Peter and Epson drank without speaking, then wiped their mouths with the back of their hands. The sun had lowered in the sky, moving toward the ocean. The day was ending, and it seemed they were left with nothing but questions. What were they going to do now?
Peter laid his hand on the doctor’s shoulder. Dr. Epson turned, startled by the touch. “She was a wonderful woman, Doctor,” Peter said softly. “She saved our lives. You both meant the world to each other. We all know that.”
Lamb and Larsson both nodded but said nothing. Everything felt so tired, so void of energy. Peter wanted to crawl into bed and sleep for the next twelve hours. Maybe, the next twelve days. He felt like he hadn’t had a day of rest in months.
“But now … There’s nothing for you here,” Peter continued. “We know you don’t have family, that you’ve thrown yourself into this work. We can’t allow you to enter that lab anytime soon, not when we know how the machine works in the future.”
“And what was the purpose of all that work, in the first place?” Epson said, his voice croaking a bit. “It seems all this machine did was create devastation.”
Peter shook his head. “Because of this time machine, the war will end much sooner in Europe. Thousands of people will live as a result. You can’t understand the good your machine did. But I’ve been in that future, and that past in Europe—beyond anything else—was devastating. Because of you, it isn’t any more.”
Epson lived with that knowledge for a moment, staring at the darkening blue sky. “What do you propose?” he asked finally.
Peter turned toward Lamb and Larsson, both of whom gave him encouraging glances. “Epson … In our future, we were told that you died in an accident much like this one. A sort of test gone wrong.” Peter swallowed. “I don’t see any reason why your coming with us would alter the timeline.”
“To the year 2013?” Epson asked. His voice croaked once more. He spoke the words with disbelief.
Peter nodded. “You can see all that has come after you—a privilege, I assure you, that will enrich that incredible mind of yours. You can see how far we’ve come in the future, and you can enhance what you already know. We could use a man like you in the lab in 2013. You can make time travel more fluid.”
Epson’s eyes had darkened. “I don’t know about messing around with this technology any more. It doesn’t seem safe. Time travel shouldn’t be touched. Perhaps Mandrake was right, in the beginning.”
Peter nodded, understanding. “Then you can find a way to start over. But it’s not safe for you in 1942. Mandrake will find you and kill you.” Peter’s mind ached, trying to find the appropriate way to convince Epson to come with them. For some reason, he’d grown attached to this old man. He wanted him to be safe. He didn’t want another disastrous outcome from this terrible time-traveling adventure. He wanted to make sure Dr. Epson was safe. He felt accountable for him, in a way.
Together, the four men walked down the steps. Peter could sense that Dr. Epson had already begun to think about his future in 2013. “Do you eat differently?” he asked, spinning his head around with a strained expression on his face.
Peter nearly laughed, shaking his head. “I think you’ll find that there will be something for you in 2013. Something good.” He tried to remember how he’d felt when he was preparing to travel 70 years into the past. His mind hadn’t been able to comprehend what the past would truly hold—what it would look like, in three-dimensional form. He assumed it was far worse to think about a future you couldn’t comprehend, like Dr. Epson was doing now.
And truly, Peter didn’t know what the future would hold for any of them, either. He knew the timeline had spun in many unexpected ways. He didn’t know if his children would exist, if he would even meet Minnie—his wife—in this indeterminate future. He swallowed, hoping that he would still hold the memories of her in his mind. Her laugh, her smile. The way they’d planned their future together; the way he’d learned that one couldn’t really plan the future at all. That it didn’t work out that way.
Down in the lab, Dr. Epson began to adjust a few of the wires at the base of the time machine, his eyes focused and clear once more. Peter had been worried when he’d seemed so dispassionate, so far away. But now he had a goal in mind. He had to make this great beast work.
“I know I shouldn’t ask, but how will they—and by they, I mean your people from the future—know we’re coming through?” Epson asked.
“Luckily, the brain trust that formulated the plan for this mission has thought that through. The last thing I had to do before returning through the time machine was simply mail a letter—instructions for them to leave the light on for us,” Peter explained. “I did so just before I came on base.” He stopped there, not wanting to explain the reason for his final visit to his future home, which was still under construction.
Epson accepted Peter’s explanation at face value before advancing to the next obstacle.
“The problem is this. We don’t have a trigger on the outside to close the latch on our way out,” Dr. Epson said, rising up from the floor. He tapped at his thighs, thoughtful.
Peter and the doctors from 2013 looked around the room: at the glinting test tubes, at the strange equipment. They had to find a way to latch the door from the inside. On their way in, Applegate and his crew had latched the door from the outside, allowing them to fly safely. But they didn’t have anyone on this side of time to help out, anymore.
“We could set a timer,” Dr. Epson suggested. He knelt back down to the wires and began yanking at something, articulating a different path for them. “The machine will need to know to latch itself and then send us through time, even while we’re strapped in on the inside.”
Peter shook his head. “We won’t need to be strapped in. The route here was smooth. We didn’t feel any bumps along the way.” He searched the doctors’ faces, and they both nodded, agreeing with him.
“Well,” Dr. Epson said, running his fingers through his hair. He was the only one who hadn’t successfully traveled through time in the very machine he’d built.
Peter hovered toward the side of the room, allowing his mind to roam free as the doctors manipulated the machine, making sure that they could safely escape their past. With all his heart, he wished Julie was with them. He wondered what she was doing right now. He pictured her kneading bread, for some reason, with little Marion in that sunny farmhouse, beginning a life together. He tried to imagine her stomach, wondering if it had grown bigger in the weeks since he’d left her alone.
Dr. Epson rushed toward him, speaking excitedly with his hands. Peter jostled from his reverie, hearing the words. “It’s on a timer! Peter! We have to move. Come on!” Dr. Epson grabbed Peter’s arm with incredible strength. He dragged him into the mouth of the time machine, followed by the other doctors.
“Everyone! Maintain contact with the platforms as we move! This—this is the essential, important factor of time travel! It allows the zipping to take place!” Dr. Epson called out to them.
They stood together, their hands on the walls and their feet on the platform. A great beeping sound was emanating in at them from the outside. Suddenly, the door shot closed. A whirring sound erupted beneath them, and the machine began to loop them through time, as it had all those months before.
Peter closed his eyes, feeling chaos erupt in his mind as they traveled. He felt so alone in these moments. He couldn’t remember another time when he felt so terrified and yet so at peace: content with death, if it came for him.
CHAPTER 25
Peter was thrust against the wall as the whirring subsided. He blinked wildly into the light and peered toward Dr. Epson, whose face was creased in anticipation. They’d made it back to 2013. Peter breathed an earnest sigh of relief.
The door opened, then. The door was far less antiquated than the one through which they’d just entered; the lab outside seemed brand-new, whitewashed. An entirely different world.
A great crowd of laboratory staff stood outsi
de, peering in at them. Peter wondered how much time had passed for them in the present—how much time had passed since he’d embarked on this adventure, almost certain he wouldn’t see 2013 again. He took a step forward, and all the people outside began to clap. The clapping was nearly uproarious as the four men sauntered from the machine like war heroes—like men who had gone to the moon and back.
Applegate stood at the helm of the great crowd of engineers and scientists. To Peter’s surprise, he looked virtually the same as he had before the mission began. How could that be? he wondered.
Applegate held his hand out and shook Peter’s hand, a fierce expression taking shape on his face. “It’s good to see you,” he said—words Peter had been certain he would never hear from Applegate. “We heard the machine stirring and we all came running.” He shook his head in disbelief. “Welcome to 2013.”
Peter shook his hand gratefully, nodding. He felt his heart beat wildly in his chest. “Thank you, sir.” Everything seemed almost exactly like he remembered it. The people were so modern compared to what he’d grown used to, their styles slightly different, even in their lab coats. The women wore their hair differently; the men wore different eyeglasses. So many strange alterations through time had brought them there, to this new forever.
As he stood there, he suddenly noted that Applegate’s expression had altered. He reared back for a moment in fear as Dr. Epson came toward him, standing next to Peter. Dr. Epson placed his hand on Peter’s shoulder. They’d been through the wringer together, certainly. They were a united front.
“Dr.—Dr. Epson,” Applegate said, his voice uneven. “Welcome to 2013.” His eyes were alarmed. “If you’ll excuse us.” He latched onto Peter’s arm and led him away from the surrounding crowd. “What is he doing here?” he hissed.
Peter felt a rush of hatred for Applegate once more. God, he hated this man. He scowled back at Applegate with rage. Did he even fucking know what Peter had been through the past few months? “He had to come with us. It was life or death,” he fired back.
“But this screws his timeline,” Applegate said, smacking his hands together angrily. “Do you even know what you’re messing with? This is time, Peter. It’s not something to be taken lightly.”
But Peter held up his hand. “Just hold on a minute …” He swallowed, trying to think clearly. There was no way Applegate had known what he was truly asking Peter to do, all those months ago, when this had begun. Peter had to have patience with him. He had to explain the other side of the time machine, the way so many worlds had been created. “It was essential that he come with us. There were elements of the—of the entire process that you didn’t anticipate. A man named Mandrake, for one.” He swallowed. “The laboratory just exploded.”
“The bomb,” Applegate said, nodding. “I didn’t imagine it would happen while you were all still there.”
“Right,” Peter said. He felt himself begin to cool down. He could control his anger, bit by bit. “It was the very day that Epson was meant to disappear, anyway. In that botched lab experiment.”
Silence hung between the two men like a cloud. They both considered this strange alteration in the timeline.
Peter realized what he was saying, then. There was no alteration in the timeline. History had simply fallen into line. The bomb had blown up in the precise area it was meant to, even in Peter’s timeline. Epson had disappeared in the past on the exact day that he’d been meant to die in the botched experiment. But … what did this mean for Peter’s life? Could history repair itself that many times, over and over again?
“So. Actually, bringing him forward avoids contamination of the past,” Applegate said, pounding his hand on the wall beside him lightly. “If he had remained in that timeline, things could have changed. We all might not be here, ultimately.” Peter had never seen him look so surprised. He realized there was much of this mission that Applegate had left up to chance.
After a moment, Peter nodded. “He’ll be an essential part of the team, I think. His mind is a mess of endless energy. Give him a chance. He doesn’t—he doesn’t have anyone back there. Not anymore.”
Peter and Applegate turned back toward the time machine. The smoke had dissipated from the machine, taking away the smog-like feel of the room. In the distance, he saw the two doctors, Lamb and Larsson, as they pored through a binder of their findings from the past. Peter remembered his journal, then. He was grateful that he’d left it in his house, away from the prying eyes of Applegate and his crew. He knew that everything they’d brought with them was extremely classified. In order to return to his children, he had to continue to follow orders.
Dr. Epson was in the corner, removing his white coat. Beneath his coat, he was wearing his antiquated 1940s garb. His black pants rode high on his stomach, and his tie—not an attractive one, even for the 1940s—hung sadly below his belt. Peter’s heart ached for him. He walked forward, toward the corner, and saw that Dr. Epson’s eyes were red. Had he been crying?
“I’m sorry about all this,” Peter said.
Dr. Epson shook his head. “No, no.” He played with his tie. “It’s all very exciting, truly. I can’t believe I’m here.” His eyes searched around him, taking in all the new equipment. “I can’t even begin to comprehend what all of this stuff does.”
Peter laughed, seeing a hint of excitement creep onto the other man’s face. “We’ll have to get you in touch with the lead scientist.” Peter glanced around the lab, looking for a familiar face. There were few, but none that stood out. With all the personnel changes, Peter began to think about what else might have changed since he was last in 2013.
Applegate approached. “I’m sure you both have many questions, as do I.”
“I was just explaining to Dr. Epson that we should introduce him to a few of your lead scientists, to help him begin his acclimation to an entire new timeline,” Peter explained.
“Ah, yes. You’re quite right, Peter. The person you’ll want to speak with is Dr. Vanessa Crane.” Applegate pointed to a woman standing across the lab. She stood confidently next to Doctors Lamb and Larsson as she jotted down notes on her digital tablet.
“Wait, she’s a scientist?” Dr. Epson asked, his eyebrows furrowed.
Applegate laughed. “Of course. You’ll find a great deal of women scientists here in the future.”
The men walked toward Dr. Crane. She looked up, smiling at Dr. Epson. She stuck out a hand, and he shook it. “Dr. Epson. It’s such a pleasure to meet you. You must know that I’ve studied nearly every one of your notes.”
“My notes?” Dr. Epson said, shaking his head.
Dr. Crane adjusted her glasses. “Of course. Your notes from 1942. I have them with me all the time. I used them to fix the machine.” She leafed through her pocket and brought them out. They’d been laminated to seal the seventy-year-old paper.
Epson reached for them and brought the yellowing paper closer to his face. He shook his head, and when he spoke, his voice caught in his throat. “ I was just looking at this paper not three hours ago.” His shoulders slumped forward, dealing with the weight of this new knowledge. “I can’t believe anyone looked at these silly drawings.”
Dr. Crane nodded. “God, yes. They’ve been my Bible for the past three years. I did have a few questions about your side project—”
“You have those, as well?” Epson asked, his eyes wide.
Peter’s heart jolted. Side project? Dr. Crane, this mysterious scientist, turned toward Epson, trying to block Peter from the conversation. “If you can come to my office now—we can peruse the papers?”
“Oh, yes. Right away. Peter? Mr. Applegate, do you mind?”
Before they had a chance to say anything, Epson was nodding passionately toward Dr. Crane, waving a swift good-bye to them. As they disappeared, Epson began walking quickly, speaking with his hands. Dr. Crane had trouble keeping up with him. They walked down the long hallway outside of the great laboratory—toward the very hall and stairwell that had been rebuilt
nearly seventy years before, after the explosion that had nearly taken their lives.
Peter shook his head, uncertain of what to think. He needed Epson to grasp this new reality.
Beyond anything else, however, Peter wanted his life back.
CHAPTER 26
“Just a little bit of time before we can allow it, Peter,” Applegate said.
“I need to see my kids, General,” Peter said harshly. The crowd around them had dissipated and the time machine was being analyzed by a few lab-coated team members.
Peter waited for a response, feeling the anger rising in him. He felt he’d done his duty; he was tired and just wanted to go home.
Applegate shook his head. “I’m sorry, Peter. We have to debrief you first. The entire team, actually. Also …” Applegate paused. “There is another matter.”
“What is it?” Peter demanded. “Is it my family? Are my kids all right?”
“Oh, no. It’s nothing like that. Your family is fine.” Applegate dabbed a bead of sweat from his temple. “It’s just a formality, really. We’re going to have to quarantine you and the other members of your team for a few days. Three, tops.”
“Why didn’t you tell me this before?” Peter said.
“First off, it wasn’t me who spoke with you in that alternate timeline, Peter. Frankly, this is the first time I’ve met you.”
Peter nodded. He thought he understood. The Applegate he’d known before no longer existed. He only hoped that this new Applegate was less devious than his predecessor.
“All right. I guess that makes sense. But three days? Can’t we just fill out the paperwork now, so I can go home? It’s feels like it’s been years since I’ve seen my kids.”
“Unfortunately yes, Peter. It’s only precautionary. We are dealing with something—this time travel business—for the first time. We want to be sure that we aren’t exposing the world to something that we might have failed to identify properly,” Applegate said, glancing at his watch. “Now, If you follow Randall here, he can show you down to the sleeping quarters.”
9781940740065 Page 38