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It started with a house on the left side of the road followed shortly later by a few more of the same look and style. Something called a supermarket caught their interest, but they did not enter.
Rachael checked her visor for the time but her site wouldn’t display, so she checked the local and oldest web site she knew of, but this also wouldn’t display. The visor was working perfectly, like she knew it would, but the sites she wanted were unavailable.
Ahead of them was a sign. The road led off a short distance then disappeared around a corner.
The sign read: Opera Sands 1 km.
“I think the professor’s directions were wrong again,” Penny said, breaking the silence.
“It doesn’t explain why nothing’s working,” Michael said flatly voice.
Ami said, “Yes it does.”
“Then explain, know-it-all.”
“Michael,” Rachael warned.
“Isn’t it obvious?” Ami said. “This is the past. We’re walking in history.”
“Then tell me please.” Michael spread his arms wide and turned in a small circle. Vehemently he said, “Tell me how we got into the past and why we’re here and why nothing works. Huh? Can you do that?”
“We can’t bring the future into the past, only vice versa.” Ami walked in a small circle as she spoke. She brushed her hair back with her hands. “I don’t know how we got here. And I don’t think there is a why.”
“One out of three?”
“Do you have a better explanation, Michael?”
Michael was silent. He shook his head.
To Rachael, Josh asked, “How did you send mail to Eric before?”
“The government started a net service similar to a fax service in the nineteen fifties. I don’t know how it came to be a public domain in the nineteen nineties but it did, so email net meetings are possible. I doubt if I could send an e-mail from my account but net meetings are live.”
“And,” Penny added, “all you need is a connection to net meet.”
Michael and Josh activated their net visors at the same time. They looked for site after site but all pages came up unavailable. They deactivated the visors.
“What do we do now, Rachael?”
“Explore,” she answered with a hint of excitement creeping in her voice.
Eric tapped his visor. Everyone saw and accessed the net.
Eric typed: I have two questions, Rachael.
Yes?
Number one is the most important: how do we get back?
Good question, Rachael answered. I guess we think about that a little later. It could be as easy as getting in the cruiser and driving away.
Josh typed: But the cruiser doesn’t work.
It just stalled, Eric replied. And question number two is, where are all the people?
This question caused everyone to look more closely at the surroundings. They were in what might be called ‘suburbs’, but everything was deathly silent. There were no birds singing, no dogs barking, and no people. The air itself seemed void of action. All was still.
This isn’t really the past, is it? Rachael typed.
Eric answered, Well maybe it is. I’d say we’re between seconds. We could look, touch and take. All we could see would be inanimate objects or people.
You mean dead people? Penny typed.
Eric nodded but Penny didn’t see. She was concentrating on the screen. Rachael typed a yes answer in Eric’s place.
“I want to go back to the car,” Penny said.
“Why?” Josh asked.
“I don’t want to see any dead people or animals.”
“Your major is digging up bones and exploring dead times, yet you’re afraid of dead people?”
Penny looked at the ground. “I hate to see rotting flesh peeling off bones. It gives me the creeps.”
Josh laughed. “Dead people won’t talk to you and can’t hurt you, because they are dead.”
Michael was quick to add, “Except ghosts hiding under your bed and in your closet.”
Rachael shook her head. She put her arm around Penny and said, “I doubt we’ll find any dead bodies and ghosts don’t exist.”
“They do exist if you believe.”
“Ami,” Rachael said with a smile, “you’re not helping.”
“Sorry.” Ami blushed at her error.
Michael said, “Seriously, I don’t think we will see anything except buildings and nature. All of this we’ve seen in holo-books.”
“I’d like to see the famed Opera Sands. It’s said that the Reynox made their first appearance there, but gravity pushed them away.”
“Damn. I think we should head back this instant,” Michael said. His face had gone a shade greyer. “What if this place was made by them?”
“Jesus, Rachael, what if he’s right?” Ami was suddenly tense. “They got my mother.” She looked at the ground and stepped away from the group. “I’m half of them.”
Rachael tenderly placed a hand on each side of Ami’s face and lifted it until they were eye to eye. “Darling, you’re not one of them. You barely look like one of them and you don’t think like them, do you?”
Ami shook her head.
This was the first time Rachael had seen Ami visibly shaken by mention of the Cyclops. It worried her. Ami was meant to be the stronger of them, able to take everything and brush it off. Comments directed at her due to her difference were always met with a smile and a wave. But this was apparently too much for Ami to handle in one hit. She could kill Josh for speaking without thinking.
“Babe, does this look like the twenty third century?”
Ami shook her head again.
“When did the Reynox finally make a lasting stay on Earth?”
Josh answered, “Twenty three forty one.” When he saw Ami’s tears, he softly said, “Sorry, Ami, I didn’t think.”
Rachael wiped the tears off Ami’s cheeks. “This is real life history.”
“Only frozen,” Penny said with a smile.
Ami smiled. She gave Rachael a hug and whispered in her ear, “Let’s rock and roll.”
––––––––
Each of them wished they had an old camera, one of those digital ones. They each had a built in camera in their visors. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t work in this time zone. Penny had given this situation the nickname “Time Zone” and it seemed apt. They all knew this chance would never present itself again.
They rounded another bend and saw the start of Opera Sands.
It looked like a rectangle of concrete and mirror glass rising high into the sky, surrounded by the greenest trees they had even seen. Buildings like this were non-existent in the dome. They weren’t required. Most people worked from home, connected to work via a satellite. The salary men that did go in wearing a suit had to. These were usually government workers.
The light reflecting off the black mirror met with the sun and formed a bright star on the blackest of all buildings. The team members gave each other apprehensive looks as they headed along the road into the city. They had been following a row of yellow reflectors running down the middle of the street. No one knew what they were, but each was too afraid to ask, so they pretended not to notice when the “cat’s eyes” stopped at the edge of Opera Sands.
There were a lot more houses near to the city and a few high-rise apartment blocks. One thing they had all noticed were the many houses in the country and not a lot of apartment blocks. The houses they saw had names like Homestead Sweet or Riverview. The apartments had names like Terry V. Hugh Mansions.
They entered the city. A lack of wind and endless empty streets gave it the feeling of a ghost town.
“This is the place,” Michael said, “that the professor’s been looking for.”
No one replied.
“Camera shop,” Josh said, stopping to look through the window.
“So what?” Ami replied, joining him.
“So what? Well, they must have digital cameras here.”
Rachael joined them. “I hope you’re not thinking of stealing one?”
Josh smiled. For the first time, Rachael saw something other than seriousness in his eyes. They danced with a new light, if only briefly, and in them she saw a sneaky little child looking to play.
“I doubt any connection we have would work with those old things.”
“I’ll tell ya what, Michael,” Josh replied, “let’s take a chance.” He stood motionless in front of the door for a moment. Rachael wondered what he was thinking when he suddenly said, “Oh, forgot, they probably don’t have entry teleport yet.”
Rachael laughed in spite of herself. She had never known Josh to make a joke before and it took her by surprise.
He pushed open the door and disappeared inside. The others waited a few moments before joining him. Penny decided to wait outside. She had no interest in antiques and was tired from the walk. She sat on the pavement, leaning her back against the shop’s glass front.
It was like looking at an antique store in holo-photos, back in the dome or on the net. The photos they had seen were exactly like this store, except for a “Discount Area” sign. Glass cabinets showed the latest display models with price tags turned upside down. Large posters advertised the quality of digital cameras with stunning color. There were stand-alone shelves rising from the floor with accessories and a whole heap of other items the group didn't recognize. These were things that were in holo-photos but were not described in the text that followed.
Rachael was beside herself with joy. Ami and Eric were carefully checking items dangling from chains in the wall. Michael had joined Josh at the digital camera counter.
“Any idea how these work?” Michael asked, showing a small shiny box to Josh.
“No, but it can’t be that hard,” he replied, taking the box and examining it. “Ah,” he said, finding the on button. “Just push this.” The camera front slid open and the lens popped out. The sudden movement and sound shocked him and he dropped the camera. He bent to pick it up and visibly shuddered. “Did anyone else feel that?” he asked. His face had lost some color.
“Feel what?” Rachael asked. She had stayed close to the entrance in order to see the whole shop and to be able to watch everyone at roughly the same time.
“It felt like someone just tried to grab my hand.”
Eric carefully and slowly mouthed the words, “Time difference.”
“What?” Josh directed the question at Rachael.
She had caught the words but didn’t understand what he meant. She thought about the two words and this place and situation. She said, “For a fraction of a second, time caught up with you.”
“Really?” He sounded more shocked. “That means someone saw me drop the camera and tried to grab me?”
“Yes.” She smiled. An interesting thought occurred to her. She was about to mention it when Penny screamed from outside. She charged into the shop, throwing the door open far too hard. It hit the stopper and the glass shattered.
“I saw people,” she almost screamed. “Only a split second but I saw them and they were looking at me strangely and at this shop.”
At that moment they all felt something brush past them. It felt like wind and tingled with electricity.
“It seems as though time is catching up with us. And that is not a good thing.” Michael added, “Because we’ll get caught in this time zone and won’t be able to get back.”
“Josh,” Rachael said urgently. “Grab a digital video camera and digital camera. We’ll document everything from this moment on.”
Eric approached Rachael and removed a sheet of paper from his breast pocket. She took it and read it. It was a street address and was signed by the professor.
“What is that?” Michael asked.
Rachael saw Josh search for a tape for the digital camera. When he found what he was looking for she realized it wasn’t exactly a tape, it was a small disk. It kind of looked like a thing she had seen called a compact disk. Taking her eyes off him for a moment, she handed the paper to Michael, who quickly scanned it.
“It’s just an address,” he said. His eyes suddenly lit up. “It’s Peter’s address, isn’t it?”
“He knew we would come here,” Ami said. Her voice held a tone of disbelief but she had chosen her words well.
Rachael nodded.
“So all the other times,” Josh said, joining them, “weren’t what he called “locations of possible burial.” They were meant to be “locations of possible entry”.”
Penny said, “I don’t know if I’m upset with his lying to us or overjoyed to be here.”
Then to Josh, Rachael asked, “Got everything we need?”
“I think so,” he said, checking the video and camera. He pushed the ‘rec’ button and a red light came on. “Wow, look at that.”
“We better go quickly, find Peter’s place and document everything.”
“Rachael, don’t you think we should bring something from his apartment?” Ami was heading out the door as she asked the question.
“Like what?”
Ami shrugged her shoulders. “I don’t know yet.”