I arrived at Riverboro High early by fifteen minutes, the last to show up. Everyone's anxiety surfaced. The president paced the hallway. Eric had his pool set up, the planes had been called, and George had a pink hue. Greetings were subdued, waiting for Eric to open the door.
“Dr. Barclay, these are my notes from last night. See if you can spot any mistakes.” I read them quickly and marked from the details that he might have a photographic memory. He even remembered our dinner conversations.
“Nothing I can see, but I told you before, I haven't really looked at the physics angle of the portal. Just try it and see.”
“Does anyone want to come with me?”
“I met Lee a couple of times,” said George. “Most of us have.” He glanced at the faces and nodding heads. “Why don't we all go?”
Eric said if Lee was alone, we might frighten him. He might not have met anyone yet. “Then I'll go with you,” George said. His color returned to normal and his warrior demeanor shone like armor. “Open it, Eric and let's see what we have here.”
Dirt and grass replaced the classroom, trees and the strange mixed smell of spring flowers and sulfur wafted into the hall. George took a stutter-step and crossed the threshold, Eric on his heels. The door clicked shut.
As I've said, waiting is the hard part. Fortunately, we didn't wait long. Eric reported that the general had asked if he had forgotten something. So he acknowledged that Fritz and his classes had been there, but didn't know George or anything else about the portal.
“I didn't want to say too much. I don't want to change something that will make it harder to find them.” He wanted to explore the places in the books again from here rather than his lab. Different starting points might have left a trail.
“I have an idea,” Tony said. “Mr. President, I have my detection rods and my recorder with me. But no one knows I've kept them. I know I should have told someone, but…”
“Where are they?” When Tony said they were in his car, the president said, “Go get them. We'll worry about the protocols later.”
Eric asked what he was talking about. Tony said he'd explain once he could show him. The story of how Tony had been able to detect images of people in an empty space based on electrical residue amazed even those of us who had been included.
“We can go inside and see if I can capture images of where Fritz stopped showing up. That way we can find where he actually ended up.” Ashley had mentioned Tony's “gizmos” before he disappeared. Now I understood what he meant. I suggested that we replicate the entire scenario, which meant transferring to Ash's classroom.
“I've had a substitute teacher in Ashley's room since November,” said George. “Will that matter?”
“It shouldn't unless she's done something to his desk.”
“She complained about the indelible markings, said it disturbed her to have a messy desk. Ashley's desk is in another classroom that nobody uses.”
“Good thing we're doing this now, but we can't keep moving it every time we're here,” said Tony.
I told them that Ashley and Fritz had experimented with the desk and Fritz said it was the desk not the room.
“I remember. He was coming to get me,” the president said.
Eric listened and made some notes. He said if we could use it once, today, he'd try to get everywhere Fritz might be. “Can we store it nearby?”
“Across the hall. The Summit room, I call it,” said George. “I haven't changed it, but we've used it for meetings. We can keep Ashley's desk in there for now.”
When we finally had all the pieces on the chess board—I know Ash would appreciate the analogy—Eric and Tony began the search again. Eric skipped the Wright Brothers and since Hitler was still alive, he moved on. I held the door when they stepped next to General Longstreet and slammed it shut as soon as they ran back. The general hadn't seen them come through, but Tony waving his long wands had attracted guards who yelled. I held the door for the next entry, and they stepped into a downpour, the retreat from Gettysburg. Both were soaked and dripping, but the weather allowed Tony to take his time. While they dried off, Linda wiped the floor, seeing George get agitated with no clean-up crew available.
Eric set up the Koppler book next. In spite of Linda's efforts, he still tracked water into the classroom. When I opened the door, shots rang through the opening. I shut the door before they got in. Eric said to open it, that he would be okay. The view became clear, that of three bodies on the ground. Tony waved his sticks, and they both returned, again leaving tracks at the doorway.
“That was weird,” Eric said. “The portal got foggy, like a haze or a cloud. I wonder if that's important.”
Tony said, “I could swear I saw another portal rectangle just as we were leaving. Over behind some bushes.”
Linda asked, “What do you think that means?”
“I need to think about all of this. It didn't look like that the last time I went in. Let's keep going.”
When he opened next, Winston Churchill looked squarely at me. “They've both been here. Mr. Gilbert said Mr. Russell was lost. I presume you are searching for them still. Hello, young man, I've seen you before. Would you all like to come in?”
“We're tracking Mr. Russell's last known location,” said Eric. “If you wouldn't mind, just a couple of minutes and we'll be gone.”
“While you perform your experiments, may I offer you all some tea, or perhaps something a bit more lively?”
“Thank you, sir,” said Tony, “but we're trying to avoid any contamination or interference. More bodies would mess us up.”
“Mess you up? I must remember that, for a speech. Interesting turn of phrase. Oh well, some other time. Do give your president my regards.”
“I'm right here, Mr. Prime Minister. Good to see you again. So you've been elected again, I see.”
“Not yet. Officially, you and I haven't met. But whatever you've done, I'm able to see a bit of my own future.”
“We're done, Mr. Churchill,” said Eric. “Thanks.”
Churchill waved, and as they stepped toward the portal, he said, “Good luck. And KBO.”
When the door closed, I asked what had happened. “How could he know you if he's not met you?”
“What does KBO mean?” George asked.
The time to discuss what had just happened needed to occur later. First, Eric wanted to finish up this round of the search. He opened the door again. Tony saw the crowd, brandished the wands and vanished from Dallas, aware he had been spotted by what he assumed to be secret service agents.
“If Fritz came here, he wouldn't have gone far. Too many people would have seen the portal,” Tony said. Linda agreed. She said that a picture like the one from the Ford factory the day Fritz found the portal might become the latest JFK assassination conspiracy news.
The portal next opened to Ben Franklin's house in Philadelphia. Franklin's surprise evaporated when he saw the president in the doorway. “Welcome, Mr. President. I've just arrived home from New Jersey. I have nothing to offer you, I'm afraid.”
“We'll only be here for a moment, Dr. Franklin. We are looking for Mr. Russell and Mr. Gilbert. Have you seen them?” Franklin said he hadn't seen Fritz since his last visit with the president. “I've been away for many years.”
“Then we'll leave you to recover from your travels, sir. Good to see you again.”
When the door closed, Tony said the last trip wasn't necessary. Fritz hadn't seen Franklin so Lincoln could be skipped. The president asked if Eric would be willing to go to the last trip anyway. He said he'd like to see Lincoln. Eric said he would, but Tony said that he would be tempting fate in case something went wrong. The president let out a sigh, but agreed. Tony then said his next job was to analyze the data.
Before we left, we made sure everything was back in place for school the next day. Although we had been at the school early, we left at mid-afternoon. Linda invited everyone to her house, where Emily welcomed us with lunch.
The qu
estions flew at Eric and Tony like a swarm of bees. To me, the most pressing one continued to be where did Fritz go? I had a feeling that wherever he was, Ashley would be nearby. Eric took his notes to the sunroom to compare these portal trips with his lab, and consider what differences there might be.
I went to him and asked if the hazy portal might have been another universe. And Churchill knowing his future, did he cross one of the bridges between dimensions?
“I can't prove it, but that seems reasonable. What I'm trying to figure out is what we did to trigger it. And if it is another universe, how will I ever find them?”
“Let's ask Tony. This is his bailiwick too.”
With a room full of listeners, Tony and Eric discussed possible inter-dimensional travel as the answer to what we'd witnessed, but Eric said he didn't know why it happened here and not in his previous trips. Tony said again that he saw another fluorescent rectangle, which he believed had to be Fritz. No one had any new ideas, but agreed to try again if the storms came later in the week. Since Monday was a workday, I hoped I could get back to Riverboro in time.
Chapter 49
Linda
WHEN THE HOUSE finally cleared, Mom and I sat at the kitchen table and talked about how close we were to finding a solution. I'd asked Eric to stop by the shop after he'd studied his notes. He said he'd see me tomorrow. I asked Mom what she thought I could expect if Fritz came home.
“What happens will be up to you. You know what's happened here, but you have no idea what he's been through. If you're sure you want him back, then you'll have a lot of apologizing and making nice to do, maybe for a long time. You both will need to get to know each other again.”
“What if he doesn't want to?”
“Cross that bridge then, Linda. Worrying serves no purpose. You have work to do now, TJ, the shop…”
“And the house. I know. Thanks, Mom.”
The storms came as predicted on Thursday evening. Jane said she would try to come, but a required meeting on Friday might make her trip impossible. She said what I was also thinking—we both wished we had the portal to use.
Tony didn't have the same restrictions, and had spent the week studying the local nuclear plants, for what he didn't say, and I didn't care. As long as he was here. He said he'd completed his analysis of the trip he and Eric took. We all met at the school, as the first rumble passed overhead.
Eric said he wanted to try a couple of places, especially where General Lee and Fritz might be together. He also suggested we keep our cell phone cameras ready to download pictures. He said he thought if we got them to a printer quickly, we could preserve the images. Tony and he had discussed the electrical effects, which were consistent with the image results Tony had detected.
Before going in, Tony said the data convinced him that Fritz entered the portal at the Koppler book. Fritz stood out more in this one image, and better defined than in the others.
“So why go anywhere else?” I asked.
“He would have used his portal to leave. But I don't know where he went after that. Remember Jane's visit from another version of Ashley. We're dealing with more than one universe, I'm sure.”
Eric agreed. “That's why I want to follow the trail you and Dr. Barclay believe is most likely.”
My phone interrupted the explanation. Jane asked if Eric could use his portal to come and get her. “I'll send a picture to your phone. Can you print it at the school?”
George took us into a classroom that had a printer. Tony had brought his laptop to show us the images, so he hooked up the printer. I don't know where she was, but the picture was clear enough, so Eric set it on Ashley's desk, and in a second, Jane crossed to the hallway.
“Shut it. Quick.” She sighed with relief when the door clicked. “I heard footsteps.”
As she was greeting everyone, she backed into the pool and water sloshed on the floor. Eric pulled her away. “Water and power don't mix,” he said.
“I'll get a mop,” George said. “I might as well be doing something useful.”
“Okay, Eric. Let's give it a try,” said the president. The small crowd in the hallway anticipated Eric's next step. He reached to the generator to turn it on, slipped in the puddle and fell in. George returned with the mop and a package of paper towels.
“What did I miss?” Lois repeated the past few minutes. “You're all right, aren't you, Eric? I don't want to file an accident report.” He waited for the deadpan faces he expected from his intended uncaring comment, and then he laughed. Lois rolled her eyes.
“Do you feel like doing this, Eric?” the president asked.
“I'll be okay. I'm ready.” He reached for the door.
Standing at the door frame, we watched General Lee backing his horse from in front of a house. Darting from the far side, two men were recognizable, so completely out of place in 1865.
“Quick. Take pictures and print them.” We saw Fritz and Ashley trail leisurely behind the departing Confederate delegation, until they sank below a hill. “I need to get to that hill. Get me a picture.” He closed the portal.
“Was that really them?” I asked.
Jane said, “Who else could it be?”
“Did you notice the haziness?” Tony asked, passing a handful of photos to Eric, with the best one on the top. “No question it's them.”
Seconds later, Eric opened the door to an empty road through the woods a short distance down the hill.
Chapter 50
Ashley
WE SHOOK THE general's hand and he mounted. As he reined Traveller back into the road, the image of the many statues I had seen crossed my mind's eye.
“I will send Colonel Taylor to fetch you. He already knows our story.” He waved and rode away at a gallop.
Fritz sat on the stump vacated by Lee and we waited, Fritz lost in a thought I didn't want to hear. In spite of his willingness to get me home, I wasn't sure he planned to go back with me. Seeing Lee again presented another choice for him and dilemma for me. Would he change his mind? And by doing so, would he force me to remain? We had an open portal waiting for us, but I didn't know how long Tony and Natalie would wait. We had about forty-five minutes.
I had just finished this thought when the thumping of hooves came down the road. As good as his word, Lee had dispatched his adjutant straight to us, two horses galloping behind, their reins in his hand. We stepped into the road, and the colonel waved, as he slowed.
I had never ridden a horse, other than pony rides as a kid, so mounting was harder than the cowboys made it look. The colonel held the horses steady for each of us, chuckling at my awkwardness. Fritz climbed aboard like a seasoned rider, leaving me another question for later.
My driving habit, looking both ways, added another problem. “Fritz, wait. Look up there.” Too far away to make out a face, a man stood at the top of the hill surrounded by a fluorescent rectangle.
“It'll be there,” Fritz said, as he and Taylor headed in the opposite direction. I watched them go, but turned the horse toward the portal. Bouncing up and down got old fast, so I got off and walked, pulling the horse behind me. The rectangle seemed closer but I made no progress as I walked up the hill. Squinting to identify who stood on the hill, he was too far away. I waved. He waved back. But where had he come from? Floating from one universe to another made the possibilities not only numerous, but worrisome. Was this a way home, or had we jumbled the universe again. I kept walking, determined to know. I won't say things couldn't get worse. I knew better.
As I climbed, almost able to recognize the face, behind me a rider pounded down the road, calling my name. Another soldier who I hadn't met before pulled up next to me.
“General Lee said to look for you, sir. Are you able to ride?”
“I'm fine, but I need to find out who that is.” I turned to the top of the hill, but the portal had vanished.
“Sir, did you fall? Colonel Taylor said you weren't comfortable in the saddle.”
“It was easier to walk.”
“What did you say you were looking at?”
“It was nothing. Nothing.”
I climbed on the horse again. The soldier took my reins and I hung on, even though we didn't go fast. I looked back a number of times until the hill was hidden by tree branches. In front, spread across a field of tents, men busily collected what little they had. Down one road, and across the nearby fields, men and horses, all walking, headed in all the compass directions going south. Their war had ended. A line of soldiers stretched out of the opening of a large tent for twenty yards. Standing outside, Fritz shared stares with the soldiers in line, some barefoot, all wearing the tattered remnants of uniforms. I couldn't help comparing the men with their cause. Remains of what they had once been.
As I slid to the ground, and thanked my tour guide, I called Fritz. He waved me to him.
“Where were you?”
“I went to see the portal and who came through.”
“Who was it?”
“I didn't get close enough. He closed it.”
“We have a while to wait. These guys are saying goodbye.”
“Something's wrong. Aren't they supposed to give up their flags and guns to Chamberlain? Take an oath not to continue fighting?”
“A lot more men are waiting in another camp to the south.”
“We're in a different dimension, Fritz. Maybe things don't happen here like they did in ours. We should get back to our portal.” I checked my watch. We still had more than a half hour. Time was slowing down.
The line dwindled, and when at last the men were gone, Lee emerged wiping the sides of his eyes with a cloth, decorated with a few red dots.
“Mr. Russell, Mr. Gilbert, forgive me. I didn't mean to keep you gentlemen waiting. But we will meet again, in better times, as you know.” He turned to me. “Mr. Gilbert, my vision led you here. I am glad for us both. I have been haunted since Gettysburg, and now you've proven me correct. Thank you.”
The Portal At The End Of The Storm (Quantum Touch Book 6) Page 27