by Alex Myers
French Civil War-The Iron Century, 1550-1660: French Wars of Religion, Thirty Years War
The Spanish Civil War: An introduction to the role of anarchism in the Spanish Civil War / Revolution of 1936
He refined his search, typing ‘American Civil War’, ‘Civil War US’ and several other variations, and every time the response was ‘No document matching your query’. Jack also took Internet searches too seriously, often spending an hour or more trying to find an answer or source. Reluctant to give-up, he searched ‘Abraham Lincoln’.
Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1872) was the 17th President of the United States, serving from March 1868 until March 1872. Known as the Great Uniter, Lincoln single-handedly brought together the Black and Native American communities and from three diverse groups brought together a more perfect union. To the dismay of many, he refused to run for a second term, saying he had to answer to a higher calling. He died mysteriously less than one month after leaving office due to exsanguination.
Whoa.
Jack typed in ‘Stephen Douglas’.
Stephen Arnold Douglas (1813-1868) The 16th president of the United States guided his country through one of the most harrowing times in its national history and staved off a war between the states. After unifying the Democratic Party with the promise of the Buchanan-Riggs Act, which created a home for the disposed slaves and initiated the alliance that still exists between Blacks and Native Americans today, he went on to later champion the Women’s Suffrage Movement. Known as the ‘Promise Keeper’ and ‘Civil Rights Stephen’, he is considered by many historians to have been one of the greatest, if not the greatest, American presidents.
Shit! I wish I had a penny, I bet he’s on there. Jack reread the article. It looks like our plan worked!
Without another moment’s hesitation, he typed ‘Frances Riggs’.
FULL NAME: Frances Jane Sanger Riggs
BORN: March 15, 1832 New York, New York
DIED: March 15, 1932 Norfolk, Virginia; she was buried in the family plot near her home in Norfolk, Virginia
This was hard for Jack to look at. Of course, she died; she was a hundred years old for Christ-sakes.
THE RIGGS-SANGER FOUNDATION: The Riggs-Sanger Trust Foundation continues to be one of the largest charitable trusts in the world. Founder of the Women’s Philanthropy Institute, the Humane Society, the Boy and Girl Science Scouts of America, APW Aid for Parks Worldwide, and the United Negro/Native American College Fund. The Riggs-Sanger Trust is also a major contributor to the Salvation Army, the American Cancer Society, the American Red Cross, and several other American and Worldwide Organizations.
CAREER SUMMARY
In 1857, Frances married inventor Jack Riggs, but Riggs was murdered on the night of their wedding. She never remarried. Personal advisor to Presidents from Buchanan to Coolidge.
In 1918 she won the Nobel Prize for Peace for her part in calming tensions during the Austrian-Serbian conflict, with the help of her close friends Kaiser William and Czar Nicholas II.
Chairman of the Board of the Riggs Corporation from 1858 to 1902. First woman chairperson of a major corporation in America. Civil Rights Advocate for the poor, helpless, disadvantaged, and underprivileged.
She also fought and won many battles for those discriminated against. Is credited by many as being the most forward thinker in the last 200 years.
Jack cried his soul out for the beautiful heart of the woman he once held. I’m graced to have been able to spend what little time with her that I did. He continued to cry as he read the longer version of her biography, which detailed even more of her astonishing accomplishments. He couldn’t take anymore; he hit the ‘power down’ key, and he did too.
He couldn’t rest, though. He couldn’t stop thinking. Jack fired the machine back up and had only one more name to enter—his own.
There was no entry for ‘Jack Riggs’. Only the ‘Jack Riggs’ that lived in the 1800s. There had to be something, but no reference to ‘Jack Riggs’ in the twenty-first century at all. He did a search on Tom Laundry High School, where he used to teach. His name wasn’t on the faculty list.
Maybe ordinary people weren’t listed; he put in Victor Sams, his physical therapist. He got his age, address, phone numbers, several e-mail addresses, high school, college, and work histories. There was even a link to a personal page, and Jack went to that. A picture of Victor appeared wearing a Hawaiian shirt and holding a large cockatiel nearly as colorful as his shirt. Listed were his likes, dislikes, and what he was looking for in a woman.
“Get two or three dates a month off that thing.”
Jack looked up with a jolt. He was so engrossed with his search, he failed to hear Victor enter. He felt guilty, like he was spying on the man.
“Find anything interesting, Mr. Riggs? Do my credentials checkout?” Victor asked, smiling.
“I was just doing some browsing,” Jack said. “I just wanted to make sure I was doing it right. You were the first person I thought of.”
“Hey, you don’t have to make excuses to the Vic-man. Did you see everything you wanted to see?”
“To tell you the truth, no. I can’t find anything on myself.”
“That’s an easy one. You’re, what, 37 years old, married—to a beautiful woman, I might add—no children, and run one of the largest charitable foundations in the world.”
“Married? I’m married? Then where’s my wife?”
“Separated.”
“Nothing like breaking it to me gently, Victor.”
“It was your idea. You broke things off right before your accident. You even had your new girlfriend in the car with you when it happened.”
“Who’s my wife?”
“Kim Kardashian.”
“The socialite?”
“I haven’t been keeping up. But you remember?”
“That she was a reality show queen—sure. That we were married? Not at all. Is all this in my chart?”
“Well, no.”
“Then how do you know so much about my personal life?”
Victor just stared at him, looking a little embarrassed. You were quite the playboy… kind of a personal hero of mine.”
Jack tried to soak this all in. All the discoveries of the past few days were hard to take. It was actually easier to deal with being back in the 1800s, he thought. At least there I knew what to expect. “Who was the woman in the car with me?”
“I don’t really remember her name—Ashley somebody—she was a lawyer or something.”
“What happened to her? Is she all right?”
“No, I’m sorry, the paramedics didn’t make it there in time. They couldn’t save her, she was past the revive stage.”
“Did I love her?”
“Hey, I said I admired you, not worshiped you. I don’t really remember.” Victor rubbed his chin with a finger. “I think you said something about wanting to settle down with a normal woman, or… have a normal life, something like that.”
Jack shook his head and looked at the wall, then said, “Why can’t I find any details about myself on the VITU?”
“It all should be in there…”
“I typed in ‘Jack Riggs’ and zippo, nothing shows up.”
“Jack Riggs? Like the inventor Jack Riggs?” Victor looked confused.
“What else would I put in?”
“Your name is Johnny. Actually, you changed it right before your accident. Since then, you’ve been going by Jonathan.” Victor grabbed the electronic chart from the end of the bed and showed Jack the name: it said ‘Johnny’.
If Jack would have been standing, he would have needed to sit. This isn’t me, this isn’t my life… hell, it’s not even my name.
“Mr. Riggs,” Victor said, bringing Jack out of a fugue, “do you want me to come back later for your therapy?”
“Ah, no—I’m fine. Let’s do it. It’s just all these gaps in my memory. It’s like I’m living someone else’s life.”
In the exercise room, Jack did reps on an advanced Nautilus-type machine.
“The range of movement really makes for a nice burn, doesn’t it?” Jack said. He was feeling stronger every day, or maybe more confident of his rejuvenated body.
“There’s no cheating at the top or bottom, it’s a Phillips. There’s this guy out in Colorado named Bill Phillips, sort of an exercise guru. If you ask me, the guy could be President—everyone I know uses these.”
“With nanotechnology, it seems like people wouldn’t care about working out.”
“On the contrary, I don’t know anyone that doesn’t. It’s the thing that separates us from the machines. People still seem to fit it in, even putting in thirty-hour workweeks. Dr. Mizell is releasing you tomorrow, are you going to be able to handle it?”
“She says I’m going to have about three hours a day’s worth of, I think she called it, ‘adjustment therapy’?”
“It’s designed to ease you back into society. Job retraining, rebuilding your social support network, even a little physical therapy for the first couple of weeks.”
“I didn’t even remember my name until you told me. I don’t even remember where I live. Do I have money? Do I have a car to drive myself home?”
“I think she’ll go over some of that before you check out. I’m pretty sure you have money. As far as a car, not a whole lot of people have their own cars anymore, everybody uses public transportation.”
“This is going to be an adventure,” Jack said, but in his mind he thought, I’m about sick of adventures. I need some normal.
CHAPTER 41
Monday, August 20, 2013
Jack took the public rail system, called a ‘Levitron’, to an address given to him by Dr. Mizell, declining her offer to accompany him. The rail system had no rails, but instead the tram floated above a metal track using magnetics. When asked if he needed money, she smiled and took hold of his hand. “This bump here on the top of your hand is your ‘e-chip’. When you want to purchase something, a 4scanning device reads this, and your ‘e-credits’ are automatically deducted. The only people with money these days are numismatics.”
The address was a 50-story building and he was greeted by the doorman. “Good afternoon, Mr. Riggs, it’s been a long time.” His gold-edged name tag said ‘Lou’.
“Thank you—ah—Lou, it’s nice to be back. I think.”
“Housekeeping has your place all ready for you.” He walked with Jack toward the elevators, crossing the large atrium. “The hospital called and said you were being released.”
“Lou, I know this is going to sound strange, but I can’t remember my floor.”
Lou smiled. “Your chip remembers.” He nodded toward Jack’s hand.
The elevator had no floor buttons, only an emergency stop and firefighter overrides. The doors closed and he felt the quick ascent. A blur of numbers rolled by on a small display screen and stopped in unison with the elevator. It displayed ‘Penthouse’.
The doors opened directly into what looked like a living room. Floor to ceiling windows surrounded the large area, which was flooded with late afternoon light. Everything was white; white leather furniture, white carpeting, and white tabletops. What wasn’t white was chrome, and the reflections of sunlight nearly blinded him. “It’s way too bright,” he said out loud, shielding his eyes. The audio command activated and the windows tinted a dark blue. Small ceiling accent lights came on.
He spent nearly an hour exploring this person named ‘Johnny Riggs’s’ apartment. None of the paintings, none of the art, none of the clothing in his spacious closet seemed the least bit familiar. In the library, hundreds of books covered two walls and at least some of the titles were familiar, but most he had never heard of. Perhaps the strangest room was a space with heavy metal doors and what looked to be a large hot tub inside. He entered and the doors closed behind him. He felt a little claustrophobic, because when the doors closed, he felt like he was in a vacuum. No sound, no outside light, not even the movement of air was perceived. Jack knelt to feel the water and found that it wasn’t water at all, it was heavier, perhaps an oil and water mixture. The tub looked like it could hold at least ten people.
This whole room must be my VITU device, Jack thought. It smells like I’ve had some wild parties in here.
Jack undressed, entered the VITU pool, and didn’t leave it until he had the answers to most of his questions.
He also arranged for a trip to Fort Monroe.
CHAPTER 42
Thursday, August 23, 2013
While many things had changed in this version of Jack’s world, he was happy to see that Fort Monroe was still the same. Closed as a military base long before, it was still maintained by the National Park Service as a historic site. He paid his e-credit admission charge at the gate by waving his hand near a scanning device and entered the grounds. The place looked as he remembered it as a boy, and more importantly, as he remembered from the 1850s. Jack walked along the nearly deserted, brick-laid streets and reveled in the midday sun shining through the large oaks.
He opened the door to the Chapel. A man and woman, each with a camera around their neck, were leaving and greeted him with a quiet smile. He sat in the front pew, staring at the altar. It felt as though his veins were filled with lead instead of blood, and that the pew was a magnet, because every time he tried to get up, he couldn’t. Doubting his own sanity, a million things were running through his mind. Even with all the changes I’ve seen, was I really there? Am I crazy? Am I lying in a bed somewhere in a coma with tubes running into me and just dreaming all this—dreaming all that? He had to know. Breaking through his paralysis, he looked both ways to be sure he was alone, and walked to the wooden stairs leading to the front of the church. He bent and tapped where they made the false door on the stair’s riser. A small compartment opened, revealing a secret space behind.
It was empty!
Removing a LCD penlight from his pocket, he got down on his hands and knees and searched the space more thoroughly. He pounded the interior walls of the space, making sure there wasn’t another door hidden inside. If I really was there, how could Frances do this to me? I might not ever know the answers now.
“Can I help you with something?” A plummy, deep, finely articulated voice echoed through the chapel.
Jack quickly stood, and an elderly man dressed in a dark tweed jacket and wool pants approached him.
“Can I help you with something, Mister?” he repeated. His voice had a hint of an English accent. The black man looked to be in his late sixties or early seventies. He wore horn-rimmed glasses and had a kind, gentle face.
There was something eerily familiar about the man that Jack couldn’t place. It was as if he had met him before, but where?
“Ah… no, that’s okay, I was just leaving,” Jack said. He realized that if the man wouldn’t have interrupted him, he would have lost his composure right there in the chapel. Jack walked past the old man, making his way for the door. Then he hesitated, turned, and asked; “Have you worked here long?”
“Why, yes I have, I might even be older than I look. I have had a little of that revive stuff done. I’m Brent Hopwood, the curator of the park.” He extended his hand to Jack. “I’ve worked here seventy-one years in one form or another, started working as a grounds keeper when I was fourteen.”
“The name is Jack Riggs, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Hopwood.” Jack paused, trying to figure out just what he wanted to say.
“It’s actually Dr. Hopwood, but that’s all right, you can call me Brent. Why did you ask how long I’ve worked here?”
“I was just wondering—“
“What did you say your name was?” Doctor Hopwood sounded excited.
“Jack Riggs, why?”
“Found a letter about a month ago addressed to a Jack Riggs. The original Jack Riggs was the man who freed my great grandfather from Slavery—Hercules Hopwood was his name. My family owes a lot to this Mr. Riggs, he reunited us.”
Of course it was Hercules’s grandson—time had that way of going around and coming back again. No wonder the man looked familiar, his manner was even familiar. If you would have shaved Hercules, put glasses and a little beret on him, this could be him. He could see the resemblance; same intelligent eyes and quick smile. Jack’s mind snapped back to the letter. “Do you know who it’s from?”
“Know more than that, I’ve read it. It’s from Frances Riggs. Now, just about everyone knows that she was married to Jack Riggs, the inventor somewhere back around 1857, 1858, and she was there when he died—on their wedding day, as I recall. Nonetheless, this letter was written in 1932. She thought Jack Riggs would be coming here in the year 2013, and then here you are. A lot of coincidences, don’t you agree?”
“Where did you find the letter?”
“It’s kind of a long story, but the highlights are Frances Riggs left a rather large grant to the park service with the stipulation that we would keep the chapel exactly the way that it was. Sometime around 1960, I remember, they were repainting, and one of the workers discovered a strong box hidden in the altar steps. We moved the box into storage, meaning to deal with it later and we all just forgot about it. Some of my people were cleaning the storage room about a month ago, came across the box, and asked me what to do about it. I got a locksmith, opened the box, and found the letter. Did you come here for the letter?”
“I didn’t know anything about a letter, but to be honest with you, I did come here for the contents of the box.”
“The box was empty, it’s always been empty—except for the letter.”
“There weren’t a whole slew of gold coins in there?”
“No, not at all. I was working here when we first found it. It was locked, so we shook it and we couldn’t hear anything inside, so that’s why the box was put in storage, and, I guess, forgotten about. But, how did you know about the box?”
