I survey the table where Lazarus first surprised me and spy my cell phone on the coffee table still blinking from missed calls. It seems like another lifetime when I set out for the start of the chronothon. Mym appears to recognize my struggle. She slips her fingers through mine and waits for me to process it.
“How do you do it? How do you go back to a normal life after an experience like this? Does it ever feel like you have your life back?” I realize as I’m speaking that Mym has been a time traveler since she was born, so she may not know anything other than the extraordinary. Does having a life that involves jobs or friends who stay in the same place seem dull to her?
She steps in front of me and wraps her arms around my waist. “How about we figure it out together?”
I lean down and kiss her and suddenly the problem doesn’t seem nearly so important.
A knock on the door interrupts our moment and, when I open it, I’m surprised to find Abraham and Dr. Quickly on my steps.
“There’s our chronothon champion!” Dr. Quickly grins. “Congratulations on your success.”
“I don’t know if you could really call it a successful chronothon,” I reply.
Abraham smiles. “According to the chronothon committee you can.” He hands me an envelope that has my name printed on the front. I invite them inside and stare at the envelope a moment before tearing into the back. “What’s this?”
“Apparently a Mr. Cliff Sutherland had some words with the chronothon committee about their practices. They’ve launched a major investigation into many of their missing members and are conducting an overhaul of the chronothon guidelines. It turns out they were legally obligated to award the funds even though the race was corrupted and the ending was faked. According to the authenticated data provided by Milo Kalani, you were technically the third racer to complete all the time gates. And since the first two racers, Horacio and Ariella, have been inexplicably reported missing, they’ve decided to award you with the first-place prize.”
I pull the paper check from the envelope and blink a few times at the absurd number of digits in the amount block. “Is this in dollars?”
“They had to fuss a bit to convert it into a 2009 value, but you can deposit that into any account you see fit,” Abraham says.
Dr. Quickly claps me on the back and reads the check over my shoulder. “Ah, good. You’ll have some funds to do some celebrating, just in case you want to have your victory party on a yacht . . . on your own private island.” He cruises past me and pokes his head into my refrigerator. “Or you could buy some food.”
“That’s actually in my immediate plans,” I say. “I’ve got a date with your daughter I need to keep.”
“Annd . . .” Mym grins.
“I was going to talk to you about that. Roller disco—it’s just—”
Mym narrows her eyes. “Yes . . .”
“I feel like it’s one of those things we should invite a few friends along for. If I’m going to do something that embarrassing, we may as well get everyone there to see it.”
“I bet you’ve got some people in mind.”
“A few.” I smile. I turn toward Abraham and Dr. Quickly. “How about you guys? You want to experience the glory of the 1970s with Mym and me?”
Abe holds his hands up. “I think I’ll go experience the glory of my armchair and a nap while you young people have that one. You be sure to tell me about it after, though.”
“A nap? Come on . . . well, actually, I have to give you that one. A nap sounds kind of awesome right now.”
“Perhaps you can just dream of disco lights,” Dr. Quickly says.
I pause and slip my hands into my pockets, stuffing the check in, too. “I have something I’ve been meaning to ask you about that. When I was racing, there was another racer who tried to help me with it, but I still have questions.”
“Sure. What is it you’re dealing with?” Dr. Quickly and Abraham are both attentive.
“During the race, I started to dream the future. I dreamt about things that happened later and I also had dreams of someone trying to contact me.” I glance at the leather jacket draped on my couch. “Now I think I know who it was.”
Dr. Quickly’s brow furrows as he responds. “Are you having contact from someone from the future?”
“I don’t think so. I think it’s technically my past now, or an alternate future. I think I’m getting messages from the me who died.”
Dr. Quickly and Abraham look at each other and Abraham murmurs something I don’t catch. Dr. Quickly turns back to me. “What is this other version of you trying to tell you? You said it was a message?”
I recall the last image I had before Diamatra. “He said he wanted me to come find him when this was over. I don’t know how to explain it, but I don’t think the other me is dead.”
The two men stay quiet and I notice Mym studying me as well. I feel like maybe I’ve said too much and she’s going to think I’m a crazy person now for even bringing it up. She doesn’t say anything at all. She just moves closer and puts her hand in mine again. That simple gesture makes me feel instantly better.
“You’re ranging into territory that I’m afraid I have very little experience with,” Dr. Quickly says. “It sounds like you may be right, but if there is a displaced version of you out there who needs to talk to you, that may be a journey you’ll have to take on your own.”
“But it doesn’t mean we won’t help,” Abraham adds. “I’ll do some research. It seems to me I’ve read a book or two that had something to say on this subject. I’ve heard rumors of some folks who do all sorts of communication with their minds, even through time. When you get done with your celebration, why don’t you come look me up? I’ll let you know what I find, and it will give me a chance to show you my workshop. From what Mym tells me, you have some promise as a chronometer repairman.”
I shake my head but recognize the opportunity for assistance. “Thank you, but I have a long way to go to earn that title. I’ll definitely come by your shop, though. I won’t turn down any chance for help with research.”
“Good. It’s a plan then.” Abraham smiles and claps Dr. Quickly on the shoulder. “Let’s leave these two some privacy, Harry. I have a feeling they might have a bit of catching up to do themselves, and I doubt they want a couple of old farts like us around for it.”
Dr. Quickly gets a hug from Mym, and Abraham does, too. I shake both their hands and see them to the door. Mym and I watch from the porch steps as the duo descends to the driveway and wanders down the street. I can still hear Abe’s jovial laughter after they’ve turned the corner.
<><><>
Walking through the front doors of The Empire roller rink in Brooklyn could easily be mistaken for entering a time gate. Only in this time, the swirl of multicolored lights is purely electric and is accented with the prismatic reflections of a disco ball. The place is already in full swing when I walk up to the skate rental kiosk. Jonah blazes by the padded wall at full speed and waves to me as he passes. He’s being followed slowly around the rink by a man with unkempt white hair who must be Ebenezer. The old man is smiling at his boy and trying hard to keep up. Deanna is skating backwards and calls out a hello when she passes. I even spot Genesis over by the DJ booth sharing music suggestions. Her hair is longer and she looks more content than the last time I saw her. She gives me a wave from across the rink.
I order size thirteen skates and am issued a pair of brown leather rentals. I turn in my sneakers and make my way to the carpeted benches where I find Francesca lacing up her own brown skates.
“Hey, Fresca, glad you made it!”
“Ben!” She jumps up and balances on one half-laced skate while she hugs me. “I was wondering when you were going to get here. Late to your own party, huh? I would have thought all your time traveling would have made you more punctual.”
“Mym and I took a little longer at dinner than we planned.”
“She still beat you here. She said hi to me before she went
out there,” Francesca says. I survey the crowd of skaters and spot Mym rolling past Jonah and tagging him on the head. The boy laughs and starts to chase her. “Things going well with you two?” Francesca is smirking at me.
“Really well.”
“You know I’m going to want specifics.”
“I know you do.” I finish lacing my skates and flex my ankles back and forth in the leather.
“So why did she beat you here?”
“I ran into my friend Bozzle in the parking lot. He decided to make an appearance but thought he might be a bit . . . tall, for this place.”
“You mean he thought they wouldn’t rent skates to a green, tattooed alien?” Francesca laughs. “Your friend Genesis told me about him. Is he scary looking?”
“No. Not at all. I’m so glad he came to say hi. I had actually been meaning to talk to him about something anyway. He’s a really talented artist, and I have a project for him.”
“You going to get some alien ink tattooed on your butt?” Francesca smiles.
I stand up and glide toward the wall of the rink. “It won’t be on my butt.”
I turn around and Francesca’s mouth is still open. “Ben—I was joking. Are you serious? You’re going to let an alien tattoo you? Why?”
I smile and move toward the opening of the rink. “I’ve got someone I don’t want to lose track of.”
“Where are you getting it? Ben, I need to know—”
I glide onto the hardwood and skate away. “I’m not telling!”
I meld into the flow of colorful skaters in bellbottoms and sparkly tops. I spot Mym in the center of the rink, and she starts skating backwards when she sees me. She smiles and motions for me to join her. The music changes to some type of Genesis-inspired remix and the DJ bobs his head in approval. All my past and future plans get wiped from my head with the new beat and I get lost in the rhythm of Mym’s hips as they sway to the music. Somewhere out there is a vast universe of time and space just waiting to be discovered, but I’ve found the only moment I really need. The rest is just details.
The Chronothon Glossary
Academy of Temporal Sciences (ATS):
A branch of the Academy of Sciences specifically devoted to time travel. The Academy of Temporal Sciences operated for a little over a decade around the year 2150 before being shut down by civilian political forces opposed to time travel. Later time travelers began jumping back to the time when it was still open and created new timestreams in which to study, leading to a burst of timestreams around that decade. Subsequent regulations by ASCOTT have made acceptance to the Academy more difficult.
The Academy of Temporal Sciences frequently sponsors chronothon race teams.
Ambrose Cybergenics:
A corporate chronothon sponsor, Ambrose Cybergenics, founded by Dr. Declan Ambrose, specializes in body augmentation, including: synthetic parts, replacement organs, and heightened body performance.
Analog:
Slang term used to describe time travelers who do not use digital Temprovibe technology. Users of chronometers designed by Abraham Manembo are frequently referred to as analogs.
Anchor:
An object fixed in time that does not contain gravitites and cannot time travel. Used to relocate in time while still staying fixed to the earth. If an anchor is moved during the time period the time traveler is absent, the time traveler will reappear at the anchor’s new location. Photos or video of the location are frequently used in conjunction with anchors to assure safe arrival.
Anya Morey:
A race of humanoid aliens capable of time travel. They are typically identified by their frequently tattooed, forest-green skin, prominent ridges of horns, and pitch-black eyes.
ASCOTT:
The Allied Scientific Coalition of Time Travelers. The dominant scientific organization in the time travel community. ASCOTT promotes time travel for scientific purposes only and supports strict regulation of non-scientific time travel. This position has been compromised by lack of adequate funding, causing the organization to align with the Chronothon Committee to gain resources to finance expensive time travel expeditions. While ASCOTT grudgingly endorses the Chronothon Committee’s entertainment goals, it enforces penalties on racers who stray from the racecourse or create additional timestreams or paradoxes.
Chronometer:
A watch-like device that enables the wearer to travel in time. It was pioneered by Dr. Harold Quickly and designed by Abraham Manembo. The device activates gravitites in a time traveler’s body and displaces the user in time while staying grounded to the nearest anchor. A chronometer will ground to an anchor through the shortest available distance, typically the wearer’s fingertips.
Chronothon:
An entertainment race for time travelers. Typically containing 8-10 levels, a chronothon requires racers to achieve objectives in order to pass time gates. The race is won when a time traveler passes all time gates after achieving each of their objectives. Winners receive monetary prizes and significant fame.
Chronothon Committee:
A group of scientists and entertainment tycoons who fund and organize chronothons, for the entertainment of the time travel community and for significant monetary gain. The organization receives funding from a variety of corporate sponsors and, while the committee disavows association with organized crime, it has been known to benefit from the generosity of a deep-pocketed “family” of investors.
Degravitizer:
A device for removing gravitites from anchors prior to time travel. Since an anchor must stay behind when a time traveler makes a jump, any anchors that have previously time traveled must be purged of gravitites prior to use.
Digi-Com:
A corporate chronothon sponsor. Digi-Com is the company founded by Karla Drummond. While it markets everything from vehicles to spacesuits, its most profitable technology is the Temprovibe, a time travel device used almost exclusively by time travelers from the twenty-second century and beyond.
Gravitans:
A naturally occurring form of gravitites. Their existence was hypothesized by Dr. Harold Quickly and later discovered by scientists of the Academy of Temporal Sciences.
Gravitites:
Synthetic particles created by Dr. Harold Quickly that displace matter from the flow of time by creating anchor-based wormholes. The gravitites may be activated through electricity. A high concentration of gravitites in a body or object will “net” the entire mass of the object and transport it (in the same manner a fish net can effectively lift or displace a mass of fish without contacting each individual fish.) The netted mass of the gravitized object is relocated through time via the anchor-based wormhole to arrive at the same relative location in the new time.
Gravitizer:
Machine used to infuse gravitites into an object or person. While infusion of inanimate objects is common, infusion of persons can be highly dangerous and is heavily regulated. Time travelers infused after the turn of the twenty-second century must pass a rigorous training program and complete testing prior to being made time travelers.
The Grid:
Used in conjunction with a trace, the Grid is a global system of tracking time travel that prevents a user from arriving at a location at the same time and place as another time traveler.
The Metaspace:
Augmented reality. The meta-space is digital imagery layered over real world items that is visible through the use of a perceptor or chip that projects the images directly to the brain.
Neverwhere:
A space outside of time. Some time travelers believe that if you travel in time without being properly anchored, you end up in the Neverwhere. The existence of the Neverwhere has not been scientifically proven, but it persists as a belief among members of the time travel community.
Solitaire:
A timestream that cannot be reached by means of conventional timestream navigation. All paths to or from the timestream have been eliminated.
Temprovibe:
A digital version of a chronometer that links to the Grid and can also sync with anchors for special use. Designed by Karla Drummond, the Temprovibe offers safety features to protect a user from common dangers, such as fusing with other time travelers or accidental displacement to the Neverwhere due to improper grounding.
Time Gate:
(Also known as a transverse wormhole gate.) A fixed method of travel to or from a location in time. Time gates are programmed for single uses in given moments, and exits from gates are carefully timed to ensure safety of travelers. Time gates are the primary method of time travel employed in chronothons, but require advanced engineering to set up and are prohibitively expensive for an average time traveler to employ. Funding for time gates primarily comes from chronothon sponsors.
Timestream:
The flow of time in a given reality. The advent of time travel is believed to have created the fractal nature of the universe, wherein multiple timestreams can exist simultaneously. New timestreams can be created by significant changes or alterations to a given reality, though some paradoxical changes have been known to be absorbed or relegated to minor paradox bubbles.
Timestream Navigation:
The act of traveling from one timestream to another. This can be accomplished by using anchors from the destination timestream. If a traveler does not possess an anchor from the desired timestream, he/she must navigate to the point where the timestream split off and fabricate an anchor to travel forward again. The process can be complicated and dangerous, and is best accomplished by experienced travelers.
In Times Like These Boxed Set Page 109
