Rememberers

by C. Edward Baldwin

  “What's that?”

  “The seventies time-trigger, how would that work on me? I wasn't around for the disco era.”

  “That's why you have to forget your concept of time.” He went to the drawing of the circle on the pad and placed his finger on a point of the circle. “Remember when I said that A.I. didn't have to tell me about the truth because I remembered it?”

  “Yes.”

  “You didn't think about that when I said it? How could I remember something that I wasn't around for? Consider the book of Genesis. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Who was around to know that? If man had yet to be created, how could he record the history of creation?”

  “I guess I never thought about it,” Kallie said.

  “Don't feel bad, no one ever thinks about it. But the reason man learned about creation, about Adam and Eve, was because of Rememberers. When your ability is fully formed, not only will you be able to know what happened after your point of existence on this circle, you'll be able to remember what has occurred at every point on this circle, before your existence came about and afterwards.” He eyed her with a knowing grin as he traced his finger along the circle drawn on the pad.

  * * *

  Later that same night, Swag was back at his home when he received McCarthy's call.

  “How did it go?” McCarthy asked anxiously.

  “Better than expected,” Swag answered. “Her memory is like a dam ready to burst.”

  “Then, she'll soon be able to help you locate the Rogue,” McCarthy said with eagerness in his voice.

  “The Rogue,” Swag said as if he'd suddenly forgotten about him. “Sure, finding him will be no problem. No problem at all.”

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Veronica lived in one of the off campus apartments the university owned and kept in reserve for its graduate students. It was a fairly good-sized, two bedroom apartment. She had meticulously decorated every inch of it with things she'd managed to snag either from flea markets, consignment shops, or amongst the discarded items of her fellow college-mates who'd wished to save on moving expenses or had simply been too lazy to properly dispose of the stuff themselves.

  “Nice place you have here, Roni,” Bennett said after taking the offered seat on a black, plushy couch. “Kinda shatters the myth of the struggling college student.”

  “Thanks,” Veronica said, sitting across from him in a straight-back armchair. “But it's no myth. My parents footed the bill for the undergraduate degrees. But I'm on my own for anything beyond that, not to mention my health insurance. So, I don't have much money and probably won't have until a few years after I graduate. But believe it or not, I've spent less than five hundred dollars for everything you see in here.”

  Bennett whistled, looking around the room in amazement. “Wow! The place looks like you spent a mint.”

  “You just have to know where to find the deals,” she said, smiling. After a moment, she asked if he'd like something to drink. He politely declined.

  “I just stopped by to apologize again about the other day,” he said. “I didn't mean to get you into any trouble with your school. I had another talk with your professor, Dr. Frost. She's a pistol, but I believe she understands the situation.”

  “I appreciate you doing that, but really it wasn't necessary.”

  “Anyway, I wanted to do it.”

  She eyed him carefully. “What's on your mind, Uncle Den?”

  “Why you ask?”

  “I know you didn't drive back here just to apologize for the umpteenth time and to tell me you had another talk with Dr. Frost. You could've just called.”

  Bennett chuckled. “I might have known you'd see through that ruse. Law enforcement is in your blood. You're right. There's something on my mind. It's Kallie Hunt. I believe she's holding something back.”

  “Holding what back?”

  “I don't know.”

  “You think she's a terrorist?”

  “No, I don't think that. But she knows something. Something that could possibly save lives in the future.”

  “Related to terrorism?”

  “I believe so,” Bennett said.

  Veronica shook her head slowly. “I don't know about that, Uncle Den. She's just a college kid from a small town. What would she know about terrorism, other than what she sees on TV or reads in the paper?”

  “You're missing the point,” Bennett said. “I'm not interested in her dissertation on terrorism. It's possible that she might not even know what she knows.”

  Veronica's head tilted slightly to the side. “You're referring to her déjà vu sensations?”

  “Yes,” Bennett said, staunchly.

  “You honestly think there's something to the vision she had the other day?”

  Bennett shrugged his shoulders. “I honestly do.” He paused. “Look, it could be nothing. But, then again, it could be something. I have to be sure.”

  “What's really going on Uncle Den? I got a feeling that you're the one who's holding something back.”

  Bennett sat up on the sofa, leaning toward his niece. “You're right. Quid pro quo. I'm going to confide in you, and I'm going to need you to keep this information to yourself. It's a national security matter.”

  “It should be able to go without saying. But you can trust me.”

  Bennett nodded his head. “I know I can. But as a rule, I never let anything go without saying it.” He paused a moment. “Kallie Hunt received a visit the other day from a person who's an unofficial person of interest in Phillip Beamer's murder.”

  “Beamer, the suspected terrorist?”

  “Beamer, who was known to have been planning an actual terrorist attack.”

  “But how would such a person know Kallie?”

  “I don't know. But that's what I need to find out. Will you help me?”

  Without hesitation she said, “Sure, I will.”

  After her uncle left her apartment, Veronica walked across the complex to Josh's apartment. He opened the door after the third rap of knocks. His eyebrows pinched upward when he opened the door and saw her standing there. “Veronica. What a pleasant surprise.”

  “I'm glad you still think so. I'm sorry for just dropping by. May I come in?”

  He answered by stepping back, allowing her inside. Although his apartment's floor plan was similar to hers, his was sparsely furnished. The living room contained only a loveseat and a flat screen television. She followed him to the kitchen nook where a laptop sat atop the table. He slid into the chair in front of it.

  “Who's that?” she asked, looking over his shoulder at the laptop screen.

  “It's just a screenshot of Kali, the goddess of time, fighting demons.”

  “A videogame?”

  “It's something like that.” He closed the laptop and indicated the chair across from him at the table. After she took the offered seat, he said, “So what's up?”

  “I felt bad about earlier and I wanted to come by and apologize personally. I didn't want you to think that I'd purposely do something to jeopardize the project or have your integrity impugned.”

  “It's water under the bridge,” Josh said. “I've forgotten about it and moved on.”

  Veronica smiled. “I'm glad. I hope Kallie feels the same way?”

  “I can't speak for her. But I don't think she's the type to hold grudges.”

  Veronica looked relieved. “I hope not. I feel really awful about what happened. Do you think we could all go bowling or dancing or something, Kallie included? You know, to show there're no hard feelings.”

  “That sounds like a good idea. I know the group wouldn't mind. But you'll have to ask Kallie.”

  Veronica bit her lower lip. “I was kinda hoping that maybe you could suggest it. She might still be a little sore at me.”

  “I doubt that.”

  “See, you know her better than I do.”

  He smiled. “Okay, if you want. I'll suggest it the next time I see her.”

  A
look of relief washed over her face. “Would you? That would be great. Thank you.”

  “It's no biggie.”

  * * *

  Through Kallie's bedroom window, Kallie and Maggie watched Seth pace the sidewalk in front of their house for thirty minutes. It had been Maggie who had spotted him first and she had run into Kallie's bedroom to tell her. “How long has he been out there?” Kallie had asked.

  “I don't know,” Maggie said. “I just happened to look out the front window and there he was. You want me to go and ask him what he wants?”

  “No,” Kallie said. “If that's how he wants to spend his Saturday morning, then let him.”

  “Are you still mad at him?”

  “No, I'm not mad.”

  “I should say not. You're in love with him.”

  “Now why would you say something like that?”

  “It's because I'm not blind. I've seen the way you've jumped the past couple of days every time the doorbell rang. You were hoping it was he. I've also seen you double and triple check the ringer on your cell phone. You keep looking at it as if trying to will it to ring and for it to be him on the other end. Even now, I can see you blushing because you know I'm telling the truth.” She paused and looked back out the window. “And I'll tell you something else, too. Any boy that comes around at eight o'clock on a Saturday morning is either in love as well or is just plain weird.”

  It was another twenty minutes before Seth finally decided to ring the doorbell. Kallie had thought about sending Maggie down to answer the door, but then decided she wasn't going to play games. She went to the door and opened it without bothering to ask who it was.

  “You saw me out here, huh?” Seth said after she'd opened the door.

  “You were pretty hard to miss,” Kallie said. “Come in.”

  He followed her into the living room. He sat down on one end of the couch while she sat on the opposite end of it. The loveseat where they sat together the other night, though just a few inches away, seemed as far away as another time dimension. For a while neither spoke. The silence was tense but not awkward. Each wanted to be here. Each had a lot to say, but neither wanted to be the first one to say it. Seth, it was silently agreed, drew the short straw. “Listen,” he began, pacing himself, “I'm sorry. I acted like a crazed fool the other night.”

  Kallie exhaled a little. “I wouldn't say crazed, maybe a little jerkish.” She smiled, trying to take the edge off the word.

  Seth was all in now, the words flowing easily. “I know and I'm sorry. You think maybe we could start over again?”

  I don't know Seth, she thought. How do I know you won't be one of those crazy, jealous, and abusive boyfriends? Someone who will try to cut me off from the outside world, belittle me, take away my self-confidence? She’d heard about guys like that and how some girls found themselves in abusive situations simply because they’d moved too fast. But she somehow knew Seth wasn’t like that. There was something sweet and innocent about him. For some reason she felt strangely connected to him. I really like you, Seth Winters. She thought those things, but of course said none of them. It would be too soon. Even if he’d felt the same way, she’d likely send him running for the hills with any talk of love and connection. “I would like that.”

  He offered his hand to shake on the agreement to start over. It was clear by the tightness of his stare that he wanted to seal the deal with something stronger. She wanted to as well, catching a quick glimpse of his thin slightly moistened off-pink lips. But the lady in her won the day. Her grandmother, mother, and grandfather—may they rest in peace—would have been proud of her self-restraint. “I know you can take care of yourself,” he was saying, “and I promise you that I won't overstep my bounds again. I can't promise that I won't always be concerned about you, or try to look out for you. But I will respect your wishes, whatever they may be. I'm not a crazed, jealous jerk. I know it'll probably take some time for you to see that. But if you give me the chance, you'll see.”

  “Okay,” she said and clasped his hand. “I'm going to trust you. But understand this—I'm not like those naive girls from the Lifetime movies. I don't have low self-esteem. I don't feel I need you for validation. There will not be an endless carousel of bad behavior followed by my forgiving you and accepting you back. I'm fair; but I'm not stupid. Act like that again and there will be no next time.”

  “Understood,” he said.

  The handshake led to them spending the rest of the weekend together, including an impromptu “meet the families” excursion to their respective hometowns. For Kallie, it was a welcomed respite, a chance to get some time away from books, terror threats, and time cycles.

  To their amazement, Bengate was practically the same distance from both their hometowns though in opposite directions. And since Lumberton and Florence, South Carolina, were only separated by about a one hundred and twenty mile stretch of I-95, they could make the trip in one big looping circle.

  They decided to head east to Lumberton first, mainly because the trip would most likely require an overnight stay, and separate rooms or not, her grandmother wasn't about to let an unmarried couple sleep under her roof. Kallie smiled uneasily at the thought. She and Seth weren't a couple. Officially, they weren't anything at this point, not even declared friends. And it was that non-defined aspect of their relationship that further convinced her that an overnight stay at her grandmother's house wasn't a wise idea. The questions would be unrelenting. Her grandmother wouldn't understand that Kallie wasn't sure where this thing with Seth was headed. She only knew that she liked being with him and for her, right now, that was all that mattered.

  To Kallie's surprise, her grandmother didn't ask one question about her relationship with Seth. In fact, her grandmother had seemed genuinely happy that Kallie seemed genuinely happy. Her grandmother saved all her questions for Seth, perhaps thinking that she could drill Kallie next week. She asked Seth a fair amount of questions about his family and upbringing. Kallie noticed a decided change in her grandmother's body language when Seth mentioned that his father was a Baptist preacher.

  “A preacher's son,” her grandmother said, nodding her head slightly. “Are you planning to follow your father's footsteps into the ministry?”

  “I haven't decided yet,” Seth said. “Bengate has a great divinity school; but I'm still weighing my options. I have until the end of next semester to make up my mind. I'm praying about it.”

  Her grandmother nodded her head a little more fervently this time. “In all things consult the master.” And then she looked at Kallie and winked.

  Kallie didn't know what to make of her grandmother's wink. Was she winking because Seth was consulting the master or had she winked because she wanted Kallie to consult the master? Perhaps her grandmother would expound on the wink next week when she and Kallie had their weekly confab, or perhaps her grandmother wouldn't mention it at all. Ultimately, Kallie decided she didn't care what the wink meant, if it meant anything. The few hours the three of them shared that afternoon was the best time she'd had as part of a trio since her mother's death.

  Seth held the door of the Mustang open, waiting patiently as Kallie and her grandmother said their goodbyes. “I'll call you when we get to Florence,” Kallie said. She kissed her grandmother on the cheek and then slid into the passenger seat of the Mustang. Seth closed the door, and then handed her grandmother a slip of paper on his way to the driver's side. “That's my home number,” he said. “You can call anytime.”

  Ten minutes later, as he steered the Mustang onto the ramp to get on the interstate, Seth, as if he'd been analyzing the playback of the afternoon, said, “That went well.”

  Kallie looked over at him and smiled. “It did, didn't it? I think my grandmother likes you.”

  “I like her,” Seth said. “Almost as much as I like her granddaughter.”

  “Do you think your parents will like me?”

  “They're gonna love you. I think it's in our family bylaws or something. We have to
love whatever person either of us drags to the house.”

  Kallie laughed and then settled back into her seat, gazing casually out the window. Trees adorned with the multi-colored leaves of fall swished rapidly in and out of her line of vision as the Mustang sped steadily down I-95. For the briefest of moments, she thought about her mother, a dimple of sadness creasing her happy thoughts. She wondered if her mother had ever been as happy as she felt right now. And she also wondered, though not for the first time, if her biological father had been her mother's one true love. It was sad if he had been, particularly since her parents' relationship had obviously ended badly. Her mother had never discussed the circumstances of her breakup with Kallie's father, but it was the rare relationship that ended on amicable terms. All Kallie's mother ever told her was that Kallie had been born out of an act of love and not the result of a one-night stand or fling. But if they'd truly loved each other, then why couldn't they've made the relationship work? For most lovers, a relationship not ending in forever-after bliss was one that ended badly.

  Of course, there was a possibility that Kallie's father hadn't been her mother's one true love. But that thought brought Kallie no comfort. In fact, it felt like a punch to the gut, because that would have meant that her mother had never experienced true love. Her mother had never spoken of any man other than Kallie's father and her mother had never dated anyone in Kallie's lifetime. As that realization struck, Kallie turned her head once more and looked at Seth.

  Sensing her eyes on him, Seth turned his gaze briefly from the road.

  “Do you believe in love at first sight?” she asked.

  He smiled and faced forward again. “Are you saying that you fell in love with me the first time you saw me?”

  “No silly. I'm not saying that. I just want to know your thoughts on the subject.”

  “My thoughts on the subject?” he repeated.

  “Yes, your thoughts.”

  “Yes, I do. Of course, I don't think it happens as often as some people may think. But yes, I do believe it's possible.”

  “Me too,” she said and smiled.