Time Camp Episode 1: Family Time (3 page)

“As we passed through the door, we had a strange tingling feeling, but it faded once we went through the doorway into what looked like an elevator. We all waited in the elevator until an indicator blinked blue, and the opposite door opened into a room. The room was huge, impossibly huge given the size of the building we had entered. The ceiling was hundreds of feet tall, and there were halls and rooms off to all sides of the hall. But there was almost no one in the big hall. Your Dad and I just stood and stared.

“What is this place?” I asked Lana.

“It’s a temporally isolated and protected facility that we use as a home base for recruiting.”

The other three strangers followed us in and left down a nearby corridor. Lana led us down one of the many halls to a room. In it was a tall blonde man who stood when we entered. He had a crew cut and was dressed about like us. He introduced himself as Brad.”

“Welcome to the InterTime Zone, Liz and Tom,” said Brad, extending his hand. We were shocked that he knew us. He filled us in. “We have been scouting you for some time. Lana and the other three Era 50 citizens just embarked a minute ago to pick you up. I’m glad she succeeded, though I didn’t doubt it for a second. The Timeline rarely lies, you know.”

We didn’t know how to respond. We asked him how he knew us. “We’re pretty new to this timeline, and are trying to establish a corps of observers. Singles are fine, but couples and especially families are excellent for historical event observations.”

“What do you mean by families? I don’t want to wrap my kids up in some time travel mess!” cried Liz, obviously upset at the comment. Brad looked at Lana. “You didn’t talk to them about family trips?”

Lana looked frazzled. “Not yet. Let’s get them through Observation and Prime Mission and see what they think,” she replied.

Brad took over. “OK. No talk of families yet. Let’s talk about an Observation mission. That’s the first step with new recruits. You’ll be going with an escort, me, and you won’t have any enhancements. So you’ll have to stay right with me so nothing happens. We’ve also chosen an event that took place during your recent lifetime, so we’ll have to be extremely careful about interactions.”

Tom interjected, “Hold on. This is going a little too fast. An hour ago we were riding in a limo in Buffalo and now we’re in some kind of limbo-land and you’re already talking about sending us on a time mission?”

Brad took a deep breath and said, “OK, so we’re going a bit fast for you. I apologize. How about you catch a good night’s sleep and we start first thing in the morning?”

Liz said, “That would be good. We’re honestly trying to keep up with you, but you must admit that this is a little strange.”

Brad concurred, “You’re right. I was recruited two years ago and it took me a couple of days to soak it up. But I’m from a couple decades before you, so you may pick up a bit faster.”

“Wait,” said Tom. “You are from where, I mean when?”

Brad replied, “I was born in 1954 in Cincinnati and recruited in 1985, back when the personal computer was just an idea.”

Liz asked, “And you’re allowed to travel into the future? Well, past 1985?”

“Yes, as a recruiter and liaison to Era 50, I’m Level 4 certified, meaning I can freely travel anywhere in or before my era as long as I file a flight plan.”

“Flight plan, you mean you fly and travel in time?” asked Tom.

Brad laughed. “No, that’s just what we call it in our era. The people from Era 50 are really hard to communicate with, so we use our own lingo in Era 47.”

Tom moaned, “Era 47? Era 50? This is really confusing!”

Brad said, “Just go to sleep. I’ll catch you up later.”

Back in the living room, the kids were glued to the couch. They didn’t move, they didn’t ask questions. They looked at their parents with pleading eyes. Tom asked, “Ready for more?” They nodded emphatically.

Chapter 10: A good night’s sleep

Lana stood to escort them to their sleeping quarters. On the way there, they asked Lana, “So you are an Era 50 person?”

Lana replied, “Yes, I was born in 2110 and recruited in 2133.”

Liz asked, “Forgive the intrusion, but if you are bonded to the communal intellect and each other in your time, then how come you can operate so well with people from our era?”

“It’s kind of complicated, but some of the commune can be fed to me here, through a kind of bridge. It lets me work here, without suffering from withdrawal from my people. But I do have to return soon.”

They followed, amazed at Lana’s explanation, but quickly catching on that things happened faster and differently in the InterTime Zone.

Soon they were introduced to a lovely suite whose only marking on the door was “Era 47 Liz and Tom Watson”. Lana said, “Please be comfortable and rest. Once you are ready, you may leave your suite and Brad will take over your orientation.”

“Will we see you again, Lana?”, asked Liz.

“Perhaps. I mostly recruit new observers and occasionally agents, but we may cross paths again.”

“Well thank you for your help. We believe you now, and we’re sorry for acting so strange back in the office,” said Tom.

“No problem at all. Given the circumstances, you reacted very well. You are both intelligent, observant and self-confident. They are the talents of good observers, and your reactions told us that you would work well in strange circumstances. I wish you the best of luck in your orientation and I sincerely hope that you choose to join us in our mission. It is very important to humanity.”

“We are humbled with your compliments. Goodbye, Lana.”

“Oh, one more item. If you choose to include your family, which we sincerely hope you consider, the way in which you introduce it will affect your kids’ reactions. Laura in particular will be skeptical, but they can all be won over if you are honest and you tell the truth.”

“I guess you know more about us than we thought, but we trust your advice. Thanks!”, said Liz. Lana turned and walked off, and the Watson parents entered their InterTime hotel room.

The suite was clean, well furnished, and decorated in a clean, white décor. The closets had had robes to fit the two weary travelers, and a bin marked “to launder”. They got the idea, and changed into the robes and put their clothes in the bin and closed it. It beeped and seconds later, their clothes emerged clean and folded. It was clear that in this place, you didn’t have to wait for anything.

They discovered the same applied to room service. A simple card with a pencil was used to indicate their selections, and seconds after they put it in the slot, the doorbell rang and an attendant with a cart delivered their dinner to a table, piping hot and delicious.

After the meal and a shower, they talked over the day’s strange events and eventually fell into a deep sleep.

Many hours later, they awoke to gentle lighting. They repeated the room service trick and enjoyed a great breakfast. Upon exiting the suite, they were met outside by Brad, in the same clothes as the day before.

Chapter 11: The Inauguration

“Why didn’t you change?” asked Tom. Brad chuckled, “It’s only been 5 minutes for me. I sent your suite back far enough into yesterday that you’d come out right now.”

“This will take some getting used to,” joked Tom. He and Liz were both in much better spirits, and considerably more relaxed than the evening before. “So where, I mean when are we going on this Observational trip with you?”

Brad said, “Actually, both where and when. We will be attending Barack Obama’s inauguration speech on January 20, 2009. It’s enough to prove to you that we can travel in time, but not so far that you’ll have temporal shock.”

“What the heck is temporal shock?” asked Tom.

“Well, it’s like jet lag or cultural shock if you travel to a foreign country, but it’s a lot worse. It’s dangerous because it makes you tired and sloppy, and more likely to be discovered as a non-native. And if you get caught out of time, especially by the authorities, it can make it very difficult for everyone involved,” Brad said.

“OK, we put our life your hands. How do you know we weren’t there already? I voted Democrat you know”, asked Liz, with a grin.

Brad chuckled, “We checked you out pretty thoroughly. We sent back a few field agents to follow you over the week before and during the inauguration. You were in Erie, Corry and Niagara Falls, but nowhere near DC. The question we have for you is, were any of your friends in DC that week? It would be a bit strange if you were to run into them.”

Liz replied, “We didn’t hear from anyone who was there, but what if they were?”

Brad said, “We’ll try to lie low. And we’ll try hard to blend into the huge crowd that was on the mall that day. And speaking of blending in - Liz, your blouse is too new. We’ll have to change it out – that pattern won’t be released until fall 2010. Tom, you’re fine.”

Tom was a bit ruffled. “You mean my clothes are too old? I guess I’m behind the times! Well, at least we’ll get to hear the President’s first attempt at the Oath of Office. As I recall, he and the justice messed it up during the official ceremony.”

Brad cautioned, “Yes, this is very important. You know that something will be out of the ordinary at this event. You must not mention it in public, though. It may set into action a course of events that could be bad for lots of people, including us!”

“Duly noted. We’ll keep our mouths shut!” quipped Liz.

Brad took them to Wardrobe and they changed into clothing appropriate for the season and era, just for good measure.

Once they finished their preparations, Brad led them to the huge room that they came into the night before. Though mostly empty, there were a few people at desks near the center. Brad approached one of them, an operator. He told her, “Brandy, three for January 20, 2010, Washington DC TimeStation 4.” She tapped out a bit and repeated back the coordinates. “Booth 7. Return to now +1?”

“Roger, now +1, booth 7. Good day,” replied Brad, and led Liz and Tom off down the hall.

Booth 7 was lit in blue, and had the date and their names indicated on the front. Brad walked up and the doors opened. “How does the booth know it’s us?” asked Liz.

“My enhancements tell it who I am. It verified the flight plan as well. You two can’t travel without an escort until you’ve taken the enhancements.”

The doors whisked open and they entered. The booth was the size of a large elevator, nearly identical to the booth that brought them in from Tonawanda. After the doors closed, there was a brief delay and the far door opened into a brightly lit office.

Brad had a brief conversation with a man at a desk in the office. Opening an office door, they emerged into an outer office, which opened onto a side street in Georgetown. Across they alley, they saw a sign for ‘Blues Alley’. Shortly, a cab rolled up and drove them about three miles, taking them as close to the Capitol building as possible. The three travelers walked the rest of the way in, staying close to each other among the immense crowds.

The inauguration events unfolded as they had been recorded – the USMC band played, the San Francisco boys’ and girls’ choirs sang, the introductions and invocations and other celebratory events took place for America’s first African American president, and he took the somewhat fumbled oath, which he retook correctly a day later.

Brad, Tom and Liz blended into the crowd but stayed together and out of the reach of media cameras. Liz took Tom’s hand and gripped it tight during Elizabeth Alexander’s recitation of the poem “Praise Song for the Day”, and all stood proudly for the Navy Chanters’ rendition of the national anthem. Tears streamed down Tom and Liz’ faces as the anthem completed, and Brad watched them with a gentle smile.

After the ceremony, they slowly but quietly returned to the Georgetown office. As they walked, Tom asked quietly, “So would we mess up the timeline if we stopped and had lunch somewhere?”

Brad replied, “Not usually. Of course if it’s a place that gets some attention with a notable or historic event, you may step into a dangerous Placetime, which could disrupt the timeline. But with enhancements, you’ll know that before you get into danger.”

To prove that there was no real risk, Brad did take them to a café on a side street, and they had a nice lunch before they completed their return to the TimeStation. Brad paid with cash, and they set out walking once again.

As they approached the Georgetown office, they greeted the staff who set the door for return. Once they were through the lock, they returned to the InterTime Zone exactly a minute after they left.

“It’s so immediate. I can’t get used to traveling to a different place and time in the blink of an eye!” said Liz.

Brad replied, “It is amazing. No one from our time exactly understands all of the principles involved. Let’s go talk about the whole experience, OK?”

Tom and Liz nodded, and they went to Brad’s office to debrief.

“So, how was it?” he asked, as they sat down in comfortable overstuffed chairs.