The Portal At The End Of The Storm (Quantum Touch Book 6)

by Michael R. Stern

  The waiting has always been hard. Even with the portal, waiting in the school hallway was the worst. When we were making a difference, I could tolerate waiting. And I had Ash right next to me. My mother asked me if I'd started dating again. Although I told her no, I have to admit that I've thought about it.

  I go to Riverboro less often now. I keep the house ready for Ashley's return, and keep the Mustang running. I'd cleared out the garage after Christmas, so it would have a safe winter. And every time I go, I read our notes, searching for that elusive clue, or a missed idea, that might help get him back. I'd thought about all the families of servicemen and women, how awful their lives had to be with their loved ones away for so long. I wish I could get a letter or a phone call.

  The president is doing the same, I think. Keeping busy waiting. He isn't in Riverboro often. Before I go, I call him. If he's free, I stop by. He knows I miss being involved. We've even talked about whether or not he should tell the new guy about the portal. Always the same conclusion: no point if we can't show him. I'm not sure we should even if we could.

  Last time I went, Nat and Tony had gotten engaged. Then Tony got transferred back to the Energy Department, so I don't know how that's going to work out. Nat said she liked her job. Good to know someone does.

  Eric Silver will be home for spring break soon. Hopefully, he'll have some new ideas.

  I miss Ash.

  Chapter 41

  Fritz

  I TOLD ASHLEY that as soon as spring storms begin, I need to go back where he found me. I can't leave Kate, or Flynn, or any of them, without an explanation. Ash reminded me that I did exactly that when I left home. For the next couple of days, I tried to explain to him what had changed, my emotional connection to the only woman who had taken me into her family in eight years. He argued that I didn't know how long I'd been gone, and how much more damage I could do using the portal for my own selfish—his word—reasons.

  “Your relationship with her, in your time, was only a couple of months. You've been married for eight years. And you have a son who needs his father to help him grow up. So you need to grow up first.”

  “All I want to do is say goodbye and thank them. You can come with me. You'll see why I need to do it.”

  “Are you going to break her heart? Or yours? Don't be stupid. That's never been why you've used the portal. Don't forget we need to figure out what we need to fix.”

  “How can I forget? You won't let me.”

  “Then let's get the next steps ready, so when we can, we just go.”

  While I studied Natalie's chart, the front door opened. When I lifted my head, standing in the kitchen door, Linda scowled at me.

  “Where's Ash?”

  “At school.”

  “Who are you?” I told her my name. “Is that your real name? You never know with him.” I nodded, more from shock than anything. “Do you know when he'll be home?”

  “After school.”

  “A smart-ass, too. Tell him I want my bike parts and my money.”

  I checked the clock. “He'll be back around three. You can tell him yourself if you want to wait.”

  “You tell him. I'll be back.” She reached for the door as it swung open. “What are you doing here?”

  “I should ask you that,” Natalie said.

  “Not your concern.” She turned to me. “Tell him.” She left as fast as she'd come.

  “What did she want?”

  “Bike parts and money.”

  “What's wrong with you? You're as pale as a ghost.”

  “Maybe. You know I'm married to her in our universe. So maybe not a ghost, but I'm not sure how to describe what just happened.”

  She stood at the doorway, staring. “I didn't know it was her. Ash told me I'd introduced you to your wife, but I didn't make the connection. I introduced her to the other Ashley, too. That her, the one that just left.”

  “Natalie, none of that matters. Your map is great. I have specific questions for each stop that should tell me where the changes happened.”

  “Like what?”

  “I have a feeling that if we go in reverse, he'll erase what he did. By disconnecting the bridges. Then I can do the same, just not doing or saying what I did. Take Hitler. Ash spoke to him. If he goes in and says nothing, and leaves, that might get us disconnected from that dimension.”

  “He did it in this dimension.”

  “But something he did here pushed me across to the other dimension. So, for each time he entered, I need to see if I can get back. If I can't, that will identify a place where he's disrupted the dimension. That's where we'll need to concentrate in order to turn things back. All your detail of each entry he made is critical.”

  At three-thirty, Ashley opened the backdoor. Before I could ask why he'd come in that way, the front door banged against the door stop. Nat and I were in the crossfire. Linda, at the front, her oil-stained hands on her hips, entered with a battle plan. Ashley, carrying a stack of books, stopped and scowled. Linda started the shouting, and Ashley held his response until the steam ran out.

  “The bike parts are in the shed. The drugs are in the sewer system, and I don't know what money you're talking about. You are, however, trespassing. So unless you would like to tone it down,” at this point, he was almost whispering, “and would like a soda and a civilized conversation, please leave. And give me the key.”

  Her jaw dropped, her balloon punctured, clearly, at least to me, unsure of what more she could say. Without a word more, she slammed the door behind her. Ashley ran to catch her.

  “You forgot the key.” He held his hand out and waited. She had stopped midway down the walk, found the key and slapped it into his outstretched hand. “Thank you. Now would you like a soda?”

  I knew the answer before he completed the sentence. She almost barked “no” and he stayed at the door as she sped away.

  Nat said, “She'll be back. For the bike stuff.”

  “I don't care. I don't want the bike parts. That shed needs to be cleaned out anyway.”

  “Sit down. Nat and I have made some progress.”

  For the remainder of the afternoon, we worked backward from the spot before he'd found me. We'd left Koppler's book alone, and the newspaper articles, too. I'd need them to see if reviewing the order of entry worked. More, and I didn't say it, I was going back to McNamara's, despite Ashley's admonitions.

  “How will you get to Appomattox?” Nat asked, after Ash said that Lee had known we would meet there.

  “That's a good question, Fritz. None of the books you picked took me there.”

  Since I had no idea how Lee knew, I guessed. I picked up Longstreet's book and flipped to the rear pages. “You used this one when Lee told you, right?”

  “Right. Do you think if we change the clip, we stay on the correct timeline?”

  I read the pages about Lee's retreat from around Richmond, General Grant's message about surrender, and the meeting at the McLean house. Longstreet joined Lee at the surrender, so a possible connection existed.

  While Natalie wrote, I asked questions about Ashley's pathway through the books. He hadn't spoken to Lincoln, hadn't stayed long at either the artillery barrage on the third day at Gettysburg, or in the rain on the Potomac. He only observed the Kopplers. He'd spoken to the Wright brothers, Hitler, Franklin, and Churchill. Dealey Plaza lasted only a moment. Reversing the stops with no contact should be easy.

  “Can you tell me about the school, the buzz on the doorknob, anything that might have an effect that you noticed?” I asked.

  Ash closed his eyes. He tried to see each stop, and spoke a description as he worked down the list. He mentioned the accident with Sandy's car, and his double maybe showing up while he spoke with Churchill. “I didn't pay attention to the time. Each time in the portal seemed longer than the actual amount of time I'd been gone. I never timed it. I should have thought about that.”

  “We already know that time moves differently inside.”

  “But
we're in the portal now, Fritz.”

  “No, we're not. You were when you came to get me. Right now, we're in a different dimension. Our time is moving the same through this world.” When I said it, I knew I had the right answer, although I had never had the thought before.

  “Have either of you considered how long this reversal might take?” Natalie asked. “If time plays catch up from dimension to dimension, it could take months.”

  She had a good point. If that were the case, we couldn't go fast, in and out, and get an answer. We might be able to hurry through the places where Ash had just looked, check the next place going backwards where he'd spoken to someone. But then we would have to wait.

  “Is it necessary to go in order?”

  “We won't know until we find the first change. And until we have a storm, it won't matter.”

  Chapter 42

  Ashley

  I COULDN'T HAVE been happier to have found Fritz. But being together with my friend was little different than living with a stranger. I went to school each day, to his classroom, teaching his subject, and running his activities. My tenth graders had worked hard to get the history baseball tournament in motion, but by the start of spring training couldn't generate enough interest among the students, even with Rachel and Nicole using their unique style of pressure. Teachers had no interest in being involved, and the kids had not convinced local businesses to become sponsors. At the start of February, Susan Leslie, with tears of frustration, told me they were giving up. I told her what people said for years about the old Brooklyn Dodgers—“Wait 'til next year.” In another moment, in a different setting, I would have worked harder to make their effort successful, but finding Fritz and going home had filled my dance card. And teaching a brand-new subject without years of notes and plans, including the ones in my desk from other me, filled whatever extra time I could carve out. I had to remind Fritz more than once that I wasn't his entertainment. Once the initial burn cooled, he gave me time when I said I had something else to do. I considered the possibility more than once that he had changed during his absence, and maybe Linda had a reason to have left.

  As mid-April approached, we routinely watched the Weather Channel, checked weather websites and began the countdown to thunderstorms. April was slipping by, drier than it had been in years, and May flowers might be behind schedule.

  Because I'd changed my routine before Christmas, and had continued the question-of-the-day at least once a week, I reached the end of the Civil War at the end of the month. I asked Fritz if he had any interest in guest lecturing. Instead of an immediate decline, he asked if we might have a storm he could borrow.

  “What? You mean take them to meet Lee?”

  “You still have that book, don't you?”

  “I had to buy a copy, but that's a bad idea.”

  “I know. But he may be able to help.”

  “We're going to find him anyway. No reason to subject the kids to our problem. Not when we're so close.”

  “So close? So close to what?”

  “Skip it. Sorry I mentioned it. I thought you might want to see the inside of a classroom again.”

  “I don't think I'll ever be in one again. Sorry, Ash. I'm not sure going home will make things better.”

  The Appomattox classes came and went, without Fritz, and without a thunderstorm. As tensions built between us, and we had less and less to talk about, the clouds rolled in, with the promise of putting our plan to work. The first storm arrived on a Tuesday. As we had planned, I stepped across the threshold to the telegraph office, where Lincoln spotted me. When I stepped into the Pennsylvania State House, Franklin saw me, but I left without a word or a wave. Next, a rapid entry to Dealey Plaza, and out as quickly.

  “Okay, I'm next,” Fritz said.

  “You only have to find McNamara's. Then come right back.”

  “I know the plan,” he snapped.

  Although a quick look down the street would suffice, Fritz walked through and aimed for the pub door. I debated going after him, but remained in the doorway. Not a long wait. He came back in less than ten minutes.

  “What happened?”

  “I knew them, but they didn't know me. I didn't cross over to the other dimension.” Downcast, Fritz turned away from me.

  “Does that mean you've reversed that dimension?” Nat asked.

  “I don't know. Let's go.”

  We lucked out with the weather. Three days later, another storm blew in. Friday night. Nat had alerted Brian Shaw that we were going to try, and needed the school parking lot watched. She also called Tony and I brought the generator. With long days, even with the clouds, we hit the hallway at ten. The storm threatened, nearly overhead, though the rain fell in a drizzle.

  I tested the door and Tony hooked up the power source. Fritz and I had discussed having only a part of the equation, and he thought if the storm were strong enough, the generator should keep the portal open for quite a while, even after the storm passed.

  Our only stop was Churchill. I'd seen him more than once. And spoken to him. This time, a step, a glimpse, and out. I'm not even sure he saw me. Then, Fritz's chance came again.

  “Let's move the clip to a little later. If the place is busy, I may jog memories, or even better, cross the time bridge.”

  I told him to do whatever he thought would work. With a flash of lightning, the rain finally started. Before Fritz tried again, Brian Shaw ran in, and tracked the rain down the corridor, dripping like he'd brought the rain inside.

  “Can I watch?”

  “Sure,” I said. “Look in the window. See, it's a classroom.” I grabbed the doorknob, and Fritz walked past Shaw and into the portal. A car drove by, and I pulled him back. “That was close.” Another flash and Fritz ran toward the green neon. I let the door close.

  “Now what?” Shaw asked.

  “Now, we wait.” I'd forgotten those long minutes, waiting for Jane to come back. All our adventures flitted through my heightened memory until Fritz returned.

  “They knew me,” Fritz said, a smile of both happiness and relief.

  “You know you've just set the tumblers in motion again. And we'll never know for sure if what they do changes things here.”

  “At least, I know that option is still open.”

  “Why this time and not the last?” Nat asked, wiping the collected footprints from in front of the door.

  “I think it was the lightning. Last time, I went in before any nearby flashes.”

  “Time to go,” I said.

  “No, Ash. Let's go to Koppler's. That's where you found me. Let's change the clip to forward in time, and see what's there.”

  “You can't be anywhere near the door, Fritz.”

  “Fine, but let's check it.”

  A minute later, I stepped through, again behind the shrubs. On the ground, surrounded by swarming party-goers, three men lay helter-skelter. Three others, no doubt security guards, headed toward the greenery not far from me, so I left. I'd been gone maybe ten seconds.

  “What did you see?” Fritz asked.

  “A party. Not enough time to see anything else.” Brian Shaw had been read in about the portal, and even why I'd been looking for Fritz. He didn't know I'd just seen the men Fritz had shot. “Nothing's different. Now, let's go.”

  When we got back to my house, Fritz and I sat in the kitchen. I contained my shouting, and got a drink instead. “I'm not sure how we'll know if we've reversed things, especially if you jumble them. I'm beginning to doubt you want to get home.”

  “I told you before, I hadn't planned to go home. I don't know if that's changed. At least, I know I can get back there.”

  “I can't make you want to go home, even though I think you should. But, Fritz, I want to go home.”

  Chapter 43

  Fritz

  THE SUN ON Sunday kept us home, so I helped Ashley clean out the garden, all the while working backward. What had he done that pushed me across dimensions? The key that triggered the bridge had al
so brought his doppelganger back here. Then I remembered he had visited all those places more than once. I leaned the rake against his holly bush and told him to come inside with me. He didn't argue.

  “Let's go over the timeline again.”

  “Why? We've done this a dozen times already.”

  “You went back and forth, more than once, to all the books. But, only twice did you cause my dimension to change. The second time you brought me back. But I've lived in that dimension for three years. So whatever you did happened later than sooner. Even if time changes speed, it remains relative.”

  “Einstein will love to know that.”

  “Let's do the arithmetic. I've been gone eight and a half years. You say it's only been five months and a few days. Where do they match up closest? What trip would have been at roughly the same time? Ash, if we can graph this, we'll know which entry is the tripwire.”

  “That will close access to that dimension, but we're no closer to getting home. We still have to undo the Kopplers.”

  “I'm getting to that. You found me, as a memory, at the party after I shot them. You had to move forward in time to find me in today. Moving paperclips can take us backward.”

  “So, first, we close the dimension, then from here, you go back to 2008 and just leave.”

  “No. It's more complicated. Even if I go back sooner, I have a mission—kill them. I need to be stopped.”

  “So I have to come too.”

  “No. You have to enter after me, and stop me. And I'm going to put up a fight. Trust me. I'm right. It's on you to make this work.”

  “Will that get us home?”

  “I don't believe it will. But it should eliminate any obstacles.”

  “In other words, we're stuck here, unless we can find a bridge home.”