Irena.
The chime sounded again. Muldoon holstered his weapon. He held outhis hand instead. "In case I don't see you again."
"Oh, you might. Another version, anyway." Horton claspedhis hand in a strong grip. "Aren't you supposed to kill me orsomething?"
A chill came over Muldoon, and he remembered his empty apartment, Irena erasedfrom existence. Was it inevitable? "Ihope not."
"Me too." Horton released Muldoon's hand. "But hey,with the realities twining and whatnot, all bets are off, right? It's anybody'sguess what will happen next."
Muldoon nodded, knowing the unanswered questions whirling throughhis mind would have to wait. For now, only one thing mattered.
The wristwatch chimed again. The screen flashed white with aten-second countdown.
Muldoon stepped back. "I'd go with the prudent choice, if Iwere you."
"How's that?"
"Destroy it." Muldoon pointed at the old man'swristwatch. "And never make another one."
Horton grinned. "Yes sir." He fished into his pocketwith sudden inspiration and came up with the silver cigarette lighter."I'll have to find another use for this now, won't I?"
"You could always take up smoking."
Horton chuckled. "Goodbye, BackTracker."
With a burst of blue light, Muldoon disappeared, traveling intothe past one last time.
TWENTY
Ten Years Ago
Irena ran her thumb across the smooth finish of the silverlighter.
If you remain here, you will die—just likeyour alternate, her father's clone had said. The realities are twining pastthe original divergence point... Flip the cap, and stare into the flame...Cross over to your own reality... You'll be safe.
It made no sense. But neither did a wristwatch that transportedyou through time.
"Are you finished viewing this file?" Jeannie asked.
"Yes, Jeannie," Irena replied absently. "Thank you."
The pages of the BackTracker operation manual faded from thedeskscreen.
"What do you have there?" The AI's curiosity soundedalmost human.
Irena raised her eyebrows as she stared down at the lighter."I don't really know."
"It appears to be a cigarette lighter." A short pause."Contraband."
Irena frowned at that. First The Pearl, now this? Had shereally stepped into another world? "Whatdo you mean, Jeannie?"
"According to civil code 1132-7A, smoking tobacco or anyother controlled substance is a violation of the Clean Air Ordinance of Year2138. All devices associated with the smoking of such substances are consideredcontraband and must be summarily destroyed."
"I see." Irena was aware of no such ordinance. "You're not going toreport me, are you?"
"That depends. Do you plan to smoke anything illegal in thisoffice?"
Irena smiled at that. The AI sounded like she thought of it asher own territory. "Of course not,Jeannie."
"Thank you."
Irena shook her head and flipped off the lighter's cap. A flamesprang upward, kindling warmth before her eyes. Stare into the flame. Maybethe clone was right. She didn't really belong here. But how did I get here in the first place? She had traveled back through time, but she neverintentionally crossed over into a different reality. Not that she knewof, anyway.
The flame absorbed her complete attention, and she let go, letherself go, releasing her hold on this world where things weren't right.The air before her seemed to undulate like water—
"Mrs. Muldoon?"
"Yes, Jeannie?" Her gaze remained transfixed on therippling air.
"Is everything all right?"
"Of course."
She capped the lighter and glanced around the room. The airreturned to normal in an instant. Had she done it? Crossed over?
The room hadn't changed. Everything was exactly as it had been:not quite the way she remembered. She hadn't gone anywhere.
A sick dread seized her stomach. The clone had told her she woulddie if she stayed here, something about the same thing happening to her alternate—whateverthat meant. She didn't understand any of that. Regardless, she had come totrust him for the most part, and she believed him. She had to leave this place.Muldoon wasn't here. She had no reason to stay.
Fumbling with the lighter, she flipped the cap off again andstared into the flame.
Maybe I didn't focus hard enough.
She forced her eyes to stay open, no blinking. She held thelighter close, washing her face in its light, its heat. She tried to clear hermind completely, but a lone memory surfaced. A story her father had read to herout of one of his priceless hardbound books. The Wizard of Oz.
"There's no place like home, there's no place likehome," she murmured. Ridiculous, she knew, hoping it would work anyway.
She stared, feeling an otherworldly tug as the air before hermoved like a vertical pool, offering to pull her far away from this place. Shereached out hesitantly to touch the anomaly, and her fingers disappeared intounfathomable cold. She jerked her hand back with a short cry of alarm. As shebreathed on her fingers to warm them and gazed at the undulating breach inreality before her, it faded, losing its power, even as the lighter's flameflickered as strong as before.
The AI spoke again:"Good morning, Mr. Muldoon."
The office door slid open with a swish.
"Good morning, Jeannie," he said.
The cigarette lighter clinked shut and dropped to the floor. Irenacovered her mouth with both hands, unable to believe her eyes.
Muldoon stood before her. Looking right at her.
"Hey you," he said with a wink.
The door slid shut behind him.
She gasped, a laugh and a sob escaping her lips at the same time."Is it...?"
He nodded. He took a step toward her.
"You remember me?" he said.
But she'd already run to him, leaping up into his arms andwrapping her legs around him, covering hisgrizzled, unshaven face in a flurry of kisses.
He kissed her back. He wept,falling to his knees, suddenly too weak to stand, butholding her close, pulled her tight against him,savoring her warmth, the scent of her hair, her neck, the taste of her lips.The shape and reality of her. Here. With him. Alive again, exactly as heremembered her.
Time slowed to a crawl as he gazed into her eyes, first one, thenthe other. He touched her cheek, and she nuzzled the palm of his hand, neverlooking away. They were mesmerized by each other, by the magic of this moment.
"I've found you," he breathed into the silence.
She was even more beautiful than he remembered, if that was at allpossible.
She pressed her hand against his rough cheek. "You're here.You're alive."
"I love you," he whispered, again and again.
She gasped involuntarily. It had been too long without thosewords. They stirred
