Read Online Time's Echo: A CHRONOS Files Novella by Rysa Walker - Free Book Online
Authors: Rysa Walker
Tags: United States, Historical fiction, Science-Fiction, Literature & Fiction, Time travel, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Teen & Young Adult, Two Hours or More (65-100 Pages)
Ads: Link
I knew I'd need to do some
sort of demonstration and I'd rather avoid dropping my pants to extract the
key.
I center the medallion in my palm, and then glance up at
him. "I'm not a hundred percent sure this'll work, Jess—"
He interrupts me with a snort. "That's still about a
hundred percent more sure than I am."
"No, I mean, the key—that is, the medallion—it definitely works. I'm just not sure I'm in good enough shape to manage it again after
yesterday. But I'll give it a try…were you here in the store alone five minutes
before I arrived? Amelia had already left?"
"Yes…like I said, she left maybe twenty minutes before
you came in."
"Good." I run my fingers over the display and see
that it's 8:57:23. I set the current spot as a stable point and then pull up
the location in Jess's storeroom, a few minutes before I walked in the front
door. "I'm gonna disappear, but I'll be back in about a minute.
Maybe…maybe you should sit down?"
"I'm fine where I am, boy. Get on with whatever it is
you think you're doing."
I glance back down at the medallion, fix the location, and
blink. When I open my eyes, I'm looking at the cot where I slept for several
months last year. I turn around and push open the door.
Jess is behind the counter, arranging sticks of candy in the
jar by the register. He doesn't hear me until I say, "Hey, Jess."
He gives a quizzical glance at the bell over the door.
"Didn't hear you come in."
"I know, Jess. But you will hear me when I come
in the door, about three minutes from now." And then I pull up the stable
point behind the counter, set it for 08:57:30, and blink. It doesn't work the first
time, so I focus and try again.
I open my eyes to a rather flummoxed Jess, no longer back by
the candy jars, but near the icebox where he was standing before I made the
jump. He stares at me for a few seconds, then asks,
"You want to tell me how you did that? Just flat out disappear like
that?"
"It's the medallion. It's called a CHRONOS key. I went
back in time, Jess. Just a few minutes—that's probably all I'm capable of after
yesterday. I use the medallion in the magic act and between doing it over and
over out at Norumbega and then getting whacked on the
head, I'm worn out."
"So, you're saying it's magic?"
It would probably be easier to explain it to him if I did
say it was magic, but that would be a lie. "No. Look at it this way—if
your grandfather had seen a telephone, or an automobile, or a moving picture,
he'd have thought those were magic, right? Even though
they're not. It's like that—only this key is from about four hundred
years in the future. In fact, almost exactly four hundred
years. Like I was saying earlier, my granddad used his medallion to
travel back to 1851 from the year 2305. Just to observe, to witness history
firsthand. He was genetically…"
I don't think genetics is even a word yet. So I take
a different track.
"My grandfather was stranded. Saul, another of these
historians—well, he sabotaged the whole group. He's got this moneymaking scheme
and he's planning on changing history, rather than just studying it. That's not
a good thing, Jess, and some of us are trying to stop him. What you felt last
night was him changing something. I'm not sure what, but it must have been a
pretty big change. And it affected your family somehow."
"So you're saying that's why I remember Irene, and also
kind of don't remember her. The way I remember you walking out of that
storeroom earlier, and I also can remember that it didn't happen, that the
first time I saw you since last night was when you walked in through the front
door."
"Yes, that's about right. And it's not just Irene. I
suspect there are gonna to be cases where someone walks in this shop and you
know him—you've known him your whole life, but you'll also remember a past
where he never existed."
"Why doesn't Amelia remember? This change affected her,
too. This would be a whole lot easier if she didn't think I was losing
sort of demonstration and I'd rather avoid dropping my pants to extract the
key.
I center the medallion in my palm, and then glance up at
him. "I'm not a hundred percent sure this'll work, Jess—"
He interrupts me with a snort. "That's still about a
hundred percent more sure than I am."
"No, I mean, the key—that is, the medallion—it definitely works. I'm just not sure I'm in good enough shape to manage it again after
yesterday. But I'll give it a try…were you here in the store alone five minutes
before I arrived? Amelia had already left?"
"Yes…like I said, she left maybe twenty minutes before
you came in."
"Good." I run my fingers over the display and see
that it's 8:57:23. I set the current spot as a stable point and then pull up
the location in Jess's storeroom, a few minutes before I walked in the front
door. "I'm gonna disappear, but I'll be back in about a minute.
Maybe…maybe you should sit down?"
"I'm fine where I am, boy. Get on with whatever it is
you think you're doing."
I glance back down at the medallion, fix the location, and
blink. When I open my eyes, I'm looking at the cot where I slept for several
months last year. I turn around and push open the door.
Jess is behind the counter, arranging sticks of candy in the
jar by the register. He doesn't hear me until I say, "Hey, Jess."
He gives a quizzical glance at the bell over the door.
"Didn't hear you come in."
"I know, Jess. But you will hear me when I come
in the door, about three minutes from now." And then I pull up the stable
point behind the counter, set it for 08:57:30, and blink. It doesn't work the first
time, so I focus and try again.
I open my eyes to a rather flummoxed Jess, no longer back by
the candy jars, but near the icebox where he was standing before I made the
jump. He stares at me for a few seconds, then asks,
"You want to tell me how you did that? Just flat out disappear like
that?"
"It's the medallion. It's called a CHRONOS key. I went
back in time, Jess. Just a few minutes—that's probably all I'm capable of after
yesterday. I use the medallion in the magic act and between doing it over and
over out at Norumbega and then getting whacked on the
head, I'm worn out."
"So, you're saying it's magic?"
It would probably be easier to explain it to him if I did
say it was magic, but that would be a lie. "No. Look at it this way—if
your grandfather had seen a telephone, or an automobile, or a moving picture,
he'd have thought those were magic, right? Even though
they're not. It's like that—only this key is from about four hundred
years in the future. In fact, almost exactly four hundred
years. Like I was saying earlier, my granddad used his medallion to
travel back to 1851 from the year 2305. Just to observe, to witness history
firsthand. He was genetically…"
I don't think genetics is even a word yet. So I take
a different track.
"My grandfather was stranded. Saul, another of these
historians—well, he sabotaged the whole group. He's got this moneymaking scheme
and he's planning on changing history, rather than just studying it. That's not
a good thing, Jess, and some of us are trying to stop him. What you felt last
night was him changing something. I'm not sure what, but it must have been a
pretty big change. And it affected your family somehow."
"So you're saying that's why I remember Irene, and also
kind of don't remember her. The way I remember you walking out of that
storeroom earlier, and I also can remember that it didn't happen, that the
first time I saw you since last night was when you walked in through the front
door."
"Yes, that's about right. And it's not just Irene. I
suspect there are gonna to be cases where someone walks in this shop and you
know him—you've known him your whole life, but you'll also remember a past
where he never existed."
"Why doesn't Amelia remember? This change affected her,
too. This would be a whole lot easier if she didn't think I was losing
Similar Books
