“Makes sense. I know I’d be pretty upset if I launched the time pod and it didn’t come back. With all the hassles she gave me when I was building the thing, though, you would think she’d move a little faster. But maybe it’s a good thing she takes her time.”
“Who knows? Thanks for letting me know where she is. I need to talk to her.”
“You’re welcome.”
Susan walked out of his office and to the project room door. She entered the six-digit code into the keypad, pushed the door open, and entered the room. She only got a few steps when she stopped. She found Paulette slumped down over the keyboard sound asleep. Her head and arms were causing the letter t to scroll across the screen without stopping. Susan walked up behind Paulette and carefully shook her shoulder. “Hey, you need to wake up; you’re scrolling the letter t everywhere on the screen.”
With a jerk, Paulette lifted her head; and using her hands to wipe the sleep out of her eyes, she looked at Susan. “What time is it? How long have I been asleep? Oh crap, how long has this been going on with the letter t?”
“Slow down. It’s four in the afternoon, and I don’t know how long you’ve been asleep. You’ve been in here for so long I had to ask where you had gone,” she replied.
Shaking the cobwebs loose from her brain, she eyed the computer. “Dang it, now I’ll have to go back and erase a ton of t’s.” She looked at Susan. “So, what did you need?”
“I came to find you because I made a breakthrough in our search for a better synthetic muscle,” she replied.
Still groggy, Paulette had to think a moment. “What, wait you had a breakthrough,” she replied with excitement in her voice. “What kind of breakthrough?”
Susan pulled up a chair and sat down before explaining what she had accomplished. “As you know, I’ve been working for over a year to find a better material for our synthetic muscles. Last night, I made a breakthrough with a new technique for cellular growth. Basically, I can grow a portion of muscle that can be interwoven with our current synthetic muscle, giving it more flexibility and mobility,” she explained.
A stunned look washed over Paulette’s face. “You’re a genius! I’m glad we can continue to improve upon our product. Before you know it, we might have live muscles for our customers.”
“I wouldn’t go that far. It takes a long time to grow, and we have to use DNA from the recipient to grow the small portions we’d use in our new products. This means the customer would have to wait longer to get his or her limb put on,” she said, cautioning Paulette of the complexity involved.
“Oh, okay. Well, at least they’ll have the option to have more real muscle than synthetic in the future,” she replied. “Excellent job, Susan.”
“Thanks,” she replied.
Susan left Paulette sitting in her chair and went back to her office. Paulette turned her chair back around to face the mess she had made on the computer. You really need to get some rest, she mused as she proceeded to find the first t, and then delete them all. Now that she fixed her mess, she could get back to completing the programing. Without thinking, she bent down and gave Danni a scratch on the head. “You’re such a loyal dog. I don’t know how I’d cope without you.” Danni picked up her head and looked at her for a moment before gently laying it back down on the floor. She always liked sleeping under the desk when Paulette was working.
Refocusing her attention on the computer, she typed in the lines of code that would complete the program. With one final keystroke, she hit the enter key and sighed, sitting back in her chair to relax for a moment. I think I’m finished and can begin the testing phase. However, I need to rest. Rolling her chair back, she stood up and walked to the door. Danni, sensing her movement, got up and walked alongside her. Reaching the door, she opened it, they both walked out onto the manufacturing floor, and headed to her office to gather her things.
When they got home, her first order of business was to grab a bite to eat for her and to feed Danni. Once Danni finished eating, Paulette walked her around the block so she could get her exercise and do her business. Of course, Paulette, being a responsible dog owner, always carried doggie poop bags to pick up Danni’s waste. Tomorrow held promise, and she could hardly wait to begin the testing phase of the time travel project.
Chapter 14
Fall 2029
Paulette sat in front of the computer with much anticipation, Danni lying under the desk at her feet, as usual. Her mind wouldn’t stop spinning. I can’t believe this is about to happen and that I’ll prove it works. She took a big, deep breath and sent the program to the time pod. Since no one would be in the pod during the initial tests, she’d also have to program in the target date and the return information from her seat. Once she completed the transfer, she took another deep breath and hit the engage command on the screen.
At first, it seemed nothing was happening, but then, suddenly, a small wormhole appeared near the time pod. The hole began to grow, and once the required diameter was achieved, the pod extended its small jet engines and engaged them. The pod lifted off the floor and entered the wormhole. It took, what seemed like an eternity, to see it take off, but before she knew it, the room was empty and the wormhole disappeared. She jumped out of her seat with such excitement, she startled Danni. She was screaming and jumping up and down. She had done it! The time pod disappeared, and if all went as planned, it would reappear in a few minutes. Danni eventually sensed Paulette’s excitement and stood there wagging her tail in support of her owner. A few minutes later the wormhole reappeared, and the time pod slowly exited it and landed back on the pad from which it had just left.
Test number one was a success. She could hardly believe it. Sitting back down, she reprogrammed the pod to go into the past for fifteen minutes, hit the engage button, and watched again as the wormhole appeared, the time pod flew off into it, and it shut back down. Danni watched what was going on in amazement and looked to Paulette for attention. Danni came up and placed her head on Paulette’s lap, which caused Paulette to put her hand on the dog’s head and absent-mindedly pet her as she waited in rapt awe for the return of the pod. Fifteen minutes later, as expected, the time pod returned through the wormhole and landed back on the pad. Test two was a success. Now that she was confident it worked, she couldn’t wait to show it to Greg and Susan.
She and Danni left the room and quickly located Greg and Susan. “Hey guys, I did it!”
“Did what?” Susan asked.
“I’ve officially invented time travel, and it works. I want you guys to come see a demonstration.”
Greg looked at Susan with awe, then turned to Paulette and said, “So you did it, did you? Sure, I’d love to see what you’ve accomplished.”
Greg, Susan, and Paulette headed back to the project room, with Danni at their side. Once they were inside, Paulette instructed them to have a seat and to remain on the computer side of the blast shield. Once everyone was situated, Paulette brought up the program and entered new dates and hit the engage button. Greg and Susan stared at the time pod wondering why nothing was happening.
“Hey, I thought ...” before Greg could finish his question, the wormhole appeared; and he nearly fell out of his chair in shock, amazement, and, maybe, a little fear. Susan was sitting stone-faced with her jaw dropped wide open. Both continued to stare as the time pod lifted off, entered the wormhole, and then the wormhole closed with a loud whoosh.
“Wow, that was amazing!” Greg shouted.
“It disappeared into a wormhole that opened in here.” Susan stumbled over her words.
“Yes, it did, and in a few minutes it will return from the future where I sent it.”
“No way,” they both said in unison.
All three continued to look at the empty room in front of the blast window, almost as if they were willing the time pod to come back. The room was so silent the only thing you could hear was the rapid breathing of the three individuals in the room. With no warning, the wormhole reappeared, bursting the silenc
e in the room with the loud noise of the jet engines on the time pod as it came out of the wormhole and settled back onto the pad and shut down.
Greg and Susan were absolutely stunned. Not only did the time pod disappear, but it returned. Greg looked at Paulette. “I’m sorry for ever doubting you.”
“It’s all right,” Paulette replied, with an I-told-you-so look.
Susan was somewhat jittery and blurted out, “That was amazing, but how do you know a person can travel back and forth without getting hurt?” she asked
“First, I don’t think a person would have any trouble traveling through time, but I want to test it and make sure everything will be okay.”
“How do you plan on doing that?” Greg asked.
“I was thinking of sending Danni to the future and also the past to see how she does.”
“Hey that doesn’t sound right, using your own pet as a guinea pig,” he said.
Susan interrupted Greg. “What do you think NASA and other agencies did to prove that a human could withstand unknown elements?”
“I guess you’re right,” he conceded.
“Guys, don’t worry about Danni; she’ll do just fine. My plan is to test the time pod with her in it after a few more tests with no one inside. When I have Danni travel through time and back, I plan on getting a full workup on her to make sure nothing has changed.”
“Congratulations on making it work,” Susan said.
“Thanks guys. Do you want to be here when I send Danni through?”
“Absolutely,” they said at the same time.
“Great, I’ll run a few more tests and get her ready to go for a test run soon.”
Greg and Susan were so excited, congratulated Paulette again, and hugged her. They asked her to join them for dinner to celebrate.
Chapter 15
Winter 2029
Paulette asked Greg to build a special harness and seat for Danni so she’d be secure in the time pod. He worked diligently on producing a five-point harness that would fit around Danni’s neck and torso without being too tight. It had special rings that would attach to the regular belt system in the time pod and attach to the specialized seat he created. Once he finished the project, he presented it to Paulette, so she could try it out on Danni.
“Morning, Paulette. I’ve got the harness and seat ready for you to try out on Danni when you’re ready,” Greg said.
“That’s great. Bring it on over and we can hook her up right now.”
Greg walked to Paulette’s desk and handed her the harness. Then he headed to the time pod to secure the seat in place. Meanwhile, Paulette took the harness and looked it over before getting down on the floor to talk to her best buddy.
“Danni, I’ve got a special harness for you to try on,” she said as she held it out for the dog to sniff. “What do you think? Want to get up and put it on?” Danni’s tail thumped happily on the floor, and she looked up at her owner and seemed to smile. Paulette got up off the floor and asked Danni to stand so she could place the harness on her. Danni stood perfectly still while Paulette placed the harness over her head and snapped the buckles together under her belly and around her neck. She checked to see if the harness fit snuggly and made a few adjustments to tighten it up. Once she finished getting the harness on Danni, she and Danni walked over to the time pod, where Greg had just finished installing the special seat.
“Danni, up!” she commanded. Danni obeyed and jumped up into the time pod. Then Paulette had her jump up into the seat. Once Danni was sitting and facing forward, Greg latched the harness to the time pod seat and to the specialized seat. He tugged hard on all the straps to make sure they were snug and then stepped back to look at his handiwork.
“Looks good,” Paulette said.
“It should hold her in the seat with no problem,” he replied.
“You know, she may need a helmet and goggles. What do you think?”
“I’d say since she won’t be able to control her head like we can, that maybe she should have a helmet. Do you want me to make one for her or see if I can find one that will fit her?” he asked.
“See if you can find one that will fit her first, and if not, then make one,” she replied.
Paulette disconnected Danni from the seat and had her jump down and stand still while she took her harness off before heading back to work on the programming.
Greg had left the room and gone back to his office to search the Internet and see if he could locate a helmet that would fit Danni’s small head. He looked through Amazon’s website but found nothing he liked, so he searched tactical helmets for dogs on Google and found a site that supplied a helmet with the goggles built in. The helmet had holes on each side for Danni’s ears to fit through and a nicely rounded snout cover past the built-in goggles. It also had a strap that would secure nicely under her chin, giving her protection against any jolts that might occur during the trip. The helmet came with a mount on top that would allow a camera to be connected, which would make it possible for Paulette, Greg, and Susan to see whatever Danni was seeing.
Greg called Paulette to let her know what he found. He sat there for a few minutes waiting for her to pick up, when suddenly she answered with a shout.
“What!” she blurted.
“Sorry for disturbing your concentration, but I think I found the right helmet for Danni,” he replied.
“Great, can you send me the link so I can look at it?”
He quickly sent her the link through the company chat window, and a few minutes later, he heard her squeal loudly into the phone speaker.
“This is awesome!” I love it, and I think it will work great. How long before it can be here?”
“I can have it delivered by early next week, if that will work for you?”
“Yes, that would be fine. It will let me get a few more issues worked out before we send her through.”
Paulette hung up the phone and looked down at Danni. “Hey, guess what? Mommy is getting you a cool helmet with goggles. What do you think of that?” she asked.
Danni looked up at her and happily swatted her tail up and down on the floor in response.
“Come on, Danni; let’s go home for the night.”
Danni stood up and immediately fell in next to Paulette as they headed out the door. Paulette waved at everyone as she headed out the front doors of the company toward her car. She opened the back door. “Up, Danni!” And Danni jumped up into the back seat and lay down for the ride home. Paulette got in and started the car. She was so excited she talked to Danni all the way home.
Later that evening, Paulette was sitting on the couch with Danni lying next to her, when she called Danni over to lay her head on her lap. “So, what do you think of traveling in time, Danni?” she asked, knowing full well the dog wouldn’t actually talk. However, Danni looked up at Paulette with those beautiful brown eyes, surrounded by black circles, giving the appearance that she wore eyeliner, and stared into Paulette’s eyes, while thumping her tail. Paulette smiled and petted Danni on the top of her head. “You’ll do just fine in the time pod. It’s kind of like riding in the car, except you’ll go faster and see a lot of different things. When you get back from your ride, I’ll take you to the veterinary clinic and get a full workup done on you to make sure you’re still okay. Though I have no doubts, you’ll be just fine.” At the mention of the veterinary clinic, Danni raised her head and whined slightly in disapproval. “I know you don’t like the vet, but it’s a necessary step if I’m to be a good scientist and doggie parent,” she said. Danni again laid her head down on Paulette’s lap and enjoyed being petted before they headed to bed.
Danni looked so cute with her new helmet on. The sleek black helmet fit her perfectly, with her floppy ears sticking out over the sides of the helmet, and her short, stubby snout poking out from under the goggles. The helmet also sported a go-pro camera attached to the top of her helmet, already turned on and ready to record every moment of her exciting flight. Paulette let out a giggle. “You
’re too cute there, Danni,” she exclaimed. Even Greg and Susan thought she looked cute in her new tactical helmet and goggles.
“You think she is ready to fly through the bowels of time and back again?” Greg inquired.
“Yep, she looks the part for sure.” Paulette giggled as she answered.
Paulette led Danni to the time pod door, “Up, Danni,” she commanded. Danni jumped up into her special seat, turned around and sat down, and Paulette latched the harness down to the passenger seatbelt system. She patted Danni on the head and gave her a big hug and kiss. Danni reciprocated by licking her on the face and smiling in her cool gear. Paulette backed up and looked at Danni and shook her head in total amazement. “You look ready to go Danni,” she said. “Hang on for the ride of your life.” Paulette reached out and turned on the other go-pro cameras that were installed and pointing out the clear door. The whole trip would be on video. She gave Danni one more look, closed and latched the door shut, walked back behind the blast wall, and sat down at the computer. She reviewed the information and made sure that the program would send Danni fifty years into the future. Once she was sure everything looked good, she hit the send button; and it transferred the program to the time pod. A few seconds later, she pushed the launch sequence command, the time pod fired up, and a moment later, the wormhole appeared. The time pod blasted its small engines, lifting the time pod off the floor and into the wormhole; and within minutes, everything vanished.
Paulette, Greg, and Susan were all holding their breath as they waited for the return of the time pod. However, a minute into the blastoff, they realized they’d have to breathe since Danni wasn’t scheduled to return for about fifteen minutes. They all blew out the remaining air in their lungs and breathed slowly as they waited.
Approximately fifteen minutes later, a wormhole appeared in the room, and out came the time pod with Danni still sitting upright in the seat. That was definitely a good sign. Paulette rushed over to the time pod as soon as it settled down onto the launch pad and shut its engines off. She opened the door, turned off all the cameras, and reached out to unhook Danni. While she was unhooking her, Danni lathered Paulette with slobbery kisses all over her. “No more licks,” she commanded. Danni stopped licking her so she could finish unhooking the harness. “There, you can come out now.” Danni jumped out of the seat, ran right into Paulette’s arms, and licked her all over again. “Okay, okay, enough with the licking. Let’s see what you recorded.”
Beginnings (Book 1): Future Apocalypse Page 9
