Ascent (15 page)

Matt shakes his head. “What are you trying to get at?”

“Don’t you get it? They’re already here. I bet Dr. Thompson is one of them. It’s probably where the technology came from: it came from the future.”

Shannon joins the group. “You’re saying Dr. Thompson came from the future?” Her nose is burned from the day out in the sun. We all look like it’s time to go home.

“I’m not saying it,” Rick looks around nervously. “But it’s possible. You know what I’m saying?”

“Yeah, I guess anything is possible. So, tomorrow’s your big day. Are you nervous?” Shannon gives Rick a curious look.

“Nervous? No! It’s meant to be, you know that, right? It’s already happened. There’s nothing to be scared about!”

“I don’t know,” Shannon muses. She picks up a rock and throws it into the water. “I’m terrified. I don’t want to go but I signed the agreement. All I can think about is what happened to Norris Chen.”

“It doesn’t matter what happened to Norris though,” Rick continues. “He did something wrong. He didn’t obey the laws of nature. As long as you’ll be able to find a vortex, you’ll have nothing to worry about.”

Shannon laughs. “How do you know that though? No one has ever successfully time traveled. If you go and come back, you’ll be the first! You have no way to know if it will work. It’s all part of an experiment with real human beings.”

“I know it’s going to work, I’m sure of it.” Rick tosses a rock out into the lake. It skips along the surface before disappearing into the water.

***

Silence encompasses the group. Out on the lake I spot Marcus and Casey bringing the jet skis back in. I get up and move away from my classmates. I need some time to think. Life has been a whirlwind since I came to IYD. We’re sitting close to a hill and since the sun will set soon I want to catch the sky turn colors.

My sandals weren’t meant for hiking up mountains. My LA flip-flops twist and turn and I step on some very sharp rocks on my way up. I find a smooth boulder to sit on, and turn towards the sun, watching it inch to the horizon, running across the sky as it leaves a pink hue, making its way west, towards LA and away for the night.

“Hey, what’s going on?”

I turn around and see Matt, shirtless, his face and the tops of his shoulders sunburned, his normally styled hair curly and loose and highlighted with sun-kissed blonde streaks, plaid board shorts touching his knees.

“Nothing, I just needed some time to think. The whole idea of traveling back in time is freaking me out. And look,” I point across the valley, “I can’t miss the perfect sunset. It’s a beautiful evening.”

He looks over towards the west, where the last bit of sun reflects off the hard desert ground. As the sun drifts below the horizon, the sky turns pink, then gently moves to purple.

“Good call,” he says after the last bit of light goes down past the hills. He sits down next to me on the rocks. “There’s nothing to freak out about. The Slider will either work or it won’t, but if you’re able to leave, you’ll be able to come back.”

“You’re just saying that to make me feel better.”

“No, I’d never make something up to make you feel better.”

He reaches over, puts his arm around my shoulder and gives me a tight squeeze. His hand is warm and I’m so close is him I can hear his heart beat. Butterflies jump out of my stomach into my throat.

“Aren’t you nervous?”

“No, not at all. I wouldn’t have come if I thought it wasn’t safe.”

“We can’t back out now, can we?”

He shakes his head. “No, and do you want to back out? There’s a reason you came, isn’t there?”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

The sky’s frail light dies and the sky goes dark. The voices from our classmates float across the air. Stars pin point the sky. Matt pulls me closer and I inhale. His arms envelop me. It’s like he’s the one person who can understand me. Understand my motivations for being at IYD.

I let myself sink into his embrace.

He leans down and kisses my forehead. He rests his mouth against my cheek. My face grows hot.

“Whatever happens, Farrah, you don’t have anything to worry about. Nothing’s going to happen to you. Just remember, whatever happens to me doesn’t mean the same thing will happen to you. Go back and do what you have to do.”

I take a deep breath and Matt’s embrace squeezes me tighter.

In the distance Liam pulls the van up to where everyone is gathered.

It’s time to go.

Matt stands up and the moment is over. The butterflies drift back to my stomach. The burning I feel in my chest fades away.

We pack up and leave. The bus is quiet on the way back and as we round the corner into Henderson I can see the Strip off in the distance. The light beam from the Luxor pierces the sky and I wonder about the gamblers vacationing in the casinos, placing their bets, praying to make it big, hoping their dreams will come true. They’re totally oblivious to what’s going on in Winn Hotel.

It’s the one thing that’s still alive in Las Vegas.

Dreams.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Matt

Rick’s up first.

I can’t believe the staff at IYD isn’t onto him. The kid is bat-shit crazy. He believes in space ships and Bigfoot and little green men who go bump in the night. Maybe he’s on to something and we’re all just testing subjects for the Party. Either way, he’s going first, and that’s good. I don’t want to be up first. If it were me and I didn’t return, they wouldn’t let anyone else go. They’d shut down the whole time travel program and ruin it for everyone.

I don’t want to destroy Farrah’s chance to see her mother. So I’ll just let Rick go. We need to know if it’s going to work anyway.

And maybe that’s the reason they’re letting Rick go first. Because they know he’s crazy enough to actually do it. How many people do you know who would go into a vortex and travel back in time without knowing 100% sure they’ll return? Maybe he didn’t pass the mental health assessment and he really
is
a human guinea pig.

Maybe he was right all along and it’s just one big conspiracy.

For a guy who’s been practically pissing himself to go first, I think the reality has caught up to him. We’re all waiting in the lobby of the hotel for the ride out to the location while Rick paces back and forth up and down the hall. There’s a hint of green to his cheeks. He walks a couple of steps, places his hand on his forehead and shakes his head, and then he turns around and walks the other direction.

“I don’t know about this,” Rick says as he walks up to me, breaking his pacing spell. “I mean, what if they have the equations wrong and something happens? What if all the molecules in my body are torn apart in the vortex? What if I’m not able to find a vortex on the other side and can’t return? There’re too many variables. This is all wrong. I’m not some guinea pig to experiment on. I don’t think I can go.”

He walks away and starts pacing again. He bends forward and looks like he wants to throw up. I’m worried he’ll have a heart attack and the whole thing will be called off.

The front door opens and Liam walks in.

Rick starts walking towards the exit and stops. When I catch him, he turns and the look on his face is crazed, like he’s already living in another dimension.

“I can’t do this, I can’t go.”

I look over my shoulder. Everyone is ready to leave and we’re the last holdouts. Liam makes a move in our direction. Liam’s a nice enough guy, but his job isn’t to be ‘nice’. His job is to make sure things flow smoothly at IYD.

“You have to go; we signed an agreement. You know the rules.”

“But what if something happens? You don’t know what these guys are capable of. You don’t read the same things I do. These guys don’t care about us. They care about the Slider. They care about being in power. They don’t care who gets them there. They want us to be perfect like little robots. Robot Party members, that’s what they’re really looking for. There’s nothing good natured in what’s about to happen.”

Rick is all out of sorts. He just needs to snap back into things. He’s been looking forward to his turn to travel since we arrived at the school. He only needs to be reminded of this fact.

“You wanted to be the first, right?”

He pauses as if he’d forgotten why he’s here and is only just remembering. “Yeah.”

“Then you have to go. That’s all there is to it.” I start walking towards the door. “And don’t worry, you’ll be back before you even know you’re gone.”

I start towards the door and Rick follows behind.

Humanity is about to see its first time traveler.

***

Dr. Thompson is waiting for us on the bus. On the first seat is the usual stack of goggles to block out the location we’re heading to. Next to the blindfolds is a metal box with a lock.

“Good morning,” Dr. Thompson says as we board the bus. Rick is dragging far behind. He’s moving so slow the bus may need to pick him up.

Dr. Thompson hands each of us our blindfolds as we pass. When we’re all seated, he stands up to discuss the trip out to the field. “Everyone should have goggles, right? Good. Put them on and don’t take them off until I tell you it’s okay. We’re going out to a location with a lot of psychic energy, and we want to keep the location a secret.”

I place the goggles over my eyes, blocking out the day. I can hear Rick’s heavy breathing in the seat behind me. It’s labored, like a dog panting on a hot summer day.

Over the sound of the panting I hear the bus engine start. The bus moves forward and I hear the sound of the gate opening. We’re on our way.

***

I’m not sure how long we travel. I try to count the minutes in my head but I lose track. The road is bumpy and the bus keeps bouncing. No one speaks. There’s nothing left to say. I wonder the true reason fifteen people who hadn’t graduated from high school had agreed to join a political party that’s using them as human guinea pigs.

I feel the motion of the bus slow. The brakes screech and we stop.

“Okay, we’re here. Go ahead and take off your blindfolds. It’s time to get off.”

The bright light shocks my eyes. I look out the window and we’re in the middle of the desert. From behind me I hear Rick muttering something about aliens and government officials.

“They’re using us, that’s all this is, a conspiracy,” he murmurs to himself. “It’s an experiment. Run while you can. Run!” Once he’s off the bus, he starts to pace. He walks right up and whispers in my ear. The words sound like, “Run while you can.” Sweat drips from his forehead. He’s a man on the edge.

I hope he doesn’t ruin it for everyone.

Dr. Thompson realizes if he doesn’t send Rick soon, then he’ll have a problem. He turns the lock on the metal case he’s brought out to the field. He reaches in and pulls out a device wrapped in plastic, ready for its first use. It’s the Slider, the instrument we studied in class. He unwraps the Slider and hands it to Rick. For a minute I think Rick might drop it, his hand is shaking so hard. I almost want to go over and help the guy out. But I can’t. It’s Rick’s turn to travel and he has to do it by himself. Interference can ruin the conditions needed to make the travel possible. Dr. Thompson unwraps another Slider for his own use.

It’s really happening.

But Rick’s in a panic, his skin grey tinged with green, his breathing labored.

The rest of us stay back in the shade of the bus. The only sound is the breeze through the sagebrush and Rick’s hitching breaths and pacing steps.

Dr. Thompson looks concerned. Like maybe using Rick as a human guinea pig isn’t such a bright idea. Rick is pale as a ghost, soaking in sweat, and he’s stopped moving.

It’s looking more and more like we have a problem.

Dr. Thompson looks at his Slider. He examines the readout and looks across the desert. He walks to his left and lifts the Slider into the air. From where I stand I see the readout go from red to green. We all know what that means. “Rick, it’s time. The field is opening. You need to program the Slider.”

He’s frozen and he’s gripping the Slider so hard that his knuckles are white.

“Rick.” Dr. Thompson walks towards him. “Remember the steps from class. You need to activate the Slider into search mode so you can locate a vortex. I’m getting strong readings that you’ll be able to go, but you need to get started.”

Nothing happens.

“Rick? Are you still with us?”

He looks around, like he’s seeing us for the first time. “Um, okay.” He activates the Slider. The silence is heavy.

I can’t believe this is happening.

Rick walks away from us, towards the desert. From a distance I can see him going through the steps we learned about in class. Then, all of a sudden, I hear a hum. It’s a new noise. Something I’ve never heard before. Like the desert is coming alive all around us.

The lights on Rick’s Slider change and the hum grows louder. Casey covers her ears.

“It’s working,” Dr. Thompson mutters.