Operation Tenley by Jennifer Gooch Hummer

time period is up. And it will do so again at the ten-minute, three-minute, and thirty-second mark. You and your client should be as far away from anyone else as possible when the Fair Force arrives so fewer memories will need to be erased.”
    The clock on the wall read: EARTH TIME 7:59 a.m.
    Tink pulled the crystal eight off from around her neck and pushed open a door. Behind it was a set of elevator doors. “This is the travel box. Once you step inside, the temporary disintegration will begin. You’ll need to stay completely still during this process. When the doors open again, you should be at nineteen Nathan Lane, or somewhere around there, anyway.”
    Pennie’s mouth went dry. This was ridiculous. No instructions, no tools, no pants.
    Tink slipped the crystal eight directly into the elevator doors and turned it like a key. As soon as the travel box opened, she ushered Pennie in.
    “Earth is a perfectly safe place to be, once gravity is dealt with. Although it is rather hard to stay awake down there. I’ve heard of entire trips spent sleeping . Imagine that journey and then never even waking up!” She pointed to the ceiling. “Just remember to stand directly under the laser and stay as still as you can. You’ll want to arrive in one piece.”
    “ Code Red. Repeat: We have a Code Red. Irregular activity spotted. Renegade Weathers suspected. All Force in the area to respond immediately .”
    An alarm drowned out Tink’s next words.
    “What’s happening?” Pennie shouted. The doors were shutting.
    “Security Breach. You better get going before they suspend all travel. Good luck!”
    The doors closed.
    The stopwatch beeped on.

12
     
    48:00:00
    Fair City
     
     
    Inside the travel box, a thick beam of light flickered above Pennie’s head. Her fingers and toes started to tingle. The sensation slid up her arms and down her legs. She gritted her teeth, trying not to move. The travel box began to shake and the laser burned hotter. Pennie’s head felt like it might explode. She stifled a scream and then …
    The laser blacked out.
    The elevator doors broke apart.
    Command Center was in chaos. Hologram monitors were blinking and Fair Force were scrambling toward the exit. Everywhere, floors were cracking and walls were crumbling.
    Pennie rushed through the elevator doors. “Tink?” she yelled. But Tink was nowhere to be seen.
    The stopwatch read 47:59:20. She inspected it closer. There was no pause button. The floor below her rumbled and buckled. She jumped off just before it cracked open. A meter away, she spotted something glowing under a pile of debris.
    Tink’s crystal eight.
    “Tink!” Pennie yelled, swiping it up. “Tinktoria, are you in here?”
    There was no answer and she couldn’t be heard over the alarm anyway. She slid the crystal eight into her pocket. The wall in front of her crumbled. The exit was blocked.
    Pennie fought her way over to center stage where Fair Force were shouting orders at the largest screen. It was a live picture of a building on fire. Surrounding it, trees toppled and roads buckled. Cars sped out of control and everywhere, people were running, covered in dust. Pennie was witnessing an earthquake.
    “Has anyone seen Tinktoria?” she yelled.
    “ Contact initiated ,” a computer-generated voice sounded over the loudspeaker.
    The center screen changed to a busy city sidewalk with a group of businessmen and women walking together. They all popped in earbuds without breaking their stride. “We can hear you, Commander. Go on,” one of the businessmen said.
    “Very good,” the commander yelled. “We are seeing heavy fire in an occupied building. We need your group of elementals to deploy to 34.0500 degrees South 118.2500 degrees West immediately. We believe we are having simultaneous attacks both here and in Southern California.”
    “We’re on our way, Commander,” the businessman said.
    The floor below Pennie gave way. She grabbed onto a wall. On screen, the elementals