Lost In Time

by W M Wiltshire

  “Accident? What kind of accident?” Dani asked nervously.

  “Would you please follow me, miss? The doctor will give you the details.”

  “It’s Daric, isn’t it? What happened to him?” Dani asked frantically. “Tell me.”

  “Miss, please. I don’t have any information for you,” the third mate pleaded. He hated this part of his job: dealing with hysterical women.

  “Fine. Let’s go,” Dani said firmly. “Terry, why don’t you go ahead with dinner? I don’t know how long I’m going to be.”

  “Are you kidding? How could I possibly think about eating at a time like this? I’m coming with you,” she stated decisively.

  “I’m sorry, miss,” the third mate said to Terry holding up his hand. “I was sent to bring Miss Delaney and only Miss Delaney to the infirmary,” he stated with finality. “Please follow me,” he said to Dani as he walked down the long hallway.

  “Terry, I’ll let you know what’s going on as soon as I can,” Dani called over her shoulder as she hurried to keep pace with the third mate, who was determined to finish this assignment as quickly as possible.

  The third mate wound his way through the bowels of the ship. Since he refused to utter another word, Dani eventually stopped asking him questions. She resigned herself to the fact that she would have to wait and get the answers from the doctor. It seemed to be taking forever to get to the infirmary, but she knew she was just anxious and that it had actually been only a few minutes.

  Dani just hoped it wasn’t anything serious. Her brother had a tendency of getting into trouble, always reacting before thinking things through. It had gotten him into more trouble growing up than she cared to recall right now.

  Dani hadn’t been to this deck on her previous explorations of the ship. The infirmary was in the bow section of F-Deck. The third mate opened the door and ushered Dani in. Once she had entered, he closed the door behind her and left to fulfil his more important duties. She was alone in a small outer room which doubled as a reception area and as the doctor’s office.

  The doctor must have heard the door close. He appeared from behind a small divider curtain. “Miss Delaney?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Dani stuttered. “Is my brother here? Is he all right?”

  “I hate to have to tell you this, but there’s been an accident,” the doctor started kindly.

  “Where is he?” she demanded frantically. “I want to see him, now!”

  “Miss Delaney, please, keep your voice down,” the doctor said firmly but softly. “He’s resting quietly, now. Come. Sit. I’ll tell you what I know.” The doctor gently took Dani’s arm and helped her into one of the few chairs in the outer room. She had calmed somewhat after hearing that Daric was resting, her worst fears abated.

  “Miss Delaney . . .,” the doctor started again.

  “Dani, please,” she offered.

  “Dani, it would appear that your brother fell down a flight of stairs, hit his head, and lost consciousness. He has a rather nasty lump on the right side of his head, near his temple. If he had struck his head an inch lower, the blow would have killed him. He’s suffered some bruising from the fall, but nothing appears broken. But he does have a concussion.”

  “Can I see him?” Dani asked, relieved.

  “Sure,” the doctor said. “Come with me.”

  Dani followed the doctor behind the divider curtain. Daric was lying on a small metal gurney. His body was draped in a soft white blanket.

  “Once he wakes up again, I’ll reassess his condition. If there’s nothing broken, he should be able to return to his cabin, provided someone stays with him. He’ll have to be awakened every two hours because of his concussion to make sure he returns to normal consciousness,” the doctor said sternly.

  “I’ll take care of him, Doctor,” Dani assured him, looking tenderly at her motionless brother. “Wait . . . what do you mean, ‘when he wakes up again’?” Dani asked.

  “We had to wait until he regained consciousness to find out who he was. He wasn’t carrying any identification,” the doctor stated bluntly. “That was the only way we were able to know whom he was travelling with. Once we had determined that, we contacted you.”

  “How long has he been here?” Dani wondered.

  “He was found in the stairwell at 1:45 P.M.,” the doctor replied, checking the wall clock. “He’s been here for four hours.”

  “I noticed his bracelet, with the medical symbol on it. Is he in the medical profession?” the doctor inquired.

  “Actually, the symbol is a caduceus, the staff of the Greek god Hermes and not the rod of Asclepius.” Dani knew the US Army Medical Corps had chosen the caduceus as their medical symbol, but in fact it was the staff with a single intertwined snake that was the true medical symbol. “And, no, he’s not in the medical profession.” Dani revealed hers. “The bracelets were gifts from our parents.”

  “I guess that would also explain the ‘H’,” the doctor mused.

  46: Present Day

  “Professor?” a voice whispered in the dark. “Professor?”

  Quinn was jolted from a restless sleep. “What is it? What happened?” he asked tiredly as he reached for the lamp on the bedside table.

  “Quinn, what is it?” Sandra mumbled, still half asleep.

  “Things have changed, Professor. You told me to report any changes in vital signs,” the voice continued.

  “Hermes, report!” Quinn demanded, snapping fully awake instantly.

  “Oh my God, the kids,” Sandra cried. “Are they all right?”

  Quinn activated the hologram on his comm and Hermes appeared.

  “Awroooo,” Bear yowled as she sprang from her prone position, scanning the bedroom for the intruder.

  Both Quinn and Sandra were now sitting up in bed, staring intently at the three-dimensional image of Hermes. They were waiting anxiously for his report.

  “Professor, I first noticed a sudden and significant decrease in Daric’s respiratory rate. I didn’t think it was anything at the time. But shortly thereafter, I received signals from Dani’s band. They indicated a sudden spike in heart rate and an increase in her blood pressure.”

  Having located the intruder, Bear approached cautiously and stuck her nose close to Hermes. The image wavered and distorted, startling Bear and resulting in another vocal protest.

  “Bear, it’s just me, Hermes. It’s all right, girl, go back to bed,” he said in a gentle assuring voice.

  “Analyse,” Quinn instructed.

  “I speculate that Daric lost consciousness; I cannot tell why since I lack sufficient data. The sudden change in Dani’s vital signs could be attributed to her reaction to that event,” Hermes supplied.

  “Oh my God,” Sandra murmured.

  Bear could not detect any strange scent and, from her family’s reaction to the intruder, she realized her family wasn’t in any danger. She returned to her spot in front of the French doors to continue her watch for Dani and Daric’s return. She curled up in a ball, placing her head on top of her front paws and stared out into the darkness of the night.

  “Speculate,” Quinn ordered.

  “I hypothesize that Daric fell and hit his head or that someone hit him, resulting in his loss of consciousness and causing the sudden drop in his respiratory rate. I further hypothesize that the injury did not result in any significant blood loss since there was no change in his blood pressure. I therefore conclude that there was no subdural hemorrhage, and that there was a concussive traumatic brain injury,” Hermes said flatly.

  “Based on the aforementioned, I assert confidently that the change in Dani’s vital signs was an emotional reaction to learning of Daric’s injury. Such a reaction would be the logical human female response to trauma,” Hermes finished.

  “And now?” Quinn asked.

  Hermes paused momentarily b
efore responding. “All vital signs have returned to normal. Whatever the problem was, it is no longer an issue.”

  “Sandra?” Quinn asked, looking at Sandra, who was just staring blankly at Hermes.

  “Oh, yeah. Uh, it sounds plausible. I mean, from what the vital signs read and from what Hermes said, it makes sense,” Sandra said dazedly. “I wish we knew for certain.”

  “At least, they’re all right,” Quinn said softly.

  47: Wednesday, March 17, 1937

  The new day looked no different from the previous few days. The weather was overcast and, more importantly, it was still raining, with no apparent breaks in the cloud cover. It did not look promising for the start of the 27,000-mile world flight. And Amelia and her team were already two days behind schedule.

  A little disappointed with the way the day was starting, G.P. and Amelia made their daily trek out to the Oakland Airport administration building and Bill Miller’s office to get the latest weather report.

  Bill saw them coming down the hall and rushed out to meet them. “I know, I know, it doesn’t look good, right now. But the weather bureau assures me that this weather system is rapidly moving out. It’s already moved past the San Francisco Bay Area. They said, by late afternoon, it will have cleared completely,” Bill said confidently.

  “What about Pan American Airways? Where do they stand?” G.P. asked while they walked into Bill’s office. Harry and Paul were already there as usual.

  “Pan American has scheduled their regular Hawaiian Clipper for departure from Alameda at 3:00 P.M. and the Sikorsky Clipper to leave at 4:00 P.M.,” Bill said.

  “Well ahead of our departure time, that’s good,” Amelia said. “So, if Pan American is flying today, so are we. Let’s go check out the runway and see what kind of shape it’s in. We have a heavy load it will have to bear if we want to get airborne.”

  Paul and Amelia left Bill Miller’s office and walked the length of the runway. They had placed white flags along the runway which ran from northeast to southwest. The wind was forecast to be blowing out of the southwest today. The Electra would start its takeoff on the concrete apron and run southwesterly down the length of the regular paved runway. If due to its heavy load, the airplane wasn’t airborne before the paved runway ended, it would continue along the gravelled runway that had been added to the end of the paved section in 1927 to accommodate the Dole flights to Hawaii. That would give them a total of 4,300 feet of runway, but Paul thought they would need only 3,500 feet.

  “The concrete runway is fine, just some small puddles. But the gravel runway has some rather large lakes,” Amelia observed.

  “When this drizzle stops like it’s supposed to, the sun and the wind will help to dry out the gravel enough for us to take off later this afternoon,” Paul assured her.

  Returning to Bill Miller’s office after their inspection, Paul and Amelia ran into a group of reporters. Before anyone could fire off a question, Amelia addressed them.

  “We are definitely going today,” Amelia said to the cheers of the press, who had been coming to the airport for days just to hear this news and to be here to capture history in the making. “The weather looks fine over the Pacific.”

  “I’ve been waiting for four days to start this world flight,” Amelia continued. She was finding it difficult to contain the excited grin stretching across her delicate features.

  “Are you going to beat your old record for this crossing, Miss Earhart?” a reporter asked.

  “I don’t want to push the engines on the crossing to Hawaii, so I will not be attempting to break any speed records. With our heavy fuel load, I’d be happy to maintain a speed of one-hundred-fifty miles per hour. I’d rather have the engines in good shape for the flight over India. See you all later today.” Amelia concluded her press address. She turned and made her way with Paul back to Bill Miller’s office.

  Bill reported that he had received the noon ship positions and weather reports. The reports stated the flight would encounter crosswinds on the first three-hundred miles, with a tailwind of approximately fifteen miles per hour on the remainder of the flight. Amelia would have to take these factors into consideration since the tailwind would increase their ground speed.

  When G.P., Amelia, Paul and Harry left the airport for the hotel to collect their belongings and to pick up Fred, hundreds of spectators were already streaming into the airport to watch Amelia take off. Police officers had been assigned to direct the steady flow of traffic and to keep the crowds away from the runway.

  “This is going to be a circus,” Harry muttered.

  48

  Terry and Dani had been taking turns watching Daric sleep. Terry had taken the first shift while Dani had slept fitfully in the other bed. Every two hours, she had reached over and gently nudged Daric until he had awakened. He had stayed awake for only a few minutes before returning to the land of slumber.

  Now it was Dani’s turn to watch her brother. It had been a long night, but Daric was gradually staying awake for longer periods. Dani checked the clock in the cabin. It was 6:00 A.M. and time to wake her brother again.

  “Daric,” Dani whispered while gently shaking his shoulder. “Daric.”

  “What time is it?” he mumbled groggily.

  “It’s six in the morning. How do you feel?”

  “I’ve got one hell of a headache, but, besides that, not too bad.”

  “The doctor said you’d have a nasty one. He gave me some pills he said you could have in the morning. Let me get you some water.” Dani rose from her chair to get the pitcher from the dressing table.

  “Not a great way to start off our birthday,” he mumbled quietly.

  “What?”

  “Today is March 17th; the year may not be right, but the day is. So, happy birthday, sis,” Daric said, a smile etched across his handsome face. He had pulled himself up to a sitting position to take the water and pills from Dani.

  “Happy birthday to you, too, bro.” Dani leaned over and gave Daric a peck on the cheek.

  Daric looked across at the other bed and saw Terry’s prone and rumpled form. “Has she been here all night?” he asked, fretfully.

  “Yeah. We took shifts. She wanted the first one which was most of the night,” Dani supplied quietly.

  Daric grasped Dani’s hand and pulled her closer, so he could keep his voice low. He didn’t want Terry to overhear what he was going to say. “What did they tell you happened?”

  “They said you had an accident, that you fell down the stairs and hit your head.”

  “It was no accident. I was attacked.”

  “What?” Dani exclaimed.

  “I was walking up the aft stairs, stopping at each deck, looking for Case.” Daric quickly held up his hand to stop his sister’s predicable protest. “I know, but I did it anyway. As I was saying, I was about to climb the last set of stairs to A-Deck when I caught that odor again. Next thing I know, I’m lying on a bed in the infirmary.”

  “You don’t think . . .” Dani started.

  “I don’t have to think . . . I know! It was Case. He hit me,” Daric persisted.

  “But why? Why would he attack you?” Dani wasn’t convinced.

  “He must have some reason. Maybe he’s trying to stop me, from what I’m not sure.”

  “The doctor said if that hit on your head had been an inch lower, it would have killed you. Daric, I don’t like this. If it was Case, he’s dangerous; we need to stay clear of him,” she pleaded, knowing full well Daric wasn’t going to drop this.

  49

  It was just after 3:00 P.M. when G.P., Amelia and Fred returned to the airport. The Navy men had helped Bo McKneely push the Electra out of the hangar onto the apron and were helping with the plane’s fueling. Paul was already in the cockpit supervising the procedure.

  G.P. and Amelia dropped Fred at the hangar and c
ontinued on to Bill Miller’s office for the latest update from Pan Amer ican Airways. Bill told them that the Hawaii Clipper had left Alameda at 3:13 P.M. and the Sikorsky was still on schedule to leave at 4:00 P.M.

  “Well, it looks like we’re all set to go,” Amelia said excitedly.

  “Not without the pilot,” G.P. teased. “Come on, let’s get you out to your plane.”

  G.P. drove Amelia to the Electra, past the hundreds of spectators lining the runway. It was a quiet ride inside the car, both lost in their own thoughts. G.P. pulled the car over in front of the hangar. He turned to Amelia and reached over to gently fold her hands into his.

  “Come back to me,” G.P. whispered tenderly.

  “Always.” Amelia leaned over and gave him a peck on the cheek, then let herself out of the car. G.P. slowly extracted himself and walked around the car toward the plane, a few paces behind Amelia.

  As Amelia walked toward the airplane, she spotted a little girl wearing a pale blue dress with matching ribbons tied in her pigtails. She walked over and noticed the little girl was clutching a tattered copy of her autobiography titled The Fun of It.

  “Hey there,” Amelia said, bending down.

  The little girl was dumbstruck. Here was her idol standing, or rather crouching, in front of her and she was actually addressing her, out of all the people who had come out here to see Amelia take off. The crowd went silent, waiting for the child to respond, but she only stood there, wide-eyed, open-mouthed, and staring into the blue eyes of her hero.

  Finally the girl leaned in closer to Amelia, who responded in kind, to hear the little voice whisper, “I’m going to fly like you some day.”

  Amelia was delighted. She hugged the girl who giggled with glee. Amelia stood up and reached for a pen in her jacket pocket. She gently pried the little girl’s prized possession from her arms, opened the cover and started to write. She paused briefly and asked, “What’s your name?”

  “Helen; Helen Hammond.”