Last Chance (9 page)

Connor approached April and Matthew. “You know, this is a lot to take in all at once.”

April responded, “I know it is, but we have to decide, as a family, whether we are going to help Walter and this cause or turn our backs on the truth. My vote is to help.”

“Can you give Connor and me a minute alone?” April agreed and went out the adjoining door.

Connor rubbed the top of his head with ever-increasing speed. “This is freakin’ crazy, man! Time travel and resistance movements; April’s like a spy or something, and we’ve been brought to the land of the lost down here.”

Matthew asked, “Do you believe April loves us?”

“Yes, I know she loves us.”

“Do you think she would ever ask us to do something that she wasn’t sure was the right thing to do?”

Connor paced around the room and replied, “I know what you’re trying to do, but I’m just not sure about this. I still think they’re keeping something from us.”

Matthew said, “Well, the only way that we can ever find out for sure is to go along with this and see what happens.”

Connor sauntered over to the rorimite tunnel and punched his hands into its empty void. “It would be cool to see what things were like a couple of hundred years ago.” He stopped punching and stared at Matthew. “You realize we’ll probably walk into this thing and just explode or something.”

Matthew joined his brother at the tunnel and with a smirk of his own said, “If I’m going to explode, I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone but my brother.”

Connor pushed Matthew away, laughed, and said, “Don’t get all mushy on me. I’ll still kick your butt all the way back to Sector 37.”

Matthew scanned the room one final time and asked, “So, are we going to do this or not?”

Connor grabbed Matthew around the neck and playfully rubbed his head. “Yeah, let’s do it.”

As Matthew and Connor entered the adjoining room, they saw April, Walter, and Johnson standing around a large circular table. Like in the room they had just left, there were various gadgets and junk sitting all around. April, confident in her boys, asked, “Well, what do you two think?”

Connor blurted out, “Let’s fire this time thing up and get going. I have a cute chick in 1984 waiting for me.”

April ran to the boys and gave them both a loving embrace. “I am so proud of you two.”

Matthew paused for a moment and gave April a surprise that she had waited for the majority of her adult life. It was a simple gesture but meant so much to her. Matthew simply told her, “We’re proud of you too, Mom.” Tears filled the eyes of the thirty-two-year-old mother of two as she realized the effect that she had had on the two young men standing before her. She wiped her eyes and heard Walter in the background.

“Let’s not get ahead of ourselves just yet, boy. We still have some preparations to make before you all head off to 1984.”

Connor asked, “What kind of prep work?”

Johnson grabbed some old magazines from one of the tables and passed them out. “We need to make sure you know what you’re heading into. These magazines are reprints from originals that came out around 1984.”

Walter emphasized, “Yes, please pay close attention to the words in the articles and how people are dressed. It is very important that you don’t stick out; you need to blend in with the people of the time.”

Johnson reiterated, “The 1980s were nothing like today, so you need to prepare yourselves.”

“When you get there, pay close attention to how everyone talks. You’ll be in the South and if you don’t sound a little like everyone else, they’ll think something is wrong with you.”

Walter took out a set of plans, a checklist of all the things that must be completed before April and the boys left. The first action was the most important. “Come over to the desk; I have something very important to give each of you.”

They saw three pendants lying side by side; each of them had a blue health charm inserted into it. Walter told them, “I have three copies of my own Hathmec pendant for you to take on your trip. Go ahead and put them around your neck.”

A warm rush overwhelmed each of their bodies and any aches or pains that had been present were gone. Connor noted, “I can see better.”

Matthew added, “My leg isn’t hurting anymore.”

April was shocked. “Nothing hurts anymore.”

Walter explained that they were now a part of the Hathmec legacy and no one, except Walter himself, could ever take the pendants away from them. He asked each of them to create a carrier stone in their left hands.

Each of them accomplished this task with no problem. Connor said, “It’s like I’ve always known how to do this.”

Walter explained that the Hathmec itself furnishes the knowledge that is needed to create the stones. “The moment you placed those on your neck, you were given the knowledge of the pendant and how to use it. Over time, you will master what can be done with it.”

As the boys continued to practice their newfound skills creating carrier stones, Walter looked over the checklist and inquired about the second action. “In order to get things set up properly for you in 1984, we need to figure out what you will all be called.”

Connor asked, “What do you mean? Why can’t I just be Connor?”

Walter understood the boy’s confusion and explained, “Everyone deserves a last name, not some random number, so I want you to tell me what your last name is going to be.”

April suggested, “We could go simple like White or Black, perhaps Smith.”

Connor wanted to go with something flashy. “How about Encarnacion or Thunderlion?”

April rolled her eyes and asked Matthew what he thought.

Matthew quietly contemplated his response and suggested. “Well, Walter said that we were his best chance for stopping the Supreme Leader, so how about we use that for a last name?”

Connor asked, “You wanna be called Matthew Supreme Leader?”

Matthew said with a chuckle, “No, I wanna be called Matthew Chance.”

Walter said, “I like it.” He shook all three members of the family’s hands and said, “I would like to introduce April Chance, Connor Chance, and Matthew Chance.”

Matthew looked to his mother and brother with a wide-eyed smile. “I’ve never had a last name before; this is pretty cool.”

Connor borrowed a pen from the desk and wrote his name out to see what it looked like. “It’s not too bad, but I still think Thunderlion would be better.”

April reviewed the signature and gave her seal of approval. “I think the Chance family will do just fine.”

Matthew sidled up to Walter and looked over the checklist. “What does ‘calibrate R tunnel’ mean?”

Walter hadn’t noticed Matthew standing beside him and was startled. “That is the most important task left to complete, my boy. I have to make sure that the tunnel is calibrated to the proper time and place to ensure that I don’t send you to the wrong place or accidentally land you in a pond or lake.”

Matthew asked, “How long will it take to get that done?”

Walter looked at his watch and replied, “I should have it ready in the next six to eight hours. I suggest you boys and your mother look over your magazines and get some rest before I send you on your way.”

April saw an envelope with her name on it lying on a nearby table and picked it up. She was stopped by Walter. April saw intensity in Walter’s eyes as he grabbed her hand. “Is something wrong? I thought this was for me.”

Walter released her hand, a smile returning to his face, and said, “No, this will be for you, but not until you get back to 1984. These are very detailed instructions and directions for you to follow while there.”

April asked, “Wouldn’t it be better for me to go ahead and review these, just to prepare?”

Walter replied, “No, I think it would be better for you to wait and look at these once you get there.” Walter leaned in close and whispered, “Another thing—don’t let the boys see anything in this packet.” April was surprised by the request, but told Walter that she understood.

Connor made an astute observation as he read through one of the magazines. “Why do we have to leave so quickly for this mission? I mean, we have a time machine here, so why the rush?” Walter, surprised that Connor developed such a question, responded with both a logical answer and an explanation of the R tunnel.

“You make a very good point, Connor, and I wish we had the time to prepare all of you better, but we don’t. When you saw the light coming from the warehouse window, I was actually doing two things.” He clarified that he was harvesting the energy that would be needed to run the time tunnel and he was also moving his base of operations from that building to their current location.

“You see, boys, our operation is constantly avoiding Sector 1’s sweeps and scans of the planet; we have to keep moving or they’ll discover what we’re up to.” He explained that the power grids for each sector could power the tunnel. He also explained that he could only harness enough of that power to keep the tunnel active for two weeks.

Matthew asked, “Are you saying that we only have two weeks to convince this girl that she should give us that charm?”

Walter responded, “Of course not.” The boys felt relieved until Walter finished his response. “You will probably only have about a week and a half by the time you get to her town, find her, and actually introduce yourselves to her.”

Connor threw his hands up in the air and started to berate Walter. “This is just great; we have a freakin’ time machine here, but we don’t have any time to get ready to go two hundred years in the past. Then when we get there, we have a whole two weeks to get the job done!”

“That’s right,” responded Walter.

Matthew interjected, “I just don’t understand. When we go back in time and then come back, won’t it be instantaneous to you here? We can just come back a couple of seconds after we leave.”

Johnson disagreed and asked Walter to explain “the whole time travel thing” to the boys. Walter walked over to the desk and drew a line on it. He explained that time travel is a bit different from what the boys may have seen in the movies.

“The tunnel must remain open the entire time that you are gone, and I must monitor it to make sure nothing comes through it that shouldn’t come through it. The entire two weeks that you are gone, two weeks will pass here as well.”

April asked, “So the tunnel only works in one direction; is that what you are saying?”

Walter responded, “In simple terms, you’re correct. One of the reasons I chose this location for this trip is based on its location. None of this was here in 1984.” Walter went on to explain that the current base of operation was part of a national park and the location would be well hidden when they arrived in the Atlanta area in the year 1984.

“I can only keep the tunnel open for two weeks. The power we’ll be pulling from the sector power supplies will lead G1 right to our door if we pull for any longer.”

Matthew asked, “What is G1?”

Johnson explained, “G1 stands for Government 1; that’s what we call sector leaders and Sector 1’s hit men who continually search for us. Our goal is to avoid anyone associated with G1.”

Walter told the boys and April to get some sleep and rest up for the trip. “Time travel is going to take a bit out of you, even with the health charm around your neck. It will keep you from completely passing out, but it will probably take a couple of hours to really get to feeling good again. You may even have some hallucinations, so don’t freak out if you see tiny pink elephants dancing around when you come to.”

Walter led them to a side room. “Rest up and I’ll come and get you when the tunnel is ready.” The boys and April entered the room with little talk and all three lay down on the bed in the corner of the otherwise empty room.

Matthew pondered a question as he was lying between his brother and mother that everyone seemed to have forgotten about. He still didn’t know who killed Brett back at the old warehouse. He began to bring it up to his mother and brother, but before he could, April said, “Let’s just get some sleep, boys.”

Connor replied, “I agree, let’s just get a little shut-eye.”

Matthew didn’t want to be the one to ruin the excitement of the moment and decided to keep quiet about the warehouse incident. For all he knew, Brett just had an accident. Maybe Keith Kellington had something to do with it. The worry drained from Matthew as he tried to close his eyes and get some sleep. The excitement of the pending trip was just too much to bear for the new Chance family, and they simply lay there in silence until a knock was heard at the door a few hours later.

Walter Wainright poked his head into the room and asked, “Are you ready to go?”

They had all daydreamed about what they were about to do. Each of them had their own ideas of what 1984 would be like. April worried about their mission and how the boys would handle themselves. Connor fantasized about Amanda Curry. He was her hero and she rewarded him with a kiss and the attribute charm. Matthew thought of nothing but the three men from Johnson’s team who had sacrificed themselves for him and his family. He wondered where that fire and passion came from.

April and the boys were given clothes that accurately matched the style of the time. The boys were both in stonewashed jeans and T-shirts, while April was put into a kind of cloth jumpsuit. The jumpsuit was pink with white sneakers to go with it. She refused to put on the matching headband.

Connor commented, “You know, this isn’t so bad; I kind of like the jeans.”

April replied, “I look ridiculous. Is this really what women wore back then?”

Walter said, “I’ve been around for a long time. You’ll just have to trust me.”

Walter and Johnson led the boys and April back into the R tunnel room. The Chance family could see that the tunnel was fired up, and it looked ready to go. Johnson pulled out three backpacks and gave one to each member of the family.

Connor asked, “What are these for?”

“These are important items that you’ll need for the trip. There are some gadgets that could come in handy in Matthew’s bag.”

Matthew asked, “What kind of gadgets?”

“Alien gadgets, my boy. Don’t worry about them right now; I’m sending instructions along so you know what they’re for.”