Stealing Time by Rebecca Bowyer

Author:Rebecca Bowyer [Bowyer, Rebecca]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: future, time travel, australia, time altering, timeslip, time control, time freeze, Climate Fiction
Publisher: Rebecca Bowyer
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter twenty-eight

“Why Ben?” Marisa stepped into the apartment past Varya and turned to face her.

“Hello to you, too,” said Varya, closing the door gently.

“Why Daniel?”

“I don’t understand. What do you mean?”

“Why would they take older kids who can fend for themselves, from a middle-class district, rather than younger kids with more years on their Chips from poorer neighbourhoods where it’s less likely to make headlines? It doesn’t make sense.”

“I don’t think anyone has ever accused those monsters of being sensible, Marisa. Maybe they’re just not very bright.”

“Or maybe they’re trying to make a point.”

“What point? That dying young is awful?”

Marisa looked away in frustration, annoyed at Varya for not being receptive to the idea and annoyed at herself for not having thought it out more.

Babies and toddlers were the logical children to take to maximise the number of years left to drain from the Chips. But they were harder to snatch, rarely left unattended. They were also harder to return unnoticed. The returning was smart, she’d always thought, in a macabre kind of way. It left no pile of bodies, but everyone was so focused on the trauma of the dying child, they didn’t have a chance to ask for details of the kidnappers. Not that the returned children could have told them much anyway, apart from vague memories of a drugged haze.

Varya waited for Marisa to say something more. When she didn’t, she turned on her heel and returned to the kitchen, not waiting for her employee to follow. Marisa took her time to collect herself. She could hear murmuring in the kitchen and strained to identify the other voice. It wasn’t Zoe’s voice, as she’d expected. Too low. She dared to hope that, after all these years, Varya had finally agreed to ask Sebastian for help.

It was the rational thing to do. Other cures had been pushed through the labs at a satisfactory rate. Kir’s cure was still languishing in the unsolved mysteries bucket after more than four long years. There was no guarantee that Sebastian could provide the breakthrough that Varya needed, but it was the next logical step. Marisa continued listening to the voices, calm and in control, and wondered if Varya had become a little too comfortable with having her son and mother preserved in a living museum. She pushed herself off the wall where she had slumped and trudged up the apartment’s short hallway.

The small, round dining table held a sea of papers and clips which Connor and Varya pushed around, turned, and exchanged at regular intervals. Varya looked up briefly but returned her eyes to the papers before she spoke.

“I shopped for ingredients, they’re in the fridge. Recipes for the week are in the folder.”

Marisa pursed her lips and wriggled her nose. Varya was an easy boss and some-time friend, as long as you didn’t second guess her. Question her judgement and she would shut down, just like this. Marisa resolved to try to keep any further thoughts about the time thefts to herself, focus on stashing away money for her retirement and getting out of here.

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