Fate (Wilton's Gold #3) (20 page)

Carr stood. “That’s exactly why I’m here,” he said, walking toward him. Jeff looked around for Lowenstein, who had disappeared. He immediately wondered if he was going to have to use his new technique right away. But Carr stopped a foot from him, hovering over him like the stereotypical drill sergeant from the cartoons. “Don’t get cute,” he said. “Everything about your arrival this week is mysterious, and the USTP does not like mystery. Neither does the U.S. military or the White House. You get me?”

“I get that you’re trying to scare me,” Jeff said, surprised at his own fortitude in the face of such a powerful figure. “What I don’t get is why. I’ve been nothing but upfront with you. Hell, I even volunteered for a psych exam. What do you have to be afraid of?”

“Son, you know how this technology works. Don’t test us.”

“I have no intention to, sir,” he said, though wondering if the general was actually saying what he thought he was saying. He took “how this technology works” to mean that Carr was in on whatever Bremner was doing, as Fisher had asserted. Which meant that he’d been discussed as a threat.

He didn’t have much time.

Jeff looked past Carr at the clock, which now read 3:30 p.m. “I’m supposed to move onto the next phase, but Captain Lowenstein left,” he said. “I’m not sure where to go.”

At this, Carr relaxed his body and took a step back. “Go shower and change,” he said. “I’ll take you to Dr. Schmidt when you’re done.”

Jeff realized that he’d relaxed his own muscles, which had been tightened during the altercation, for what it was. “General, sir,” he said, “I don’t know what happened between you and the other Jeff, but there’s really no reason why you and I can’t get along.”

“Just go take your shower,” he said.

He nodded, continuing his charade of being frustrated that Carr didn’t want to be his friend, and moped to the shower. After he’d showered and changed back into his original clothes, Carr walked him through a set of security doors where Dr. Arlen Schmidt and Dexter were waiting for him. He gave Carr an over-enunciated goodbye as they parted, in hopes that it was the last time he’d ever have to deal with him.

Dexter arrived back at the USTP just in time to meet up with Jeff again, having accomplished both items on his to-do list. Not having time to stash the things he’d collected anywhere, he felt the weight of the battery in his left pocket and a roll of 1930s silver certificate $20 bills in his right. He felt an inkling of guilt, but had already talked himself into believing it was actually just a fear of being caught. In his heart and mind, he was doing the right thing.

When he arrived, he realized that Dr. Bremner had decided not to be present for Jeff’s introduction to the time devices. It was odd, but not unexpected. He took it to mean that the chief didn’t want to appear to have any concerns about Jeff, but he was surely tuned into the training somehow, from somewhere.

Instead, he’d sent Dr. Schmidt, with whom Dexter had always gotten along very well. In truth, for his own benefit, Schmidt would likely be spending a great deal of time with Jeff, as he’d been the one to take on leadership of the research component of the program when he’d left. Although, “leading” the research team hadn’t amounted to much beyond making some practical and aesthetic changes to the time device, integrating the new composite casing and upgrading the touch screen. Schmidt was a brilliant astrophysicist, but he didn’t have the benefit of Jeff’s foundation in time travel research. He couldn’t build off of his own knowledge, while Jeff had been continually doing so.

There were extensive security measures surrounding access to the time travel devices, which were stored in a recessed area of the USTP one floor beneath the surface. Admittance required double key locks, biometric entry requirements, and passcodes that changed every 20 minutes. Meaning that, at any given time, it was possible that no one had access. For someone to enter the secure room, the codes had to be pulled from the system, given to the person with authorized entry, and the whole process completed within 20 minutes – or else the codes would reset again. Two codes needed to be entered to gain access, and two people were needed.

In reality, the only time anyone entered the room was when there was a mission. As part of the purchase price, the participant was able to see the secure room under heavy surveillance. It was very cool. Training on the device would happen right in the room, and typically it was Dexter and another rep from the USTP that would administer it. It usually took about ten minutes, and was the last item in the preparation process before the person would be ready for his or her mission.

The hallway leading to the high-security area was non-descript, with white walls and burgundy carpeting. They’d taken elevators from the atrium to the server level, then a special set of secure elevators back up to the right floor. It was the only access to the devices, and only a very select group of USTP employees had the appropriate rights.

As they approached a seemingly impenetrable heavy metal door, the details of the security system came into view. On each side of the hallway was a portal containing a hardcover book-sized screen and a key pad. Dexter and Schmidt went to each side of the hallway and placed their hands on the respective screens. The computer scanned their hands and accepted, sending them to the next step – the codes. Each of them took out their smart phones and copied onto the keypad the code that had been given to them 14 minutes before.

“Ready?” Dexter called over his shoulder.

“Yep.”

They hit enter simultaneously and two previously unseen panels on each side of the doors slid open bottom-to-top.

“So, it takes two of you doing everything simultaneously to get into the room?” Jeff asked.

“Yes,” Dexter said. “The security measures are intended to make sure that no one person could control the devices without anyone else knowing about it.”

“Interesting,” Jeff said. Dexter looked back at him. What was on his mind?

Now, he stepped to the panel with Schmidt to his left, pulled a digital key from his pocket, and inserted it into the slot in the panel. He glanced at Schmidt, then said, “On three, two, one...” They both turned their keys and the metal door slid open to the left, disappearing into the jamb.

“Here we are,” Dexter said, stepping into the room. Jeff and Schmidt followed him. Once they were in, the door slid closed behind them.

Jeff turned as the door locked. “Wow, I do have to say I’m comforted by the level of security,” he said. Dexter noticed him look to the ceiling, which was, of course, covered with cameras. “How do we get out?”

“Biometrics,” Schmidt said, motioning to similar panels on either side of the door.

“Good to know,” Jeff said. He stretched his arm out in circles, wincing as his muscles unwound, presumably from his session with Captain Lowenstein. “You go through this training I just had?” Jeff asked, to which Schmidt shook his head. “No? I’d recommend it.” Dexter smiled to himself, thinking Lowenstein must have really worked him out. He thought it was good for Jeff. Toughen him up a little.

While it was cool for the participants to see the room, there really wasn’t much to it at all. It was circular, with an eight-foot table in the center. It was lit from a lamp hanging overhead. Beyond the table was a credenza-like fixture, which held twelve cream-colored devices resembling old household cordless phone charging stations. Eleven of them were filled.”

“There’s one missing?” Jeff asked.

Dexter turned and looked at Schmidt, who shrugged. “Maybe it’s out for repair or testing.”

“Is there any significance to having twelve devices?” Jeff asked.

“You know what?” Dexter said. “I’m not sure. I know the reason for having multiple devices is that, in the instance something goes wrong, there’s the capacity for rescue. Why twelve, I don’t know. Arlen?”

Schmidt shook his head and laughed. “I think it was you who said there should be twelve. So you’d know better than any of us.”

“Great,” Jeff said, walking around the table to the devices. “May I?”

“That’s what we’re here for,” Dexter said.

He watched as Jeff picked up one of the devices and inspected it. He held it close to his face and took it in from all angles. “Fascinating,” he said, then looked up at Dexter. “I can’t believe how far it’s come. Mine was a metal stick with some buttons on it. I’m assuming the technology is pretty much the same?”

Dexter followed him around the table. “It is, except there’s no more need to enter coordinates. All you need to do is enter the destination and the chip in the device figures out the coordinates.”

“So you’ve incorporated Abby’s software into a chip? That’s outstanding,” Jeff said. “That would’ve saved me some hassle in Russia. Might not’ve ended up here.” He laughed, so Dexter laughed along with him. “Okay, what happens with the training? We get to program the device?”

“Well, not exactly,” he said. “But I’ll show you how the destination input works. The important thing is that the participant knows how to use it so that if anything happens to me, or whatever USTP rep is with you on the mission, you know how to get back. Or escape, in the case of an emergency.”

Jeff nodded. “Fair enough. Alright, let’s see,” he said. “So I just enter my date and time here – say, the day I was born...”

“... you would then hit the enter button and the device would be set.”

“Seems pretty basic. I would think it would be more extravagantly detailed.”

Dexter shook his head, feeling like Jeff was acting a little elementary. Perhaps he was doing it for Arlen’s benefit. “No, it has to be easy. Just in case. Don’t want anyone making haphazard trips even in an emergency.”

“What about the future?”

“The future? You mean, can the device send someone to the future? Arlen?” Dexter looked to Schmidt, but Jeff spoke up again before he could answer.

“Well, it’s a question – I know you can do it, otherwise people wouldn’t be able to get back to where they started from,” Jeff said. “I mean, have you tried it?”

Schmidt was still standing by the door, which remained open. “Well, no,” he said. “We’ve only focused on specific destinations in the past.” He set his hands on the table and leaned forward. “Is there a reason you think we should be exploring the future?”

Dexter thought the question had an edge to it, especially with Schmidt’s body language in delivering it. Though he didn’t think Jeff’s question was out-of-line. He considered Schmidt’s perspective, having to “train” the expert he’d succeeded. Probably wasn’t easy.

Jeff shrugged. “Not at all. I’m just trying to get a handle on everything. Actually, it’s just the opposite. I’m relieved that you’re
not
using it to explore the future. Though, while it’s horribly dangerous, it’s always been a possible branch of time travel science.” Schmidt relaxed his pose.

Dexter, feeling as though they were in the midst of an undiscussed ruse, was trying to keep up with him – almost as an improv comic would, being paired up with an especially gifted humorist. He reached to the table and picked up a device for himself. He flipped it over and showed it to Jeff, changing the topic. “Here’s where the battery pack goes,” he said, pulling it out and then replacing it. “As I mentioned, we no longer allow four trips per battery pack. Each battery contains just two.”

Jeff nodded. “Yes, you mentioned that. Now, how does this device correlate with the coordinates that Abby’s program used?” he asked. “I know the process is a little different, but if I went in Abby’s old program and created coordinates, would they translate to this new chip?”

Dexter looked at Schmidt again. These were really questions for him.

“They should, yes,” Schmidt said. “The algorithms are the same.”

“Is there a way I can see?”

“You’d probably have to connect to a different operating system,” he said. “You won’t get the LCD screen to give you the actual coordinates. It doesn’t think that way.”

“Might be something to think about,” he said. “Maybe something for me to look into...” Before either of them could ask why, Jeff shook his head, smiling. “Man, I’d really love to see how this tackles the future. Set aside the fact that all return trips have to be ‘to the future,’ but up until now we’ve been confined to traveling – either forward or backward – to a destination that already has an existing history. Going into the future where history is not yet written would change everything we know about… everything. Don’t you think? It blows your mind.”

“I realize you’re actually in the future yourself, Dr. Jacobs,” said Schmidt, smiling. “I know exactly what you’re getting at.”

Jeff turned to him. “Let me ask you something, Arlen? Have you time traveled yourself?”

“No, I haven’t.”

Jeff laughed. “No? You have to. How can you possibly understand the nature of multiple realities if you haven’t experienced it first-hand?”

Schmidt smiled, a bit deviously for the conversation, while walking slowly around the table toward them. “I could argue that when you’re back in the past traveling forward, you’re actually arriving in a destination where history hasn’t been written.”

“Yes, but in your mind it has – if you’re the traveler. That’s what I’m talking about. You have to see it for yourself. If I go back to 1900 and then come back here, unless I really screw things up, I can pretty much tell you what’s going on. But if I go ten years, a year, even a few hours,” he emphasized his point by typing the destination on his keypad. “...into the future, I have no idea what I’ll be stepping into. Imagine what kind of utopia we could create if we had advance notice of what was coming? Doesn’t that intrigue you?”

Schmidt nodded admittedly. “Well, yes, it would have to.”

Dexter was caught up in the philosophical debate between two brilliant scientific minds, until he saw out of the corner of his eye Jeff lower the device to his side, his fingers creeping across the keys. With his other hand, he was pointing at Schmidt, smiling. “You know it does. If it doesn’t, you’re not doing it right. If you’re anything like me, the possibilities of time travel keep you awake at night, now that it’s real. But we have to control it. If we can make sure it’s only used for research.”

“Impossible.”

“I agree.”

All of a sudden, Jeff raised his hand with the time device in it. Schmidt, obviously sensing something was up, yelled and lunged forward, trying to grab it from him. Instead, he hit Jeff in the chest with his shoulder and the two of them went toppling to the ground. Dexter started to react, but wasn’t sure what Jeff wanted him to do, so he reached down to pull Schmidt off of him as they wrestled.

With Dexter holding Schmidt by the back of his now untucked shirt, Jeff pushed him off with his feet. A second later, Dexter felt Schmidt’s elbow in his solar plexus and he stumbled backwards, unable to catch his breath. He watched as Schmidt took another run at Jeff, who’d scrambled to his feet and was now waiting for him. In one smooth stroke, Jeff lashed out with his hand and caught Schmidt in the neck under his jaw. He went down quickly while Jeff stood over him, waiting for another advance.

It didn’t come. Schmidt lay motionless on the floor. Jeff stood up, breathing heavily and motioning to the ceiling. “Come on,” he said. “They will have seen that.”

Dexter gasped, partly at his friend’s completely unforeseen audacity, partly because he couldn’t catch his breath from Schmidt’s elbow.

“Are you okay?”