by J. C. Allen
“Feels good, be right back. Don’t worry,” he assured them.
He tucked the bag into his shorts pocket so the light hung outside and immersed himself the rest of the way. As he breast-stroked around the waterfall, Abby called, “Be careful!”
“Of course!” he shot back casually, “I’d hate for you to lose me before you finally admit you love me!” He winked at Kaylie, who returned the wink.
Abby glared at him as he went under, and then turned to Kaylie, “What did that mean?” she asked suspiciously.
“Oh, just something we discussed last night,” Kaylie replied with an ounce, maybe a ton, of implication, leaving her to wonder.
The lights sparkled and flashed as the bag flapped at his side, not exactly the best arrangement, but it was working. He could clearly see the uniform tunnel ahead until it turned sharply at about fifteen feet. He grabbed the rope and allowed the current to drag him in. Not too strong, he thought.
He drifted around the corner weightlessly then propped his feet against each side to stop his progress and look down the next corridor. There, he thought, not even ten feet away, was what appeared to be the light source they had seen so dimly from the pool, dozens of times brighter now. He considered making the trip to the junction from which it came, a branch in the tunnel to the right, but the rope had followed the current the other way. He opted to go back and explain what he was going to do instead.
He decided to try to swim out of the hole against the current and found he could overpower it fairly easily, and made his way back to the opening where he pulled himself out.
“There he is!” an obviously tense, and now relieved, Jessica exclaimed.
“It’s not bad, really, but I’m not sure you can all make it. There’s a turn fifteen feet down, then a fork another eight to ten feet to the right where I could see a light,” he paused for a breath. “I’m going to go down to that path. If I’m safe, I’ll tug on the rope four times, OK?”
Kaylie nodded.
Rick pulled in a few more deep breaths then angled into a dive right at the hole, going directly into the aqueduct and maneuvering swiftly around the first corner to the spot where he had previously stopped. He balanced himself against the current at the split in order to pull up slack in the rope, and took the right path toward the light.
He quickly learned this path was not a long one. In fact, it sloped directly up at a twenty-degree angle and he could see the surface already. He half walked, half swam the four or five feet to the surface, dragging the slack rope with him, breaking the surface to a surreal world that his wildest fantasies could never have conjured.
“What’s taking so long?” Abby said, pacing.
“Why? You miss him already?” Kaylie smiled.
“Seriously, he hasn’t tugged on the rope?”
“Not at all, there’s been no tension on it at all since he went in.”
“One minute, 45 seconds,” Alex called, looking at her watch.
Kaylie decided to check the rope, just to make sure. She only pulled it a couple feet when she felt pressure on the other end. She tugged once.
The slight jerk of the rope snapped Rick out of his trance. How long had it been? Five seconds? Five minutes? He didn’t know, but was sure someone on the other end of this rope did. He slowly pulled back four times to let them know he was OK. He then untied the rope from his waist and tied it off to a column before pulling himself back to the pool.
As his head broke the surface, an angry voice assaulted him, “Richard Williamson! How dare you scare us all like that!”
He held back his smile as he swam back, “How long was I gone?” he asked Alex.
“Two minutes, 45 seconds,” said the timekeeper.
“I had fifteen seconds left, why the panic?” he joked. Abby was not amused. He climbed up the steep slope and dried his hands on the pants he had left behind.
“You don’t even care if we were worried?” Abby scolded.
He asked her for another plastic bag and she provided it. “There are easier ways to tell me how you feel,” he said slyly, winking at Kaylie again. He then took the camera from Jessica and sealed it up in the bag, purposely avoiding eye contact.
Abby fumed at Kaylie, “What is this? A conspiracy? Are you helping him play some kind of joke on me?”
Kaylie was giggling, but shook her head, assuring Abby there was no evil plot against her.
“What are you doing, Rick?” Abby finally asked him.
He glanced at her, “You have to see this. Seriously. And I’m in absolutely no danger at all; I merely lost track of time. Don’t worry.” He stood and pecked her lightly on the forehead, then squeezed the camera into his pocket and started back into the water. “I might misunderstand your concern and think it’s some other emotion,” he hinted.
Kaylie fought to control her expression as he smiled at her while going under.
“What?” A frustrated Abby demanded of the girl.
Rick walked up the slope inside the secret room seconds later. The scene was still stunning and he had to pause a second, totally forgetting to wipe the water from his face. He slowly pulled the camera from his pocket and opened the baggie. He turned on the power and raised the camera to his face. Then lowered it. “Holy cow! What to shoot?” he asked nobody. He finally decided: Everything!
The room was the shape of a dome: twenty feet high, thirty wide. The entire ceiling, from about six feet up, was coated with what looked like dark blue crystals; the rest appeared to be gold, with uncountable amounts of inlaid gems. The patterns of the gems formed copies of ancient works: pharaohs, mummies, depictions of Ra, Odin, Thor, Jesus, even famous paintings such as the Mona Lisa. There were ancient caveman drawings completely replicated with thousands of gems, and many images of battles, armor, weapons. The floor looked and felt like it was constructed of the same strange metallic substance as the cube, except for an eight-foot circle of stone around the entrance and a twelve-foot circle of red crystal in the center.
Along the far wall appeared to be a slanted desk full of large papers. To the right was what looked like eight storage containers, each six feet high and three feet wide, like large lockers, lined up side by side and made of the same mysterious metal. To the left was a bank of glowing buttons and switches, and in the very center of the room, a podium seemed to grow out of the red crystals like a tree. The trunk of this tree was round and completely illuminated the room. This was nearly the entire source of light in the room, but it wasn’t bright to look at. The top of the podium was flat and black. This device was obviously the center of attention for some reason, a reason Rick wholly expected: it had a single, faceted hole in the center, just the right shape and size for the time stone.
Could it be? Could it really be a... time machine? As he approached he had to remind himself for the tenth time why he was here...
“Pictures!” he reprimanded himself.
Twenty minutes and probably 150 pictures later, he decided he should get back to show everyone.
Walking back to the exit, he sighed, not wanting to leave, reluctantly resealing the camera in the bag and pressing it into his pocket.
Chapter 13 — Wonder — Full!
“So he’s putting you up to this?” Abby questioned. She had been prying information out of Kaylie for the last fifteen minutes as they dangled their feet in the water, impatiently worrying over Rick’s absence.
Kaylie was baiting her to demand more info. “No, I just told him that you two make a perfect couple and you really seem to belong here. Alex, Jessie, and Anna all really love you and think you’re the perfect mother—”
“You really told him all that?”
“Yeah, and you act like you want to stay too. And he should ask you to—”
“What did he say about that?”
Hook, line and sinker, Kaylie smiled inwardly as she reeled her in. “Oh, he said you already told him no—”
“But that was two years ago!” Abby argued.
Kayli
e mentally high-fived herself, “Well, I think you should let him know you might have changed your mind,” she suggested.
“But how do I tell him?”
Kaylie was amused at Abby, acting like a high school girl with a crush on the quarterback. I thought I was supposed to be the immature one, she thought to herself with a smile, then decided to give an immature answer, but good advice, “Duh, with your mouth... speak! You’re an adult, right?”
Abby chastised herself, “Gosh, you’re so right. I’m being childish! No wonder you and Rick are such good friends, Kaylie. You are a smart and mature young lady,”
“Thank you,” she replied, sincerely flattered.
Luckily, Kaylie was holding the rope loosely; it nearly pulled her into the water when it suddenly tightened. She practically jumped out of her skin.
“Kaylie?” Abby asked, startled too.
“It just scared me,” Kaylie said, indicating the rope. “Rick’s coming back!” she yelled to the girls across the water and they all splattered over to her.
Twelve eyes stared intently at him as he emerged from the pool. Nobody spoke, anticipating the details of his photography session. He quickly pulled out the bag, opened it and handed it to Alex. They were like ducks after a single piece of bread, swarming, jockeying for position. As the pictures appeared on the screen, a collective gasp filled the room (or emptied it), followed by random “Ooh’s” and “Aah’s.” After only fifteen pictures, Alex abruptly turned the camera off.
“What are you doing?” Anna protested.
Alex tore off her pants and extra shirt like they were on fire, “We’re going in there!” she declared and waded into the water.
The other girls hurriedly shucked their clothes as well.
“Wait!” Rick demanded, “We need to pack some stuff to take with us, and nobody is going until I’m at the other end to make sure you get there safely.”
Alex angrily swam back and started to get out, but then slumped back into the water. “Is it cold over there?” she asked.
“It seemed a lot warmer, but I was so excited that I really can’t remember.”
“We should take our extra clothes,” Abby decided, pulling out a roll of trash bags and tearing one off. She gathered all the clothes now strewn about the cavern. Rick added the cube and the camera. Jessica and Christy jumped in with a splash to join Alex, and Anna followed shortly.
Rick turned the lantern on. “I’m gonna leave this burning so we’ll have some light when we come back.”
Kaylie sidled up to him and whispered into his ear, “She’s staying, all you gotta do is ask.”
“Really?” he jerked his head to look her in the eye.
She simply winked in reply as she headed toward the pool.
“I’m gonna adopt you someday, I swear,” he whispered back to her.
Abby, noticing some communication between the two, joined Kaylie (probably to eavesdrop on whatever secrets they were sharing) and slowly walked into the pool with her.
Rick checked the bag, tied it tightly while expelling the excess air, and tossed it near the tunnel, barking out instructions to the others. When he was sure they understood, he snatched the bag and swam through the hole. He deposited the bag just seconds later and dove back to wait for Alex, who was supposed to go first.
He tied a flashlight to the rope at the bottom of the ramp, and Alex showed up seconds later, head first. Rick grabbed an arm and shoved her toward the ramp. Christy came next, feet first, sliding down the rope like a fireman’s pole. Rick caught her leg and twisted her toward the ramp. Jessica came right behind her, giving him little time to snag her under the arms and propel her on the way. Anna was next. She stopped before she got near the split and Rick could sense she was terrified by the flailing rope. He thrust off the wall toward her.
Anna was clutching the rope tightly with both hands, eyes closed firmly. Rick tapped her shoulder and her eyes sprang open. The tension in her fingers seemed to loosen instantly upon seeing her uncle and he slowly pried her hands from the rope. Grabbing her around the waist, he floated down the rope, dragging her toward the ramp. He shoved her up and out of the water, where she began spitting and crying. He had seen Kaylie coming out of the corner of his eye and rushed back just in time to snag her under an arm and trudge back up the ramp to gather a few breaths.
Finally, he saw Abby’s foot lightly supporting her against the current at the split and hopped back in. He wove his hand into her free hand, pulling her in the direction of the ramp.
“That was fun!” Abby exclaimed as she broke the surface, then her elation turned to fascination as she saw into the room past his head. She practically climbed over him to enter the room.
All the girls were standing silently on the stone floor, staring, mouths agape. Except Anna, who had her back to the room, sitting half in the water, coughing and complaining, “I almost drowned!” she was yelling at him, splashing him with fists in the water.
Rick climbed past her, placed his hands under her arms and jerked her out of the water, slung her around and dropped her at the top of the ramp facing the room.
Anna stopped complaining.
Rick noticed Christy and Jessica standing with their arms folded over their chests, shivering, and opened the bag, “Here, dry off then get your other clothes on!” They all dressed while relentlessly bombarding him to be allowed to enter the room and look at everything.
“OK, but don’t touch anything... anything! Got it?” he ordered.
Several excited nods later, they were darting about the room.
Nothing could hold the girls’ attention long, something prettier, shinier, weirder kept beckoning them from somewhere else. Kaylie and Alex were checking out the desk, Abby was studying the walls, explaining each depiction to anyone who would listen, Christy and Jessica were looking at all the different buttons and switches, daring each other to touch them. Anna was focused on the time machine in the center like a collector at an antique car show; Rick fully expected her to kick its tires, if it had any.
Rick knelt down and opened the cube. He sat there a moment and watched the girls as they all ooh’d and aah’d, captivated by their utter enjoyment. He grabbed the camera and took several pictures of the girls, capturing their complete bliss, overflowing with pride. He finally looked back down at the open cube. The time stone begged him to pick it up. He did.
Feeling the excitement as he held it in his hand, all eyes suddenly turned to him expectantly.
A crack of lightning couldn’t have made them blink as Rick walked over to the machine, “Stay back, please.”
Butterflies were battling buzzards in his stomach as he approached and placed the tear-drop gem into the slot. It fit perfectly. Nothing happened right away. Rick turned and shrugged questioningly at Abby. Before his shrug could finish, a soft, monotone female voice said, “Initialization of universe complete, destination, please.”
“What?” Rick asked.
“Please, identify yourself, voice unrecognized,” it answered.
“Rick,” he replied.
“Hello, Rick, will you be controlling displacement parameters?”
“Um, I guess so.”
“Authorizing Rick, I guess so. Destination, please?”
Rick looked at everyone, puzzled, and then turned back as if it were a real person he had to face when speaking. “You mean a place to travel?” he asked it.
“No, a date, Rick.” Although the voice had no inflection, Rick felt as if the woman were teasing him.
He couldn’t think of anything at first, but then instinctively remembered the most famous date he could think of, “December 7, 1941.”
Rick jumped back, as did everyone else, when a five-foot sphere appeared two feet above the podium. It was Earth, in spectacular detail, not just a model of the planet, but the actual planet, as if they were looking at it from space. It was complete with weather patterns.
“Would you like to manually or verbally choose a location, Rick?”
“Please identify yourself, voice not recognized.”
“Alex,” she responded.
“Hi, Alex, I cannot change location — Rick is controlling parameters. Would you like to share or give control to Alex, Rick?” the machine asked.
“Uh, no.”
“Would you like to allow anyone else to share control, Rick?”
“No,” he decided quickly.
“Would the rest of you like to identify yourselves now?” the machine asked.
Rick thought the machine had a hint of loneliness in its voice. “How do you know anyone else is here?” he asked.
“I am reading seven human biosigns, Rick. Am I mistaken?”
“Wow! No, you’re right. That’s amazing...”
“I am programmed to do that, Rick; it would be amazing if I did something I’m not programmed to do.”
Rick chuckled at what certainly sounded like a joke from the computer. Christy stepped forward, “I’m Christy. What’s your name?”
“Hi, Christy. I am Tedium. Nice to meet you.”
“Tedium? What kind of name is that?”
“It is the designation I was given by my creator, Dr. Jonathan Taylor. It is actually derived from the initials, TDM, which stands for time displacement machine. You can call me T if you like; John always does... or did.”
Again, there was no tone change, but everyone could sense sadness in her voice.
Rick decided to ask, “Do you know what happened to John?”
“I assume you were addressing me?” T asked.
“Yes, sorry, T.”
“That’s quite all right, Rick. I am not accustomed to crowds and it is much easier if you direct comments or questions to someone by name. I can tell if you are facing me, but that does not always mean you are addressing me. Please, identify everyone, then we can discuss whatever you like,” T said.
Abby spoke first, “I’m Abby.”
“Hi, Abby.”
“I’m Anna.”
“Hi, Anna.”
“I’m Kaylie.”
