Past Imperfect (Jerry eBooks)

by Martin H Greenberg

  “That’s it! I’m starting everyone here, and in town, on antibiotics to try and push off the pneumonia before we’re even sick.”

  “Do we have enough drugs?” Ky asked.

  “Yes, but only if this thing doesn’t mutate again.”

  “Maybe we should start slaughtering the birds and pigs?” someone I didn’t know suggested.

  A woman from the far side of the room answered. “This influenza is stable in birds, but it mutates best in the pigs. And yes, we’ve already finished that phase of our defense.”

  I rubbed my arm as I paced my lab. Ky sat at my workbench pouring coffee into himself to shake off the Scotch. Me? I was wide awake and angry.

  “How long did you know about this?” I asked.

  “That we had an epidemic?”

  “Yes.”

  “Since midafternoon, but not that it was our fault.”

  “You mean my fault?”

  “No, you can’t take this all onto yourself. I’m as much to blame as you, and so is Carol Weber. We designed the experiment together.”

  “I guess this proves that you can change the present by using a time machine.”

  “It would seem so,” Ky agreed.

  I paced for several more minutes, all the while wondering how we could have designed our experiment differently.

  “Stop it.”

  I stood still. “What?”

  “Not your pacing; you do some of you best work while moving, but your blaming yourself for this mess. We need a solution, and if you spend all of your time in your personal past, you won’t think of a solution to our present.”

  “I wish my father had been right.”

  “A wasted wish. Think, Connor. You know how to use your device better than anyone else. You know what it can do.”

  “First we need a portal big enough to pull a body through. We also need a body. Can we get the med staff to search their records for someone who would fit their criteria?”

  “Sure. I’ll get them right on it,” Ky said. “But we don’t need to steal the body. What if one of us went through and took the blood sample from someone recently dead—perhaps in a hospital? We could take the sample and get back rather quickly.”

  “We’d need just a big enough portal to crawl through.”

  “A portal just a little bigger than the one we’ve been using.” I looked around. I still had the basic materials here from before. “All I need is a little more wood for the supporting frame. It doesn’t have to last a long time, just long enough to get there and back again.”

  “I’ll go talk to the medical records and then meet you in the workshop.”

  “No, I can make the portal myself. You help with the records. With so many getting sick, they’ll be drafting anyone who can hold a bedpan.”

  Two hours later I had a new portal, one meter by one meter, connected to my computer. Ky had called a short time before. They’d have a date, time, and place by morning. Which meant I need only test this portal and then I could get a few hours of sleep. So far I felt fine, but another one hundred people were sick. The snowstorm was expected to end by midmorning. Volunteer doctors and nurses were being lined up from the army base north of us. They’d fly in by helicopter along with additional supplies when the weather cleared. All we needed was more time.

  “And not even I can give us that.” I took a deep breath and shook my head. “Work on today’s problems, kiddo.”

  I rebooted my computer and ran my favorite Amora program. The portal appeared to work perfectly, and so I watched for a little while longer. Her laughter was clear and pure music to me. It lifted my spirits. As she walked across the stage, she looked directly at me where my image floated above the empty seats, and winked. I hadn’t planned on her seeing me, but was still glad she had. My lab was dark, so the stage lights must have reflected off my face or hands. I moved back father so that I could still see her, but no one else would have the chance to see me by mistake. After all, most of the cast and crew survived the fire.

  When the curtain was lowered, I resisted the temptation to applaud. Instead I stopped the program. I couldn’t bear to see her close up tonight. Still I felt relaxed, almost as if I had slept much of the night away, instead of watching a play.

  I went to pour myself another cup of coffee, and suddenly I knew I had found my subject. Arnora had survived the Spanish flu five years before her death.

  Perfect!

  I knew the when, the exact when, and the exact how of her death. I had seen it. The fire hadn’t killed her, smoke inhalation had, which is why she didn’t make it out of the theater as most of the others had. It was only later, when the fire burned hot that her body had been nearly totally consumed by the flames. Suddenly my heart was beating so fast, I had to sit down.

  Could I face this?

  Could I pull her body out of the smoke? Or would I die there with her?

  Doctor Ross could get all the tissue samples she needed, then we could return her to the burning theater.

  That would be the hard part. Maybe the impossible part. But I could take my time with that necessity.

  I went to find Ky and Ross. It took Ky just a few moments to point out my biggest flaw. We wouldn’t be able to remove Arnora unless we had someone to take her place at the same time.

  Why? Because I, as a boy, needed to believe she burned to death so I would become interested in time travel and dream of ways to save her. It took over an hour for us to work out the kinks and develop a plan. We had already lost two people to the epidemic. Ross scanned their medical records to find which one would serve our needs. Nothing from the present, not artificial teeth, and certainly not a virus, could survive the fire to hurt the past. Ross was very sure the virus wouldn’t survive the fire, but teeth would.

  Ky and I waited. I felt like a grave robber. But it was our only choice. We had to have a body to return to the past, to take the place of the one we stole. The late Alice Clark returned with us to my lab on a gurney. Ross wanted those tissue samples as soon as possible. I wondered who would have the grim task of explaining to Mr. Clark what had happened. That was, if he survived the flu.

  There were two med techs standing by, besides Ross. We all held breathing masks since Ky had pointed out the smoke could pour out of the past and right into my lab, along with possible flames. So we also had two fire specialists there. Both were men more massive than me, and I never considered myself short or small of stature. Both men had volunteered rather loudly to take my place. But I knew this event by heart. I had seen it in my nightmares often enough.

  “Why do we have to wait till she dies?” Ross asked softly. The program was in place, and I was getting ready to put on my breathing mask even as Ross was.

  “If there was any other way, believe me I would take it. I’ve dreamed of saving her for years, but history can’t be changed. If we try, we won’t be able to.” I had tried, in my own past, but of course I couldn’t admit that, not to anyone.

  She nodded, and we both put on our masks. One fire spec, Paul, turned off all the lights except for two small red lights away from the portal. I picked up the late Mrs. Clark from the gurney and put her over my shoulder. Someone had dressed her in a brown dress, much like the one Amora wore in her play. I suppose Ky had thought of that. I hadn’t.

  I tried not to think about what I was doing as I turned toward the portal and waved to Ky. He started the program moving. The image wavered and then steadied. Black smoke poured out the portal.

  “Can you see her?” Denny, one of the fire specs, asked from my side. His voice was clear in my earpiece.

  “No, it’s really dark. But I know she’s there. I’ve seen her before.” I started moving forward. Mrs. Clark hadn’t been a large woman, but still she felt heavy.

  Denny grabbed my arm and stopped me. “Paul, send a beam down that hallway.”

  The other fire spec complied. We saw her lying on the floor. She was at least twenty feet from the portal.

  “Be sure to follow
your lead back here. Remember, if you get into trouble, yell!”

  “Got it!” I said from my knees as I moved through the portal and found myself still in my lab.

  “What happened?” Denny demanded. Everyone stared at me as I set Mrs. Clark gently on the floor, removed my mask and hurried over to my computer.

  “Everything’s in order. It’s not the setup.”

  “Is it time?” Ky asked as he lifted up his mask.

  “Yes, the program is still running, but the portal won’t open. Something about what we were trying to do violates the time laws. What?” I set my mask down, ended my program and reset it.

  Ky turned around and surveyed the room. “Maybe we will just have to get a blood sample and not try to take the body.”

  I nodded. “Yeah, seems so.” I reached for my mask and just stared at it. “No, that’s not it.”

  “What?” Ky asked.

  “It’s these air masks. If I were to be trapped in the past, they would survive the fire and change things.”

  “Wouldn’t finding your body change things, too?” Ross asked.

  “Maybe, maybe not.”

  “You can’t go without the mask,” Denny began. “That smoke is just too heavy and deadly. It would overcome you in a very short time.”

  “We’ve no choice. The mask has to stay. I’ll just have to hold my breath and move faster.”

  “Or I can go with you.”

  “And take the chance of killing two?” I asked.

  “He’s right,” Ky said to me. “You both go. It’ll be safer.”

  They left me no choice, so Ky quickly set the program running again. Denny waited beside me with the view of the burning theater before us. We both wore safety lines and our masks for now. He carried Mrs. Clark. I took several deep breaths and tore off my mask and plunged through the portal. I moved about a meter forward and turned around in the sudden darkness to help Denny, but my lab was gone and so was the portal. I looked in all directions. Nothing! I crouched low to the floor and breathed in smoke-laden air and tried not to cough. I could no longer see Arnora.

  Suddenly the corridor was filled with red light and a flashlight beam. I plunged through the portal. The fire spec, Paul, had an oxygen mask over my face as Ky shut the portal down again. I breathed in deeply, as I waited for an explanation.

  “Denny has several metal pins in his leg,” Dr. Ross began.

  “If he were to die back there, it would change history.”

  I pushed the oxygen mask away. “Paul can—”

  “No, he has several capped teeth.”

  “Blast and so does Ky.”

  “Me, too,” Ross said. “I called over to my office, they’re going to find someone and send them over.”

  “No,” I said. “I’m going to go by myself. Maybe it’s the artificial body parts and then again it may be that if we leave too many bodies there, it will change history.”

  “Connor?”

  “No, Ky. You know I’m right. A mask would make it easy, but I still can do this. Just keep that damn portal open. If it seems as if I’m in trouble, there is still the safety rope.” I looked around the room, no one had any other comment or answer. “Good. Now Mrs. Clark and I have a date.” I knelt before the portal and Denny handed Mrs. Clark back to me. She no longer seemed so heavy.

  They say adrenaline makes a person stronger. I hoped so. Just now, I needed an edge. I took several more deep breaths even as Ky started the program again. I owed this poor woman so much. Then I pushed the oxygen mask at Denny and rushed into the past.

  Red light continued to shine behind me, so the portal hadn’t closed though I didn’t turn to check. Instead I moved forward and a flashlight beam lit the way. The fact I made it told me Amora was already dead.

  I couldn’t think of that. She had been dead for eighty-four years already. I was trying to save my friends today—those sick in the infirmary. Paul’s flashlight beam led me to her. I tried not to cough as I placed Mrs. Clark on the floor facedown even as Arnora was and right next to her. Alice Clark was cold and pale to the touch, but Amora was still warm, her skin still soft. A fit of coughing took me. I placed my face next to the floor and breathed for a moment and then returned to my task.

  Amora weighed so little as I lifted her. I tried not to look at her, but as I turned her over and held her to my side, her beauty was evident even in the flashlight’s harsh beam.

  “Move your ass!” Ky’s shout came from far away. “Connor, don’t make me regret letting you go. Move it! Now!”

  My feet were under me again, and I saw the red square ahead of me and felt a yank at my waist. It almost pulled me off my feet.

  “Move!” Denny yelled. And then I heard the crash of some portion of structure not too far away, but I was through the portal. Denny was hauling me out of my lab. Paul took Arnora out of my arms and rushed toward the waiting gurney. Dr. Ross looked my way. I waved her away. The med team was down the hall and out of sight in moments as I leaned against the wall and breathed in fresh air.

  “Here!” Denny slid an oxygen mask over my face. “Even this hallway is too full of smoke. Let the retire system have a few minutes to work.” He took my wrist in his and was checking my pulse. “You breathe any smoke?”

  “Some. I’m fine.”

  “Did you hit your head or something?” Ky asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “It took you too long to get back here.”

  “How long was too long?”

  “Two minutes, fifteen seconds.” Denny said.

  “That’s a long time?”

  “It sure felt like it.” Ky answered.

  The hallway finally looked clear of smoke, so we took our masks off. The air still smelled of fire. “At least there wasn’t enough smoke to set off the alarms.”

  Denny laughed. “We turned those blasted things off, ahead of time. It’s hard to think with those things sounding. Well, you appear fine. Dr. Ross wants to check you over. She said right away. I’ll go and make sure your lab is safe.”

  “Yeah, I need to make sure my equipment is all right, too.” I started to follow him, but Ky held out his hand.

  “I shut everything down and disconnected the computer to the portal. No one can even accidentally start it again.”

  “You didn’t turn the program off?”

  “No, I didn’t think it was necessary.”

  “Good. That way we can start it again where we stopped.”

  “Why?” Ky asked.

  “We do have to return her.”

  “But Alice Clarke?”

  “I’ve been thinking. We should make the exchange again. It wouldn’t be fair to Mrs. Clark, or the Clark family to lose her body, too.”

  “Can you do that?”

  “We’ll see. First I want to go see Arnora. Hold her hand while they take what they need.”

  Ky nodded and walked with me to the med labs. But when we got there they were empty. Ky stopped a passing tech.

  “Where’s Dr. Ross?”

  “ICU, I think.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out two surgical masks and handed then to us. “No one moves through these halls without these. Put them on! Keep them on!” Then she rushed off on her own errand.

  We wandered the halls for a few minutes until we found Ross coming toward us. She was smiling and more than a little pleased.

  “Did you get your samples?” Ky asked.

  “Yes! We’re testing them now.”

  “Do you know if this is the Spanish Lady or not?”

  “No, it’s too soon. These things do take a little time.”

  “Then why the smile?” I asked.

  “In part because no one has died in the last hour. And because I want to show you something.” She motioned toward a door and led us into a room.

  Amora lay in the hospital bed. Someone had cleaned the soot from her face, but surprisingly she was hooked up to an IV solution and there was an oxygen mask over her mouth.

  “What’
s going on?” Ky asked. “Did you bring her back?”

  I couldn’t say anything as I moved to the bedside and felt Amora’s wrist.

  “She wasn’t dead. Her pulse was weak, but with oxygen she came right back. She’s unconscious, but she should recover completely.”

  I looked from Arnora to Ky. “But we can’t change time!”

  He laughed. “We didn’t change the past, old buddy, but we sure as hell changed the future. Imagine that!”

  Arnora’s eyes snapped open at Ky’s loud voice. She looked at me as I removed my surgical mask. It took her only a moment, then she smiled as best she could under the oxygen mask.

  “You’re safe. Rest now.” She fell back to sleep. “Damn, we can’t take her back now!”

  “I should say not!” Ross added.

  I “But? I mean where will she live?” f “Right here at Northern Escapes,” Ky said softly.

  Ross nodded in agreement. “She’ll need special training and some education classes. It’ll be an interesting project.”

  “What if she hates me for doing this to her?” I asked.

  “She can go back!” Ky said it so matter-of-factly that I couldn’t help but stare at him.

  “Relax. She’s smart and anyone who didn’t go running when they saw your face pop up all of a sudden can adapt to new situations without a lot of fuss. She’ll be fine.” His smile turned into a full grin. “I can’t wait to see your father’s face when we prove to him time travel is possible. And I especially want to see his face when you bring Amora home for Christmas dinner next year.”

  Dr. Ross came forward and took Arnora’s hand out of mine. “First things first. She’ll be fine, Connor. I’m placing a quarantine around her to protect her, at least until we get a grip on this virus. That means a quarantine from you, too. Meanwhile, I’ll need your help with our other patients. Both of you. We have too many to deal with unless we draft outside help from other departments.”

  “Lead the way, good doctor,” Ky said as he pushed me out of the room ahead of him. Still I stole another peek at a sleeping Amora before the door closed.

  And to think I had almost gone into quantum physics!