A Loop in Time (10 page)

John was surprised to see Lieutenant Granger pull up outside his house. He didn’t seem to have any boxes with him so John was a little disappointed. He opened the door before Granger could knock.

“The Colonel wants to see you,” Granger said without emotion.

“Oh, okay,” John replied. “Is there a decision on the black boxes then?”

“It’s probably not going to happen, but he still wants to talk to you. Maybe he can arrange something.”

“Okay, let’s go then.”

They both climbed in Granger’s car and headed to the base. The Colonel and Corporal were still in the office when John and Granger entered.

“You have your memory back, I take it, if you are wanting parts of the plane?” was the first thing out of the Colonel’s mouth.

“Yes, I do,” John said simply.

“Tell me what you were flying when you crashed.”

“It was a modified F117a, which means nothing to you, I realize. It was supposed to be a routine test flight of a new type of engine. The engine had been tested many times on a stand and it was deemed safe. They brought one of the planes out of moth balls and put the new engine in it. The engine went into an over speed condition shortly after takeoff. I tried to control it the best I could but I could not slow it down. I lost communication and the airframe started coming apart. I ejected while going way too fast. That is the cause of the concussion and amnesia.”

“Do you think that they will realize what happened and try to come back in the past to rescue you?” The Colonel asked.

“No, Sir. They don’t even know what happened to me. I am sure time travel is the last thing they suspect. They will think the plane disintegrated in midair and will do a search for what is left of it over a vast area. Of course, they will never find a single nut or bolt,” John explained.

The Colonel nodded. “It looks like you are stuck then.” He then took a deep breath; John would not like this next part. “Everyone in here and a few other people have stuck our necks way out to keep you and your plane secret. We have stymied the official inquiry into the crash and have hid the evidence from it. I can’t let you have the black boxes or anything else from the crash. I don’t want this coming to light anytime soon.”

John was visibly disappointed but he nodded he understood.

“However,” the Colonel added. “I don’t plan on being in the service still forty five years from now. What I will do is build a time capsule. We will bury it under thick concrete to be opened the day that you will need it in the future. What day is that going to be?”

“April 17, 2014.”

“Okay, we will have them open the box the day after that then. We will put a note to your commanding officer on top. It will confuse everyone involved.”

“That will be great, thank you.” John was smiling. He would be fine with that.

 On the way home, Granger stopped at a restaurant and bought dinner for both himself and John. While they were waiting for the food, he asked, “any hope of remembering who won the 1966 World Series?”

John laughed. “I only wish I could; that could benefit both of us financially. I don’t even know who is playing. I wish now that I had followed sports more.”

“I wish you had, too,” Granger replied.

The two men talked over the rest of dinner. Granger had few friends but in John he had found someone he could respect.  John had been in the military and seemed a genuine guy. He was willing to work hard; Granger had seen that at the hardware store. His uncle was impressed with him, too, and that went a long way in Granger’s book. After hitting a few nightspots, the Lieutenant dropped John off at his house.

John looked around his small apartment. It was depressing. He decided he would go to Idaho sooner rather than later. Fred had given John a signing bonus and it would be enough to live on for a couple of months until crop duster season started. With Susan married to Tim, he had no reason to stay. The hardware store was a dead end job so there was no real reason to keep doing it.

John fell asleep that night anticipating his new life.

It was the knocking on his door that awakened John. When he opened it, there was Susan standing there. John peered over her shoulder and saw Tim waiting for her in his large sedan.

“Hi, Tim is going to buy me a new car, so I thought that you would like my old Jeep. Are you interested?”

“I thought that the Jeep was part of the motor pool from the base?” John responded.

“No, I bought it as military surplus. It was the only thing that I could afford at the time.”

“Sure, I would love it. Thank you very much.”

As Susan smiled and handed him the keys she said, “her name is Betsy, treat her kindly.”

“I will treat her well. I promise.”

After hugging him Susan turned and headed back towards Tim’s car she said, “See you. I’m going car shopping.”

“Bye, and thanks again.”

John waited for them to leave before he walked down the stairs and checked out his new ride. ‘Treat her well, she says, an old Willey’s Jeep. This thing will be worth its weight in gold in a few years,’ he thought to himself. Then after he looked around the Jeep for a few minutes he added, ‘after a lot of rework, of course.’ He sat in the driver’s seat and started it up. He loved the fact that it ran like a top. ‘Time to get my driver’s license.’

He spent the rest of the morning working on that. The man who went on a test drive with him was impressed by his skill, especially when it came to parallel parking. He passed with flying colors and was able to use the documentation he had to waive the requirement for a birth certificate. He drove home a proud man.

He had everything planned out. In three weeks he was going to give notice to the hardware store, and in five weeks he would pack up his meager belongings and head up in to Idaho. Fred would have the house ready by then. He would stay there for a year, and then buy a place of his own. He was planning on crop dusting for five years. By then he would have enough money to last him, with his investments. He knew which companies to invest in and which ones not to. He would use his knowledge of the future to his advantage.

John spent the next few weeks just living day to day. It didn’t go well when he gave notice at the store.

“I would like to give my two weeks’ notice.”

Bill looked like he was in total shock. “I need you; you have to stay.”

“I have another job already. It’s in Idaho.”

 “How about if I offer you a ten cent an hour raise? $1.40 an hour. There is nobody else that I pay that kind of cash too.”

“Sorry, but the Idaho job starts at $10.00 an hour.”

Bill looked shocked, “Wow, I can’t match that. What will you be doing?”

“Crop dusting,” John was enjoying the conversation as much as Bill was hating it.

“That is dangerous. I wish you the best. If you ever decide you don’t want to do that anymore, you always have a job here. That $1.40 offer still stands.”

John smiled to himself. “I will keep that in mind,” he replied.

Bill was very friendly to him for the rest of the time, even giving him some extra hours to work and taking him out to lunch at the local burger joint. On his last day, John got Bill aside and asked, “What is going on? Why are you being so nice to me when I’m quitting?”

“It’s just a habit of mine. I figure that I have so many ex employees that are now good customers that it pays to be nice the last few days that they are here.”

John chuckled. “That’s a very good idea.”

“Thanks,” Bill replied.

A few hours later they were shaking hands as John walked out of the hardware store for the last time. When John got home, after eating dinner, he headed straight to bed because he had a long drive ahead of him.

After a good night’s sleep, John woke up way early to get a good start on the day. The Jeep had no roof so he wanted to get through a lot of Arizona before it got too hot. He grabbed the bag with his clothes in it and headed down stairs. He was shocked to see Susan at the end of the driveway.

“What are you doing here?” John asked.

“I have something to tell you, and I don’t know where to start.” She hesitated for just a moment but then went right in to an awkward explanation. “Tim is a great man, but, well, he was injured in a way that the male part of him doesn’t work. I mean it does work, but it doesn’t. Do you know what I mean?” She was bright red by this point.

“I am really not following you, but I don’t think I want you to explain it in more detail.”

“What I’m trying to say is, Tim can’t have kids.”

John swallowed hard. “I’m right, I really don’t want you to go in more detail.”

She took a deep breath and then blurted out, “I’m pregnant.” 

“I see,” John said, even though what she was trying to say didn’t register, but then he got wide eyed when it did. “I see,” he said again. “So you’re saying that I’m going to be my own grandfather.”

“Yes, that is what I’m trying to say.”

John sat down on the grass and let out a huge sigh. ‘I may have just destroyed the timeline. I couldn’t have done more irreparable damage if I tried,’ he thought.

Susan just looked at him and said, “Aren’t you even going to congratulate us? This isn’t a time to be depressed; it is a time to be happy. Why are you sad anyway? It’s me that’s going to blow up like a balloon.”

“Yes, yes, of course. I’m sorry, congratulations.” He stood up and then hugged her.

“What is done is done and I for one am not going to undo it. Maybe the past is the future. Maybe you came in the past before and this is just the replay of what’s already come and gone. Do we really understand time?” she asked.

“No, we don’t. You are right. It could have all happened before. You have given me a lot to think about as I go.”

“So you still mean to go, even after my news?”

“You guys don’t need me. I am just a third gear on a two gear bike.”

“I want you to be a part of the child’s life; you are the father after all.” Susan had a determined look on her face.

“All I have here is a dead end job that I just quit and a small room with a cook stove above a garage. What I have in Idaho is a future and a house waiting for me. I feel like I have to go. I will come back and visit, I promise. I do want to be a part of the child’s life.”

She still wasn’t thrilled with the answer but she hugged him anyway. “Take care of yourself.”

“Bye for now,” he said as he climbed into the Jeep and drove off, leaving her in the drive way. When he looked in the rear view mirror, he could still see her watching him. It was the right thing to do, he kept telling himself, but it felt so wrong.

Susan was sad and disappointed. She had hoped things would have gone differently. After wiping up her tears she headed for home.

It had been a long trip for John. The open Jeep was hot driving through Arizona, but he hit rain in northern Utah, and rain mixed with snow in Idaho. He only stopped for gas and food but still it was ten o’clock at night before he drove into the driveway of his new life.

It wasn’t much to speak of, just a small two bedroom house. It was painted white on the outside and had a rust colored composite roof. Fred was there to meet him in a large Ford truck.

“I thought you would never get here, When you called I thought you were on your way,” was the first thing out of Fred’s mouth.

“I ran into some weather,” John responded.

“Well, here is your temporary home, let me help you get unpacked.”

When John pulled out a sack of clothes from the back seat he replied, “Its okay, I got it.”

“You travel light. I don’t have dishes or pots and pans in the house but other than that it’s fully furnished. You are not going to have anything to eat off of, though.”

John just smiled. “I had some food just an hour ago. I will go shopping tomorrow and get what I need. It’s not a problem.”

“You are going to need to wash those clothes. They got all wet. There is an old washer and dryer in the house. Here are the keys. I will leave you to your unpacking. I have got to get to bed.”

“Thanks for everything, Fred, I really appreciate it.”

Fred let out a brief laugh. “I have a full schedule for you, but I will let you get settled in for a day. It’s too cold up here to do anything, but I have several fields in Utah and Colorado to do. When you get those done, it will be time to move north. Don’t expect a day off until mid summer. We always take Independence Day off, but then you will be hard at it through the fall.”

“I look forward to it,” John said politely.

“Liar,” Fred barked back.

John couldn’t contradict him; it did sound like a lot of work. Fred just walked off and got in his truck. “You’ll love having winters off,” he shouted out the window. “Most of the other pilots spend it in Hawaii or Mexico. It’s too cold up here for them.” He waved goodbye as he rolled it up.

John waved back. He then headed into the house. It had deep red shag carpeting in the living room as he entered the door. It looked well worn. He then walked into the kitchen. The sink was old and rust stained and the cupboards were nothing fancy, painted white.

Each bedroom had just one bed. One was a single and the other one was a queen. Both beds were basic and there was no bedding on either one of them. There was just one bathroom at the end of the hall and it had an old claw foot bathtub with a sink that was supported by two rusty metal rods. There was no place to put towels or anything else. On the other side of the room, across from the sink, were the washer and dryer.

“Home sweet home,” John said out loud. Even though he knew it was a lot better than living over the garage. Fred had turned on the furnace but it had not warmed up the house completely. John lay down on the bare mattress in the larger room, fully dressed, and went to sleep. It had been a long way to go.

When John got up, he headed to the nearest town where he bought insulated coveralls for flying in, bedding, some more clothes, dishes and pots. His Jeep was completely stuffed full; even the front passenger seat was packed full for the ride home.

After unpacking he set about making up the house. Then he headed back out and after stopping to eat, he went and bought groceries. With his house now fully stocked, he went back out and bought a television.

When he turned it on he could not get any channels, so he headed back to town a fourth time to go back to the store where he bought the television.

“I’m surprised to see you again so soon,” said the clerk.

“The television doesn’t work.”

The clerk looked puzzled, “does it turn on?”

“Yes, but it doesn’t get any channels.”

“What type of antennae did you hook it up to, roof mounted or rabbit ears?”

John just looked stunned. He understood every word but did not know what rabbit ears had to do with a television.

“Ah, you don’t have an antennae do you?” The clerk surmised.

“No, I don’t,” John admitted.

“Follow me. I will show you what you need.”

John was out of his element so he followed. He didn’t want to ask about cable because it might not have been invented yet.

“Here are all the things you need, a roof mount, antenna, rotator and the cables.”

“Rotator?” John asked.

“Of course. You need one of those because some of the channels are in Boise and other ones come out of Utah. You will need to point the antenna at the stations for the best reception.”

John shook his head. It looked like a lot of work even after it was all set up. “Is there nothing else I can do?”

“You can go with that new fangled cable company, but it’s going to cost you a lot every month.”

John’s face lit up. “They have cable now? Great, I’ll do that. Thank you, bye.” John left the store and drove home. He used the phone book to call the cable company and set up an appointment.

When John reported to work the next day at the airport, Fred was there to greet them. He handed out assignments and maps to his other five pilots and then took John on training runs the rest of the day. He would have to pass off his license, but Fred had all sorts of connections and John would have it before the end of the week.

He spent the next six months working almost every day. There were a few days off here and there when there was a gap between jobs, but time off was rare and precious. Just as suddenly as it started, the work ended.

When the pilots showed up to work that day, Fred told them he would see them next spring. He gave the pilots their final pay check and a hefty bonus check and sent them on the way. John made his way to the local car dealer to buy a ‘67 Mustang. He knew the car would go way up in value. Besides, the open Jeep just wasn’t going to do it for the winter.

The next day he went out and bought a nice house. With his earnings and his investments he was able to pay half down on it. It was a ranch with a peaked roof. It was nothing fancy, just a small three bedroom house with a living room, kitchen and two baths. He went over to his old place to move the stuff out when he got a frantic phone call.

“Hello,” he said calmly.

“I’m past due and I’m old swollen up like a blimp from this Arizona heat. When is this child going to get here?”

“Hi, Susan,” John replied.

“You know when this baby is going to come; everyone knows their father’s birthday. You have to tell me so I can plan.” She was nearly screaming.

“I can’t tell you. That’s not how the game is played.” He didn’t know how the game was played; he was just making it up as he went along.

“You have to tell me! How much longer!” She was screaming now.

“Okay, you have three more days, but you didn’t hear that from me.”

“Three more days, aaahhh.”

John had thought it would make her happier to know, but it had the opposite effect so he tried to distract her. “I have a new phone number. I need you to jot it down. I am moving across town.”

“Three more days!”

“Get some paper and a pencil and I will give it to you.”

“Okay, okay.” He could hear her breathing deeply and wondered how miserable she was. “Go ahead.”

He gave her the number, told her to go and take a cold bath and wished her luck. After he hung up he packed his stuff and drove it all over to the new house. He parked the Jeep in the garage for the winter. He would use some of his time off to restore it. He then climbed into the Mustang for a long drive. He had some unfinished business in Arizona.