combinations and permutations of possible futures could be endless.”

”No,” said Jake, a note of panic entering his voice. ”We just thought it would go back and forth.”

Typical, thought Abbey. ”Well, the fact that out of all the possibilities, the docks have taken us to the only two other futures I've been to”-except Nowhere, Abbey thought-”suggests that it's limited somehow, so maybe they'll take us back to the forest now.”

They joined hands again and stepped back onto the stone docks. The rush of wind and darkness enveloped Abbey, and when her eyes could register light again, the faint green mist of Nowhere and the witches around the cauldron in the distance didn't surprise her. The docks in Nowhere were ornate and edged with carved symbols and inscriptions.

Jake dropped her hand, stepped off the dock, and spun around, his mouth open and eyes bulging.

”It's okay,” she said. ”This is Nowhere. Hopefully our last station stop before the forest. I'll explain later.” A couple of the witches at the fire had noticed them Abbey and Jake and had started to walk toward them. Again, Abbey wondered if Jake could transport the witches, too. And if the witches knew that Jake was their potential way out of Nowhere.

”Get back on the dock,” she said. ”We need to get out of here.” They leapt onto the docks, clasped hands, and were pulled away before the witches could draw near.

The forest came back into focus this time, and Abbey nearly sank to the dock in relief. Jake's hand, slick with sweat, slipped out of hers. Simon had taken up a post right next to the dock and grabbed at her in relief, pulling her into an awkward embrace.

The relief was short-lived. When Abbey looked up, she saw that Mantis had Dr. Ford in a stranglehold on the ground. Mantis's silver locks hung over his eyes and his face was crimson. Mark stood watching, still holding his sharpened stick. Abbey pushed Simon away in horror, but then realized that although Dr. Ford's face was red, he was still making indignant sputters, and Mantis didn't appear to be applying sufficient pressure to kill the man.

Simon pursed his lips in disgust. ”Mantis got stressed out when you didn't come back right away. Dr. Ford made some snide remarks about him not knowing what he's doing. They got into an argument. It degenerated into name-calling. Mark and I decided to let them work it out. I'm not even sure if we know whose side we're on right now. I was afraid that if we hurt Mantis, he might do something to you, or we might not get you back.”

When Mantis saw Jake and Abbey, he released Dr. Ford immediately and stood, brus.h.i.+ng the dust from his dark overcoat and tucking stray strands of hair behind his ears.

”It worked, then?” he said jubilantly. ”Dr. Ford and I were just having a little discussion about manners.”