A Chronetic Memory (The Chronography Records Book 1) by Kim K. O'Hara Page B

loved here and you know it.” Marak smiled. “If we can put up with you acting like a maniac, running down our halls after our son, we can take a few tears.”
    “Will you guys help me figure out what to do?”
    “Why do you have to do anything?” asked Kat. “If you find something incriminating, you could come across people that wouldn’t be happy about that.”
    “Says the person who stands out with a sign, persuading people, every day? How can you ask that?”
    “Dani,” Kat said gently, “my role is pretty benign. I’m not really a threat to anyone. I can influence public opinion, but nobody can go to jail from the things I do. With your insider’s access, you could become a real threat to them.”
    “These are scientists! They’re not going to hurt me. I just need to find out if somebody is using the technology wrongly and let them know. They’ll want to do what’s right.”
    Kat and Marak exchanged glances again. “I think we should tell her,” said Marak. “She needs to know.” Kat hesitated, then finally, reluctantly, nodded.
    “How much do you know about the inventors of chronography?” Kat asked.
    “Seebak and Howe? A lot.” Dani was on familiar ground now. “Dr. Howe was this exciting, brilliant woman who lit up the whole field for me until her accident—I was only twelve then. Dr. Seebak stayed mostly in the background, but he was really gifted. In college, I heard stories about how he’d walk into the room where everyone else was struggling with some complication—maybe an equation that wasn’t working out or an unexplained equipment glitch—and within a few minutes, he’d have it all figured out and they’d be up and running again. But he became sort of a mystery himself. He did something that caused him to be banned from the project—and from any other project that I know of, for that matter. We never hear about him any more. No presentations, no articles in the journals, nothing.”
    “Actually, he’s still working in the field,” said Kat. “He just keeps out of the public eye—by design.”
    “What? How do you know?”
    “I have contacts,” said Marak.
    His wife continued, “It’s better if you don’t know any more, but I do want you to know this: Dr. Howe’s accident was no accident, and Dr. Seebak’s departure was a compromise he accepted so that he could live without fearing for his own life. Scientists or not, you can’t just go blundering into this.”
    Dani shook her head, refusing to believe it. But she was once again hearing the numbers in her head, and once again seeing Dr. Calegari turn to hide his scribbles when she came into the room, and once again feeling her isolation from those that headed the project. Could it be that they could be involved in something deeper? Were they being threatened? Or worse—she caught her breath—were they threatening others? She was suddenly very certain that Kat and Marak were right. And who was she, an insignificant intern with no power of the press behind her, to challenge something that was powerful enough to end Dr. Seebak’s career?
    And then, on the heels of inadequacy and intimidation, an indignation rose up, a fierceness that surprised her. Chronography was still an amazing science. How dare they use it for corrupt purposes? She set her jaw. “Then tell me what I can do to help.”

11
Anticipation
    HUNTER’S OFFICE. 0700, Wednesday, June 7, 2215.
    Hunter enjoyed the early morning hours, before the functions of his real business bowed to the necessities of maintaining a professional façade. Soon, office routines would get their grip on the little people who served him, and they’d be scurrying around like bugs, intent on their petty purposes without a clue about what was really going on.
    He hated them equally, the people who sat securely in their palaces of wealth and influence, and the insignificant ones who served them, directly or indirectly. He hated the powerful ones because their comfort had its