by Jan Eira
“New York and Pennsylvania fear the war will soon penetrate their borders as well,” she said. The screen immediately changed to weapons exploding, buildings collapsing, and hospital emergency departments containing broken and bloody bodies. Young soldiers—perhaps none older than fifteen—held weapons of mass destruction, and some of their guns were almost as big as them.
William spoke some commands. “Computer, TV off. Computer, display footage from camping trip, July 2045. Mute.”
“Retrieving,” said the pleasant electronic voice.
Valerie gave a wan smile. “I can’t stop thinking about Brent.”
The horror of the day’s news ceased with a flash. In its place, the virtual screen now showed a happy family—William, Valerie, and two preteens—on a kayaking trip.
“I hope he’s all right,” said William. “Ellie was pretty sure the time-travel capsule would deliver him to that date and place. I had grown very willing to accept and trust anything she said over the years. But now, I’m worried about our ability then as teenagers to change the course of history.”
“I have confidence in Brent and all of us,” said Valerie. “We’ve accomplished some pretty amazing stuff, even back then. Together, the four of us have always made a great team. We achieved everything we put our collective minds to. This mission will be no different.”
“Let’s be positive,” said William. “Hopefully soon, Brent will be completely rid of the virus, and Enoxadin tainted and rendered useless.” He took a deep breath.
She smiled. “One of the things I admire and love about you, William, is how positive you are. You always see the cup half-full, and I love you for it. Don’t ever give that up. Ever.”
On the screen, a boy and a girl hugged their parents for the camera.
“How old were the twins during this trip?” asked William.
“Eleven. Computer, sound on.”
“Thank you Mom and Dad,” said Zach.
“You’re welcome.” Valerie embraced them both. William joined in the group hug.
“You keep doing well in school, and we’ll keep going on cool trips like this one,” said William. “Want to come back here?”
“Yeah, next year,” yelled the kids. “Can we? Please?”
“If we get all As, can we also go to Walt Disney Way?” asked Mackenzie.
“Walt Disney Way it is,” said William.
William and Valerie smiled as they watched the video. He had his arm around her, and a blanket was draped on their laps.
“William, Zach, and Mackenzie, say good-bye to the camera,” said Valerie, waving. Her family complied. The vacation footage ended.
“Computer, TV off,” said William. His smile lingered.
“I hope Brent is doing OK and the mission is proceeding well,” said Valerie. William nodded, and they kissed.
“He’s pretty strong,” said Rick, the paramedic attempting to place an intravenous line in the combative patient’s forearm.
“They all are when they’re on drugs,” said a police officer, grabbing the old man’s right leg.
“I don’t know if it’s drugs. He’s got a very high fever. He’s burning up.”
“Look, kid,” said the cop. “When you’ve been at this for as long as I’ve been, you realize it’s always drugs in these cases.”
“If you say so, but I don’t see any needle marks on him. He’s clean. Good teeth. Nice clothes. I think this guy’s just sick.”
“What did the kids say his name was?” asked Jules, Rick’s partner.
The cop glimpsed at his notebook. “Brent Joseph Smithson.”
“Brent!” yelled Jules, shaking the old man slightly. “Are you in there?”
“Not responding,” said Rick.
“He’s starting another convulsion,” said the cop.
“Hang on to him so he doesn’t hurt himself,” said Rick.
“And protect his airway, Rick,” said Jules. “Did you get an IV in yet?”
“I can’t.” Rick struggled to restrain the man’s arm. “We can’t hold him down to get an IV in. And without the IV, we can’t give him meds.”
“Let’s get him on the stretcher and get moving fast to the ambulance,” said Jules.
“Restrain his four extremities to the gurney,” said Rick. “Wish we had more manpower, but we’re all we got. Tie him down fast, and let’s go.”
The old man continued to jerk. His arms and legs thrashed uncontrollably.
“Yes, let’s go,” said Rick. “We’re losing him fast!”
CHAPTER 40
Brent became barely aware of his surroundings as the ambulance pulled into the apron right outside the emergency department.
Within moments, the ambulance crew wheeled the stretcher into the main foyer, where people bustled from place to place, some yelling out orders. The ambulance crew rushed the flailing man in the stretcher past the commotion. A nurse pointed to the right hall.
“ER-8, boys,” she said. “I’ll have one of my people in there to help you in a sec. Does he have a name?”
“Brent something,” said Jules. “The cops have the full name.”
The nurse nodded and rushed away.
Brent wanted to speak. He wanted to protest for being brought here. Although he was beginning to discern what was happening around him, his ability to verbalize remained impaired. The violent shivers had mercifully waned. In ER-8, he looked from side to side.
“He’s coming to, a little bit,” said Rick.
Hospital personnel moved Brent to the bed and hooked him up to the heart monitor. A nurse inserted an IV in his forearm.
Brent finally regained his voice. “Take me back to the cave, please,” he said calmly. “You can’t help me here.”
“You’re very sick, Brent,” said the nurse. “You have a high fever. Let us help you. I’m going to get the doctor.” She walked out.
Two police officers stood right outside the room. Brent tried to get up but noticed that his arms and legs were restrained to the bed. In frustration, he pulled as hard as he could with his right arm but to no avail. The tugging exacerbated his headache, which already felt as if his skull were a watermelon subjected to a sledgehammer attack. He writhed in pain on the narrow bed. More people rushed into the cubicle.
“What’s your last name, Brent?” yelled a nurse, her words diffusing erratically into thin air. “He’s burning up again. I bet his temperature is over one-o-five.”
“Can you understand me?” asked a man dressed in scrubs under a white coat. “I’m Dr. Cleverly. Do you know where you are?” The words seemed to be getting farther and farther away as if in the beginning of a dream. The pounding of Brent’s head and the trembling of his body escalated.
Brent heard a different person talking to him. “Do you remember what happened to you?” The female voice was distant and distorted but seemed vaguely familiar. “Are you with us yet?” The words became easier to comprehend and more real. All at once, the words were clear again. Brent looked around. “You hit your head pretty hard,” said Valerie.
Brent was now at home, on the floor of his house. Valerie and William were at his side.
“Brent,” said William. “Are you OK, man?”
“You fainted,” said Valerie. “Do you remember where you are?”
“Yes,” said Brent. A tear emerged from his eye. “Ellie’s funeral was earlier today.” He began to sob. “I can’t believe she’s gone.”
“Neither can we,” said William. “But the three of us must go on. Together.”
“We have a mission to finish,” said Valerie. The couple helped Brent to the couch, and the three sat down. “We have to finish the mission Ellie began for us. We can’t let her down, even after her death.”
“Especially after her death,” said Brent. “We have to see this through.”
“Here, drink this,” said Valerie. She handed him a glass of cold water. “It’ll help you feel better.”
Brent reached out for the glass. “Yes, water, please.”
Again and again, Brent grasped for the glass of water. As he did, reality seemed to morph, and all he clutched was nothing. He stared blankly into space, his brain not quite connected to the real world around him.
“No, you can’t drink water,” said a voice he recognized as that of the doctor in the emergency department. “You can’t drink anything by mouth until you’re fully conscious.”
“I’m OK now,” said Brent. “I’m conscious, aren’t I?”
“No, not fully. I’m Dr. Cleverly. Remember me? Do you know where you are?”
“The fever is breaking,” said the nurse from the other side of the bed. “The cooling blanket worked like a charm.”
Brent turned to her then back to the doctor. “Dr. Cleverly! In the ER. Yes, I remember.”
The doctor smiled. “Good. Do you remember what happened to you?”
“No, not everything. What happened to me? Why am I here in the ER?”
“The police found you with some kids in a cave. You had a very high fever and a series of febrile seizures. You’ve been confused and disoriented for about thirty minutes.”
“Thirty minutes?” whispered Brent. He looked around the room. His nebulous mind was now cooperating and returning to normal. “It looks like the confusion is lasting longer.”
“Lasting longer?” asked the doctor. “You’ve had these before?”
Brent looked into Dr. Cleverly’s eyes. “Yes, Doctor. I’m dying, and you can’t help me. Nobody can. I need to leave here as soon as possible.”
“Sorry, but we can’t let you go. You’re very sick. Besides, the police have you under arrest.”
Another nurse spoke. “His temperature is increasing again despite the cooling blanket. It’s already one-o-four again. What else can we do, Dr. Cleverly?”
Brent began to thrash around once more. A foamy substance seeped through his clenched teeth.
“One-o-five point eight,” someone yelled.
Numerous personnel ran into the small cubicle. Strong, rhythmic contractures of Brent’s limbs began to materialize, and his consciousness again slipped into nothingness.
Several miles away, the four teenagers sat in a jail cell.
“I wonder how Brent is doing,” said Ellie.
“I’m doing fine, thank you for asking,” said younger Brent, sitting right next to her.
“I meant old Brent.” She put her arm around him. “Please don’t be jealous of yourself. What I feel for him, I’m beginning to feel for you. You two are the same person.”
“We have to get out of here and get him out of whatever prison cell they’ve put him in,” said Valerie.
“He’s sick,” said Ellie. “They walked us out of the cave and left him behind with a whole bunch of cops. I’m sure they called for an ambulance and took him to the hospital.”
“What about his devices?” asked Brent. “Where are those now? We must get them and learn to—”
“Valerie,” said a man, rushing toward their cell. Two cops and a woman approached right behind him.
“How are you, sweetheart?” asked the woman.
“Mom, Dad,” said Valerie. “These are my friends Ellie, Brent, and William.”
“Friends, indeed,” said Dr. Rovine. “They are the ones getting you into trouble, aren’t they?”
“No, no,” said Valerie. She stuck out her hands between the iron bars and grabbed her dad’s. “Nothing like that. You don’t know them. They go to a different school. But we’re good friends and—”
“We shouldn’t talk in here,” said Mrs. Rovine. Then she turned to the cops. “Can we have some privacy with our daughter?”
“Detective Sparks will want to talk to all of them first,” said one of the cops.
“I’m their attorney,” she said, handing them a card. “Madeleine Rovine. Please let the detective know they’re not willing to talk. None of them. And I’d like to know what the charges are.”
“Your mom’s a lawyer?” whispered Ellie.
Valerie nodded and smiled. “The best one in town.”
“Let Detective Sparks know I’d like a word with him as soon as possible,” Mrs. Rovine said. “And when I say ‘as soon as possible,’ that’s code for right now. Got it?”
Both officers nodded and rushed out.
“So, Valerie,” said Dr. Rovine. “What happened to you and your friends?”
“Is it true you stole that research drug Daddy’s working on?” asked Mrs. Rovine.
“We wanted to learn more about it,” said Ellie. “That stupid lady in the pharmacy wouldn’t tell us anything about it and wouldn’t let us study it.”
“We’re all very interested in going into medical school, Dr. Rovine,” said William. “We saw a great opportunity to learn more from you and this new drug with so much potential.”
Ellie continued. “When the lady in the pharmacy refused to help us in any way, I took the research drug and—”
“No, I did it!” said Valerie. “I took it. I don’t know why I did it, but I was the one. I know I shouldn’t have, but—”
“OK,” said Dr. Rovine. “What else?”
Brent cleared his throat. “Well, we did go out to Supreme Pharmaceuticals, hoping to see the facility where they make Enoxadin.”
“Mr. Darren Owen invited me, and I invited them,” said Valerie.
“What else have you done today?” asked Mrs. Rovine. “Any other tomfoolery? I want to know absolutely everything.”
The four teenagers described the past several hours as they pertained to Enoxadin and the hospital but said nothing of older Brent, time travelers, or the grand mission that older Brent had revealed to them.
Mrs. Rovine waited until they were finished. “Let me have a word with Detective Sparks and see what I can do for you kids. Keeping you locked up seems unnecessary and overkill. We’ll see you real soon. I promise.” Everyone forced a smile, and the teens sat back down.
Soon after the Rovines left, a couple of officers escorted the teens to a room with a long metal table and told them to sit and wait. Two cameras recorded their every move. The metallic chairs were cold and uncomfortable.
After what seemed to be forever, the door opened, and Dr. and Mrs. Rovine entered. All eyes connected briefly, but no one spoke. Detective Sparks and three police officers stood in the background, with two of the officers by the entrance. The Rovines and the detective sat down, facing the teens.
Detective Sparks broke the silence. “As I was saying, Mrs. Rovine, it’s way more than that. They also stole a car—”
“No,” said Dr. Rovine. “I gave my daughter permission to drive my Lexus.”
“They didn’t steal the Lexus from you, Dr. Rovine. They stole it from me.”
“But tell me this, Detective,” said Mrs. Rovine. “Why are you pursuing these kids this feverishly? What have they done to deserve it?”
“At the time, I thought they were murderers. There were three people we believed were killed by—”
“Believed?” she said. “And what do you know now?”
“The three men you thought they killed are fine, right?” asked Dr. Rovine.
“A colossal misunderstanding, I’d say!” said Mrs. Rovine.
Detective Sparks furrowed his brow. “Well, in a way, yes, but—”
“I tell you what,” said Mrs. Rovine, getting up on her feet and gesturing for her husband to do the same. “I read the reports you and your men wrote. Here’s what I know.” She cleared her throat. “You made my daughter and her friends run through some woods in the night, at grave risk to them. You and your men pointed loaded guns at them on numerous occasions, at great risk to them. You’ve arres
ted and jailed them, at great risk to their psychological health. Should I go on?” She grabbed her jacket and purse. “You let them out right now without prejudice, and we may be persuaded not to press charges against you, the department, and the city. We’ll call it all a big misunderstanding on your part. These things do happen, I suppose. We understand. Let’s move forward and pretend none of this ever happened. Shall we?”
“No, Mrs. Rovine,” said Detective Sparks. “That’s not OK. These kids have to—”
Mrs. Rovine stuck her open palm toward him, gesturing him to be silent. Then, she fished out her cell phone from her purse and dialed.
“Minnie,” she said. “Madeleine here. Are you aware of what your detectives are doing to my daughter and her friends? They arrested her because Detective Sparks thought incorrectly that she had murdered three men. Can you even fathom that? Well, this has gone on long enough, and I will not have it. Minnie, call off your dogs or—” After a long moment while she listened, she handed her phone to the detective. “The mayor wants to talk to you.”
Surprised, Detective Sparks got up and took the phone.
“Yes, Mayor,” he said, a hint of tremulousness in his voice. “Detective Daniel Sparks, ma’am.” He listened. “Yes, that’s true, but—” He looked at his shoes. “Yes, but—” He looked at the teenagers and then back at his shoes. “Yes, ma’am.” He handed Mrs. Rovine her phone.
“What about those gadgets we found in the cave?” he asked. “What are they?”
“We were trying to collect data for our premed project,” said Ellie. “My Lucanidae beetle larvae better not have been disturbed. You didn’t open those containers, did you? Please tell me you didn’t open the containers.”
“Two years of work down the drain,” said Brent, his right arm to his forehead.
“Please tell us the larval reservoirs are intact,” said William. “Please!”
Detective Sparks’s face scrunched. “Beetles? Larvae?”
“Why do you think we were in that cave after dusk to begin with?” asked Valerie. “We love to visit dark places at night? Is that what you thought? Maybe we look like bats to you.”
