The Sphere: A Journey In Time

by Michelle McBeth

  I needed help, my thoughts were getting me nowhere. I was having enough trouble keeping the different timelines straight in my head. There was no way I would be able to figure out what to do without talking to someone first and working through it all. I wondered if Daphne was so quiet because she had no opinions or for some other reason. Perhaps she was the perfect person to talk to. She would be largely unbiased, having never dealt with the people from the lab. I wondered if she would be willing to leave this timeline and travel back in time with me. Perhaps if she went back to before the timeline splits, she'd be able to see each of them more clearly and send me into a specific one. New possibilities opened up with that idea.

  I turned toward the mountain, and my walk turned to a jog as I climbed to the top and found Adam's grave again. There were fresh flowers on top of the marker. I guessed Marina or Carlo must come up here every day to replace them and pay their respects. I had forgotten about Adam, but I couldn't change what happened to him here. This timeline would continue even if I fixed things. "I'm sorry," I said to Adam for the second time.

  I stood in front of his grave for a moment, and my gaze fell to the base of the tree at which I had thrown the surveillance robot. I wanted to see if I had damaged it at all in my previous encounter and possibly throw it down the side of the mountain. When I approached the tree, I couldn’t find the robot anywhere, but there was a small metal structure. I picked it up and upon observation decided that it must be the lower segment of one of the legs. I had done some damage to it after all. Whoever was up here must have seen it and gotten rid of it, not realizing this piece was left behind.

  I shoved it into my pocket intending to throw it out and turned to follow the path back down to the hut. When I arrived back at Marina’s hut I found just Erica and Daphne sitting at the table. Daphne had been speaking but quieted when she saw me. At least I knew she wasn't mute. I sat down at the table with them. "Can I talk to you two?"

  Erica responded, "Of course."

  I turned to Daphne and asked, "Do you speak?"

  Her cheeks blushed and she seemed to shrink into her chair. "Yes. I'm sorry."

  "Are you afraid of me?"

  "No!" She seemed frightened by the sound of her own voice though. She coughed slightly and sat up straight again. "No. I'm just, distrustful of people I don't know. I’ve been told my gift might make some people want to hurt me."

  She didn’t trust me, and here I was about to ask her to travel through time with me and help start a rebellion. "Noah and Marina's opinion of me isn't good enough for you?"

  "Noah does not show the greatest judgment sometimes. And I've only just met Marina."

  "That's fair," I allowed. I paused for a minute as my mind shifted gears. "I want to find a way to take over the lab."

  Silence filled the open space. Erica looked dubious, but an amused smile crossed Daphne's face. Neither spoke so I continued.

  “My plan is sort of based on an assumption on my part though. I take it neither of you have tried to travel yourself?”

  Erica shook her head no, and Daphne looked curious about the idea.

  “You mentioned you can’t really see into other timelines, but I’m wondering if you were to go back in time to before a split, would you be able to see both options that lie before you? Is it simply because you’re in this timeline that the others are inaccessible to you?”

  “An intriguing thought,” Erica said. “And if it turns out to be true?”

  "The short version of the plan is: Daphne and I take the sphere and the box back to 1692 and alter Noah’s journal to inform the Gardians that there are two spheres. My theory is that once you’ve traveled back to before time splits, you should be able to see any timelines emanating from that point and travel into them. We then go to 1882, give Noah my sphere and tell him he needs to come up with a story about me dying in 1882 when he gets back the present day. That way they have possession of every sphere that they know about. The Gardians take over the lab with the knowledge that there are two spheres and insist on using both of them. The lab is destroyed, along with both spheres. Daphne and I use the box to travel to when Noah and Jim escaped and tell them what is going on. After the lab is destroyed and the board members are killed, we waltz in and take over the place. We free the programmer, or at least ease his work. We keep doing missions that will keep our funding going without the interference of the lab. We push for a cure for Sunithe's disease. We all live happily ever after." I paused. "At least in that timeline."

  I knew it was a lot to take in. If Daphne came back with me she'd never be able to make it back to this timeline. She seemed to be working it out in her head. "I've never tried to travel myself. With the box."

  "Are you willing to try?” I asked. “A short trip into the past and back?"

  She thought for a minute. She didn't look like she wanted to do it, though behind the fear in her face excitement danced in her eyes.

  "I can keep track of you Daphne," said Erica. "If you have trouble navigating yourself, I can get you back here. Then we'll at least know."

  She nodded.

  I took the sphere out of my pocket and handed it to her. She flipped open the lid and closed her eyes with her thumb on the button. Nothing happened for a moment except her head twitching slightly to the side. Then she was gone. I turned excitedly to Erica but she held a finger up to silence me. She was focusing very hard on something when suddenly Daphne reappeared in her chair. Even expecting it I was startled. I looked back and forth between the two of them. Daphne smiled at me and Erica seemed to relax finally. Before I could speak Daphne held up a finger to silence me and disappeared again. I looked to Erica who merely shrugged and then focused again.

  This time when Daphne reappeared she was laughing. "You are right, Adelaide," she said. "I can see into all the timelines, not just this one. Scared the heck out of a horse when I arrived in 1690." She giggled again.

  I smiled. "So you can do it! You can get us back into my original timeline?"

  Her laugh faded and she went into deep thought again. "I can, yes. But I don't know that I want to." She turned to Erica.

  "No one is going to force you. It's your choice, Daphne." Erica smiled, "But why stay here with us old folks. You could have so many adventures."

  In the back of my mind a wretched thought flickered. She could take herself anywhere she wanted and never come back, and there was nothing we'd be able to do about it. Maybe that was part of the reason the lab kept the programmers so restricted. Their rules, while harsh, made sense. Would I be any better at being head of the lab? I shuddered at the thought. I would never force someone into this. I would never kill innocent people. But if I let the Gardian rebellion happen to my advantage, isn't that what I would be doing?

  I had no choice but to trust her if I wanted this to work. And just like her a few minutes ago, I had no basis on which to lay that trust.

  Daphne finally came out of her introspection. "That is true. But there is one more thing we need to test." Before I could ask what, she grabbed my hand and I found myself falling onto my butt in a field with a startled horse while Daphne shrieked with glee. "Perfect!" She grabbed my hand again and yanked me up and we were back at the table with Erica. "Ok, so one part of the plan works."

  I felt a little dizzy from the time change, though it seemed so effortless for her. Perhaps an adolescent wasn't the best choice for this sort of power.

  "What plan?" Noah and Marina emerged from the trees and joined us at the table.

  I explained my elaborate plan to get control of the lab and continue on with the work to Noah.

  "So you're going to take my box and your sphere and Daphne and leave me here to rot?"

  "Noah, you'd have Erica and the means to create another sphere. You could keep traveling as long as you like."

  He looked hurt. I wondered if he felt like I was abandoning him for a younger version of himself. I wouldn't necessarily call it abandoning, but I was more likely to succeed in my plans with a
younger Noah than him.

  "Aw Addy, I can't keep this up forever. Maybe it's time I just start taking it easy." He looked sad, but there was a slight tilt to his mouth that made me think he had no intention of settling down with his life. "So what do you need from me?"

  "Do you know if the Gardians had someone on the inside?"

  "Not a clue. But I would assume so, given the ease with which they took over."

  "It's a chance we'll have to take,” I said. “If we should need to, how do we find the man who created the sphere?"

  "I'm not sure where he'd be when you got back. The lab should have files on him. Once you've taken over, it shouldn't be hard for Jim to find him."

  "Do you know who is following you?"

  Noah’s face darkened. "Doctor Lancing.”

  “Doctor Lancing,” I repeated. It was his office I had been in. He was the one who had connected that helmet to Eliza’s brain. He was still alive and working from the lab. I must have just missed him when I was wandering around.

  Noah nodded. “He was above the board, the head of the entire lab. Bit of a recluse, didn't like to be seen but had his hands in everything. The board did all his dirty work for him. But now that they're all dead, I guess this is personal for him. He's young. Way too young. I think some of the research going on in that place must have been aging related. You'll have to deal with him as well, the Gardians never got to him."

  That could complicate things. Granted, he was only one man, but I wasn't about to kill him just to get him out of the way. Even if I could. With Eliza on his side, I had no real idea of what I was up against. I felt the remnant of the robot leg in my pocket, pressing against my thigh. “Lancing Electronics,” I said to myself.

  Noah nodded. “An offshoot of the company. Apparently the security person there was a real wizard at electronic surveillance.”

  I pulled the leg segment out of my pocket. “Marina, do you and Carlo go up to Adam’s grave every day?”

  She gave me a somewhat apologetic look. “I go every day, Carlo hasn’t been in years, it’s too painful for him.”

  “And did you find a robot up there recently?”

  “A robot? No, but I don’t often look around. I’m usually focused on Adam’s grave.”

  Somewhere on the island a small robot was hobbling around watching us again. “Lancing knows I’m here,” I said, holding up the leg. “We better hurry.”

  Chapter 22

  Daphne and I found some floor length linen skirts that would have to do for appropriate costumes. The jackets available were incredibly modern compared to where we were going, but we didn't have much choice, and it wasn’t like my backpack was period appropriate anyway. I told her we would just have to do our best to not be seen and get through the first two parts of the plan quickly. I described the towns of Salem and Georgetown as well as I could. She had never been there, but we were counting on her ability to sense the other versions of myself and Noah to get us as close as possible to our targets.

  We said our hasty goodbyes. I promised Marina that I would come to visit her and Adam more often once things were settled with the lab, and that I would not mention anything about Carlo until after he was born. Daphne spent a while saying goodbye to Noah, and though she seemed excited to be leaving, he seemed saddened by it. His mood had turned a bit foul by the time I got to say goodbye. I knew he was unhappy to be cut off from the sphere, and now I was taking away Daphne, one of the few people he had left in the world. As much as he claimed to never want to settle down, there was a definite father-daughter relationship about them. I kept the observation to myself, though I thought it was telling that both this version of Noah and the version that got stuck in Salem had found their own versions of family. It gave me hope that when I got back to the Noah in the timeline I was supposed to be in, he would one day find that kind of fulfillment in his life as well.

  We put the sphere box in my pack with the money I hadn’t spent, some extra clothes and the few things that would be necessary for our journey. We didn’t intend to spend much time in the past but weren’t sure what would happen when we made it back to where I belonged. I was counting on Jim’s help to figure out the rest of the plan. I held Daphne’s hand and waved goodbye to the people gathered on Marina’s patio. My hand was still raised when we arrived behind the house Noah had stayed in while in Salem. “When are we?”

  “1692, a few days before you arrive.” Daphne raised her hand to silence me. Her face screwed up in concentration. I knew she was trying to see into the different timelines. There was a split created when Noah had his memory erased, and she’d need to see into this for her to find a way to get Montgomery home. “Amazing,” she whispered. “Okay, go.”

  I pushed the button again. There was a subtle shift in the trees. Leaves that had been there before were suddenly gone. The sky was suddenly a little darker and the temperature a little colder. Otherwise, I could not tell anything was different.

  I let Daphne’s hand go and told her to stay put for a moment while I went to peek around the side of the house where I knew Sarah would be. She was looking into the window and using her hands to block the light for a better view. She backed away looking startled and ran off into the woods, so we must have arrived just before Noah and I disappeared from Salem. I had no idea how long it would be before Sarah came back, so I called to Daphne and we wasted no time in going inside to do what we had to do.

  I had gotten Noah to write another journal entry detailing the existence of the second sphere which I quickly copied into the journal we had left behind. Noah had also written a note for Sarah, which I tucked neatly into the back of the journal. "Done!" I grabbed Daphne's hand and we suddenly arrived in a pitch black room. "Where have you taken us?" I hissed at her.

  "The root cellar."

  It took me a moment to put two and two together. This was where Noah came to steal some food while we had been waiting for our chance to sneak into town. "Ah, brilliant. How soon before-" I was cut off by a door opening. The faint lights from outside illuminated us softly as a figure descended the few stairs down into the cellar and stopped short when he saw us.

  "Oh excuse me, I was just-"

  "Noah." I would've loved to delay my greeting and hear what excuse he had come up with on the spot, but we were in a hurry.

  He had turned to leave but stopped abruptly and turned back. "Adelaide?” He glanced behind him at the open door. “How the hell-"

  "Noah I don't have a lot of time. Here." I grabbed the burlap blanket he had found and started collecting food from the shelves. "You're going to take this food back to me in the woods as you were planning. You absolutely cannot mention this to me. You need to take this sphere and take it back with you and you cannot tell me that you have it either. Don't second guess anything you're about to do, just take this sphere." I handed him the blanket with the food and then handed him my sphere. "And when you get back to the lab, you need to tell them I'm dead, that I died here, and you brought back my sphere. Do you understand?"

  He hesitated, but it was clear he trusted me. "No, but I'll do it anyway." He turned to leave and grinned at me from halfway up the stairwell. "See you soon, Addy." He walked back upstairs and closed the doors to the root cellar.

  "I hope that worked," I said as I pulled the wooden sphere box out of my pack and gave it to Daphne.

  "One way to find out!" Even in the dark I could see the brightness from Daphne’s teeth, exposed as her expression widened with excitement, and she grabbed my hand again.

  I squinted against the sudden brightness. For a few moments I felt like I was back in the return chamber, but the air was fresh, I could hear birds, and I didn’t feel like I was about to vomit. I gave my eyes another moment to adjust. It was a little disorienting, but nothing in comparison to my last return.

  "We're in the field you told me about. Look!" Daphne walked a few steps past me and I turned around to see what she was pointing at. "Here's the hatch to the tunnel! Do we go inside or wait to
surprise them out here?"

  Admittedly, this was the part of the plan I was least certain about. "Well, I suppose it's safer to wait out here. Perhaps we should hide in case the first people who come out aren't Jim and-" I was cut off by the sound of an explosion. From the direction of the lab we saw a plume of smoke rising above the glass dome. "The Gardians. Come on." I tugged on her sleeve and we walked over towards a bale of hay that was rolled up in the field. I wondered if they paid someone to plant these in the field and remove them every year. I couldn’t imagine this field was part of an actual working farm.

  "How long do you think?"

  "Supposedly Jim and Noah escaped in the chaos of the attack. It can't be too long, I should think. If Jim was already planning to help Noah get out, he'd be prepared and ready to go. So a few minutes to realize what is going on, a few more minutes to find Noah, then maybe half an hour for them to get out?" I tried to remember the details of the story I had been told. I couldn’t remember if they had stopped by Montgomery's on the way out. I didn’t think so, since Noah gave him the letter before the attack happened. It had taken me at least half an hour to get to the hatch after leaving Montgomery’s place. “At least half an hour, maybe an hour.”