Paradox by A. J. Paquette Page A

is, or was, this Bailey? Was everyone in her world sick? Ana wonders how she can feel so much sympathy for someone she’s never met, someone who’s probably long since dead, who—
let’s be honest here
—very possibly doesn’t even exist.
    Hauling herself to her feet, Ana hikes down the hill to get her backpack. She pulls it up with muscles that are tight and stiff and shoulders that scream at resuming their burden. She grits her teeth against the pain and thinks of Bailey. Nothing Ana is feeling now comes close to the gut-wrenching pain she felt during those brief moments living in Bailey’s head.
    She turns to face the mountain, telling herself the tears on her cheeks are just a reaction to the thick, noxious fumes. And then a sound reaches her on the sulfuric breeze, ringing faintly up the slope.
    It’s useless, it’s nothing, it’s one more thing she really doesn’t need, but … somehow it’s also the very thing she most wants.
    “Ana!” She can hear the call clearly now. “Is that you? Wait up already!”

Todd is climbing up the slope toward her at a double-quick pace, with Ysa and Chen not far behind.
    “What”—Todd puffs as he gets closer—“on Earth”—puff—“okay,
off
Earth”—puff—“but
what
the hell do you think you’re doing? Where did you go? I got back …”
    Inwardly, Ana grins. She can’t help it. She feels ridiculous and sheepish, but oh, to be missed! Maybe worried about, even. There’s nothing like it.
    Still, she forces herself to arch a cool eyebrow. “You vanished,” she said. “How was I supposed to know when you were coming back?
If
you were coming back? It’s not like we even know each other all that well.”
    He winces. “Okay, I guess. But really? We’re traveling companions. You should know that much.”
    Despite herself, something inside Ana relaxes. She
is
glad to be back with the others, in spite of all her power-of-one assertions. But the situation also grates a little. It’s as if it’s teasing out a dependency she thought she’d gotten away from but that has now caught up with her—something she wants but fears, maybe, or wants but doesn’t quite trust.
    “I suppose,” she concedes. “So where
did
you go?”
    He tips his head toward Ysa and Chen, who are finally catching up. “We talked about this, remember? I went for the others.”
    “Yeah, but
two
hours?”
    “Anagram!” Chen whoops. Unlike the other two, he doesn’t seem to be breaking a sweat, though he’s not hurrying, either. “You crazy piece of space rocket! Led us on quite a chase, my gal. But ain’t that just what you do?”
    Ysa looks sharply at Chen, and suddenly Ana remembers her aborted conversation with Ysa, back when the worm showed up. Ana and Todd had this surgical amnesia procedure, but Ysa and Chen didn’t. They still have their memories intact. And they all came in the same rocket. Of course!
    “We knew each other,” she says to Chen. “Didn’t we? Before my memory got the axe, I mean.”
    Chen opens his mouth and closes it, his goofiness suddenly gone. He takes a step backward.
    Ana looks back and forth between Ysa and Chen. “What’s going on? Did I say something wrong?”
    Ysa steps forward and puts a hand on Ana’s arm. “Look,” she says gently.
    Ana shakes her off. “This is not a tough question! Did. We. Know each other?”
    Chen looks Ana in the eye. “Yes,” he says. “Okay? We knew you. Know you. But—”
    “But we can’t talk about it,” Ysa interrupts.
    “What?” Ana says. “You can’t talk about
what
?”
    “Anything to do with the, er, past. Yours or ours.” Ysa’s face is red and she looks miserable. Chen is studying the ground with great concentration.
    Ana can’t decide whether to be enraged or utterly confused. “I just don’t understand what the big deal is. Todd’s and my memories are gone, and we want to know why. We want to know what we’re here for. What is the real purpose of this mission? That’s really