Undercurrents In Time
By
Pamela Schloesser Canepa
Undercurrents in Time,
a sequel to Detours in Time
Copyright, © 2018
All rights reserved.
This book or any parts thereof may not be reproduced in any form, stored in any retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means--electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or otherwise--without prior written permission from the author. Thank you for respecting the author’s rights.
Independently published.
Cover design by Jonas M. Steger of Steger Productions.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 - A memory, a scent, a dream
Chapter 2 - Duty calls
Chapter 3 - Among the Living
Chapter 4 - Conversational Landmines
Chapter 5 - A waking dream
Chapter 6 - Jailhouse blues
Chapter 7 - Sweet freedom
Chapter 8 - Backtracking
Chapter 9 - Don’t leave just yet
Chapter 10 - Memory lane
Chapter 11 - Memory trip
Chapter 12 - Recoup
Chapter 13 - A test
Chapter 14 - Escaping the Escape
Chapter 15 - Home
Chapter 16 - Facing the Music
Chapter 17 - Y2K
Chapter 18 - Coming up to the Light
Chapter 19 - Uncharacteristic
Chapter 20 - Cold Water
Chapter 21 - Daring
Chapter 22 - A Tall Stranger
Chapter 23 - Shine
“There is something at work in my soul, which I do not understand.” -Mary Shelley, Frankenstein
Chapter 1
A memory, a scent, a dream
Hasty footsteps hurried past the pond. Tabitha just needed to get out for some fresh air. It was a rare moment when the baby was sleeping soundly in her husband’s arms. Something caught her eye. She stopped, noticing the pond was as smooth as glass on this windless night. Reflected in the water was the sky above, full of stars and a half moon. A sigh escaped her lips. How beautiful! It wouldn’t be this clear during the day, for sure, as half of the pond seemed to always have an algae cover lately. Yet, none of that appeared from the vantage point from which Tabitha gazed. For a moment, she imagined diving into the cosmos, as if she could reach it underneath the water of the pond, as if it actually lived there or the water existed as a secret portal to planets and lands far away. Maybe standing at just the right angle, being present at just the right time on a windless night, created just the right atmosphere. Having seen as much as she had seen in her life, Tabitha came to believe that anything was possible. Could she reach a faraway planet in such a way? If only. Her imagination kicked in again. Would it be silent under there? Could it be the ultimate get away?
She shook her head as if to come back to reality. So beautiful, indeed. Briefly, the fable of Narcissus came to mind. How he was so struck with his own reflection in the water that he fell in, pulled to his own watery demise. She chuckled. This is why staying busy is good for me. No, I really shouldn’t tell Milt about this one. Better to simply tell him how beautiful the sky was. He knew she was tired and overwhelmed; motherhood was truly an adjustment. She turned to head back to their house, unable to see the heavenly reflection in the water anymore. So she gazed above, taking in all of its beauty. A weak smile of appreciation formed on her lips, then a sigh of defeat. I can’t stay out here too long; I really am tired.
After a brief walk home, she found the baby, Peter, awake in her husband Milt’s arms. He was quiet, but sucking on his hand. It was feeding time again.
“Did you enjoy your walk?” Milt asked, ever the supportive husband. He gently handed the baby over to her.
“Yes, thanks. The sky is so beautiful.”
“Well, then, I’m glad you went.” Milt didn’t mention her hasty departure after having received the silent treatment from her for getting home a little late. He had tried to explain, but she didn’t want to hear it.
“I am sorry I was late, honey,” he said. He didn’t mention the tests he was running, trying to figure out a weapon that didn’t yet exist. Milt sensed it was not a good time to talk about it.
“Don’t worry about it.” Tabitha took the baby dutifully. He really was a work of art. Then again, she couldn't help the feelings that crept up and told her this was not the child they were meant to have.
All of that went away as she lay him on her lap, burp cloth on one shoulder, and adjusted the opening in her shirt. He fed noiselessly, a closed-eyed look of contentment on his face. It didn’t always go as smoothly as this, but when it did, it felt like her Nirvana. In those moments, she was totally capable of giving her child the world, or at least health and nutrition. Not to mention the calming effects it had on her. Sometimes, he didn’t seem to get enough, and she’d get those feelings of inadequacy. Thankfully, this was not one of those times.
Once Peter was fed and his diaper changed, she collapsed into bed, horribly fatigued. This was the sum of her life lately. She’d likely be woke up again in about two hours. Still, she wouldn’t trade it for the world. Would she?
A fluttering of eyelids, the whirring of the fan. Hours had passed. A hazy awareness crept in. Tabitha heard some stirrings through the baby monitor. Vaguely, she noticed that she was bathed in sweat and locks of her long honey colored hair were sticking to her forehead. This was the deepest sleep she’d had in a good while. Any sleep she got lately was a welcome escape from the havoc of being a new parent. Her husband, Milt, lay next to her, motionless and undisturbed. He always slept like that. She hadn’t even heard him when he came to bed. She turned to her side, the monitor once again silent. The inside of her eyelids became a vast landscape of red dust and dirt with hills, rock formations, and canyons. She was back in the land of her dreams.
The wind was kicking up a dust storm a few miles ahead. Tabitha was not worried; the ship was just behind her. To think, she was just in her early thirties and had made it to the planet Mars! She looked around again and saw the rocky craigs, huge, as if just placed there by the hand of God or some benign giant playing with stones. There were many dips in the landscape. Tabitha closed her eyes and imagined them once full with water. There must have been be water here at one time. If only they could prove it!
“Come on, Tabitha. It’s time to cut the visit short!” Captain Bellose called out in the swirling wind.
“Aren’t we still within our safety limit?” She called back, not ready for this to end.
“This is it for now. But, remember, this is more than you’ve ever seen before, correct?”
He had a way of speaking to her as if she were a soldier. She always wanted to laugh at it, as if she were playing some role in a movie. Yet, it was a welcoming feeling. She felt so important to be a part of this mission. Bellose had trained her well, and she could only regard him with respect and appreciation.
“Yes,” she admitted.
“Didn’t you learn your lessons the first time around?”
She couldn’t respond. The first time around? This was her first time on Mars. Or did he mean something else entirely? It was as if some imaginary music abruptly stopped, the needle scratched across the record.
There was another man and a woman boarding the ship. What were their names? Why couldn’t she remember?
Tabitha turned back and moved toward the spacecraft, feeling clumsy with the gravitational difference, carrying the extra weight and ample material timidly, placing her feet carefully, wanting to look down at them but not always able to, what with the airlock helmet. It was an odd sensation, getting used to
this extra material and temporary shape that was totally foreign to her. It felt as if she had someone else’s body entirely. Well, it almost felt a little like being, what was that word? She continued toward the spacecraft, feeling awkward, yet light in spirit, for today she had achieved a long-time goal and obsession.
“Wahhhhhh! Wahhhh!” Was an alarm going off? She peered briefly at the inside of her eyelids, and the red, dusty planet disappeared. Ah, dreaming of Mars again. Back to reality. Peter was awake once more. That’s when it hit her.
“It felt like being pregnant!” She chuckled to herself. Oddly, in her dream, she didn’t seem to acknowledge ever being pregnant. True, it had been an utterly foreign experience in itself; her body was just now recovering after several weeks. Captain Bellose. Where’d I get that one from?
“Wahhhh!”
“I’m coming.” She gave her husband, Milt, the sleeping lump next to her in the bed, a glance. No doubt, equations and chemistry symbols must be dancing through his head. Couldn’t he wake up? Why weren’t his senses as keen as hers? It just didn’t seem fair. The red numbers on the alarm clock read 4:15 a.m. Her sketchpad sat next to it on the night table. Not much time to sketch anymore, she thought. The page was filled with rocky formations and a man in a spacesuit. That must have been her inspiration for Captain Bellose. She traced the outline of the captain and the rocky craigs with her finger, then turned away from the sketchpad, which had, for several months, lain in the bottom drawer of the nightstand. It was no surprise she would have such a great imagination; she was, after all, the wife of a scientist and time traveler, and she’d even accompanied him once or twice to the past and future. But even much more than the wife of such an interesting man, she was many things herself. Right now, mother and slave to a crying infant seemed to be the only thing that mattered.
The baby cried out again. She threw off the covers and stood up slowly, then, moving more swiftly, made her way to the baby’s room. Sometimes she just wanted to smash that baby monitor.
Didn’t some people claim it was good to let a baby cry it out? Healthy for the lungs, good for the character? Still, the noise was so earth-shattering, she felt obligated to try and calm him. She passed by her and Milt’s wedding picture as she flipped on a light switch so as not to stub her toes. She and Milt beamed with happiness in the photograph, adorned in Hawaiian leis, and she wore a short, beachy white wedding dress. It was a happy memory that she could not afford to indulge in right this moment. The baby’s cries grew louder. Time for Mom duty.
After all of the excitement of her last travels with Milt, they both had felt ready to settle down. They both acknowledged that what they felt for each other was far deeper than friendship; they just had to take that leap, that risk. There was a cruise to Alaska, which, she’d have to admit, was almost as exciting as their trip to 2047. Of course, no lives were at stake, no wars raged around them, and there were not any hybrid animals. But the beauty around them was inspiring. Getting married was wonderful. Returning to normalcy was their goal. No more time travel trips; the repercussions of time travel were too hard to gauge, impossible to know, and they had witnessed them firsthand. Milt was unsure of where he’d want to go with the Envo (the time travel vehicle) after all that had happened on their trip to 2047, anyway. So, Tabitha started her master’s classes, and he started experimenting with inventions that he would not be afraid to share and might even possibly make a living from marketing. Then came the pregnancy, a huge surprise, but only because she thought she’d already found out the course of their lives together, and this did NOT fit what they saw.
She picked Peter up and felt that his bottom seemed wet. Couldn’t they make diapers a little sturdier? Of course, she had opted for the cheaper, off brand diapers this time. Mental note, get brand name leak lock diapers next time. They seemed to withstand Peter’s night time movements much better.
A quick diaper change, and Peter was once more sucking his hand, a signal that it was feeding time. This little guy’s needs truly ruled Tabitha’s life right now.
She sat in the rocking chair to feed him, propping her feet up on the wooden nursing stool, an object that really made her back much more comfortable. Looking down at it, she thought, What if I dropped him on that? My goodness! That could cause him a head injury! Trying her best not to envision it happening, she shook her head as if to shake off the thought.
Those thoughts came and went periodically. Before discovering she was pregnant, Tabitha had been convinced she would not have a baby until years later, and that child would be a daughter, her one and only child. After all, through their time travels in Milt’s time leaping Envo, Tabitha and Milt had seen the future. They had found out things about themselves that perhaps they shouldn’t. She had to constantly convince herself, and Milt would chime in too, that they had not been foreseeing anything set in stone, but rather, were only foreseeing possibilities based on so many minute contingencies. Milt was very sure of this theory. He knew all about quantum physics, probabilities, and contingencies. She did not have a mind as scientific as his. But mankind reaching Mars had to come true. She lay her head back, trying to calm her thoughts, thinking of orchid fruit, a much-loved hybrid of one of the futures they’d visited. At least Peter was happy for now.
Tabitha jerked awake. How much time had passed? Unaware of dreaming, she sensed that she was somewhere else. In a nursery, sitting in a rocking chair. There’s a baby in my arms! Whose baby is this?
She gently rubbed the back of his head, with the soft, downy hair, looking at the wallpaper pattern with airplanes and automobiles. Baby Superstore, that’s where we got that wallpaper. She took in the scent of baby lotion on this tiny little being in her charge. Peter. His chubby hand rested on her arm, fingers opening and closing in his slumber. Yes, she loved him, but at times, she felt like something would happen to him. His existence was not seen when they visited the future. She had to fight those feelings.
I really should not let myself fall asleep holding him. All the things that could happen….She yawned, exhausted. Yeah, I must be really tired this time. Never yet had she fallen asleep holding him in the rocking chair. This was a new one for the books. Horrible Mom of the Year award goes to: Tabitha Braddock.
Stop it, she chided herself. You are doing your best. Man, I really hope he’ll sleep when I put him back in the crib. I'm a horrible mom AND exhausted.
She stood up gingerly and laid him in the crib. He stirred a little, but didn’t make a noise. Back to the bedroom she went. Just as she pulled back the covers, Peter’s crying began again.
Ugh! She had just reached the bed and hadn’t even lain down yet. Milt appeared to be in one of his deep sleeps. Too bad. He’d have to take his turn. Tabitha was going in to work in the art gallery for an hour or two and needed another hour or so of sleep. She shook his arm, then his back, and finally, turned the alarm on. Sure, he had been up late, working on another breakthrough and likely needed his sleep now, but how he could not be bothered by the noise from the monitor was beyond her. The beep-beep-beep of the alarm should do the trick, despite the panicky feeling it was giving her. No matter, if it got her some relief from constant duty. She shook her head. Man, how I’d love to get away.
Chapter 2
Duty Calls
“What? Did I miss Chem 101?” Milt sat up in bed, shaking his head.
“A college dream, huh?” Tabitha whacked him with the pillow with a playful laugh and a resentful heart.
“Hey, stop it! I’m not even awake yet.” He shielded his face with his hands, not quite ready for any shenanigans, and certainly not expecting them from his wife.
“Don’t you dare lie down again, Doctor Braddock. I need your help; I can’t do this alone,” she pleaded, her eyes huge.
“Do what?” He turned toward the monitor which emitted quite loud noises. A look of dawning realization came across his face. “Oh, the baby. What’s wrong with the baby?” He immediately felt like a heel for asking. It was
an infant, and therefore, acting like an infant. He sighed.
Tabitha got in to bed and eased herself under the covers. “I’m guessing what’s wrong is, he’s a baby! I’ve been up an hour and I need more sleep. He can’t still be hungry. Your turn. PLEASE!” She threw the covers over her head.
Milt half-smiled and thought better of sharing the joke. It seemed to him that she’d been a little grumpy the last few days. “What does he need? It’s not as if I could nurse him.” He immediately regretted the comment when it earned a hateful glare from Tabitha.
“I’m thinking you could just rock him for a while. I just fed him and changed his diaper. I made an extra bottle and it’s in the fridge if he needs it. I’m exhausted. PLEASE!”
“Okay.” He slowly got up and passed the messy living room. Eyeing the tabletop Christmas tree with opened presents still underneath it and the unopened computer box in the corner, he made his way to the nursery and the crying baby, deciding he would set it all up tomorrow. He really had meant to put that computer together by now. Having owned one in his office for years, he felt it was a necessity for them at home as well. Tabitha, on the other hand, wasn’t too excited that he chose this as his gift to her this year.
“What do I need that for?” She had been surprised by the gift, alright, just not in a good way.
“It’ll make all sorts of things easier for you, if you take classes as you had planned, when our son has to do homework, and you can even use it to keep in touch with friends. It won’t take long before you’ll be a pro at using this computer.”
“Our son won’t be doing homework for years.” She had made a face at the size of that box and all the wires inside. She’d also hinted at not having time to mess with such a thing. He assured her he’d set up several computers before and would figure it out with no problem. She had thanked him; after all, it was his Christmas gift to her, but he could tell she wasn’t too enthused with it.
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