“Hello, Mr. President.” In response to his question, she said, “Tony recorded everything, sir. Kim left the computer in the car. They were interested, wanted to know how things worked. We'll look at the data on the plane, and we'll show you whatever we have when we get back. Yes, sir. We'll see you then.”
* * *
“I HOPE they haven't been that stupid. We're not a threat to the president or national security.” Looking at Ashley, I said, “Well you and I aren't, Lin. Can't be sure about Ash.”
“I can't believe you said that,” Ashley sputtered. “Say stuff like that and if they do have a bug, the president is going to have me disappeared.”
I shouted, “I was just kidding, Mr. President.”
Although she knew Ash and I were engaged in harmless banter, Linda sensed that there was a serious if not sinister possibility which neither Ash nor I was seeing. No longer willing to listen, Linda said, “Honestly! You two are nuts! What if they HAVE bugged us? What are we supposed to do?”
“Nothing different,” I said. “We haven't done anything wrong. We're dealing with something that no one understands. They can't seriously think we're dangerous.”
“But Fritz,” said Linda, “they ARE obviously worried. They came here last night. And came back today. There's nothing usual about any of this.” I heard the intensity as her sentences sped up.
“Lin, all that may be true, but I'm not going to get paranoid about it. I'm still wondering what the trigger is for opening the portal. I'll leave the paranoia to Ash.”
* * *
“DO YOU THINK you got anything, Tony?” Kim asked from across the aisle.
“We'll know in a minute.” He sat back and found himself sucked into the soft seat.
The plane reached cruising altitude, bright sun shining through the right side windows. “We don't have much time now. We'll be home in a few minutes. This plane really moves,” said Tony. He took out the scanner, connected it to the laptop, and downloaded the images. They both watched. Kim turned in her seat, and told Secretary Stevens they had found something.
Without getting up, the secretary said, “We'll look at it together when we land. We're going back to the White House, and we can show the president. But I want to see what you have first.”
* * *
ASHLEY SAID, “I don't know about you, but I'm hungry. Got anything to eat?”
“You brought a dozen bagels,” I said, pointing to the crumpled brown bag on the counter.
“Yeah, so I had that for breakfast.”
I said, “If you keep eating our food, we'll go broke.” As I spoke, I wrote on a piece of scrap paper, “Let's go out for lunch.” Linda and Ashley nodded. Then I said, just in case, “Nah, expense be damned. Let's go out. I have a craving for a pastrami sandwich.”
* * *
IN ANOTHER BLACK Suburban parked beside the plane, the secretary looked at Kim's computer. She said, “Kim, can you slow down the images?” She did. “Good! Now you know why I hired you guys. James, we need to go to the lab. Tony has to pick up some equipment.”
Tom took his phone from his pocket. “We're on the ground, Mr. President. We're stopping by the lab, and we'll be there in about an hour.” James started the car. “Yes, sir. We'll see you then.” He disconnected. “James, we need to stop in Foggy Bottom on the way. POTUS wants a pastrami sandwich.”
* * *
“I WONDER IF they found anything,” I said. “They ought to be back by now.” I took a bite out of a heaping pastrami on rye. “This is so good,” I said with my mouth full.
Ashley took a bite of his and said, “It's not polite to talk with your mouth full.” Linda raised her eyebrows and shook her head. Over the years, her head shaking had been a regular part of our relationship.
“Okay, Ash, assume you're right that electricity is the key. They were looking for electrical images. So where would electrical charges come from?” I asked.
Ashley was chewing, but Linda said, “The electricity comes from you. The static on the doorknob opens the portal or signals that it's open. What else would conduct electricity?” She has a way of directing a conversation by asking the right question.
“Water, metal,” said Ash, thinking of options. “There's no water in the classroom. So what about metal? What's metal in the class?”
“Besides your robotic self?” I said.
“Very funny,” said Ash. “Besides, I'm not metal. I'm a new age polymer.”
“You must be because no one could eat like you and never gain a pound.”
Ash winked. “It's my workout routine.”
“Okay, okay,” said Linda. “Metal in the classroom. Desks, window latches, the door hardware, the cabinets, bookcases. What else?”
We stopped talking, thinking while eating.
“I want a pickle,” said Ashley.
“Fritz, metal probably has something to do with opening the portal,” Linda said. “But that still doesn't explain where you went. The charge may get you through, but why Appomattox, New York? Why the Oval Office?”
I put down my sandwich. “At first, I thought it had to do with the date. But that doesn't work. Triangle was in March and the Ford thing was in May. But like I said before, I was reading about the Triangle Fire in a book, and I was…” Suspended between words, I visualized the book.
“What?”
“You know how I use paperclips as bookmarks.”
“Metal. Again.”
“I've got to get back into my classroom.”
Ashley asked why.
Linda said, “He uses paperclips to mark pages.”
“Metal!” said Ash. “And?”
“Okay, picklehead, if it's metal that opens the portal, and I use paperclips to mark books, then maybe that's how I got to Appomattox and Triangle.” I pondered for a moment. “But I don't have any books about the Oval Office or the White House.”
“What about the president?” Linda asked. “Do you have any books about him—or the one he wrote?”
“We need to get back in the classroom,” said Ashley, about to bite a pickle.
* * *
THE SECRETARY, her staffers, and the two agents entered the Oval Office. The president, gesturing that they should all sit, walked to one of the tan couches. “So?” he asked.
Tony and Kim set up the booster and the computer on the coffee table in front of the president and then sat on the floor, ready to start. James and Tom stood behind them. The office door opened again. Jim Koppler. “Sorry to interrupt, Mr. President. I heard the secretary was back. May I watch?”
“Grab a seat.” Though he couldn't say anything, the president wasn't happy. Talk about uninvited guests, he thought.
The secretary said, “Mr. President, we haven't seen this with the booster yet, but there are images or at least some electrical impulses detected. Tony built an image booster, and Kim set the computer to let us change speeds on the images.”
“Great. So let's see it.”
Tony switched on the booster, and the screen came alive. The president watched the scanner image pass over the classroom door. “Stop it there,” said the president at the same spot where Tony had first reacted. “What's this?” he said.
“I'm scanning the door from the inside, sir. Kim, can you back up the image a few clicks?” A twinkle glimmered, and she stopped the image. Multiple human forms appeared in the doorway, none of them discernible. A vague image of two feet pointing skyward. Attached to legs that stopped at the knees. The president made a note on a new sheet, and flipped back to the prior page.
“Can you focus on any of these?” asked the president.
“I'll try sir, but we haven't done this before.” She hit a number of keys and the images grew larger but were still not identifiable.
“Keep going,” said the president. The screen showed Russell's desk, and once again, there was a flash of light. Kim reversed the recording and tapped it forward until the light flashed.
“The scanner was on the middle drawer
?” asked the president. “Can you go frame by frame?”
Kim moved the recording, one frame at a time, until the flash disappeared.
“There's nothing here, Mr. President.” She tapped another key, and the recording resumed its normal speed. When the light occurred, Kim stopped the computer and reversed the pictures.
“Can you make it clearer?” asked the president.
She did. “What is that?” the president asked.
“It looks like kids sitting at desks, Mr. President, but there's a background image I can't make out,” said Tony. Kim tried to enhance the picture still more, but the background didn't come into focus.
“Well, you got something, but who knows what it is. It doesn't seem to show anything that would help,” said the president.
The secretary said, “Mr. President, I think we'll need to massage this in the lab. And we do have some positives, particularly Mr. Russell's desk. Let's get another look at it.” The president studied Secretary Stevens, considering that option, while the others watched him.
Jim Koppler said, “Sir, we could switch the desk and bring it here. I'm certain we could do it without Mr. Russell's realizing it. We could do it at night.”
“I don't know. If the desk is tied to the portal, wouldn't taking it disrupt the connection?”
“Why do we even care, Mr. President?” said Koppler. “If we get rid of the desk, we solve the problem.” The president held up his hand to stop him.
Tony responded, “I could go in at night and take more readings, Mr. President, Madam Secretary.”
“We only have until Monday before they get back in there,” said the national security advisor.
The secretary said, “How about this? Let us look at the data more carefully over at the lab. We can go back tomorrow night if we need to.”
* * *
“I WONDER IF the president will call us if they find anything,” said Linda.
“If they find something, he may call, but I doubt it. I need to get back in. I want to look at the books, see what I marked. I want to know how that portal works.”
Ashley interrupted. “It sounds like you want to go through the portal again on your own terms.” He picked up another pickle.
“Ashley, the only way to prevent another classroom episode is to know what causes it. If I can figure it out, then I can stop it.”
Linda, knowing that Ash was right, said, “Fritz, you can keep the kids out, but you want to go through again. Don't deny it. I know you too well. We both do. Promise me you won't go through if you find out how. What if you can't get back?”
“I promise,” I said, a knee-jerk answer. I'm sure Linda and Ashley knew I was lying. I slid off the vinyl seat and said, “Let's go home.”
Linda drove and I sat in the back seat, listening. Ashley suggested calling George to open up again. “I think he's intimidated. His sense of order is disrupted.”
Linda said, “Ash, he's concerned about the kids.”
“Lois is concerned about the kids. George is concerned about how this makes him look,” he said as Linda turned into the driveway.
Getting out of the car, I said, “George wants this to end.” I glanced at the lawn, adding cutting the grass to my to-do list. “I'll tell him I may have a solution. He'll open up. My problem is I don't want him there. I'll call him and tell him I'll pick up the key. I really just want to look at the books and any other metal objects in there.”
“What if he wants to come?” asked Linda. “Because I'm coming too.”
“Me too,” said Ash.
“Then I guess it doesn't matter if he comes.” I was outvoted. I knew Linda wouldn't give in. I dialed, and Lois picked up. “Hi, Lois. It's Fritz Russell. Is George there?”
She said, “I was wondering how long it would be before you called. You want to go back into the room, don't you?”
“Lois, you always amaze me.”
“We'll be at the school in fifteen minutes,” and she hung up.
I just stared at my phone. “Fifteen minutes,” I said. “But they'll be there”
“That was easy,” said Ashley.
Chapter Thirteen
AT THE ENERGY DEPARTMENT laboratory, the secretary and her assistants viewed the recording. It was grainy and staticky. “Like a 1950s TV show,” Tony commented. Secretary Stevens thought an antenna might clear up the pictures and asked how else they might try to enhance the recording. Tony said, “We're definitely going to need to get back in. I think Kim and I can put together a low frequency antenna, but we need new data. We can't do it with what we have.”
At the White House, Tom told the president that Fritz and the others were going back into the school.
“I'm not surprised,” said the First Lady.
“Me neither,” said the president. A yellow pad sat on the coffee table in front of him.
Tom continued, “They are looking at metal objects and books. Oh, and they suspect we've bugged them.”
“You didn't bug them all, did you?” asked the First Lady.
The president nodded yes, not looking at her.
“Why? They're not trying to hurt anyone.”
“I don't want to hurt them, but I don't want uninvited visitors again, either. We're trying to contain this.”
She shook her head. “That's just a bad idea. If they find the bugs, they'll never trust us.”
Tom said, “They're also concerned about your 'disappearing' comment, sir.”
“Yeah, that was dumb. But I'm the good guy.”
“They might not think so,” said the First Lady.
* * *
WHEN WE REACHED my classroom, I hesitated. There was no shock. George asked what I had found. Without answering, I went to the bookcase and started pulling out books and stacking them on the window sill. I told him I wasn't concerned about the portal but with how we ended up where we went. I began opening whatever had paperclips.
George said, “You NEED to be concerned about the portal, Fritz. I can't risk the school getting mixed up in this.” I didn't say anything, but my back and neck muscles yelled at him.
Crossing to the stack of books, Lois asked, “What are you looking for?”
“Paperclips.” She picked up a book.
“What do paperclips have to do with this?”
“I'm trying to see if I marked the pages for Appomattox and the fire. I know I did in the Auto Workers book. Electricity is involved somehow, and metal conducts electricity. If I marked the locations with paperclips, it could have had something to do with it.”
“Here's one,” said Ashley. He flipped open to the page. “It's Fort Sumter.”
Linda, thumbing through another Civil War book said, “I have one here at … OH,” she exclaimed. “Andersonville.” Lois looked like she'd never heard of it.
“Andersonville was the Georgia prison camp for Union soldiers,” I explained. “Over 12,000 died in brutal conditions. Good we didn't go there.” She gave me her I-told-you-so stare.
“Here it is, Fritz,” said Linda, holding up another open book. “Appomattox. Lee surrenders.”
I took the book. A paperclip marked four pages about Grant meeting Lee. I flipped to the last page connected by the paperclip and read about the aftermath of the surrender, including Union soldiers providing food to Lee's men. I checked the title, then looked at the bookcase. “Lin, where was this book?”
“Right here, bottom of the pile,” she said, pointing to the corner of my desk.
I looked at another book from the desk. Triangle: The Fire that Changed America. Another paperclip. I turned to those pages. “I clipped these because Frances Perkins, FDR's Labor secretary, the first woman in the cabinet, was an eyewitness.” I wanted to discuss the impact of the fire on public policy and the law with the kids. “Did you know that she was the force behind the creation of Social Security?”
Lois said, “Always teaching!” She smiled at me, and I appreciated her comment, especially in front of George. I smiled back.
; “Well what have we accomplished?” said George.
“Nothing yet,” I said. I examined everything on the desk, one piece at a time, until I reached the bottom of the pile. “Here it is.”
“What?” Linda asked.
I held out a travel brochure for the White House tour. A photo of the Oval Office had a paperclip on it. “So it really does look like my paperclips have something to do with it.” I went to the stack of books on the windowsill. “None of these,” I said. I looked at the desk again. It wasn't messy, but books and papers covered the perimeter. “I need to take all the paperclips off everything on the desk.” I took out my desk key to unlock the desk, but it was already open. I had forgotten to lock it again when we were there earlier.
“Do you want us to help?” asked Ash.
“Yes. And stick in scraps of paper as placeholders.” My tone of voice registered. I was barking like George. Looking at them, I said, “Sorry. Thanks.” They took books and papers, and the paperclips piled up. I opened the drawers and looked for more clipped items, but there were none. “Interesting,” I said.
“What is?” asked George.
“I'm not sure, George, but it seems that the only paperclips are ON the desk.”
“There are paperclips in books on the shelf, Fritz,” said Linda.
I glanced at the bookcase. “But not involving places we went. I think that means the connection includes the desktop somehow.” I tapped it a couple of times.
“But there are at least fifty clips in the stuff on the desk,” said Ash.
“It doesn't seem random,” said Linda.
“Maybe, maybe not.” Linda told me my forehead looked like a ploughed field. I stared at the top of the desk, wondering how the connections were made. I walked to the door and then looked from the door to the desk.
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