When All is Null and Void

Chapter Twenty

The tortillas were made in house by a weathered old woman who didn't speak any English, and Alexander's tip was a little extravagant, but where Caleb came from bots had taken over most restaurants, so he didn't really understand the nuances of tipping.

As they drove home, the seat belt sat tight over Caleb's stomach.

They spent the next few days practicing different sorts of Hops. Alexander told Caleb to study a place, to look at photos and memorize the details. They would then Hop to that place. "I'll let you guide us," Alexander said, "but if it starts to go awry, I'll be there to pull you back." Alexander's presence made it all the easier.

"Why don't you have me Hop to the future?" Caleb asked after they'd visited the early days of 2005 for the third time.

"The ring only allows you to Hop to the time you came from when it comes to the future." Alexander leaned against the kitchen counter as he stirred a boiling pot of soup.

Caleb scrunched his eyebrows. "So I can go back to my time, but I can't Hop twenty-four hours into the future?" Seemed sort of lame.

"Yes," Alexander said. He tasted the soup, decided it needed more salt. "Your home time, for lack of a better word, is anchor. You're like a bungee chord, reaching out to touch a specific point, but you will always return to that place you began, before you can touch another time period."

"I think I have a headache." The Timewalker Codex was perched on Caleb's lap while he balanced on the back two legs of the dining room chair.

If the Timewalker's ability to Hop is ever threatened--such that someone may be forcefully removing the ring—Timelock will occur. This is a very rare occurrence, and one which ought to never be wished upon a Timewalker. The ring will attach itself to the bearer so as not to be stolen. This unfortunate disposition causes seizures, mood-swings, recklessness. While even rarer than Timelock itself, death has been, quite tragically, known to occur.

Caleb closed the book, deciding he didn't care so much about Timelock at the moment. He'd much rather be out doing Time Hops, but Alexander had already told him he'd been lax on the test over the material in the book. He'd probably fail it, but he could at least Time Hop. "So will I ever get an actual assignment?" he asked his mentor. "I mean, I know I'm not that great at all this just yet. But I'm interested."

Alexander looked over his shoulder and banged a wooden spoon on the side of the turquoise pot. "Well, that's what I was going to discuss with you during dinner."

"Oh?" Caleb said with raised eyebrows.

"Most Timewalkers collect artifacts from the time period in which they're stationed."

Caleb nodded. The Codexhad already told him as much.

"Once we're done with training, you'll be located out of our base time. Your job is to close Void leaks, because you're immune to them, and won't be affected by Void sickness."

"So does that mean I won't ever be collecting artifacts?"

"As part of your training, you'll have to do a trial run of collecting an artifact." Alexander ladled soup into two bowls and broke off two pieces of French bread from a loaf. "They want you to go to 1912," Alexander replied. "Specifically to Southampton."

"Titanic?" Caleb said. "Pleasetell me I'm going on the Titanic." Excitement quivered in him. Ever since the Museum had brought the ship from beneath the Atlantic, Caleb had been fascinated by the whole doomed narrative.

"Not going on it," Alexander said lightly. "They want you to get a ticket from someone."

Caleb dropped the chair down onto all four legs. "Take it from someone? Why would I do that?"