Karen D. Badger - Yesterday Once More (5 page)

Jordan covered her mouth with her hand to hide her grin. She inhaled deeply and tried to adopt a serious air. “How do I know? I know it sounds stereotypical, but if there’s a chance that she’ll be interested, my gaydar kicks in.”

“Gaydar?”

“Gay radar,” Jordan explained. “It’s a feeling we get when we’re pretty certain the other party is of the same persuasion.”

“Is it ever wrong?” Kale asked.

Jordan sat back in her chair and laughed. “Oh, yeah! I’ve hit on several straight women.”

“That must be pretty awkward.” 

“No more than when you hit on a woman and she turns you down. It’s not nearly as bad for women as it is for men.”

Kale frowned. “What do you mean?”

Jordan wrapped her hands around her coffee cup. “I think women are cooler about it.”

“That’s a pretty sexist thing to say.”

Jordan leaned forward. “What would you do if you were in a bar and a gay man hit on you? What would your reaction be? Be honest.”

Kale looked into his coffee cup. After a few moments, he met Jordan’s eyes. “Honestly, I think I would become defensive, maybe even angry.”

Jordan nodded. “I guessed as much. A woman hitting on another woman, gay or straight, is taken as a compliment but, sadly, a man hitting on a man is seen as a threat. Society may have moved beyond expecting gays to be closeted, but mistaken identity can still be uncomfortable.”

Kale shook his head. “Man. I’ll never understand women.”

“Don’t feel bad. You’re in good company. Men and women have been on this earth for millions of years and have yet to figure each other out.”

“I think I’ll stick to science for now.”

Jordan changed the subject. “Speaking of which, you went to the barn this evening while I was getting ready for dinner. I assume you were going over what went wrong with your experiment last night?”

Kale ran his hand through his hair. “I don’t know what went wrong. I’ve been over and over it, but I can’t figure it out. My calculations appear to be correct. There’s something missing, something so simple that I’m sure it is staring me in the face, but I just can’t see it.”

“What makes you believe that time travel is possible? I mean, it’s the year 2105. Don’t you think if it were possible, someone would have figured it out by now?”

Kale sat back in his chair. “It’s attitudes like that, Jordan, that discourage people from trying.”

Jordan touched his arm. “I really am interested in your theory. Please, humor me.”

Excitement flooded Kale’s face. “Okay, here’s what I know. Hundreds of years ago, Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity proved that time is not constant. It’s affected by direction, motion, and gravity. In 1971, the well-documented Hafele-Keating experiment, using four atomic clocks, proved that point. It appears that time passes faster if you travel back in time than it does if you travel into the future.”

Jordan was captivated by Kale’s description. “What role does gravity play in all of this? Wouldn’t you have to defy gravity to travel through time?”

Kale grinned. “Actually, gravity is an essential part of the equation. We need to travel faster than the speed of light to break the gravitational attraction of the earth. The only thing known to science with that kind of power is a black hole.”

“A black hole? Isn’t that the result of a dying star? Is it really possible to create a black hole?”

“I believe it’s totally possible. I’ve been working on a design that emulates the gravity produced by a dying star, but for the life of me, I can’t figure out what I’m doing wrong.”

Jordan’s eyes grew wide. “Are you saying you’ve produced a black hole right out there in our barn?”

Kale looked Jordan squarely in the eye. “That’s exactly what I am saying, or, rather, that’s what I’m trying to do.”

“Get out of here,” Jordan exclaimed. “I don’t believe you.”

“You’ve seen what I’ve been working on out there for the past two years.”

“That pile of junk in the barn?” Jordan sat back in her chair. “No way.”

Kale ran his hand through his hair. “Well, considering it hasn’t worked yet, you might be right. But, yes, that pile of junk is going to create a black hole.”

Jordan tried hard to hide her grin. “Forgive me for laughing, but your time machine is just a collection of spinning rings. How on earth can that produce a black hole?”

“In theory, if I can generate enough energy while they’re spinning, the centrifugal force should generate enough gravitational pull away from the center to create a black hole. An object in the center of that black hole will be sucked into the space-time continuum.”

“In theory,” Jordan pointed out.

Kale nodded. “In theory.”

Jordan was about to question the stability of Kale’s ideas when the waitress approached with their check. Kale paid for their meal. When he returned, Jordan was staring at a slip of paper.

“What’s that you’ve got there?”

“It’s her airwave code,” she replied.

Kale’s eyebrows shot up. He looked from Jordan to the waitress.

Jordan grabbed the front of Kale’s shirt and dragged his face down to hers. “Say one word and you’re dead meat, you got it?”

Kale grinned. “No clue, huh? Did you forget to turn your gaydar on?”

Once in the parking lot, Kale turned to Jordan. “So, why the hit and run?”

“What?”

“You were flirting with her, but when she gave you her airwave code, you ran like a scared rabbit.”

Jordan looked down at the paper in her hands. “I’m too busy with our research to engage in a relationship.”

“No, Jordan. You’re too busy avoiding another heartache. This one may turn out to be different. She seemed nice. Why don’t you give it a try? Not everyone is like Susan.”

“I don’t know. I’m in the middle of remodeling, and the new implant will be ready in a few weeks. I don’t have time for a new relationship.”

Kale brightened. “So, you’ve decided to go for it? The new implant, I mean.”

Jordan saw his excitement and smiled. “A few weeks in this chair, and I’m more sure than ever that I can’t spend my entire life like this. Not if I can get myself up and walking and maybe ensure that no one else has to spend his or her life in this contraption.”

“Hallelujah!” Kale said.

Jordan sat patiently in Peter’s office, waiting for him to return from his lecture. She glanced at the medical degrees that adorned his office walls and thought about what an unlikely trio she, Kale, and Peter made. They’d become a team four years earlier, working on the spinal implant prototype. Jordan had lost both of her parents in an accident two years before, and she’d been living alone on the family farm. The only significant person in her life was her girlfriend, Susan Daley.

Jordan sighed as a familiar wave of sadness washed over her. She and Susan were together for two years, until the first implant. Once Jordan had her mobility and independence restored, Susan ended their relationship. Two more years had passed since then. Two years of avoiding serious relationships. Two years of “hit and run” encounters.

Jordan thought about her relationship with Peter Michaels. Peter was quite a stuffed shirt in the beginning, very prim and proper. It wasn’t until they were working together in the lab that he began to loosen up and show what Kale called his human side.

Jordan’s thoughts were interrupted by Peter’s entrance. Peter immediately bent at the waist and enveloped Jordan in a fatherly hug. “Good afternoon, Jordan. I’m thrilled that you’ve decided to proceed with the implant. Kale called me at home last night with the good news.”

Peter circled his desk and sat down.

Jordan said, “I have to admit that I’m nervous. Finding myself back in this chair after two years of freedom was a pretty devastating blow. If it were to happen again, I don’t know if I could survive psychologically. I’m scared and more than a little skeptical.”

Peter nodded. “That’s understandable.” He leaned forward. “My turn to be honest. I have to admit that I’m surprised the first implant lasted as long as it did. After all, it was only a prototype. For you to realize two years of use from it is truly amazing.”

“How long do you expect the new implant to last?”

Peter stood and walked around his desk. He sat on the corner facing Jordan, his arms crossed in front of him. “We’re hoping it lasts for several years, long enough to perfect the regrowth of synapses. Our goal is to give you uninterrupted mobility while the electrical stimulus prompts the regeneration of your spinal column. We have a lot to do between now and then, but I believe this new implant will go a long way toward helping us in the regeneration process.”

Jordan leaned forward. “Will this second implant restore feeling as well as mobility? The first implant allowed me to look and move and live something close to a normal life, but I had no feeling in my lower extremities, nothing beyond an awareness of when I needed to relieve myself, and I only felt that because of the monitor in my bladder.”

Peter squeezed Jordan’s shoulder lightly. “The new implant is designed to restore connections to all nerve cells, not just those associated with mobility. If we succeed, we’ll be light-years ahead in figuring out the regeneration process. It’s my personal goal to help you live a totally normal life, Jordan. If I can do that for you, it will be my greatest accomplishment. The biggest drawback will be recharging the energy source.”

“That’s a small price to pay for mobility. With the adapter Kale developed, I’ve got access to all kinds of energy sources. The worst part has been learning new sleeping habits.”

Peter rose to his feet once more and sat at his desk. He opened Jordan’s chart. “It’s only been a few weeks since we removed the last implant. You’ll need additional time to heal, say, three or four more weeks. After that, we’ll evaluate how far the new implant has developed. We’ll make a decision based on that and on your post-surgery test results. Sound okay to you?”

Jordan exhaled deeply. “Okay.”

Peter closed the folder and tossed it aside. “Until then, you need to give yourself ample time to heal—no overdoing it. Kale tells me you’ve started remodeling your home. That’s a good thing, as long as you don’t take over and start doing the heavy work yourself. Don’t you give me that indignant look, young lady. I know how stubborn you can be.”

Jordan didn’t answer. She turned her hover-chair and made for the door.

“Jordan…” Peter said in a warning tone.

Jordan glanced over her shoulder, fighting to hide her smile. “All right. Nag, nag, nag.”

Peter smiled back as she turned and glided down the hall toward the lab.

* * *

Kale pulled Jordan’s hover-chair from the trunk and guided it to the passenger door. He pushed the chair in as close as possible and stood behind it, holding it firmly in place as Jordan placed her hands on the armrests and hoisted herself into the chair in a single smooth motion.

“You’re pretty good at that,” Kale said.

“Unfortunately, practice makes perfect. I just hope it’s one trick I can put behind me.”

Kale pushed Jordan toward the house. “What did Peter have to say about the implant?”

“We’ve agreed to approach it with guarded optimism. We’re both hopeful, but I’m not going to set myself up for a huge disappointment if it doesn’t work.”

Jordan opened the front door, and Kale pushed her through and into the house. They stopped short as they entered the kitchen. “Holy shit! Look at this place.”

Exposed beams and insulation hung from the walls and ceiling, and a thick layer of dust covered everything. Kale was dismayed. “It’s going to take some work to get this kitchen clean enough to cook in.”

“Well, better break out the cleaning supplies ‘cause I’m starved.”

For the next hour, Jordan and Kale worked to clean the construction residue from the counter tops and appliances. Before long, they were seated in front of the holovision, enjoying grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup. Partway through the meal, Jordan picked up her bowl of soup and clumsily spilled it in her lap.

Kale jumped to his feet and grabbed the bowl from her hands, cursing as the hot liquid burned his fingers. “Damn. Quick, get those jeans off.”

“Kale! Kale, it doesn’t hurt. Really.”

In the immediacy of the accident, Kale failed to register that Jordan’s condition made her indifferent to the burning soup. He scooped her up in his arms and laid her flat on the couch, pulling off her jeans.

“Kale! What are you doing?”

He grabbed the cuffs and tugged hard, yanking the jeans cleanly off Jordan’s body. He threw the jeans on the floor and pointed at Jordan’s legs. “I’m saving you from blisters. See?”

Jordan raised herself with her forearms and looked down. Large red blotches covered both thighs. “Help me to sit.”

Kale grabbed her ankles and swung her legs around while Jordan pushed her upper body erect. She reached down and ran her hands over her burned thighs. “Wow. It still feels hot.”

Kale found a cold pack and placed it on Jordan’s reddened skin. “I hope we caught it before it caused too much damage.”