Time Trap
Page 1
TIME TRAP
Book Two: The Time Counselor Chronicles
Danele J. Rotharmel
Copyright 2016 Danele J. Rotharmel
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Cover Art by Joan Alley
Editing by Jacqueline Hopper
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are the product of the author’s imagination and used fictitiously.
Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means without the permission of Prism Book Group. Please purchase only authorized editions and do not participate in the electronic piracy of copyrighted material. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from The Living Bible, copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Published by Prism Book Group
ISBN-10:1-943104-56-5
ISBN-13:978-1-943104-56-7
First Edition, 2016
Published in the United States of America
Contact info: contact@prismbookgroup.com
http://www.prismbookgroup.com
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TIME TRAP
THE TIME COUNSELOR CHRONICLES:
INFORMATION ABOUT TEMCO
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
CHAPTER FORTY
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
CHAPTER FIFTY
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE
CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
CHAPTER FIFTY-SIX
CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
CHAPTER SIXTY
CHAPTER SIXTY-ONE
CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO
CHAPTER SIXTY-THREE
CHAPTER SIXTY-FOUR
CHAPTER SIXTY-FIVE
CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX
CHAPTER SIXTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER SIXTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER SIXTY-NINE
CHAPTER SEVENTY
EPILOGUE
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ALPHABETICAL LIST OF CHARACTERS
Alex Ableman:
Andrew Hamilton:
Angelina Ableman:
Bill Winston:
Brandon Fairbanks:
Cavan Kerry:
Crystal Stuart:
Dan (William) Ableman:
Deleena Ableman:
Doraline Miller:
Drake Procerus:
Gil Montgomery Ableman:
Earnest Jacobson (Grandpop):
Ember, Dr.:
Jay Ableman:
Jessica Hamilton:
Jill Kingston:
Katie Warner:
Kenny Kingston:
Kyle Carson:
Laura Nelson:
Lorelei Matthews:
Marc Kerry:
McCormich, Dr.:
Nathan Ableman:
Nicki Cunning:
Nicole Cunning:
Fay Hennly:
Peter Matthews:
Phoebe Reynolds:
Poppa (The Facilitator):
Rick Olsen:
Ryan Adams:
Sam Ableman:
Sue Ableman:
Twinkles:
Thomas Moosly:
Wade Kingston:
Zara Ableman:
Zeke Masters:
GLOSSARY OF RELATIONSHIPS
Bill Winston—Sue Winston (Ableman):
Dr. Dan Winston Ableman—Gillyflower Meadowlark Montgomery Ableman:
Alex Ableman—Phoebe Reynolds:
Director Peter Matthews—Dr. Laura Nelson:
Zeke Masters—Nicole Cunning:
Wade Kingston—Jill Kingston:
GLOSSARY OF TEMCO EMPLOYEES
GLOSSARY OF LOCATIONS
Archives:
Charlesberg, Colorado:
Charles Shipley Medical Center:
Creekdale, Colorado:
File Room:
Genetic Research Division:
Hawking Hall:
Mandal Lab:
Student Union:
National Science University (NSU):
TEMCO Headquarters:
TEMCO Lab:
Washington D.C.:
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
Alpha-Blue:
Cataclysmic Failure:
Class-One Alpha-Blue:
Case Subject:
Code of Conduct 5th Edition:
D-day (Disaster Day):
Facilitator:
Field Exam:
Field Partner:
Five Immutable Laws: (Excerpt from Code of Conduct 5th Edition)
GAP Search:
Game Cartridge:
GAP (Grappling And Positioning Computer):
NewGen Crew:
Orals:
Professional Time Counselor (Time Surfer):
Scan Emitter:
Senior Cadet:
Staging Platform:
Temporal Black Hole:
Temporal Counseling Program (TEMCO):
Time Crime:
Time Portal:
Time Tsunami:
Timewave (GAP wave):
Time Surf:
Tipping Point:
Trapper Treatise:
Wave Trapper:
TIME SEARCH TEASER
THE TIME COUNSELOR CHRONICLES:
Time Tsunami
Time Trap
Time Search (coming soon)
For Darla, Donita, and Kim. If a triple-braided cord is not easily broken, what does that say about a quadruple-braided one? I’m blessed to have you as sisters.
INFORMATION ABOUT TEMCO
Statement of Purpose:
The Temporal Counseling Program exists to train time-traveling cadets to intervene in the lives of troubled individuals before they embark on a career of crime.
Program Description:
All TEMCO cadets must go through a rigorous training prog
ram culminating in a field exam. Upon earning their license, a cadet may join TEMCO as a professor, a lab tech, or a professional time counselor.
Brief History of TEMCO:
Dan Ableman, the inventor of time travel, captured his first timewave during college. His friends Peter Matthews and Laura Nelson, helped him perfect his design and set up TEMCO operations at National Science University in Washington D.C.
Several years after TEMCO was established, Gil Montgomery, one of Dan’s student cadets, was sent back through time to dissipate a Time Tsunami. Her assignment was to counsel Dan as a ten-year-old boy. Gil managed to save Dan and his family from a serial killer, but her efforts almost cost her life. Later, she and Dan married and became field partners. Further information may be found in book one, Time Tsunami.
Periodically, Poppa and Twinkles—Dan and Gil from forty-five years into the future—will arrive to help the TEMCO staff solve problems. They also act as facilitators and deliver “game cartridges” to case subjects. GAP technology is continuing to improve. Currently, TEMCO utilizes a Staging Platform and cartridges to facilitate time surfs, but eventually, Dan will invent the streamlined Wave Trappers utilized by Poppa and his NewGen Crew.
Character lists and glossaries are located at the end of the book.
“Will you walk into my parlor?” said the Spider to the Fly.
Mary Howitt
CHAPTER ONE
May 21st, 11:58 p.m.
Hawking Hall, Washington D.C.
Four years after Gil Ableman’s field exam
Wade Kingston stumbled against the wall. Breathing heavily, he raised a hand to his temple and felt blood. Behind him, he could hear footsteps. Forcing his body to move, he lurched down the hall. His fingers fumbled frantically as he dialed his phone. He’d left a message on Dan Ableman’s machine, but he didn’t know when Dan would receive it—he needed to contact Peter.
“This is W-Wade,” he said in a slurred voice as the call connected. “We’ve got trouble at TEMCO. I was working late, and I saw—”
“You have reached the voicemail box of Director Peter Matthews. I’m unable to take your call right now, but if you leave—”
With an impatient motion, Wade disconnected the call and dialed Laura Nelson’s number. As it rang, he staggered toward the marble staircase leading to the lobby. Suddenly, footsteps rushed toward him. Swinging around, Wade raised his arm to protect his head. A baseball bat slammed across his chest. Wade’s phone flew from his hand and fell to the landing below.
Seeing the bat being raised again, Wade stepped back. His feet found nothing but air. In a blind panic, he reached for the banister but missed. White light flashed behind his eyes as he plummeted down the stairs and landed in a heap at the bottom. Looking up, he saw his attacker approaching with the baseball bat in hand.
“You just had to stick your nose where it didn’t belong, didn’t you?” a voice hissed.
Wade tried to get up but couldn’t move his legs. Rolling onto his belly, he dragged himself across the floor. The exit sign blurred. Pain was making him nauseous. Choking on blood, he continued to drag his useless lower limbs toward the door.
Footsteps approached. “Do you honestly think you’re going anywhere?”
Wade tried to drag himself a few more inches, but steel-toed boots stepped on his fingers. Looking up, he saw the baseball bat hurtling toward his head.
CHAPTER TWO
May 22nd, 4:00 p.m.
TEMCO lab, Hawking Hall
“Wade’s still not answering,” Director Peter Matthews said, hanging up the phone.
“Where do you think he is?” Dr. Laura Nelson asked, glancing at the two cadets sitting by the wall. “Drake and Phoebe have been waiting for over two hours. What do we do?”
Peter made an impatient sound. “We proceed with their field exam. This is getting ridiculous.”
“Do you want to try Wade’s wife first?”
“There’s no point,” he replied. “Jill and little Kenny are visiting relatives. Wade was going to join them after his trainees completed their exam.”
“But—”
Peter shook his head. “We need to get started. This surf has already been postponed twice due to scheduling problems. I’m not delaying it again because the cadets’ advisor hasn’t shown up. TEMCO should already be shut down for the summer. We can fill Wade in when he—”
Across the lab, Zeke Masters interrupted. “Peter, I’m receiving an unscheduled transmission!”
Hurrying over to the GAP computer, Peter leaned over the lab tech’s shoulder and looked at the monitor. “Who is it from?”
Zeke’s fingers flew across his keyboard. “Doc and Mrs. Ableman.”
“It’s about time!” Peter exclaimed. “Put it through.” He motioned for Laura and nodded at her mute inquiry. “Dan and Gil are finally making contact.”
Laura beamed as the Staging Platform shimmered with a faint blue glow. “I can’t wait to hear what they’ve been up to.”
“Me too,” Peter said, rubbing the back of his neck. “But I’m also feeling somewhat sympathetic toward Thomas’s views about the importance of protocol. If Dan wasn’t the boss, I’d give him a reprimand. A fifty-two-hour contact delay is stretching things a bit.”
The blue glow deepened as a temporal portal was firmly established. Behind the translucent wave, the form of Dr. Dan Ableman, the inventor of time travel and the founder of TEMCO, came into focus.
Peter blinked rapidly. Dan was hunched in front of the portal with a desperate look in his eyes. His hair was sticking up in wild tufts, and there was a bruise across his cheek. Seeing blood on Dan’s shirt, he asked in alarm, “What’s wrong?”
“We had an unexpected spot of trouble.”
“Where’s Gil? Is she hurt?”
Behind Dr. Ableman’s shoulder, Gil’s voice could be heard. “Dan, stop stringing this out. Explain things.”
Dan turned to address someone blocked from view. “Honey, that’s what I’m trying to do.”
As Dan moved to one side, Peter could see Gil lying on a bed. Her normally immaculate hair was fanned in limp waves across a pillow. Her cheeks were pale and she was gasping for air.
“Are you all right?” Laura asked.
“Sure,” Gil replied breathlessly. “Like Dan said, we just had a spot of unexpected trouble.”
“What’s wrong with her?” Peter demanded as Dan brushed hair away from Gil’s forehead. “Speak to us!”
Gil gave a weak chuckle. Peter watched as Dan kissed her lips and picked up a bundle lying on her chest. Suddenly, the bundle began to move.
“What in the world…?” Peter mumbled.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, Dan unwrapped the bundle and exposed the face of a sleeping infant. “Meet Daniel Junior,” he announced with tender pride.
“A b-baby?” Peter stuttered. “Gil went into labor?”
Dan grinned. “Did she ever! We’ve decided we don’t like the name ‘Junior’ so we’re calling this little guy ‘Jay’ for short.”
Gil spoke up. “That’s spelled ‘J.A.Y.’ not ‘J.’ I think single initial names are pretentious.”
Peter’s lips twitched at Gil’s declaration, but seeing her serious face, he simply nodded and avoided commenting. Grabbing Laura’s hand, he stood in stunned silence as Jay began to wiggle in his father’s arms.
Gil smiled as the baby waved tiny fists. “Speechless?”
“You could say that,” Laura replied. “How on earth did this happen?”
“If you don’t know by now”—Gil giggled—“I don’t wanna be the one to tell you.”
“Stop fooling around,” Laura said firmly. “You know what I mean. I thought you weren’t due for several more weeks.”
“I wasn’t,” Gil replied. “The baby came early. It was just one of those things.”
“Gillyflower Meadowlark,” Dan said in a low, chiding tone, “stop fudging. You know exactly why you went into labor.”
“That teeny little mo
torcycle ride couldn’t have hurt a fly,” Gil replied with a snort.
“That teeny little ride lasted fifteen minutes and took place over plowed fields. I could see you bouncing around for miles!”
“Stop being so melodramatic,” Gil insisted, giving Dan a glare. “A baby will come when a baby will come! The motorcycle had nothing to do with it.”
Peter swallowed a grin as Dan said dryly, “I can’t believe you’re calling me melodramatic after what I’ve been through on your behalf.”
Gil gave her husband’s shoulder a shove. “After what you’ve been through? Give me a break!” Rolling her eyes, she muttered a single, disgusted word: “Men!”
Dan laughed and captured his wife’s hand. “We’ll call it even. Just make sure the next time a baby arrives, someone else is around to deliver it.”
Peter blinked. “You delivered the baby?”
“I sure did, with some help from Summer.”
“Where is Summer?” Laura asked.
A pretty girl of sixteen stepped into view. “I’m here, Dr. Nelson. I’m afraid it’s my fault things panned out like they did. I was sneaking away to meet my boyfriend when Gil chased me down with the motorcycle. We were at my dad’s fishing cabin when the baby came.” She looked down at her hands. “We just got back to my house a few minutes ago. It’s my fault Gil couldn’t get to the hospital in time.”
“Don’t talk such utter rubbish,” Gil said sharply. “A baby will come when a baby will come. It’s a good thing you were there.”
“I’ll agree with that,” Dan muttered fervently.
Gil looked through the portal. “Dan did splendidly when it came down to actually delivering the baby, but when my water broke, he was absolutely beside himself. I never saw a man go so completely to pieces! I had to slap him to calm him down! Actually slap him!”
“You mean you slugged me,” Dan corrected. “You have a mean right hook.”
“I do not!” Gil sputtered indignantly. “I slapped you to stop your gibbering and to get you to focus. The nerve of you saying that I hit you!”
Looking through the portal, Dan cocked an eyebrow and turned his cheek to show off his bruise. “Let’s let Summer decide. Was it a slug or a slap?”
Summer’s lips twitched. “Let’s just say it was a closed-fisted slap delivered with quite a bit of oomph.”
“Well,” confessed Gil as Dan began to laugh, “maybe I did slap you a bit harder than I intended. It was a stressful situation, and I wasn’t quite myself.” She stroked Dan’s bruise. “Forgive me?”