The only reason she knew all this was because of her photographic memory.No one else could tell what had changed.
She’d also learned not to get too close to the board when time was fluxing—her name for it.As far as she knew, there wasn’t a scientific term for what happened.
That there wasn’t the proper term bothered poor Alice.She liked trackable data, theories that could be monitored logically.
And now here Alice was in the future—a very uncertain future if they couldn’t stop the opposition before they stopped them.
Mel got as close as she dared, taking time to study each image and compare it to her memory.
It was interesting that there were always small differences.Perhaps there were tiny decisions made by people, choices small enough they didn’t affect the larger flow of events?
It was into this flow they’d inserted Con.The opposition had to know what they knew, so they shouldn’t be able to tell this first time who or what Con was.He’d just be a new face.They might suspect he didn’t belong there but they’d need more time to prove it.
Time.She kept slamming into its ironies.
She squinted and found Con, standing in the shadows at the back of the small crowd.She only knew it was him because she recognized his shape and stance.He wore a cap that shadowed his face.
And then she frowned, resisting the urge to step closer, into an area that was already showing signs of minor time turbulence.
She eyed the edges of her board.Yeah, it was definitely starting to waver a bit.She shook her head, because it tended to mesmeric if she weren’t careful.She refocused on the images.
There were another two men who were new.Were they?She searched her photographic memory.Oh yeah, definitely new.
It helped that they stood out like black and white sore thumbs in the clipping.They looked Federal.
Their black suits were consistent with the time, as were their white shirts, well, as near as she could tell.Sunglasses probably were, too.Not that they mattered except for what they signaled.
Men in black?
The problem?
The men in black hadn’t appeared this early in the time line that she knew of.The military had investigated the Roswell incident and the men in black had emerged at some point from all of this alien stuff.
Ty had urged caution with this mission.If Con tried to make contact with their target, it could highlight him to the opposition.The opposition, he’d pointed out, was looking for them, too.
So the mission had been altered to locate and observe only.
In hindsight—really distant hindsight—this plan seemed doubly wise with some men in black on the scene.Were they opposition men in black?There was no way to know for sure.
She moved on to the next clipping and compressed her lips in annoyance.What the heck was Con doing?In the background of this clipping, it was definitely Con leaving the briefing—with their mystery girl by his side.
Men were so annoying.
She felt and saw the sudden shift, indicating that time was annoyed with him, too.
Rita sat on the stool, her high-heeled shod feet resting on a bar that ran near the bottom of the counter.It was a relief to get off her feet.And wonderful to pull the cold soft drink up through the straw.Almost immediately she felt cooler.
The position was a good one.In the mirror, she watched the men in black peer in the big plate-glass window.
The drugstore was almost empty.Everyone who might have been shopping right now was probably at the press conference.It made it awkward for the two men.They’d stand out like beacons in the bland store.
It was a place that wanted to be shiny and bright, but that was muted by the dust sneaking in through tiny gaps and hot sunshine beating in from outside.
She stole a sideways glance at Red.There was a bit of auburn in his brushed back hair.Maybe he’d had more red when he was born?
Or—she had a feeling that was a nickname.Maybe he didn’t like his given name?She’d been named after a movie star from clear back in the twentieth century.It was too short to lend itself to nicknames.
Her brain touched on her breach of protocol by giving him her real name, but she pushed the thought away.It had been an instinct and she trusted those more than the rules.
