Sandcastle for Pegasus

by Bob Avey

  “You should go,” Susan said, “if you want to do, whatever it is you need to do, and get back in time for church.”

  “You’re right,” Martin said. He stood from the chair and walked out of the office, starting toward the door in the laundry room, which led to the garage. At the door he turned back. Susan and Luke had followed to see him off. He hugged Susan and then slipped in a kiss, a kiss Susan let turn near sensuous.

  “It’s only you,” Martin whispered. “I promise.”

  He turned to Luke, who had his hand extended. “Be careful.”

  Martin shook Luke’s hand, and then he pulled his son into a hug. “You can count on that, my man.”

  As Martin started the PT Cruiser and backed out of the garage, he reflected on Luke’s unusual behavior. In many ways, Luke was a child. And like a child, getting his way was extremely important to him. He rarely reversed his desires for someone else’s sake, but he just had with his decision to not go along with Martin. The look of understanding in his eyes said he knew what was going on. Martin had suspected he might on some level, but Luke had just confirmed it. He and Martin had been involved in the accident together, and Luke knew somehow that time had become fluid.

  Martin took the expressway, exited on 21st Street, and drove West. When he reached Wheeling Avenue, he turned north and immediately west again, which took him into the parking garage at Saint John’s. He found a parking spot on the third floor. After getting out of the car and locking the door, he made his way to the elevators and then the first floor. There would be an information booth there. When he found the booth, he patiently waited while a group of three people took turns asking where Radiation was.

  After minutes of what seemed hours, Martin stepped to the counter.

  “May I help you with something, sir?”

  “The name is Martin Taylor,” he said, “a friend of the family of Alice Stewart. I was hoping you could direct me to the proper area.”

  “Ms. Stewart must be popular. Another gentleman was just here, asking about her as well.”

  The beginnings of panic threatened to derail Martin’s efforts, but then he relaxed a little. Doctor Stewart was family. He would already know where Alice was. In addition, he was a doctor and gaining access wouldn’t be difficult. Then again, if he were up to something wrong, he wouldn’t disclose any of that.

  “Just out of curiosity, was he a tall man with black hair?”

  “No, he was tall all right, but his hair was definitely gray, but in a neat and nice way, if you know what I mean.”

  Another thought occurred to Martin. If he could find the man Stewart had referred to as McKinley, he could reason with him, alert him to Stewart’s possible intentions.

  “Could you tell me if Alice’s husband, McKinley is here? We’re old friends, but I haven’t seen him in years. I was hoping to talk with him, give him my support.”

  “I wouldn’t have that information here, but if you go to the waiting area, maybe you will find him.”

  “Thanks,” Martin said.

  After following the receptionist’s directions, Martin stepped off the elevator and made his way to the waiting area. After checking the area and finding no one familiar, Martin stepped again into the hallway and started toward the nurse’s station. As he considered what he might say to the attending nurse, he noticed the entire station was empty. An idea struck Martin and, acting in way that was strange to him, he did something he would never do, or at least never thought he would do. He stepped around the counter, found the workstation computer, and then, upon punching a few keys, found a spot and typed in the name of Alice Stewart.

  The information he was searching for popped onto the screen. Martin jotted it down on a notepad and then tore it off and quickly got out of there. He started back toward the waiting area to let things cool down before attempting to locate Alice’s room.

  He was halfway there when a strange sensation stopped him, a tingling that started at the base of his back and inched up his spine. It was not unlike the feeling he’d experienced just before seeing Doctor Stewart at the restaurant.

  Martin immediately became aware of the source of his discomfort: a tall man with neatly arranged gray hair walking along the same hospital corridor. The man must have felt something too. He paused and stared at Martin. Martin then realized it was the same man he had seen in the parking lot outside of Doctor Stewart’s office talking with Susan.

  “Excuse me,” the man said, “might I have a word with you?”

  “Do I know you?” Martin asked.

  “Not exactly,” the man said. “But I couldn’t help but notice you sensed my presence as I had yours. I don’t know anything else that could mean, except that you are somewhat like me.”

  “And what, exactly, are you like?”

  The man smiled. “How long have you been traveling?”

  Martin thought of evading the question, but he was inclined not to do that. He had an unexplainable feeling that he could trust the man. “Not long,” he said. “In fact, you could say it started today, only a few years ago. Can you help me? Do you know how to stop it?”

  The man approached and extended his hand. “The name is John,” he said, “John Rainbow. And that is the most curious question I have ever heard. In fact, I have never had cause to have anything of the sort proposed to me. You see, I have never met a fellow traveler. And I can certainly understand your wish to stop and put it all behind you, though I’m afraid doing so is solely in your hands. By the way, I didn’t get your name.”

  Martin hesitated, though he couldn’t see the harm. “It’s Martin Taylor,” he said. “And I presume you are the man at the end of the rainbow?”

  John Rainbow arched his eyebrows. “Ah, I finally meet the evasive Martin Taylor. I need to ask you something rather serious, Martin. Are you by chance here because of Alice Stewart?”

  Martin knew his next move, a near subconscious reaction, was both typical and predictable, though he was powerless to evade the maneuver. He took a step back. He had not expected such a question, so directly connected to the exact reason why he was at the hospital. Here he was getting all friendly and chatty with a stranger who could easily be one of Doctor Stewart’s cohorts, or an official from the hospital who had been alerted that an unauthorized person had accessed one of the computers.

  “Are you a friend of the family?” Martin asked. Again, he knew it was a predictable question, but he didn’t know what else to say.

  “Not exactly. In all honesty, I’m here to correct an unfortunate mistake. I work for the government, Martin, more or less a one-man temporal, cleanup crew. At least, I’d thought I was alone in the business end of things. Then again, here you are as well. The name I proposed to you drew an unmistakable reaction. Why is that, Martin? Are you a friend of the family?”

  Once again, the familiar pangs of oncoming panic rolled through Martin’s senses. He didn’t think a career in espionage was in his future, with his getting caught right out of the starting gate. And again, he had the sensation that he could trust the man.

  “All right,” he said, “I’ll try to level with you. It’s hard to explain why, but I believe someone is trying to harm Alice, or more correctly, her unborn child. I don’t know what I was thinking, but I’d hoped I might prevent that.”

  John Rainbow smiled. “Let me ask you another serious question. Are you in any way associated with DARPA?”

  Martin shook his head. He hadn’t a clue what that meant or where this was going. “I don’t know what that means,” he said. “But now it’s my turn for a serious question. Why did you send me to 1943, aboard some ship and not exactly myself?”

  “Sorry about that. I was out of sorts myself, and it was
the only thing I could think of. Anyway, DARPA is an acronym for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, the agency that exploits my particular talents. It wouldn’t be out of the question for them to employ someone without bothering to tell me about it.”

  “No, never heard of it,” Martin said. “If I had to guess, I’d say my profession is nowhere near as interesting as yours. I’m an accountant in the petroleum industry, or at least I was until all of this started.”

  The tall man with gray hair studied Martin’s face. “You said the traveling had started today and spanned a few years. Are you saying you’re stuck in one day, kind of like that Bill Murray movie?”

  Martin shook his head. Judging from the man’s appearance and demeanor, Martin suspected he was the other man the receptionist commented about, who had also asked about Alice Stewart. “Not exactly, I’ve visited the third day of May as well.”

  “And you have been visiting these two days for years? How did it start? How do you accomplish it?”

  “I guess I made it sound that way,” Martin said. “Though, from my point of reference it started, as I’d indicated, today. It’s all confused in my mind as well. But this is the first time I’ve gone back a few years rather than one day or a few hours.”

  “I still don’t understand,” John said. “Do you have a machine, a jump room of some sort?”

  Considering the question for a moment, Martin shook his head. “It’s nothing like that,” he said, “not that I’m aware of. As far as I can determine, it started today, six years from now when my son, Luke, and I are involved in an automobile accident.”

  “Interesting,” John said. “So, you’re saying it just sort of happens?”

  “That’s about right.”

  “Do you have any control over it?”

  Martin thought about the time when he’d mentally conjured the image of a calendar and his grandfather’s watch to go back a few hours to save Tanner from being shot.

  “Maybe, but if I do, I’ve yet to get a grasp on it.”

  “Interesting,” John said. He checked his watch, an old one, similar to the one Martin wore. “I’d love to stay and learn more about this, but I have business to attend to.”

  “Alice Stewart?” Martin asked.

  “Indeed,” he said, “though more precisely, Angela Stewart. I intend to save her. And related to that, I’d like to ask something of you, and that’s to let me handle it. I have experience in these matters. As I said, it’s what I do. The ship you asked about was the USS Eldridge, part of an unusual campaign called the Philadelphia Experiment. Look it up. I strongly suspect it has something to do with all of this, including your traveling. Now, I suggest you leave everything to me and get out of the hospital as soon as possible. Along those lines, you seem to be drawing attention as we speak.”

  Martin turned and saw two women, one a nurse or doctor and the other a possible visitor. The visitor was talking to the professional and pointing in Martin’s direction. Martin desperately wanted to keep talking to John. He wanted more information, but now was not the time.

  “Thanks,” he said. After that, he verbally gave John his phone number. Then, he turned and strode toward the elevators.

  A few minutes later, Martin drove out of the parking garage and turned east on 21st Street. When he reached the expressway, he continued in an easterly direction toward Broken Arrow. At the moment, he intended to go home where he hoped to find Susan and Luke waiting for him.

  He wondered if in John Rainbow’s setting things right for Angela Stewart, his world would also be made right. He didn’t believe that though. There was still Candy Barnes, himself, and Luke to consider. He suspected that for everything to be put back into proper order, all the past and future damages would have to be repaired.

  Martin made it as far as his driveway when it happened again. The shimmering curtain appeared, and everything dissolved.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  MARTIN

  May 4, 2014, 8:00 a.m.

  The neighborhood where Martin Taylor lived along with all the houses were turning into a colorful, wavering mist when his phone played its ringtone. Martin didn’t know how a phone call could be possible at a time like this, but when he activated the device and brought it to his ear, the voice of John Rainbow came through the speaker.

  “Martin, are you there?”

  “I guess I am, in a manner of speaking, but not for long. My world is evaporating. It’s happened before, and if it’s going to turn out the same, I’d rather avoid it, if possible.”

  “It sounds like you’re in the midst of a jump. Try to relax, concentrate on the destination and your mission. It has worked well for me.”

  “I don’t think you understand. It’s a dark and scary place, much like what I imagine purgatory might be, empty and expansive, completely devoid of warmth, even hope.”

  “It’s the time tunnel,” John said. “It takes a little getting used to.”

  “Forget getting used to it. How do I stop it? I’m in a good place here, and I’d like to stay.”

  “Don’t even think about it,” John said. “The idea of taking permanent residence in a fragment you helped create is not only bad, but potentially fatal. Trust me, it never ends well. Your fading-out episodes are evidence of that. However, if you concentrate on the mission, why you traveled there to begin with, you might stabilize it temporarily.”

  Martin scrambled for answers. He guessed if there had been a mission, it was to stop Doctor Stewart from taking the life of Angela Stewart. But John Rainbow had promised to take care of that. He closed his eyes and tried to concentrate, though his efforts were tainted with off-topic images related to Doctor Stewart.

  When Martin opened his eyes, the house had reappeared, though tagging along was the disturbing knowledge that he could not stay forever. He had already sensed as much, and John confirmed it.

  “All right,” he said, “I seem to have calmed things down a degree or two. Now what do I do?”

  “That depends on why you reached out to me earlier. While under duress of being caught and questioned by the hospital staff, you took the time to give me your phone number. You must have had a good reason for the action. What was so important?”

  “I don’t know,” Martin said, “unless being desperate for answers qualifies. I’m not sure how I’m doing this, and I definitely do not understand why it’s happening to me, but I suspect it has something to do with the Philadelphia Experiment you mentioned at the hospital.”

  “I think so, too. You are in more trouble than you know, Martin. We all are.”

  Martin hesitated and then added, “You’re not the only other traveler I’ve met, John. The other one is as dangerous a threat as I’ve ever encountered.”

  “You’re breaking up,” John said, “and your loss of concentration is understandable. When I initiated this jump, I also experienced a number of stray thoughts. There must be a reason. I suspect it has something to do with the one who originally caused the rift, a mystery traveler who I’ve been tracking for years.”

  “I might be able to help you with that,” Martin said. “His name is Doctor Jackson Stewart. He’s the one I was hoping to stop at the hospital. Do you know him?”

  Martin received no answer. “John, are you there?”

  There was only silence. The line had gone dead. Martin had no way of knowing whether John Rainbow got the information he’d tried to relay. Fighting an intuition that kept telling him to leave it alone, to walk away before any further damage could be done, Martin hit the garage door opener. As the overhead door rumbled into service, Martin scrambled from the car and ran for the door leading from the garage into the house. Like it or not, he was inv
olved in all of this. That’s what John had meant by a fragment Martin had created. The thought of one more kiss from Susan, however, and one more hug from Luke, overrode his judgement.

  Martin found the door unlocked, and he walked in without hesitation. Hoping to waste no more time, he hurried through the laundry area and peeked into Luke’s bedroom. It was empty. From there, he ran into the living area, calling out names as he stumbled along.

  He found no one. He searched the other rooms, though he knew it would be to no avail. The house was dead quiet and as empty of life as a cemetery. His fragment was destabilizing.

  John had told Martin he could bring temporary stability to his current situation by concentrating on his original mission. He had not taken it further. Martin wondered what the result would be if he actually had not finished his mission because he had not, not in entirety. What would happen then if the mission were still unresolved?

  Martin ran into his office and switched on the computer. Another idea John Rainbow had proposed was that there was possibly more to this mission than either of them had realized. It was the reason for his difficulty in concentrating on a single act. And whatever else was going on, Doctor Stewart was at the center of it.

  As soon as the computer came to life, Martin clicked on his Internet browser and typed in the name of Doctor Jackson Stewart. He didn’t immediately hit pay dirt, but a little digging soon offered some dividends. It seemed Doctor Stewart had recently made some sizable donations to charitable organizations. The information on what the donations were related to was rather vague. Martin tried digging deeper and soon realized he’d gone about as far as he could with it. But he couldn’t let it go. His senses were telling him he was on the right trail, and the only place he was going to find answers with the time he had was Doctor Stewart’s office.

  Concentrating on the idea that his mission was still ongoing, which seemed to bring a reasonable amount of stability, Martin switched off the computer. Then, he walked back through the house and returned to the garage. His efforts had not brought Susan and Luke back, but maybe he could get the information he was after. He backed the car from the garage and drove through the nearly empty neighborhood.