Paulette slammed her palm on the computer desk. She knew Oliver was arrogant and willful, but to blatantly get out of the time pod and endanger, not only his life, but Emma’s still made her seethe inside. Worse than that, he was back at work within a few days of the mishap, being his usual bossy and narcissistic self, which rubbed Paulette the wrong way.
“I need a break,” Paulette said aloud as she pushed her chair away from the computer and stood. “I’ll be back in a little while. I’m gonna get lunch and take care of a few things.”
Emma nodded her head as she typed away at her computer. Paulette took her nod as confirmation that Emma had heard her. Paulette exited through the secure door and went up the stairwell to the seventh floor. Her first order of business before she ate lunch was to contact Greg.
She hooked up her equipment to the radio and computer then turned the HF radio on and tuned to 28.425MHz. Taking a deep breath, she keyed the microphone and said, “CQ, CQ, CQ, KP7GRM, this is WA01.” She paused, listening to the static. Just as she was about to push the button again, she heard a faint reply.
“WA01, this is KP7GRM. We’ve been waiting for your call.”
“Good to hear you. I can barely understand you, though. The propagation must be weak today.”
“Same here. I was walking past the radio when you called. Otherwise, I would’ve missed your call.”
“Then I’ll make this quick. Can you and Susan meet us tonight at seven o’clock at our designated location?”
“Yes, we can. The correction you gave us worked, and we retrieved the item you left behind.”
“Wow, that’s awesome. Glad to hear that.” Paulette let out a sigh of relief. “Okay see you at seven tonight.”
“Sounds doable. See you then.”
“WA01, this is KP7GRM, 73s and clear on your final.”
“KP7GRM, this is WA01, 73s and clear.”
There were butterflies floating in her stomach at the thought of finally seeing her friends again. Her right leg bounced uncontrollably as she shook with excitement and nervousness, a wide grin on her face.
Paulette disconnected her equipment and slid the items into her lab coat. She went to the lunchroom to retrieve her packed lunch from her locker then headed to the lunchroom on the second floor. She looked around and saw Emma sitting alone. Paulette sat down across from Emma and dug her sandwich and drink out of the bag.
“How did your errands go?” Emma asked between bites of her lasagna.
“Great. Thanks for asking.”
Emma smiled, picked up her napkin, and wiped some sauce off her face. “So, when do you think Oliver will want to travel again?”
Wincing at the question, Paulette looked up and said, “I don’t know, but I hope it’s not too soon.”
“Knowing him, he’ll be ready to go as soon as you get back to the lab.”
Paulette spewed the bite of sandwich out of her mouth all over the table. “He wouldn’t.” Paulette grabbed her napkin and wiped up the sprayed sandwich mess. “I mean doesn’t he need to plan and gather what he needs before he goes romping off through time.”
Paulette could feel the tension in the air that seemed to be thick enough to slice with a knife. Despite the tension, though, she heard Emma giggle.
“Yeah, I guess he would have to do some planning first. Maybe you’ll have a little time before he drags you off jumping through time.”
Paulette sighed, no longer hungry. She gathered the rest of her lunch and took it to the garbage pail. She tossed it and headed back to the lab.
As soon as she entered the lab, Oliver called her.
“Paulette, I need you in my office, now.”
Paulette huffed and stomped into Oliver’s office. “What do you need?”
Oliver blinked, then reached into his pocket, reminding Paulette what he could do if she stepped out of line. “We need to discuss plans for a trip back to 1963.”
Paulette sagged into the chair in front of Oliver’s desk. “Proceed.”
“First, we need to decide what time to arrive and where to land the time pod. Once we have that settled, we need to figure out how we’ll get in to see the president. We’ll need proper clothes and money to help us while we’re there. Can you think of anything else?”
Paulette slouched further into her chair. Oliver was going to try and change the past no matter how dangerous she kept telling him it would be. All she could do was go along and hope he didn’t mess it up any more than he had already planned. “How do you plan on getting into the White House to see the president? And no, I don’t have anything else.”
“I don’t know yet. That’s why we’re here, to plan it out. What do you think we should do to gain entrance?”
Paulette took her hands and kneaded her temples, trying to sooth the headache coming on. “I. Don’t. Know.”
“You don’t have to yell. You’re the brilliant one, so come up with a plan. I expect you to present to me a plan for arrival and entry into the White House within the next week. Is that understood?”
“Perfectly. Can I go now? In fact, I have a headache and would like to go home to rest.”
“Yes, you go and rest and think about how you’re going to make my plan work.”
Paulette pushed herself out of the chair and left Oliver’s office. She grabbed her belongings and went home. She needed to get rid of her headache before she met Greg and Susan later.
Paulette and Thomas sat down in their favorite picnic spot a little before 7:00 p.m. She had packed a delicious dinner of various sandwiches for her, Thomas, Greg, and Susan. Paulette figured the easiest way to avoid suspicion was to have a little picnic.
She watched as Thomas spread the small, worn blanket on the ground and set out the drinks and plates. Sitting there, she remembered the struggle of hiking over the Cascade Mountains. It took them forever to get across, and there was constant danger at every turn. She remembered hearing about Peter begging Lisa to kill him before the scavengers could drag him away. She remembered how Bo had killed Anton just to get his point across to Thomas and then kidnapped their entire group. A smile played across her face when she remembered how Troy and Sky had rescued them, and Sky killed Bo, allowing them to escape the remaining marauders.
Paulette blinked and noticed that Thomas was finished setting everything up. “I wonder when they’ll get…” Before she could finish her sentence a brown and black missile crashed into her, paws on her shoulders, licking her face, tail wagging at Mach speed. “Love you too, but enough with the licks, please.” Danni dropped onto her front paws, smiling and wagging her tail while Paulette rubbed between her ears. A moment later Susan and Greg rounded the corner.
“Sorry about that. Danni just took off without warning,” Greg said, while approaching Paulette and Thomas.
“No problem. It was a magnificent surprise,” Paulette said, while waving Danni’s insistent licking away. “Seems she missed me.”
“Oh yeah, she missed you. The first few months were rough. Danni wouldn’t eat much and slept all the time,” Susan said.
Paulette pushed to her feet and opened her arms wide and gave Greg a big hug. “Great to see you again.”
“You, too.”
“Greg, Susan, this my husband Thomas.” She pointed back to where Thomas was standing. “Thomas, this is Greg, my best friend, and Susan, my head of Research and Development.”
“Actually, Richard is now the head of Research and Development. I help Greg run the company and the special projects division.” Susan pointed out to Paulette.
“Oh, wow. That’s amazing. Congratulations.”
“You’re not upset that I pretty much took over your position?”
“Not at all. I wasn’t there, and you took the initiative and filled in the vacancy. I applaud you for that. I knew we did right hiring you.” Paulette reached out and pulled Susan into a hug. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome.”
“So, shall we eat? I made you a vegan sandwich, and Greg, I made your favorite too.” She pointed to the food and drinks laid out on the blanket.
“That would be great. Thanks.” They sat down where Paulette indicated.
The group chatted while eating. Greg and Susan took turns explaining the things that happened while Paulette was gone. Paulette chewed her sandwich and listened to the struggles her friends went through trying to get her back. She occasionally nodded, added a “yep, know what you mean” and continued listening. They finished their synopsis, and it was her turn.
Paulette told them everything she had been through, from meeting Bo and Thomas, to Bo trying to kill her and Thomas saving her with a blood transfusion. She told them about the poles flipping and the harsh winters in the mountains. She spoke of getting married to Thomas. She explained how they hiked across the Cascade Mountains, including all the accidents and dangers they faced along the way. She told them about the City of Technology and the plans to change the past. She sucked in a large breath and exhaled. “So, you can see a lot has happened here. Now you know why Thomas needs your help and I need to take their time pod.”
Greg nodded. “I can see what you mean. I don’t think changing the past will help them.”
Susan interrupted Greg, “But who says you get to decide what these people here do? I mean, if you hadn’t shown up, would they have figured it out on their own?”
Paulette sat up straighter, shoulders back and a frown on her face. “Does it matter? They may have figured it out on their own years from now, but maybe I was supposed to get stuck here to prevent these people from changing the past.”
“I suppose. Guess we really won’t ever know for sure, now will we?”
“Susan, what has gotten into you? If they change the past, it could mean neither of us is born, or worse, millions more could die.”
“Or millions more could live. Maybe they can stop this,” she swung her arm to encompass the area in which they sat, “from happening.”
“They may be able to save some people from the earthquakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis, but they can’t save them from the disease and hunger due to scarce resources. So, more people may die, and even if that’s not true, these people will suffer a longer death than if they had died in the destruction. They can’t stop the planet from tearing itself apart.”
Susan placed her finger and thumb across her mouth in thought. “I guess you’re right, Paulette. No matter what they change, the apocalypse will happen.”
“Exactly. So, I need to make sure they can’t alter the past. I know my boss, Oliver, plans on going back in a week to change a small portion of the past. I plan on going with him to prove my point.”
“Are you going to let him change it?” Greg asked.
“Yes. Like I said, I need to prove my point. Besides, he’ll change it with or without me. I just prefer to be there to make sure he doesn’t screw it up any worse than he plans.”
Everyone’s mouths hung open in shock.
“If he changes the past, couldn’t that cause you to disappear?” Greg asked.
“Possibly, but I think it’ll be okay. It’s time travel. Once I show him how wrong he was, we can go back and stop ourselves from changing it. Thus, putting history back the way it was before we changed it.”
Paulette noticed Thomas was in a state of shock as well. Despite his having heard most of this before, it seemed it still shocked him to hear it. “Are you okay, dear? You look a little pale.”
Thomas turned his head to look at Paulette, blinked, and said, “Yeah, I just don’t think I will ever get used to all of it. It’s just a lot to take in, even now.”
“I understand. Oh, before I forget. Susan, is my apartment still available?”
Susan swung her head over to pay attention to the new direction of conversation, taken aback by the sudden course change. “Well, yeah. We kept the rent and utilities paid. Why?”
“Because, when Greg comes to get Thomas, he’ll need somewhere to stay.”
“Oh, duh, you’re right. Sorry, I didn’t think about that.”
“No problem. You guys will have to get him situated and accustomed to the immense difference in culture. He has seen some technology from the City, but Seattle differs greatly from here. He isn’t used to the crowds of people, cars, noises, and just everything big city.”
Greg peered over his shoulder. “We got you, Thomas. Don’t you worry.”
“Thanks, Greg. I’m sure I’ll be way out of my element when I get there, so please don’t get impatient with all of my questions.”
“I’m sure we can handle it.” Greg focused on Paulette and said, “So when do we take him back with us?”
Paulette shrugged her shoulders. “I’m not sure yet. I’ll show Thomas how to connect my equipment to the radio so he can contact you in an emergency. Otherwise, wait to hear from me.”
“Okay, I guess we have our marching orders.” Greg chuckled at his pun, then said, “Guess we best be going before someone notices us.”
“Agreed,” Paulette said.
Paulette and Thomas stood and shook hands with Greg and Susan. Paulette leaned down and hugged Danni, giving her kisses and rubs. “You be good till I come home, okay?” Tears streamed down Paulette’s face.
“Hey, can’t you keep her here?” Greg asked.
Paulette shook her head while wiping the tears away with the back of her hand. “No, I can’t. There isn’t any food here, and there are no other animals or pets around so it would cause suspicion. Trust me, if I could, I would.”
She could see the sadness in Greg’s eyes as he reached out and clipped the lead to Danni’s collar.
“I understand. See you soon. Bye for now.”
Susan came over and gave Paulette a hug and said, “I hope you make it back okay and that we’ll have you home soon.”
“I promise to come home soon.”
“Come on, Danni,” Greg said as he gently tugged on the lead. Danni kept looking back at Paulette, whining and trying to go back to her.
Paulette’s heart broke all over again to see her dog leaving. She watched as the trio rounded the corner and disappeared into the night.