30th Century: Escape (30th Century Trilogy Book 1)

by Mark Kingston Levin

  DO NOT REMEMBER

  “Oh,” Lacy replied. “Must’ve happened before you lost your memory. The scar looks old, nothing to fret about now.”

  Jennifer did not like being forced to rely on the amnesia story, but could not think of any alternate cover. Besides, she reflected, it’s best I forget those events. They might as well be another life, false memories.

  Lacy came back around and picked up Jennifer’s hand to check her pulse. With her free hand, Jennifer wrote on the iPad.

  TALK PLEASE.

  She needed to distract Lacy from asking any more questions—and needed more dialogue to adapt to this accent.

  “Talk? What do you mean?”

  YOURSELF?

  Lacy blushed again as she stole her eyes away from Jennifer to her watch as she counted out the pulse.

  “There’s not much to talk about, I’m afraid.”

  Jennifer smiled for reassurance and again wrote, PLEASE.

  “Uhh…well, I’m one of Professor Zitonick’s graduate students—”

  WHO?

  “Marty.” Lacy pointed to the makeshift table that had rapidly gone up and was now covered with food containers. “He’s a professor of marine science at the University of Hawaii. I’ve only been living in Honolulu since I was fourteen. I was pretty lucky to get into his department, and he agreed to be my adviser.”

  Jennifer silently thanked her luck. She’d spent many years at the University of Hawaii’s future successor in the thirtieth century. She knew the area well and would love to see it again—buildings came and went, but the underlying layout of cities tended to stay the same. A rush of excitement washed through her.

  The wave of feeling must have been obvious—Lacy spoke up as she set down Jennifer’s hand. “Everything all right?”

  Jennifer nodded and cleared her throat, her hesitation only half-feigned. “Yes,” Jennifer whispered, “I’m fine, thank you.”

  Visibly stunned, Lacy hesitated to answer.

  “Am I okay, doctor?”

  “Uhh…oh! Yeah. I mean I’m only an RN, but you’re healthy by all counts I’m qualified to check. Everything seems cool.”

  “Cool?” Jennifer turned the word over on her tongue.

  “Oh,” Lacy stammered. “I mean, like good, great. You don’t have a chill. And hey, your voice is coming back! Everything’s good. The professor and Mrs. Keizer will want to know.” She turned toward the trees where Marty and Alice’s picnic looked extremely civilized.

  Jennifer stood up and offered her hand to Lacy.

  “Thank you, Lacy. You did cool!” she said cheerfully.

  Lacy gave a genuine laugh. She repacked the med-kit and took Jennifer’s hand to stand up. Together, they walked toward Marty and Alice.

  “Everything okay?” Alice asked with concern.

  “Nothing is wrong, Ms. Keizer. She’s fine. See for yourself.”

  “Thank you all,” Jennifer said, now confident in her accent. She’d placed it as the West Coast educated dialect of twentieth-century American English, although the redhead had a different accent from Marty or Lacy. Tonight, she’d brush up on vocabulary. “I hope to repay this kindness one day.”

  “You can speak now,” Marty said as he got off the radio. “Has your memory returned?”

  “Unfortunately not. It’s been so long since I had to speak, I grew unaccustomed to it.” She was sure she was using overly formal vocabulary, but that could be explained as first-meeting manners between strangers—always better to start at a top level of linguistic politeness. “Hearing you and Lacy speak helped me recall my voice. My memory is still blank though.” She let her gaze fall downcast, to sell the deception of her sorrow. “However, Lacy did say something that sparked some familiarity.”

  “I did?”

  “What’s that, Jennifer?” the redhead asked.

  Bringing her eyes up to Marty’s beautiful blue-green gaze, Jennifer said, “The University of Hawaii. I cannot explain why the institution seems known to me, but if speaking with you has helped me recall my voice, perhaps the university can aid me in recovering more of my memory.”

  “Is that right? Well then, it seems your luck doesn’t run dry,” Marty said. He gestured to the radio. “We’ve sorted it out with the authorities. You can stay with us while we finish our study. We’ve got ten days until we’re back in Tahiti—it’d be expensive and silly to send another vessel out here when we’ve got room. If you get cleared at the hospital in Papeete and get proper documentation for yourself, we can find out where you come from. And if you want to return to Hawaii with us, you probably can.”

  “A hospital? Why?”

  “These islands are contaminated with nuclear radiation from various weapons testing, including plutonium.” Marty held up the Geiger counter for emphasis. “You read fine, but this instrument cannot detect plutonium in your body; therefore, it’d be safer to get you checked with proper equipment. Alice here can fill you in with more details while we get to work.” Marty turned to Lacy. “If we want to keep on anything close to our schedule, we’ll have to start the sampling.”

  “But we didn’t bring any of our gear, Professor.”

  “It’s all right. I already radioed the others that we will pick them up at the Albatross before heading to the site. They’ll bring our stuff. You’ll come with me. Alice can take Jennifer back to the Albatross in the small Zodiac later.” Lacy and Marty each grabbed a sandwich and a bottle of water.

  “Go ahead, Marty. Jennifer and I’ll be fine.”

  “Roger that,” Marty said as he headed off with Lacy in tow.

  “See you later tonight, Jennifer, Ms. Keizer,” Lacy yelled as a farewell.

  Lacy waved and Marty gave a brief salute as he started up the large Zodiac’s motor and then pulled away from the beach. He added power slowly until he was flying across the lagoon at thirty-five knots.

  Jennifer stood speechless, still amazed at the sudden flurry of action.

  “You’ll have to forgive him, dear,” Alice said. “Marty’s a passionate man of action when he sets his mind on something like a marine science project.”

  Jennifer looked thoughtfully after Marty. He was trimly built, with broad shoulders and fair skin, rapidly turning pink in the harsh tropical sun. Laugh lines had crinkled around his blue-green eyes. As the boat accelerated, he ran a hand through his tousled, light-brown hair, slightly bleached by the sun and salts of the ocean. Yes, he was quite handsome. She wondered if she could get to know this “professor” better.

  “Lunchtime!” Alice called out, breaking Jennifer’s trance.

  Over lunch they chatted, Jennifer telling more of how she’d survived on the island, one small detail at a time, while working out from Alice’s responses what a “normal” twenty-first century person would know, and what she’d have to pretend was a lucky instinct or later reveal had been training.

  Alice told Jennifer of the nuclear history of the area and the potential radiation danger. It was mostly information Jennifer already knew—both from the ancient records she’d reviewed and from the French warning signs she’d seen still posted on the island. She knew her cells were protected from the “dirty” test site by her Symbiotes. What bothered her was the idea of in-depth medical exams. The current technology wouldn’t pick up anything, but she didn’t know if her many scars would create curiosity. She would have to find a way to avoid examination while staying focused on her next objective: gaining another PhD at the University of Hawaii, where she taught for many years in the thirtieth century. A familiar place and setting would be the best disguise while she learned current culture and rebuilt her life.

  CHAPTER 6

  Dinner on the Albatross

  Jennifer and Alice finished their lunch and gathered up the remaining supplies. Alice carried the uneaten fruit and the shade cover back to the Zodiac while Jennifer smothered the dying embers of her signal fires.

  “Bet it’ll be a relief to get a shower and some proper clothes again,” Alice cal
led out, laughing gently at Jennifer’s exposed, soot-covered skin from the fires and the few scraps left of her cut-off shorts.

  “Good, you have a shower on your…?” Jennifer wasn’t sure what word to finish the sentence with—would Alice call it a “transport”?

  Alice didn’t seem to notice her hesitation. “Yep. Our bird’s been heavily modified for these extended field trips. Afraid the shower must be a bit cold though.”

  “That won’t bother me—it sounds excellent. I’ve had rainwater for drinking, but all my baths have been in the sea. Should I bring my soap?”

  “You have soap here?” Alice asked, with a puzzled look.

  “I was able to heat up sand, calcium carbonate, which decomposes to carbon dioxide and calcium oxide.” Jennifer bent down and sifted her hand through the white sand for emphasis. “The calcium oxide mixed with fish fat made a kind of soap—if you don’t mind smelling like fish fat—which I am used to now!”

  Alice sniffed, but too noticeably, and stood silent with a puzzled face. Jennifer dropped the sand and cursed to herself. She would have to get used to not sounding overly smart.

  “Crikey, mate,” Alice said at last. “I had no idea anyone could do that. D’ye have any memories of being a chemist?”

  “…I don’t know. Perhaps? Hopefully I can find out either way when we arrive at the university.”

  “Yeah, darlin’, maybe you were a student there if it seems so familiar.” Waving it off, Alice continued, “Anyways, we got store-bought soap on the Albatross so you don’t need to be rubbing fish juice on yer nethers anymore. Hop aboard and let’s sally forth!”

  Laughing at Alice’s turn of phrase, Jennifer jumped into the Zodiac and they navigated through the shallows. In the deeper waters, Alice turned the throttle full on as Jennifer watched the beach disappear. For a while, the atoll had felt like home, but now her sense of purpose was renewed. Onward.

  They rode in silence, the wind drowning out the sound of the motor and whipping their hair, Alice’s a cloud of red, Jennifer’s golden. Soon the silver glint of the Albatross shone bright in the afternoon sun. Exuberance once more filled Jennifer at the sight of the transport—the “bird,” Alice had said—her gateway off the island and into the world. Her immediate objective was clear and she was swiftly cementing her new identity.

  “There she is, our flying floating lab,” Alice yelled over the twin roar of wind and motor.

  Soon a man waved from the side port and Alice beamed and waved back. “That’s my husband, Mike!”

  “Ahoy there!” Mike said moments later. He threw a line to the Zodiac. “You must be our mystery woman. I’m Mike Keizer, co-pilot of this old plane. Welcome aboard.”

  “Thank you.” Jennifer stepped up into the plane curiously. She’d seen pictures of similar transport crafts in the archives, but never a real one.

  “Ripper to see you, love,” Mike said, offering Alice a hand. He pulled the wiry redhead aboard and gave her hand a loving kiss before he let go. “Captain’s been on my case to help with this afternoon’s filming on the west side. Think you two can hold down the fort while I take the Zodiac out?”

  “I think we’ll manage,” Alice replied with a wink.

  “There’s my girl. See you both at dinner.”

  Mike descended the struts with a camera case strapped across his shoulders and boarded the Zodiac.

  Alice waved. “Aloha!”

  Jennifer copied the phrase, testing the sound of the ancient Hawaiian. “A-loha!”

  With a wave, Mike sped away.

  Alice turned to Jennifer. “I’ll get some of my spare clothes set out for ye, so take a shower and get yesself out of your raggedy cut-offs.”

  “Thank you very much, Alice.”

  “No need. I’ll be drafting ye as sous chef after your shower, consider us even.”

  She gave a playful wink and escorted Jennifer through the cramped interior, toward the rear of the plane. Convertible bunks lined the sides and beyond them a curtain separated the shower for privacy.

  “Try not to use too much water. I’ll have the clothes out here for you when you’re finished. Store-bought soap’s already in there.”

  “Thank you again.”

  Alice smiled and vanished toward the front of the Albatross.

  Jennifer took a deep breath and looked around the tiny space. She was here in an ancient transport, safe and well on her way toward her new life. She removed what was left of her cut-offs and laughed with the shock of the cold water as she washed the signal fire soot from her skin. When she stepped out, Jennifer felt lighter. Her skin and hair were clean, but her heart was still in conflict over leaving her command at a critical moment in time. Cleansed of her immediate survival worry and doubt, she spent a moment in the pure joy of the feeling before regaining her center and concern for the future of the Naturals.

  Alice had set out a cotton sports bra and panties, as well as a blue blouse, khaki shorts, and a pair of sandals. The sandals were a little large but the clothes fit well enough as she admired the ancient woven and knitted patterns of the cotton fabric. After dressing, she strode to the front of the transport where she found Alice leaning over a chart on the center table, a radio in her hand.

  “Just humor me, Alice,” a man’s voice crackled through the communication device. “I just want to make sure, in case the wind bumps up.”

  “All right, Captain Worry. Gimme a sec.” Alice set the radio down and placed a measuring device over the charts. She looked up as Jennifer approached.

  “Whew! So, there was a beautiful young lady beneath that Amazon.”

  Jennifer blushed slightly and filed away “Amazon” to learn the meaning later. I looked like a river? A jungle? Must be a colloquialism. “Hah! Was that Marty?”

  “Yeah, he’s worried the unexpected sudden change in wind direction might disrupt our flight plan so he wants me to recalculate the course heading to Fangataufa.”

  Jennifer peered down at the map, analyzing the relative positions. The chart was a basic one, a style still used in the thirtieth century by those who preferred their own calculations to a computer’s, mostly amateur pilots. “What is the predicted wind speed?”

  “Huh?…umm, fifty-eight knots from the northwest at ten thousand feet or FL10, we think.”

  “About one hundred sixty-five degrees.”

  “What?”

  Jennifer drew a line with her finger across the chart, “One hundred sixty-five degrees for the new course to Fangataufa.”

  Alice stared at Jennifer for a moment, puzzled; she returned to the map, measuring the route with a cumbersome analog Flight Calculator. Belatedly, Jennifer realized she had again shown off advanced intellect—not that I’m innately smarter, she thought, but I’ve had the benefit of advanced learning techniques and three PhDs. What must it be like to only be able to achieve true expertise in one subject? In her home century, mastery of two sciences was the bare minimum to work in a scientific or medical field, and most people gained at least three. Five if you cared passionately about research, though she’d been happy to just to have a three-legged stool.

  “Alice?” Marty asked through the radio.

  Finished with her measurements, Alice spoke. “One hundred sixty-five degrees for course heading.” She looked up and her eyes locked on Jennifer, full of curiosity.

  Marty responded, “Roger that, let’s keep track of those winds as it might require a fuel stop in Tureia before we head back to Tahiti.”

  “Very impressive,” Alice said, setting the radio down. “How’d’ye do that? You have flight experience?”

  “I don’t know.” Jennifer averted her eyes, feigning humility to hide her mistake. “It just came to me.”

  “Do you want to be a pilot?” Alice asked.

  “That would be very interesting, but I want to be a graduate student like Lacy Wu.”

  Alice considered for a moment. “Jennifer, I want to try something. The university seemed familiar to you, right? Maybe you we
re a student there or something. And a pretty good one, I’d guess. On my computer, I have some old tests from the science departments I’d like you to take while I get dinner ready.”

  “I thought you wanted me to help you.”

  “It’s all good. I do it myself most of the time anyway. Besides, you can think of this as a little experiment. Some critical thinking might even help with your memory.” Alice sounded as though she was offering a treat.

  Inwardly, Jennifer flinched—she wasn’t ready to “remember” yet—not enough information. She debated deflecting Alice’s offer, but thought better of it, seeing how excited the lively redhead was at the prospect. Any further avoidance could appear rude, if not suspicious. She did her best to sound casually interested. “Okay, if you’re sure it’s all right with you.”

  “Cool!” With that, Alice retrieved a primitive computing device from her pack. Though reluctant to be the subject of the experiment, Jennifer had to admit that Alice’s excitement was contagious. Besides, she could not deny her own curiosity to experience the “advanced” mathematics of the twenty-first century.

  “There, all set up for you. Take the laptop to the table so I don’t disturb you while I work in the galley.” Alice handed Jennifer the folding computer and motioned her toward the table. “Just call when you’re done.”

  Jennifer sat down and analyzed the laptop. Alice hummed cheerfully to herself as she went to work peeling vegetables. It took only a moment for Jennifer to accustom herself to the ancient device and begin the test. There were fifty questions, but Jennifer was disappointed to find that none of them posed a challenge to anyone past Stage 2 education. Some of the presented formulas were even incorrect or out-of-date.

  If I do too well on this test, it’ll just make me stand out more.

  Disgusted with herself, she went through the test, intentionally answering several questions wrong. As she finished, Jennifer felt hungry for a true challenge.

  “All done, Alice.”

  The redhead stopped dicing onions and turned to Jennifer with a sly grin.

  Uh oh.

  “Already? Jingoes! Here, let me see.”