We didn’t even have time to start thinking for ourselves before we heard Julie’s voice again. Loudly, she said, “No one move!”

After a series of clicks, the lights came on and the door opened.

Julie stomped back into the room, took a breath, and glared at us as if whatever she was angry about were our fault.

“I hate clients interrupting me. When they do it again and again, I forget things. You know what I forgot? This. All of you, take off anything that might help you escape, even if it means you have to strip naked, and put it in a pile in front of me. Right there.”

She pointed at a spot on the fake wooden floor. Continue reading Rachel in Infinity City: Part 11 →

Did cellphone service even make it out here? Normal cellphone service, that is. It didn’t surprise me that the League’s somehow did, but who knew how Nick had managed it.

I took the call even though I was tempted to ignore it. Mom and I didn’t always get along.

“Mom, I… didn’t expect to hear from you. It’s a program weekend, so I might not be able to talk long.”

“Did I catch you at a bad time?”

She caught me off guard with that question. It depended on your definition of bad. On the one hand, we’d barely avoided meeting up with xenophobic, superpowered killers, and an alternate version of my ex-boyfriend’s stalker. On the other hand, neither one was around right now.

Continue reading Rachel in Infinity City: Part 8 →

Tara bit her lip, and said, “Let’s talk about it outside.”

It didn’t take long to go outside. We passed the concrete lions without anything weird happening, and found ourselves standing on the grass next to the river again. Tara kept walking until we were out of earshot of any of the other people.

Well, out of normal earshot—Travis could hear every conversation on the lawn, and right then I was grateful for it.

Tara looked both ways before she said anything. “I was going to tell you about them. It’s a standard part of the tour, but with me being who I am, it gets… complicated.”

No one said anything while she paused.

Continue reading Rachel in Infinity City: Part 7 →

“Travis, don’t look now, but remember Julie? She’s over there, and there’s no way she came with us.”

Travis didn’t look. He smiled at me calmly, as if we were talking about something pleasant. He handled it better than I thought he would. “I smelled her. I’ve been pretending not to see her.”

“Good.” It took all of my self-control not to check whether she’d noticed us.

I remembered the briefing. You don’t mess with alternate versions of yourself or anyone you know. It’s right up there with going back in time to kill your grandfather—a dumb, dumb idea. You never knew what forces shaped them, and it was so easy to assume you were talking with the person you know.

Look, I may not always trust authority figures, but I listen when they’re talking sense.

Continue reading Rachel in Infinity City: Part 4 →

Something about Bullet’s attitude rubbed me the wrong way, so I didn’t make a big effort to hurry. It didn’t matter. Half the people in front of us did.

Travis stood up before I even put my hand on the seat.

It didn’t allow either of us to exit the bus any faster—not with everyone getting up at the same time.

Eventually we did, and instead of being in a line waiting to get out of the bus, we stood next to the door, waiting to pick up our CDPS’s, split into groups, and step into an impossible place.

Why it took as long as it did, I have no idea. We’d been told which groups we were in before we’d even gotten on the bus. Plus it was cold. Standing on a grassy plain in the month of November isn’t something I’d recommend to anyone.

Continue reading Rachel in Infinity City: Part 2 →