All the Colors of Time by Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff

just—”
    “Shifting,” said Shiro.
    Judy glanced at her, then at the monitors. The Spectral
Field glistened like a shower of diamonds. Within it, Colonel Ferris faded from
sight.
    “Station, Dr. Walsh!” ordered Oslovski.
    Judy exhaled sharply and slid into her seat. The data on the
Colonel’s vital signs rippled across her screen. “Heart rate spiked briefly to
150. It’s falling off now. One twenty . . . one hundred. Stabilizing
at . . . ninety-five. Respiration normal.”
    Oslovski leaned toward Shiro Tsubaki. “Where is he? Or
should I say, when is he?”
    “Green minus seven and Shifting towards Aqua.”
    “On the timer, Shiro. Give the tranq a few more seconds to
work, then make the spatial shift and pull him in.”
    Shiro nodded and glanced at her timer. “Okay, I’m going to
reset coordinates in 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0. Resetting coordinates.”
She punched up the new location on her keyboard.
    “Cue Trevor. Reversing Field . . . now.”
    Oslovski activated her headset and hailed Trevor, who was
standing by in the lower level Theatre. “Shiro’s reversing now. You’ll have him
in about twenty seconds.”
    “We’re ready.” Trevor hefted the infuser-full of Ephkal-A
and waited, his eyes on the spot where Ferris and the Temporal Field Grid were
slated to appear. Beside him, Vance Keller took a deep breath and counted.
    Ferris re-materialized right on schedule, head lolling
slightly, hands still clutching his compact weapon. He materialized facing into
a curving screen that all but engulfed him. His unfocused eyes saw the sweeping
upper gallery of the Word Conference Center. He wobbled his head to the right.
A pillar blocked his view.
    Trevor moved quickly with his infuser, then nodded to Vance.
    “He’s all yours,” he mouthed.
    oOo
    Ferris was troubled. The Time Shift had disoriented him
and he felt slow and muzzy. He was glad the chosen location offered so much
protection. He knew he was supposedly invisible, but he found that a little
hard to believe. He chucked inwardly at his own skepticism. Here he’d just
traveled through time and he was balking at the idea of invisibility.
    He scanned the immediate area. It was completely clear.
According to their information, this part of the auditorium had been totally
sealed off and was guarded at either end. There was no way in and no way out . . .
except their way.
    He could hear the sound of a myriad voices rising from below
and checked his watch. It was 1045. He settled his shoulder against the pillar
and waited for Hilyard, the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” playing softly in his
head.
    oOo
    Dr. Judy Walsh was ready this time, or so she thought. She
had a smile all ready for Major Hilyard as she prepared his infusion of
tranquilizer. Then, he turned out to be a watcher. She gritted her teeth and
smiled more broadly.
    “What’s in that shot?” he asked unexpectedly.
    The infuser wavered an inch from his neck. Judy’s face paled
then flamed. “Just . . . uh . . . vitamins and . . .
uh . . . a compound to-to balance your electrolytes.”
    “Why is that necessary?”
    She tried hard not to meet his eyes, but hers kept colliding
with them. “The effects of the Field cause certain . . . uh . . .
stresses on the—on the nervous system. This will counteract them.”
    He studied her intently for a moment, eyes narrowed, then
asked, “Is there anything harmful in it?”
    She stared at him, half relieved, half terrified. “Oh, no! ”
    He nodded. “Get on with it, then.”
    Judy blinked at George—who stared back, owl-eyed—then
administered the tranq.
    oOo
    Bert Ferris swiveled as Hilyard materialized behind him.
He checked his watch. It was 1050. They checked their weapons—matte black
rifles with scopes that were as long as the barrels—then moved stealthily to
the steel and cement railing at the edge of the gallery.
    Ferris looked back toward the Grid. He couldn’t see it
because of the pillar,