by Amalie Jahn
It wasn’t like Nate to complain and I knew he was only upset because I wasn’t making the best use of our time together. How quickly I’d forgotten how awful life had been without him. I turned off my tablet, set it aside and dedicated the rest of my vacation to fostering our second chance. We spent the remainder of the week sledding with his nephews, baking cookies with his mother, and hanging out with a bunch of his old high school friends.
It was blissful in its normalcy.
However, as soon as I returned home after New Year’s, I wasted no time refocusing on my agenda by contacting Senator Turner on her personal line. I knew it was bold to call her without going through the proper channels, but she’d given me the number in good faith to use if I should ever need her assistance, and with two solid weeks of research under my belt, I was ready to discuss my plan to abolish time travel.
“Melody! It’s so nice to hear from you! Happy New Year!” she said when she realized who was on the phone. “How was your fall semester?”
“Happy New Year to you too,” I replied. “School was great, thank you.”
“I’m glad to hear it! You know, I was looking over our staff list for this summer and am so glad to see you’ll be joining us again. You’re such a delight to have around. Is that what you’re calling about, because I can assure you your application was accepted.”
I didn’t want to sound ungrateful, but my summer internship was literally the last thing on my mind. “I’m so glad to hear I’ve been chosen and I appreciate the opportunity, but if you have a minute, there’s something else I was interested in speaking to you about.”
“Oh! Do you need something for a class assignment? I’m sure one of my aides would be happy to help you out.”
“Actually, no. I was wondering if you think it might be possible to put an end to government sanctioned time travel? If so, I’d like to propose a bill.”
I closed my eyes while I waited for her to respond, listening to her shallow breathing on the other end of the line. It was clear I’d startled her with my request.
“Well my goodness, that’s a noble pursuit, but I’m not sure you’re aware of the time and dedication an undertaking of this magnitude would require. I’m honored that you’ve come to me about it, but you must know that you’re not the first person who has attempted to pass a bill through Congress against time travel. It’s a pretty solid institution at this point.”
I felt my chances slipping through my fingers in the same way Vicki disappeared from my life. I couldn’t risk letting the opportunity pass me by, and so when I opened my mouth to speak, it was as if I was releasing the floodgates of a rain swollen river.
“Senator, something tragic has happened in my life, and I believe I have an angle to approach the removal of government funding for time travel which hasn’t been addressed before. I would write the entire bill myself, do all the research, all the legwork, and I certainly wouldn’t expect you to spend any time on this unnecessarily. All I need is for you to sponsor and introduce it. That’s it. Truly, it would mean the world to me.”
She was silent. I imagined her drumming her fingers on her desk as she often did when she was thinking.
“A new angle, huh? Are you sure about that?”
I forced myself to breathe. She was actually considering it.
“Yes, ma’am. I’ve read every bill to abolish government sanctioned time travel from the last 30 years and I am sure what I am proposing has never been discussed.”
“Oh really?”
“Yes, ma’am. I found an old rider bill that was passed back in the 1990’s. It’s still on the books and I believe I could use it as a basis for the elimination of government-funded time travel.”
“On what basis?”
I hesitated. I knew if I was going to go through with my plan I was going to have to tell her the truth about my own time travel experience and all that it entailed. But it wasn’t something I was ready to discuss quite yet.
“On the basis of something I’m not comfortable talking about over the phone.”
She chuckled heartily. “I knew I liked you, girl!” she laughed. “A rebel after my own heart!” I could hear her rustling papers on her desk. “Well, listen. You’ve got me. I’m intrigued. But I’m stuck here in DC for the rest of the month. Can you come by my office one day next week and bring everything you’ve got?”
I jumped out of my chair. “Yes, ma’am!”
“Well, okay then!” I could hear her smiling. “Let me transfer you to my administrative assistant and she’ll let you know when I’m available. Sound good?”
“Sounds great,” I told her. “See you next week.”
C HAPTER TWENTY SIX
I spent the next six days collecting my thoughts and research to present to Senator Turner.
“I’m heading into DC to meet with her about my proposed bill tomorrow,” I told my mom over cornflakes.
“Want me to come along?” she offered, pouring herself a second cup of coffee and joining me at the table.
Knowing I might need to tell the Senator about my trip, the last thing I wanted was my mom tagging along. Having her with me would prevent me from being candid in our discussion.
“Nah,” I said. “The meeting is something I need to do alone. But thanks for having my back.”
As it turned out, I didn’t have to worry very long about piquing the senator’s interest as she was thoroughly intrigued by the research I presented over dinner at the 1789 Restaurant.
“Tell me more about this bill,” she said, taking a small bite of her beet salad.
“Well, back in 1995 Congress passed something called the Dickey Amendment which was an appropriation bill rider attached to The Balanced Budget Downpayment Act. At that time the government had been through a series of furloughs and the rider sort of snuck through on the heels of the budget act. I don’t think it even came to a vote on the house floor if you can believe that.”
“I can believe it, but I don’t understand how this amendment has anything to do with time travel. It hadn’t even been discovered at that point.”
I nibbled on a slice of Gouda from my cheese plate and prepared for the potential serious ramifications of what we were about to discuss. I hoped Senator Turner was as trustworthy as she appeared.
“The amendment itself doesn’t have anything to do with time travel. It has to do with stem cell research.”
She set down her fork and narrowed her eyes. “This sounds like dangerous territory, Melody.”
I wiped my palms on the linen napkin in my lap. I couldn’t stop sweating.
“Senator, there’s something I need to confess, however by doing so I might be implicating myself in a crime. If this isn’t something you’re comfortable hearing, I completely understand. But to fully understand how my research relates to abolishing time travel, I think it’s necessary for me to be honest with you. If you are unable to keep my secret for any reason, please just let me know and we can end our conversation now.”
Her eyes widened. “My goodness, Melody. What have you gotten yourself into?”
“It involves the use of my trip, ma’am. I don’t want to get you into any trouble by telling you my secret, and I don’t know if you’re bound to report crimes…”
“Whatever you tell me will remain between the two of us,” she interrupted. “We can decide together if there’s something we need to share with other people.”
I hoped what she was saying was true. “So you won’t get in trouble for not reporting my confession?”
“We can forget this conversation ever happened if that’s what you choose,” she said, pretending to zip her lips.
“And you’re not going to turn me in?”
She smiled warmly. “You’re the best intern on my staff. I couldn’t stand to lose you.”
My mouth was thick and parched. I took a sip of spring water from the oversized goblet beside my plate and convinced myself for the hundredth time I was doing the right thing. I knew Vicki wasn�
��t the only child whose life was erased from history because of time travel, but if I had anything to say about it, she would be one of the last.
“I used my trip in the fall,” I began. “I went back to August of my first year and only stayed for 24 hours. When I returned from my trip I discovered something terrible happened simply because I travelled.”
“Are you sure it was because of your trip? The authorities obviously weren’t alerted since you were never detained.”
I nodded. “I’m sure of it. The timing’s too perfect. I had no idea taking my trip was going to result in my niece no longer being with us, but that’s exactly what happened.”
What remained of the senator’s salad lay long-forgotten on her plate. “If you killed her, you would have been arrested. You must be mistaken about the cause.”
I knew from Brooke’s experience that changes resulting in death weren’t always discovered, but I didn’t believe it was a lack of monitoring which had prevented my arrest. I simply assumed that details of conception were never taken into consideration.
“I didn’t realize the date of my trip was also the date of my niece’s conception. By slightly altering the timeline on the night she was created, I prevented her from being conceived. When I returned, a different baby had been born in her place. I know this single event cannot be the only instance of this occurring. Because of time travel, my niece Vicki was replaced by someone else. Her creation was prevented because her embryo was altered by time travel.”
Turner chewed nervously at her thumbnail. “And how does the Dickey Amendment relate to these events?” she breathed.
I composed myself, surprised by how fiercely the retelling of events unnerved me. “The amendment bans federal funding for all research involving the creation or destruction of human embryos. It also bans funding if the embryo is subjected to injury or death. I figure if there’s already a law in place banning the government from funding an activity which destroys embryos, that sets a pretty strong precedent for banning funding of time travel, especially considering its potential to do the same thing.”
“I see.” Turner was quiet for a moment, digesting the implications of my findings. “When you returned, you said a different baby had been born. So the embryo wasn’t destroyed so much as changed.”
I hadn’t considered that reality. “I suppose so,” I said. “I knew Vicki though, in the original timeline. And now she no longer exists. I have a nephew instead. Vicki’s genetic material was replaced by someone else’s.”
The senator picked up her fork and pushed her salad greens distractedly around her plate. “I believe without a doubt that you have uncovered the most viable argument against time travel I’ve ever heard. But if we present this with the hope of banning all funding, there can be no holes. No chinks in the armor. We would need other cases, especially ones in which viable embryos weren’t just replaced but actually ceased to exist because of time travel.”
“Can we do that?”
“I have a few connections within the Time Travel Administration. I might be able to pull a few strings and call in some favors. There are records kept for every trip, it’s just a matter of gaining access to them.”
“And what about my trip?” I thought about the blatant changes I’d made to the timeline and the afternoon I spent with Nate. I knew if I came under scrutiny there was a chance I could go to jail.
She took a sip of her chardonnay. “You’re worried about them detaining you for this? There’s no way an arrest would be justified. That’s the whole reason this argument is a legitimate stance against the continued use of time travel. You had absolutely no control over how that embryo reformed. The mere act of traveling placed your niece’s life in jeopardy, and you cannot be held personally responsible since there is no way to predict how DNA will combine in any given case. Time travel alone is the only thing to blame for keeping her life from beginning.”
I tucked my chin and folded my napkin in my hands. If felt good to hear the words spoken aloud, pardoning me for my transgressions. I didn’t know if I would ever be able to fully forgive myself for Vicki’s loss but being exonerated by someone else was a start. Even still, I knew the true motivation for the use of my trip was forbidden, leaving me too ashamed to look Turner in the eye. I needed to tell her the truth of why I feared incarceration.
“The embryo wasn’t the only change that occurred as a result of my trip.”
She scoffed. “Melody, trust me, you’re not the first person to cause changes during a trip.”
I peered up at her from beneath my hair, obscuring my face.
“I did it on purpose though.”
She was grinning at me. “Doesn’t everyone?” she laughed. “Honey, your secret’s safe. I promise. And we can make sure to keep all of our findings confidential, including yours. No one is going to jail for this. I promise.”
Before sharing our heartfelt goodbyes, Turner agreed to reach out to her connections at the TTA so we could begin investigating other possible cases of embryonic destruction caused by time travel. Meanwhile, I was responsible for drafting the bill as quickly as possible, knowing the longer it took, the less likely the bill would be seen by the sitting Congress. She explained that in addition to the actual drafting, we would also need time to consult with an attorney to assist us in rewriting the proposal into legislative language. When it was finished, Turner would need to circulate the bill to other congressmen in the hopes of gaining co-sponsors to demonstrate a base of support before formally submitting it to the clerks of the senate floor.
There was a lot of work to do and not enough hours in the day to do it, but I knew I could only live with myself knowing I’d done everything possible to assure what happened to Vicki would end up serving the greater good.
I drove back home confident in my ability to make big changes in the world. I only wondered if the pride of success would ever be enough to ease the pain of losing Vicki.
PART THREE
SPRING SEMESTER – THIRD YEAR
C HAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
I nodded off in my women’s studies lecture for the third time, roused only by the chaos of the class’s dismissal. I was pushing myself too hard – between a full class schedule, homework assignments and commitments to friends, there was no time during the day to draft my bill. I spent most nights holed up in a private study room in the basement of the library poring over files passed to me by Turner’s connection, Jeff Armstrong, at the TTA. Slowly, over the course of several weeks, the outline of my bill was beginning to take shape, but unfortunately my narrow focus had already begun to affect the other facets of my life.
“We’re all going to The Corner tonight, Mel. Are you coming with us?” Lesley asked as we walked from the parking lot to Nate’s apartment.
I was drained and the thought of spending the night in a loud, stuffy bar was anything but appealing.
“I don’t think so,” I told her. “I’ve got some homework to catch up on.”
She rolled her eyes and pulled her snow cap over her ears. “Nate’s gonna kill you. You haven’t been out with us at all since we got back from winter break. What’s going on with you?”
I shrugged nonchalantly but knew her analysis was astute. I’d gone into hyper mode, channeling my energy into drafting the bill at the expense of everything else. It was a familiar ritual, one that had played out many times before in my life. My father’s death and my relationship with Nate were the only two catalysts which had swayed me from my focus in the past. I wondered if anything short of the bill’s passing would slow me down this time.
“I just have a tough set of classes this semester, that’s all, and I’d appreciate if you didn’t give me a hard time about it, thank you very much.”
“Whoa! Touchy! Okay. I’ll back off. But I can guarantee Nate won’t give you the same leniency. I heard him telling Tyree the other day how much he misses having you around. He didn’t say it in so many words, but Tyree teased the crap out of him about it anyway. You do
n’t watch it, you might just lose him.”
I didn’t know what made me angrier – Lesley thinking Nate would break up with me over not going out to a bar or me admitting she was right. I threw my hands in the air.
“Fine! I’ll go to The Corner tonight if it will make everyone happy!”
“Whatever,” she said as we reached the front porch. “Spending time with us should make you happy but it doesn’t feel much like it lately.”
She opened the door and without another word I followed her inside. Nate and Josh were stretched out on the threadbare, thrift store couch playing video games while Tyree made himself a sandwich in the kitchen.
“Ladies,” Josh greeted us without looking up from the television.
“Dudes,” Lesley replied, collapsing on the cushion beside him.
“Hey, stranger,” Nate nodded, glancing up from the game to smile at me. “Long time, no see. Where ya been hiding?”
“I’ve been around. Here and there,” I said, tossing my bag on to the nonfunctioning recliner beside the sofa before settling myself on the floor between his knees.
“You gonna grace us with your presence at Chase’s birthday celebration tonight?” he asked.
I could feel Lesley glaring into the back of my head.
“Yes.” I relented. “I’ll be there. Wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“Don’t sound so enthusiastic,” Tyree called from the kitchen. “It’s like we’re dragging you to a seminar on tooth decay.”
“Or scoliosis,” Josh chimed in.
Before I could respond to their sarcasm, my phone began vibrating in my pocket. A check of the screen confirmed the call was from Jeff, my connection at the TTA.
“I’ve gotta take this,” I said, excusing myself to Nate’s bedroom. I closed the door behind me before answering the call.
“Hello?” I said.
“Hello, Melody? It’s Jeff. Do you have a minute?”