Echo 8 by Sharon Lynn Fisher Read Free Book Online Page B

crossed the room and joined her, leaning on his elbow against the doorframe. Ross’s hand crept to his sidearm. The glass between Jake and Tess was not reinforced—the research lab had not been designed to confine prisoners. He hoped his man in the corridor was paying attention.
    â€œWhat do you say, Jake?” asked Tess.
    â€œOkay,” he agreed. “But I have some questions first.”
    â€œThat’s understandable. I’ll do my best to answer.”
    â€œExplain again what happened to me. You said there was an asteroid?”
    She nodded. “You remember nothing about that? The other Echoes we’ve talked to remember. It was all over the news.”
    â€œI sort of checked out for a while.” Jake’s voice had grown quiet, and Ross remembered what he’d said about killing himself.
    â€œI really can’t tell you much more than I did before,” continued Tess. “The impact displaced you. And the disruption of your connection with your universe—it changed you.”
    â€œI was almost dead yesterday. I’m alive again because I drained some of your energy. I’m basically an energy vampire.”
    Jake’s fingers traced along the top of the window, and Ross squeezed the grip of his gun.
    â€œI don’t care much for that word,” replied Tess. “You’re not a monster. But you’ve got the gist of it. Over the course of a couple days, your bodies run down. You fade.”
    â€œAny guesses about why?”
    Tess shifted on the other side of the door, and Ross wondered how long before her legs gave out. She must be exhausted.
    â€œMany,” she replied. “More than we have time for. But in my opinion, the hypotheses with the most merit include Schrödinger’s notion of ‘entanglement,’ which suggests the possibility of imperceptible links between nonlocal entities.”
    Jake hesitated. “Um, Doctor…”
    Ross knew what she meant but only because he’d read her doctoral thesis.
    She smiled. “Sorry, it doesn’t have to be that complicated. Based on this idea of links we can’t see, some scientists have hypothesized that our universe and everything in it is connected—like a web, or a network. Some of us who’ve studied you believe that your individual energy was drawn from your universal web, and you’re severed from it now.”
    â€œYou’re saying our batteries run down, and we can’t connect to the battery charger.”
    â€œYes, good analogy.”
    â€œBut we can drain power off your batteries.”
    â€œExactly.”
    â€œWhich is what I did to you. But you’re still alive.”
    â€œFor some reason you released me before I was…”
    â€œSucked dry?”
    Tess and Jake stood staring at each other. If she replied, it was too quiet for Ross to hear. Finally Jake stepped back from the window and began to pace. Ross breathed and let his hand fall away from his weapon.
    â€œI’m sorry,” said Tess, watching Jake. “I can’t even imagine how you must be feeling right now.”
    â€œDid he tell you I killed myself? Your boyfriend, I mean.”
    Ross stiffened with surprise, and wariness. His eyes darted from the fade to Tess.
    She lifted her eyebrows. “Do you mean Agent McGinnis?”
    â€œYeah, the Fed. Tall-Dark-and-Handsome.”
    â€œHe’s not … I’m not involved with him.” Ross leaned closer to the glass. He read nothing but surprise in her face. She doesn’t remember.
    â€œAgent McGinnis is here to help me with my work.”
    Ross straightened, guilt worming through his intestines. She was partly right. The White House did want them to work together, but mainly so Ross could monitor her activities. Her mentor had resented the fact that the United States—and specifically the Bureau—had taken the lead in addressing the Echo threat. Professor Goff had been vocal in