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  RETURN FROM THE FUTURE

  © Copyright Gail P. Griffiths 2019

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN: 978-1-9992094-3-8

  The moral right of the author had been asserted.

  This was a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events and organizations was purely coincidental.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, nor translated into a machine language, without the written permission of the publisher.

  Condition of sale

  This book was sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out or otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it was published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  Edited by Melanie Underwood

  Cover Design & Typesetting by Rebecca Garcia

  For my daughter, who inspires me every day.

  “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”

  Eleanor Roosevelt

  Chapter 1

  Decisions

  August 2020

  Joe and Harriet held onto each other as they stepped through the doorway into the nothingness ahead of them. The last thing they heard was the siren and the crashing of boots overhead as the guards searched for them in all the wrong places.

  They’d tried to give Luke Holmes at least an hour’s head start, but with the guards showing up, he got half that time.

  “I hate this, hold on to me.” Harriet was screaming, but couldn’t hear, see or feel anything during the fall through time. And like last time, one minute they were in a vacuum and the next they lay sprawled in the pitch black on something solid.

  “Are you okay?” She dare not move, aware she was lying on the landing of the old wooden staircase they’d climbed two months ago.

  She pulled herself up to a sitting position, knowing the door that landed them one hundred years into the future was directly behind her, in front was a twenty-foot drop.

  “I’m here. Let me find the flashlight.” Joe had stowed it at the top of his backpack. He switched it on.

  Seeing him close by, sitting cross-legged near the edge of the steep staircase, she reached over. “Let’s not do this again, ever.”

  “Not if I can help it.” He held her close while they tried to pull themselves together.

  Grabbing hold of the old railing, they stood on shaky legs for a few minutes until the feeling was back in all parts of their bodies.

  “Can you make it down the stairs okay?” It was all he could do to keep his legs from buckling, and with the added weight of their backpacks, he feared she could lose her balance and fall.

  “Jesus, Joe, if you can make it, I can make it.” She hated it when he babied her.

  They worked their way down the stairs and exited through the second door which they’d left open two months ago. They stood just inside the small cavern on the other side of the heavy door and listened for any sounds ahead, but all was quiet. Luke must have hightailed it once he got through the portal.

  They started out, with Joe in the lead carrying their only flashlight. Harriet followed his light blond hair in the dim light. She also held on to his backpack in case she stumbled. They found no sign of Luke right to the mouth of the cave.

  Joe cautioned her to stay put while he inspected the opening to make sure there were no new hazards since they’d been there in June.

  “It looks okay… I couldn’t see any sign of Luke in the canyon below. He didn’t waste any time. How about a short break before we climb down the rockfall?”

  “Sounds good, the further away that scumbag gets from us the better.” Harriet dropped her backpack and with it, some of the weight of the past two months. The sweet smell of the twenty-first century rose from the canyon floor comforting them. Harriet only wished she could remove the cloying sense that she would never be the same after their brains and her body had been invaded.

  They weren’t hungry enough for any of the meal pills they’d brought, so they ate two emergency bars instead. They’d packed them just in case they couldn’t make it to the portal to escape.

  If that’d happened they’d had the option of hiding out at Millie and Eric’s, their friends who they’d escaped with from the SPA. The couple had hidden them for two months afterwards.

  Harriet thought, The SPA, that’s a laugh. It was a friggin’ research center with a madman running it. The name was a cover to legitimize its existence.

  The SPA was owned by Bio-Tech Research but was renamed when the Federal Government became interested in some of the company’s research. Most of the center’s ongoing research was geared to improving or finding new medical techniques and products to enhance or restore the human body.

  Washington was currently focused on space and interplanetary research and employed Bio-Tech to look at specific projects for their space programs and the military. It was classified and required strict hiring procedures.

  Security in and out of the huge complex was lax… but the various labs connected with government research were off limits to all but those with the proper clearance and passes.

  The SPA also runs a clinic where invited members of the medical profession and their patients come to learn about or receive plastic surgery, organ replacements and other body enhancements. These were all newly developed techniques and products that were approved and would soon be available to the public at large.

  Harriet’s mind snapped back to the job at hand. They chugged half their water and got moving. They couldn’t wait to get back to their families, and to start their second year of university next week. She figured they’d gone through enough hell during the past two months and feared they faced a different hell now that they were back.

  Neither of them had come up with a plan to explain their disappearance and not get locked away as a pair of lunatics. Who’d believe they’d spent their time in the next century?

  One thing they both agreed on was that they wouldn’t tell the truth. The truth was too unbelievable, but neither had concocted a good lie either.

  That’s all Harriet had been able to think about for the last hour. “Do you think they’d believe someone kidnapped us?”

  “They might… at first, but it’s a lie that’d soon break down. There’d be too much shit we couldn’t explain.” Joe knew his parents would see through their story right away. Their fathers were lawyers, and it was their job to sort fact from fiction.

  Harriet laughed, “I don’t think either of us would last five minutes if they cross-examined us.” She was tired and her mellow voice had an edge and was raised a half an octave. Joe knew from experience she was beat and it wouldn’t take much to bring her to tears.

  He figured he’d deal with her if it happened, but right now he prayed she’d hold it together. Joe often relied on her problem-solving skills and he needed them now more than ever.

  “We can worry about the parents later because right now we’ve got bigger problems. We have to figure out how to get home.” Joe was certain his car wouldn’t be in the parking lot—most likely towed after the search for them failed.

  “What do you think of bypassing the lodge? You know, once they figure out who we are, there’ll be police and reporters and way too many questions.”

  Neither of them wanted a big public fuss. “I think you’re right, but how can we duck them? We gotta get down off the trail, and the ski lift’s the only way.” Harriet’s sapphire eyes darkened… she could see that every question raised another que
stion.

  “I don’t think we have to worry. It shouldn’t be the same lift operator as last time and if it is, he probably won’t remember us.” Joe grabbed her hand, as they started down the rock fall, both to help steady her, and to reassure her.

  They made it to the bottom without difficulty and found their way out of the canyon to the main trail. The scenery was a blur as they double-timed it to the ski lift and away from the nightmare they had recently escaped.

  An hour and a half later, Joe used the phone on the side of the equipment shed to call the lift operator. He explained that they’d just returned after camping for a few days.

  As they waited, another pair of hikers showed up, hand-in-hand, “Oh, great, the lift has started.” The tiny woman said as she gazed into the eyes of the man next to her and then smiled at Joe and Harriet.

  Anyone could see the couple was in love—they couldn’t keep their hands off each other. Harriet, making a guess, couldn’t resist asking, “Just married, huh?”

  The woman, who looked about twenty-one or two, flushed, “It’s that obvious?”

  Harriet, a little envious, smiled. “Congratulations!”

  They took their seats, and the lift started down the hillside. At the bottom, Joe and Harriet could see they were in luck… it was a different operator.

  They kept their heads down and walked out behind the newlyweds, chatting with them, explaining that they’d have to call friends to come and get them to take them back to the city.

  The couple was driving to Dartmouth and since they were going very near Fall River, they invited Joe and Harriet to ride along with them.

  Joe winked at Harriet and transmitted telepathically, Wow, what a break!

  They were becoming proficient with their new artificial intelligence. It was a gift forced upon them while captive in the future. But, now they had returned, they would have to be careful where they used this unique means of communication.

  They let the other couple go into the lodge, while they fussed with their backpacks outside. No one seemed to notice or care they hadn’t followed. So when the newlyweds returned, they all piled into the couple’s van, stuffing their gear in with them.

  They chatted on the way back to the city and promised to keep in touch, which was a lie. Joe and Harriet hadn’t given their right names. They didn’t want to let anyone know they were back until they’d talked to their parents. They couldn’t fathom what they were about to face.

  The couple dropped them off at the entrance to their subdivision by a bus shelter and Harriet headed for the bench, knowing they couldn’t avoid making a plan any longer.

  She patted the bench. “Let’s sit for a minute and talk about this. We gotta get our story together. Our new friends gave me an idea. What if we tell everyone we eloped?” It sounded lame, but at this zero hour, she was grasping at straws.

  Joe didn’t outright dismiss the idea. “It could work, but how the hell are we going to explain the car we left behind and why we would take two months before calling them? Have you thought that far ahead? I’ve got nothing.” Joe was getting a headache causing his cheeks to flush and his freckles to darken. He was relying on Harriet to come up with the answers because she could tell a story way better than he could.

  Harriet was desperate at this point and sat back on the bench with her head down. She knew that she had Joe on board, but the questions he asked needed answers. So, she closed her eyes and thought even harder.

  “Okay, how about this… We met another couple on the trail while we were hiking, and they invited us to join them at their home in Maine for two or three days. It sounded like fun, so we agreed. They used their car—” At that point, Joe interrupted.

  “What about our passports? They’d never let us across the border.” Joe felt like a sharpshooter as he shot down another of her ideas.

  “Shit, forgot about that. I’m out of ideas. Why don’t we tell them some version of the truth and see what happens?” Defeated, Harriet heaved a mother-worthy sigh.

  Joe didn’t answer right away. Instead, he stared at his boots and gave it some thought as he ran his fingers through his short blond hair.

  “Okay, I think maybe you’re right. Our folks have always preached to us about truthfulness versus lying, ‘Lies always catch up with you.’ And we’re no good at it, anyway.” He looked at her with a funny grin. “So what did you have in mind, genius?”

  Harriet punched his arm.

  “Smartass. Knowing you, you’ll wing it okay,” she shot back

  He raised one blond brow and returned her shot with, “You’re kidding? Right?”

  She gave him a hard look and laughed.

  They set off up the hill deciding to go to her place first since it was closer.

  “You know they’ll go nuts when I walk through that door, maybe you should come in with me. They’ll more than likely call your mom and dad over, anyway. I think I’d like us to stick together for as long as we can.” The worry had her strung out and having Joe nearby would keep her from coming apart.

  Today was August twenty-sixth, almost nine weeks since they’d vanished so they knew they had a grueling few days ahead of them. They also had to prepare for their second year at university in two weeks.

  Chapter 2

  Getting Together

  2023

  Harriet flew down the stairs off the stage, straight into Joe’s waiting arms. He lifted her off her feet and swung her around, just missing her parents standing behind him. He kissed her hard.

  “I’m so damned proud of you!” He was, grinning from ear to ear. “You did it, hon, you bloody well did it!” Joe held up his hand to high-five her four years of hard work. “Look at you with your science degree, who’d have thought it? You’ve only got one year left, I’ve got at least four.” Joe already had his undergraduate degree and had finished his first year of law school. Harriet still needed to complete the engineering portion of her education to receive her biomedical engineering degree.

  “Hey, give us a piece of her,” Bill Blaney shoved Joe to one side and pulled his daughter into a bear hug. “We couldn’t be more proud of you, Harri.”

  “Mom, I did it, didn’t I?” Harriet reached over grabbing her mother’s arm.

  “You did, and we’re so proud. I never doubted you for a minute.” Mary Blaney was teary-eyed.

  Not fifty yet, Mary, three year’s Bill’s junior, looked more like Harriet’s older sister. She was not as tall as Harriet’s five-foot-eleven but still stood out in a crowd. Harriet got her dark hair and fair complexion from her dad’s Irish heritage. But she’d inherited her mother’s temperament along with her long straight nose, full lips and deep blue eyes. Mary’s eyes were glistening. There was a time four years ago that she and Bill didn’t think this day would ever happen.

  “Joe, where are your folks?” Harriet looked around the auditorium. He shrugged and then spotted Mike and Jen Flemming hurrying up the aisle.

  “Here they are.”

  “Sorry, we ducked out for a minute to see if my cousins have arrived yet. I got a text from them saying they were in the middle of a huge traffic back-up. They’ll meet us at the restaurant.” Mike Flemming grinned at Harriet.

  “Congratulations, sweetheart, we are so proud of you.” Leaning over he kissed her on the forehead.

  Joe had a tight hold on Harriet’s hand by then, I want to get you out of here and kiss you from head to toe.

  That sent a warm current through Harriet’s extremities. Me too, I don’t think I’ll last through dinner. I’m about ready to make a break for the door. She turned her flushed face, and smiled, to see if he got her transmission.

  He squeezed her hand—I guess we have to do it for them. It’ll be a long evening.

  They stood there smiling, the families unaware of the dialogue and sexual tension passing between them.

  In the three years since they had returned from the future, Joe and Harriet had perfected their twenty-second century AI within the limits posed by
twenty-first century computer technology and the World Wide Web.

  AI was a gift from the future that neither of them had wanted or thought they needed. But now they had it, life had become both more comfortable and more complicated.

  They waited in the auditorium for everyone to get there so they could head to Halifax Gardens for their photo shoot. The spring flowers were in bloom, providing the perfect backdrop. After that, they would go to dinner at a favorite restaurant.

  Harriet loved the attention, but they had been going steadily since early morning and were relieved when the evening of speeches and toasts wound down at nine pm. They said goodnight to their friends and relatives and then headed home with their parents.

  They sat exhausted in the Blaney’s family room. Harriet’s folks seemed eager to say something and Bill, as usual, took the lead. He looked around the room and winked at Joe’s parents before he began.

  “This has been a long day and I know we are all tired. I’ve made my speeches about how proud I am of you, Harri, and I’m proud of you too, Joe. You complement each other, and Mary and I are proud that you’ll soon be part of our family, Joe. I know your folks feel the same way.” He nodded toward Mike and Jen.

  “All four of us have talked. We know that you’ve been putting off getting married while you’re attending university and you’ve shown a dedication to your studies that astounded us. But I guess we all grow up, eventually.” When the last remark didn’t get a rise out of Joe or Harriet, he cleared his throat and continued.

  “We love having you with us, Harri, but we feel you two would do just as well, if not better, if you had your own place. You’ve shown us more than enough responsibility. You’ll celebrate your twenty-second birthdays in October, and it doesn’t seem right you have to work so hard to be together.” His meaning was clear and Harriet’s cheeks flushed.

  “One of our clients owns a duplex in Halifax, within walking distance of the university. The building has three units, one on the main floor and one up. He has a smaller third apartment in the basement where he’s been living. He wants to move and said he’d give it to you two if we applied the rent against what he owes us. It seemed like a fair offer and the apartment is nice… It’s your choice.”