“Wake up, Anna.”
Anna opened a single eye. The other was glued shut with sleep. Her bedroom was dark and empty. The only light came from the stars outside her window. But she’d heard something—someone.
Another weird dream, Anna thought.
“I can see you.”
The voice returned, close and clear as if someone were whispering in her ear. Anna shot up in bed, her pulse racing. She strained her eyes in the darkness in search of the source.
“Who is it?”
“I am your conscience, and we need to have a word.”
Anna suddenly recognized the voice. “Very funny, Mara. Where are you?”
“Look down at your wrist.”
Mara’s voice was clear and bright. Anna glanced down at her iCom. The transparent diamond that covered the back of her left hand was glowing blue.
“Ugh,” Anna groaned. “What time is it?”
A holographic time display flashed bright blue numbers just above her wrist: 4:22 a.m.
“Really?” Anna sighed. “I thought you said morning.”
“The sun is 18 degrees below the horizon at this very moment. That makes it the official beginning of morning. So time to get up.”
“For what?” Anna yawned.
“For your first real day of training. I’ve provided a course for you to run. Just follow the map on your iCom. I’ll go easy on you today. Five miles in fifty minutes. That’ll give us plenty of time to work on your core and discuss physics before school.”
A three-dimensional topographic map of the valley appeared just above Anna’s hand—a running trail outlined in a faint blue light.
“Are you serious? You want me to run outside in the dark?”
“You’d better get used to it. The dark is where you’ll be doing most of your reconnaissance.”
Anna sighed heavily and rolled out of bed. She tossed on a pair of shorts and a sweatshirt and tied her hair back with a scrunchie.
“Can I use my antigravity shoes at least?” Anna asked. “They’re the most comfortable thing I own.”
“Of course. That’s why I gave them to you.”
Anna walked quietly down the steps, past Herbie sleeping in the corner and across the kitchen to the entryway. She opened the screen door slowly, afraid she might wake up Uncle Jack. Afraid to have to explain why she was leaving the house. What would she even say? Oh yeah—I’m in training for a top-secret mission with a woman from the future. Yes, there are wormholes and aliens and we’ll likely be vaporized if she finds out that you know.
The air outside was cold and motionless, the world completely still. In the faint starlight, she could see a cloud of condensation form as she breathed out, a sign the temperature was around forty-five degrees on this cold spring morning. She jumped back and forth on the balls of her feet and swung her arms to get warm.
“Anna?”
“Yes?” Anna kept bouncing.
“Look up.”
Anna stopped bouncing and looked up into the night sky to be greeted by a cathedral of lights. She had never been outside this early in the morning, alone and in silence, to see this view of the universe.
“Wow. The Milky Way.”
“Beautiful, isn’t it? I’m watching it right now, too.”
“Yeah. It feels like the whole sky is moving.”
“It is. Everything in the universe is moving relative to everything else. Everything except you. So, get moving.” Mara laughed. “Just follow the blue line on your map. I’ll be with you the entire way.”
“Whether I like it or not, right?” Anna said under her breath, then took off in a fast trot, following the blue line down the dirt road and into the darkness.