So Little Time

by Doreen Roberts

  “It is the strangest feeling,” he whispered, as they passed by the site at Cemetery Hill. “It’s as if I never left. As if time has stood still. If it weren’t for the cars on the road, I would swear I was looking at the battlefield in 1863.”

  “If all goes well,” Corie said unsteadily, “tomorrow morning, you will be.”

  She pulled the car into a shaded area underneath an oak tree. She had kept a sharp lookout all the way into the battlefield, but had seen no sign of Dr. Richards, or his partner, Ivan Spencer.

  Still seated in the car, she laid out her list of figures on her lap, and showed Granger how to calculate from the figures exactly the spot where the beam was supposed to land. Using the compass and the direction finder, she showed him how she drew the cross line on the map, which gave her the exact point of impact.

  “All we have to do now,” she told him, “is find this spot in the actual field.”

  They had to drive another mile or two along the road that wound through the trees before they were close enough to walk. The directions taken from the compass led them across a field, and down a steep incline to a valley between the hills.

  “This is it,” Granger said, his voice hoarse with excitement. “I recognize it. I was riding along this trail when I was suddenly blinded by the light. I didn’t see a beam though, just a flash, like a bolt of lightning.”

  “That’s because you were a direct hit,” Corie said, studying the compass. “Can you remember exactly the spot where you fell?”

  Granger shook his head. “It was somewhere along here, I think,” he said, gesturing with his hand.

  “It doesn’t matter. I have it pinpointed.” Her eyes on the small instrument in her hand, she walked along the trail for several yards.

  The moist heat of the afternoon seemed to saturate her clothes. She could feel the perspiration forming on her forehead, and her arms burned under the fierce sun.

  Flies, gnats and a host of other insects buzzed all around her, bumping into her face and stinging her arms. Far from the tourists now, the wooded slopes hummed and rustled with the tiny creatures that lived there.

  There was no breeze to freshen the air, and the musty smell of burned grass and decaying wood seemed almost overpowering. Corie could just imagine what it must have been like there 130 years ago.

  “This should be the place,” she said at last, pausing by a large rock that radiated intense heat. “Or as near as we are going to get. Now all we have to do is remember how to get back here in the dark. I just hope we get a clear sky.”

  She glanced up, thankful to see only a few wispy clouds marring the sky.

  “Will the beam get through if it’s cloudy?” Granger asked, following her gaze.

  “That beam will get through solid wood. It’s pretty powerful.” She led the way back to the car, anxious to get back to the welcome relief of air-conditioning.

  Granger said little on the way back to the motel, and she could imagine the turmoil his thoughts had to be in.

  “We’ll have dinner early,” she said, as they reached the parking lot of the motel. “Then as soon as it gets dark we’ll go back to the battlefield and wait. We—” She broke off, her foot slamming down on the brake.

  Granger was jerked forward, and he planted his palms on the dashboard in front of him. “What—”

  “Those two men,” Corie said urgently. “Coming out of the motel office. Do you recognize them?”

  Granger looked, then swore softly. “Yes,” he said grimly. “Those are two of the doctors who held me prisoner.”

  “They’re not doctors,” Corie said, throwing the gear into reverse. “At least, not in the way you mean. That’s Dr. Richards, head scientist at the lab, and his partner, Dr. Spencer. And apparently they have tracked us down.”

  Chapter 12

  The moon rode high in the sky when Corie returned to the road that led through the battlefield. After leaving the motel parking lot earlier that afternoon, she’d taken the road back to town, and had stayed out of sight until the sun had finally set behind the hills.

  Granger seemed to enjoy the hamburgers they’d eaten for dinner, though Corie would have much preferred one of the nice restaurants in the area. Afraid to take the chance on running into the scientists, she had introduced Granger instead to the joys of a drive-in fast-food restaurant.

  He’d been fascinated by the concept, and wondered aloud how she managed to keep her figure if she did everything in the car instead of walking.

  Now they were both silent as she slowed the car to a crawl, then drove it carefully off the road and into the shelter of the trees. She switched off the engine, and the silence settled around them.

  “They haven’t followed us yet,” Granger said, his voice hushed.

  “They don’t need to. They know where to look.”

  Warily, Corie opened the door and looked out. “We will have to walk in from here. Officially the park is closed, but no one will expect us to be walking around at this time of night.”

  “You will have to walk back alone.”

  She glanced back at him. “No, I don’t think so. I’m quite sure the good doctors Richards and Spencer will accompany me back.”

  “It will be dangerous for you.”

  She shook her head. “No, I really don’t think they will hurt me. I am just worried that they will try to stop you from reaching the beam.”

  “They won’t stop me.”

  He’d sounded so confident, so sure of himself. She hoped he was right. She tried not to imagine the two scientists holding a gun on him. Though she couldn’t imagine them actually shooting him. No matter how desperate they were.

  The clicking of hundreds of crickets seemed deafening as she climbed out of the car. They were everywhere—in the grass, in the trees, she could even hear one on the warm hood of the car.

  “Come on,” she whispered, as Granger joined her in the darkness, “we don’t have much time. I deliberately left late so we wouldn’t be out in the open for too long.”

  Lightning bugs danced all around them as Corie led Granger through the trees, the momentary gleams of light swooping in and out of the long grass. The moon bathed the fields with silver shadows, and reflected in Granger’s eyes when he looked down at her.

  She remembered the first time she’d seen that strange silver gleam in his eyes. The memory brought the first bittersweet ache of nostalgia that she knew would return to wound her again and again throughout the years ahead.

  She tried not to listen to the faint flicker of hope that refused to die. The chances were too slim, she told herself. Too many things could happen to prevent his return. It would be better to let go, and try not to look back.

  “They will probably be waiting for us when we get there,” Granger said softly, as they reached the rise that led down to the narrow trail.

  “Probably.” She checked the compass in her hand to make sure. “But in the dark we will be hard to see in the cover of the trees. It’s a large area. Unless they are very lucky, or we are very careless, they won’t have time to find us before the beam hits.”

  “How long do we have?”

  She looked at her watch. “Ten minutes at the most. By the time we get down there we should have no more than a couple of minutes to wait.”

  “Corie—”

  Afraid that anything he said to her would reduce her to tears, Corie thrust the compass into his hands. “Here, you’ll need this, just in case.”

  He took it from her, his face etched in hard lines in the moonlight.

  “You’ve got everything else I gave you?”

  He nodded, patting the pockets of his jacket. “I have it all.”

  She had chosen his outfit carefully, down to the button-fly jeans and boots. He looked the part at least. “Then let’s go.”

  “Corie, wait a minute.” His hands gripped her shoulders, and she welcomed the gentle pain. This would be the last time he touched her. She wanted to remember how it felt.

  For a
long moment he looked deep into her eyes, burning the memory of his silver gaze right into her soul. “I am sorry, my sweet Corie. You have given me so much. I wish I could have given you more.”

  She made herself smile. “You have given me more than you know.”

  “I have no words to thank you for everything you have done for me. I will not forget you, Corie.” He pulled her to him, and covered her mouth with his in one last, demanding kiss that left her fighting for control of her emotions.

  He let her go, and without a word, she turned and plunged down the slope, her throat aching with the effort to hold back the tears. She heard his light footsteps behind her, and all she could do was pray that it would soon be over.

  They reached the end of the trail, and she began to run, with Granger pounding behind her.

  It happened all at once. A muffled shout from somewhere on her right, then another. As if in answer, from out of nowhere, the blinding glare silently descended from the sky, slanting through the darkness in a steady stream of pulsating light.

  Like a giant white-hot stage light it struck the earth, vapors rising from the perfect circle of its gleaming circumference no more than twenty yards in front of her.

  Again the shouts, closer now. Corie halted, gasping for breath as Granger paused, panting at her side. “Don’t stop,” she screamed at him, her voice echoing eerily from the empty hills. “Run, Granger, run into the beam! Now!”

  He gave her one, last desperate look, then leapt forward. From behind her Corie could hear the pounding of feet, then a tall figure dashed past her. In the same instant Granger reached the beam. He stood for a second, ablaze in the dazzling light, his face turned toward her.

  Lifting his hand, his voice carried clearly across the space between them. “I will not forget.”

  Abruptly the light shut off, leaving only a black darkness behind.

  For a second or two Corie could see nothing but tiny stars dancing in front of her eyes. She blinked, trying frantically to see the trail ahead. Still dazed by the afterglow, she saw a figure walking slowly back toward her.

  Her heart soared as she stared at the moving shadow. It hadn’t worked. He was still there. She blinked again, and this time her vision cleared.

  “He’s gone,” Dr. Boyd Richards said.

  Corie closed her eyes and sank to the ground.

  * * *

  She sat in the car, shivering in spite of the muggy heat of the dark, humid night. She couldn’t forget the sight of that empty trail, a fine wisp of steam still rising from the spot where Granger had last stood.

  “Will you be all right to drive?” Dr. Richards said, peering at her through the open door.

  She nodded. “I’ll be fine.”

  “We’ll discuss all this back at the motel later on this morning then. Say 11:00. Room 220.”

  Again she nodded, weary beyond belief. “I’ll be there.” What did it matter what happened to her now? Nothing mattered. The only man she had ever truly loved was gone, and life was nothing but a cold, empty sea of pain waiting to swallow her up.

  She hardly remembered getting back to the car. With Dr. Richards supporting her on one side, Spencer on the other, somehow she had stumbled back through the endless trees. Now, at last, she was alone.

  Ahead of her she saw the low beam of headlights cutting through the darkness. At least the scientists trusted her to be there in the morning. Maybe she wouldn’t lose her job after all. Not that it mattered. Nothing mattered anymore.

  Somehow she found her way back to the motel. She slept in fits and starts, finally waking up from a doze shortly before ten.

  After a shower and hot coffee she began to feel a little better, and prepared herself to face the music. She wasn’t going to let them fire her without a fight, she told herself as she located Richards’s room. She had only done what was right.

  The scientists answered her light tap by opening the door, and she stepped inside the room. Spencer sat in a chair across from the bed. He stood up as she entered, looking very ill at ease. Even Richards looked sheepish as he pulled another chair forward and indicated she should sit.

  “I assume that Granger Deene has been with you since he left his room,” Richards said, when she was seated.

  “You mean escaped from his prison.”

  He met her accusing stare without flinching. “We kept him confined for his own good. We were afraid he would get into serious trouble if he was allowed to wander around without supervision.”

  “And what about the drug you pumped into him? That’s an illegal drug, still in its experimental stage. You could have destroyed his mind altogether.”

  Spencer made a small sound in his throat and Richards appeared to be shocked by her statement. “I assure you, Corie, that the drug was perfectly safe. We had all the findings on it and there was nothing in there to suggest the drug is dangerous.”

  “The data referred to animals.” She was shaking so hard she could barely speak. “Any moron knows that a human’s brain can hardly compare to an animal’s.”

  “It has been tested on monkeys,” Spencer said nervously. “It didn’t do them any harm.”

  “I just don’t understand why it was necessary to block out his memory at all,” Corie persisted. “He might never have recovered it.”

  “Then he would have been able to function in this time, eventually.” Richards sat down heavily on the edge of the bed. “That’s what we were hoping for, Corie. We were afraid that if he knew what had happened to him, it would unbalance his mind. I admit, it was an experiment, but we had the best of intentions.”

  She glared at him. “How can you say that? Didn’t it occur to you that it might just be better to help him get back to where he really belonged? Wouldn’t that be a thousand times better than having to spend the rest of his life here, constantly drugged and unable to remember anything about his life before this happened?”

  Richards’s face changed, and his expression scared her. “I’m sorry, Corie,” he said quietly. “I realize this man has come to mean something to you, and I admire your courage and determination in trying to do the right thing for him. The reason we didn’t consider sending him back was because we knew it was likely to fail.”

  She lifted her chin, determined not to let him see her apprehension. “Well, it didn’t fail. You saw it. He entered the beam and vanished with it. By now he is most likely back in his own time, getting on with his life.”

  Richards and Spencer exchanged looks. Thoroughly alarmed now, Corie rose to her feet. “What is it? What aren’t you telling me?”

  “From the information we’ve been able to gather,” Richards said slowly, “it seems extremely unlikely that Deene could survive the return trip. It was a miracle he survived the first transformation. I’m afraid that this attempt to return will almost certainly end in his death.”

  Her mouth suddenly dry, she could only stare into his bland, unemotional face. “I don’t believe it,” she said flatly.

  Richards shrugged. “It happens to be the truth. Anyway, it’s over and done with now. I suggest we all forget about this strange little episode, and put it behind us. Happily the media didn’t get a hint of it or it would have been all over the tabloids.”

  Her heart was pounding so hard it hurt. He was wrong. He had to be wrong. She wouldn’t, couldn’t believe she had sent Granger to his death.

  Richards got to his feet, and patted her shoulder. “Why don’t you take the rest of the week off, Corie? You’ve been through quite a trauma. Come back next Monday, and we’ll go on from there as if nothing had happened.”

  She nodded, no longer able to speak. As if in a trance, she walked to the door and opened it. She heard both men say goodbye to her, but she couldn’t answer. She was beyond thought. All she wanted was to be alone. For the rest of her life.

  The door closed behind her and Spencer asked nervously, “Do you think she believed you?”

  “The excuses I gave her were feasible.” Richards walked to the wind
ow and pulled aside the drapes to watch her leave. “I didn’t want her going above my head to complain about our treatment of Deene.”

  “Is he really going to die? You told me that it was only a possibility.”

  “How do I know what will happen to him? I can only make guesses. But as long as Corie Trenton thinks she is responsible for Deene’s death, she won’t make any noises about what happened. It’s just too bad we lost him before we had a chance to do the experiments.”

  “Do you think it will happen again? When Specturne hits Earth again, do you think it might bring someone else back with it?”

  Richards dropped the curtain. “Who knows? I would imagine there’s a million to one chance of anyone standing directly inside the beam when it hits. Then again, the star might never return. Frankly, if it’s going to cause this much trouble, I’d just as soon wash my hands of Specturne. We have plenty to work on without it, our studies will just take us a little longer, that’s all.”

  “At least we know that Deene won’t be back.”

  “That’s for sure. Let’s just be thankful that he won’t remember anything about what happened to him here. If he does get back in one piece, it will seem to him as if he never left. There will be nothing in his memory to remind him of this place.”

  “Or Corie Trenton,” Spencer said thoughtfully.

  * * *

  She stayed in Gettysburg until after July the Fourth. She didn’t go to the reenactment. She couldn’t face that. She spent the time instead wandering around the battlefield with the manual someone at the tourist center had given her.

  As each day dawned, she made her way to the focal point of the battle on the corresponding day in 1863. She made herself believe that he had returned safely and was where he was supposed to be. History couldn’t be changed. Granger Deene had fought in the Battle of Gettysburg, and that was where he would be.

  And if he was there, maybe somehow he would feel her presence and know she was thinking about him.