So Little Time

by Doreen Roberts

  “Sorry,” he mumbled. “That was my fault, keeping you awake half the night.”

  She grinned. “It was worth it. But now I’ll have to scramble to make it to the office.”

  His arms came around her for one last hug and a long, deep kiss that almost made her forget about work altogether.

  But she had a job to do, and an important one. Somehow she had to find a way to get him back to his own time. And somehow she had to be strong enough to let him go.

  Seated at her computer several hours later, Corie wearily studied the screen in front of her. She had gone through everything she could find on the Specturne project. After all the calculations had been computed, her reports stated little more than the dates that Specturne appeared, and the expected point of impact of its beam.

  Any further information about the star was being held under classified information, and in order to learn any more she would have to break into the records. An almost impossible task without being discovered. And if they did catch her, Granger’s life could be in danger. It was a risk she didn’t want to take.

  Staring at the screen again, Corie ran both hands through her hair. According to her calculations, the star was expected to make the return trip in nine days.

  She leaned forward, her interest caught by the date. If the star arrived as scheduled, its beam would contact earth on July 1. What had Granger said? I remember falling asleep in my tent on the night of June 30. Though I can’t help feeling there is something else. I’m almost certain I awoke the next morning, still in my tent...

  The next morning. July 1. Was that why the star returned each time? To return things to normal? If the beam produced a time warp when it hit, it was feasible to assume that nature was reversing itself and replacing the time lost.

  Her pulse raced as she considered the theory. If she was right, then it seemed entirely possible that if Granger stood directly in the path of the beam on Specturne’s return, he should also be sent back to where he belonged.

  It was worth a try. If it didn’t work she’d have to think of something else. But right now it was all she had, and she was going to go for it.

  Her mind buzzing with a hundred details that would have to be taken care of, she almost bumped into the gaunt figure of Dr. Richards when she left the office later that afternoon.

  She tried to edge around him, but he barred her way, standing in the doorway of the lobby making it impossible for her to pass him.

  “Ah, Miss Trenton, yes, I wanted a word with you. Do you have a minute?”

  Corie stared up into his almost black eyes, frantically hoping her expression looked more innocent than she felt. It was hard for her to imagine that this man could be responsible for risking Granger’s life with an experimental drug, let alone consider the possibility that he intended to do away with Granger altogether.

  Nevertheless, she wasn’t about to give the man the slightest hint that she knew what was going on. Bracing herself to meet the arrogant gaze, she said, “I’m rather late for an appointment, Dr. Richards. Perhaps tomorrow...?”

  “This won’t take a moment.” To her dismay, the man took hold of her arm and led her down the hallway back to her office. Opening the door, he ushered her inside and closed the door behind him.

  Corie’s heart began to thump uncomfortably as she watched the scientist’s cruel face. Did he suspect that Granger was hiding in her house? How could he know that? Her mind raced with possibilities, while Dr. Richards continued to study her with a thoughtful expression.

  “Miss Trenton,” he said at last, making her jump. “I wonder if you would help me in a little project?”

  Feeling a leap of relief, Corie answered promptly. “I’ll be happy to, Dr. Richards. How can I help you?”

  Richards placed his hands behind his back, his cold gaze fixed on her face. “I’m trying to discover the whereabouts of a friend of mine. I’m rather anxious to get in touch with him. The problem is, I’ve mislaid his address, and I was wondering if you would help me locate him.”

  She tried her damnedest to keep a cool attitude. She couldn’t imagine what he was getting at. This could be a trap, she warned herself. If so, she’d have to be on her toes, or she could walk right into it.

  “He’s not listed in the telephone directory?” she asked, as casually as she could manage.

  “He has an unlisted number.”

  “I see.” She pretended to think for a moment. “How about the city directory?”

  The scientist pursed his lips. “He has recently moved into the area. He’s not listed in the directory.”

  She could feel a chill spreading down her back as she stared up at him. “Then how can I help you?”

  For answer, Dr. Richards withdrew something from the top pocket of his jacket. “I have a picture of him. This is a small town, and I thought that if you happened to see him, you could let me know.”

  She nodded, striving for a blank expression as she gazed down at the photo of Granger. He was sitting on the edge of a bed, looking at the camera with the same bewildered expression he’d worn the first time he’d seen her television. It took all her willpower not to let her sudden rush of tenderness show on her face.

  “Nice looking man,” she said cheerfully. “If I should see him I’ll tell him you’re looking for him.”

  “No!”

  She looked up, faking a startled expression. “Isn’t that what you want?”

  Richards stared at her, his face registering suspicion. “No, I want to surprise him. My friend loves surprises. If you could just watch where he goes, and let me know where he is living, I’ll be able to pay him a surprise visit.”

  “Oh, I bet he’ll just love that,” Corie said recklessly.

  “I’ll pay you for your trouble, of course,” Richards said, narrowing his eyes. “I’ll make it very worth your while to find him for me.”

  Corie stared down at the photo again. “Well, I’ll certainly do my best to locate your friend, Dr. Richards. You obviously are very anxious to surprise him.”

  “Yes, I am.” Richards took the picture back and thrust it in his pocket. “Well, thank you, Miss Trenton. I won’t keep you from your...appointment any longer.”

  Thanking him, Corie escaped from the room, determined not to let him see how much he’d unnerved her.

  She was still shaking when she arrived back at the house a few minutes later. She had taken the car again and this time she was thankful for the security of being locked inside the vehicle, instead of having to look over her shoulder all the way home, as she surely would have done had she walked.

  Even then, she looked around carefully before climbing out of the car. Not that it mattered if anyone followed her or not. Her address was on record at the lab; she would be easy enough to find if anyone wanted to do so.

  Praying that Granger wouldn’t open the door and give away his presence to anyone who might be watching for him, Corie fumbled with the key in the lock. It seemed an eternity before she finally got the door open. Practically falling inside, she slammed the door firmly behind her and leaned against it to recover her composure.

  “What’s happened?” Granger said sharply from above her. “You look as if you’ve just seen a ghost.” He was standing near the top of the stairs looking down at her.

  She would have laughed at the comment if she hadn’t been so unnerved by her encounter with the menacing Dr. Richards. “I’ve just had a chat with our head scientist,” she said, moving away from the door.

  Granger began walking down the stairs toward her, his face taut and wary. “What happened?”

  Corie dumped her purse on a chair and perched on the arm. “What happened was that he showed me a picture of you. He asked me to watch out for you, and if I saw you, to follow you home. Then I was to tell him where to find you.”

  Granger swore softly. “Do you think he suspects you?”

  Corie shrugged. “I don’t know. He could suspect everyone at the lab. I’m afraid he’s going around asking
everyone to keep an eye out for you. He’s telling this story about wanting to surprise a friend whose address he has conveniently lost.”

  “Why would anyone do that for him without good reason?” Granger said, sitting down on the couch opposite her.

  Corie gave him a grim smile. “Lots of people would, if they were offered enough to do it.”

  Granger lifted his eyebrows. “He bribed you for the information?”

  “Me, and probably a dozen other people. I think the way he put it was that he would make it very worth my while.”

  Granger pressed a thumb and forefinger to his forehead. “What did you tell him?”

  “I said I would be happy to watch out for you. What else could I say?” She frowned, leaning forward to peer at him. “Do you have a headache?”

  “It will pass.” He lowered his hand and gave her his rare smile. “You don’t think he knows I’m here?”

  Corie dropped onto her knees in front of him. “No,” she said softly, “I don’t think he knows. And he’s not going to. As long as you don’t go outside the house, no one will ever know.”

  “I can’t stay here forever,” Granger said slowly. “Sooner or later I have to leave here. As long as I’m with you I’ll be putting you in danger, too. They can’t let you go free knowing what you know. Once they find that out they will have to get rid of you, too.”

  She looked up at him, feeling the chill of his words. “You believe they would kill you?”

  He shrugged. “What else can they do?”

  She didn’t tell him she’d come to the same conclusion. “Well, they won’t get the chance,” she said, with a note of belligerence.

  Something in her voice must have alerted him. He looked down at her, his eyes wary. “You sound very sure of that.”

  Raising herself up enough to reach him, Corie pressed a warm kiss on his mouth. Immediately he closed his arms around her, hugging her close.

  “I missed you,” he whispered, his breath tickling her ear.

  “I missed you, too. I thought about you all day.”

  “I was worried you’d do something crazy and get yourself into trouble.”

  “Well, I didn’t.” She sank back on her heels and looked at him in triumph. “I didn’t have to take any risks.”

  He took her by the shoulders and gave her a gentle shake. “Are you going to tell me why you’re so damn proud of yourself?”

  Doing her best to hide the pain the words would cost her, she scrambled to her feet and sat down next to him on the couch. “I don’t want to get your hopes up, but I think I know how to send you home.”

  Her heart ached when she saw the grave expression on his face.

  “Tell me,” Granger said, his voice suddenly weary.

  Briefly, and as clearly as she could, Corie explained about the movement of Specturne. “It’s just a theory,” she hastened to add, after he’d listened intently. “I’m not sure about anything, of course. You could be sent even further forward in time, or you could end up in a different time period in the past. Anything could happen.”

  He stared at her for a long moment. “But you think it might work,” he stated flatly.

  “I think it’s your only chance.”

  The stark silence that followed her words seemed to linger far too long.

  “I see,” Granger said, at last.

  She needed to reassure him, to take away that still, resigned look in his eyes.

  “I do believe it could work,” she said, a little desperately. “I think the return of the star is nature reversing itself back to normal. In which case, you should end up where you left, when you left.”

  He looked at her for a long moment, then he reached for her hand. Tracing the tips of her fingers with his thumb, he said gently, “I don’t want to go back, Corie. What I want is to stay here with you.”

  Her rush of joy robbed her of speech. Granger was silent for several seconds, and watching his melancholy expression, Corie felt her newfound happiness ebbing away. When he spoke again, his words filled her with a pain she’d never known before.

  “I have to go back. I wish to God I didn’t have to, but I have no choice.”

  Her hopes dashed, she could only gaze at him in misery. He lifted his head, his gray eyes filled with pain. “You know I wouldn’t leave you unless it was imperative that I go back.”

  She nodded, trying to find her voice. “You don’t have to explain,” she whispered. “I understand.”

  “No, you don’t.” He let go of her hand. Getting to his feet he moved over to the fireplace. With one arm resting on the mantelpiece, he stared into the empty grate.

  “You have a right to know,” he said, speaking in a voice so low she could hardly hear him.

  Her heart began thumping painfully as she watched him. All she could think of was that he’d lied to her about having a wife waiting for him. If that were so, the pain she felt now would be nothing compared to the anguish she would suffer knowing he had deliberately betrayed another woman.

  “You don’t have to tell me,” she said desperately, preferring not to hear his confession.

  “Yes, I do.” He turned to face her, and clasped his hands behind his back. “I have to go back for one reason and one reason only. If I am not in Gettysburg on the morning of July 1 to carry out an order that was given to me, the entire course of history could be changed.”

  This was not at all what she’d expected. Staring at him, her mouth suddenly dry, Corie whispered, “What do you mean?”

  Granger closed his eyes briefly, as if struggling with some elusive memory. When he looked at her again, he seemed to have reached a decision of some kind.

  “I know why General Ewell did not attack the ridge that afternoon,” he said. “I remember what happened, just before the light blinded me.”

  She stared at him, bewildered by his words. “The light? You mean the beam?”

  Once more he crossed the room, and sat down on the chair in front of her. “I’ll start from the beginning,” he said, “and I’ll try to make it brief.”

  She watched him, the ache in her heart intensifying as he paused, then finally began speaking, in a slow, quiet voice as if he were reciting a poem.

  “We had spent the night on McPherson’s Ridge, outside of Gettysburg. The next morning, on July 1, we clashed with the rebels. We were driven back through Gettysburg, and we retreated to Cemetery Ridge, where we were expecting reinforcements.”

  Corie’s pulse quickened as the familiar details were repeated by the man who had lived them. Even now, she felt that same sense of unreality as Granger’s quiet voice described the battlefield as it was then.

  “It was hot and sticky,” he said, “and we were sweating like pigs in our uniforms. The flies were everywhere, stinging our eyes and buzzing in our ears. Everyone was on edge. We’d been driven back, our unit depleted by the dead and wounded, and the reinforcements hadn’t yet arrived. They were trickling in far too slowly, and we knew if Ewell attacked, we would have no defense.”

  He paused, and she waited, while the shadows grew longer in the quiet living room. Finally, he spoke again. “In a last-ditch effort to save the ridge, it was decided to send a spy into the enemy camp. We planned to feed the rumors that the reinforcements had already arrived, and that two cavalry units were firmly entrenched in the surrounding woods. We hoped to stall Ewell long enough for the rest of the troops to arrive.”

  Corie gasped. “Then that’s what happened! No one really knew for sure why Ewell delayed the attack. Now we know.”

  She saw Granger’s expression change and slumped back in her chair. “Of course, we can’t tell anyone.”

  Granger leaned forward, and the fire of determination in his gaze made her flinch. “Corie,” he said harshly, “if I don’t go back, it won’t have happened. I was the man chosen for that assignment. I was on my way to Ewell’s camp when a blinding light hit me in the eyes. The force of it knocked me off my horse. The next thing I knew, I was lying in a bed in
a cold, bare hospital room, wondering where I was and how I got there.”

  The impact of his words hit her slowly. “You are saying that if you hadn’t spread the rumors, Ewell might have attacked earlier. In which case, he would have had an easy victory. There would have been no battle at Gettysburg.”

  He nodded. “And if what you say is true, without that Union victory, the entire future of the United States of America could have been changed.”

  Corie felt sick as she stared at him. “You don’t know that. It’s anybody’s guess. No one could possibly predict the outcome. It’s entirely possible the chain of events wouldn’t have been altered by your absence. Maybe Ewell wouldn’t have attacked earlier, even if he hadn’t heard the rumors. They say he wasn’t well, they say—”

  “Corie, I can’t take that chance. Please understand. I am a military man. No matter what my personal feelings are, I must go back and carry out my duty.”

  She wasn’t thinking straight. She knew that. But somehow her mind wouldn’t let her accept what he was saying. “But we know from the history books what happened. You can’t change history.”

  “Exactly.” He reached out his hand and brushed her cheek with his fingers. “Which is why I must go back.”

  He rose swiftly, his arms reaching out to enclose her. Holding her trembling body close to him, he gently stroked her hair. “Believe me, if I had any other choice, I would stay.”

  She couldn’t speak. Part of her knew he was right, but that was the practical part. A much bigger part of her, the part that loved him, cried out in pain, demanding to know why he didn’t feel deeply enough for her to stay.

  She stood quietly in the comforting circle of his arms until her tumbling thoughts calmed down and she regained some semblance of control. Somehow she had to get through this. Somehow she would survive.

  Drawing back, she looked up at him and managed a tremulous smile. “We will have to go back to Gettysburg, to the spot where you arrived.”

  He looked worried. “I’m not sure I could find the exact spot.”

  “But I can. Or at least, very close, thanks to modern technology. Certainly close enough to see the beam when it hits.”