Free The Bureau of Time by Brett Michael Orr

forcing himself to stand straighter, to not crumple beneath the Drill Sergeant’s withering glare. “She’s a Timewalker, like me. Adjusters tried to kill her two nights ago.”
    “And unless she trains, they’ll actually kill her next time!” Mathers bellowed. He looked in disgust at Cassie, then turned around. Over his shoulder he said, “Get up and get out of my sight. Briars, don’t ever speak to me out of line again, is that understood?”
    “Yes, Drill Sergeant,” Shaun nodded, letting out a shaky sigh. He had somehow, miraculously, avoided punishment. For a moment, he believed that, until Mathers turned back and added, “Double cleaning duty for the next two weeks, Timewalker. Maybe your magic tricks will help you clean the crapper.”
    “ Company, move out! ” the Drill Sergeant shouted. Ryan glanced back at Shaun with an expression of thinly veiled disappointment. The recruits turned and marched away, following Mathers down a trail through the forested hills.
    “Are you okay?” Shaun asked Cassie. He grabbed her hand and pulled her upright. She looked away from him, her cheeks burning brightly. Her palms were bloody from the asphalt, filled with flecks of grit.
    “I’m fine,” she mumbled. “You – you shouldn’t have done that for me.”
    “I wanted to. About time somebody told him to lay off the new recruits.”
    “Thank you,” she said, meeting his gaze with sparkling blue eyes. The sun slowly mounted the horizon, painting the forest in an orange glow and lighting Cassie’s hair on fire. He realized he was staring and quickly looked away.
    “It was nothing,” he said, with a nonchalant shrug. “Come on, we should catch up to the rest of them.”
    The pair set off at a light jog through the pine forest, the fallen needles crunching beneath their feet. Cassie couldn’t quite match Shaun’s pace, so he slowed down. For the first time in months, he found himself appreciating the thick scent of pine in the air and the cool breeze filtering through the trees – the serenity was only broken by Mathers screaming insults at the other recruits ahead of them.
    The path led up through the hills surrounding the Ranch, toward the highest point in the entire base, where two parabolic satellite dishes pointed at the sky.
    “That’s how the base communicates with Eaglepoint Station,” Shaun explained, taking steady breaths between strides. “Sometimes, when I can’t sleep, I slip out of the base and go up there to think, just me and the stars.”
    He let out an embarrassed laugh. “I don’t know why I told you that.”
    “It’s fine,” Cassie said, breathless despite the relatively slow pace. She flashed him a smile that made his stomach flutter.
    They jogged in silence for a few minutes. Shaun grabbed low-hanging branches and hauled himself further up the hill, stopping to give Cassie a hand on the steeper parts. The trail switch-backed twice, running parallel to a service road for maintenance vehicles – of course, Mathers enjoyed making the recruits use the more treacherous trail.
    “Can I – ask you – something?” Cassie huffed. Ahead, Shaun heard the recruits talking loudly. They were near the satellite dishes, and the company had stopped for a brief rest. For the moment, Cassie and Shaun were hidden by the trees and the natural curve of the hills.
    “Anything,” Shaun said, coming to a stop. He unhooked a canteen from his belt and took a long drink. Cassie did the same, taking a moment to fix her hair in place.
    “Why aren’t there more Timewalkers here?”
    He flinched at her question. The wind intensified, howling through the trees. The parabolic dishes groaned, their metallic voices echoing the ghosts in his head – couldn’t save me, can’t save us. He took another drink, even though he was starting to feel sick again; the silence stretched too long.
    “I’m sorry,” she mumbled, “I shouldn’t have asked.”
    “It’s – it’s okay,” he said, leaning