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

by Mark Kingston Levin

  Marty and Jennifer held hands—Jennifer was so excited she could not speak. Shinji and his daughter were speaking in Japanese; Ricky and his father were flabbergasted and did not speak a word. Jean-Yves turned on the lights in the room. On a table sat two very old treasure chests that looked as though they’d sprung out of a pirate movie.

  “I was exploring the north sector of the lava tube when I ran into a partially blocked segment,” Jean-Yves told them. “To bypass it I decided to drill another opening farther north and build a new staircase down to the lava tube. After drilling through soil, we hit something and dug it up. We found Spanish gold doubloons minted in Peru in 1695.”

  “How did they get there?” Shinji asked.

  “We are investigating, but we believe sometime in the early 1700s some Spanish changed the route of ships carrying gold to avoid pirates in the Caribbean. The new route crossed the Pacific Ocean and returned to Spain through the Indian Ocean and then the Atlantic Ocean. We think one of the ships may have been damaged and put in here to bury the gold and make repairs.”

  Smiling, he looked around the group, then continued. “Why they never came back for this treasure is a still a mystery. The treasure has been claimed by the Tahitian Government, under the authority of international law. The French government expects to keep a portion of the treasure in Tahiti for viewing at this site and to take some to France for display at one of the museums in Paris.”

  “Who is in control now?” Shinji asked.

  “The two groups are negotiating an agreement,” he answered. “Fortunately, we have two chests. It is only an accidental find but I expect I will become known as a treasure-hunter by my colleagues. Please remember this was part of an archeological excavation.”

  Marty asked, “Do we have any data from the wood on the chests using carbon dating techniques?”

  “Not yet, but experts have identified a knife found with these treasure chests at about 1704, by a stamp on the blade. In addition, we have some experts who have seen one gold doubloon we sent to France for inspection and they agree it was made in Peru. Based on isotope composition, it was not Nazi gold.”

  “What are the chests made of?” Jennifer asked.

  “There are made of bronze and brass with some wood inside,” Jean-Yves explained.

  The questions continued until Jean-Yves held up his hands. “Lunch will be at the town of Teahupoo, so let’s head back to catch the bus. No photos at this time, please; we have not announced this find and it is to be kept secret until the Tahitian government releases the discovery, which we expect in about a month.”

  After they all had lunch together, Jennifer was recharged and ready to try her hand at sport fishing. Marvin and his wife, Zidi, were the crew of the boat that took them fishing, and they seemed like nice people.

  “Can I help in any way?” Ricky asked before they left the dock. “I have been a first mate on my father’s yacht the Blue Hole for several years.”

  “Yes,” Zidi said, “we can always use a hand to help rigging the bait and fishing gear, thank you for asking.”

  Marvin got the yacht ready for the ocean and pulled away from the dock very slowly, heading out the channel. He pointed out the famous surf off the port side.

  “This is a great place to fish,” Zidi said.

  “The birds might be feeding south of the Te Pari village,” Captain Bligh said.

  Zidi pointed to the east. “How far out?”

  “The fish are where you find them,” the captain said, “but generally three to eight miles due southeast is a good place to look for birds feeding.”

  Marvin steered toward where the captain had directed them.

  “The fish are nearby and many Te Pari villagers fish these waters commercially,” Captain Bligh said.

  Zidi worked well and knew how to get the bait placed properly.

  Jennifer watched her work, “What year was the Zdenka built?”

  “She’s a 1999 model built by Viking,” Zidi replied.

  At this point, the yacht was moving through the water at trolling speed with three lines in the water.

  Marvin assigned the non-sailors places. “Kyoko, you have the port outrigger, Jennifer has the middle, and Shinji has the starboard outrigger.”

  The fisherman waited for an hour with no bites until Kyoko hooked a small marlin. She caught it and took pictures of it before releasing the fish back into the ocean. The fish looked huge next to her small frame.

  “Now let’s get back into position,” Marvin said. “The birds are now diving, which normally means either tuna or dolphins are feeding on the baitfish, pushing them to the surface so the birds can get them easily.”

  There was a strike on the starboard side and Shinji strapped into the starboard chair. He knew what to do. He applied the brake and then pulled up sharply to hook the fish. The fight was on for more than forty minutes when they final gaffed the yellowfin tuna.

  Within two minutes there was another strike in the middle line and Jennifer strapped into the port chair where she quickly hooked her fish.

  Jennifer was so excited about fishing that she didn’t notice the cabin had caught fire until she heard shouting.

  Zidi ran down to apply the fire extinguisher.

  Abandoning her line, Jennifer located another extinguisher and brought it to Zidi.

  In short order, Zidi had exhausted three fire extinguishers and the fire still raged.

  “Can Captain Bligh take the helm and Marty man the life raft?” Marvin asked.

  “Where is it?”

  “There’s one on top of the front deck!” Zidi shouted.

  “Zidi, get the Coast Guard on the radio from the bridge,” Marvin ordered. “I’ll go below to see if I can find out what we can to do fight the fire.”

  Jennifer followed Marvin below but the flames were growing from the forward cabin and moving aft. She helped him point the hose that ran seawater into the flames. At first the flames backed off in the main salon but the forward cabin was burning. Marvin tried to shut down the air supply by closing the forward hatch.

  “Abandon ship! Abandon ship!” Marvin ordered.

  He directed Marty to move the life raft to the stern. He loaded supplies of water, a box, and a cooler with food into the raft. He helped Kyoko and Shinji to get in as Marty and Captain Bligh used paddles to move in close. Ricky, who was trying to fight the flames with the hose, jumped into the ocean and swam to the raft. Jennifer, still used to being the elected leader, didn’t want to leave anyone behind. Once a captain, always a captain, but she had to remind herself she wasn’t in charge here.

  “Zidi, you go into the raft now and Jennifer next!” Marvin shouted.

  Jennifer jumped into the boat after Zidi. Marvin took life jackets and handed them to Marty in the raft. He handed him the fishing pole, a case and another paddle. He jumped on last, as the burning boat slowly sank beneath the waves. Seawater rushed into the bow and the stern rose before the bow submerged.

  Zidi was crying. “My home! My job!”

  Marvin held her against his side with one arm, looking bereft himself. Jennifer sympathized with them more than they could know.

  “No one is dead or seriously injured,” said Marty. “You’ve lost this boat but surely you’re insured.”

  “The world has not ended for any of us,” Captain Bligh assured them. “We need to keep our heads. We are about eight miles from shore and the wind is blowing from the southeast, taking us away from the island.”

  “Can we paddle and make any headway against the wind?” Marty asked.

  They tried for about two hours but gave up. Jennifer could see they were being blown past large patches of seaweed. She knew the Coast Guard had sent a helicopter after Zidi’s radio message but they hadn’t seen or heard a helicopter in over three hours.

  As time passed the island of Tahiti looked farther and farther away. It was dark and the stars could be seen. The moon was beginning to rise.

  “They should be out to find u
s this clear evening,” Marvin said. “Don’t worry, we have a good Coast Guard.”

  They were still floating a day later when Jennifer saw a familiar plane. An Albatross! She cheered as the plane dropped packages for them.

  She saw the parachute open and fall a few yards next to the raft. Marty dived into the water and retrieved the packages. He swam back to the raft.

  Jennifer opened the packages carefully, finding a radio among other items. She took the radio and spoke into it. “Mike, come in please. Over!”

  “Yankee nine-six-six, this is Alice, and the rescue helicopter has been directed to these coordinates. What is your condition, over?”

  “We are all fine and in good health, thank you,” Jennifer said. “Over.”

  “The chopper should be here in ten minutes,” Alice said. “How are Marty and the rest of your crew? Over.”

  “Marty is all wet but otherwise fine. We’re all healthy and uninjured, over.”

  The helicopter arrived soon after and loaded all eight survivors onboard. They headed for Papeete. Jennifer held Marty close in the helicopter, glad to be alive.

  She couldn’t sleep that night and spent moments lightly dozing as she relived the terror of being stranded in the ocean on her first raft, when her only paddle broke. This winds and waves pushed her farther out to sea. She abandoned the raft, losing her food, the raft and nearly her life. The surf was so high she looked for a channel but the rip tides were too strong for her to make headway. She was rescued by a spinner dolphin. What a miracle.

  The next morning Alice and Mike met Jennifer and Marty in the lobby.

  Jennifer and Alice hugged. “I’m so glad we found you,” Alice said.

  “Me too!”

  “Marty, your family is always being rescued this trip, where last trip you did all the rescuing,” Mike said.

  “It is funny how many disasters I have been in recently,” Jennifer said. “I feel like a jinx.”

  “Jennifer, as a scientist you know there’s no such thing as a jinx!” Marty countered. “The accident on the Zdenka had nothing to do with you. It was a fire and a leak of diesel fuel into the forward cabin somewhere.”

  She dropped the subject but disagreed with him privately. According to current science, time travel was fiction as well. Perhaps living in the wrong time sequence made one a jinx. Did she change everyone’s future by appearing in this time? What if dark energy theory was just too early for this primitive science culture?

  * * *

  “Jules and Erita will be here at in an hour to go on a hike of the Te Pari trail,” Mike told Jennifer and Marty at breakfast. “The kids are with Ian and Erita overnight so they could all be together when you went missing. They are on their way here now.”

  “I missed the kids at breakfast,” Jennifer said.

  Marty and Alice smiled at her.

  Jules and the kids arrived after breakfast. The kids asked so many questions and wanted to know the entire story from Marty. They went on their hike after and had a great time.

  That night the family packed up and got ready for the trip back home to Hawaii.

  Mike and Alice completed their training work, and Marty had tested the new pilots earlier in the week so they were all done on the island.

  * * *

  It seemed it was always raining when they flew. On their last night in Tahiti, the rain came down furiously. The flow had diminished to a light mist by the time they made it to the airport and Jennifer was glad of the letup in the deluge.

  Marty checked everything before he boarded the plane. Jennifer appreciated that he was so thorough in his inspection of the Albatross. After the last few days, she didn’t want any more surprises.

  Mike and Alice did their preflight check and Alice filed the flight plan after careful calculation of the winds.

  Mike and Alice would do most of the return flight so Marty and Jennifer could have time with the kids. They’d have to bring them back to their mother and Jennifer would miss them.

  “Jennifer, what were you thinking when the Zdenka caught fire?” Amanda asked.

  “I was thinking we had to save everyone by launching the life raft and keeping it away from the vessel in case it exploded, but Marvin did not want to leave until his boat was totally consumed by fire. We were very lucky there was not an explosion.”

  “Were you scared?”

  “Yes.” Her skin prickled with the memory of the explosion that rocked the lab as she transported here in Time Travel One, and the hazy smoke of numerous other battlefields in her day.

  “But you did what the captain told you?”

  Jennifer nodded. “It is important to do what you can even if you are frightened.” She pressed her lips together and looked away from the girl, forcing tears to recede. Pressing the sequence to change the date on the time machine for herself had its roots in exhaustion, burnout, grief...but facing the unknown required courage. Perhaps she hadn’t given herself enough credit for that portion of her character. At every disaster, so far since arriving here in the past her courage had sustained her and others around her without thought, without struggle. To act in an emergency came as automatically as breathing to Jennifer. Not all of that was simply training.

  She wasn’t the coward she had named herself for not following her team. A sliver of forgiveness bloomed in her heart at this revelation.

  “Prepare to taxi,” Alice announced. “Put on your seatbelt after you stow your goods! Close the door!”

  “Door closed and locked, Captain Keizer,” Marty said.

  The starboard engine started up.

  Marty spoke through the intercom system. “Cabin is clear and seatbelts are on all passengers.”

  Alice started the port engine. The roar of the two engines required the passengers to put on the headset audio system.

  As they flew, Marty and Jennifer prodded the children to prepare reports on their vacation for school and their mom.

  After they’d eaten, the children all napped. Marty slept as well, snuggled next to Mason.

  Allison sat next to Jennifer and seemed restless.

  “Is anything wrong?” Jennifer asked.

  “Daddy might have died when that boat sank,” Allison said, biting her lip. “Could our plane catch on fire too? I’m scared.”

  Jennifer held Allison tight. “Your daddy and Mike are the greatest Albatross pilots in the Pacific, with many years flying the Albatross. Alice is learning from them and has qualified as a pilot in command. We have the best team in the world flying us home.”

  Allison fell asleep in Jennifer’s arms. Jennifer woke up when Marty picked up Allison and carried her to his bunk. He laid his daughter’s head on his pillow and strapped her in with the safety harness then kissed her on the forehead.

  Amanda, Mason, Mark, and Geoffrey were all sleeping with their seatbelts properly fastened.

  “Please fasten your seatbelts. We are approaching Honolulu,” Mike announced.

  CHAPTER 25

  Lacy

  Alice landed and taxied to the FBO hanger where the university kept the Albatross. Lacy and Anne met the passengers. The kids went home with their mom while Marty and Jennifer went to the Ilikai.

  Lacy followed them to the Ilikai. She parked in Jennifer’s spot while Marty unloaded the car. She told Jennifer that she wanted to hear about her trip and the fire firsthand.

  Marty left them to talk, claiming exhaustion from the long flight, and headed off to his boat.

  Jennifer was full of energy. She sat at her kitchen table with Lacy, drinking a glass of wine and telling her friend about what happened on her vacation with Marty and the children.

  “Did you have sex with Alice?” Lacy asked suddenly. “I know you were thinking about her before you left.”

  “Yes, Alice is wonderful. We had a great time.” Jennifer smiled in remembrance of their tropical tryst.

  “I want to be next.” Lacy had spoken softly but Jennifer knew she was serious.

  Jennifer was quiet for
a few beats as she thought about having sex with Lacy.

  “Marty cannot have sex with you because you are his student. Maybe after you graduate but not now. Dean Philip Lafayette told Marty that he will offer you a position at the Tahiti campus of the new Marine Lab as director.”

  “Fantastic!” Lacy said. “I was hoping for that position.”

  She leaned over and kissed Jennifer, tracing Jennifer’s cleavage with her finger.

  Jennifer gently pushed her away. She brushed a thumb across Lacy’s lips. “Marty and I are meeting later and I don’t want to worry him. Will you come over tomorrow? I need to speak with him first. We’ve agreed to be honest with each other. Also, I would like to see where you live. Does Ken Morikawa come over? How is he as a lover?”

  “We’re dating and sex is good but I don’t always achieve an orgasm. I think we’re both a little inexperienced.”

  “Alice uses a vibrator to relieve that problem, as she likes to climax often when Mike is away. I prefer my hand; it served me well during the months on Moruroa.”

  Lacy giggled but agreed to take those ideas into consideration.

  “Are you excited about your graduation and the offer in Tahiti?” Jennifer asked.

  “Yes, I am excited and thrilled. I’m finished with my coursework and should graduate soon, after defending my thesis. I want to graduate so I can be Marty’s equal and no longer just a grad student.” Lacy took Jennifer’s hand in hers.

  “I really want to make love to you and Marty,” she said. “I know my relationship with Ken is temporary, as we are set on different career paths.”

  Jennifer smiled. “I think that one day all of your dreams can be possible.”

  She kissed Lacy and held her for a moment.

  “It’s getting late and I must finish some work on my defense of the thesis,” Lacy said.

  “I look forward to seeing you again soon,” Jennifer said.

  * * *

  Jennifer woke up early and went with Lacy to see Marty off the next morning. He was flying back to Tahiti to complete the training and testing of more pilots Mike and Alice had trained. Lacy and Jennifer drove back and Jennifer was glad that someone else was driving. She still dreaded her driving test.