The Garden

by Craig W. Turner

  “Yes, but he went in after that,” Amy pointed out that she understood. “We would have no reason to double-check they were still the same because they were behind security.”

  “The only way to get into the room without anyone knowing would be to time travel there,” Robert added, with a hint of a smile. It was ingenious thinking by both Dipin and Keegan. “But that doesn’t explain much. You adjusted the time. What did that do?”

  “Well, I didn’t adjust the time on all of them,” Keegan said. “At the last minute, I had a bad feeling about Reilly’s involvement in all of this, and thought if I could get him alone, I could interrogate him about what was really happening. I made a split-second decision to keep his and my cloaks returning at the normal time. But I did grab two extras, and programmed them to return with you.”

  “What did that do?” Davies said. Robert noticed the historian was sitting on the edge of his seat, riveted.

  “So,” Keegan said, then stopped, looking around. “I wish I had some water.” No one budged. “Anyway, the rest of you were pushed a little further into the future, which I thought would, at the least, confuse the Attorney General and the agents. But Reilly and I arrived at the original time, together. I caught him by surprise, obviously, and was able to drag him into the closest pod and, hoping the Senator was still in the control room, shouted new coordinates up. She was, fortunately, and a moment later, we went to the past, where I could get all the answers I wanted from him.”

  “Where did you go?” Claire asked.

  Now, Keegan sighed a more serious sigh. “Well, remember I was thinking on the fly, so only the most obvious solutions were the ones coming to my head. The one that rose to the forefront was to, at some point in the past, divert the President from his present course so that the current assault on SATP would not have happened.”

  Robert felt a shiver go down his spine. “Do you realize the damage you could have-”

  “Yes, I know, I know,” Keegan said, holding up his hands. “It was foolish, and fortunately I was able to stop what I’d set in motion.”

  “So where did you go?” Amy asked.

  “In his autobiography, the President credits one specific event for what ultimately became his desire to pursue a career in politics,” Keegan said. “I went to that place.”

  “No,” Dipin said, catching everyone’s attention. Robert looked up at him. He knew what Keegan was talking about. “You didn’t.”

  “Wow,” Claire said. “How could you possibly have made that connection?” She seemed to know something, as well.

  “What is it?” Robert said. “What are you talking about?”

  “Hear me out,” Keegan said, his attention focused on Dipin. “I didn’t know what I was going to do when I got there, but I knew it was a possible solution. I knew I could get Reilly alone, and I knew I had the failsafe of just returning and dealing with what was happening.”

  “I’m guessing you didn’t take option number three, though,” Dipin said. Robert could tell he was annoyed. But why?

  Keegan shook his head. “Not at first, but ultimately, yes.”

  Dipin was shaking his head. “I can’t believe you went to see my father.”

  CHAPTER 86

  Keegan had hoped he’d have the luxury of recounting his adventure without Dipin in the room. Probably Robert, too. Any of the team who had been close to Javesh Chopra before he’d gone into exile, in fact. The elder Chopra had chosen to remove himself from the time travel science he’d created. No one knew why, but it was a topic well-discussed, with many theories. And Dipin had always been very protective of his father’s interests.

  Though Keegan did want to be sensitive – he had the utmost respect for Dipin, of course, and liked him, too – the situation had an interesting twist. While it would seem to everyone sitting around that table there in 2109 that Keegan had reengaged a man who’d sworn off a part of his life that had been particularly damaging, in truth he was only engaging the younger version of that same man, who was already engaged in time travel science. That would take some time to set in, and he wasn’t going to try to persuade them. Not right now. It was something he could deal with later.

  “I did, yes,” he said. “But not until I got answers from Reilly.”

  “How’d you do that?” Davies asked him.

  “Wait, first, where’d you go?” Robert asked.

  “Yes. I went to 2067, where Javesh Chopra was speaking at Yale University, where Roland Fitcher, a law school student, was attending.”

  “That’s the speech,” Davies said. “The time travel speech. The quote’s on the wall in the maglev station downstairs.”

  Keegan looked around the table. Head nodding told him the others were recognizing it, as well.

  “Interesting idea,” Robert said. Which Keegan surprisingly realized meant a lot to him. Especially with the harried manner in which he’d devised the quick mission. He was taken aback for a moment.

  “Yes, but, ultimately a terrible one,” he admitted. “Questioning Reilly ended up not being as difficult as I thought. At first, I threatened to leave him in the past, but he astutely pointed out that all that would do was leave him 40 years to get revenge on me, which didn’t sound too appealing. Of course, I was never going to leave him in the past. It was, again, the first thing that came to mind. I realize a lot of this was not well-thought-out, but… Well, my friends were 10,000 years in the past, and I had no idea if they were going to make it back alive. I had no choice but to try something.” He paused for a moment as the feelings returned to him. He still hadn’t had time to deal with them, but found that telling the story helped. “It turned out threats weren’t needed. Reilly not only wanted to tell me what was happening, but he wanted to help stop it.”

  “What was happening?” Amy asked.

  Keegan looked down the table toward O’Neill. “Senator?” he asked.

  She took the cue. “The accusations against Robert were fabricated, obviously,” she said.

  “No kidding,” Claire said.

  O’Neill absorbed the interruption and continued. “In short, the President’s goal was to shut down the program and minimize any potential opposition. By maligning Robert, the biggest champion of the program would be out of the way.”

  “And with Reilly leaving us in Eden, there wouldn’t be anyone left to tell the story,” Claire said.

  “I still don’t see how the President could shut down the program when another country could easily pick it back up,” Amy said. “That’s the exact reason the safeguards-”

  “Because-” Keegan started to say.

  “Because,” Robert said, cutting him off, his head in his hands, “he wasn’t going to shut the technology down. He was going to shut the program down. The technology wasn’t going to go anywhere, and once the other countries cleared out, time travel would be at his disposal. And with time travel, he wouldn’t need much more than one mission to start making changes that would make the ethics of it irrelevant.” Keegan watched as he shook his head, his face still buried, then slowly raised it and looked at O’Neill. “You are a miracle worker,” he said. “How did you stop him?”

  “Well, I had help,” she said. “About thirty years ago, I was approached at a fundraiser during my first campaign for Congress by a man claiming to be General Andrew Reilly. Which, of course, was ludicrous, because while I didn’t know General Reilly personally, I was familiar with him, as SATP was just getting off the ground. But this man, who was probably in his eighties, told me an unbelievable story about going back in time to stop something horrible from happening. Now, I don’t know your inner workings or SATP rules on divulging the future to anyone you meet in the past, but I’m pretty sure what this man did would be frowned upon. That being said, I was intrigued, and met with him the next day, where he laid out for me an intricate plan that had to be implemented in 20 years, with about an hour’s window to get it done.” She looked at Keegan. “As I’m hearing your side of the story for the first time,
I understand why.”

  Keegan shook his head. “I’m amazed,” he said. “I am blown away that you were able to pull this off. We almost ruined everything by talking to Javesh, but like I said we were able to backtrack – and only because of his intelligence and guidance. I realized we couldn’t change anything because it would destroy the present. I would have had no idea what I was returning to – and potentially would’ve stranded you in the past.”

  “Theoretically,” Amy said, “if you changed the past onto a timeline where we didn’t pursue the Eden mission, we would’ve still been here when you returned. The damage would have only been done to-”

  “I know, Amy,” Keegan said. “Thank you. Theoretically, yes. But in practice, I could have caused all kinds of problems. In the end, we had two options: either Reilly and I returned to the present as we knew it to be and just deal with the consequences, or we had to do something to stop the President at the point of attack. Either way, he needed to proceed with his plan to eliminate SATP by framing Robert. I was ready to suck it up and accept the first option, but Reilly insisted on staying behind. I even tried to leave a cloak for him just in case he changed his mind. He wouldn’t take it. He didn’t tell me what his plan was, and I didn’t try to make him.”

  “He did, however, tell me and only me,” O’Neill jumped in. “And swore me to secrecy. I couldn’t do anything, though, until I saw Dr. McIntyre forcibly drag the younger version of Reilly into the pod, and confirm that they’d traveled back to 2067.”

  “I appreciate everything you’ve done, Senator,” Robert said, “but you still haven’t told us how you got the President to back off.”

  “Since I had inside information that they were obviously trying to keep secret,” she said, “as soon as Dr. McIntyre disappeared, I placed a call to the White House to let the President know that I was going to take the story to the media, as well as to the partner nations.”

  A pall fell over the room as they considered the choices that O’Neill had had to make on behalf of the program, and for their safety. Keegan, himself, hadn’t considered all the political ramifications of everything that was happening. Politics were never easy, because SATP was such a political nightmare the way it was designed, with equal partners represented each by a single person, utilizing a technology housed on American soil. For O’Neill to threaten the President that she would go outside the country with intelligence in a way seemed wrong, but, morally speaking, was one of the most important things anyone involved with SATP had done in its history.

  “Those were probably some… difficult choices to make,” Robert said, enunciating what they all were thinking. At least, what Keegan was thinking.

  “I think Javesh would be pleased with the outcome,” Keegan added.

  “Oh, you’re the expert now?” Claire said. He looked up at her and she was smiling, taunting him.

  He motioned to Dipin, who nodded.

  “Excellent,” O’Neill said, slapping her hands on the table. “Let me say it one more time, so everyone’s clear: not a sentence of what was just said leaves this room. I gave the President my word that if he changed his course he would be protected. Are we clear?”

  Everyone around the table nodded emphatically. After what O’Neill had just done for them, there wasn’t much point in even pretending anything other than complying to what she was asking of them.

  “Good,” she said. “Now that we’ve gotten the dirty politics out of the way, somebody better start telling me about the Garden of Eden, or I’m going to have serious doubts that you actually went there.”

  CHAPTER 87

  One after another, the time travelers detailed their perspectives on the Garden of Eden mission. Those who hadn’t participated were left speechless, mesmerized by the tales. As Claire filled in her own piece, she was surprised that the normally inquisitive Keegan wasn’t peppering them with questions. He’d been through a lot, though, she figured, and perhaps they’d come later.

  In fact, even though there was great enthusiasm among the team, the conversation hit a fever pitch and then died down quickly. It was clear everyone was spent, it was clear. After only about 10 minutes, O’Neill suggested that the team members take some time to themselves and regroup the following day. Of course, no one had taken time to assess their biometrics, so not only did anyone know the time of day, but how long they’d been awake, the last time they’d eaten, etc. Time travel was confusing in that way.

  But, with the session officially ended, Claire’s colleagues began to mingle and have private conversations before heading off on their own. Looking around the room, she didn’t envision that this mission, despite its unique success, would be celebrated in the usual way. Too much had happened and, despite the President’s assurances, no one knew what awaited them. Ironically, it seemed both the possible positive and negative impacts of their trip that created uncertainty. Were the politics truly taken care of? And if they were, what possibly could be next? What would the partner nations’ reaction be to the unsanctioned trip? What possible mission could you concoct that would expand time travel science beyond the Garden of Eden? She knew she was exhausted, and probably shouldn’t have been expending energy on contemplating those things right there and then, but ambiguity was always a challenge for her.

  She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, collecting herself and trying to steer her thoughts in another direction, to the here and now. There was nothing she could do about SATP right at that moment, but there was plenty she could do about herself.

  She noticed that Davies and Amy had already left, and Dipin and Landon were having their own conversation. She rose from her chair and slid to a corner of the room, where Keegan and Robert were talking with Senator O’Neill. They all saw her approach, and Robert gently sidestepped to make room for her in the conversation.

  “We’re talking about a press conference tomorrow,” Keegan said, filling her in as she arrived.

  Claire let out a breath. “That feels like it’s so soon,” she said. “But I guess I understand.”

  “In Washington,” Keegan continued.

  “Oh, wow,” she said. “I don’t know that I’m up for traveling right now.”

  “The President is insisting,” O’Neill said. “It’ll be beneficial for the program if we go along with him.”

  “We can’t just do it here?”

  “I understand how much of a pain this will be, but it’s important,” O’Neill said. “One day. In and out. Then you can rest.”

  Claire was shaking her head. “It’s never in and out.”

  “How about this?” Robert said to O’Neill. “We’ll take the maglev to DC for the press conference, but you get with the President and tell him… Ask him… If we can postpone the usual briefings and appearances for a week. You know how this works. We get there and, especially if the President is on-our friend now, every member of Congress with a pulse will want to get a piece of us. Can you work that out? The team really does need some time.”

  “What about interviews?” Keegan asked.

  Robert shrugged. “Yes, I guess we can’t drop the bomb that we went to the Garden of Eden and then shut to door to the media. Press conference in DC at the President’s request, and then media interviews back here in Greensboro the next day. Good?”

  Claire was shaking her head again. “I don’t know,” she said. “I am very hesitant to be sitting one-on-one with the media when we don’t have a director.”

  “Yeah, me too,” Keegan said. “That’s a tough ask.”

  “I’ll assume that role for now,” O’Neill said. “I’ll participate in everything to show that there’s continuity. My office can help with talking points.”

  “People will wonder about Andrew,” Robert said.

  “Well, we’ll have to figure something out,” O’Neill said. “When I leave, I’ll get my press team to talk to the SATP folks, and then we’ll involve the President. He wants this to be a positive thing, so I’m sure he’ll want to find a way around t
he fact that we lost someone along the way.”

  Claire heard Keegan snicker. “It’s not like SATP hasn’t made up a story about someone’s disappearance before,” he said.

  “Enough,” O’Neill said. “Are we good? Good. Travel arrangements will be taken care of for you, so you don’t have to deal with it. Go get some rest, and we’ll see you in the morning.”

  Robert left quickly to catch Dipin as he and Landon were walking out of the room. Surprisingly, because she expected the Senator to also turn and walk away at that point, Claire felt O’Neill look directly at her, and looked up to see her with her hand on Keegan’s arm. “Dr. Devereaux,” she said, “this guy took an awful risk to make sure you got back here safely. He’s a good man. Take good care of him.” Even more surprisingly, she watched as O’Neill gave Keegan a flirty wink, and then walked out of the room.

  “Well, that was pretty subtle,” Keegan said.

  “Yeah, what was that?” Claire asked.

  “I don’t know. For the record, I didn’t do all that much.” He put his hand over his mouth, thinking. “Let me ask you a question. How long were you there?”

  She shook her head. “It’s hard to tell. Hours?”

  “You were there for hours, and that was the exact time that the devil chose to make his move? That’s insane.”

  Claire let a laugh slip out. “Well, to hear Landon tell it, it’s possible that he was waiting a very long time for the right moment. I guess we presented it with our arrival. At that point, he must have figured, ‘why wait?’ I guess we’re fortunate in a really strange way.”

  He nodded, then pointed. “You know, I thought Landon was Old Earth. Even though he seemed to be playing every angle.”

  While she’d wanted to talk to Keegan, she hadn’t expected to be so suddenly left alone with him. The turn of circumstances almost forced her to have to talk with him now, because a conversation down the road would have only left time now for O’Neill’s comments and Claire’s own feelings to simmer and either exacerbate or flame out. Life never offered a “good time” for important conversations, but the opportunity had presented itself, and she had no choice but to accept.