The future next door box.., p.127
The Future Next Door Boxed Set, page 127
“No.” Kevin stood up. His voice was trembling. “No, no, no.”
Eddie touched his hand. “It’s all right, it’s all over now.”
“Yes.” He sounded as if he were crying. “It’s all over.”
Alan, Dakota and Tayisha crossed the plaza towards them, but Kevin was only looking at Alan.
“Kevin!” Alan said. “Oh, wow, I’m so glad you’re all right!”
Alan hugged Kevin. Kevin collapsed into Alan’s arms, then pushed him off. He walked a few steps away, standing apart from the rest of the group, not looking at them.
“Kevin?” Eddie said.
“Leave him.” Alan sat down on the bench next to Eddie, a haunted look on his face. “I think I know why he’s upset. Let’s give him a minute.”
Eddie took both of Caitlin’s hands in his. “How did you...I have so many questions. Where did you wind up? How did you save me? Was Mark actually programming my remote? And who’s that he’s talking to?”
Mark was still at the far end of the plaza, remote unit in his hand. He was engaged in an animated conversation with the stranger who had been with them.
“That’s Danny,” Alan said. “He’s complicated, but he’s okay. He said he had something to tell Mark.”
“I’m sorry we couldn’t get you out sooner, baby,” Caitlin said. “Mark said there was some interference and that was the earliest point in time he could open a wormhole. Once it was clear, we opened one after another in different spots around the room, until I found one where I could get to you.”
“But they all opened at once...”
“On your end,” Dakota said. “On our end they were sequential.”
Eddie nodded. “Brilliant. Of course. The interference must have been from the machine itself. It was generating so many wormholes simultaneously, right up until it was destroyed. You couldn’t get near it until after it stopped working. But sorry, go back. Mark? Mark can program my wormhole generator?”
“He’s smarter than he looks.”
Eddie jumped at the woman’s voice coming from the sidewalk behind him.
“Mom!” Dakota shouted. “Dad!”
An older couple came up the steps into the plaza. Dakota ran to meet them and collapsed into their waiting arms.
“You’re alive,” Mrs. Bell said. “Oh, my beautiful girl.”
Dakota stepped back and touched her parents’ faces. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but it’s so nice to see you looking old.”
“We came straight from the bar,” Mr. Bell said. “Sorry we missed your arrival. It was a madhouse down there after you were abducted.”
Eddie leaned into Caitlin. “I’m lost. Dakota’s parents are in on this?”
“We met them in 1993, told them everything. Long story.”
“Give me just the status updates, then. Cheek, Jack...”
“Cheek’s dead. Jack’s still a problem. We left him behind but...”
“He took the long way home and still needs to be stopped. Got it.”
She kissed him again. “I love how smart you are.”
He kissed her back. “I love how smart you are.”
Dakota clapped her hands together once, the sound echoing sharply though the plaza. “All right! Time is no longer on our side. Mom, Dad, after twenty-one years you can finally fill me in. Where’s Jack? Did you find him?”
The Bells looked at each other, then back at their daughter. Mrs. Bell gave Dakota a chagrined smile.
“Oh, no,” Dakota said. “Mom! You had one job!”
Mr. Bell rubbed his wife’s back. “It wasn’t easy, honey. We searched every fallout shelter in the city, abandoned or otherwise, just like you told us. There are more than you’d think, but no sign that Jack had ever been in any of them.”
“We’ve never stopped looking, Dakota,” Mrs. Bell said. “We didn’t come up completely empty. We’re sure he’s still in the city. Well...we’re reasonably sure.”
“Terrific,” Dakota said.
“A few years back, there was an article in the Post, a little gossipy blurb about Jack being spotted at one of those cheap electronics storefronts in Times Square. Some other famous wealthy person was walking by, recognized Jack, tried to talk to him, but Jack ran off. Immediately after, the owner ran out of the store, saying Jack had been shoplifting. The real Jack – I mean, the Jack who belonged in that year – was speaking at some corporate event at the time, so...”
“So it was our Jack!” Tayisha said. “The one waiting out the years!”
“That’s perfect!” Dakota shouted. “Mom, that’s all we need! Do you have the article?”
“I do, I have it on my phone.”
“How does that help us?” Alan asked. “All we know is a few years ago he was in Times Square.”
“But we have Eddie’s machine! We can go back there, follow him, figure out where he’s holding up, then come back here and go after him!”
“Can’t we stop him then?” Caitlin asked. “We wouldn’t necessarily be changing anything, as long as we let the events in the article play out. Maybe we always stopped him a couple of years ago.”
Dakota nodded. “Maybe. Mom, Eddie, what do you think?”
“It’s a little risky,” Mrs. Bell said. “But if he’s somewhere isolated, where you won’t run into anyone, or cause any damage that anybody would have noticed, I suppose it’s possible.”
Mr. Bell laughed. “No less risky than some of the other things you all got up to while I was dealing with the aftermath of the worst birthday party in history. I can’t believe I missed all that. Eddie, what do you think? Worth the risk? Nice to meet you, by the way. I read your dissertation. Big fan.”
“Uh, thanks,” Eddie said. “Sorry, I’m a little slow today. You’re talking about using my machine again? My machine was just destroyed.”
“Not a problem,” Dakota said. “Mark can still link to it through the remote. Instead of linking to it in the future, like we were doing back in 1993, he’s linking to it in the past. To a couple of minutes ago, when it was still working.”
“Oh, of course!” Eddie was still getting used to the idea that the purely hypothetical time travel applications of his machine were actually functionally possible, but he quickly grasped what Dakota was saying. “That’s why the machine was overheating! You were making all the wormholes for whatever you were doing in the past, plus all the ones you’re about to make. Wait, though. Again. Mark? You’re sure? Mark said all this?”
Caitlin patted his leg. “Just roll with it, babe.”
“We can do this,” Dakota said. “Mark said he’s got enough time to program maybe twenty more wormholes. That’s plenty. Even if this plan fails, we’ve got a safety margin. We’re going to do it. We’re going to stop Jack, once and for all.”
“You son of a bitch!”
They all turned to look over at Mark, who had just screamed at the other man, Danny. Danny was holding his arms up in apology.
“I’m sorry, Mark!” he said. “I’m really...”
Mark punched Danny in the mouth. Danny staggered but stayed on his feet. He rubbed his jaw and stepped away, not putting up any resistance.
“Mark!” Tayisha shouted. She ran to Danny’s side. Alan and Dakota followed after, but Caitlin stayed on the bench with Eddie, and Dakota’s parents and Kevin stayed put as well.
“I guess he told him,” Mrs. Bell said.
Mr. Bell harrumphed. “Should have told him twenty-one years ago. I would have.”
“No, you wouldn’t. You’d have done exactly the same thing for exactly the same reason.”
“What are you guys talking about?” Caitlin asked.
Mark had the remote in his left hand. Without looking at any of them, he tapped the screen and a tiny ball of yellow light appeared over his head. He tensed up for a moment, then the ball vanished and he relaxed.
Dakota was running towards him as fast as she could. “Mark, stop! What are you...?”
Mark’s fingers were a blur as he tapped at the controls on the screen. A wormhole opened directly behind him. He spun around and jumped into it without a moment’s hesitation.
Dakota ran for it, but it closed before she could reach it. She spun around in the spot where Mark had vanished.
“Mark!” she yelled. “Mark!”
“He’s gone,” Alan said. “He left us!”
“You!” Dakota advanced on Danny. She shoved him hard in the chest. “What did you say to him? We trusted you!”
“D, please!” Danny backed away. “I couldn’t tell him until we were back in our own time. I promised!”
“Told him what? Promised who? Are you working for Jack after all? Have you been lying to us?”
“No! No, I swear!”
“Dakota!” Mrs. Bell’s voice rang out through the plaza. “Leave Danny be. This isn’t his fault.”
“Mom? What do you mean? Do you know about this? Do you know where Mark went?”
“He...”
“I’m right here.”
Mark’s voice came from the steps to the plaza as he walked up from the sidewalk to rejoin them. It took a moment for Eddie to realize what was off. Mark was wearing completely different clothes. In place of his jeans and plain t-shirt he was wearing a pale blue button-down shirt over a pair of khaki shorts. His hair was slightly longer and shaggier.
“Mark?” Dakota approached him warily. “Mark...where did you go? How long have you been gone?”
Mark ignored her. “Here.” He tossed the remote unit to Eddie. Eddie missed it, but Caitlin managed to catch it before it hit the ground. “I’m sorry, guys. It’s all used up. No more genius Mark, and no more wormholes.”
Tayisha put her hand to her mouth.
“Fuck,” Alan said softly.
“Mark, why?” Dakota looked as lost and confused as Eddie felt, but more than that, she looked hurt. “That was...we can’t find Jack, now, Mark! He’s going to win, he’s going to get away with everything! Why would you...”
“I’m sorry, D. I had to. I just...I had to.”
Mark turned back towards the sidewalk. Someone had been sitting on the low wall that separated it from the plaza, on the opposite side of the steps from where they were all gathered. A row of bushes had hidden that person from sight, but she stepped into view now, coming up the steps to join Mark. She had deep red hair and a pale, Irish complexion. She was older than them, although not as old as Dakota’s parents – if he had to guess, Eddie would have pegged her for her early forties.
From the group’s reactions, Eddie and Kevin seemed to be the only people there who didn’t recognize her.
“Megan!” Alan said.
“Hello, everyone.” The newcomer smiled. “It’s so good to see you all again.”
“I don’t understand,” Dakota said. “You went back to be with Megan?”
“Not exactly.” Mark turned back to the spot where Megan had emerged from. “It’s all right, buddy. Come on out.”
A young man came into view and climbed the steps, looking exceedingly nervous. He was strikingly handsome, tall and muscular, probably about twenty years old. He was pale, with jet black hair, and partly Asian, partly Caucasian features.
“Oh,” Caitlin said softly. “Oh, wow.”
“Guys,” Mark said. “I’d like you to meet Matthew.”
Matthew waved sheepishly, and Mark put his arm around the young man’s shoulders.
“Matthew’s my son.”
Chapter Twenty-six
Mark raising
Mark stepped out of the sphere and into a parking lot behind a hospital in Indiana. It was cooler than New York had been, although he was still comfortable in his t-shirt. He shoved the remote control for the generator into his pocket, then shook out his hand, which still stung from hitting Danny.
It was dark. If he had gotten the time right – and he knew he had – it was just after three in the morning. The parking lot was still and quiet, which was fortunate, since the glow of the sphere as it faded away would have been difficult for anyone to overlook. Cars zoomed past on a minor highway nearby and crickets chirped from adjacent woods.
He ran around the side of the large concrete building. He ignored the ambulance bay and the entrance next to it – this wouldn’t have been an emergency. He continued to the front of the hospital and into the main reception area. The lobby was deserted, save for a woman at a desk flipping through a magazine.
“Maternity?” Mark asked her.
“Third floor.”
Mark didn’t bother with the elevators. He ran right past them to the stairwell and up to the third floor, two steps at a time. He pushed open the door and ran to the reception desk.
The nurse on duty smiled at him. “You look terrified enough to be a father-to be.”
“Yes!”
“Mother’s name?”
“Megan.”
“Megan...”
Mark frowned. “Uh...shoot. Megan...something Irish...”
The nurse rolled her eyes and smirked. “Oh, you’re going to be a great father.”
“Shanahan! Megan Shanahan. Sorry, I’ve only known her a few days. I mean...nine months. I knew her...for a few days...nine months ago...look, can I just see her?”
Another woman in nurse’s scrubs appeared from the hallway leading to the patients’ rooms. “Are you Mark?”
“Yes! How is she, is she okay? Did it happen yet?”
“Calm down. Sorry, you missed it, but mother and son are doing fine. She said you’d be showing up around now. You can go on down. Room 315.”
“Thanks. Thank you!”
“No running!”
Mark walked as quickly as he could down the corridor until he came to the door labeled 315. It was open. Mark took a deep breath and stepped inside.
Megan was sitting up in bed. She looked tired, her red hair limp and flat against her head, but she had a smile on her face. Her attention wasn’t on Mark, but on the sleeping infant in her arms.
“Hey,” he said.
She looked up at him. “Hey, cheeseball.”
Mark felt a tightness in his throat and before he could stop himself he was crying. He put his hand over his eyes and turned away.
“Hey,” Megan said. Her voice was soft and comforting. “Hey, it’s all right. Come here. Come here and meet Matthew.”
Mark wiped at his eyes with his forearm and collected himself. He took a breath and sat on the bed next to Megan. He put his arm across her pillow and leaned in close, examining his newborn son.
“Holy shit.”
“I know, right?”
“He’s beautiful.”
“He looks much better now.” Megan squinted. “You should have seen him when he was fresh from the oven. Gross.”
“I’m sorry, I wish I could have been here, but Danny...”
“Danny told you what I told him to tell you. Or I guess what I’m going to tell him to tell you, in about twenty years or so. To be at this hospital on this day at this time so you could meet your son. I gotta say, knowing the exact day and time I was going to give birth made planning a heck of a lot easier.”
“Why didn’t you tell me before I left?”
She leaned her head against the crook of his arm. “At first, just because the older me in the future told me not to. You guys went on and on about how important it was not to change anything and...oh, Mark.” She started to sniffle. Her hands were otherwise occupied, so he pulled a tissue from the box on the nightstand and dabbed at her nose. “Thanks. I met him, Mark. I met him, in the future, and he’s perfect. I didn’t want to do anything that might risk changing that. I still don’t. Plus...” She trailed off, lifting her head from his arm.
“Plus?”
“I was scared at first, I didn’t know what to do. Scared and angry. I mean, getting pregnant at twenty-one was never the plan. I have things I want to do with my life, you know? And suddenly the choice was just taken away from me.” She looked up at him. “And I do mean, ‘choice.’ It’s like the universe said, ‘Oh, sorry, Megan, I know you believe in a woman’s right to choose, and that’s terrific, but if you have an abortion you’ll destroy all of time, so, sorry. Get ready to be a single mom, like it or not.’”
“I...don’t know what to say...”
She sighed. “It’s all right. My parents have been great and I honestly started to like the idea pretty quickly, scary as it’s been. I think I would have made the same choice. I just wish it had been my choice and not...well, a different me’s choice.”
The baby stirred slightly. His mouth opened and closed and his hands flailed in the air before he settled down. Mark took a deep breath to choke down another bout of tears before it could start.
“Oh, my God,” Megan said. “You are such a wuss.”
“Sorry.”
“It’s okay. It’s sweet. I’m glad you’re here.”
He kissed the top of her head. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“You are, though. You’re going back to your time.”
He pulled his arm away and stood up. “No. Absolutely not. No way.”
“You are.”
“No! This is my son, Megan! I’m not leaving him!”
“What’ll your friends do if you don’t come back?”
“They’ll be fine. I’ll see them in twenty years, we’ll get a beer.”
“No, Mark. In that moment after you left, what will they do next? Once they realize you’re gone?”
“They’ll...they’ll go after Jack. Without me.”
“And without being able to make those holes in time. The ones only you can make. And what’ll happen to them then?”
Mark sank into the chair near the bed. “They might be all right...”
“And they might not. They might fail. Maybe some of them will die. This Jack guy will succeed at whatever he’s doing.”
“You told yourself this?”
She nodded. “And I made the obvious counter-argument. But she told me why you couldn’t just wait twenty years and help them then.”
Mark took out the remote unit and stared at it, watching the flickering of the pinpoint wormhole that floated just above the screen, providing a link to a time before the generator had been destroyed.
