She frowned, looking like Daniel had just asked if she was a lion tamer. “Six months and done. Like, really done. It’s illegal to work after your sixth month of pregnancy. There’s no coming back.” She cupped one hand to the side of her mouth and whispered, “You sound like my mom. She says it used to be different.”
Daniel blew out a breath. “Yeah, it was different. Very different. And this law is nationwide?”
She nodded. “Far as I know. I’ve only been outside of Georgia once, though.”
A technologically advanced society that was sociologically backwards, worse even than the mid-twentieth century. If men held all the positions of power and women were banned by law from doing much more than having babies, there was bound to be tension and outright conflict. Yet they all seemed happy.
Something told him it wasn’t quite as harmonious as it looked. After all, she’d felt the need to whisper her commentary on the pregnancy law.
She pulled the curtain back. “All done. My manager will bring the suit in just a minute.”
“That fast, really?”
She looked puzzled, studying Daniel. Seconds later, a man dressed in a shimmering aquamarine suit stepped into the room, carrying clothes on two hangers. He hung a suit on one hook and a shirt with two ties on another. Instant clothes produced by whatever unfathomable technology they had in the back room.
The man shook Daniel’s hand. “It’s an honor to do business with you, Dr. Rice. If we can be of further service, please let us know.” He left as quickly as he’d arrived.
The sales clerk held a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide. “Oh! You’re him! I’m so sorry, I didn’t recognize you. You’re so much younger.”
His fame might extend a little further than he’d thought. “Daniel Rice, the younger. Happy to meet you.”
She shook his hand, clearly embarrassed by her mistake. “Wow! The younger Daniel Rice. Well, the only Daniel Rice now.”
Daniel’s ears perked up. “The only?”
She bit her lip. “Sorry. They say you’re here from the past. It must be so weird to know how it all ends.”
Her eyes drooped slightly. “You were a hero to a lot of people. My mom was so sad to hear when you… I mean the older you… passed away.” She perked up. “But now that you’ve arrived, maybe you can change that?”
A revelation coming from a salesperson who minutes ago hadn’t known who he was. It made her statement all the more believable. Older Daniel was clearly dead. And apparently, it was common knowledge.
Why didn’t they tell me? Christopher and Benjamin had both sidestepped the issue.
Daniel tried not to react. This young woman might be a better source of accurate information than any of the people upstairs. If they’d withheld his death, what else were they hiding? “Do you recall when the older version of me died?”
She bit her lip again. “April? I think so. Around April.” She lowered her head. “I’m sorry. This is rude. I’m talking like it’s somebody else. But in a way, it’s you.”
Daniel nodded, pondering his next move. He looked up at the young woman. “What’s your name?”
“Rosie.” She smiled.
“Thanks, Rosie. You’ve been very helpful. Take good care of yourself and your new baby.”
Daniel grabbed the hangers and walked back into the shop. Brother Christopher stood up. “Found what you wanted?”
“And a bit more,” Daniel said. “You and I need to talk.”
23 Sanctum
Brother Christopher seemed embarrassed by his part in withholding information, but when confronted he admitted the deception. Daniel Rice, the older version, had indeed passed away in April. Of cancer. Christopher gave his condolences.
It was all bad timing, he said, and they weren’t sure how to tell Daniel, so they’d kicked the responsibility up to the next level.
Given the bureaucracy Daniel had seen so far, the explanation rang true, but only partially. Christopher had certainly escorted Daniel for control purposes. There was probably more they didn’t want him to know, and it was time to put a stop to it.
“Take me to your leader. Father, I believe you call him?”
Somewhat surprisingly, Brother Christopher agreed. He’d set it up immediately, he said.
While Christopher spoke with higher-ups via his olinwun, Daniel returned to the shop’s dressing room and changed into the new suit. It fit perfectly, though the narrow lapels and skinny black tie—even a buttonhole for a flower stem—seemed a throwback to a distant past, a style he’d only seen in old movies and on television.
Fashions come and go. And then come around again.
He looked at himself in a full-length mirror. Despite being a suit that his grandfather might have worn, the look was beginning to grow on him. He imagined himself as a character from The Man from U.N.C.L.E., an old television spy show from the 1960s that he’d seen online once or twice. The years might be jumbled, but playing the part of a futuristic-throwback Napoleon Solo was strangely appealing.
Just like any good secret agent, it’s time to confront the guy at the top.
Now dressed for the part, Daniel rode the elevator with Brother Christopher in silence. They got out at floor ninety-seven and then walked a stairway three levels higher to Committee Directorate. Another reception area with another young woman at its desk. Girls, as they used to say in the 1960s, and she was dressed for her part in this historical throwback.
She scanned his olinwun, and he was handed off to Director Noah, who assured Daniel he could take him directly to Father. Passing through another security door, they started up a second spiral stairway.
“No elevators in these lofty realms?” Daniel asked his guide.
“The stairs represent attainment of a worthy goal,” Director Noah replied. “The layout makes you think as you climb.” He was a plump man in his fifties and wore the same retro suit as every other man but with a circular gold collar, wide enough that it folded down over his shoulders. It reminded Daniel of the collars worn by Egyptian kings, and it looked equally out of place.
Along the stairway wall, Daniel was surprised to find windows with a view over the city. Outside, an orange tinge, reflected from nearby buildings, revealed the coming sunset. From the ground, he hadn’t noticed windows at the golden tip to this soaring building. Perhaps the exterior coloring formed a two-way mirror, hiding the people inside but allowing them to look out.
Noah opened a door at the top of the stairs into one more reception area, this one considerably more glamorous, with a floor that glowed in soft white light while overhead recessed lighting produced a subdued blue hue. There was no reception desk, but a young woman stood in the center, awaiting their entrance.
Her curly blond hair fell across a high lace collar on a white blouse with puffy sleeves. She wore a long skirt, as did many of the other women, and held a small tablet in her hand.
“Welcome, Dr. Rice,” she said with a practiced voice. “Our blessed Father is so glad you could join us.”
“Glad to be at the top. I am at the top, aren’t I?”
She smiled and waved one hand forward. “Right this way.”
Director Noah remained behind without comment while Daniel followed her around a tightly curving wall. The lighting become darker as they proceeded until the curving walkway opened to a large circular chamber, dimly lit by the sparkle of hundreds of points of light covering a domed ceiling. It reminded Daniel of a planetarium.
To the left side, a single door led to an exterior deck, the door’s smoked glass partially obscuring a view of sunset and the city lights.
To the right stood a white oval ring, a shape Daniel immediately recognized as a portal to four-dimensional space. Its size and shape were no different than the portal Daniel recalled passing through at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida—an event that now seemed long ago.
In the center of the circular chamber, a raised portion of the floor with a brass railing around it looked like it might serve as an
altar or a speaker’s podium. A curving bench built into the wall served as seating for the audience.
“Beautiful room,” Daniel said. “Is Father outside, or will he be arriving soon?” He motioned to the portal.
She stood at attention and consulted her tablet. “Soon.”
They waited in silence for a minute until a band along the top of the portal oval began to glow in a violet light. There was a sound of crackling electricity, and a man dressed in a long black robe with purple stripes on both sleeves walked through the opening as if he’d passed through a pane of glass.
His head was partially covered by a white visor, which he removed and set on a tray next to the portal. His hair was nearly to his shoulders, gray and wavy. He wore a closely cropped beard, peppered with gray.
He lifted the robe’s hood over his head and walked toward Daniel, his hand extended. “Dr. Rice, welcome.”
Daniel noticed the young woman’s head bowed, her eyes closed. He grasped the man’s bony and weathered hand. “Nice entrance. Father?”
“Yes. In another time, you’ll know me much better. These are very different circumstances.” He spoke to the woman, her head still bowed. “Can you secure the portal please, Arabella?”
She nodded, still silently at attention.
“My apologies, Dr. Rice. These chambers are for instruction. Not suitable for our discussion. Would you care to join me outside? It’s a glorious view.” He held out a hand, and Daniel started toward the glass door.
“It won’t take long. I really have only one question.”
“But it will lead to others.”
Daniel opened the door and stepped out to a deck that hung a hundred stories above the city and far above every other building. The tip of the spire reached another fifty feet over their heads. The building’s asymmetric shape wrapped partly around the curving deck, giving its precarious perch at least some sense of security.
Beyond the railing, the city of Atlanta spread in every direction, with a mix of city lights and darkened hills to the north. The shadow of night was beginning to envelop the surroundings, punctuated by orange-tinted clouds hanging in the west to close out the day. Sounds of traffic far below reminded Daniel that the motionless city he’d traversed in empros time was very much alive.
“Stunning,” Daniel said. The air was warm and humid, but at this height, a constant breeze kept it comfortable.
“The Lord reveals his handiwork each day.”
Daniel soaked in the view and, when he turned around, found Father standing close behind. His long black robe fashioned an unsettling figure, and the hood framing his stern, heavily lined face seemed designed to intimidate.
Daniel stood tall and squared his shoulders. There was no reason to act like one of Father’s minions. “I’ll get right to the point. Apparently, I’m dead. I died very recently, and for some reason, your people kept this information hidden.”
Father stood rigid, not blinking at the accusation. “You don’t really think it was you who died, do you?”
“A version of me,” Daniel said. “The same person at a different stage of life.”
Father nodded, his eyes scanning the details of Daniel’s younger self. “Yes. He is dead. A brain tumor that was diagnosed too late. It took him quickly.”
Daniel leaned his hip against the railing, a daredevil move that surprisingly steadied his nerves. “Is there some reason that your organization didn’t want me to know? Outside this building, my death is apparently widely known.”
“Where did you hear of this?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
Father glanced at Daniel’s new clothes and nodded. Perhaps he was making a note of their mistake, allowing Daniel to mingle briefly with the public.
“Everything has its place and time. There is a plan, whether you recognize it or not.” He stepped back and began a slow walk, staring upward. “Now that your fate has been revealed, I believe your mission is more critical than ever.”
“Why is that?” It was true that he’d no longer be able to validate the nuclear launch prevention plan with his future self, but that probably made little difference to the plan’s execution.
Father circled around Daniel. “You’ve learned what most people never learn. How, when and where you will die. How will you react to this privileged information? Some people deny their fate. Even rebel against it. What kind of person are you?”
“I expect to fulfill this mission, if that’s what you’re asking. Return to my time and deliver the nuclear launch information.”
His stroll ended at the rail. He leaned against it and looked out over the city. “That’s good to hear. Yes, Dr. Rice, you will return to your own time. I will ensure that you do. You see, it was my fate to bring you here.”
Daniel voiced a suspicion that had been building as he’d climbed the stairs to this pinnacle. “You gave the coin to Becton, didn’t you?”
He smiled. “Not quite. You must understand that your jump to our time was well documented. The famous Dr. Daniel Rice, the world’s first time traveler. Everyone knew you were coming, even if we didn’t know how. But that changed a few months ago, last April. Elliott Becton’s arrival was a complete surprise.”
It made sense. Nothing was known about Becton’s jump to the future, and he’d died before the police or the FBI could question him. With fewer historical records to work with, the people of the future could easily be caught unaware. Some, like Christopher, were still clueless. Father at least knew Becton’s name.
Daniel listened intently as Father continued. “Becton’s arrival changed everything. You see, Dr. Rice, when Becton arrived, I realized for the first time in my life that I was responsible for your historic jump. My fate was sealed by a force beyond my control. Three months ago, God sent Elliott Becton to me.”
Daniel pondered his reasoning and figured he had the answer. “A pathway to the past. Backward time travel is impossible, but Becton opened that door for you.”
Father nodded. “A conduit to reach you. It answered many questions for me, but it also sealed my fate.”
“You gave him the coin.”
Father suppressed a smile. “God’s work is plainly in front of you, yet the scientist still cannot see it.” He shook his head, his voice becoming serious. “No. I sent Becton home and asked him to return at a later date. He’ll be arriving next week, in fact.”
Daniel froze in thought. The idea was nonsensical. How does a dead man return next week? Daniel was still missing something. Father was clearly involved, confirming that Becton was the messenger who brought Daniel to the future. But if Father hadn’t given the coin to Becton, who had?
The answer struck him like a brick in the face.
You’re thinking linearly. Time isn’t like that.
Daniel put a hand to his mouth. “The hair… inside the coin…”
Father nodded. “The hair is the key, isn’t it?”
Father stood silently as Daniel reviewed the events of the past few hours in his mind: Brother Christopher providing an olinwun that hadn’t initialized correctly, Security taking a few strands of his hair to reset that device. The pieces of the puzzle fit.
For the first time since he’d arrived, Daniel’s logical mind became acutely aware of the bizarre reality of time travel and its profound implications. According to the FBI, the hair inside the coin wasn’t gray. It couldn’t have been taken from his older self.
“The hair inside Becton’s coin was my own,” Daniel whispered to himself. “Your people took the sample less than two hours ago. Soon, they’ll combine those strands of hair with a special oil taken from a vial in a small church somewhere in Atlanta. Oil that is accurately dated to 2053.”
“My plan, exactly.”
Daniel faced Father. “You didn’t give the coin to Becton. But you’re going to give it to him next week.”
Father nodded. “Odd, isn’t it?”
Daniel let out a gasp. “Cause and effect reversed.”
The
surreal construction of a closed time loop was happening before his eyes. Daniel’s arrival in 2053 had preceded its cause. The loop would be complete next week once Becton was given the coin. He would take it back to 2023 and provide Daniel with a reason to be here now. Completely illogical, but there it was.
Worse, time had revealed its seemingly impossible structure with disjointed events that were logically out of place. From the perspective of 2023, Becton was already dead. Yet, in the very near future, he would no doubt materialize, claim the coin and return to his starting point.
“Strange, yes,” Father said. “But we each play a part in fate.”
“Is that what you think this is?” Daniel looked him in the eye, attempting to determine what other revelations he might be withholding.
“Our fates are intertwined,” Father said. “You were called here by evidence that was only collected today. But for you to be standing here at this moment, I must complete my part next week.” He put a hand on Daniel’s shoulder. “Dr. Rice, an intricate web surrounds us. We may not see it, but we cannot ignore it.”
Daniel peered past Father’s hood and into his dark eyes. “And you intend to complete the time loop?”
“The decision has already been made. When Elliott Becton first arrived three months ago, I knew it could not be a coincidence, not so close to your scheduled arrival date. Our historical records mention the coin you received, but not its source. Since this device was only invented in 2040, we knew it had time traveled. But how? Reaching to the past is impossible.”
“Unless someone from the past comes to you,” Daniel said with authority. “Becton was your path. Or will be.”
“We think alike, Dr. Rice. I believe it is why God chose to intertwine us in this way. Even though we ascribe to different philosophies, my background is not so different than your own.”
“You were once a scientist?” It hardly made sense, given the religious references that dominated his words.
“A computer scientist. Probably not the same as your field, but the logic is equivalent. In my youth, I was what they used to call a programmer.” He held up his hands. “Yes, these fingers typed on an old-fashioned keyboard, writing code. Object-oriented code. Have you heard of it?”
The Quantum Series Box Set Page 77