“Um, no. Sorry. Not exactly something they stock at the local Wal-Mart.”
“Right.” He pressed his lips together. “Well, then we’re going to have to go with the alternative.”
“Which is?”
He seemed to consider this. “A volcano perhaps. If we can drop the egg into an active volcano, the lava should be hot enough to destroy it.”
“Oh-kay.” She considered this for a moment. “But wait,” she said, a thought coming to her.
Connor looked at her questioningly.
“If we destroy the egg,” she said, “won’t that…I don’t know… cancel out your own world? I mean I saw Back to the Future. If we succeed, will you start to disappear?”
She meant the question as a kind of half joke and was surprised at the uneasiness she felt after she voiced it. What if he did just disappear? Vanished into thin air, never to be seen again? The thought disturbed her more than she wanted to admit.
Thankfully, Connor shook his head. “It doesn’t work like that. My timeline has already been established. There’s no way to alter that. But by destroying the egg, we can set your world on an alternate timeline. One that doesn’t end in apocalypse.”
She furrowed her brow. The quantum mechanics were making her head hurt. “So you can’t go back then,” she realized aloud, “because in the new alternate future, you wouldn’t exist.”
He nodded.
“Dude, that’s rough,” she blurted out before she could stop herself.
He chuckled. “Don’t worry. I knew what I was getting myself into when I accepted the mission,” he assured her. “We have to do whatever we can to save the human race. Even if it means sacrificing ourselves.” He paused, then added in a whisper, “Sacrifice one to save the world,” as if it were some kind of mantra.
Trinity opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by her phone. She jerked, glancing at Connor. Pulling the phone from her pocket, her eyes widened as she read the unfamiliar telephone number on the caller ID.
“Hello?” she answered hesitantly after putting the phone to her ear. After all, it could be anyone. The government agents. Sheriff Bob…
“Trinity! Where are you?”
“Grandpa!” She leapt from her seat, gripping the receiver tightly in her hand. “Where are you? Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” he assured her. “I was worried about you. I only left the house for a short time—I was opening up a package with my pocket knife when your damn cat jumped out at me, knocking over the Chinese food. I managed to slice up my hand pretty good and decided to head over to the clinic to make sure I didn’t need stitches. I’m sorry I didn’t leave a note. I figured I’d still beat you home.”
Trinity swallowed hard, remembering the bloody knife. What she’d imagined…
“Unfortunately they took forever—evidently Christmas Eve is one of their busiest nights. When I finally got out, I swung back to the museum to see if you needed a ride, but the whole place was barricaded by police tape. They told me there was a break-in and someone had been shot and killed.” His voice trembled. “My first thought was it had been you.”
Trinity closed her eyes. It certainly could have been, had it not been for Connor. “Where are you now?” she asked.
“I’m still at the Denny’s across the street. The police told me to stay put so they could send someone over. Evidently there are some government agents in town who want to question me about the break-in. The police are trying to get a hold of them now but they’re not answering their phones.”
No. They were a little tied up at the moment, Trinity thought grimly. “Listen to me, Grandpa,” she said in a tight voice. “Something’s happened. I can’t explain over the phone, but I need you to get out of there. Use the back door if you have to. Pretend you’re going to the bathroom or something. Whatever you have to do—just leave.”
There was silence on the other end of the line. “Trinity…you’re scaring me. What’s going on? Where are you? Why shouldn’t I wait for the agents?”
“Just trust me, okay?” she begged. “I’ll meet you by exit 13 off the old interstate. When you get there, I’ll explain everything.”
There was another pause. She could almost hear his objecting thoughts over the phone and waited impatiently for him to voice them. But instead, he said at last, “Okay, fine. I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
She let out a sigh of relief, then hung up the phone, turning back to Connor. “He’s okay,” she breathed, relating her grandpa’s story. “But we have to go meet him.”
“I’ll go,” he said, scrambling up from the couch and grabbing his coat. “You stay here.”
“I should come too,” she protested. But as she attempted to rise to her feet, a strange weakness overtook her and she found herself falling back onto the couch, her head spinning and her stomach churning all over again. She looked up at Connor in confusion.
“The Nether,” he explained grimly. “It’ll kick the fleck out of you every time. You’ll need a couple hours to feel like yourself again.” He paused, then added, “It’s probably better if you wait here anyway. We can’t afford for you to be recognized, and someone needs to stay here and guard the egg. It’ll be quicker and safer for me to go grab him and bring him back here. No one knows who I am.”