Free Jumper: Griffin's Story by Steven Gould Page A

kilometers away, but Kemp couldn't. But, say he felt my last two jumps right before I called Alejandra; they could've been in La Crucecita, within one or two kilometers, but still taking five minutes to find their way.
    He'd certainly feel it if I jumped while on the balcony. Then the realization came. Range. They could sense jumps but they couldn't have been practicing on me alone. They had experience sensing jumps. Other jumps. Not mine.
    Mon Dieu, there are other jumpers!
    Kemp groaned again, the sound echoing off the bathroom tiles. I remembered that time I was sick shortly after arriving in
Oaxaca
and wished I could just die and get it over with. I hoped he suffered for weeks.
    I used the mirror then, when it was clear he was still on the toilet, scooting to the edge of the doorway and tilting it, low, to peer into the room. Their suitcases were in the closet, just sticking out, but that briefcase he hadn't let Vidal carry was on the bed. Wonder what it contained.
    Well, why not find out?
    It was just a step inside, on the carpet, silent, but I think the light was dimmed very slightly as I went through the door. Even sick as he was, Kemp noticed. I heard him scramble for his pants but I had my hand on the case before he cleared the bathroom door. He was trying to point something at me, something bigger than a gun, bringing it up, but I jumped.
    Dad's voice–Don't let anyone even point a weapon at you.
    No, Dad. Do my best.
    Didn't go far.
    Couldn't. If they weren't chasing me, they'd turn their attention on Alejandra. So I wanted them to chase me.
    I went to the island in the next bay over, the Isla la Mon–tosa, a rocky bit slightly less than three hundred meters across, only a few hundred meters off the east headland of
Tangolunda
Bay
. It had a tiny spit of land extending toward the mainland that sheltered a bit of beach less than fifty meters long. The rest of the island was big waves on rock shore with a raised brushy interior.
    It was only four kilometers from the hotel.
    They should have felt it.
    Felt, but could they track it? Did they feel the direction?
    Would they come?
    The briefcase had two three–digit combination locks and they were engaged. Two sets of a thousand possible combinations, solvable, I suppose, with enough time and patience. Just start at 000 and work your way up to 999.
    I sat on the little beach and hit the locks with a rock, which not only opened it eventually, but greatly relieved the tension while I waited, especially when I screamed as I did it.
    Every few minutes I'd take a break and jump to the four quarters of the compass, the east, north, south, and west shores of the island, to see if they were coming yet, and with the jumping, let them know I was still here.
    The suitcase popped open eventually but it flared bright and hot and I had to throw it away from myself. I was surprised I hadn't set it off earlier, with all the banging, but it was only meant to self–destruct, not designed to kill, clearly, or I'd be dead.
    The contents were ash and melted plastic and blackened metal. There was a charred corner of a passport, but it was the most recognizable thing I found. The flare had been really bright and the afterimage floated in my field of vision.
    Magnesium, maybe. That had been one of the more memorable homeschool science experiments–the thin ribbon of metal that went right on burning after Mum dropped it in the water.
    They came in two boats–one that went directly to the beach, avoiding the rocks that dotted the mouth of the cove, and another that tried to do something on the seaward side. They could have landed a swimmer but it would've meant writing off the boat to come any closer to the jagged lava. The waves would've smashed it into the cliff. In the end, that boat, too, circled the island and put in at the cove.
    There were only three of them–Ortiz from the AFI, Kemp from
Bristol
, and a bearded man who towered over the other two. He hadn't been at
San Diego
, I