The Sphere: A Journey In Time (10 page)

"He has children!” I said. “You can't just erase that timeline, you'd kill them! And then what happens to him?"

"Those children were never supposed to exist in the first place!"

"How can you be sure? “I asked. “Maybe this is the timeline that is supposed to happen."

"Miss MacDuff." The first woman interrupted us. "That is a pointless discussion. Do you know who James Otis is?"

"Who?"

"The man whose essay Mr. Kent was reading."

I squirmed in my chair. I didn't like being uninformed. "No."

"He was one of the early voices of the revolution."

I quickly did the math. Salem witch trials I knew were late 1600s. If Noah had aged just over seventy years, that would put him right around the start of the revolution. "Oh."

She looked at me coldly. "If Noah starts interfering with the progression of the revolutionary war, I'd call that a pretty damn big ripple in time." She paused to make sure I was following the repercussions. "Someone has to go back and stop this from happening. One way or another. That is all for now."

Jim rose and I took that as my queue to leave as well. I was more than anxious to be out of there. I turned on Jim in the hallway. "Why did they bother to ask my opinion if they already knew what they wanted to do?"

"I'm not your enemy, Adelaide."

I deflated slightly. Jim was right, I was unfairly taking my anger out on him. "I'm sorry. But really, what was the point of that other than to make me look stupid?"

"They know you know Noah the best out of anyone here. They thought you might have had a different, viable option."

"Well maybe in the next few days I can come up with one."

"I'd give it hours. They don't want him here. They'll move on this quickly."

"Hours." I wanted to punch something in my frustration. “Why don’t they send someone back to the lab, just before Noah was supposed to go on his mission?”

“Like she said, Addy, introducing a second sphere into a point in time is tricky business, especially for the person traveling. ”

"Who was that bossy woman?"

"My boss."

"But I mean, is she head of the lab?"

"No, but she is head of this department. The head of the lab was no doubt listening in."

"Great. So now everyone above me thinks I'm a useless idiot."

"No one has called you an idiot, certainly not me. They're actually quite glad you were able to get through to him. I didn't show you the other files, but they tried several methods before you arrived."

"Like what? They didn't torture him, did they!"

Jim stared at me for a moment without saying anything. "No. But there was some rather harsh verbal abuse and threats."

I watched him glance up at the ceiling and back down at me again. I felt like I was missing something. "And they thought my idea was bad."

"Your idea is the humane thing to do. But like they said, it's not an option to send him back. He cannot return to that timeline and continue with his life. So what's the next best thing? Figure that out." He turned and started walking back down the hall, gesturing for me to follow. "Why don't you go back to your quarters and try to relax for a bit. Think things through. You might come up with something." He walked me to the entrance of the living dome and turned back there.

I walked back to my quarters trying to remember the details of the past hour. I thought about Jim's reaction to my torture question and the last things the woman in the boardroom had said, "Someone has to go back and stop this from happening. One way or another." I didn't like the way that sounded.  At this point my only hope was that the person they sent back would be me.

Chapter 10

I reached my quarters, too wound up to relax. I paced back and forth across my living room, thinking things through. Even if someone did go back and warn Noah about what was going to happen, there was no way they would send the Montgomery version of him back. They really didn't have a choice, they would have to kill him or keep him here indefinitely. That was only my secondary concern at the moment. More important was to either come up with an alternate plan, or convince them that if they sent anyone back to deal with this, it should be me.

The fact was, Noah was back here and no longer interfering with history. We had the sphere in our possession. For all intents and purposes they could just get rid of him and carry on with life as usual. If I tried to look at the situation from an unbiased standpoint, it made the most sense. Even if it was terribly cruel to Noah. But we take our missions knowing the risks, that we might not make it back. They could afford to leave things alone and let Noah suffer the consequences. But I couldn’t accept that as an option.

Jim once told me that even the people above him were never quite sure what actually happens when we travel back in time. They were taking advantage of a technology they didn’t understand, it was only natural that things might go wrong while we traveled on missions. Noah knew that as well as I did. So how could I convince them it was in our best interest for me to go back to warn Noah, to risk sending someone who wasn’t a scout back and let them interfere with a mission.

For all we knew, he had already set events in motion that could have a significant impact on the progress of the revolutionary war. But of course, we didn't know what that meant for us. Would history change for us? Wouldn't it have already happened? Or did it split off into a separate timeline that we'll never know about? And if we've pulled Noah out of that timeline, what happened to it? I doubted that the people in that room, sitting around that table, knew the answers to those questions. So perhaps it was simply a chance they wouldn't be comfortable taking, to not take steps to prevent what happened.

We were not supposed to make waves. That idea was drilled into us before they allowed us on our first mission. We did our job with as little interference or influence on the events unfolding around us as possible. Noah knew this when he went back in time, at what point had he forgotten it? I should've asked him when he lost his memory.

The curiosity burned in me. I needed to know more of what happened, but I knew my desire for information wouldn’t qualify as justification for the lab to send me on a mission back to see Noah. Perhaps their own curiosity about what happened and fear of potential effects would be enough to satisfy their mission requirements. Perhaps I could play up their responsibility in fixing whatever mess Noah left behind as a reason to go back.

Then assuming they would go that route, how would I convince them that I was the best person for the job? I was certainly not an unbiased party, but Noah knew me better than anyone else in this place. I was the person he would trust the most. I knew that for a fact. If a scout or one of the higher up, faceless people who listened behind the walls, went back to warn Noah what was going to happen, he wouldn't believe them. He'd probably think it was a trick or a test. His natural mistrust of this place would kick in. He'd wait for them to leave then proceed with business as usual. And then what? He loses his memory again and we start all over? I was certain that if one person went back and failed, they wouldn't allow a second person to go back and try again. He would be lost forever.

Or worse, if someone went back and failed, maybe they would send a second person back to eliminate him.

I stopped pacing. I was at a loss. Normally at a time like this I'd go see Noah. He'd open a bottle of wine or make us a snack and he'd listen while I vented my frustrations. I wondered what Jim was doing; if they'd let me go back and talk to the Montgomery Noah again. Maybe I could get more information out of him.

I decided to take a shower and let my mind drift. Solutions to my problems presented themselves most often when I was no longer focused on them. I let the hot water wash away the salt that still clung to the hairs on my arms. I found it hard to believe that a few hours ago I was on a sailboat and didn’t know any of this was going on. I imagined the diagram of the sailboat Adam had drawn and tried to remember the names of the ropes again. When I closed my eyes I realized I could still feel the rocking of the boat. It calmed me but induced a small amount of vertigo. I opened my eyes again and watched the water swirl down the drain, trying to steady myself.

An alert from my door startled me. I stopped the shower and pulled on a robe before heading to answer it. After the route my train of thought had led me on, I half expected it to be Noah. This had all been a mistake and he was back from his mission just fine and wanted to see me for lunch. I closed my eyes as I reached the door and made a silent wish. Then pushed it out of my mind. I knew the truth. It couldn't possibly be Noah. I nodded my head to open the door and found Jim standing there.

This surprised me. Jim never just stopped by, he always just sent word that he wanted to see me and we would meet in his office. "Jim."

"They’re still weighing the risks versus the gains of us going back and warning him, but it looks like it’ll happen."

I didn't like his use of the word "us." I had to make Jim understand it had to be me. And not just because I wanted it to be me. "He won't trust any of them."

"They know."

"It has to be me, Jim. I'm the only one he'll believe. The only one he'll listen to. I'm the only one-"

"Addy!" He grabbed my shoulders to get my attention. "They
know
. If anyone goes back, it’ll be you."

The relief immediately subdued me. It was a step towards my chance to help Noah. Somehow, I knew, I would get my chance to fix this.

One way or another.

I had the feeling my version of "another" was not the same as theirs. I kept that thought to myself. They had to trust that I would behave and do as they asked when they sent me back.

Jim continued, "They’re not thrilled about sending you, but they know you’ll have the best chance of finding out what happened. We need some more information before they make their decision though. We need you to see if you can nail down a date when this memory loss took effect. We'll let you talk to him again. Tell him whatever you need him to know, whatever he wants to know. It won't matter."

"What do you mean, it won't matter?"

"Addy, you know he can't go back to his life."

"So I'm supposed to lie to him."

Jim looked uncomfortable for a moment and glanced past me into my quarters. "Use your best judgment. If you think telling him the truth will get him to cooperate, then that's what you need to do. Once we have a better idea of the date, we can plan better what should happen. It’s likely they'll send a scout to find out where you would need to be. But we need that information first."

"Ok. Just give me a minute." I ran back into my bedroom and dressed as quickly as possible. I ran back out to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of red wine, a bottle opener and two glasses. "Let's go."

Jim led me back to the return chambers and the room where they kept the Montgomery Noah. He stopped outside the door for a moment and gave me a serious look.

"I've got this, Jim." I said, trying to reassure him as much as myself. I had doubts about my own ability to get Noah to talk.

He nodded after another moment and motioned to the guard to let me in. "Good luck."

Noah immediately looked up when the door opened. He sat in one of the chairs at the table and his hands gripped the armrests. He looked a little less frantic than before and even smiled slightly, seeming a little relieved that it was me. A sudden pang of guilt washed over me, but I tried to keep my expression pleasant. I'd do my best not to lie to him but I couldn't possibly tell him the truth about his future here. Something told me this Noah would not be allowed to live.
One way or another.

I tried not to grimace as I set the glasses down on the table and opened the bottle of wine. Noah watched me in silence while I poured two glasses and set one down in front of him. He stared at it with mistrust. "I promise, it's not poisoned," I said, as I sat down across from him. I plastered a smile on my face and took a significant sip from my glass. I'd have to be careful. It wouldn't do to get drunk and try to have this conversation. I held up my glass again. "See? We used to drink together a lot."

He took the glass and seemed a bit grateful for it. He took a sip, then took a longer swig and let out a thankful sigh. "Thank you. You say we drank wine together often?"

"Yes. Back when we were friends. Whenever I had a problem, you'd be there with a bottle of wine and let me rant about whatever I needed to."

"That hardly seems an appropriate relationship for a man and an unwed woman. I doubt my wife would approve."

"Well, this was before you were married."

"We were acquainted prior to my marriage in Salem?"

"Well, no." I squirmed in my chair slightly. I had been hoping for more small talk before things got more serious and awkward. "You used to live in this future. I knew you here."

He barked out an angry laugh. "That is quite absurd. I have already explained to you, I have never been in this place before. I do not understand where I am, but time travel is an impossibility. It is not possible that I am in the future."

"Don’t things seem out of place to you? The furniture, the rooms, the clothing and tools?"

"It has been rather a blur since I arrived. I recall a medical examination with some instruments that seemed very unfamiliar to me, even though I am a practiced physician."

"Watch this." I tried to think of something I could show him that wouldn't reveal too much. Although at that point, maybe “too much” wasn’t a consideration I should have been worried about. "Personnel file Adelaide MacDuff." My picture materialized above the table.

Noah jumped out of his chair and knocked it over as he backed away. "What is this, witchcraft?"

"I'm sorry, look, it's okay!" I waved my hand in the air above the table. It passed through my face and the image flickered for a moment. That didn’t seem to help since he looked even more frightened. I tried to remember when photographs were invented. I couldn't recall actual pictures from before the revolutionary war, so probably not yet in his timeline. "It's like a drawing of me, but it's... a projection. Close file." My picture disappeared again. I thought perhaps that wasn’t the best start. "Please, sit back down. I'm sorry I frightened you."

"A projection?" He hesitantly sat back down, took a larger sip from his wine and tried to steady his breath again.

It dawned on me; they wouldn't have had movies yet either. "Think of it as taking a drawing and shining a light through it. It casts a shadow of itself on the wall, right?" I struggled to continue when I realized they wouldn’t have had electricity yet either. I should've done some research first. "Like a lantern with a cover."

"Where does the light originate?" His gaze wandered around the room and he looked under the table. The light in the room was ambient, there were no obvious sources. I didn’t know how I could possibly explain a computer to him when he didn't even know about light bulbs. It encouraged me to see him trying to figure it out. The curious investigation was a very Noah thing to do. He continued to stare off at a wall as he spoke again. "I used to have these dreams..." He looked down at the table again, lost in thought. "Dreams about a place. An enormous dome, made out of glass. And grass and trees grew within. And I ate such strange foods." He looked back up at me. "Was that here?"

"Yes. I can ask, maybe they'll let me take you there." Perhaps it would jog his memory and he'd be able to tell us what happened to him. Perhaps he'd be able to have a say in what happened to him. Perhaps everything would turn out just fine. I tried desperately to cling to that idea.

"How is it possible that I could have dreams about this place?"

"Because I’ve been telling you the truth; you've been here before."