Timestone

Chapter Thirty-Two ϟ Rescue

Camila stands over me with a taze pointed at my face. We're in the printing cavern. My tender head is throbbing.

"Where is my niece, cabrón?" Camila demands.

My only reply is a groan. I strain to clear my head and then bolt upright in a panic. "They took her!"

"Who?" Camila asks angrily. She folds her arms skeptically.

I squint up at her. "Tanek's guards. They ambushed us on top of the cliff."

Camila kicks me in the stomach, and I double over in pain.

"You are a terrible liar," she spits. "Where were you for so long? How did you escape the guards?"

"Please . . ." I gasp for air. "I can answer your questions, but we need Marco. We have to save her."

"Marco is on his way," says Camila. "But he won't believe your lies any more than I do."

Right on cue, Marco appears, breathing hard, his face red and sweaty from running.

I pull myself to my knees and face him. "We were on our way back. Guards ambushed us. They took her."

"Where? Show me," orders Marco.

"Marco, no," says Camila. "You are not going to believe this, are you?"

Marco shakes his head and spreads his fingers out in front of him. "I don't know. But I need to find Vela."

"It's a trap," Camila argues. "He's trying to lure you away like he did Vela."

Marco raises his hands higher. "I don't care. If that's the only way I can find her, then what choice do I have?" He turns to me. "Take me to her."

"They're on top of the cliff, and my gun is broken," I explain in frustration. I reach for the timegun in my waistband, but it isn't there. I pat my clothes and frantically look around. "Where is it? Where's my gun?"

Camila turns to Marco and says, "I gave it to Jasik." Then, she calls across the cavern for Jasik.

Moments later, Jasik walks out of a side cavern with the timegun. He presents it to Marco. "I've never seen a taze like this before . . . but it doesn't work." He points the gun and squeezes the trigger to make his point. "I found a loose connection in the handle and powered it on, but it still won't fire." He passes the gun to Marco.

I see the soft blue glow coming from the handle. "You fixed it?" I blurt out.

Marco turns the gun over in his hands and examines it.

"It only works for me," I say to Marco, pointing to the metal mark on my head.

"What is he talking about?" asks Jasik.

Camila gives a knowing look. Marco must have already told her about the timegun.

"This isn't a taze," Marco explains to Jasik. He passes the gun for me to take. "Show him, Miro."

I stand and take the gun. The crosshairs jump into my vision. I squeeze the trigger and appear near the printer on the opposite side of the cavern. Spinning around, I see Marco pointing at me and Jasik's astonished face. Camila is laughing because hearing about the timegun and seeing it in action are two different things.

Wasting no time, I leap back to them. Jasik is speechless. "How long was I knocked out for?" I ask Camila.

She seems excited but shaken by what she just witnessed. "I don't know," she replies. "Maybe ten minutes." Her bewildered look turns to embarrassment. "I'm sorry for attacking you."

"It's okay. I get it," I reassure.

It took about twenty minutes to run to the caverns. I lay unconscious—thanks to Camila—for ten minutes. We've stood here for another five or ten. It's been about forty minutes since they took her. "Let's go," I say to Marco. "We can catch up to them."

"They've probably already taken her to the compound," says Marco.

"They haven't," I tell him. Forty minutes inside the cliff means only four will have passed for them on top. But I can't try to explain that to Marco now. I run halfway up the stairs before turning back. "We need tazes."

Marco pulls his weapon out to show me he's already armed. He looks to Camila, who pulls hers out and tosses it to me. We run up the steps, taking two at a time.

I instruct Marco to hold firmly to my shoulders. He looks apprehensively at the timegun, but he grabs hold. After a pull of the trigger, we stand three hundred feet away. I turn to make sure Marco feels okay after experiencing his first leap. He turns his head just in time and throws up on the ground rather than on me.

ϟ ϟ ϟ

We leap to the cliff base near the fallen guard. I want Marco to see the guard's body, hoping to buy trust. I explain to him how I fooled the others into thinking I had died.

I leap up the cliff alone so Marco can see how it's done. Once on top, I survey the terrain. The guards are walking away from me in the distance. Vela's long, black hair is visible in the group of five guards. The extra ones must have joined after I fell off the cliff. Two against five complicates things. I leap back down to apprise Marco of the situation.

We have a little time to strategize since we have ten seconds for each of theirs. Marco and I discuss different plans of attack, but we aren't confident in any. I look at Camila's taze, and an idea comes to me. Marco agrees it's better than our other strategies.

"You need to hang on tightly," I tell Marco. "When you feel falling, hang on even tighter." If he lets go, I won't be able to break his fall like I did Vela's. "Oh, and don't scream," I warn. "We don't want to announce our arrival."

Marco squeezes the life out of me as we pop into free fall, but other than a gasp that sounds like death, he remains quiet. He stumbles when we reappear on solid ground, knocking us both to the dirt.

We make several leaps to get close, keeping behind mounds and rock columns. Once in range, I aim the timegun above the guards. Holding Camila's taze in my other hand, I flip the overload switch Jasik added. It begins to hum loudly. I have just seconds.

"Hurry," whispers Marco.

I quickly fire the timegun. My stomach lurches into my throat as I materialize into free fall directly over the guards. I release the overloading taze while aiming and re-firing the timegun.

Reappearing on solid ground, I spin toward the guards. The taze drops in the middle of the group, just missing Vela's head. They all stop to puzzle at the weapon that fell from the heavens. The gun explodes, enveloping the guards and Vela in a ball of plasma. They all collapse to their knees and do a faceplant into the dirt.

I run to Vela. Before anything else, I'll make sure she's safe. I hoist and rotate her body so I can see her face. Her eyes grow wide with shock. I teleport us behind a cluster of rock columns and lay her down. "I have to go help your dad with the guards," I tell her. "Stay put until I get back."

Marco is running toward the paralyzed guards. I leap to them first and pry a taze from one of them. Something knocks me sideways and flings me into the air. A scream rings in my ear drum. It's Marco. He has me in a bear hug.

After we collect the guards' weapons, Marco pulls out some restraints. "Take Vela back to the cavern," he says. "I'll remain here to watch over them until you return."

I don't argue.

Vela pulls herself to her feet just as I appear next to her. Tears are streaming down her cheeks. She flings herself around me in a suffocating hug. "They said you were dead," she sobs. "I thought you were dead." Tears of relief and joy stream down her cheeks.

I can barely breathe, but I hold on to her,waiting for her death squeeze to end. It doesn't. "Vela . . ." Ifinally gasp. She relaxes her hug, and I take a deep breath. I tilt her headback, look into her tear-filled eyes, and kiss her.