“Oh, goodness, I wonder if I’m ready to mingle with other people this soon. I’ve only been here a few days. Now, I’m nervous.” Brian wrung his hands. “I’m not sure I will feel comfortable around your friends just yet.” He gave Joe a lopsided grin.
“You’ll find Maggie easy to talk to. Harriet already gave her a sanitized version of what we went through in your time. She can tell it better than I can.” He passed the conversation over to her.
So for the umpteenth time she repeated the story they had told their parents and Maggie after returning from the future. Her friend was the only one who seemed to believe their tale. Both Joe and Harriet knew their parents, for sure, suspected that there was another version of the story they weren’t telling.
“So, she knows about the SPA and the commander, but thinks it’s a secret project from this century? Huh! That shouldn’t be difficult to remember that I’m part of a secret project working in a compound behind a shield that is keeping us invisible,” he said this with a good amount of laughter. “Do you think perhaps your friend is naïve?”
“What? You don’t think that’s a good story?” Joe said with a twinkle in his eye.
“It sounds far-fetched, given what I know about your civilization at this stage in your development.” He was laughing. Brian had a soft voice with a pleasant laugh. They couldn’t think of him as a rebel on any level.
“Are you calling us backward?” Harriet challenged, laughing even harder than the guys.
Brian, sobering, added, “I guess you two didn’t have much choice. You couldn’t have explained it any other way, I suppose. Your story’s safe with me, I won’t change it.” He shook his head.
“I will say goodnight to both of you and thank you for your hospitality. I enjoyed your version of coffee and the do-not was delicious,” Brian had had a good time, and was enjoying each new experience. And like everyone else from the SPA he spoke formally and oh so correctly. Joe and Harriet knew that this would be a problem. While neither of them used a lot of slang, they recognized that Brian wasn’t much older than them, but he sounded like an old-school professor. They’d have to teach him some slang.
“Donut, it’s a donut,” Harriet corrected, “and you’re welcome. It’s been a blast meeting you, and we’ll see you at five tomorrow. Goodnight.”
Joe shook his hand again. “See ya tomorrow, Brian.” Walking him to the door he headed him in the right direction for the hotel. They could see it from their apartment.
Closing the door, Joe laughed. “Just when you think there are no surprises left, you get hit in the face with a pie!”
“Isn’t that the truth?” The pair of them grabbed the dirty cups and headed for the kitchen. They dumped them in the sink and headed for bed. It was after one a.m. and the day had exhausted them.
Chapter 11
Tingling
They went to bed without setting their alarm clock. It was a treat to sleep late, not waking until eight, an hour past their usual time.
Joe was the first to stir and leaning over, he let his eyes roam the sleeping contours of his beautiful mate.
It may have been his warm breath or the intensity of his stare, but Harriet woke startled to find Joe gazing down at her. “Oh God, must you keep doing that?” She groaned and rolled over.
Joe laughed, “C’mon, sleepyhead, we’ve wasted half the day.” Wide awake, he rolled out of bed.
She groaned and pulled his still warm pillow over her head emitting a muffled, “Go away!”
He laughed as he closed the bathroom door, emerging half an hour later, shaved, showered and dressed for the day to find her on her hands and knees looking for her slippers under the bed and picking up clothes that had missed the hamper.
She was not a morning person. He laughed and called out to her as she staggered into the bathroom, “Coffee?”
He got a faint, “Ya,” through the door followed by the sound of the shower running.
By the time she came out, awake and groomed, Joe had coffee and a stack of pancakes with crispy bacon and a small pitcher of hot maple syrup, set out on the table.
The smile he got told him, he had hit the right button. She loved pancakes and because of their hectic schedules, seldom had time to make them.
You are my true hero, you know that, don’t you?” She smiled at him like she’d been up for hours and was bright eyed and full of energy.
They put away an embarrassing number of pancakes and enough syrup to gain ten pounds. They felt justified in loading up on carbs this morning as they were planning a bike ride in the country. It was a rare, snow-free, sunny February day, with above freezing temperatures. They cleaned up the dishes in no time and were soon ready to roll. Joe had already secured the bikes to the rack on the back of his Jeep and they were out the door and on the road headed to their favorite hiking and biking trail. They only planned a short ride today as they had some shopping to do for the barbecue later. The weather was perfect and the bike trail deserted.
They‘d burned enough calories, three hours later, to offset their decadent breakfast. So, with red cheeks and runny noses, they headed back to the car, reloaded their bikes and headed for the mall. They were home just in time to make lunch.
The two of them spent the afternoon, tidying up their small apartment and preparing food for their barbecue. They had beer cooling in the fridge and plates of sliced tomatoes and onions ready.
They were sitting out on the small porch overlooking the patio by four thirty waiting for their guests. Maggie was the first to arrive. Joe had earlier fired up the barbecue as it was dark already and he didn’t want to keep everyone out on the porch too long. The temperature was dropping fast. The burgers wouldn’t take long to cook, and they’d take them indoors to eat.
“So, how come you don’t have a date tonight?” Joe knew Maggie well enough to know something was up.
She gave him a glaring look “You know I don’t date.” Her snappish answer spoke volumes, neither of them responded. Instead they stared at her saying nothing. They were aware that she had only recently agreed to go out occasionally with men who’d gone through her brand of background check.
“Okay, okay, I had a date, but he called me yesterday to say something had come up and he couldn’t make it. You called right afterwards, so here I am.”
“And we’re glad to have you.” Harriet smiled then added, “We have a friend coming. He’s one of the good guys that work at the SPA. You remember the research center we had to escape from four years ago. Not everyone there was bad. There’s a committee now trying to oust the guy who heads it. They all think he’s nuts. Brian is in town doing some research and dropped by to fill us in on what’s been happening. That’s his name, Brian Morgan.” Maggie gave her a look that said, so what! But because her therapist had told her she should try to reconnect with men… she’d given in, with spotty results though discouraged her friends from trying to set her up.
Maggie picked up her head, “Really? I didn’t think you two would want to have anything to do with that place ever again.” She had ignored the rest of Harriet’s comment.
“We’re not having anything to do with it, we had a few friends there and not everyone agrees with what went on.” Harriet tried to explain their position.
“It’s a secret research center and most of the people who work there respect that. Only a few people knew what the head of it was trying to do.”
“So if it’s so secret, how come people go there to have work done?” Maggie had a logical way of looking at things. She had been thinking about it more but had kept her questions to herself, sensing it was a topic that her best friend preferred not to discuss. But since the genie was out of the bottle, she figured she’d ask her questions now.
“The clients in the SPA are hand-picked to take part in the specialized programs developed in their research. They don’t advertise nor publicize and they have kept their location secret, but not their work. Others in their field recommend clients to the SPA. The
y are picked up at the airport, and driven there, in the blacked-out back of a chauffeur-driven vehicle, so they won’t know the location.” Her answer had been well-rehearsed in her head, knowing she’d have to answer questions.
“This is also a teaching facility. Specialists come to the SPA to learn their advanced techniques after they have been proved to be safe and effective.” Harriet was getting good at spinning stories about the SPA to satisfy Maggie’s curiosity, although these were true.
“I guess that makes sense.” Maggie had no more questions and changed the subject.
“So how about this weather for February, I can’t remember it ever being this warm?”
“Ya, Joe and I made the most of it, we went for a three-hour bike ride this morning, but you sure can feel the temperature dropping now.” Harriet shivered. “And you’re right, I’m getting cold—I think we should wait for Brian inside. Maybe we should have a look up the street and see if he’s on his way, it’s after five.”
But, that wasn’t necessary—they heard Brian knocking as they came down the steps from the back porch.
“Sorry I’m late guys, but I was getting my new comm… uh, cell phone programmed and the guy took forever.”
Joe took Brian’s coat, “That’s no problem. This is Maggie McEwan, Harriet’s best friend. We’ve known her most of our lives.”
He led Brian to the couch where he sat him down beside Maggie. Harriet chose the club chair and Joe pulled up one of the dining room chairs.
They made small talk for a while before Joe excused himself to tend the barbecue. He grabbed the plate of meat patties and the buns. “Does everyone want their buns toasted?”
He got a round of nods and disappeared up the stairs. He was back in less than half an hour and Harriet had all the fixings on the table. “Come and sit down.” She stood behind her chair.
They could see that Brian had never had a hamburger before as he watched each of them as they piled on the tomato, onion, mustard and relish. He got the hang of it right away and dressed his own burger. Maggie hadn’t noticed, although Harriet caught her glancing over at Brian more than once, curious.
Brian waited for them to start while they helped themselves to the potato salad and coleslaw. It was only then that he followed them and picked up the burger and bit down.
There was no doubt after the first bite that he would add this to his list of favorite foods next to donuts. He polished off his hamburger and when Harriet offered him a second one, he ate that too
“So what do you do for a living, Brian?” Maggie liked this guy, he was quiet, and paid little attention to her, which she liked. He seemed out of his element, and she was curious.
This was the first reference to his work since he’d arrived. He didn’t know what Joe and Harriet had told her other than the fabricated tale they’d repeated to him. But Brian had given it some thought after he’d left them the night before and was prepared for any questions.
“I work in prosthetics. I help fabricate new limbs for amputees. We continue to improve on them every day. We’ve been experimenting with better sensors that will replicate touch and feel.”
“Wow that sounds advanced. I didn’t think it was in the realm of possibility.” Brian was off to a good start, he’d impressed her.
“We try to make the impossible possible at the SPA, that is what we are all about. We seem to make miracles happen every day.” He was proud of his work.
“Yes, that’s the good side of the SPA, the bad side is the madman who’s running it,” Maggie hadn’t forgotten the conversation she’d had with Harriet four years before, even though the two of them hadn’t discussed it much since then.
“We’re working on it. There doesn’t seem to be anyone regulating our company, except a board of directors that is more interested in money than morals. The Federal Government likes what we’re doing and continues to pour millions of cred… uh, dollars into our projects and has no reason to question us based on our stunning discoveries and work. Ninety-eight percent of the employees are not aware of what John Weatherby is up to. The commander seems to have developed his own agenda. We’re trying to stop him. That’s why I’m here in town. I have to search through some archived files stowed in our branch office. It’s all kept quiet, and I shouldn’t be discussing it with you. But I doubt you pose any threat to our project if you can call it that.” Maggie could see how invested he was in what he was doing.
What he didn’t explain to her was, that it was the US government of 2124 that was pouring the funds into the SPA and the files he was talking about were files from the original company, Bio-Tech Research, which is a new company operating outside of Halifax. Brian had no reason to look into their files. He’d concocted his story to prevent Maggie from asking any more questions, aware that his mandate in this century was to protect Joe and Harriet from kidnappers sent to drag them back to the SPA.
It worked… Maggie backed off further questioning, much to the relief of the other three.
“Let’s get these dishes out of the way, Harri.” Maggie carried her stuff to the kitchen and came back for more. The two guys brought their plates and cutlery to the sink, to help. The tiny kitchen wouldn’t hold them all, so the girls shooed the guys out to the living room and spent twenty minutes cleaning up.
Maggie, who was the only one driving, nursed one beer all evening knowing she had a long trek home. It was now ten, so she decided not to join them in the living room. “I’ve a forty-minute drive since I still live in the boonies, so I’ll say goodnight and thanks for a great dinner you two. Goodnight, Brian, it was nice meeting you.” Harriet got her coat and Joe helped her into it. She hugged both of them and left.
Once she was out the door, Joe turned to Brian, “So, what’s all this about files?”
Brian laughed. “Made it up to keep your friend from asking any more questions. It seemed to work too.”
Joe agreed. “Thanks for that, Maggie can be a pain when she gets a hold of something. The less she knows the better. Neither of us has talked about our disappearance since we returned.”
Changing the subject, Brian fished in the bag he’d retrieved from his coat. “I brought the serum with me containing the microchips that should alert you to anyone from my century. You can test it on me after I implant them. Are you prepared for that now? The sooner we do this, the safer you’ll feel.”
“If it means we don’t have to spend our lives looking over our shoulders for bad guys, let’s do it. Even with this, I wonder how we’ll protect ourselves from people who want to snatch us.” This was new territory for Joe and he was cautious.
“I understand why you would feel that way. But, this isn’t all I brought to protect you. There’s also a weapon for each of you that will take them out if they get close enough to threaten you.”
Harriet’s eyes flew open. “We won’t have to kill someone, I hope?” She wasn’t ready for that.
“No, no, it won’t kill them. But it will render them unconscious long enough for you to summon me. I am prepared to take care of it from there,” Brian reassured them.
“Do I want to know what you mean by take care of it?” Harriet asked.
Brian smiled. “Probably not—it’s better if I don’t tell you. What you don’t know you can’t repeat.”
“Oh crap, what did we get ourselves into?” Harriet moaned.
Joe put his arm around her and squeezed, “It’ll be all right, Slick, I’m sure Brian won’t let anything happen that’ll cause us grief. That’s not why he’s here. He’s here to protect us.”
“He’s right, Harriet, I won’t do anything that will cause you problems later. So, who wants to go first?”
Holding up an all-too-familiar looking pressure syringe, he rummaged for another minute and pulled out two vials. Fitting the injector against a vial, he filled it with the serum and waited with an alcohol swab in his other hand as Harriet rolled up her sleeve.
“I seemed to always be first in line at the SPA, so let’s ge
t it done.” She stuck her arm out and Brian swabbed it and popped the contents of the syringe into her system. Joe followed.
“We’ll give it twenty minutes to see how your bodies respond. Let me know if you feel bad at any point during that time.” Brian put the instrument and empty vials away.
The thought of any kind of negative reaction concerned Harriet. “Are we supposed to feel bad, or is that something we don’t want?”
“You don’t want. It’s unlikely you’ll have any reaction to this, but since we couldn’t test this on any time travelers, we can’t be one hundred percent sure.” Brian smiled.
“Fine time to tell us that, pal,” Joe smiled back, masking his fears, and then asked, “So while we’re waiting, tell us about the weapons.”
Once again Brian rummaged in the bottom of his bag. He came out with two gold rings and held them up. “These may look harmless, but when pressed hard against any flesh and activated by thumb pressure, anesthetic will be injected into an enemy, bringing him down in seconds. These guys won’t be familiar with them. Arthur 5 designed them just for you. There’s enough serum in one of these to bring down fifty people one at a time. Only you can activate them. Each of you will hold your thumb against the ring which is programmed to recognize only your thumbprint. If the bad guys figure it out and try to use the ring on you. It won’t work. But it’s unlikely they will ever figure it out.”
Joe and Harriet took the rings and examined them. They were gold bands, beautifully carved. They could double as wedding bands. “You say we can’t accidentally hurt someone?” Harriet spoke up.
“No, they only work with your deliberate motions. And even if by some fluke you knocked out someone, they’ll recover in a few hours—with a headache, but not dead.”
“Okay, I’m all in.” Joe slipped the ring on his finger. It fit as did Harriet’s.
A half an hour had passed and Harriet spoke up. “You said I should tell you if I feel anything strange, I do.” Her eyes were huge.
Return From the Future Page 8