Matthew’s eyes jumped back and forth between Cassie and the floor. He looked like he was hiding a beer from a cop, and Amanda was no better. Her hands fidgeted and she kept licking her bottom lip. She resembled a small child with attention deficit disorder. Ms. Landrum’s introduction couldn’t be over fast enough.
Cassie stood there for a moment and stared at Amanda. Ms. Landrum was ready to make her way further around the room, but Cassie didn’t move. She asked, “I’m sorry, Sandra, but what were the names of these two star students?” Ms. Landrum hesitated for a moment and said, “I guess I didn’t say, did I. This is our second set of twins in the class—Amanda and Matthew Chance.”
Cassie’s face dropped for just a second, and Matthew stared into her excited face. She quickly composed herself and said, “Well, it is very nice to meet both of you. Ms. Landrum, you say that these two have a knack for answering questions before you even ask them?”
Ms. Landrum laughed. “Maybe not that fast, but they are both very impressive.”
Cassie grinned and said, “I’ll bet they are.”
She followed Ms. Landrum around the room, but before she left Amanda’s side, she leaned down to her ear and whispered, “I love your necklace. I haven’t seen one like that since I was a kid.”
Amanda looked down and realized that her Hathmec pendant was hanging out the top of her shirt. She grabbed her collar and pulled it away from her neck so that the necklace would disappear under her top. Matthew looked down to the front of his shirt and saw nothing. His Hathmec was still concealed, but it seemed that Cassie had already realized that something wasn’t right.
They continued their short trek around the room and answered any questions that were posed. Professor Landrum would introduce her students, and Cassie would tell them how nice it was to meet them. This went on until the ninety-minute class time was used up. Matthew and Amanda tried to sneak out without making any further eye contact with Cassie, but their efforts were for naught.
Ms. Landrum called out to Matthew, “Mr. Chance! Mr. Chance! Please stay after class. Ms. Jenkins would like to discuss an opportunity with you.”
Matthew told Amanda to go and meet up with Cameron. He also told the twins that he would call them later. Lindsey and Shelby made sure that he had their contact information and then left saying, “Text us!”
Matthew waited for the entire class to leave and watched Ms. Landrum and Cassie as they talked at the back of the class. He couldn’t hear what they were saying, but he was almost certain it wouldn’t be good for him.
Finally they eased their way back to the front of the class, and Ms. Landrum said, “I think Cassandra here may be able to work out something with Genesis to get you a summer internship, Mr. Chance. I would listen to what she has to say.”
She turned to Cassie. “You can use this classroom for the next hour—no one will bother you. Make sure you ask him some good questions. I think he will really impress you.”
Ms. Landrum picked up her bag, threw a few papers into it, and made her way out of the room, closing the door behind her to make sure that Cassie and Matthew would have some privacy.
The door clasp engaged, and Matthew looked up to find Cassie staring at him. He tried to play it cool. “So, what type of opportunity did you want to talk to me about?”
Cassie smiled and studied Matthew’s features a few seconds longer, and then she approached him, getting so close that just a few inches separated them. Cassie’s eyes were even with Matthew’s chin. She stood there for a moment before raising her hand to Matthew’s chest. She pressed her hand against his shirt, feeling the round outline of the Hathmec beneath her palm.
She stepped back and asked, “How did you do it? How are you here?”
“What do you mean? I drove here this morning.”
Cassie smirked. “I know it’s you, Matthew. I know who you are, and I know who your sister is.” She walked to the board at the front of the room and removed a marker from the tray. She wrote on the board, “September 20, 1984.”
“You look a little older, and your voice doesn’t have that random squeak it had back then, but I know it’s you. I never forgot those eyes, and I never forgot about your lucky necklace that forms an outline on the outside of your shirt.” She walked back from the board and took a seat in front of Matthew, who was still standing at Ms. Landrum’s desk.
Matthew tried to make up a lie to throw her off, but then he made the critical mistake of mentioning Eastview High. “Look, Cassie, it’s ridiculous to think that you know me. I’ve never even heard of Eastview High School—”
Cassie interrupted him. “I never mentioned Eastview. You also seem pretty comfortable calling me Cassie.”
Matthew was stuck. He knew that no simple lie would convince Cassie to believe anything but what she already believed.
“Do you still have the boots that let you float on the air?” she asked.
“No, I left those with Connor.”
Cassie was excited, and she couldn’t hide it. “I can’t believe it…but I do believe it! My God, the last time I saw you was over thirty years ago. It was September 20, 1984, and you just left. But now here you are, and you’re, what, a couple of years older?” In a matter of seconds, she had changed from a confident career woman to the giddy schoolgirl of her past.
Matthew replied, “It’s actually only been a few months since I saw you. I can’t believe I’m seeing you again.”
“Only a few months? What do you mean?”
Matthew started to reply but was interrupted by Cassie’s exuberance. She really hadn’t changed that much in thirty years. “Your sister, that’s Amanda Curry, isn’t it? She didn’t die in that fire at all. Her parents, are they here too? What about her brother, Steven? Is he here?”
Matthew put his hands up and motioned for Cassie to calm down. She was so excited that her body had started to shake. It was a lot to take in. “Look, Cassie, first of all, you need to calm down and hold it together. You helped us in the past, and maybe you can help us again.”
Matthew explained that his sister was, in fact, Amanda Curry. He also explained that her little brother, Steven, was with them, but that her parents had died in the fire that had destroyed the Curry home back in 1984.
Cassie listened as Matthew told her of the night he had gone back to the house to help the Curry family and why Amanda and Steven were the only ones to make it out alive. Matthew still got emotional as he talked about the sacrifice of Amanda’s parents and how he still dreamed of getting them all out safe and sound.
She listened for twenty minutes as Matthew rambled on about his time in 1984. He talked about how his friendship with Cassie and her brother had helped him and Connor work through the problems they had faced. She listened as he spoke of his mother and how being there had brought them all closer together and that without each other, they would have never made it out alive.
The one thing that Cassie didn’t hear Matthew mention was his spaceship or his alien roots or the fact that they’d never gone back to their own planet. As she listened, she also came to the very real conclusion that Matthew and his family were nothing more than three human beings wrapped up in something extraordinary.
Cassie let Matthew finish. Then she said, “So, it’s clear that all that alien stuff you spewed to me and Jack was a load of crap, so why don’t you tell me what’s really going on.”
While in 1984, Matthew and Connor had concocted a story, saying that they were alien beings doing research on the planet. It was a way to explain their strange abilities and lack of knowledge of the area to Jack and Cassie, and it had worked. Jack and Cassie hadn’t told the police about Matthew and Connor, and they ended up helping them finish their mission.
Matthew hesitated for a minute and looked into Cassie’s caring yet concerned eyes. She was no longer the timid fifteen-year-old girl he had known in Travis. She was a woman, a scientist, and based on this unlikely meeting, she seemed destined to help Matthew in more ways than he could imag
ine. He felt comfortable with her. He felt that this was meant to be.
“All right, Cassie, I’m going to tell you the whole truth, but what I’m about to tell you will make the alien thing seem downright plausible. You have to promise me that what you are about to hear will go with you to your grave. Can you promise me that?”
Cassie stuck out her hand and said, “I promise that I will keep an open mind, and even after all this time, I’ll do whatever I can to help you.”
Matthew started off by telling Cassie about the future and what had happened over the years with Minister Hathmec. He told her about his time growing up there and how different it was from either 1984 or 2016. He explained that he and Connor weren’t aliens at all. He even showed her the watch that Walter had given him and how it worked. He revised the story of his time in 1984 and added Keith Kellington to the mix. He told her about the Hathmec and the charms that drove his missions.
“If it hadn’t been for you and your brother, we would have never found the attribute charm, and we would never have made it back to 2185.”
Cassie’s eyes got rounder and rounder as Matthew’s story unfolded. Clearly she was blown away by what she heard. She sat down just to make sure she didn’t pass out. The story was unbelievable, but she believed it anyway. Matthew told it with all the passion and emotion that only someone who had lived it could, and it inspired her.
“So, no one here is an alien, but you are a time traveler who has some strange superpowers you can tap into when you need them?”
Matthew nodded. “Yeah, that about sums it up. You could also throw in that we are trying to stop an evil person from controlling the entire world and who’s basically messing it up in a big way.”
Cassie giggled. “You still talk like that sixteen-year-old boy I remember.”
Matthew explained that he was actually only fifteen and that his new look was also the work of the Hathmec.
Cassie stood up from her chair and walked around the room with a measured pace. As Matthew watched her weave in and out of the rows of desks, he wondered if he had shared too much information. She hadn’t bolted from the room looking for help, so he thought he was in good shape. Cassie stopped by one of the large windows at the side of the classroom and peered off into the distance.
“My brother was so intrigued by you and Connor that he spent most of his life studying the stars and researching every little thing that happened on the planet that in any way resembled the things that he had seen you two do.”
“What do you mean spent his life? Where is he now?”
Cassie wiped a small tear from her cheek. “Jack died in a car accident a couple of years ago. He had finally started to back away from the search for proof of alien beings and was beginning to get his life back into form. I kept telling him to stop living in the past and start living in the now. He was starting to listen. He had a date with a real woman that night, but he never made it to her apartment. It was a drunk driver that swerved into him and pushed him into a tree.”
Matthew told Cassie how sorry he was about Jack. “I wish I could have been here to help him.”
Cassie replied, “I know you do. I always thought that Jack just wanted to prove that alien life existed, but I don’t think that anymore. I think he was looking for you and Connor. I think he wanted to help you and, in turn, help everyone.”
Cassie walked away from the window and made her way back to Matthew. She took his hand and extended her arms to give Matthew a big hug. “I believe you, and I am going to help you in any way that I can.”
Matthew pulled away and smiled. “I’m sorry that we lied to you back then, but I’m sure glad I can be honest with you now.”
Matthew went through the details of the trans-x charm and what they knew about it so far. He explained that Ms. Landrum and her family were the keys to finding the charm but that they hadn’t had any luck in determining its location.
Cassie took some notes, and she and Matthew spoke for close to an hour. Matthew asked about the fallout from their 1984 mission, and Cassie told him about how the town had been in shock for months after the fire.
“It was so strange. The Curry house had been destroyed. Everyone thought that the whole family had been killed in the fire, but there was never any firm evidence that Amanda and Steven Jr. were in the house. It was just assumed, since no one could find them. The worst part was finding Danny Charles dead by the back of the house.”
Matthew didn’t go into any detail about what had happened to Officer Charles. He thought it best to keep that to himself. Cassie went on to explain that the entire town thought Danny Charles had set the fire to the house and killed himself afterward.
“I never believed he did it, and it sounds like I was right. It was that Keith Kellington that killed him and burned the house down.”
Cassie described the next few years as being a bit of a strain. Both she and Jack were consumed with what was out there and couldn’t wait to head off to college to start their own careers. She had studied at Baylee College after MIT, and that’s why she’d stayed around the area when Genesis opened up.
She talked about Travis and what it was like today. “Did you know that Mr. Curry’s brother actually rebuilt the old house on that same piece of land where Amanda and her family lived? It was just completed a couple of years ago, but it looks great. He lives there with his wife and three kids.”
Matthew replied, “That’s great. I wish I could see it again.”
Cassie looked at her watch. “I guess we need to be getting out of here soon. I have to get back to work, and I’m sure you have to get back to finding that charm. I’ll do some digging on it, too.”
She gave Matthew another hug and told him how excited she was at the idea of helping him again. “I know Jack would have wanted me to do everything in my power to help you both. By the way, where’s Connor? Does he go to school here, too?”
Matthew looked back at the window and said, “He didn’t come with us. I wish I knew where he was right now. He’s probably arguing with Mom.” And Matthew was right.
“Do you have it yet, Mom?”
“No, we don’t have it yet, and stop asking me. I’ll let you know when we get it.”
Connor heaved an exasperated sigh. “This is really getting old. How long are we gonna have to sit here and do nothing?”
Agents Blake and Marco leaned back in their chairs and fiddled with one of the devices Walter had sent with them.
April, Connor, Blake, and Marco had been waiting for the go-ahead from Agent Johnson for weeks now. They had completed every other task asked of them in Sector 4, but for some reason, Walter and Johnson hadn’t given them the ok to start Phase Two.
“We’ve been doing those stupid jobs at the site now for almost two months,” Connor said. “We know what we have to do, so why doesn’t Walter let us go ahead and do it?”
“It’s not up to us to decide when we can move forward,” replied Blake. “I’m sure Johnson and Walter have their reasons.”
For close to two months now, April, Connor, Blake, and Marco had been living in a small housing complex just south of the largest excavation site in the country. April and Connor lived in one apartment, and Blake and Marco both had their own places within the same complex. They spent many nights in the same room, though, waiting for instructions from Walter or Johnson.
They’d completed the first tasks assigned to them and gained the trust of their coworkers at the location. Both Marco and Blake had been brought into the site as security recruits and trained in all the ins and outs of the area. Their primary function was to protect the site.
April had been promoted into a position of management, and she had a crew of ten men working for her. One of those men was Connor, which worked out well, since he could explore areas of the site on his own, per the orders of April, his supervisor.
Walter had done another thorough job getting this group approved to work at the site. It had taken him months of hacking and setup within the gove
rnment’s computer systems to recreate the backgrounds of April and her team. Once he was finished, they were all different people with different skill sets. The government demanded that they be transitioned to the site.
The site itself resembled a large landfill without the trash. Extending for miles in every direction from its epicenter, it gave the Grand Canyon a run for its money in overall area. The tunnels and mine paths extended for miles in all directions. The total number of tunnels exceeded the imagination’s capability, and while the site resembled a large coal mining operation, there was no coal to be found here. Neither was there any natural resource exploration or gold retrieval. This site was used for one purpose and one purpose only: the retrieval of artifacts.
Artifacts was a vague term, and for the most part, the thousands of workers at the site—known as the “Minister’s Mine”—had no idea what they were looking for. Beyond the two or three managers, the idea of finding an artifact was hard for the site workers to comprehend. Most of them had never found a thing, but they just kept going, just kept digging, hoping to find something out of the ordinary.
The site began operations over fifty years ago, and the only artifacts that had been pulled out were some old electronics and a few articles of clothing. One time, a worker had found an old sneaker from the 1980s. It had a picture of a man extending a ball out with his right hand and leaping into the air. Everyone got a big kick out of it, mimicking its image and trying to put the shoe on, until the managers confiscated it.
For the amount of work and time that Sector 1 had poured into this location, it didn’t seem to pay out any rewards. It was no honor to be selected to work there. It carried a tough reputation and a spotty history.
April and her team weren’t sad about being there, but they were getting frustrated with Walter and the team. They were ready to move on.
The next phase would lead April and the team to the one thing Sector 1 wanted out of the Minister’s Mine. It was the one artifact that April and her team needed. The memory charm was buried somewhere in that pile of earth, and April knew how to find it.
Last Chance Volume 2 - The Legend of the Hathmec: Planting the Seed Page 18
