“What’s wrong with that?” Gil asked. “We work with death-row felons all the time.”
“The problem was the foolish haste with which it was done,” Poppa replied. “In actual fact, the first Daniel made five critical errors, each of which could’ve led to disaster.”
Dan blinked. “When you offered your services as Facilitator, you had me memorize The Five Immutable Laws. Were those laws written to prevent Daniel’s errors from reoccurring?”
“They were indeed,” Poppa replied.
“So, what errors did Daniel make?” Gil asked.
“His first mistake was failing to research the felon’s past,” Poppa replied. “If he’d done research, Daniel would’ve discovered that rather than murdering only one woman, the felon in question was a serial killer who made his victims’ deaths look like suicides.”
Sue made a strangled sound in her throat and looked sick. “Are you saying he chose to counsel Rick?”
Poppa nodded grimly. “Yes, indeed, and his choice led to utter disaster.” Poppa steepled his fingers. “Daniel’s second mistake was neglecting to conduct interviews with Rick on death row. Comprehensive interviews would’ve revealed Rick’s true nature.”
“Is that why personality tests are given to time-counseling candidates?” Gil asked.
Poppa nodded. “Some people are so evil it’s dangerous to counsel them, as the first Daniel learned to his detriment.”
Gil bit her lip and took another cookie. “What was his third mistake?”
“He didn’t find Rick’s tipping point. He simply surfed back to the day before the murder that landed Rick on death row.”
“What’s a tipping point?” Sue asked.
“It’s the exact moment in which a felon’s future is first tipped toward evil,” Poppa replied. “It usually occurs during childhood. For example, Danny’s tipping point occurred when he stabbed Rick with the butcher knife.”
Gil shuddered. “I don’t think it would’ve mattered how young Rick was when he was counseled. He told me he did things to cats when he was a little boy.” As Dan tightened his arm around her, she asked, “What was Daniel’s fourth mistake?”
“Disclosure. When he confronted Rick in the past, he told him where he used to live.”
Sue face turned pale. “You mean...?”
Poppa nodded grimly. “The fourth law forbids time counselors from revealing their last names and personal histories. This law was created because the first Daniel ignorantly informed a brutal murderer that his last name was Winston, his mother’s name was Sue, and his hometown was Charlesberg, Colorado.”
“I can’t believe this,” Sue said quietly and numbly. She shivered. “What was his fifth mistake?”
“Arrogance. After he counseled Rick, Daniel was fooled by Rick’s fake show of repentance, and rather than checking probability results, he simply surfed back home.”
“A time counselor must never be blinded by conceit or supposition,” Dan quoted from the fifth law.
“Exactly,” Poppa replied. “In reality, rather than being grateful, Rick was furious that Daniel had the audacity to tell him what to do. Determined to get even, he made his way to Charlesberg and found Daniel as a little boy.”
As Sue shuddered, Sam put his arm around her and squeezed Danny’s hand.
Poppa took a sip of milk and cleared his throat. “Rick killed Sue and Danny. He murdered them both. Their deaths split the timewave firmly down the middle. Two massive waves began crashing toward the temporal shore in a colossal Time Tsunami—one wave in which the first Daniel grew up and created time travel, and one wave in which Daniel was murdered and time travel never existed.”
“A Cataclysmic Failure,” Dan whispered.
“Cataclysmic indeed,” said Poppa. “It was devastating. It threatened to rip apart the fabric of time. When Daniel went home, TEMCO was in shambles. Immediate action was required, and GAP indicated that Gil Montgomery needed to surf back to stop the murder of Sue and her son.”
Poppa paused and took a deep breath. “At that time, Gil was a professional time surfer, but her efforts were only partially successful. Sue was murdered. Little Danny was saved, but he killed Rick with the butcher knife and ended up dying on death row. TEMCO was still in danger of collapsing. GAP indicated that Gil needed to try again, but unfortunately, she’d lost her life in the first attempt. Desperate, Daniel traveled a few years back into the past and convinced his younger counterpart to make Gil surf again—this time as a grad student taking a field exam. Her second surf was a success. Sue and Danny were saved and a timeline was produced in which Danny grew up alongside Slim and invented time travel.”
“If it was such a success, why was a third surf needed?” Sue asked.
“Because there were still two unique waves crashing toward the shore. A wave in which Danny invented GAP and ran the TEMCO program, and a wave in which he died on death row. The Cataclysmic Failure had shifted, but it wasn’t stopped.”
“This makes my head hurt,” Sue moaned.
Dan smiled. “Don’t worry, Mom. The main thing you need to know is that the Time Tsunami was dissipated by Gil’s third surf. Everything’s fine.”
“If you say so.”
Gil leaned forward. “Poppa, Dan says consecutive surfs muddy the water, so you can’t tell what happened before. That’s what happened to Rick, isn’t it?”
“Exactly,” Poppa replied. “By the time your third surf took place—since it was a triple repeat into a split timeline—the waters, so to speak, were very muddy. It’s possible that by your third surf, Rick no longer knew about the first Daniel or about time travel. It’s possible he just felt inevitably drawn to Charlesberg and Sue.”
Gil shivered. “I think he knew something though—even if subconsciously. He wasn’t surprised by my invisibility. He took it in stride.”
“A regressive memory,” Twinkles said with a nod. “Rick may not have realized it, but he was repeating a pattern he’d repeated many times before.”
As silence fell, Sue asked hesitantly, “Poppa, were you the first Daniel?”
The old man shook his head. “No, my dear, when Gil’s third surf succeeded, the very first Daniel, Death Row Daniel, and the Dan who sent Gil back the second time were all erased from existence. Since the split timewave has been healed, only one timeline now exists. Little Danny is sitting next to you on the couch, Dr. Ableman is Danny twenty-four years into the future, and I’m Danny nearly seventy years into the future.”
Leaning back in Dan’s arms, Gil asked Poppa, “Do you know if the first Daniel and I were together as a couple?”
He shook his head. “The computer code wasn’t that detailed. It only revealed the circumstances surrounding the Time Tsunami.”
Gil pressed a kiss to Dan’s freckle. “Even if the threat of a Time Tsunami was needed to get me and Dan together, I’m glad we’re together. I’m glad things worked out the way they did.”
“Me too,” chirped Danny. “Especially now that I know I get you as my girlfriend!”
As Gil laughed and tossed her napkin at the boy, Poppa grinned and stood to his feet. “I hate to bring things to a close, but it’s time to send Gil and Dan back home.”
Danny looked around the room. “How are they gonna time travel without a PlayFest console?”
Poppa tousled the hair on his younger-self’s head. “They have Twinkles and me.”
“Poppa’s inventions, you know,” Twinkles said, gathering up the dishes and putting them on a tray. “We stopped leaping through TV portals ages ago.”
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
Crystal stared at the last two boxes sitting by the archive door. As she reached for one of them, Marc walked out from behind the shelves. Seeing his jaw tighten, Crystal took a deep breath and stuttered, “W-we’re almost done.”
“I can see that, Einstein.”
His frozen voice made her flinch. Squaring her shoulders, she said curtly, “I know we don’t get along, but we should pretend to for a w
hile.”
“Oh? Why’s that?”
“Director Matthews wanted to be informed when we completed our assignment, so he could lock down the archives for the summer.”
“It doesn’t take two people to deliver a message.”
“I know that,” she snapped. “But if we want the director to think we can work together, we should try to be civil.”
“I’ll take my chances.”
“Go ahead then, you stupid oaf, act like a jerk and see what happens!” She thrust her angry face toward his. “I’m pretty good at calculating odds, and trust me, if we both want a job at TEMCO we’d better walk into the lab side by side.”
Marc paused. “What are you trying to say? Do you know something I don’t?”
She hunched a shoulder. “I’m just saying that you’d better get the chip off your shoulder and play nice.”
“Why do you care? You’d be glad to see me washed out of the program.”
“I would not! I may not like you, but I can recognize your talent.”
Marc blinked. His voice softened. “Do you mean that?”
“I’m not in the habit of lying.”
“You know, Cris, I wouldn’t mind calling a truce. I could always use another friend.”
Crystal glared through her glasses. “I’m not interested in being friends. I just want a job when I graduate.”
Marc’s eyes hardened. “You are without a doubt the rudest woman I’ve ever met!”
“I’m not rude—I’m honest.” Shaking her hair out of her face, she mumbled, “Just treat me with civility when the director’s watching, okay? Do you think you can manage that?”
“What about you? Every time I try to bury the hatchet, you end up whacking me over the head with it! If anyone needs an attitude adjustment, it’s you.”
“Don’t worry about me,” Crystal said, swinging the box on her hip. “I’m smart enough to have a healthy sense of self-preservation. I’ll be friendly whenever Director Matthews is around, but the rest of the time I’m staying as far away from you as I can get.”
* * *
Gil watched as the men carried her luggage into the living room. When she tried to thank them, they began complaining loudly about sprained backs and broken arms. In unison, Gil and Twinkles rolled their eyes.
“Men!” Twinkles said in a disgusted tone. “They can pack light because they never think ahead. Where would they go for a Band-Aid if we weren’t around? Feckless creatures! They should be thanking us, not heckling us.”
With a naughty twinkle, Gil replied, “I couldn’t agree with myself more.” As the room erupted in laughter, she looked at her new friends and moaned. “I don’t know how I’m gonna say goodbye!”
“It’s not goodbye.” Dan chuckled. “I’m going with you, and you’re having dinner with Mom and Dad when we get home—they’re flying to D.C. to see you.”
“But you aren’t little Danny anymore, and twenty-four years is a lot of distance to cover between friends. When I see her again, Sue and I won’t be the same age. She’ll be older than me and my prospective mother-in-law. I’ll be intimidated by her.”
“No, you won’t,” Sue said, giving Gil a hug. “I couldn’t be intimidating if I tried.”
“Don’t move! Hold that pose!” Twinkles commanded, rushing forward with an object in her hands. “I want a picture.”
As Gil gave Twinkles a puzzled glance, the old woman flourished the device and said, “A holographic camera was a byproduct of the Scan Emitter. Poppa called it his lucky mistake. But mistake or not, it’s certainly been a lucrative invention.”
Sue blinked. “Danny invents a new type of camera as well as time travel?”
“Your brilliant son is always inventing things,” Twinkles replied. “I’ve lost track of all his bright ideas. Now, hug Gil again, will you? I want some pictures for my scrapbook.”
After taking the picture of Gil and Sue, Twinkles began taking pictures of everyone else. Eventually, Poppa plucked the camera from his wife’s fingers and said, “That’s enough, dear.”
“I know.” Twinkles sighed. “I guess I’m just trying to spin things out as long as possible. I still hate goodbyes.”
Smiling at the old woman, Gil asked, “Before I go, any tips for my future?”
Twinkles tapped her finger lightly against her lips. “Let’s see...be sure to nudge Laura toward Peter. They’re a perfect match. The poor dears are completely blind to it of course, but they’ll come around.”
Gil grinned. “Anything else?”
“Relish each day with Dan. Your days together are gonna be worth relishing.” Suddenly, Twinkles jolted. “Oh! There’s one more thing. Don’t let your daughter put her hamster in the bathtub when she’s cleaning its cage.”
As Gil’s eyebrows rose, Twinkles groaned. “Don’t ask. Just know it involves lots of tears and a very expensive service call from a plumber late on a Saturday night.”
Gil laughed. “I’ll remember.” Her face took on a puzzled frown. “Can you clear something up? Why did Poppa give me a cookbook when he gave me my scholarship?”
As Poppa began to blush, Twinkles chuckled. “That’s easy enough to explain. Poppa loves good food. He was just making sure he got it in the future, the old rascal!”
Dan gave a shout of laughter. “I guess that’s one way to ensure your wife can cook.” He tweaked one of Gil’s curls. “Be grateful, honey, if you didn’t know how to cook, you couldn’t have resorted to edible bribery to pass the orals.”
Gil gave Dan a playful swat. “Be prepared to pay for my cooking with poems, mister!”
Poppa grinned and took a translucent pyramid out of his pocket. After pressing some buttons, he placed it on the floor in the living room doorway.
“What’s that?” Danny asked curiously as the sides of the pyramid split apart and transformed into something resembling a lotus flower.
“It’s a Wave Trapper,” Twinkles said. “It captures timewaves like a spider web and harnesses them for use.”
A slender column of silver light streamed up from the middle of the flower. With a burst of iridescent color, the light spread into a sparkling grid that filled the doorway. In rapid succession, the grid sections began filling with blue light.
“Wow!” Danny exclaimed, looking over at Dan. “I—we—made that?”
Dan got a rueful look on his face. “We will eventually. I haven’t managed it yet, but I’m getting closer. If Poppa would let me do some reverse engineering, I’d make faster progress.”
“You know that’s something I can’t permit,” the old man said. “Besides, I know you’d hate taking a shortcut, no matter how tempting it might be.”
“I suppose so. I guess my team and I will just have to figure things out on our own.”
“Speaking of your team,” Twinkles said, “get ready to say hello.”
With another burst of color, the TEMCO lab came into view. Through the glittering wave, Gil could see the shimmering outlines of Director Peter Matthews and Dr. Laura Nelson. They were sitting in the empty lab with their backs toward the emerging portal.
As the silver grid faded and the blue light slowly congealed into an established time portal, Danny said enthusiastically, “I think the Wave Trapper’s even cooler than Extreme Exam.”
Poppa tousled the hair on his younger-self’s head. “I aim to please.”
Twinkles turned to Gil. “The Trapper’s a marvelous invention, but I don’t think it has to be so flashy. All those fancy bursts of light are my hubby’s way of adding flare.”
“Now, honey,” Poppa said in a patient voice. “You know the light bursts are unavoidable. The simultaneous cascade of shifting wave patterns captured by the—”
Twinkles gave a snort. “For heaven’s sake, don’t go all professorish on me! You’ll make my head hurt with all your technical mumbo jumbo.” Glancing at Gil, she whispered, “I still say he’s showing off. The light bursts may be unavoidable, but he could tone them down a bit.”
&nbs
p; As Poppa laughed, Gil saw the enthusiasm draining from Danny’s face. He was biting his lip and she could tell he was starting to struggle with tears.
“Hey,” she whispered, going to his side. “Are you okay?”
The boy shook his head. “You’re really going home, aren’t you?”
Gil nodded, feeling the familiar tug on her heart.
A tear trailed down Danny’s cheek. “Oh, Gil, I’m gonna miss you so much it hurts.”
“I know,” she said gently, wiping away his tears. “But we’ll meet again. I promise.”
Danny pitched himself into her arms. “I’ll love you forever.”
Gil swallowed a lump in her throat. “I’ll love you forever too.”
Beside her, Dan clasped Danny’s shoulder. “Work hard, little man. Grow up fine, straight, and strong. Don’t develop any bad habits that I’ll have to break. Save yourself for Gil, and remember that she’s absolutely worth the wait.”
As Dan and Danny hugged, Sam said to Gil, “I want to thank you for getting me involved. You gave me my family.”
Giving Dan a loving glance, Gil nodded and replied, “Getting involved gave me my family too.” She looked at Sue through misty eyes. “Thanks for raising Dan to be such a wonderful man.”
Sue hugged her close. “Thanks for making sure I had a chance to raise him.”
In front of the Wave Trapper, Poppa cleared his throat. “The portal is established. I’m afraid it’s time for Dan and Gil to go.”
Gil looked through the wave at the lab. As she clasped Dan’s hand, sound began traveling through the time portal. She could hear the director talking to Dr. Nelson.
Squeezing her hand, Dan called out loudly, “Hello, the lab!”
Gil watched as the director jolted and looked over his shoulder. When he spotted the portal, he stood up so quickly that he overturned his chair.
“Dr. Ableman,” the director said in an unsteady voice, “are you and Miss Montgomery all right? The lack of contact has been alarming.”
“We’re fine,” Dan replied, putting his arm around Gil. “And you can cut the formality, Pete, Gil knows who I am.”
Peter raised an eyebrow and laughed. “You’re a quick worker, aren’t you? But I guess you would be after a twenty-four year wait.”
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