“Danny!”
Danny dropped the soda can. It hit the floor with a sickening thud. “Yes?”
“You have a package on the table. You haven’t been ordering junk from some website, have you?”
“No.”
“Well, get your lousy stuff off the table.”
Danny picked up the soda can and sighed. He wished his dad was alive—his dad would know how to handle Rick. He sighed again. If his dad were alive, there’d be no Rick.
* * *
Gil glanced at the clock and resumed pacing. Maybe coming so early hadn’t been a smart idea after all. The countdown was getting closer, but her adrenaline rush was turning into a bad case of nerves. She looked around for William. He’d slipped out a few minutes ago and hadn’t returned. He was the one thing keeping her calm, and with him gone, she could feel her anxiety kicking into overdrive.
* * *
Danny looked at the stack of mail with a puzzled frown. He was surprised Rick hadn’t opened the package, but his surprise evaporated when he saw the empty beer bottles piled in the trashcan. Beer must’ve been more inviting than the mail today.
Danny gave the nondescript box a tiny shake. The package didn’t have a return address, and he wondered if it was a mail bomb. If it was, he wished Rick would’ve opened it.
Balancing his package and snack, he slipped into the hall. He held his breath as he crept past the living room. Rick was slumped down on the couch, cursing as his team fumbled the ball. Danny tiptoed into his bedroom and locked the door.
Sighing, Danny went to his hideout—a corner partitioned off by thick black curtains. Slipping inside, he flicked on a lamp with a red bulb. An angry red glow filled the tiny space. Danny settled into a beanbag chair in front of a battered TV hooked up to a secondhand PlayFest gaming system. As he flipped open the tab, his soda began to fizz over. His mom didn’t like him to curse, but he felt close to it. With Slim hassling him at school, and Rick hassling him at home, he was at his breaking point.
When the fountain subsided, he shook pop from his hands and put the cold can against his cheek. Raising his shirt, he looked at the bruise spreading across his ribs. He’d gotten off easy. Everyone said Rick was charming, but Rick sure didn’t bother wasting that charm on him.
* * *
William sat in his office with hands clenched so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. Taking a shuddering breath, he focused his attention on the forms cluttering his desk. Grabbing a pen, he went to work. After only a minute, the pen dropped from his hand. He reached up and fingered the silver chain hidden beneath his shirt. Lines of tension formed beside his eyes. William jolted violently as someone knocked on the door.
“Are you finished with…” Director Matthew’s voice trailed away as he entered the office. Shoving a jar of pencils to one side, he sat down on the edge of William’s desk and studied his face.
“Give me a few minutes, Peter, and I’ll have the forms ready for you.”
“Are you all right?” the director asked quietly.
“I’m fine.”
Giving him a measured glance, the director said firmly, “Then pull yourself together and get back out there. She needs you.”
* * *
Putting down his soda, Danny picked up the package. He paused with the idea of a mail bomb still lurking in his mind. “Oh, well,” he mumbled, “who cares anyway?”
Plunging his pocketknife into the packing tape, he raised the box flaps. When nothing happened, he swished his fingers through squeaky Styrofoam peanuts. As packing filler spilled onto the floor, his groping fingers found a hard object. He pulled it out and looked at it in amazement. It was a PlayFest game called Extreme Exam.
“What a weird name for a game,” he murmured.
* * *
Gil breathed a sigh of relief as William entered the lab carrying two cups of coffee.
“Miss me?” he asked, handing her a cup.
“Starting to,” she admitted, taking a sip. “Where’ve you been?”
“Tying up loose ends.” His eyes widened as he stared at the bags at her feet. “For Pete’s sake, couldn’t you pack any lighter? When I left, you only had a duffle bag. Where’d the rest of the luggage come from?”
The dimples in Gil’s cheeks danced. “It was over in the corner.”
“You’re only going to be gone four days. Surely you don’t need that many clothes.”
Gil pulled a shocked face, her anxiety beginning to dissipate. “Four days? I thought the exam was over in two. Maybe I should go home and get that extra sweater.”
William laughed and shook his head. “Don’t blame me when your case subject runs away and you’re too weighed down with skirts and shoes to follow.”
“If Danny tries to run, I’ll toss my baggage into a bush and take off after him.”
“If you’re just looking for a convenient shrub to toss that mess into, there’s a nice one below this window. If you’d like, I could give that big suitcase a toss.”
“No, thanks.” She chuckled. “I’ll look for a handy bush after I travel through GAP.”
William stroked his beard and mumbled something inaudible.
Gil smiled. Her nervous tension was broken. She was herself again.
* * *
Danny looked at the PlayFest game in wonder. Rummaging through the box, he spilled more packing peanuts on the floor. He kicked at them absently and continued digging. At the bottom of the box was a letter. Scanning it quickly, he came to the words: Free Test Game.
Smiling widely, he picked up the game and looked at the holographic laser drawing of a university on its cover. Suddenly, 3-D sprays of color shot out of the picture. Blinking in amazement, Danny touched the rays and watched as they went through his fingers. He closed his eyes as they danced over his forehead. He could feel his scalp tingling and could almost see the colors dancing inside his brain. He felt the rays stop their motion, and when he opened his eyes, they were gone.
* * *
At NSU, Gil watched as Dr. Moosly came bustling out from the swarm of techs merging Danny’s neural scan into their computer calculations. As she looked at him, the bald man frowned and approached. “Miss Gillyflower Montgomery?”
“Please call me Gil.” She smiled. “My parents had a sadistic sense of humor when they named me.”
If possible, Dr. Moosly frowned even more. “I could not help but overhear your laughter, and I feel it is my duty to remind you of the importance of the field exam.”
Gil blinked. “I am taking the exam seriously, I—”
“I sincerely hope so,” he snapped. “There’s significant danger of damaging the fragile psyche of the child you are counseling if you make a mistake. It may seem impossible to adversely affect the future of a death-row inmate, but I assure you that it can happen much easier than you realize. If you neglect to handle things properly, your case subject may start his path of violence earlier and the body count of his victims may rise.”
“I promise I’ll be careful, I—”
Dr. Moosly held up an impatient hand and glowered down at his clipboard. “I see here that you hope to be put on staff. If your test performance is substandard, you won’t attain licensure. Not everyone who aspires to work for TEMCO gets that opportunity.”
“I know. I’ll do my best. I’ve studied hard and—”
“I’m sure you believe yourself to be ready, but so have other cadets who have failed.”
At his words, Gil felt a knot tightening in her stomach. She glanced nervously at William for reassurance and ended up stifling a grin. He was staring at Dr. Moosly with an exasperated expression. She’d seen that look before and knew he was slowly and silently counting to ten.
Dr. Moosly continued, “Although GAP has been used for exam purposes for several years, there’s still significant risk when dealing with time displacement. As one of your evaluators, I caution you to approach this technology, and the exam procedure, with proper respect. Do you understand?”
/> “Yes,” she said quietly.
“I trust that you’ve read all the manuals covering the exam?”
Not wanting to lie, Gil shifted uncomfortably and tried to think of an answer that wouldn’t land her in too much hot water. The five-inch manuals were collecting dust underneath her bed. They’d proven so dry that she’d consigned them to oblivion and gathered her information from friends who had been through GAP. The information they provided may not have been technical, but it had been interesting.
Not waiting for her reply, Dr. Moosly glared at William in distaste. “You’re Miss Montgomery’s advisor? I might have known.”
William’s eyes gave a brief twinkle. “It’s good to see you too, Dr. Moosly.”
Ignoring him, the bald man turned to Gil. “After reading the manuals, you know that time surfing isn’t the picnic that someone like Dr. Ableman makes it out to be. If you feel unprepared to take the exam, I’ll arrange for it to be postponed and for you to be given a different advisor. I’d hate for you to be at a disadvantage during such a critical juncture in your training.”
Hearing the way that William’s abilities were being maligned, Gil’s face hardened. “Dr. Ableman has done an excellent job of preparing me.”
Dr. Moosly raised a skeptical eyebrow. “That remains to be seen, doesn’t it? I hope your faith hasn’t been misplaced.”
“It hasn’t.” Gil’s tone was so rigid that it bordered on rude insolence.
As Dr. Moosly pursed his lips and glared down at his clipboard, Gil glanced at William. A smile was tugging the corner of his lips. She knew he appreciated her defense of him, but she also knew it hadn’t been necessary.
As Director Matthews joined them and engaged William in conversation, Gil peeked at Dr. Moosly. Seeing the offended tilt of his chin, she knew she’d better try to mend a few fences. “You wrote one of the manuals, didn’t you?” she asked in a suitably subservient voice.
“Yes, I did. My book is called The Technical Design and Inner Mechanics of TIME GAP Displacement at the Atomic Level in Conjunction with Historical Theorems and the Application of Modern Theory.”
“I thought so.” Gil looked at the sour-faced evaluator and thought a little judicious flattery might not come in amiss. She hadn’t read his book, but she assumed it contained quite a bit of information. Convincing herself that she wasn’t exactly lying, she said with a smile, “Your book was my favorite of all the manuals… It was very in-depth.”
“I’m glad you appreciated it. What did you think about the chapter on the subatomic development of cyberspace neurolinks and the present program design?”
* * *
In the distance, Danny heard the muted ring of the telephone and the low growl of Rick’s voice. Dropping his new PlayFest game, he scrambled out of his hideout and sprinted to the door to make sure it was locked. The knob turned violently as Rick pounded on the door.
“Danny, open up!”
“Just a minute,” Danny said desperately. “I’m...I’m changing clothes.”
“Whatever for?”
“I...I…”
“Never mind,” Rick said impatiently. “I just got a call. They need me at the plant.” Suddenly, Rick slammed his fist against the door causing Danny to jump back several feet. “I don’t like locks! Keep your bedroom open from now on, you hear?”
“Sure, Rick. I’m sorry.”
With his heart pounding in his throat, Danny listened to Rick’s heavy footsteps moving down the hall. He waited cautiously for the front door to slam before slipping into his hideout and collapsing on the beanbag. Passing a shaking hand over his forehead, he tried to calm his rapid breathing.
* * *
In order to keep her eyes from glazing over, Gil began to count the words in Dr. Moosly’s sentences. When that pursuit paled, she diagramed his sentences in her head. Her automatic nod and mechanical “Oh, really?” were all the evaluator needed to keep him going.
“Excuse me,” she said as William called her name. “I have to go, but thanks for talking with me.”
As Dr. Moosly turned away, Gil went to William and demanded in a soft hiss, “What took you so long to rescue me?”
“I thought it served you right, you little hypocrite. You’re the one who expressed interest in his book.” As Gil gave a sputtering laugh, he said, “I toyed with the idea of letting Dr. Moosly explain the paradox of neurolink degradation and sinusoidal loops, but I took pity.”
Gil’s reply died on her lips as a group of techs brushed past her and took their places beside the Staging Platform. Seeing Dr. Moosly’s bald head bobbing among them, she shifted uncomfortably.
“Stop worrying,” William said firmly. “You’ll do great with Danny. Don’t let Dr. Moosly’s Cassandra-like bleatings bother you. His verbosity could make a hangnail seem like a terminal disease. I’m surprised how fast you breezed through his manual.”
“I didn’t. The first chapter was all I could manage to read, so…” Seeing the change in William’s expression, Gil’s words stumbled to a halt.
“You didn’t finish it? How could you cut corners?” William exclaimed. “On that admission, I could cancel your exam.”
“You wouldn’t,” she gasped. “Would you?”
His jaw tightened. “If you didn’t study the manuals, how’d you pass the orals?”
“Edible bribery. I cooked dinner for last year’s graduates. By the time I served my raspberry cheesecake, I had tons of information.”
Gil watched anxiously as William fingered his beard. After a moment, he said slowly, “What you did obviously worked. You passed the orals with flying colors.”
“So you won’t cancel my field exam?”
He shook his head. “Considering your scores, I’ll let you continue. After all, manuals covering temporal physics aren’t necessary for a successful time surf. A student needs a counselor’s instinct—something you have. But if you hadn’t aced the orals, we’d be having a serious talk with the director right now.”
* * *
Danny took a sip of pop and ate a cracker. Taking a last look at the game’s cover, he stuck the cartridge into his PlayFest console.
* * *
“We have contact,” Director Matthew’s voice boomed over the intercom. “I repeat. We have contact.”
Gil turned and looked at the blue glow on the Staging Platform. Through the shimmering curtain, she could finally see Danny’s face. She couldn’t believe she was looking at the child version of Death Row Daniel. As she stared at him, she could see that his eyes held sadness, even now, as he was engrossed in the opening stages of the Extreme Exam game. She felt a tug on her heart as his eyes seemed to call to her.
CHAPTER SEVEN
“Awesome,” Danny whispered as the TV came to life with a glittering picture of a university. He watched with awe as tiny rays of color reached out from the screen to touch him. The beams of light danced around his hideout, spiraled back, and became sparkling fireworks. As the sound of Pomp and Circumstance filled the air, students began pouring out of the university wearing mortarboards and huge smiles.
Danny listened intently as a computerized voice began to speak. “Welcome to Extreme Exam. Before a prospective time surfer can graduate, he or she must complete a field exam, and you’ve been selected to help. During this exam, you’ll work closely with one of our student cadets. If you agree to help with the testing procedure, press your B button.”
Danny watched as a swirling river of Bs flooded the screen and became a whirlpool of psychedelic colors. When he pressed his B button, the whirlpool vanished and an avatar of a blonde-haired woman with twinkling eyes and lopsided dimples appeared.
“This is Gil,” the game’s voice said. “If you agree to help Gil take her Extreme Exam, press your Y button.”
The screen turned neon yellow as twisting Ys danced. When Danny pressed the appropriate button, the dancing letters disappeared and the blonde avatar entered the university. She walked through pillared halls, up a set of marb
le stairs, and into a room marked TEMCO Lab. Suddenly, the screen exploded with whizzing rainbows of color. Drops of color burst from the television and sizzled when they hit the floor. Danny reached toward one drop. It effervesced when he touched it. Looking at it in amazement, he touched it again.
When the rainbows disappeared, a blinding blue light filled his room. He gasped in wonder as the PlayFest game took on the appearance of real life. As he watched, people hurried around the lab. A bald man with a big frown stomped across the room, consulting his clipboard. Danny could see his face clearly and feel the vibration of his footsteps. Suddenly, his attention was caught by a blonde lady resembling the game’s avatar. She was slipping on a backpack, and beside her, a bearded man was struggling to pick up a suitcase. As the man dropped the suitcase with a thump, a pretty lady with red hair approached the blonde.
The game’s voice intoned, “While Gil’s getting last minute instructions from Dr. Nelson, let’s double check to make sure you’re still willing to participate. If you wish to continue, press your B button.”
* * *
William looked down at Gil’s enormous suitcase and groaned. “I think I just pulled a muscle in my back.”
“If that’s true,” Gil laughed, “you really need to start swimming again—your lack of exercise is becoming painfully apparent.”
“If you had to grade a mountain of term papers, you’d be skipping out on the gym too.”
“So that’s your big excuse? Grading papers?”
He started to reply, but was interrupted when Dr. Laura Nelson walked over and said, “Miss Montgomery, may I have a moment of your time? According to new regulations, Danny has completed the necessary steps to free TEMCO from liability, but before you go through the time portal we need to talk.”
As Gil nodded, Dr. Nelson took out a computer pad and went down a checklist of last minute instructions. “I trust you’ve had your inoculations and Class Two injections?”
“I had them a week ago,” Gil replied.
“That’s fine. The inoculations are just a precaution—there were some nasty things floating around twenty-four years ago. The Class Twos you took should curb any partial paralysis initially accompanying your trip through GAP. If you do feel any paralysis, don’t worry, the effect will fade after a few minutes.” Dr. Nelson’s eyes moved down the list. “Don’t forget, since GAP’s only calibrated to Danny’s neural pathways, only he will be able to see you.”
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