“Call me at work after you talk to them.” Joe was just as excited.
The coming weekend and how their parents would react had them both uptight. They also worried about how it would affect Maggie and Martin’s relationship? There was so much up in the air right now. All they could do was try to deal with it.
They went to bed early and woke ready to face the world. Harriet saw Joe off to work and then called Bio-Tech. She reached someone in human resources, who knew right away, who she was.
“Hi, Harriet, my name is Ann Shaw. Tom Andrews, the head of the research department, asked me to call. He’s interested in speaking with you. Are you free sometime next week? Any morning is great for him.
“Monday to Wednesday I’m free all day. You name the time and I’ll be there.” Harriet had a hard time keeping her voice steady. “Do you need me to bring anything?”
“Just your marks and any kind of résumé would be helpful. Mr. Andrews is looking forward to meeting you. How about I set your meeting for nine Monday morning? Come to reception and tell them who you are, they’ll direct you. We look forward to meeting you.”
“Okay, see you then.” Harriet did a little dance. Then she headed into the storage area where she found the small two-drawer filing cabinet she’d picked up at a thrift store. She rummaged through the alphabetically arranged files and found her résumé and her marks. She took a deep breath and called Joe with the news.
“I don’t know how I’ll be able to concentrate on anything this weekend—Monday seems like a long way off.”
“Hey, it’s Friday, and we have a busy two days ahead, it’ll be here fast enough.” Joe couldn’t contain his excitement. He knew that Harriet wanted this more than any other job.
“You’re right. Are you picking up the stuff for the barbecue tonight or in the morning on the way to your folks’ place?”
“Tonight. I’d rather use the time in the morning to prepare for the afternoon.” Joe figured it would help to keep her busy and her mind off Monday morning.
But Harriet wanted to spend those morning hours preparing for the interview. “If you don’t mind, I want to get into some of my papers from school and the stuff I learned in the future from Eric and the seminar at Argyle. So much of it hasn’t happened yet in this century, I’d better be careful with my answers. I know that Bio-Tech is still in the early stages of research on many medical miracles that are commonplace in the next century. Bio-Tech’s latest research here will soon lead to the discovery of viable artificial skin. It’ll be their first big breakthrough, if you recall.”
“I understand, not to worry, I have lots of things I can be doing.”
“Is Maggie driving here to pick Martin up tomorrow or are we meeting her at the barbecue?”
“I don’t know, I’ll check with Martin.”
“Okay then, I’ll see you tonight around eight fifteen. Love ya.” Harriet clicked off.
Work was a chore for her that day. All she could think about was this could conceivably be one of her last few days slinging drinks and food. The thought of it made her break out in goose bumps. Her mind was racing.
I’ll be working in the most advanced biomedical research facility in this century and the next! The enormity of it had her stomach doing flip-flops.
Deep down, she knew that somehow she would have a critical role in the development of artificial skin, the company’s first big breakthrough. Imagine the paradox this might create. Sadly she could say nothing to anyone about her knowledge.
Since Harriet wasn’t staying until closing, she left the pub right at eight o’clock and fast-walked home in ten minutes. Martin was in the living room with Joe. “Hi, you two, how’s it going?”
“Welcome home, are you tired? Can I get you anything? How about a glass of wine, it’s Friday?” Joe went to the kitchen while Harriet stowed her handbag and sweater. “The wine sounds great.”
“Sit down here, on the couch beside Joe,” Martin got up and plopped down in the club chair.
Joe was back with the wine. “So anything exciting at work?”
“Same old, same old, what have you two come up with? You looked like you were deep into it when I came in.”
“Trying to strategize what we’ll say to Mom and Dad and Maggie tomorrow. It’s impossible to predict how they’ll take it.”
“Do you remember way back when we first faced them after we returned from the future? My mom said, ‘We want to believe your story, but I’m sure no one else will. If there is another truth, I hope you will tell us because I’m at a loss.’ Those words are burned into my memory. I think if we remind her and tell them that yes, there is another truth, and now’s the time to explain it, it will help. What do you guys think? It should cut down on a lot of talking. I’m sure none of them has forgotten what we told them.” Harriet had been giving it a lot of thought.
“I remember, it made me want to tell them most of it was true and we only changed it to make it believable. Now all we have to do is tell them where we embellished.” Joe laughed, remembering.
Joe looked at Martin.” I think we’ve told you, but to refresh, we made up the part about the invisible wall and implied this was a modern-day facility. Other than that we stuck to the truth.”
Martin thought about it for a minute, “This is where I’ll come in handy, I can back you up. If they don’t quite believe you, I can show them the weapons I brought with me and wow them with my knowledge.” He laughed. He had been tap dancing around the truth ever since he arrived, it would be nice, for a change, not to have to think about it.
“I’ll be here at two fifteen tomorrow… you’ll need a hand with packing the car. I don’t know how Maggie will react. Losing her would kill me. I promise, if it takes a year, I will get back to her.” His determined look convinced both Joe and Harriet of his sincerity.
Martin got up and went to the door, “I’d better get going, I promised Maggie I’d call her. It seems strange to use my communicator…” he laughed, “I mean, phone. I’ll see you tomorrow, but for now, thank you for your hospitality.”
Joe shut the door behind him. “Let’s watch the ten o’clock news and then get to bed early. It was an effort not to let world conditions, depress them before sleep, but both agreed ignorance is not bliss. They believed it was everyone’s duty to try to understand what’s going on around them.”
“I think that’s a perfect idea.” Harriet got up to clear the few dishes and stowed them in the sink for the morning.
Chapter 30
The Whole Truth
Harriet spent the morning going through her notes as planned while Joe puttered around and did a lot of pacing. Facing their parents that afternoon worried him.
“Why don’t you tell Martin to come over earlier, maybe he’ll take your mind off this for a while.” Harriet could see he was stewing about what was ahead. “Better still why don’t you go over to his hotel room and the two of you can choose from the stuff for our show-and-tell this afternoon.”
Joe liked that idea and called Martin. Five minutes later, he kissed her on her cheek, “We’ll be back in lots of time. I’ll have lunch out with Martin. You okay with that?”
“Perfect.” His pacing was driving her nuts. It was hard enough to concentrate on this stuff without that distraction.
Joe contacted Martin telepathically, as he walked toward the hotel. Martin replied, What’s going on?
I’m distracting Harriet, she’s trying to brush-up on some of her course studies for her interview on Monday. She thought I could have a look at what you brought with you from the future that might help our case. Then I thought we could get some lunch out.
Sounds good to me. I’ll see you when you get here.
Martin showed Joe some of the items he had with him. Joe thought the hand weapon would be the most effective if he obliterated a rock or two in the backyard. He also had his uniform from the SPA made from fabrics not available in this century. He threw in his twenty-second century communicator and decided
that should do the trick. They headed back to Joe’s apartment after a quick lunch in the hotel.
“Hi, guys, just in time.” Harriet had their cooler packed with the food, beer and soda. She handed Martin a bag of snacks, while Joe carried the cooler out to the Jeep as Harriet locked up.
They arrived early at Mom and Dad Flemming’s house and found Maggie waiting.
“Hi, darlings!” Joe’s mom greeted them in the driveway and led them around to the backyard. Joe’s dad was firing up his charcoal grill which he figured made the meat taste better. No one argued the point.
“Hey, Mom, Hi, Dad.” Joe and Harriet did the hugs and kisses thing with his folks, then introduced Martin, who had his arm around Maggie’s waist.
Harriet set out the food they’d brought, covering it with the screened tents that her mother-in-law handed her. The flies were not too bad yet, but there were other flying critters they didn’t need in their food.
Bill and Mary Blaney arrived just then, having walked over. “Hi, all,” they said in unison.
Harriet hugged them both. Mom, Dad, this is our friend, Martin Keefer, he works at Bio-Tech Medical Research, the SPA branch, and he’s in Halifax doing some research for them.
That got everyone’s attention.
“Oh… ahh.” Bill shook hands with him. “You’re a blast from the past,” he said, lost for intelligent words.
Mike wiped his hand on his Chief Cook and Bottle Washer apron, and then shook hands. “You must tell us more about your company after dinner. Joe and Harriet haven’t talked about it much.”
“I will, but first, Joe, how about a bev… uh, drink? I’m feeling parched.”
He looked over at his friends… I guess we’re committed now.
Harriet smiled back. I gave them something to think about. We have to get this over with. I know our dads, they’ll hold off until after dinner, but you two guys better be ready for the third-degree. This has been sitting on the back burner for four years.
I’m as ready as I’ve ever been. It’s time we told them the truth. I hope it will keep them from heading to Washington. Joe smiled at his dad who wasn’t aware of the dialogue going on between the three of them.
Maggie looked at Martin but was smart enough to keep her mouth shut. Harriet could see that her friend knew something was going on, but she agreed with the guys, it would have more impact and ring truer the way they were about to spring it on them. She hoped that Maggie wouldn’t be too angry about finding out this way. Martin could help smooth things over afterwards.
The rest of the afternoon went along okay, but with a slight undercurrent of tension. This was the price of having two lawyer fathers. They had good instincts.
Everyone helped clear away the food and debris and sat in front of the fire pit which sent off enough heat to cut the chill and cut down on any mosquitoes.
Joe stood up to face his parents. “As Harriet said earlier, our friend here is from the SPA, the same SPA that kept us from returning home for two months.” He looked at their parents and Maggie who said nothing, waiting for him to continue.
“If you remember, when we first told you about our time away and why we couldn’t get back, none of you believed our story. But I swear most of what we said was the truth and as Harriet’s mom said then, if there was another truth, she hoped we would tell you when we were ready. She was right, and now we are ready.” He cleared his throat and saw that he had everyone’s attention.
“Dad, Mom, there is a reason we’re ready now. When you told us that you would spend several months in Washington, DC helping with that trial, we felt we had to warn you of the danger you’d be facing.
“As you know there has been a building unrest in the United States for several years now. The news reports warn us about how dangerous it has become there. You think the military is enough to protect you in Washington. Dad, Mom, there is no place in the USA that is safe. That country will declare in November that they are officially in a civil war.” He stopped and looked at each of his parents and rested his eyes on his dad.
Mike cleared his throat, “Son, this is not news to us. Political factions and rebels are at the core of this and the military has it under control. What makes you say there will be civil war declared in November? No one can predict the future with that much certainty.” He looked over at Bill and shook his head and laughed.
Joe’s heart was pounding, it was time for the truth, “You’re wrong, Dad, I do know and I know for certain. I can tell you what will happen there for the next one hundred years.” He let that sink in.
“What aren’t you telling us, Joe?” Harriet’s dad spoke up this time. Joe faced him and smiled.
“I need to clarify a few things about what we told you. Everything but the part about the invisible dome around the SPA is true. And we only spent two days there the first time. We escaped, as we explained, with Eric and Millie, two university students who got caught snooping around. They had been there for about a week. They liked us and filled us in on what was really going on. We all found a way out through the basement. The place is a legitimate research center, but the security is lax everywhere but in the buildings that are doing the government research.” Joe scanned the group wondering what they were thinking at this point.
The man that runs it, John Weatherby, came up with that harebrained repopulation scheme we told you about. Only a few of the employees know what’s going on. One of those is Martin. He and a handful of others are trying to stop that madman. There is so much more to that story I don’t have time to tell you right now. The main thing is, Martin is here to protect us.” He stopped to catch his breath and gather his thoughts.
“Why do you need protection? What haven’t you told us?” Joe’s mother spoke up this time.
“Commander Weatherby wants Harriet and me as his ideal Adam and Eve for his moon project. He’s fixated and has taken it a step further. We believe he’s sending his men here to kidnap couples our age to fill his quota.” Joe told them about the three local kidnapped couples. He could see they had watched the news.
Bill Blaney spoke up again, “There’s no record of this place. Mike and I checked. Joe, the SPA doesn’t exist. However, we ignored it. We figured you had your reasons for lying. Please, will you explain how you could know what will happen for the next one hundred years?”
There was desperation in his voice and pain in his eyes. The women said nothing letting their husbands, cross-examine their children.
“That’s easy—we know the future, because we were one hundred years in the future for those two months.” This left their parents and Maggie stunned.
“You remember we told you we had found an old door at the end of that tunnel? When we went through it, we told you about the weird sensation. We landed in another tunnel which turns out was under the SPA. Arthur, the big guard we told you about, found us in a locked room. We got in there, from the tunnel, through a grate in the floor. Well, for your information, that big guard is an intelligent android. He is the smartest computer in existence, at least in the next century, he is. His full name is Arthur 5. Not the word five but the numerical 5. He is the one who helped us to escape and is leading the rebellion against the commander. He is also the one who sent us Martin, our bodyguard.”
Joe told them about the rings and the warning sensors their first bodyguard, Brian, injected into them and the weapons he carried. He didn’t tell them about their close encounters with the men who’d tried twice to kidnap them. Nor did he tell them about their artificial intelligence. That would make their lives far too difficult.
Maggie had been quiet and unmoving next to Martin. She looked up at him, “Martin, is all of this true?”
“Yes, every word. I am so sorry that we couldn’t tell you sooner, but it is dangerous information to let out. Can you imagine if anyone got wind of this? Our lives would never be the same. I have to get back soon as there is a deadline. We have only eight months to get rid of the commander. After that, the chance of us losing
our funding and the SPA is a certainty.
“If we go to the police with our suspicions about the kidnappings, they’d lock us up as crazy. I hope all of you believe us and recognize the danger you’ll face if you continue with your plans to travel to the USA.”
Mike Flemming spoke up this time. “God, I want to believe you, and I can’t think of any reason you would concoct a tale so bizarre. But the lawyer in me must ask, do you have anything that can prove your story?”
“Yes, it depends how game you are, Dad. You can join us in the tunnel and go through the door, although I’ll warn you, it is not something you’d want to do twice. Or, you can examine some of the things Martin brought with him from the future.”
Martin stood up and opened the bag he’d brought, dumping the contents on the table. He picked up and explained each item, starting with his uniform. Passing them around one at a time, he could see that wasn’t enough. The last thing he showed them was his weapon, which impressed all of them. He aimed it at the garden and squeezed the trigger, sending a flash from the barrel which evaporated a small rock.
Mike reacted first. “Bill and I would like to get together with you two at the office tomorrow or whenever it’s convenient. We need to know a lot more about this. But for tonight I think this is about all we can digest.”
“That’s fair, Dad. I’m sure Martin won’t mind.” He looked at Martin who nodded.
“It’s getting late. I know Martin and Maggie would like some time together, and Harriet has a job interview tomorrow. So, unless anyone has any more questions tonight, Harriet and I would like to say goodnight.” No one had reacted to Joe’s announcement of Harriet’s pending interview. All of them were still thinking about what Joe had said, and his comment hadn’t fully registered. Neither he nor Harriet pushed it.
They carried their cooler and dishes back out to the car and hugged their subdued parents.
“I’ll see you at the office in the morning, Dad, goodnight. We hope you’ll think about what we said about the danger you’ll put Mom and you in by going on this trip. I love you and don’t want to lose you.” He hugged them and got into the car.
Return From the Future Page 19