Ashes of Time (The After Cilmeri Series) (12 page)

“
Who’s your boss?” Anna
said to Callum.

“
It was the Prime Minister
himself,” he said. “Unfortunately, the man now in office is not the
same one who was in power two years ago, which is largely the
reason for our budget cuts. He has different priorities. That and
the worldwide economic downturn.”

In medieval Wales, Anna gave zero thought to
how this world was turning out, beyond hoping Cassie and Callum
were okay. A ‘worldwide economic downturn’ and its consequences
just wasn’t something she had ever felt the need to think
about.

“
But he’s not your boss
now?” Mom said.

“
We are being
reincorporated back into MI-5,” Callum said. “A man named Tate is
the new director.”

“
So you’re not going to
tell either of them that we’re here?” Mom said.

“
Not yet,” Callum said.
“For two reasons, and the first has nothing to do with you at all.
The British government has been facing a series of internal crises
since Cassie and I returned. Over the last six months, the problems
have escalated. There have been bombings, protests, and general
unrest, culminating in the destruction of the GCHQ about an hour
ago. It’s—” He broke off and shook his head.

“
It’s a mess, is what it
is,” Cassie said. “This may be only the beginning too.”

Anna looked from Cassie to Callum. “Did
people die?”

Callum nodded, his face drawn. “I don’t know
what we’re going to find when we get back.”

“
I’m sorry,” Anna
said.

Mom made a sympathetic noise too. “And the
second reason?”

Callum took in a deep breath. “Well, it’s
past one in the morning in England, and since we’re all here in
Oregon, it isn’t as if I can bring you into the Prime Minister’s
office as proof that time travel really exists.”

“
Oh, I get it now,” Anna
said. “He doesn’t believe what we can do is real.”

“
He does not,” Cassie
said.

“
Well, good for us,” Mom
said. “That leaves only our own government to worry
about.”

“
And it just so happens
that it’s Thanksgiving,” Cassie said, beaming. “Nobody’s
watching.”

That made Anna feel a little bit better
about being here. Mom and Dad’s journey across Wales and David’s
imprisonment the following year had been haunting Anna from the
moment she opened her eyes to find she and Mom were in the modern
world. Anna had grown up in Portland, but even at the oblivious age
of seventeen, she’d known how neglected these small communities
were, with little in the way of infrastructure, including poor to
nonexistent cell phone coverage or internet. While a big city might
provide anonymity, a small, friendly town might close ranks around
them. Plus, it had less surveillance.

“
It’s a huge relief to
think that it might take some time for the government to find us,”
Mom said. “I feel sorry for the poor schmuck on duty if he realizes
that something has happened and has to call his superior away from
his Thanksgiving dinner.”

Callum let out a mocking snort. “I was that
schmuck once. It isn’t fun. Maybe he’ll take a few minutes to work
up his courage.”

“
It’s been a few minutes,”
Mom said. “We’ve talked about best case scenarios. What’s the
worst?”

Everyone looked at Callum, who chewed on his
lower lip. But it was Art who answered, “They see you’re here, a
call is made, then more calls. The closest FBI field office is in
Portland. Three hours away.”

“
It wouldn’t be the FBI,”
Callum said. “Homeland Security, maybe.”

“
Salem, then,” Art said. “A
little farther.”

Nobody asked him how he knew that, and Art
didn’t say. Cassie seemed to take it for granted that he’d have
that knowledge at his fingertips.

“
What about local cops?”
Mom said.

Art pursed his lips. “Pendleton police,
tribal police, county sheriff, and state patrol.”

“
Without knowing who of you
has come through, they would have no alert to send out,” Callum
said. “They’d have to send someone to the site, and then track you
back.”

“
I don’t see that happening
tonight,” Cassie said.

Art pulled into a driveway and stopped the
truck. Anna hadn’t been paying attention to where they were going,
but everyone got out of the truck, so she did too. They followed
Art across the porch to the front door of the house. It was a small
two-story. Their arrival included the return of Cassie’s uncles and
cousins, who’d intended to search for Mom and Anna and had followed
them back, so now the house was full to bursting.

“
What if it did?” Anna
whispered the words to Cassie.

She bit her lip. “I hope I didn’t speak too
soon.”

The turkey had come out of the oven only
three minutes before, and the house was full of delicious smells.
Anna was curious to taste modern food again, with all its chemicals
and additives. Would it taste bad to her? As it turned out,
however, Cassie’s family did things the old fashioned way, and the
table in the kitchen was loaded with unprocessed food not that
different from what they’d been serving at Rhuddlan earlier that
day, except that instead of roast pork and chicken, they were
eating turkey and a bunch of other New World foods not available in
Wales in the Middle Ages.

Five minutes later, Anna found herself with
a loaded plate, sitting on a couch in the living room between
Cassie and one of her eighteen-year-old male cousins. “So,” the boy
said through enormous bites of food he wasn’t bothering to chew
before swallowing, “how do you know Cassie?”

Anna glanced at Cassie. From their
conversation in the truck, Anna had understood that Cassie had told
something of her story to her relations, but obviously not to this
one or not the whole story. Admittedly, the whole story was pretty
far-fetched.

“
I met Anna and Meg while I
was away,” Cassie said between her own bites of food.

“
In Scotland?” he
said.

“
Right,” Cassie
said.

Fortunately, before he
could ask any more questions, Cassie’s grandfather approached, and
the boy stood up so Art could sit down. Art began to eat with utter
focus, chewing each bite thoroughly. Nobody said anything. Anna
thought about repeating a phrase her mother would sometimes say
when David brought his friends home:
all’s
quiet while the beasts feed
, but she didn’t
know that everyone would get it and didn’t want anyone—especially
Art—to take offense.

Fortunately, before Anna could put her foot
in her mouth, Art said, “You’ll be leaving us, then,
Granddaughter?”

Cassie looked over at her grandfather across
Anna, who shrank back on the couch, wishing she wasn’t between
them. She felt like she was eavesdropping on a conversation that
should be private.

“
Callum and I haven’t
talked about it yet, but he’s worried about someone finding Anna
and Meg. It’ll be tonight or first thing in the morning that we’ll
go.”

“
When you do go, you can
take my truck, but I didn’t mean that,” Art said. “I meant
leaving
.”

Cassie didn’t answer for a second, and then
she ducked her head in a nod. “I have to. I think we have to.”

Art nodded. “I will miss you.”

A buzz from Callum’s phone interrupted
whatever else Art might have been going to say. Anna was glad,
because she had been feeling more than a little uncomfortable
witnessing that exchange. Clearly Cassie loved her grandfather, and
in a way it was Anna’s fault—and Mom’s fault—that they would be
separated again. Because if Cassie and Callum were returning to the
Middle Ages, the only way they were getting there was to hitch a
ride with Mom and Anna.

It wasn’t Anna’s fault, however, that they
wanted to go.

Callum had just sat down in a straight-back
chair set kitty corner to the couch, but he stood without having
taken a bite, his plate in his hand. He checked the screen and then
put the phone to his ear. “Callum.”

Cassie and Anna kept their eyes fixed on his
face. As Callum listened without speaking, the muscles around his
eyes and mouth tightened. The phone call wasn’t going well. In
anticipation of immediate action, Anna split a roll in half and
filled it with some of the turkey and cranberry sauce from her
plate. As she was working, Mom entered the room. Seeing Callum on
his phone, and Anna making a sandwich, she set her plate down on
the coffee table and stood looking at him, her hands on her
hips.

Callum said, “Do we have any leads?”

Anna glanced at Cassie, who leaned in to
her. “This must be about the explosion, not you.”

Callum hung up. Cassie’s whisper had caused
Anna to miss the rest of Callum’s conversation.

“
We should go.” Callum
looked at Art. “Any chance of finding Meg and Anna a change of
clothes before we leave?”

Art stood and disappeared through the door
that led to the kitchen, which Anna took to be a ‘yes’ or at the
very least a ‘maybe’. Callum tipped his head towards the hallway
that led to the bathroom and bedrooms. If nothing else, Anna was
determined to use the toilet before they left.

“
Who was that?” Cassie said
as the four companions formed a huddle, their heads
together.

“
That
was Dave Smith,” Callum said, and then added for Mom’s and
Anna’s benefit, “Smith works for the Permanent Secretary of the
Home Office, who has overseen MI-5 for many years. Since September,
I have reported to him. Before that, as I said earlier, the Project
was independent, subject to the oversight of the Prime Minister
himself.”

“
September was when they
started reeling us in,” Cassie said.

Callum held up his phone. “First things
first: the Home Office wants us to go dark until they can confirm
what might have been stolen from GCHQ before the bombing and how
catastrophic the loss of intelligence is.” Callum turned to Anna
and Mom. “GCHQ was an information gathering agency like your NSA.
All of our assets and resources may have been compromised,
including our mobile numbers, IDs, and personal information.” He
swiftly dismantled his phone by removing the back cover, the SIM
card, and the battery. He nodded at Cassie. “You need to take yours
apart too.”

Cassie pulled her phone from her pocket. She
hesitated for a second and then took the plunge, taking off the
back as Callum had. “I feel naked without it.”

Callum smirked.

“
What about us? Does MI-5
know we’re here?” Mom said.

“
Not that Smith said to me,
and you would think he would have done if he had known the flash
had taken place twenty miles from here,” Callum said.

“
You are trusted,” Cassie
said. “Smith would have said something.”

Callum glanced at her and then continued,
“I’m sure of nothing at this point.”

“
So the call was only about
the bombing?” Anna said.

Callum nodded. “It was a call I’ve been
waiting for since I spoke with Jones earlier about your arrival.
MI-5 is recalling me to help manage the aftermath. I am to make my
way as soon as possible to the consulate in San Francisco, which
will arrange for a plane to take us home.”

“
Take you home, you mean,”
Mom said.

“
How bad is it?” Cassie
said. “Did Dave give you the number of casualties?”

“
Not precisely.” Callum
checked his watch. “It’s been only two hours since it happened, if
that. It’s still burning. At least a hundred were known to be in
the building.”

“
Even this late at night?”
Mom said.

“
These are technical people
mostly,” Callum said. “They don’t sleep at night, and even if they
did, GCHQ was manned around the clock.”

“
What about getting in
touch with Mark?” Cassie said.

“
He texted me right before
the call from Smith came in. He’s picked up some chatter,” Callum
said.

“
What kind of chatter?” Mom
said.

“
I assume David told you
about his abduction from MI-5 two years ago?” Callum
said.

“
As much as he knew, which
wasn’t much,” Mom said.

“
It was accomplished by a
private security company—the Dunland Group,” Callum said. “Since
the start of the Iraq war back in ‘03, it was the top bidder on
dozens of military contracts all over the world, particularly for
the British government.”

Cassie nodded. “The company was discredited
in the UK because of the fallout from what happened with David, but
they’ve rebranded and continued to win contracts in other
countries, including the United States. The CIA promised us a
different outcome, but it didn’t happen. The company is now called
CMI—Conflict Management Industries—and it’s like they hardly
skipped a beat. They’re bigger than ever.”

“
So … they might be after
us?” Mom said, looking from Cassie to Callum and asking the
question in a more calm way than Anna would have. What MI-5 had
done in the last two instances of time travel was bad enough, but
the Dunland Group hadn’t had MI-5’s restraint. Which was saying
something.

“
We have a source inside
CMI, and he reports that the head office lit up like a beacon
starting at 4:30 this afternoon, moments after you arrived,” Callum
said. “Admittedly, it could have something to do with the bombing.
The two events happened very close together.”