Chapter 23
A Race Against Time
“What in the world are you talking about?” said Regan.
“They were us,” insisted Ryan. “The kids were us.”
“What kids?”
“The kids the guards were chasing. The kids who ran out of Prometheus Alpha. The kids who gave me the break I needed when I was about to get caught. They were us. It all happened before. Mom got hit by the generator, the nano-robots swarmed, we went back in time, we figured everything out and we tried to tell our earlier selves so they could warn Mom. Just like we’re about to do now. But it didn’t work. Remember when I was hanging in that tree? A guard saw two kids coming out of Prometheus Alpha. Who else could they have been? Our later selves must have been trying to warn us about the generator accident. But they failed. The guards chased them away from us. So we relived their history. Everything happened all over again.
“And we were just about to repeat history for the third time,” continued Ryan. “But now we can change things. The versions of us that failed the last time have at least given us the clue we need to change our plan this time. This time we won’t try to find ourselves before we’ve entered Prometheus Alpha to warn ourselves about the generator. This time we’ll go directly to the building Mom is in. We’ll just hide out nearby until we’re certain that our other selves are already in the city.”
“But if we do that, Ryan, won’t the other you be caught by that guard? The guard won’t have any reason to run off when you’re about to drop from the tree.”
“You’re right,” said Ryan. “You’re absolutely right. We still have to create that diversion for our earlier selves.”
“Wait a minute,” said Regan. “How did we get in the city the very first time this whole crazy time-loop began? The first time there weren’t any time-traveling versions of us to create a diversion. You would have been caught by the guard.”
“That’s a good point, too,” said Ryan. “I don’t know. I guess we’ll never know. All I do know is that we don’t have much time. Regan, we need to split up. You go and create a diversion for our other selves outside. Lead the guards on a wild goose chase away from where we entered the grounds.” He paused. “I’ll go and warn Mom.”
Regan nodded her agreement.
Ryan put a hand on his sister’s shoulder. “Regan. I sometimes give you a hard time and I’ve never admitted it before now, but I think you’re pretty amazing in a lot of ways. You have more courage and more brains than most kids far older than you. I’m lucky to have you as a sister.” With that Ryan gave her a bear hug, surprising her nearly to death.
“Thanks, Ryan. I can’t believe you just told me that.”
“Well, I knew this was a great time to be completely honest with you.”
“Because we’ve been through so much together?”
Ryan smiled thinly. “Well that . . . and the fact that in a few hours we’ll vanish, and your other self will never know I said any of this.” His expression turned sincere once more. “But I want you to know that I mean every word of it.” He paused. “Good luck, Regs,” he said.
“You too, Ry,” she replied. She turned and began walking toward the entrance to the city.
Ryan was a pretty great brother himself, and she would tell him this one day, but she wanted to be certain when she did that he actually would remember it.
Ryan turned in the direction of the building his mother was in and focused all of his concentration on the task in front of him. He was starving, his throat was parched from lack of water, and his brain still hurt from the connection with the Teacher. But none of that mattered. All that mattered was saving his mom!
But as he walked on he began to become alarmed. Nothing looked familiar. Was he going in the right direction? Thirty minutes later his stomach was tied in knots and he was forced to admit the terrible truth to himself.
He was lost. Totally and hopelessly lost.
It couldn’t be! After everything that had happened, after everything they had been through, it just wasn’t fair! He should have paid more attention to where he was going as he searched through the city.
He began to run in panic, searching frantically for something he recognized. But still there was nothing.
And he was running out of time.
In just a little while history would repeat itself. Carl, the head of security, would lead the other Ryan and Regan to their parents. They would learn about the Prometheus Project. And then they would try to convince Dr. Harris to let them be part of the team.
And finally, his other self would be forced to watch what he had watched; a generator coming loose from a pole and plunging down to fatally injure his mother.
“Nooooo!” he screamed in frustration at the top of his lungs to the uncaring city. He had better find his bearings, he thought, and he had better find them soon. If not, he would surely fail to save his mother’s life— again.