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Double Time
Crossing the Line Book One
Copyright Mindi Stewart 2018
eBook Edition
Electronic book publication 2018
All rights reserved. Any violation of this will be prosecuted by the law.
Cover by Dar Albert
Edited by Em Petrova
Dedication
To Royksopp, I listened to your music for this book constantly. Royksopp Forever.
To Em Petrova my editor. All those late-night chats mean the world to me.
Thank you to Dar Albert I can never see me releasing a book without your cover.
Thank you to my husband for always supporting me and telling me that I can do anything I set my mind to.
To my readers,
I started writing this story more than a decade ago. Turns out my son did join the Air Force four year ago, so finding this story on an external hard drive recently, gave me a jolt. I hope you enjoy this story of love across time, these people touched my heart.
When a time anomaly appears, it’s Dave Amsted’s job to investigate it with his highly trained helicopter crew. No one knew his world would change, and with it the lives of those around him.
After Captain Dave Amsted pilots his military chopper over a strange time distortion, he begins to remember a woman he’s fallen in love with, but never met. He’s frantic to find the wife he knows is out there, only to find her married to another man. Can he reconnect with the one woman who completes him, or will he have to give her up to the man she’s in love with?
Dr. Marc Kensington, owner of KenSpec Labs knows about the tears in time but suddenly he starts having strange dreams about an unknown man, a man who loves his wife Sadie.
Both men love her, but will she break Marc’s heart and choose a husband she's never met?
This story contains love between two men and their wife. A little white-haired scientist who brings humor to the tension. And of course, lots of hot ménage m/f/m loving. After all, how can a woman choose between her two sexy husbands?
Double Time
Crossing the Line Book One
by
M. D. Stewart
Contents
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Epilogue
Coming Soon
Other Books by the Author
About the Author
Prologue
Present Day
"Colonel! We need you to come back to Command, sir!" The airman's face was flushed from the run up two flights of stairs to catch up with Colonel Barker.
"What seems to be the problem, Airman?" The airman halted just short of Colonel Barker's body, trying to stop his heart from hammering. And it wasn't from the run.
Swallowing visibly, the young man paused a moment to look into his superior's eyes. "There's another distortion, sir. This time, it's significant." A look passed between the men before they quickly headed to the control center. Voices that usually filled the room were hushed in a strained silence.
"How long has the distortion been present?" Colonel Rick Barker was a man of few words. Having grown up in a military family, words were only necessary when actions weren't enough. Barrel-chested and short in height, he was intimidating in many other ways. He had piercing blue eyes that seemed to go to the heart of a person, reading secrets. His voice was a deep baritone that carried when he spoke, no matter how softly he had spoken. A brush of light red hair covered his arms and chest while his tight military haircut showed a slight graying of that same red tone. Most redheads had a ruddy complexion to match, but luckily, he hadn’t inherited that particular trait. His skin was the envy of many women who considered it perfectly porcelain.
A middle-aged man spoke from his desk, "Sir, it's been approximately two point five seven minutes since we first observed the distortion on the screen. Sergeant Tolley is running back the tape to see if we missed the beginning of the distortion." Barker looked at the young woman named Tolley as she sat at her station, reviewing the recorded tape.
"Tolley, what's the determination?" Barker asked, refusing to walk closer to the Airman to hurry the process. The young brunette looked up from her computer.
"Sir, I see no indication of the distortion prior to when it was first reported." She made notes as she spoke. Without looking at her computer, she jotted as she talked. Barker nodded and spoke to the room in general.
"Where is the distortion located and how big are we talking about? Do I need to call this in?" Everyone froze for a moment, knowing the implications of such a call.
"Colonel, I'm afraid it's the biggest we've seen in a while, possibly years. Big enough that..." the voice faded, fear invading his next words, "big enough that a breach is possible. We may have had a cross over." Barker reeled like someone had slapped him, the color drained from his face although his expression and body language did not change.
"Tolley." Barker's voice, strong and low, was heard easily in the quiet room. It was nearly silent, despite the twenty-five people and various electronic devices. "Get the god dammed scientists up here." His voice began to grow in volume with each word. " I want them here yesterday!"
Without answering her superior, she picked up the phone and spoke, "Code orange, I repeat code orange. Shut down the facility. This is not a drill. Code orange." Loud clanks of locks and of bars sliding into place over windows followed, echoing throughout the partial underground building. "Code orange initialized, Colonel. Facility on lockdown and the science crew are on their way to the council room. ETA five minutes."
Barker stood, straightening his uniform shirt, wrinkled from his previous long hours on duty, "Tolley, Bean and Chatfield, bring your data and follow me. Jackson, maintain visual and report if any changes occur. We'll be in council room alpha. Tolley, make sure you set up visual from the main controls to there. The rest of you—" He turned to see the pale faces of his men and women. They were afraid but worked just as efficiently as if the world wasn't ending. "Pray this isn't as bad as we've been led to believe." Turning, he led the way out the room to what he hoped wasn't the beginning of hell on Earth.
The scientists rushed into the room, pulling out notebooks and scientific calculators, prepared to crunch numbers. Barker was throwing out questions to his team as they filed in. Each answered quickly and with strong voices. He was proud of their professionalism and calm demeanor in the face of the unknown.
"Where is the distortion right now, Bean?" The middle-aged man named Jeremy Bean stood and flipped on the view screen.
"Right now, the main opening is located in the Midwest, here." Jeremy pointed to a small town in Iowa. "We noticed higher than normal electromagnetic fields there for weeks as you know, but we've noticed these higher readings in several other locations all over the world but nothing came of it. Approximately six minutes ago, we saw the field collapse then spring up like a mushroom cloud. The rip followed less than thirty seconds later."
Scientists scribbled and jotted in their notebooks, some taking out slide rules, others punching in numbers on va
rious machines. One elderly woman stood and began pacing the room. "Rick, has the Air Force sent any personnel to verify the distortion visually?"
Barker nodded in affirmation, "Tel, once code orange was initiated, men on the ground as well as a helicopter were dispatched. My team is monitoring the situation and will inform us when we get audio and visual evidence. It's approximately 1900 hours, so it's dark. The photos and video from the chopper may not be of much use. Not having ever seen this anomaly, we have no way of knowing if we can get a visual." Telly Anne Lackney shook her head and sighed as she walked to the view screen. She'd been a scientist longer than most of the people in this building had been alive. Her father had been studying these distortions before her. No one knew more, or less, information than she did.
"This isn't the first time this has happened, Colonel, but it's the first time since we've had all these instruments to record them. I find I have little patience to wait for the pictures to show themselves. It seems I've waited my entire adult life to see what happens when the rip occurs in the time continuum. My father would've loved to have been here. " As if on cue the screen changed from a map of the Midwest United States to live video of the area.
From high above the earth, the camera attached to the helicopter captured the most amazing sight. Bright colors filled the jagged area approximately the size of a basketball. The colors undulated, shifting and blending, separating and mixing again. The size of the rip shrank and expanded, but never grew larger than the original size. It almost appeared to be breathing.
Tel sucked in a breath and held it, just like the rest of the room's occupants seemed to do. "Amazing." The word was more of a whisper of reverence than an exclamation. She touched the screen, hand shaking slightly but from fear or excitement, Rick could only guess. The colors reflected off her lined face, making her appear younger and then older as the light changed. Forcing his eyes from the sight of his old friend, Rick looked around the room to the faces of the rest of his crew. "Tolley," his voice sounded hollow to his own ears, "Tolley, record the occupants of alpha."
"Already recording, sir." Her voice was strange, not strained, but without depth. Rick glanced around at each person. Their faces changed briefly, the same but different. Hair colors changed a shade or two, styles varied than shifted back, voices seemed to be muffled in the background noise of the room, some familiar, some not. What the hell was going on?
"Pilot, report!" Rick shouted to the room. His voice seemed to echo.
"Sir, nothing seems to be happening with the exception of the, uh, rainbow-colored anomaly below." The voice of the pilot was audible over the static but barely. "I see no distortions around the, um, lights, but a slight wavy pattern around the edges of the light. It seems to be pulsing slightly and the size varies but it doesn't seem to be getting bigger. In fact, sir, it seems to be decreasing in size slightly."
"Affirmative, Colonel, the rip is decreasing in size about one percent for every second it is visible." The voice came from one of the scientists in the room. Tel hadn't really moved from the screen since it had begun broadcasting the rip in time. How long had it been? It seemed like minutes but time seemed to be sped up and slowed down at the same time. Judging time would be difficult.
"How long has the rip been open?" Barker could hardly focus on talking—the light on the screen was hypnotizing in a way. His body felt heavy and his tongue too thick.
"Approximately seven minutes. Visual confirmation on screen approximately thirty seconds."
"Thirty seconds? Are you—" his sentence was interrupted by a loud popping sound over the screen as the rip disappeared. The screen went black and the room was dead silent, but for the ragged breathing of the occupants. "Pilot, are you there? Report." Barker felt like he’d just been pulled from deep water.
"Yes. Yes, sir. All crew aboard accounted for. That was the damnedest thing I've ever seen, Colonel."
Rick made himself inhale and exhale and sat down hard in his chair. "Yes, it was, Captain Amsted. I want you and your crew to report to the facility immediately. I want med to look at each of you and I want the scientists to give you a once over. Each crew member is to detail their current state to the staff. Is that clear?" Rick took a shaking hand and scrubbed it over his face. What the fuck had he just seen? What had he just lived through?
"Crystal clear, sir. Amsted out." Before the communication shut off Rick tapped his fingers on the desk.
"Thanks, Dave. Be safe out there."
"Sure thing, Rick. See ya soon." The radio static died and silence settled in the room again.
****
Within an hour, the chopper landed at the air base and the crew filed out to head to medical. Scientists and doctors waited for the crew with various machines and recorders. Dave Amsted slid his gear off and walked to the waiting group of white coats.
"This way, ladies and gentlemen." A petite white-haired lady smiled and held up her hand to indicate they should follow the white coats down the hall. The crew of the helicopter split off, one to each white coat to be evaluated, while the older lady took Dave to a room and showed him a table to sit on. She flipped a switch and smiled when various machines whirred to life.
"Well, Captain, it seems you've had quite the day." The envy in the woman's voice made Dave grin.
"Yes, ma'am, you could say it was a once in a life time experience." He rolled his neck, releasing tension. Telly grabbed his med file and began reading the contents. A recording of their session had started automatically as they entered the room. She laid the file on a small desk and then hooked up machines to his arm, chest and head. Immediately she began recording his blood pressure, heart rate, body temperature and other medical information.
"Okay, Captain, could you tell me if you feel any different than normal? Any dizziness, lightheadedness, nausea?" At the shake of his head, she smiled. "I need you to verbalize, Captain, this is only an audio recording."
"No, Tel, I don't feel different at all. Perhaps I was a little hyper from excitement but other than that, no different than I normally do after a mission." Dave stretched and yawned. "I think I'm a little tired now but the adrenaline has worn off. Time to head home to Sadie." Tel froze and glanced up to look at Dave, brows furrowed. "What’s wrong, Tel?"
"Captain. Let me just run a few more tests." Tel sat quietly, the pen in her hand moving as she jotted notes. "Just for a moment, give me your history." Dave stared at the old woman like she had lost her mind. "Humor me, Captain Amsted. History of service, and etcetera. I'm checking for neurological differences and so on. Now go on, fill me in."
Dave blew out a breath. "Okay, I joined the Army at eighteen, spent three years fighting in the Middle East. I got out of the Army after my four years and joined the Air Force and took pilot training. I've been a chopper pilot for about six or seven years now." Tel wrote feverishly as Dave talked, making those classic doctor noises of "mm hmm" every once in a while.
"Who are your parents?" Dave's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"Henry and Leigh Blythe, they lived in Kansas. Mom died of breast cancer. Anything else? Perhaps you'd like to know the name of my favorite stuffed animal as a child?" Tel grinned.
"I didn't know you had a stuffed animal as a kid. It's not in your medical records." Dave grinned. "So, tell me who is Sadie?" Dave looked at Tel with a blank expression.
"I have no idea. Where did you come up with that name?" Now it was Tel's turn to drop the expression from her face.
"Dave, a moment ago, you told me you wanted to go home to Sadie. I was curious since there is no mention of her in your notes. Do you have a pet perhaps?"
Dave shook his head slowly.
"No. No pets or," his voice stuttered to a stop as a flash of dark hair and blue eyes invaded his memory. Sadie. A longing so real hit him it constricted his breathing.
"Captain, are you all right?" Dave's ears were ringing, a high-pitched hum that made him feel momentarily dizzy. "Captain Amsted." Tel's voice seemed miles away. For a moment a
woman with long limbs, high breasts and dark blue eyes looked at him and smiled. She wore a white and purple dress with sexy sandals. "Captain Amsted, Dave, your heart rate is climbing at an alarming rate!" Tel's voice was higher, laced with anxiety. He barely registered the sound of people running in the room, voices drowning out the vision of the beautiful woman. He came to moments later, lying on the bed, penlights shining in his eyes, people talking in hushed tones. He felt like he'd just come up from a deep pool of water. He sucked in a breath, gasping and fighting the hands that held him down.
"What the hell happened?" Rick's voice boomed, cutting off all the medical staff's poking and prodding. Dave slowly turned his head as the Colonel strode over to the exam bed, concern on his face. Tel looked up from the machine readouts to meet the eyes of the commanding officer.
"It appears Captain Amsted had a mild seizure. I don't see any damage on the EEG. I'm going out on a limb here assuming the seizure was a result of the high electromagnetic current he was exposed to over an extended period of time." Tel spoke in distracted tones as she scanned the readout of the EKG. "His heart wasn't affected according to these tests. Clark," Tel spoke to one of the medical staff, "keep an eye on the rest of the chopper crew. I want to know if any of them show similar signs. No one of the chopper crew is to be left unattended for the next twenty-four hours. Make that forty-eight hours to be safe."
Rick narrowed his gaze as he looked at Tel. “I want to know what the fuck happened and how this is going to affect Captain Amsted. I want answers and I want them now. Call whomever you think can help. Do you get my meaning? I don’t care who it is. I’ll get clearance from Vargas if needed.” Every person in the room stopped dead and stared at their commander. Shit just got real.
Chapter 1
Dave’s Timeline – Earth Two, Ten Years Ago
The Jeep rolled into the familiar parking space. Letting out a breath, Dave stared at the house he'd grown up in and escaped by joining the Army. He hadn't been home in three years, enjoying his freedom from his stepfather, the Asshole. The day Dave graduated from high school, his stepfather handed him a packed bag and told him to hit the road. Henry Blythe didn’t care that he had nowhere to go or was just seventeen at the time. He wanted Dave gone and couldn’t wait to shove him out the door. The Army was glad to have him, once his stepfather signed the papers allowing him to join. The next few weeks passed until his paperwork processed and he turned eighteen, then he'd shipped out.
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