The others nodded, thinking of her amnesia. Guilt tickled her again at her reliance on the lie to hide her past.
Jennifer spoke about her time with the archeologist, his daughter Kyoko, Jean-Yves, and how scared she’d been during the earthquake on the dig. It was like being shot by an ion gun, but the pain was in her mind. She had thought mostly of how to adapt before that moment but at that point she had thought only of how she could help Kyoko. “It was terrifying and beautiful. Nature isn’t always pretty.”
Alice nodded.
“What happened next?” Mike asked.
“We found countless skeletons and relics. Enough to feed an archeologist’s studies for years.”
Mike, Alice, and Marty peppered Jennifer with questions about all she’d seen and done. When Alice and Jennifer started to yawn, Alice got up.
“Time for bed. It’s midnight and I may turn into a pumpkin,” she said.
Jennifer blinked, not understanding the idiom. She decided not to ask how being sleepy equated with a cold-climate fruit. “I need to be going too. I’m meeting with my school counselor Monday morning.”
“If you need help, just call me,” Marty said. “I’ve made another appointment for you at the hospital for your last treatment on Tuesday. Do you think you can make it at ten?”
“Yes, I will be there,” Jennifer said.
“I’ll meet you here Tuesday morning and take you over myself,” Marty said.
Jennifer smiled. Marty had never driven her around. She felt pleased that he was taking an interest. Maybe it wasn’t a romantic interest yet, but it was an interest. She waved goodbye and went home to bed.
* * *
The phone rang the next morning, waking her. Jennifer picked it up.
“Hello?”
“Good morning,” Lacy said. “Do you want to have brunch?”
“I would love to!”
“I’ll come by in a few. Do you want me to help you with your entrance forms?”
“I would be glad for the help,” Jennifer admitted. “These forms have been stressful for me.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll see you when I get there,” Lacy said.
Lacy arrived half an hour later. She wore a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up.
“See? I’m ready to work,” she joked.
Jennifer laughed and offered Lacy coffee. They drank and talked about their studies. Lacy looked over Jennifer’s forms and adjusted a few things. She also helped Jennifer with her personal essay. Jennifer was grateful to have such a willing friend who knew the expectations of this century’s culture.
They headed to brunch and then did some shopping afterward, and Jennifer loved having a distraction from all the paperwork. Lacy advised her on which professors to take at the university and what she might want to ask the counselor when she met with him.
“I am happy to have you as a friend,” Jennifer said.
She reached into one of the bags she’d collected from their shopping trip and gave Lacy the necklace she’d bought. It was made of black pearls, a gift wealthy Jenny Heros might freely give to a friend without minding the price tag.
“You shouldn’t have.” Lacy gasped, fingering the pearls. “I do not need payment for being a friend. You are great fun.”
Jennifer smiled. “Not payment, just appreciation.”
The women hugged and Lacy left so that Jennifer could finish polishing her essay.
The next morning Jennifer woke up very early. She wanted to start using the gym at the condo regularly to gain stamina. She showered and dressed after, ordering a taxi to take her to the university for her meeting with the counselor. His name was James Kailani and he’d sounded warm on the phone. She’d liked that.
She got to the building and s secretary let her into his office. He was sitting behind a desk, dressed in an aloha-shirt and khaki pants. He was Polynesian with dark hair and dark eyes. He got up and shook her hand.
“You did exceptionally well on these exams,” he said.
Jennifer had expected that was so; the questions were not difficult in the least.
After a few minutes, it seemed that this wasn’t the good news she’d been expecting. James asked her many questions, as though he thought she’d cheated. He went over about twenty problems from the test and Jennifer knew them all.
He asked her to meet his boss, who administered IQ tests. “Mr. Wilson wants to re-test you, as he told me your IQ score is higher than Einstein’s IQ. Therefore, he assumes there must be an error.”
She pressed her lips together, reminding herself of their backward educational practices being all they knew. Well, she’d make them work for it. “That is fine with me. I will be happy to take the test again, but can he give it to me in French, my native language?”
“I think so, but let’s ask him.”
Gregory Wilson came in and introduced himself. Then he said, “Jennifer, would you please follow me?”
“Roger that.” Jennifer got up and followed him to the Psychology Building.
“Can I get you something?” he asked.
“I would like water.”
They stopped by his office and he gave her two bottles of water and two granola bars. He led the way to a test room loaded with cameras and a mirrored window. Jennifer’s anxiety rose. Psychology was not her friend in this century. She felt tense and nervous about doing too well even though she had purposely missed several questions. This might make them suspicious and blow her cover. She broke out in a sweat in the cool room filled with cameras and mirrors.
She waited in silence, her heart pounding with fear. A man who called himself Augustus de Saxe came in and said he would give her the IQ test in French. They watched as she took the test. They marveled that her new score was seven points higher.
Gregory Wilson came out, shaking his head. “I apologize for the extra testing; however, it’s my job to find cheating and I must check anything exceptional. Do you understand?”
“Yes, I understand.” Jennifer wished again that she was capable of dissembling and blurring her native intelligence. Even undercover for the SS, that had never been a problem in her home century.
“You, Jennifer, are a rare find! I’m pleased you chose the University of Hawaii,” Gregory said.
“Yes, welcome to our university,” Professor de Saxe said. “Your schedule should be available at the admissions office for you by 3:00 this afternoon.”
Wondering if her IQ scores or the Heros’ money was the larger draw to these men, she looked back and forth between them. They shook hands with her and Jennifer left with a bemused smile on her face.
CHAPTER 19
Archeology Program
Marty and Jennifer met the next morning at the harbor. He was already in his jeep and waiting for her. She felt a little rushed but Marty didn’t seem to mind.
“Aloha!” he said.
“Good morning!” Jennifer beamed a bright smile at him.
As they drove to the hospital, they talked about her tests, both academic and medical. Marty waited while the doctors and nurses tested and sifted through Jennifer’s blood to make sure it was free of radioactive isotopes. One of the doctors told Jennifer this was the final round of treatment that she would need. After, Jennifer begged to go to lunch. She was starving.
Marty was hungry too so he drove them to a local restaurant.
“Thank you so much for taking me for my procedure,” Jennifer said.
“No thanks needed. You’re a friend now,” Marty responded with a smile.
He took Jennifer to the new sushi bar in Waikiki as he knew she loved sashimi. Before they went inside, Marty showed Jennifer a large box in the backseat.
“This is my old microscope. My grant paid for a new improved one and I have no room to keep this one. If you want it, it’s yours.”
Jennifer opened the top and peered at the expensive instrument. “Yes! I want it!” She trembled as her eyes met Marty’s.
“This is the microscope you used to help save
José,” said Marty. “You may be able to use it to save someone else someday or in your classes.”
Her heart skipped a beat as she remembered the incident. “Are you sure? Thank you.” She carefully re-closed the box. “That’s very generous, Marty.”
They went inside the sushi bar and took seats near the rotating conveyor belt displaying freshly prepared sushi dishes to choose among. They each chose a dish as the plates went past.
“What’s your schedule?” Marty asked.
“I have archeology, biology and marine science on Tuesday and Thursday. Chemistry and differential equations are on Monday and Wednesday.”
“That’s my class, Marine Science.” Marty smiled.
“I heard from Lacy that you are the best professor in the entire school.”
He chuckled, then sobered. “You know I can’t date any of my students. This is a policy of almost every university.”
“Were you considering dating me?” Jennifer asked, pleased.
“Maybe!” Marty gave her a sly look.
She narrowed her eyes back at him. “You have surprised me!”
“In a good way?”
“Yes, I’ve been attracted to you since you rescued me.”
“Why haven’t you told me this before?”
“I did not want to appear too forward.”
“I wouldn’t consider that too forward.”
She crossed her legs at the knee and bounced her foot. “Maybe I should drop Marine Science if you are really going to date me.”
“I can’t ask you to do that.”
“Yes, Marty I would rather date you than take your course.”
“Well, I’m certain you won’t need Marine Science to get your PhD in Archeology.”
“Okay, then I will take physics as my elective instead.”
Marty gazed into her eyes, his face relaxed and happy-looking. “I’m glad we could talk openly.”
“I am glad too.” She shyly reached across the table for Marty’s hand. He held on tightly, smiling into her eyes.
They ate and spoke about their mutual love of the ocean, the abundant sea life and how to maintain this abundant sea life. She was pleased to learn he espoused the same ethics toward conservation of natural resources that she and the other Naturals did.
Jennifer asked him to drop her off at the administration building once they were done and he agreed. She waited in line at the registrar’s office to switch her elective class and was pleased to be successful. The rest of the afternoon was spent buying textbooks and other materials.
She couldn’t sleep that night wondering when she and Marty would have their first date. Her skin tingled with anticipation.
The next day Jennifer started reading for her physics class. She found the topic of quantum theory fascinating. When Zexton talked of quantum particles and his time-travel theories and his machine, she was unable to grasp more than the fundamentals of it; she’d been no more than an average student in those areas. Engineers and quantum scientists had been the ones to physically build Time Travel One from Zexton’s blueprints, not her. She was the leader of the entire SS and delegated to the right people. The textbooks of this century approached the questions in small pieces from a more primitive level, and held her attention rather than causing her eyes to glaze over. A door in her mind opened a crack, teasing her with knowledge she had always assumed was beyond her.
Jennifer went to her university the next day a little early so she could sit in on Marty’s class. She wanted to see what made him such a great teacher. Jennifer tried to hide but she knew he spotted her in the back row. She waited until he was done with the students’ questions before approaching him after class.
He stacked his books and notes in a neat pile. “I thought you changed courses?”
“I did. I just wanted to see you in action.”
“What did you think?”
“I am impressed—you are the only professor I have had so far that puts the entire course and all assignments for the semester and the scoring percent for your grade on a website that can be downloaded. That is wonderful, for the students feel you are organized and you care.”
“Thank you for your input. I have to complete a research paper with some colleagues on Coconut Island so I must go, but it was great to see you.” He gave her a quick hug.
Still warm where his arms had touched her, Jennifer arrived at her physics class a little late, but she didn’t miss much. The professor, Kala White, went over the Big Bang Theory and what might have come before and after. Jennifer listened intently to her, fascinated at what this century thought about the creation of the universe. She was especially interested in dark energy and dark matter. The teasing door in her mind opened wider. She could use her knowledge of the future, which had solved the mystery of dark energy. Today it was the biggest mystery in science. The contemporary data indicated that the universe was expanding at an accelerating rate, which surprised everyone who expected the Big Bang to be slowing by now. But Jennifer knew why and how. She knew that black holes created space. More black holes formed at an increasing rate; currently about one per second in the Milky Way Galaxy, and this drove the accelerating expansion but it would slow and then stop because even black holes had a limited life expectancy. Zexton’s calculations counted on this truth to make time travel work. She had memorized his equations even without understanding all the theory beneath them.
The week went by slowly but she excelled at school, understanding and going beyond what the assignments called for. In many subjects, she had already read the entire book and done the homework for the first month. She felt prepared enough to ask her archeology professor if she could begin her own research but was told by the chairman of the department of archeology she needed more seniority.
She next asked her physics professor if she could do research on dark energy. To her surprise, Dr. White agreed to let Jennifer start a PhD research project in her field of interest immediately.
* * *
Marty called when she’d just gotten home.
“Hi, how was school?”
“Great today. I will tell you all of the details later.”
“I’m having the kids over this evening for pizza and salad. Do you want to drop by?”
“That would be great.”
“I’ll see you then.”
This was not the romantic date Jennifer had anticipated, but she wanted to make a good impression on the kids. So she put on shorts and a modest blouse and planned to ride her bicycle that Jules had provided as a going-away present before she left.
Jennifer bought gift cards so each of the children could pick what they wanted for themselves. She wasn’t very familiar with children—certainly not in this century—and didn’t want to make a mistake. She wanted them to like her.
With gift cards in tow, she rode her bike down to the docks.
“Permission to come aboard?” Jennifer yelled.
Marty responded, “Permission granted.”
She relaxed into a friendly hug with him once aboard. “I have purchased some gift cards for the kids. I wanted to get them something special but wasn’t sure what they’d be interested in. Is that all right?”
“Yes, of course.”
Jennifer passed out the gift cards. The kids seemed to be happy to get anything. Amanda even gave Jennifer a hug.
“Are you ready for pizza and salad?” Marty asked.
The children all dug into their food. Jennifer and Amanda sat together, talking about sailing, snorkeling and Jennifer’s time on the island. Geoffrey and Mark listened intently, occasionally asking questions.
Marty’s kids were interested in mystery and they wanted to know more and more. So, Jennifer told the entire story of her life on the atoll, Albatross, Tahiti, Marquesas, and Hawaii. They were most interested in the earthquake and cave collapse in the Tahiti Iti archeological site she explored with Jean-Yves, Shinji, and Kyoko.
Jennifer told the children, “If your father had not written h
is proposal to study the reef recovery after nuclear testing and obtained the Albatross, I might still be alone on Moruroa.”
Allison and Mason went to bed protesting that they weren’t tired, but their little faces couldn’t stop yawning. Jennifer helped Marty clean up after their meal so he could read a bedtime story to Allison and Mason, the two youngest.
Jennifer sat with Amanda in the captain’s area, waiting for Marty to put the younger children to bed.
“I like to be at the helm even when we’re at the dock,” Amanda said.
“You are the first mate and that is a great place for the first mate,” Jennifer said.
“One of my friends at school is gay,” Amanda said abruptly.
“What does gay mean?” Jennifer asked.
“She prefers girls to boys,” Amanda replied.
Oh, a slang term. In Jennifer’s century, people loved whom they loved without censure. Yet she knew in the twenty-first century those who acted against the norm could be treated cruelly. All sexual orientations and multiple relationships were accepted in her century, nothing unusual, so no slang terms were used.
“Homosexuality is not that uncommon among the Polynesian and the French. How common is it in American culture?”
“Pretty common. America and most of Europe allows gay people to marry,” Amanda said.
Perhaps this century wasn’t so backward after all, Jennifer thought. The history books she had studied were at odds with her observations of the people, thus far, living here. The thought was a boon.
Geoffrey poked his head in to invite Amanda and Jennifer to play cards. They went down and played for a while until Marty announced it was bedtime for all the children. The older children didn’t protest as much as the younger ones.
The boys told Jennifer goodnight and went to bed but Amanda was still on her phone, texting her friends about her day.
“Bedtime, kiddo,” Marty said, ruffling her hair.
Amanda shrugged and turned her phone off. She went to bed after kissing and hugging her father and plugging her phone to a charger.
30th Century: Escape (30th Century Trilogy Book 1) Page 19