Stealing Time

rhythm.
“I’ve read about Time Locks,” he said, “I’veseen pictures of the prototype stabilisers. They were developed bythe Corps during the time thief abductions years ago, to buy time.Scientists hoped they could be used to hold the children in a sortof stasis for as long as it took to develop a method of reversingthe drain of their years.”
Marisa nodded. She’d never really given thegenesis of the Time Locks a lot of thought, but it made sense. Backthen, cryogenics was only used on dead bodies by the mega wealthywho believed they would be brought back to life at some point inthe future. Marisa rolled her eyes. Why they thought anyone wouldbother bringing them back to life was beyond her. But massivewealth did strange things to people’s perceptions. Somewhere outthere was a freezer still full of bodies waiting to be regeneratedat some point in the future.
“The Time Lock stabiliser development wasabandoned after the time thieves were apprehended. The the researchproject was shut down. And yet, here it is, what appears to be afully functioning model.” His gaze shifted from the black box toMarisa. “So, who’s in the Time Lock?”
Marisa’s eyes snapped up. She pursed herlips, then sighed.
“Varya’s son, Kir. And her mother,Elena.”
“But he’s dead.” Connor blinked fast,stunned. “Kir… he died. Years ago, didn’t he? I mean, that’s whyshe and Sebastian split up, soon after their division of the RestTime Corps was disbanded.”
Marisa just stared at him.
“He’s not dead,” he said slowly.
Marisa shook her head. “Nope. Alive andchasing birds like any self-respecting four-year-old.” She frowned.“Except he’s kind of closer to nine years old now. But he looksfour. It’s complicated.”
“Yes, yes, of course. He’s in stasis so hedoesn’t age but he still lives so his mind develops. But…” Helooked up at Marisa. “Does his mind develop? Physically?”
Marisa shot him a look of pure irritation.“How should I know? I haven’t sliced his brain open recently. Ijust bring the food.”
“You’ve been inside the Time Lock? Wow,what’s it like?” He stood up and went to the kitchen door. Marisajumped up and grabbed his arm.
“Don’t even think about it. Nobody goes inthere except me and Varya.”
Connor shook his arm free and made as if tomove back into the kitchen. “I’m sorry, I just… it’s so incredible.They’d tried to get the Time Locks working but never could. Andthen the technology was destroyed along with everything else.”
Marisa flicked her head towards the table.He sat down. She leaned against the bench and crossed her arms.
“Kir’s illness was very advanced. Varya wastold there was nothing left to do for him. Sebastian wanted her tojust let him go, but she couldn’t. She wanted to make sure they’dtried everything. Sebastian and Varya had an awful fight. Sebastiansaid his goodbyes—to both Varya and Kir. Then he left.”
“So, the kid’s still sick? Inside the TimeLock?”
Marisa shook her head. “Yes and no. Varyatold the doctors she wanted to take him home and allow him to diethere. They gave her drugs that would keep him comfortable and senthim home. She waited for a point in time when he was feeling well.You know that sweet spot just a half hour or so after you’ve takenyour next dose of medicine? Then she set Elena—that’s hermother—and Kir up in the Time Lock. They’ve been there eversince.”
Connor gave a low whistle. “Wow.”
Marisa gave him space to process all thiswhile she moved to the sink and started to fill it with warm, soapywater to wash the coffee cups.
“Why hasn’t anyone come looking for Kir?”Connor asked finally.
Marisa dried her hands on a small towelhanging from the oven. She shrugged before turning to face him.
“Guess they figured he’d died.”
“But wouldn’t the hospital expect a body?Wouldn’t Sebastian come back for the funeral?”
Marisa laughed. “Doctors and morgues arefairly separate entities. You should know that. Why would thehospital staff follow up? Zoe—she’s a doctor—told them she waschecking in on Kir. And Sebastian… he was gone. He’d already saidhis farewell.”
The silence stretched between them. Marisaand Connor both waited for Varya to return and tell them what thenext step was.
Marisa gazed at Connor. Connor looked awayfirst. Marisa tapped her purple index fingernail on the tablebetween them. Quietly, steadily. Tap, tap, tap. He looked up. Shesmiled sweetly.
“You work at the Cure Factory, then?”
He nodded slowly, frowning. “Cure Factory?”He tipped his head, lifted one side of his mouth. His eyessparkled. “I guess that could work.”
They both looked up to see Varya grippingthe doorframe tightly with one hand. She seemed surprised to seethem.
“Var’?” said Marisa softly. “You okay?”
Varya frowned, focusing on a point just overMarisa’s head.
“I have to go and see Zoe.” Then she lookeddirectly at Connor. “You need to leave now.”
“But…” he started.
She shook her head once, decisively. “We’lltalk later. Go back to work.”
And with that, she left.
Marisa watched the space she’d vacated, herbrow lined with concern. She looked back at Connor.
“Off you go then, minion. Back to work.”
“What will you do now?” he asked, standingup from his chair.
“I’m going to stay here and have anothercoffee,” she told him.
She waited until she heard the door locksclick shut after him, then sighed and stood, stretching her stiffback, and grumbling to herself. She rolled her shoulders to get thekinks out and then wandered out to the hallway and turned left,padding up the carpet to the end room. She laid her palm againstthe panel next to the door and waited. The square beeped and lit upa soft green. The door whooshed and opened slightly. Marisa pushedit wide but didn’t go in. Beyond the single bed was amirror-fronted built in robe. At least, she knew there was a robethere, though she couldn’t see it. A shimmering oval obscured herview of two of the doors. Suspended in mid-air, she could just seethe silver edge of the closet door beneath the oval’s lowest point.She checked the digital clock on the dresser. Another hour beforeshe was scheduled to take the next food delivery through.
“Hope you’re hungry, kid. It’s burgers foryou tonight,” she said softly to the shimmering portal.

Chapter eighteen
Elena
I’m never quite sure if it’s the sound or the smellof the portal that alerts me first. We