Free Borrowed Time by Jack Campbell Page B

and I heard someone moving around to my left.
    The woman who came into view didn’t look familiar, and she was dressed like a Victorian. But her movements betrayed the casual grace of someone trained in gymnastics or martial arts, and didn’t appear hindered by the horribly confining undergarments required of women Here and Now. Not a local, I was a certain. She sat down opposite me and gave me a long, searching look before speaking. “Who are you?”
    I put my best confused and innocent look on my face. “I’m from out of town -.”
    “That’s obvious, since you have an implanted jump mechanism.”
    Definitely not one of the locals. “Do you mind telling me who you are, first?”
    “Yes, I do. Obviously I’m not someone you were expecting to see.”
    I hoped my smile looked sincere though I feared it was still a bit shaky. “There’s a woman who’s tried to kill me a few times. You’re not her.”
    “I could be,” she advised dryly. “Now, tell me who you are. I don’t want to ask again. My weapon still has you covered, so you’d be advised to take my requests seriously.”
    I noticed one of hands was inside her purse, and nodded in what I hoped was a non-threatening fashion. “I’m a T.I.”
    “Private work, then.”
    “Sort of.”
    “Why are you Here and Now?”
    I briefly considered possible responses as I examined her. Whatever her motives, she didn’t have any trace of Caligula, or even Mussolini, in her eyes. So I opted for truth, and explained how I’d happened to be Here and Now.
    Her expression didn’t change even after I’d finished. “This woman you say you encountered -.”
    “The psycho-blond.”
    My nickname for my would-be killer finally brought a brief smile to one corner of her mouth. “Why does she want to kill you?”
    “Apparently, she tried to kill me the first time we met because the second time we met she accidentally blew away a friend of hers while she was taking a shot at me.”
    “She back-jumped and tried to intercept you before the accident happened.”
    “I’m sure of it.”
    “And why was she trying to shoot you the second time you met her?”
    “I’m not certain. I’d cornered someone who I’m sure was an ally of hers, but I don’t know why she responded by trying to blow a hole in me instead of taking some less extreme step.” I paused and frowned. “Though from what I’ve seen of her, psycho-blond doesn’t seem to think of killing people as being all that extreme a step.”
    My questioner nodded. “If she’s with whoever caused the destruction of London tomorrow, that’s entirely too likely.”
    “Then the asteroid is an Intervention?”
    “Absolutely.” I finally saw tension leaving her posture, though her hand stayed inside that purse. “I know because I was here when it hit. Not in this spot, needless to say. I was a ways out of town working a job, saw the object streaking in, and knew immediately it had to be an Intervention because my background studies hadn’t mentioned even seeing such an aerial display. Then it blew. I had my assistant jump me back before the shock wave hit so I’d have a chance of doing a counter-intervention.” She eyed me closely, and then relaxed for real, though her eyes kept roaming around in precaution against us being surprised as she’d caught me. I hoped she was better at spotting danger than I was. . “I had to make sure you weren’t one of the people trying to carry off the Intervention. Did you catch any of the change wave before you jumped in?”
    “The first parts. Not the crest, I’m sure.”
    “My assistant’s history files haven’t been exposed to the change wave. If we compare them with yours we should be able to figure out who will profit from what happened to London tomorrow.”
    I didn’t reply directly, instead having Jeannie call up her information so I could summarize it. “Starting with tomorrow, the short story is that the British Empire responded to the tragedy by vowing to