Eternity's Wheel (InterWorld 3)

“There’s Mom,” Acacia said finally, pointing. “And that’s my little sister with her.”

I looked where she indicated, picking out a dark-haired woman in a long coat standing with a clipboard in her hand. A younger girl stood next to her, something in her hands occasionally flashing white and lighting up her surroundings.

“Lead the way,” I said, though she wound up having to physically lead me, as trying to navigate the long stairway with only one working eye proved a lot more difficult than I’d thought. My depth perception was way off, and I took a few of the steps harder than I meant to by misjudging the distance. By the time we got to the bottom, my ribs were aching again from the jarring missteps.

“Mom,” Acacia called, and the woman turned. As expected, she looked a lot like an older Acacia; they had the same jaw, same nose, same violet eyes. Her hair was lighter, though, and her face was subtly different. Not her smile, though. Her smile was the same.

“Joseph Harker,” she said, tucking her clipboard under one arm and offering me her hand. I took it. Instead of shaking, she covered it with her other hand, the gesture surprisingly warm. I thought of my own mother, and swallowed.

“Hi,” I said, glancing down at the little girl peering around from behind her mother. She, also, bore a slight resemblance to Acacia.

“I’m Deana,” Acacia’s mother said, releasing my hand. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you.”

“You, too,” I said awkwardly, stumbling over the niceties, but she didn’t seem to notice. She was already turning toward InterWorld and looking down at her clipboard again. I caught a glimpse of what looked like blueprints and a lot of technical words even I didn’t recognize.

“She’s almost ready for you, Captain Harker,” Deana said, and I tried not to cringe.

“I—I’m not—”

“Don’t even try,” she interrupted. “With the death of Captain Joseph Harker Alpha, you most certainly are the new captain of InterWorld.”

“Joseph . . . Alpha?” I asked. She shrugged.

“We have our own classifications to keep everything straight.” Before I could respond to that, she started walking. She kept talking, too, obviously expecting me to follow. I did.

“We’re making some upgrades,” she continued, pointing a long silver pen toward InterWorld. “Mainly in your security system, since there was obviously a breach. Two, at least, which is why—”

“Mrs. Jones,” I interrupted. “Can you tell me—”

“Call me Deana.”

“What happened to this InterWorld? Why it was abandoned?”

She stopped walking again, regarding me with kind amusement. Then she glanced past me, at Acacia. “All the questions he could ask, and he asks about something that doesn’t concern him.”

Acacia smiled and shrugged. “It concerns InterWorld, which means it concerns him.”

“That event occurs tens of thousands of years in the future, Joseph,” Deana said.

“Time isn’t static,” I said, repeating something I remembered Acacia saying. “That event may have already occurred in the future, but that doesn’t mean it won’t affect me.”

Her expression changed. She looked at me for a long, uncomfortable moment, and I recalled something Jay had said a long time ago about how it was TimeWatch’s job to make sure the future happens as it’s supposed to, and how they could erase me if it became necessary. . . .

Then she looked at Acacia again, who cleared her throat uncomfortably. “Mom, uh . . .”

“You’re grounded,” her mother said, and the girl behind her giggled. Acacia’s eyes widened, mouth dropping open in faint outrage.

“You’re kidding me,” Acacia said, and Deana laughed.

“Yes, I am kidding. Your brother already told me how much Joseph knows about Time, in part due to the MDLF,” Deana explained, looking down at her clipboard again. “To that end, the council has decided to appoint an official liaison on his missions.” She glanced at me. “No offense, but someone has to make sure he doesn’t inadvertently mess up the timestreams.”

I shrugged. Acacia blinked.

“A liaison?”

“Yes,” her mother said. “Go pack.”

I looked at Acacia. She looked at me and abruptly broke into a wide grin. “That means I get to tell you what to do,” she said.