“Sorry.” Ellen, for the first time in a long time smiled genuinely and walked to Jason. “Jason. Thank you. I’m so sorry I doubted you.”
“Ellen.” There was a tone of reason in Jason voice. “There’s still a chance it may not work.”
Tilting her head with a quirky look, Ellen glanced up to Jason as if he were silly. “Joe’s going, right? If so how can it not work?”
Jason grabbed her hands then motioned his head to the semi-circle of set up chairs in the center of his lab. “Why don’t you have a seat? We’re expecting Frank and . . .”
“I’m here.” Frank walked in leaving the door ajar. As he always did his view went to Ellen. He saw a different look on her face. “El?”
“Oh, Frank.” She rushed to him. “Henry went through the time machine.” She reached out grabbing his arms. “It works. It really works.”
A quick shift of Frank’s eyes went to Henry.
Henry nodded.
Frank’s eyes closed. “We stand a chance of doing this.”
Biting her bottom lip with a smile, Ellen nodded. She turned around to face Jason and Joe. “I can’t wait any longer. Can we get started?”
Jason agreed with that. “Absolutely.” He grabbed homemade notebooks and handed Joe one. “There are enough seats for everyone. Just be seated and as soon as Andrea gets here, we’ll begin.”
Joe looked quickly to Frank. “You were supposed to drive her here with you.”
“I did.” Frank said as he sat next to Ellen.
Another glare from Joe went to Frank. “Did she suddenly turn invisible?”
“Frances Slagel!” Andrea entered with a bluster. “Sweet Jesus, what is the matter with you?” She walked up to him and slapped him in the arm. “I told you I was stuck in that seatbelt and to help me. But no, you had to up and leave me there.”
“That’s because I was tired of hearing your bitching all the way up,” Frank argued.
“I wouldn’t bitch all the way up if you didn’t drive so insane,” Andrea snapped.
“I wouldn’t drive so insane if you didn’t make me that way.”
“Can I help it if you are immature?” Andrea folded her arms. “Handle it.”
“Handle it?” Frank looked at Joe. “Dad, are you dating this woman?”
“Hold it!” Joe held up his hands as he sat down. “My personal life is not why we’re here. Jason would like to . . .”
“You are!” Frank snapped. “Did you stop to think that she isn’t all . . .”
“Frank.” Joe tried not to yell anymore. “Enough. Jason. Start this.”
“Thanks, Joe.” Jason pulled his chair up first. “Now before I explain what’s going to happen, I want to tell all of you something, especially you Ellen. We are going to try to bring Dean back. Try. Yes the time machine works, yes we may divert Dean from dying in that explosion, but there is something else that may stand in our way--destiny. Some people believe that when it is your time, it is your time. Dean died on November 1st. There is still a possibility that if he was meant to die on that day and when the Regressionator returns, Dean may still be dead. I just wanted to clarify that ahead of time.” He saw Ellen’s happy expression drop. “I’m sorry Ellen, but that is a fact we may have to face. With that in mind, let’s move ahead.” Holding his pencil, he pointed to Andrea. “Medical. Andrea.”
“I checked the records.” Andrea said. “And I think it is safe to say that nothing medically happened in the past two weeks that would be changed by Dean’s coming back.”
“Good.” Jason noted, and watched Joe do the same. “Frank, did you think about what your dad asked you to?”
“I did.” Frank nodded. “As far as the SUTs go, we would have wiped them out in Miles City anyhow. But as far as the George thing goes, I can’t see how that would be affected. He was cocky. He thought my dad was down. Ellen and Dean were both dead. He walked around. He got caught.”
Henry interjected. “So as long as the time table of events aren’t disrupted, it should be fine.”
Jason answered. “Yes. It’s vital that we try to disrupt it as little as possible.”
“But no one will know,” Henry stated. “Right? Only Joe.”
“And . . . you.” Jason pointed to him. “Joe will have interaction. Joe can be a time culprit. So there has to be a constant, someone other than Joe who can verify all and any changes. We decided on you.”
“Me?” Henry was shocked. “Why me?”
“You’re logical. You will carry in your possession that letter that Joe wants Dean to have. You will also carry in your pocket the computer disks to Beginnings history. You carry this because you will never leave the doorway of the time machine. You will never interact with anyone in a different time. And because you are traveling through, anything you have on you will not change like everything else.”
Henry understood. “I get it. The history I carry in my pocket will state that Dean died. And when we get back and I go to History, what I pull up will be totally different because it would have all changed. And . . . I can see what rippled and what didn’t.”
“Exactly. Hopefully with minimal contact from the Regressionator to anything in the past, not much major should ripple. Any questions? Frank?” When he didn’t get any responses, Jason turned his focus to Ellen. “Ellen, you did a great job of mapping out that last morning. The events that led up to the explosion have to be accurate. I have to set my time machine accordingly. Now . . .” Jason pulled forward the sheet. “You mentioned you left Dean at the tunnel entrance about six-thirty in the morning. You said you returned right after. You didn’t mention a time. How long was it until you returned?”
“Not long.” Ellen answered. “I wasn’t able to see Frank. I went right back. Ten minutes to walk to holding, ten back to the lab.”
“So twenty minutes he was alone.” Jason noted when she agreed. “At any time did you look at your watch?”
“Yes,” Ellen answered.
“What time did it say?”
“One o’clock.”
A unison ‘huh?” erupted from the room.
Joe held up his hand to bring silence. “How could it be one o’clock?”
“My watch is broken,” Ellen said. “It always says one o’clock.”
Jason closed his eyes briefly so as not to get upset. “So it’s safe to say Dean was alone in the lab from quarter till until seven o’clock.”
“Yes.”
Joe let out a breath. “That’s our time frame.”
“Tight.” Jason added. “Ellen, how long after you got to the lab was the explosion?”
“Not long after,” Ellen described. “I got there. Third word and literally boom it . . .” Her eyes widened. “Oh, am I dumb.” She reached into her coat and pulled out paper. “This is the print out. I brought it in case you needed it. Right there is the time the detonation was triggered.”
Jason grinned when he looked at the printing start time. He gave the sheets to Joe. “Ten after. Frank, are you sure, if Ellen’s not there, there would have been enough time for you to save Dean?”
“Without a doubt because I had him.” Frank’s hand instinctively went out and he stared at his open palm. “I had him in my grip when the second bomb went off. I . . . had him.” There was so much silence in the room that it was loud enough to snap Frank out of it. He blinked a few times, rolled his hand into a fist and looked to Jason. “How are you going to assure Ellen gets out of there?”
Joe decided to answer. “The site of me alone walking and talking to Dean should be enough to convince him to get Ellen the hell out of there. He gets her out, she gets you, and you get him with plenty of time to spare.”
Henry raised his hand slightly. “Time is important. You don’t have much, Joe. You have to get in the lab and get out before Ellen sees you.”
Joe nodded. “I can do that. Ellen took the tunnel from holding. As long as I hit the east tunnel before she hits the main one, we’ll be fine.”
Henry had so m
uch debate on his face. “I don’t know Joe. You still stand a chance. You’d have to walk those miles through the tunnels. Anyone can see you. And the window is what, fifteen minutes maybe?”
“Well what do you expect we do?” Joe asked. “Do you have another idea?”
“I do.” Ellen said in a daze like voice. “Would an hour be enough time?”
Jason snapped a look at Ellen. “An hour? When was Dean alone for an hour.”
“That morning,” Ellen answered. “I remember him in the bedroom around five am. Then I fell back to sleep. He didn’t wake me up until just before six then I woke up the kids.”
“Where did he go?” Jason asked. “This is important.”
“He was having coffee and reviewing notes in the dining room,” Ellen explained.
“There were no night guards.” Frank spoke up. “This is even better. Fuckin George took them off schedule. I was walking a beat. But that night I was in holding.”
Henry snapped a finger. “And Joe, you could walk to the garage, grab a jeep, and drive. No one is up and about that time of the morning.”
“Especially me,” Jason said. “Before we were taking a big chance of me coming into the lab and seeing you. Now, this . . . this could work.”
“It will.” Joe gave an assuring look to Ellen. “And I’ll do the best I can.”
Ellen peacefully smiled at him. “I know you will.”
“So,” Jason spoke up, “it’s settled. We have our window. We know nothing major will change. Now all that’s left is to do it. Tonight at ten . . .” Jason smiled. “We bring back Dean.”
REWINDING THE CLOCK
CHAPTER FIVE
A part of Henry felt as if his stomach were going to explode, it fluttered out of control in nervousness. Henry was being titled by Jason, ‘The Logisticalizer’. A responsibility, bigger than he wanted, was given to him. A responsibility he would be sure to brag about. Finally Henry felt justified in writing in his journal again. But in his excitement to prepare, he didn’t. So he promised himself he would make it a point to do so right after the time trip.
Walking the excess nervousness off seemed like a good idea at first, but the five miles were a lot more than Henry expected especially with the temperature dropping. He only wished he would have taken that offer for a ride from Joe, otherwise, Joe wouldn’t have waved arrogantly to Henry when he zoomed right by him.
Lungs froze, legs tired, Henry arrived. Everyone was there. Of course Henry knew that. They all passed him in his route.
“Henry.” Ellen gasped his name out in a near whisper when she saw him walk in. She hurried to him.
“Hey, El,” Henry replied. “Everyone ready?”
“Just about. Jason’s making the final adjustment. Or something like that.” Ellen’s eyes shifted down. She saw he carried in his fist rolled up paper. “What’s that?”
“Check this out.” Henry stepped closer. “I copied my recent journal. I don’t want to lose the thoughts I had before Dean died.”
“Why didn’t you just bring the journal?” Ellen asked.
“I thought of that. But, I’m curious as to what my thoughts were if Dean had never died. I’ll get an idea of what went on in my personal life. Not that I have one.”
“Oh how clever,” Ellen smiled, “because you know your journal will change. And speaking of change, Henry.” Ellen reached into the jean jacket and pulled out an envelope. She folded it, hiding it some. After shifting her eyes to Frank who stood by Joe, Ellen handed the envelope to Henry.
“What is this?” Henry asked quietly.
“I need you to hold that. And I want you to give that to Dean after you walk though that time door and he’s still alive.”
“I don’t understand.”
“That letter is my thoughts and feelings to Dean. Thoughts and feeling I would have never had if he didn’t die. He deserves to know them.”
Henry folded the letter and placed it in his back pocket. “And he will.”
Somewhere in Jason’s review with Joe, Frank’s mind wandered. Not to any thought that pertained to what was going on, but to the keys that dangled from Joe’s back pocket and the little round blue key chain attached to it.
Frank remembered that key chain. He remembered it well. No older than ten, Robbie had given that key chain to Joe. Robbie was so proud of it. It was the grand prize in the gum ball machine and Robbie got it on the third try. He believed it was priceless and the soft plastic object ended up being just that. Priceless. It was a token of Robbie’s innocence back then, a token Joe carried on him always even though the white lettering had disappeared.
The zipper of the pouch brought Frank from his reminding stage.
“History of the past three weeks,” Joe said, “we really don’t need to go back any further.”
“Why don’t we?” Frank interjected. “Why don’t we just go back, knock off George early enough so he can’t come up with the plague idea and that’s that.”
“Knock him off early enough?” Joe asked. “You mean as a child?”
Closed mouth, Frank bobbed his head from side to side. “That would work. I mean, if you think you can do it.”
“Frank,” Joe snapped, “I’m not killing George as a child. Besides, that would cause one of those ripples Jason wants to avoid.”
“But a good one.” Frank held up a finger. “There won’t be a plague.”
“How do you know?” Jason presented the question, “We don’t. We don’t know if someone else will develop one that none of us are immune to or . . . someone else would become president and do something else to destroy the world. We just don’t know. Ripples can be bad.”
“Speaking of ripples,” Henry interrupted, “I have a question. What happens if say, we warn Dean. Dean gets Ellen out. She gets help. You Jason overhear Dean is in trouble and run to aid Frank . . .” Henry paused when Frank snickered. “Anyhow . . . let’s say you die back then. The second explosion gets you. What happens to me and Joe? Will we be stuck?”
“No.” Jason shook his head. “The return trip door will always be open. Don’t worry. Now if we can just get started . . .”
“Wait.” Frank held up a hand. “Does this mean you could be dead right now?”
“In a sense,” Jason answered. “If, let’s say, I died in that time frame. Yes.”
“Whoa.” Frank scratched his head. “So who brought you back?”
Jason who readied to position his hands, stopped. “What do you mean?”
“If you died then you wouldn’t be here, but you are, so that means, someone else got the letter, fixed the time machine, went back, saved you so you could come back and save Dean. Right?” Frank asked.
Slow was the blink Jason took amongst the gasps. So seriously he looked at Frank.
“Right?” Frank repeated.
“Right,” Jason answered just hoping to silence him. “Now, let’s . . .”
“Who?” Frank spoke up. “Who did it?”
With a slight breath of irritation, Jason replied, “You. Now if we . . .”
“When?” Frank asked.
Growling was the sound in Jason’s tone, “Yesterday. Only you don’t remember because time changed.”
Frank gave a thumbs up. “Got it.” He saw the stare his father had locked on him. “What?”
“You’re a moron,” Joe told him then handed Henry the history disks and the pendant to return. “Let’s do this.”
Jason tapped a few times on the keyboard of the one computer. He looked up to check the position of Joe and Henry. “Remember the code.” He tapped again. “Everyone else step back.”
Frank, Ellen and Andrea moved a few feet back. They were nervous and filled with anxiety.
Joe took one second to glance back at everyone. “Let’s hope none of you are here when we return.”
“Ready,” Jason called out. “Good luck.”
Joe and Henry stood waiting. With the humming sound of power, the archway brightly illuminated and with a ‘go’
from Jason they stepped through.
Gone. Silence.
“What now?” Ellen asked as Andrea placed her arm around her.
Jason looked up from the computer. “In about five seconds this moment may all be . . .”
The loud power surge humming interrupted Jason and the archway lit up again.
The expressions on Joe and Henry’s faces matched when they stepped through the light. Slightly parted lips, eyes wide, faces pale.
Joe’s heart sunk. Everyone was right where he had left them, still standing the same. His eyes shifted to Henry.
“Joe?” Henry whispered. “No.” He closed his eyes.
So much silence filled the room along with somberness. To Jason, Frank then Andrea, Joe looked. Finally and most painfully his stare met Ellen’s. “Ellen, listen . . .”
Ellen smiled. “Boy, Jason, were you wrong.”
Jason was drowning in his disappointment. He barely could get the words out. “Ellen, what do you mean?”
She had an emotional chuckle to her. “You said . . . you said we wouldn’t even remember this moment. I have to go.” She backed up. “Oh, God, I can’t wait to see him.”
His lowered head lifted and Frank spun to Ellen. “El, wait.”
Ellen stopped as she opened the door. “Come on, Frank. I can’t wait.” She lifted her hand. “Look I’m shaking. Bet me he’s in bed.”
So helpless, Frank looked to Joe. “Dad?”
After a hard swallow, Joe stepped forward. “Ellen, listen. Sweetie there’s no point in it. If you guys remember us going through then . . . then it, it didn’t work.”
Strained was her smile, but it was still there. “Joe. Really. You went back right?”
“Yes.”
“You warned Dean right?”
Joe just nodded.
“It’s you Joe. It’s you. How could you have failed?” Saying no more and not wanting to wait for Frank, Ellen flew out.
Every ounce of Joe’s insides wrenched with his emotions. It took everything he had to stay in control when he heard the jeep start. “Dear God.” he closed his eyes.
Frank slipped from his own disappointing sadness and raced to the door. “Dad, I have to go after her. I have to take you jeep.”
The Big Ten: The First Ten Books of the Beginnings Series Page 161
