The Time Portal 2: Escape in Time

by Joe Corso [time travel]

  Lucky showed the gang the second saferoom. Sam said in her matter-of-fact way that she thought it was overkill, with an emphasis on the “O” in overkill, but she said, “Other than that, I think it is very well done. You must have some very good reasons to want this extra room.” Then she looked at Lucky and said, “Why don’t we sit in here for a while, close the wall, and have a private talk, just the two of us, no one else? There are some things I’d like to discuss with you.”

  Lucky just looked at her, not knowing what on earth to expect. He motioned everyone else out of the room. Once the wall closed behind them, he asked Sam what was so serious and important. She just let it out immediately.

  “You know that I have never fallen out of love with you, don’t you?”

  Lucky sat quietly.

  “And I know that you must have feelings for me, Lucky, yet whenever it’s just the two of us, you seem to find some other project or mission to involve yourself in. Lucky, I need to know what your intentions are. Do we have a future together or should I go my own way? I’m part of your group, yet I feel I’m on the outside looking in.”

  Her eyes misted with tears as she looked into Lucky’s eyes, searching for answers. Her intensity burned to the depths of Lucky’s soul. Lucky wanted her. He wanted her more than any woman he’d ever met. They had been down this road before and had parted for much the same reason. Lucky had allowed her back into his life as she had become lonely and loved being with him and with his friends as they traveled the world. But what Sam thought could remain a friendship, clearly could not. The human heart is strange. It cannot be controlled, she realized. It either loves or doesn’t and sometimes . . . the love part hurts.

  Lucky pulled her close to him. She nestled her head on his chest as he held her tightly. He could feel her tears, even though she tried not to show them. He held her face gently in his hand, looked deep into her eyes and said, “I do love you, Sam, and I have ever since that moment in the hospital when I heard you hum that little tune of yours. But knowing the kind of life I lead, how could I ask you to be part of the uncertainty? My world is full of constant danger, instability. There is no real place that I can call home. I have money because of my ability but I also have enemies because of my ability and I have all the trappings that come along with both. It’s a tangled web that can go on and on for, well, decades. Each day that you spend with me is another day of risk. For us to have any semblance of a life together, you would have to seclude yourself, until I returned from, wherever, as you are in as much danger as I. You will be followed in order for others to get to me. You will always be looking over your shoulder. Think about that,” Lucky said.

  Sam sat, absorbing his words. She lifted her head, looked at him with steady determined eyes, and said, “I don’t have to think about anything. Lucky, it’s rare for anyone to know exactly what he or she wants from life, but I do know. Even in your crazy, mixed up world, I want to be with you to share that . . . always.”

  Lucky tried not to act surprised, but her words sounded so permanent and those were things that they had never discussed. But deep down inside, he liked them, he liked those words and it felt great to hear them. He had been so busy worrying about his wacky life that he had really never given thought to any sort of “permanence” with her, but yeah, he liked it.

  “At least I will have had precious moments with the man I love and I can live with that,” Sam added. “The question is . . . can you?”

  Lucky didn’t have an answer for her at that moment. Sam waited, hoping that the uncomfortable silence would end and she would hear words of reassurance and when she didn’t, she took Lucky’s hesitation as rejection. She turned her head and sat back on the chair seemingly drained of the fire and passion that she had exhibited just moments before.

  “Sam,” he finally said, “I adore you and always have and it would be easy to say ‘To hell with the world. Let’s just go with our love,’ but while things may work in the short term, the fact remains that I still have too many enemies, people that both you and I know, as former agents, would not hesitate to hurt you to get to me. Mickey and Nicky, well, they signed on for this and truth be told, they’re street brawling guys who grew up this way and don’t give a rat’s ass, but Sam, you have a whole nice life ahead of you with possibly a family. How can you have children and subject them to a life like this? Their whole lives would need to be lived under the careful watch of bodyguards. Could you live like that if it was with me? I don’t think so. So while emotions of the heart are wonderful and we should try not to fight them, logic of the mind must sometimes prevail. Selfishly, we can say, let’s just go with it, with things the way they are, but . . . thinking ahead, to stability, to family, well, it is most selfish to put our wants ahead of what effects this crazy life may have on others. And Sam, you will want children at some point. Every woman does.”

  “I’ll get my things together and plan on leaving within the next couple of days, Lucky,” she said. “I understand. I was hoping that you would beg me to stay, to tell me how nothing would ever interfere with us, our relationship. You assumed that I want children and you are assuming that life will forever be this way, always hiding. Things do change, Lucky. Time changes things and sometimes, you don’t have to go through a portal to understand that. I’ll be leaving soon.”

  Lucky could not sleep that night. He tossed. He turned. He kept recounting the conversation he and Sam had that evening. She really loved him and truth be told, he loved her.

  “Mickey,” Lucky said the next morning. “I want to head into the city. Pull the car around.”

  “Sam,” Lucky said as he eased up behind her as she was pouring her coffee. “I need to go into the city. I need your help with something, a gift for Nicky. It’s his birthday soon and apparently, he doesn’t have a decent keychain. I know you’re probably mad at me, but if you could just help me out, that would be great. Thought I’d get him something nice, something classy. You know, like a sterling silver engraved one, maybe with a money clip to match. Whadda you think?”

  “Lucky, I really don’t feel much like going shopping,” she answered. “I have some packing to do and I need to go apartment searching. I think I might just hang around New York. It’s big, easy to get lost in, and I like it.”

  “Well,” he added, “tell you what. I’ll be happy to help you look at places. I just really, really could use your help with this gift. Look, Sam, I know you’re not happy with me right now, but I really do care. As a matter of fact, I love you,” he whispered into her ear as he grabbed her around her waist from behind.

  Sam turned and looked at him. She smiled and said, “Lucky, that’s what I was hoping to hear last night. That’s all I wanted to hear. Yes, I’ll help you. I love you too.”

  There wasn’t a single metered parking space to be had anywhere in the city, so Mickey parked in a no parking zone, right in front of Tiffany’s. He waited in the car, stating that if a cop approached, he would just drive around the block and keep driving until Lucky and Sam were ready to meet him back at the same spot.

  Lucky excused himself from Sam for a moment as she eyed the watchcase and headed right to a saleswoman he had spotted, all the way at the back when they first entered. Who better than a woman’s touch, he thought. In a soft voice, he told the finely suited, tall brunette woman his needs. In a few moments, she emerged from the store’s vault with a tray and headed midway between where Sam was standing and the back of the store. Sam glanced up to see a security man move toward the front door just as Lucky motioned for her to join him. Sam walked toward Lucky just as the lady placed the tray onto the counter and lifted its velvet cloth covering, revealing several loose stones of diamonds and several diamond rings, already placed in their settings, ready for some lucky lady’s finger. Their luster was almost blinding as the light caught the gems from every angle, lighting the room. It was hard to tell which sparkled more, the jewels or Sam’s eyes. She looked at Lucky quizzically.

  “Sam,” Lucky s
aid. “I could use your help here. If you were to choose a diamond for someone really special, which one would it be? Putting price aside, which one in your opinion is the most exquisite?”

  “Lucky, I thought we were coming here for a key chain,” she protested.

  “Well, we are,” Lucky answered. “But Nicky told me last night that he met some crazy gal at the P&M Bar and Grill, and crazy ole fool that he is, decided to run off and get married. I told him that I was going to be in the city today and would get the ring for him. He trusts me.”

  “Well then,” she said, completely deflated as her eyes fell back to the counter and the tray’s contents. “By all means, let’s get Nicky and his lady the best,” she added emphatically and in a huff. Sam was pissed; pissed at herself for allowing Lucky to drag her here and pissed that her fleeting moment of hope, her moment of thunder, was being stolen by someone else, someone who wasn’t even in the damn place, but who would reap the benefits of her good taste.

  Sam picked up each stone, one by one, and turned each around and around, examining each one carefully with the unforgiving jeweler’s tool, the high-powered magnifying glass, or “the jeweler’s loupe,” as it is called. There were several shapes – oval, emerald, the traditional round, and even a few of the older style marquis types. Some were encircled with smaller diamonds and others had baguettes of stones down the sides. The emerald ring caught her eye. She picked it up, examined it, and placed it on her finger. It was magnificent – modern, brilliant and almost flawless, set in a simple, platinum setting with no other stones to accentuate it or detract from it.

  “This one,” she said. “This is beautiful. Simple. Elegant. Timeless.” She put the ring back down and said, “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I would like to go back to what I was doing, which is looking at these watches.”

  With that, she turned and left both Lucky and the saleswoman standing there. Lucky chuckled as he glanced at the woman. The woman smiled a tiny smile of pure satisfaction, knowing that she was a part of Lucky’s coup.

  “Give me a moment,” she whispered as she took Lucky’s credit card, “while we give it a good sheen and place it into a nice velvet box.” She headed to the back register and into the back room, where she took the ring to Tiffany’s resident gemologist for a polishing. She returned to Lucky and asked if she might help him with anything else while the ring was being cleaned. Lucky responded yes and the saleswoman and Lucky joined Sam where he gave his opinions as Sam seemed to try on every watch in the case. It was the least he could do and besides, he needed some time. From there, they crossed over to the key chains where, with the assistance of the saleswoman, Sam helped Lucky with a sterling silver rectangular key chain and a money clip that complemented it well. Lucky gathered the items and walked toward the back register to pay for them. The saleswoman disappeared for a moment and came out, carrying a small bag. Inside was a small box. Inside that, was the ring. Lucky took out the box and placed it behind his back, as though he was carrying a bag or something, and walked into the center of the store.

  “Sam,” he called out. “Look. Look at this. Can you believe this on the floor?”

  “What?” she asked as she walked toward him.

  “There,” he said, pointing to the floor as he reached around his back and pulled out the box while her head was down, intently studying the floor.

  He dropped to one knee, looked up at her and said, “Samantha Coulter, I have loved you from the moment you sang that silly song in my hospital room. Will you marry me?”

  Sam covered her mouth as she gasped out loud and tears flowed down her face.

  “I hate you,” she said as she cried. “But I love you. And yes, yes. The answer is yes.”

  The room with the security guard, the gemologist, the saleswoman and a half dozen other customers broke into thunderous applause and whistles as there they stood in Tiffany’s, the legendary jewelers on Fifth Avenue and Fifty-Seventh Street, in the middle of the store, hugging and kissing and for Sam . . . crying and crying and crying some more. Lucky had truly caught her completely off guard. It was the best of surprises for any woman, anywhere . . . in love.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Back at the safehouse, Lucky let Sam draw the group together and share the good news. The guys were all happy for them. Guys were always happy for their friends, unlike some women who had a tendency to be a little bit jealous or envious. It was the difference between men and women. A guy just never thought beyond it, didn’t overthink it.

  As he watched Sam, smiling, showing off her ring, his mind wandered to other things – finances, security, investments, stocks. It could have been the realization that he was getting married one day, but for whatever the reasons, it dawned on him that his time travels could make him even wealthier, fatten his portfolio. Since he had the ability to travel to anyplace, anywhere in time, it would be easy. He could go back in time and buy IBM, Microsoft, Apple stock, or any of the Fortune 500 stocks at their initial offerings.

  Lucky asked Mickey to step into the saferoom with him, not because he didn’t trust his friends, but rather to interfere with the listening ability of any possibly undetected planted devices. The steel walls provided solid security and comfort. It was there that Lucky explained that he wanted to take a trip to the city of Rhyolite, the city that he had discovered in his recent time travels. He described to Mickey the tiny town’s beginning stages of growth, its gold and silver boom, and what the future held for the present day ghost town, back then, and its investors. Lucky had already done his research. He knew about Shorty Harris, Death Valley Scotty, and the mystery surrounding them – how no one knew for sure how either man had gotten his money. That could be fun to find out, Lucky thought. An adventure. But adventure aside, truth be told, it was always hard for Lucky to resist an opportunity to add to his fortune.

  First, Lucky needed either some early twentieth century money or something else he could use for bartering. Finding currency from the years 1900 to 1904 would be near impossible. Diamonds and precious stones would have to do, he thought. Lucky asked Mickey to arrange a meeting with Jacob, Lucky’s jeweler friend, and purchase a half million dollar’s worth of diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and emeralds, and a few gold bars to use for room and board.

  Lucky did not want to travel to Australia to return to the train shed portal, so the following day he called Jack Kinsey and told him that tomorrow morning he and Mickey would need to use the portal inside the jail, located on the compound. Lucky knew that the jail portal would take him to the Outback where he could then enter the portal leading to the train barn and thus the town of Rhyolite. He asked that Kinsey leave their names at the front guard gate as guests arriving for an eight a.m. meeting at Jack’s office.

  “And Jack, have an acetylene welding torch standing by, in the jail, ready to use.” Jack didn’t quite understand why, but nevertheless agreed and was waiting for them when they reached the jail the next morning.

  Mickey wheeled the torch to cell number five and both men entered it. Once inside, Lucky lit the torch, adjusted the flame, and proceeded to cut through three cell bars, separating cell five from cell six, from top to bottom. When the last bar clanked to the floor, he shut off the torch and oxygen tanks and wheeled them to the front of the cell for Jack to pick up later. He and Mickey stepped right into the middle of the two cells, right where the bars had been. It was a lot easier entering the portal this time. Now it all made sense. While Lucky was a prisoner here, in his attempt to escape, it was difficult for him to squeeze into the portal because of the location, the close proximity of the bars, separating both cells.

  Once inside the portal, they took their usual baby steps to the end. They stepped out into the Outback of Australia near Alice Springs. Mickey was carrying the diamonds and stones in a bag in his pocket and each man carried one gold bar in their chino pants. The two friends wore cowboy shirts that they had picked up in Alice Springs and figured they’d buy cowboy hats when they arrived in Rhyolite. The plan was
to buy anything they needed from the local merchants hoping to blend in.

  Lucky knew exactly where the Outback portal stood. It was the one that led to the train shed. Since the portal was about the distance of a football field, they ran at a military trot the one hundred yards directly to the end.

  They exited the underground train shed and walked the short distance to the Rhyolite portal and stepped out into its bustling city. It was early morning in Nevada and the men headed straight to the assayer’s office to exchange gold for cash and then walked to a tent selling breakfast. Here in this town, everything was a tent – hotels, stores, banks, restaurants all set up under tents. At their table, Lucky asked their server if Shorty Harris was in town.

  “Yes, you just missed him,” the young man replied. “He’s headed for the Southern Hotel.”

  Lucky thanked the young man. After he and Mickey finished their breakfast, they walked straight there, to the Southern Hotel. On their way, they saw wagons pulled by teams of horses, carrying women and children, entering the town. It looked as though families were arriving, perhaps joining the men of the household, in their quest for riches. Everywhere there were buildings of stone and stakes laid out in the ground, indicating where future houses and businesses would soon be built. Streets were being plotted, carefully marked, in anticipation of the materials needed to clear their paths. Toward the corner, a train depot was almost finished, its tracks being laid. Looking past the depot, they saw tracks disappearing into the distance and heard the slow wane of a train’s whistle. The men bounded up the three wooden steps leading into the Southern Hotel and walked to the front desk, which was to the left of the entrance. There, they reserved two rooms for two weeks, paid the clerk in full, and told him that we would be paying for the rooms on a daily basis, thereafter. Lucky casually asked for Shorty Harris’s room, stating that he knew he was there.