Chapter 14 — A Walk Down History Lane
Rick dropped his burger on his plate and rushed to his daughter’s side. She instantly began explaining, “I was running it 64 times normal speed and suddenly got a glimpse of it around his neck—”
“Awesome, this may be easier than we thought,” he said happily.
“I’m rewinding it now, slower—”
The image was of Octavian walking through the street with guards all around him. The necklace he wore clearly had a crystal attached to it. The scene suddenly skipped to what appeared to be slightly earlier, where he was coming out of his home with the guards. “Stop, T, play at half speed, forward,” Alex commanded.
“Those guys look mean,” Abby said.
“Those swords look mean,” Rick added.
“That guy looks gay,” Anna concluded.
“Historians always describe Octavian as ‘very feminine’,” Rick told her.
Kaylie giggled, “More like flaming little fairy.”
Rick silenced her with a scowl, “Don’t be rude.”
As Octavian began walking down the street, the scene skipped forward to where he had the necklace.
“Rewind five seconds and pause,” Alex said, and then studied the scene. “He’s clearly not wearing that necklace now.”
“T, how much time is missing when it stops?” Rick asked.
“Exactly fifteen minutes and 48.3 seconds, Rick.”
“Do we need to guess what happened to this missing time, T?”
“I’m fairly confident that your guess would be completely accurate, Rick,”
Rick thought a moment, looking at his daughter. He knew she had been studying the display carefully for some time and also wanted to assure her that he valued her opinion. “Alex, what do you think? How should we go about getting it?”
“How should I know?” she shrugged.
“You’ve been watching the boy, what are his habits? Where does he go? Who is he usually with?”
“Who does his hair? That’s what I want to know — they should be hanged,” Jessica joked.
“He does his own hair,” Alex told her. “He’s always looking at himself in the mirror and he’s always either guarded heavily outside or surrounded by servants inside. I wonder where he got it — he must have gotten it from them!” she answered her father at the same time.
“OK, watch him for a few days; see if he takes it off. He has to lay it down at some time,” Rick said as she began cranking the speed up and following him about his day — shopping for clothes and jewelry, tossing coins to the poor, eating, etc. Rick soon got bored, or perhaps disgusted, by his habits, and patted Alex on the back and returned to his seat.
“Resume TV, T,” he said, and dug back into his food as the next season opener of his favorite sci-fi show started.
“Pause, T,” Alex said wearily. She walked over to the table, pulled Rick’s leg out as if it were a stool and sat on it, leaning her head into his shoulder. “He hasn’t taken it off in five days, Dad.”
“Why don’t you go get something to eat; it’s at least three o’clock now and all you’ve eaten today were a couple donuts,”
“OK,” she instantly perked up.
Kaylie stood up with her, “You can have my seat, I’ll watch prissy-boy for a while,” she looked at Rick for permission.
“Right. T, share control with Kaylie, please,” he directed.
“Done, Rick.”
Kaylie began learning to use the console controls, quickly resuming where her friend had left off.
Alex carried over a steaming plate of chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, a roll, and drink. She sat down, “Dad, it’s no use — he’s always wearing it and is always guarded…”
“Too bad we can’t lure him away with a woman,” Abby jested.
Rick laughed, “I hope you aren’t suggesting I try?” and shuddered.
“I think we should go in, see who gave it to him, then go back and get it from them,” Christy offered.
“That’s a perfect idea!” Rick praised her. “T,” he turned to ask, “is that fifteen minutes missing from history altogether?”
“No, Rick, those memories are intact; only viewing of them have been banned.”
“OK, I should probably go alone. I’m not taking any chances on you girls getting hurt,” Rick said. The girls groaned in perfect harmony.
“Come on, Dad, I found the cube in the first place!” Alex cried.
“It’s completely safe, Rick, come on! Hey T, has anyone ever died using this machine?” Kaylie questioned.
“No, Kaylie, nobody has. There have been thirty-one major injuries out of the 8022 uses since the safety controls were added.’
Jessica stood and placed her hands on her hips, looking imploringly at her father.
“What?” Rick asked.
“You’re not going wearing those goofy shorts, are you?” she said, instead of complaining.
He looked down at his Hawaiian print, bright yellow shorts, “Hmmm. That does present a problem, doesn’t it?”
“What’s in the lockers?” Anna asked. Nobody had bothered to look in them; they were too fascinated by everything else this day.
“Let’s look,” Rick jumped up and they gathered around the lockers like school kids playing musical chairs. They finally settled on one each, opening and calling out what they found.
One held boxes of coins from different times, one contained armor, swords, uniforms and many types of gadgets, old and futuristic. They found boots, shoes, dresses, pottery, tools, jewels, and gems.
“I don’t see anything we could use,” Kaylie said, “but I think we could get some…”
“OK, how?” Christy asked.
Kaylie opened one of the boxes of coins, “Gold, coins, gems... all we have to do is find someone alone who has some extra clothes and buy them.”
Abby stuck her head into the conversation, “That’s a great idea, but if banana pants goes up to someone in 44 BC, they will probably run, or try to kill him.”
“I thought of that already” Kaylie said confidently.
Abby patiently waited for her solution.
“We,” she indicated herself and the other girls, “could take these shirts and cut them up into tunics that will fit us...”
Rick didn’t want them to go, but she had come up with a solution that required them going. He couldn’t think of a better one either.
“Rick?” Kaylie asked tentatively, putting on her most endearing face.
“No fair! Not the puppy dog eyes!”
“We can do it! All we have to do is cut the sides out of them and tie them together...”
“Who’s we?” he asked.
“Um... me, Alex, Christy?”
“If I were to take anyone, it would be Abby.”
Kaylie quickly drew a shirt over her head and pulled it down tightly, “But these shirts won’t fit Abby, they’d only come to her hips, they’d come half-way down our thighs.”
Abby grabbed a shirt and put it on. Sure enough, it only went just past her waist. She raised her arms and it came up even further. “Uh, yeah, there’s no way I’m going out in public with this on!”
“See?!” Kaylie begged.
“It’s just too dangerous, Kaylie. Although you and Christy are at our house more than your own, I’m still not allowed to make such decisions for you.”
“Oh bull!” Christy chimed in. “If we called our parents, you know they would say it’s OK. They don’t care what we do at Alex’s house because they know how incredibly over-protective you are!”
“Besides, you heard T. She said you can use the safety protocols to return everyone before they can even get seriously wounded,” Alex reminded him.
Rick thought a moment, fuming slightly. “We don’t have anything to cut the shirts with.”
Kaylie grinned and pulled a box out of a locker.
“What’s that?” Rick asked curiously.
“Sewing kit,” she smiled.
&
nbsp; “Figures,” Rick sighed. “T, can you please list all of those injuries which have occurred during time travel with this time machine?”
“Yes, Rick. Professor Nabakawa was injured by an arrow through the shoulder, Dr. Mandy Crane was stabbed with a dagger in the abdomen,—”
“Just summarize the injuries, please, T.”
“OK, Rick. There were eight puncture wounds caused by arrows or knives, six broken wrists or ankles, five lacerations by knives, swords or teeth, five broken arms, four broken legs, twelve broken ribs, a severed finger, and a fractured jaw.”
Anna cringed, “I don’t think I want to go now!”
“Me neither!” Jessica concurred.
“I’m not afraid!” Kaylie said boldly.
“I’m not either!” said Christy, standing a little taller.
“A severed finger? Arrows through the shoulder?” Alex asked with a horrified look.
“Come on, Alex, we get injuries like that at the playground or riding a bikes,” Kaylie tried to reason.
“Who do you know that ever got shot by an arrow at a playground?” Jessica retorted in support of her father now.
Christy took over, “Look, that’s 32 injuries out of over eight thousand trips, that’s like 0.4%. I bet that’s lower than playground accident rates and much safer than gymnastics!”
“And car wrecks!” Kaylie added.
“OK,” Rick said, “I’ll make this easy. You give me a good reason why I should let you go?”
“Because you love us?” Alex said, changing her mind yet again.
“That’s a good reason not to let you go,” Rick decided easily.
“Because we can help?” Kaylie offered.
“Honey, I hate to hurt your feelings, but I think you girls would only get in the way. And I would just have to worry about you the whole time.”
Kaylie frowned. It was obvious his words hurt her feelings, as well as the rest of the girls, except maybe Jessica.
Jessica was outraged. Of course it didn’t take much to get a response from her. “Who found the cube? Who opened the cube? Who learned how to operate the UC? Who found the tunnel leading in here? Who found out about the world ending? Who found the crystal? And whose idea was it to go buy clothes and make tunics and stuff—”
Rick felt stupid… mainly because everything she said was true. “I thought you didn’t want to go!” was his only argument.
“I don’t, but they do… and they deserve to!” she stared at him like a mother would stare at a child whose hand was still in the cookie jar.
Now Rick felt stupid and guilty.
“Rick, she’s right, and they would have so much fun,” Abby chimed in.
“Not you too, Abby?” he looked at Abby as if she stabbed him in the back. How appropriate. “Et tu Brute?”
“Why do people go sky-diving if it’s so dangerous? Because the excitement is worth the risk. This would be both exciting and educational. Think about it, Rick, you’d let them go to Washington DC for a field trip, wouldn’t you? That’s probably much more dangerous and couldn’t possibly be more rewarding in any way… plus you would be there to protect them!” Abby submitted.
“Can I get some of this armor on before we do battle?” Rick asked facetiously. Everyone stared angrily at him.
“Anna? Help?” He sighed, “OK, OK!”
“YAY!” Kaylie led the cheers. Abby simply smiled at him to let him know she thought he had done the right thing.
He still didn’t agree.
“But first,” he tried to regain some of his lost authority, “we are going to set down some hard-core rules. OK?”
“Which means,” Jessica started out sarcastically, “that we have to listen to a long, boring lecture while he over-prepares, as usual.”
Rick wrapped his arm around her neck and pretended to squeeze, “Yes, that is what I intend to do! And if you don’t like it, you won’t go.” He shot a stern look at Abby, “And Abby will fully support me on that, won’t you?”
Abby emphatically shook her head yes.
“Alex, you and Kaylie need to find us an isolated family close to town who has an extra man’s tunic or uniform to sell, at least an hour, maybe two hours before Octavian acquires the crystal. Preferably close to the part of town he’s traveling in,” Rick started dispensing orders.
“How will we know if they are willing to sell it?” Alex asked.
Rick gave her an appraising look, “You two are extremely smart; I trust you to figure that out,” he told her confidently.
The two girls glowed with pride as they hurried to the console.
“Jess, Christy — I want you two to help make the clothes, and Anna, you find something to tie them with, please?”
The three girls launched into work immediately.
Abby wrapped her arms around him, “And what chore do I get?”
“You and I are going treasure hunting. We need to find enough Roman valuables to ensure our purchases, and maybe more to buy access, guides, or even the crystal itself.”
The girls were all diligently working. Abby took time to show Christy and Jessica how to cut the shirts to make them look like the ones the children in Rome were wearing, then went back to where she and Rick were attempting to sort and classify coins and jewels.
“I’ve never seen them so excited and united,” Rick whispered.
“Yeah, it’s really incredible. Nice to be a part of it!”
Was that an opening? Rick thought, suddenly feeling tightness in his chest. He recalled the last time he took a chance to extend their relationship to the next level and was summarily dismissed. He fumbled for words, playing with the coins absently. Abby didn’t notice his awkward behavior. He watched her skillful fingers nimbly picking through the treasures for quite a while before she realized he was lost in thought.
“Where are you, Rick?” her words snapped him out of his trance.
“I was just thinking how nice it would be if you were with us… permanently,” he stammered awkwardly.
Abby’s rummaging stopped as she flipped her hair over her shoulder and stared at him over that same shoulder. “Is that an invitation to move in, or a proposal?” she asked coyly.
Rick decided to play off his fear by bringing a finger to his chin thoughtfully in an attempt to figure out the answer. He often resorted to being silly when he was afraid to be serious, “Let me see… if I propose, you might backhand me.”
“I might!” she said playfully, knowing his habit well.
“But if I asked you to move in, you could possibly only verbally assault me...
“...or I may assault you in other ways,” she said seductively.
“Well,” he said, raising his eyebrows, “that may help the decision process along...”
She stared, waiting, and then held up her hand, “OK, what is it?”
Rick suddenly felt confident and played harder, dawdling a while before wrapping his hand around the back of her neck and pulling her into a kiss.
She sat back quickly, “So???” she demanded an answer.
Rick smiled broadly and winked, “So… when can we go haul your stuff over?”
“You have to ask me first…” she was fighting to maintain her aloofness, doing a pretty good job of hiding her excitement over the prospect.
“Oh, if you’re still not interested, I can wait another two years to work up the courage again—”
“Tomorrow!” she blurted.
He blinked a couple times, “That was too easy; what’s the catch?”
“No catch,” she insisted.
“Why are you suddenly so eager now? Not that I’m complaining!”
“A little birdie made me realize some things today...” she said, glancing over at Kaylie.
“Does that little birdie have jet black hair?” he asked.
“Maybe...”
“A thirteen-year-old, soccer-playing, history buff, video game nut birdie?”
“Sounds like the same birdie,” she giggled.
“I need to adopt that little birdie,” he said, looking at that little birdie as she excitedly helped Alex search ancient Rome.
“She’s not the only one. Your girls always make me feel at home and loved — like a mother. Kaylie really loves you too, though… and she’s really smart and mature,”
He smiled and turned back to Abby, “She’s a great little friend, too. But let’s plan this move… you wanna take the van and your car in the morning as soon as the girls leave for school?”
“Sounds perfect. Should we tell them?”
“I think we need to surprise them,” Rick quickly decided.
“Yeah. Besides, we need to focus on this right now,” she agreed and started sifting through coins again, watching them scatter as they fell back into the box.
“I’m going to see how they’re doing,” Rick suddenly said, getting up and laying his hand gently on her shoulder for a moment.
She turned and smiled at him as he left. It felt right. Perfect. Finally. Abby now wondered why she had waited so long.
“Well, how’s it going?” Rick asked as he wormed in between Alex and Kaylie, putting an arm around each of them.
“I feel like a thief, searching through people’s homes like this,” Alex admitted with a slightly scrunched up nose.
“It’s not that bad, we’re just looking. I think we found a good home, too,” Kaylie said.
Rick raised his eyebrows, “Oh? Show me”
“Well, this family seems to be just a woman, two boys and a girl, but they have several men’s tunics and uniforms that we could use. But we don’t know where the father is…”
“We think he could be a soldier, traveling abroad or in a war somewhere. That worries me,” Kaylie said.
“Why does that worry you?” Rick asked.
“In those times it was often considered bad luck to disturb any belongings of a man while he was away at war. They may not be willing to part with anything or they might be beaten by the man when he returns…”
“I think we should just bribe one of the kids to do it. They’re about our age,” Alex suggested.
“Hmm... so we really don’t know anything for sure, except what we observe. Perhaps we should go in and learn on our own. If we fail, we can go back and try something else,” said Rick.
“Groundhog Day!” Alex giggled.
“Practically, yes. Good analogy. Good plan too, I think.”
“Crude, but effective,” Kaylie concurred.
“Well, see if you can find out how much money they have so we’ll know how much we might need. I’d rather go twice than three times, if you know what I mean. This could take days if we don’t prepare right—”
“Rick?” A tug at his shirt accompanied the address. He turned to find Anna, Christy and Jessica all wearing their creations.
“Wow! Very nice looking!” he commented.
Jessica came forward, “We found some silk dress that looked like a cow wore it, so we used that.”
“I did,” Anna claimed.
The shirts were very well-cut and tied with ribbons of green twisted with blue.
“You girls did an excellent job. I think we should be able to go really soon if we continue making such progress,” he said, leaving five smiling, happy children to go back to helping Abby sort the loot.
Twenty minutes later, Alex came and wrapped her arms around her father, staring over his shoulder at the coins he had piled in front of him. “They only have a few coins, no jewels at all. It looks like they’re really poor, Daddy, but Kaylie thought of a problem,” she informed him.
“What’s that?”
“How do we talk to these people? They speak a different language, don’t they?”
Rick pondered a moment, wondering why they could understand speech when they were watching the display. He faced the machine, “T, how are we to communicate with the Romans and why are they speaking English?”
“I translate the language both here and in the other time-space, Rick,” she answered.
They let out a collective sigh. “That’s good, I’d hate to have to learn a new language overnight,” a very relieved Christy announced.
“OK girls, let’s get ready. We’ll leave after we eat,” Rick said, looking at his watch. It was 6:30 already.
While they ate, the talk was excited, vibrant, focused on the mission ahead. Rick smiled inwardly at how interested and helpful the girls were as they planned the whole mission with exacting details.
“...that’s why we think we should go in to buy your clothes,” Alex concluded after Kaylie explained that children were generally not permitted to speak to adults.
“You see, Rick, the mother isn’t home until twenty minutes before we need to be in town. That wouldn’t give you much time to persuade her, and she probably wouldn’t part with it anyway,” Kaylie opined.
“OK. We’ll try that. How far ahead are we going in?”
“One hour, 45 minutes,” Alex said.
“That’s when the kids are coming back from playing in the stream and washing their clothes Kaylie added.
“Why don’t you just go in while they’re gone and take them?” Anna asked.
“That’s dishonest.” Rick replied.
“Hello? We’re trying to save the world. Do you want to say, ‘No, we couldn’t save the world honestly, so we just let everyone die?’ That doesn’t sound right.”
“Anna, if it comes down to saving the world, I’ll steal a uniform, but if we can do it with a clear conscience… well, I’d prefer to be responsible.”
Anna rolled her eyes, “Always gotta set a good example, don’t you? Like you’re my father!”
“I don’t see your father trying to set a good example!” blasted Jessica.
Anna got up in a huff, heading toward the other side of the table, obviously intent on doing harm to Jessica.
“Anna! Sit down now!” Rick ordered.
Anna stopped, considering her plans for a moment. Jessica was still taunting her, shaking her head around wildly with her tongue sticking out, flopping around. She finally decided it would be in her best interests to behave, and stomped back to her seat while Jessica continued to tease.
“Jess, you want to take a swim with me?” Rick threatened.
Jessica ceased quickly, “No!”
Rick added a menacing glare.
“Sorry, Anna,” Jessica added as she got the hint.
“OK. So we go there and wait for them to return?” Rick asked.
“Yeah, about a hundred yards from their house is some brush you can hide in while we go make friends and, hopefully, bring you a nice soldier’s tunic. That should allow us to get close enough to Octavian. A fellow soldier would be able to get closer,” Alex said.
“And as soon as we find out where he gets the necklace, we stop and return, then we can go back and intercept it,” Kaylie finished.
The group continued to finalize their plans while they finished eating.
“Can we watch them from here, T?” Abby asked nervously
“No, Abby, they will be gone only one minute and you must not interfere with their return.”
“One minute?” Alex asked.
“Yes, Alex, there is always a return time of one minute, no matter how long your trip is. That is the default setting. Do you wish to change that?”
“No,” Rick answered, “that’s perfect. I’m glad, actually; I was worried it would take all night.”
He held three necklaces out after slipping the gold one around his neck. “Pick one,” he told the girls.
Alex picked the blue one because that was her favorite color, Christy chose the silver one, and Kaylie took the red one.