Induction Day: Book Two in the Butterman Travel Series by PK Hrezo Read Free Book Online Page B

room.
    Dad’s beside me now. “Agent Garth pulled a few strings and managed to get you Germaine Ricks. He’ll go easier on you than anyone else at WNN. He has a nice-guy reputation.”
    I glance back at Garth, who’s now got her device at her ear and obviously on a phone call.
    Leaning in toward Dad, I whisper, “I’m still not sure we should trust her.”
    “I have my doubts,” he says. “But it’s possible your Timeline Rewrite altered her objectives in some way. Hard to say when your mother and I suffered a full memory purge along with it.”
    “You believe me though?” I ask, a tad defensively. “She shut us down before I went back and changed it with the Rewrite. She was a different person, just ask Tristan.”
    Dad’s green eyes narrow on me. “Tristan wasn’t there. He didn’t T-cube with you, or rewrite the timeline.”
    I hesitate, checking for listening ears, then lowering my voice til it’s barely audible at all. “Tristan has analog recall.”
    Dad’s lips part but he says nothing at first. Rubbing his chin again, he says, “You’re sure about this?”
    “Positive. Ask him.”
    “Fascinating.” Dad’s no longer looking at me but off into space. “Truly fascinating.”
    Mom’s been eavesdropping best she can but I don’t know what all she heard. She pats my back. “Agent Garth wants to help.”
    “Mom, she’s still DOT. Don’t forget that.”
    “I haven’t forgotten anything,” she says with a little snicker. “You wanted to do this press release, and now you are. Don’t tell me you changed your mind because of Agent Garth.”
    I’m about to reply, when I realize nothing I can say will prevent me from sounding like a whiny brat.
    “Your father and I talked it over last night and what Agent Garth says makes a lot of sense. You’re a professional, and the world needs to see that side of you. Agent Garth wants us to prove we’re a safe and reliable time travel agency, or else the DOT wouldn’t have gotten involved.”
    “Rumors create misconceptions,” Dad chimes in now. “The confusions out there right now are that you’re an incognito addict connected to Tristan’s past struggles. They want the world to believe you’re incompetent, reckless. You have to show them the opposite.”
    “Nothing your father or I can say will prove otherwise,” Mom says. “It’s up to you. Show them you’re committed to excellence just as all Buttermans are.”
    My shoulders heave with my sigh. Garth really did a number on them. “You say all this like I’m supposed to believe the DOT actually—”
    “We’ve got as much to lose as you do.” Garth startles me, appearing at my desk. “We’ve approved your operation for years—what does it say about us if you fit the bill of a substance abuser?”
    My device indicates a call and I step down the hall, converting my palm-com to retro-phone style for a private voice only call with Tristan.
    “I talked to Val,” he says from the other end. “No way should I be there during the interview.”
    My neck tenses. “Guess I’m flying solo then.”
    A bad thought runs through my head and I feel like a total jerk for thinking it. I mean, I know Tristan had his own press release to do, but it’s because of him I’m stuck doing this one and he’s not even here to support me.
    “She still thinks it’s a bad idea, you know,” he interrupts my thought. “Says it’s too soon for you to be under the gun on camera.”
    “My parents are convinced Garth’s here to help.”
    “Maybe the DOT realized they can’t beat you.”
    “That easily?” I scoff. “It’s so unlike them. But my parents trust her. They have no memory of her vindictive attitude when she shut us down that first time.”
    “Oh shit, that’s right. They wouldn’t, would they. The universal memory purge. But they believe you—about what happened, right?”
    “Supposedly. It’s just that, in their minds, Garth hasn’t done anything wrong to us, even though it’s