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  Jules set her trash can down, leaning back with a sigh. "How'd we do?"

  Addison scanned the room. No Nikki. "I don't believe it. Our first mission and Nikki can't be bothered to meet us when we get back?"

  "Looks like she left in a hurry." Jules held Nikki's laptop.

  "That's weird. Must have been something important to leave her laptop."

  "I think she stepped out to pick up a celebratory pizza." A smile spread across her face. "We did pretty damn good out there."

  Addison stepped over to Jules offering a high five, then turning to face each other, they bumped fists.

  "Yep, we just saved the world. We're awesome."

  From the day Addison found his father's pen, he had bad feelings about it. And with each inking, his sense of foreboding intensified. Nikki, after having her fun at the beginning of the training, seemed to be preparing them for a war, driving Addison and Jules to new limits with each inking. His friend, a foot soldier in a battle across centuries had lost sight of what Addison had discovered — hope. But now he understood. He now knew what his father meant when he spoke of Addison's destiny. The 'treasure beyond his imaginings' was not simply the pen, but the ability to make things right, to heal the past and create a better future. Instead of passively standing by as people suffered and died, Addison knew he could now make a difference. A real difference. With the pen in hand, he could shift things for the better. He could fix his mistake on that icy Snoqualmie highway. He could make a real, lasting difference.

  Addison glanced around the room. "Where do you think Nikki went off to?"

  "I don't care. She's been dogging us for days. If she doesn't want to join in the celebration, well, that's her problem."

  "I agree." Jules scanned the room. "Although it is sorta weird she's not here."

  Addison motioned toward the door. "Nikki can take care of herself. Let's get some food. Time for a little celebration.”

  Stepping through the door, Addison tumbled into a dizzying fall through spectral light leaving him slightly nauseous and disoriented. His hands grasped…an oar. Four rowers moved in unison in front of him and he sensed several more behind, their hard breathing and the swish of the oar blades in water giving them away. Water. A boat?

  A tinny voice interrupted him. "Five, you're early."

  Coxwain? I'm on a rowing team? But how?

  "Five! Come on, get with the program."

  I was just with Jules.

  "Check it down!" The rowers all dragged their blades perpendicular to the water, bringing the boat to a stop. "You doing alright, Addison? Four and six, is he okay?"

  A voice behind him he recognized as Jerod's, echoed the coxswain's concern. "Hey, man. What happened? You hurt?"

  I must have blacked out, some kind of side-effect. And where’s Jules? "Yeah, I uh, think I pulled a muscle. Sorry guys, but I've got to go in."

  Some grumbling, a bit of trash talk and ten minutes of rowing brought them to the pier where Addison got out, apologizing while making his way quickly off the dock, through the boat house. The bus stop he normally used had for some reason been removed as fast as it would take him.

  ***

  Jules stood before RPM with a suddenness that took her breath away. She held onto a lamppost to steady herself, nauseated and shaken. She took some deep breaths to combat the queasiness. How did I get here? Da Vinci's was open for business as usual across the street. She glanced over where her inking partner had been a heartbeat ago. Where's Addy? This must be a side-effect from leaving the Tempos Refúgium. What did Nikki say about leaving the Refúgium? I don't recall anything about memory loss. Well, if RPM is here, it must be something minor. She opened the door to the shop and stepped inside.

  ***

  Addison passed a mother balancing her giggling toddler on her lap, a hipster nodding in rhythm to the sounds within his headset, another woman rocking and mumbling to herself on a curb, a young couple walking hand-in-hand past shops, an older man with his pug—none of them had any knowledge how their world had been protected. Only Addison and Jules knew they had stopped a shift in the time continuum condemning Europe to destruction. Or had they? Finding himself on an eight-man rowing shell in the middle of Lake Union did not bode well. And why would Nikki walk out in the middle of their first mission?

  They had planned to go to Ballard, so Addison got off at a stop near Cafe da Vinci, hoping to find Jules there. He walked lighter on his feet than he had since the doc handed him the cane. Sure, he had a limp, but it didn’t matter when he inked into someone else’s body. He almost considered ditching the cane, just to give Nikki a real shock. A few blocks down Market Street he crossed the threshold of Da Vinci's and walked right into a glass case of pastries. When did they move the case?

  Nikki looked up from behind the counter. "Slow down. Trust me, we've got plenty of coffee."

  "Nikki. Why'd you leave? Jules and I, well, we've done something amazing." Addison only now realized the woman standing before him with a worried expression had somehow grown dark-brown shoulder-length hair. A wig? "Nikki?"

  "Yes. You okay?"

  "Me? I'm fine. It's just, well, it's just I've got this news I want to share with you. You know," he looked around the cafe, whispering conspiratorially, "about the mission."

  Nikki smiled, leaning into the counter. "You're the guy from the record store. I remember you. I'm sure you're a nice guy—"

  "I'm not coming on—" This must be one of her pranks.

  "Don't you think I'm a bit old for you?"

  "Nikki, it's me."

  "I know."

  "No, me. Addison."

  She shook her head with a sad smile, and patted his arm like he was a dog or something. I don't think she's joking. "You don't know me, do you? I mean, really know me. We've known each other for years. You're my mentor. Don't you remember?"

  Nikki wiped down the steam rod with a rag. "No, mon cher. We don't have a mentoring program at Da Vinci's." She paused, giving me the concerned look she'd give a stray kitten. "You okay?"

  Addison backed out of the cafe, a Nikki who didn't know him still trying to make conversation. What have we done? They had protected the time continuum, but his best friend didn't know him anymore.

  He crossed the street to RPM. He'd get Jules to help. Together they'd figure out how to fix what they'd done. He slipped inside the store, which looked nothing like his last visit. She stood at the counter speaking to a tall, lanky guy in his forties with wire frame glasses. His arms were crossed and he shook his head, occasionally rolling his eyes.

  Jules yelled, "Don't you fucking roll your eyes at me buddy. I work here."

  "Young lady, I've never seen you in my life. And if you don't leave, I'll have to call the cops."

  She scanned the aisles of bicycle parts, ripping a riding jersey off a display and throwing it at the man. "And where the hell's the inventory? Do you have any idea about the value of some of the records in this place? Well, do you?"

  The shopkeeper looked past Jules, giving Addison a 'sorry about the crazy bitch' shrug. Jules turned to see Addison. "Addy, this idiot thinks he can steal an entire store and get away with it."

  "Jules."

  "My boss is going to get a lawyer buddy and when we're through with you, you'll wish I had shoved you face first down a kitchen disposal."

  "Jules."

  "Feet first in a wood chipper!" Her arms flailed on the edge of losing all control. "Genitals first in a pencil sharpener!" She reached across the counter grabbing the man by his T-shirt. "Do you understand me?"

  "Jules!"

  She turned, still holding the man who looked genuinely terrified at this crazy woman. "What?"

  "Let him go. We need to talk."

  "But he stole the shop…”

  "Jules, let him go. We shifted things somehow. Let him go."

  She released her grip and walked out of RPM with Addison. "What do you mean we shifted things? We stopped the anomaly. How could we have shifted things?"

&n
bsp; "I don't know."

  "I don't believe you. We stopped the shift in the continuum."

  "Look up."

  "What?"

  Addison pointed to the sky. "Up."

  Jules looked up, gasping. "Oh, my god."

  An empty blue sky met her gaze—no small aircraft, no jet airliners, no helicopters, no contrails. An unfamiliar silence from above accentuated the lack of traffic noise below. Bicycles, tricycles, recumbents, and four-wheeled pedal cars filled the streets.

  "Addy, what have we done?"

  "It's worse. Nikki doesn't know us or anything about the League."

  "This can't be happening. We did everything right, Addy."

  "I know, but somehow things have gone south on us."

  Jules stopped at a bench, sitting down, her hands balled into tight fists. "We did everything right."

  "Maybe we took too long. We ripped the agent, but maybe he'd stolen enough knowledge to change something in the past. Maybe we weren't supposed to stop him in the first place. I don't know."

  "So, what are we supposed to do? Nikki doesn't know us. We're barely Inkers ourselves." They shared a silence, both deep in thought. Jules glanced over to Addison. "What about your father?"

  "He's dead."

  "I know he's dead, but maybe he left you some notes, a recording, something."

  Addison, his laugh tinged with hopelessness, shook his head. "Sounds like a bit of long shot to me."

  Jules reached out for his hand. "You have a better idea?"

  He searched her eyes, and placed his hand in hers, grateful not to be alone in this new world. "No, I guess I don't. Okay, we'll go to my house, to my father's study."

  If it’s still there...

  Shift Happens

  Walking as fast as possible within the limitations of Addison's cane, they moved through his neighborhood in silence. Addison figured Jules was running the mission through her mind, just like he'd been doing, trying to understand how things could have gotten so out of whack. A constant droning of dirigible engines overhead sounded like a taunting by the time continuum gods.

  A Latina in her thirties wearing a black dress and coat, her dark hair long and straight, stood beside a white recumbent bicycle at the curb in front of his house. She had the confidence of a trial attorney, but the eyes of someone haunted, or hunted. She walked toward him, extending a hand.

  "Addison, I'm Maya Sepulveda."

  Addison paused, a faint recognition of her name floating in his brain. "Yeah, I'm Addison Shaw. Can I help you?"

  "I came by to check on your progress with Emmett."

  "You know about Emmett Pike?"

  "Of course. I'm the one who hired you to find him."

  Apparently, Maya and her file existed in this time continuum too.

  "This isn't really a good time, Ms.—"

  "Sepulveda. Maya Sepulveda. Are you alright?" Cocking her head slightly, as if assessing what to do next, she glanced up the stairs to the front door hanging agape at an odd angle. "Looks like someone broke into your house."

  "Shit." Addison bounded up the steps with Jules and Maya following.

  He pushed through a partially open front door, the hinges creaking. He told himself to be ready for anything, but the damage had already been done. His house had been ransacked. A flat screen still hung from the den wall, a fancy espresso machine sat, as always, on the kitchen counter. This was not a typical thief, but someone looking for something specific. Renascentia.

  Jules followed him with Maya trailing behind. "Progress on Emmett Pike? You're doing contract work?"

  He knew the meaning implied in her tone. You're inking for hire? "She had an arrangement with my father."

  "Maybe in the previous continuum. But it sounds like she thinks you're working for her in this one."

  In the study someone had forced open all of the drawers to the desk and the file cabinets, scattering papers everywhere. Books had been tossed from shelves. Floor boards had been ripped away, joists exposed by holes ripped into plaster walls. Someone wanted his pen. Badly.

  "Jules, why don't you take Maya into the kitchen."

  "What, I'm your personal assistant or something?"

  He gave her as stern a look as he could without giving too much away. "I need to check a few things. Personal things. Okay?"

  She nodded, turning back to Maya. "Right. I guess I'd be freaked if someone went through all my stuff too. Why don't we girls go in the kitchen while Addy looks around a bit more."

  Maya scanned around her. "Shouldn't we call the police?"

  "No." Addison shook his head. "Well, maybe later. I just need to check a few things."

  "I completely understand." She smiled with a knowing politeness. "Show me the way, Jules."

  With Maya in the kitchen, Addison walked through every room in the house, listening for a noise, any sound that would give away an intruder. Of course, whoever did this had to be long gone. At the attic stairs he took a deep breath, then climbed the steps. More floor boards had been ripped away, boxes scattered helter-skelter. Addison kept his pen, Renascentia, with him in his front jeans pocket, but he had left the pen's box hidden in the attic. He stepped over to a gap in the floor boards. The intruder had stolen the box. They didn't get Renascentia, but whoever it was now knew he definitely had a League pen.

  He walked back to the kitchen, needing to get Maya out of the house so they could get on with their search for some clue to restoring the continuum. She turned to greet him when he came through the entryway.

  "I hope it's not as bad as it looks, Addison. Should we call the police?"

  "Listen, Maya. This isn't really a good time after all. Maybe we could talk about what my father was doing for you later." He motioned her toward the hall.

  "Of course." She stepped toward the foyer. "Did they get anything of value?"

  "Thanks. I don't think so."

  She looked down the hallway, books and papers scattered on the floor. "That's odd. You'd think after someone tears up your place like this, you'd be missing a few things."

  "I probably am. Just haven't figured out what yet."

  She stopped at the door to face Addison. "I imagine you're like your father."

  "How so?"

  "Probably have a special place where you keep your most valuable possessions. A safety deposit box or maybe a secret vault hidden under your house."

  "What are you trying to say?"

  "You're upset." Her eyes wandered across the hallway to the disheveled living room. "All of this…chaos."

  Jules stepped over to Addison. "Having someone break into your house would rattle anyone. Don't you think?"

  A slight smile crossed Maya's face. "I'd be worried if you were alone, Addison. I'm glad you have each other."

  Addison didn't protest. Jules was his partner. And maybe more.

  "I'll run along. We can talk about Emmett later, after you've had a chance to deal with everything."

  ***

  After Maya left, Addison and Jules made straight for the study, both searching the room, for what, they did not know.

  "That chick gives me the creeps."

  "She's just an old client of my dad's, Jules. Nothing to worry about."

  She righted the desk chair and sat. "What are we looking for, Addy?"

  "I guess we'll know when we see it. We just have to go through every drawer, every cabinet, every book until something appears. I just hope whoever broke in didn't already take what we need."

  Jules sorted through mounds of paper around her. "What if there's nothing to find?"

  He picked up a book off the floor, rifling through pages, scanning for a scrap of paper, a hand-written note in the margins, anything. "We've wasted the afternoon, I suppose. Pull the drawers out. Look for false bottoms and latches under the desk."

  Jules methodically pulled out each drawer, surveying its contents, and examining the drawer's sides and bottom. "Addy, if we're in a different time continuum, why don't we have clear memories of our time
here?"

  He paused from examining books, removing covers, flipping pages and checking the bindings. "I don't know. I remember everything prior to and during Charlie Taylor, but I don't remember anything from this time continuum. Maybe when our inking shifts time, our Inker consciousness stays dominant."

  "We should keep it that way. If we don't, I'm not sure if we'd be able to get ourselves back. We'd forget the continuum changed."

  He nodded. "Right. We keep this continuum's consciousness in the background."

  An hour into their search left them weary and frustrated. "No offense, but your father kept a lot of crap." She pulled out a small piece of yellowed paper. "A receipt for office supplies?"

  "So? This was his business office, after all."

  "From 1995?" She tossed a pile of crumpled receipts across the desktop. "I don't see how we're going to find anything in this mess."

  Having refilled the first bookcase, he leaned over, picking up a leather-bound book. Opening its cover, he noted the book was an old first edition copy of H.G. Wells novella The Time Machine. Addison's father used to read this to him when he was a kid. "I suppose hiding a clue in this would be a bit too obvious."

  Jules looked up from her receipts. "Let me see."

  Addison passed the book to her, and continued his search.

  She flipped it open, scanning the pages. "I never read it, but I remember the movie, the original with Rod Taylor. Very steam punk."

  "The book's great. One of my favorites growing up."

  "Oh, too bad."

  He paused from the search, looking over his shoulder. "What?"

  "Someone wrote in it."

  "A clue?"

  "No, an inscription. To my time comrade. Through the ages, Ezekiah. Man, that'll lower the value." She tossed it on a stack of paper and envelopes.

  "Jules, I'm not going to sell my dad's books anyway."

  She pulled a letter from the pile, the words taking her full attention. "Addy, listen to this."

  "What?"

  "A letter from your father."

  He recognized the handwriting, even upside down. It was the letter his father had left for him with the attorney, the one guiding him to his pen. "Yeah, I've read it."