Night Shift

Night shift! Staring up at the tower, gleaming in the suns’ setting rays brought back waves of her childhood memories of falling asleep watching the lights of the tower in the distance from her bedroom window. It seemed like magic back then when as a small child, Jae’s wish was that someday she would get to go up in the tower and get to see the sky from under the Chrystal dome. She always felt the same tingle – even tonight. And now here she was - a commander in that very tower. It had been a long hard climb up through the ranks over the years from the first day she had entered the academy. Many times she had almost given up with thoughts to pack up and go back home but just the sight of the tower would change her mind. Every time she failed, she bounced back more determined than ever. Tonight would be the ultimate test of all of that training. She would know if it had all been worth the struggle and if she had what it took. As she fixed her eyes into the entry lens, the passageway expanded and she was drawn inside the rotunda of the magnificent structure. The air inside was cool - almost cold and the beam of light from somewhere up above pulled her onto the circular gliding stairway and she felt herself start her assent. As she allowed the moving stairway to take her to the top, she surveyed the mighty tower from the inside. Glancing down over the railing and surveying the rotunda down below, she could see the first group of Day shifters pouring out of the exit tube. Their work was over for today and their reports were waiting above under the dome. Her anticipation grew as she neared the top. Up, up, up and then boom she was under the dome. Members of her crew were already preparing for their shift - some in groups, some getting a cup of coffee, some were already at their stations.

The dome itself was a spectacular gigantic crystal glass enclosure spanning the whole night sky for those beneath to behold. Tonight the suns were down and the stars were beginning to sparkle in the shimmering galaxy. Already her crew of Time Traffic Control Specialists was revved up – a feeling of excitement was building to a crescendo. There was a flurry of activity as the members of the crew moved about the floor scanning their screens and adjusting their ear sensors. She wasn’t late. They were just early.

The space in continuous rotation was filled with thousands of sensors keeping watch over the starry sky and delivering the info to the receptors in the tower. Each Time Specialist was assigned to a station that itself slowly circles around the focal point of the space under the dome. In the center and above the stations, a golden globe turned on an unseen axis. When lighted, it became a transparent look-out with a panoramic view of the circular room. Within the globe could be seen a cluster of sensors, constantly changing monitors, lights, and various notification noises. Now as the time for the start of operation neared, the globe began to glow and Commander Jay could be seen. Inside the globe, C Jae, as she was called by her crew, began synchronizing her monitor, checking the instruments, and looking over the day shift notes as they scrolled down the visual. When she was satisfied with the status, she then took notice of her crew members who were settling in and in some cases, hurrying to their stations. It was almost time.

“Okay, let’s go! Who’s landing? Who’s taking off?” Laughter all around. And then the chime sounded as the Day shift’s reports opened onto their monitors. There was a click as the outside doors slid closed and locked signaling that from now until morning, everything was tight. There was the possibility of course, that the portal might be needed. She frowned at the thought. Entering or exiting the dome through the portal was used only in extreme emergencies.

Across time and space at 30th Street Station outside of Philadelphia, a train was just seconds away from pulling out. It jerked slightly and then rocked forward. The conductor tipped his hat to no one on the dark empty landing as he always did out of habit and then stepped back into the train. Suddenly out of the night two men leaped inside the small landing nearly being caught in the door as it slammed shut knocking the conductor back against the back of the passageway. The train then jerked ahead throwing all three against the door to the cabin on the right. The Senator from Vermont, Todd O’Malley righted himself and then to the conductor. “Sorry sir.” Turning to his assistant, a slightly disheveled man in his late 20’s, “I told you not to worry man, I KNEW we were going to make it!” Grumblings could be heard as all three men started down the aisle, two with backpacks over their suits and ties and one shaking his head and mumbling something under his breath.

In a tiny office (the workers there called them “cubbies”) in the town of Walhalla, New York, a young woman sat staring at her computer monitor with a tired and rather grim look on her face. Her hair kept falling over her eyes no matter how hard she tried to control it. Her makeup had long since faded, and a single tear slid down her tired, forlorn face. She brushed it away with the back of her hand. The overhead lights were all out in the big room holding all of these cubbies in shadowed darkness- all except for hers, as all other workers in the publishing firm had gone home hours ago and the lights had automatically shut down.

Way in the back of the large darkened room, her small cubby could be seen lit by what looked like an ancient desk lamp reflected in the tall glass windows in the old building. On closer observation, the young woman appeared to be sitting at a large, rather weathered old wooden desk that had seen better days. She was bent over a laptop. “This place was left over from the flood” she mused glancing out of the bare windows at a big gold Halloween moon against the dark night. Shadows closed in around her as the clock ticked 10 pm. “Summa Cum Laude from Brown and what have I sunk to?” Looking around, and answering her own question: “A hole in the wall, crumby, office working pretty much as a gofer for a stupid publishing company! That’s right folks, I am bottom rung all the way around.” All of her friends, okay take that back – MOST of her friends, she thought, were soaring with the Eagles – big jobs – big lives – big money… “And here I am working late once again doing Jeremy’s job because “he has gone somewhere important.” she mumbled. “Not to mention I am missing the party…..”

Jeremy – she could picture him now, how he leaned into her office doorway, just as he was closing the door to his cubby next to hers, and pounding himself on the chest as he said, “Cover the bases for me babe – Jeremy has places to go – BIG PLACES!. Hope your subscription to the Post is up to date so you can see this face (making a frame with his fingers) on the front page! Oh yeah!”

Brother! She couldn’t believe it when her boss actually used the same words as Jeremy (without the “babe.) “Hey Gab – looks like you’ll be covering the bases for Jeremy this afternoon – he’s got that piece to write before deadline in the morning don’t forget.

“Where’s he going?” she asked..

Brushing her question aside, he said, “Take it from me he’s got an ace assignment. That guy? He’s going places! Better get it done tonight. Don’t stay too late. I would stay but Mona’s got a thing we have to go to. Hey you’ll be alright – you’re a tough INDEPENDENT WOMAN, right?” Laughing at his own lame joke, he started out and then turned back, “This old building is pretty safe but hey it IS Halloween and they say It IS haunted – woo woo!”

I hate you, she thought.

“Oh brother!” Looking around the deserted room of cubbies, she doubted that it was all that safe. After all it must have been built more than 100 years ago and it just took birds on the wires outside to turn off the electricity! Not only that - the elevator groaned, the windows rattled, and the plumbing was constantly backing up. I’ll finish up and get out here, she thought Just then, something popped up on her computer screen She looked down and read the message. This one looked like a threat. Repulsive email messages had been coming as pop ups for months. The techs would wipe them and they would be gone for awhile and then they would come back and they seemed to always be from the same person. They had to be,” she thought. All of them were the same - bad spelling, bad grammar, and pretty stupid all around. But in the past few weeks, the messages that got through seemed more threatening than perversions. Every time one popped up, she reported it to the internet techs immediately.

“This guy isn’t as stupid as you think,” Trisha from IT told her the last time. We might even have to close down the system if the boss will let us. (Unlikely). Tonight’s message was creepier than usual, it read, “Pain. Is that what you want? You got it!” Many times she had wondered if she should call the police but each time, she talked herself out of it – “This guy was just getting off on scaring her – he probably doesn’t have the nerve to do anything in person, right?” She thought to herself even as a shiver coursed down her spine. Anyway she was able to delete this one. There! Switching her attention back to her desktop and stacking her notes, she glanced briefly at her in-basket over-flowing, scolding herself once again for not opening her mail. Then brushing the thought away, she went back to work.

“We are at zero minus 40.” Spec Mac checked the coordinates. “The margin is closing.”

“On it,” coming from Handler Spec Val . The energy under the dome was beginning to ramp up slightly.

Her neck hurt, her mind was wandering. “One more cup of coffee,” Gabby Huston decided. This was taking a lot longer than she thought it would. She had actually been invited to a Halloween party tonight but once again – here she was. “Better get this finished. I’m getting groggy.” She put her cup of stale coffee in the microwave at the coffee bar and then remembered that it was out of order. But to her surprise, the light came on and it started heating. “It’s fixed! Yay!”

Spec Val: Broken Micro connected. Caffeine enhanced. Subject conscious awareness increased by +2.89 in 4..

Spec Mac: “16 minutes and counting – 37 tops.”

“This is CRAZEE GOOD!” A large man – mid 20’s with longish greasy light-colored hair, thick glasses, red unshaven face and beady rat-like eyes , bounced up and down on a rickety chair in a dark room. The space was filled with an unbearable stench and stacked with trash and the smell of rot. His white belly lapped out of his trousers and down over the old chair that seemed to hang together by sheer luck. He pounded his chest with a grubby hand while swiping his nose with the other. Throwing his head back and gasping for breath, he bellowed a terrifying sound that echoed around the room rattling the glass in the old windows and moving the ropes of dust that hung from the ceiling. It was a roar of insanity echoing on as it seemed to bounce and then fade. Looking around the room, you could say it was maybe average in size but it was hard to tell because of the darkness and because it was stacked or rather piled almost to the ceiling with indistinguishable items that were covered in a thick layer of dust. The floor was rough with dried food and grime. Light was provided by a few small lamps that were also hanging in dust ropes.

Only one wall was free from clutter. It appeared to be papered with photographs black and white and some that were actually in color. They had been there for years, gathering spiders, yellowing and curling at the edges. Some of them were hanging by a single nail. Still others were faded to a blurry shadow. At first glance, they appeared to be of young women of all ages all of whom had thick curly reddish orange hair. But at a closer look, it soon becomes apparent the they all pictures of the same person. A young girl who must have been about 14 when this collection started was snapped at a distance as well as close range without her being aware that she was being photographed. And in the latest one she looked to be in her mid to late 20’s.

As though speaking to the computer screen, he growled “Miss to-good-for- me get ready to move into your new digs. Hey, old Lar’s goin’ to do you a little favor sweet cakes.. Go ahead; ignore me – it doesn’t matter anymore. Oh no! Tonight. You are belongin to ole Lar! You and me! Checking himself out, pushing his greasy hair back through blackened fingers, “I am a GENIUS! Sending that text to Jeremy about volunteering with Senator whatshisname. Like leading a chicken to slaughter! Oh yeah!”

Slapping his belly and wiping the spittle off of his mouth with the back of his hand, he slammed down the lid to his laptop and stepped around the stand. Throwing his food trash on the floor and kicking it under the stand, he pushed aside stacks of garbage and long discarded items as he made his way across the room. Coming to a halt beside an old bookcase, he pulled a length of chain out of his pocket and picked through a bunch of keys until he found what he was looking for. And then with a half scream, half yell he shoved the bookcase so hard that it almost fell over, leaned over and pushed the key in the lock and opened the small door hidden back there.

Back under the dome C Jae checked her monitors once again. “Spec Mac, coordinates out – time engineer reports trouble.”

Spec Mac to Spec El: Incoming mark is coming too fast. Slow it down by 11.23 NOW.”

Spec El: “Got it under control. Deer on the track.”

Gabby sat her coffee down onto the desk calendar and with a heavy sigh, read through her writing once again. Making a few changes, one more quick scan and then she pressed send. “That’s it! I am going to the party folks,” she said to the empty cavern and then just as she was putting on her jacket, she remembered something. Something she had heard Jeremy say that had been hanging there in her mind. What was it? She started to button her coat. She started and then stopped short. Something caught her attention… The wall! The wall separating Jeremy’s cubby from hers. Now she remembered! Snapping her fingers she recalled hearing Jeremy talking on his phone to someone through the walls of the cubby. And then she heard that name! Jeremy was saying something about that Senator O’Malley from Vermont, the one fighting for human rights and the environment among them healthcare. She remembered that her ears had perked up at the mention of the Senator name because she had followed his political climb from the very beginning when she was in high school and respected his ideas on just about everything. She was an enormous fan. She chuckled remembering that she tried to hear through his door but he lowered his voice so she went into her cubby and put her ear against the wall. She must have looked like a weirdo! She chuckled. But what she heard was amazing. She would have checked into it then if she hadn’t been called into the IT office about those emails. Now it all came back – Jeremy was talking about Senator O’Malley’s interview on Face the Nation (she had missed it) and it seemed that he had actually mentioned a writer on our staff who had published a .. what did he call it? “Superb piece on water conservation.” He wanted to talk to them and Jeremy was pretty sure that it was someone right here in our office! Right! There! Now it all come together – Yes! That’s it! What if he was talking about MY article. Maybe…just maybe….probably not but…It couldn’t be my article………or…..could it?” Tossing her coat on the chair in her cubby, she dug through her mail and yes! There it was, a letter addressed to her from Senator O’Malley’s office! Jeremy always delivered the office mail and he must have seen it. She berated herself for being so lost in herself that she didn’t even read her mail! Ripping it open carefully so as not to rip through the Letterhead, she read:

The Honorable Senator Todd O’Malley

United State Senate

154 Russell Senate Office Building

Washington DC 20510

Dear Miss Huston

I read your piece in the Business Today and Tomorrow Journal concerning global climate change and it’s affect on the growing season, weather patterns, ocean temperature increase and specifically as it adapts to declining water supplies and health. I would like to speak to you in person to have a conversation about your vision on this subject. I commend you for speaking up and I must say, I was quite impressed with the depth of the research evident in your stated perspectives. My office will be contacting you to set up a possible meeting.

“Oh my God! ARE YOU SERIOUS!,” she shouted to the air as she pressed the letter to her chest and began jumping up and down around her office squealing. This lasted until she dumped over the last dregs in her coffee cup.

Pushing back the red hair off of her forehead, she opened her computer and started writing . “I have to write this before I forget.” All thoughts of leaving put aside.

Alarms began going off inside the dome. C Jae: “Spec Lee, your T frame is jeopardized.”

Spec Mac “Commander, The subject was diverted by a brain memory which changes the time frame. Spec Val has a asked for assistance from Spec Lee in charge of obstacle Larry and he has accessed the portal, do you want contact?”

C Jae “No, we’ll wait for his return. Spec Mac, I want confirmation when resolution is in. Specialist Val, switch coordinates.

Val: On it.

C Jae: stared down at the monitor while glancing at the timer. Tracking on.

The train had slowed briefly and now was picking up speed and they were on their way again. “So tell me, Jeremy, have you worked on any political campaigns or environmental committees? In other words, since we will be working together in the next weeks, preparing for my testimony at the committee, I would be interesting in knowing what your fundamental opinions are.” No answer. Senator O[‘Malley cleared his throat.

“Ah well, yes I worked some back in college passing out posters and such.” Jeremy’s mind was a blank. “Hey, he wanted to say, “I’m just along for the ride. I don’t give …” But Senator O’Malley was speaking again.

“I see….I would like you to go over this brief before morning – you don’t have to read the whole thing (whole thing? You are fricking kidding me!) Tomorrow should be a short meeting since it is the opening of the session.” Jeremy took the folder and tried to look serious as he opened the cover.

Back in the filth of the room, the smell of dead rot drifted out of the little hole of a room under the attic hidden behind the bookcase. High pitched giggling was heard above the sounds of the floor boards creaking as the heavy man rocked back and forth on his heels. Larry could just envision the shock on her face when she saw who was the boss and she..couldn’t…do ….anything…about it! His fantasy was cutoff when suddenly there was a pounding on the door to the hallway. A voice came blasting through the door. “Hey What’s going on in there? We can’t sleep with all of that yelling. Cut it out! I mean it! I’m calling the police! I tell ya.”

For such a large man, it was amazing how fast he could move. He burst out of the hidden room head down and charged the door like a raging bull, roaring across to the door throwing it open wide and grabbing the man by the neck.

“Time glitch, “ the Speck Mac offered.

C Jae: “No, we are going to see what Spec Lee has in mind.”

The monitors under the dorm were blinking and beeping as the crew buckled down for the encounter.

“You seriously want to make me? Do you know what happened to the other morons who crossed me?” In a rage, he shook the smaller man hard, dropping him with a thud on the hard hallway floor, then delivering a hard kick to the man’s ribs, he brought his leg back for another kick. The man on the floor jumped up and though badly injured, still pushing close to the large man, he opened his mouth to say something. Instantly, he was shoved backwards with force across the narrow hallway -so hard that it put a dent in the plaster. Shaking his fist in the man’s face, Larry saw his watch out of the corner of his eye and stopped - fist raised. He quickly stepped back inside the room and slammed the door. Then thinking, he hesitated. “Police. Did he say police?” He yanked open the door again with raised fist and took a step out into the hallway but the man had disappeared.

“Portal has been closed.”

Spec Lee: C Jae, this is S Lee reporting. Obstacle slowed 6.09.

C Jae: S Val – Urgent - Move Subject Gabby out of the station!

S Val: Condenser on clock building sending volts to Morton building compressor by passing circuits from main coil - to turn all lights off.

Gabby glanced at the clock. It was not midnight for 20 more minutes. She had gone through her research for the Journal article and tweaked it. She would just do a couple more things, she told herself and make a copy and then she promised herself she would go, taking it home with her of course, so she could read it again. She would be ready if she EVER got that meeting!!! The party was drifting out of her thoughts.

Within the night train were people journeying from one city to another some with purpose, others with end of the day blank stares and among them the young Senator from Vermont. He looked tired. His tie was now off and stuffed in his jacket pocket. His hair was rumpled – as usual. Worry lines creased his forehead as he sat with his briefcase on his lap holding a stack of papers and a notebook. On top of all this, he was stuck with this young guy next to him as a helper. At the last minute, Jeremy had answered a request for an assistant to aid him as he faced the Environmental and Public work committee to prepare for our testimony in the Senate Hearings?. Looking up from his paper, he nudged Jeremy next to him to see what he thought about the brief so far. “Did you see….” But the assistant was asleep and slightly snoring - the brief hanging off his knees. And then, Senator O’Malley turned back to his reading, remembering how many months he had worked on this project and how hard it was to be called before the Senate.

Traffic ControllerEl: Agent P Give me an update on DO.l

Spect Pz: On schedule.

The room under the attic was equipped with a cot on the floor, heavy chains hanging from the ceiling connected to hooks, blood stains spattered on the slanted roof and an odor of rotting. No windows in this space and no head room. It was large enough for one human stooping down and from the looks of it, had housed humans before this night.

The large man, Larry, appeared to prance around his room, stopping in front of a broken mirror hanging from a nail to admire himself. “I have worked hard – mighty hard for this since when? Eighteen years – that’s when,” answering himself. “Oh yeah. Many have sacrificed so that I would get it right,” glancing at the hole into the attic. And now,” he stopped to look out through the broken blinds of his window down the empty downtown street at one window still lit in a building on in the Morton building. “You know what?, “ he asked himself. “The last I looked, she was still there so Huston, It’s a LIFTOFF!”

Spec Mac to Spec El: Incoming mark is coming too fast. Slow it down by 221.23 NOW.”

Spec El: “Got it under control. Moving fog air.”

Jeremy roused himself on the train trying not to let the Senator know that he was awake. He had gotten himself in a mess and he knew it. What did he know about pollution? Or anything else? Plus did he actually care about any of this? No! he just wanted his face in the paper – that’s all. Is that too much to ask? He faked it on the intake and flirted with Lindsey, the Senator’s secretary – always worked with those plain ones. He had tried to remove the Senator’s letter from Gabby’s desk but that girl NEVER LEFT HER OFFICE! Yowza! Not his type, for sure! But might check the Senator’s secretary out later, he mused. He had brought his briefcase in order to look cool but there were only comic books and some Milk Duds and not much else inside.

“So Jeremy, tell me this.” The Senator was talking to him again! Just then the train began to slow down and looking outside, all he could see was thick fog.

“Will this ever be over?,” Jeremy thought.

C Jae: Traffic control Dan – Why the circling? The runway is clear…We need to get the subject out of the building before the obstacle leaves HIS building.

C – Landing was delayed due to a problem with subject Gabby’s recall – they call it a memory. We are working on it. Stopped moving out.

Val: Volts current is ready..

C Jae: Spec Le– Brief on the breach.

Spec Mac: Special forces Le breached the dome and confronted the obstacle Larry. Slowed him down by 2.14 but was bypassed door slam.

C Jae: too fast – slow down the train carrier -.et97

Spec El. We are transporting 6 miles of fog to the west to east the speed problem. We will get back to you.

C. Jay: No stopping.

Agent G: No just slowdown.

The door to the dark apartment stood ajar in the dingy hallway. Larry had his arms full of “battle equipment” as he headed down the stairs to the alley behind the building. It took two trips to carry all of the gear down to the old van from the 4th floor apartment. For a man of his size, Larry was out of breath but otherwise quick on his feet. He had planned this for a long time – years actually and had practiced on others. He thought to himself, “ I could do this in my sleep. “ He climbed into the old van and it started on the first try – that was a good sign, he thought as he put it in gear. He pulled out of the alley and headed down to the Morton Building, home of Morton Publishing Company. So close so close so close went over and over in his head as he picked up speed. He was so excited that he almost went by the parking garage but swerved into the Parking entrance at the last minute bending the mirror on the side of the vehicle. No matter. He pulled up to the monitor and used the number that he had found after he tunneled into their system and opened the gate. “Easy peasy,” he whispered. His heart was beating hard – he was pumped.

Larry Trank was actually a pretty smart guy when it came to getting into other peoples computers. He was good like that. Not like his old man, the clock maker! That’s right, his dad spent his whole life fixing clocks in an old jewelry store in downtown Walhalla. Larry was the youngest of 4 kids – the others were all girls. They tormented him his whole life and treated him like scum. He hated them!

He had noticed Gabby right off. She lived down the block on the corner in a house her dad built (his company built all of the houses in the neighborhood). She even had a swimming pool in the back yard. He tried to talk to her but he knew she thought he was dirt. He could tell. Then one morning he was coming home from a night at this buddys and he caught the paperboys peeping in windows on their route. Hey, why not? From that time on, he thought of her as belonging to him. He watched her through her window and shot photos of her when she was sleeping at night, he followed her at school and started leaving notes on her old car. And she never ever knew it was him.

In high school, it got easier. Every Friday night, her mom and dad went out and took her sister with them, leaving Gabby alone to get ready for a date. It was all he needed. Gabby always sat under her hairdryer in the dining room and she usually just had on a robe. He made more photos. Every Friday night, she had a date or went out with friends. He watched her through the window – at the bottom under the shades. Sometimes, he could even see her getting ready in her bedroom if he was lucky. It was the best time of his life to him – so great that he began to call just to hear her voice and when she answered, he would just hang up. He got a phone in his room when he was 16 which made it even better. Then he got braver and sometimes he even whispered stuff to her like what she had on that day and who she had talked to, where she parked her car, what she had for lunch and stuff. It freaked her out which was so great that he would lie in bed at night and think about it, giggling to himself until his dad would shout at him to cut it out. Once Gabby’s dad answered the phone and said some mean things to him so he started calling at different times all night just to make him mad. Larry thought it was funny.

For Gabby, it was a nightmare that just wouldn’t stop for herself and her whole family. They couldn’t take the phone off of the hook because her grandma was old and might need them in the night and the only way to stop the ringing was to answer the phone. Sometimes it went on all night. And then during her freshman year at City College, it stopped. That’s right – stopped. She was so happy that she told everyone at school and also at the jewelry store that she worked downtown all about it.

One day when Larry got home from his job where he delivered pizza, the garage door was open – it was never used and was filled with junk but now it was open. “Uh oh, they found it,” was his first thought. And sure enough, his dad met him at the door and started pushing him around. All of his pictures of Gabby had been torn down and his dad started burning them, yelling at him that he was a pervert and couldn’t live there anymore.

“Well dad, I win. You lose,” he told himself out loud as he pulled through the gate and parked a few stalls down from the only other car in parking garage – hers.

Warning buzzer in the dome. Zero minus 25 and counting.

The train was rumbling along now at normal speed and was closing in on Walhalla station for a brief stop before heading on its way to Union Station in the Capital. “Looks like we might make it in time to get a little sleep before the meeting starts tomorrow. I’m counting on you Jeremy. It was fortunate that you have a knowledge of the terrain we will be covering.”

“What terrain?” Jeremy wanted to scream. “I am feeling a bad case of asthma coming on or the flu or something serious – I ain’t gonna make it big fellow.” But he kept all of this to himself. “I’’ll spring it on him in the morning, “ he decided. Or maybe I’ll just leave after he goes to his room.

J: This is too close. Hang on – we are zeroing in on launch. Murmurs and rustling under the dome.

Spec Ut: “Door noise set on and off. Aisle blocked.”

Val: Volt bypassing street on NE now.

Larry climbed the emergency stairs and pushed on the door to 8th Floor. It creaked louder than he thought it would. Gabby, sitting at her cubby, jerked her head in his direction but didn’t to see him out in the dark hallway through the window. He paused, then crept down the hall to wait outside the office’s main door.

“What was that noise?” she thought and suddenly felt a shiver. “I need to get out of here and go home.” Suddenly all lights and computer screens went black. “ What?”

“The electricity again! Bad timing!” ,she said to herself. The old building had had trouble before with birds on the wire – but this was almost midnight – no birds would even be out!. Grabbing her coat and her briefcase, she ran down the corridor between cubbies towards the front doors to the offices. But she ran into something blocking the aisle in the dark and almost tripped. She gave it a shove and tried to push past it but there was more behind it! “That’s funny…when did this aisle get blocked…? Oh well, I’ll take the freight door,” she thought and turned and felt her way down the aisle to the other side of the room. Finding the door, she pushed hard and it swung open. She groped out the door and found the door to the stairway. It opened silently.

Larry realized his blunder when he heard her footsteps down at the other end of the hall heading for the stairs. He swirled around, swinging his gear, and throwing him off balance. Stumbling, he threw himself in that direction.

Gabby was slowly making her way down the stairs when she heard the door above creak loudly. “Somebody’s up there,” she thought. She started jumping two steps at a time to the bottom, remembering where she parked her car, she hurried towards it in the darkened garage The door from the stairwell opened with a crack and now footsteps could be heard run/walking towards her. “Who’s there,” she called out but all she could hear were heavy footsteps and hard breathing. No voice answered. But the footsteps seemed to turn towards her voice and now they were getting closer.

In the darkened parking garage, panic set in and she began digging through her big messy bag. “Please, please.” Whoever it was was was panting now and was getting closer.”

“Ground support, block!” roared the commander

“Found them!” She slid into her car, slammed the door, put the car in reverse and screeched back barely brushing something with her fender. Straightening up and not looking back, the car squealed out of the garage barely missing the gate as it started to raise. But what’s this? Another vehicle crashed through the parking gate and was now behind her closing the gap. Just then a taxi shot out from nowhere. The other car was blocked. Her mind raced – where should I go? But the other car passed the taxi and now was almost beside her on the left. In terror now, she wrenched the steering wheel to the right and rounded the corner on two wheels and found herself heading down the side street lined with apartment buildings.. Straight ahead of her and down at the end of the block, she could see the railroad crossing lights come on. That car was right behind her. And now it bumped the back of her car. Looking ahead at the approaching train, “Oh no, I have to make it before the arms come down.” But they were already starting down. She wasn’t going to make it! She had to stop – no! She pushed hard on the brake but instead of slowing down, her car seemed to jump forward. It seemed to be driving itself. Inside Gabby could see that she was going to reach the tracks too late to make it across and she was hurtling toward the coming train full speed. Just before the train came into side view, her car seemed to leap across the tracks barely escaping it, crashing through the barriers, sliding across the slick embankment after a 180 turn and slamming into a street sign, smashing it to the ground.. Stopped. She could see that the train was still moving. Time stood still.

The sound was one she would never forget – first there were the sounds of metal hitting metal, as something being crushed by the engine, then the screech of the horrible sound of the train braking that seemed to go on for an eternity. There was a silence inside her car and then people in costumes surged out into the streets from the clubs. It was Halloween! All of the bars in town were open celebrating Halloween and this was the antique district with streets of clubs and stores. Everyone seemed to come out into the street to see the commotion. A person knocked on her window and helped her out of her car and she sat down on the curb and started crying. “My car. It just wouldn’t stop,” she kept saying over and over to no one in particular.

It seemed like just a moment but it must have been longer before then the sounds of sirens filled the air. Lots and lots of sirens. People in the street went by milling about. And suddenly there was a medic bending over her checking to make sure she was alright. “What happened to the car behind me? She asked.

“It didn’t make it. The guy who was driving was taken to the ER – no reports yet but I would be surprised if he makes it. It’s a mess out there. They are taking all of the passengers off of the train and blocking off the streets. There are some injuries but not bad….except for the poor dude who hit the train.

It was a howling mess inside the train with luggage and people’s belongings scattered everywhere. “Let’s get out of here…go”, pointing at the end of the car where they had entered just a short time before, the senator pulled Jeremy out into the aisle and gave him a push. Stumbling forward clutching his briefcase, Jeremy, bewildered, _

Out into the night, people were pouring from the train into the street. It was the bar district in Walhalla, Pennsylvania, an area of small shops and restaurants. The night was cool and the brick street was lighted by the cities old street lamps. Jeremy, who had been staggering out of the train suddenly seemed to come alive and began leading the senator through the crowd. “Hey hey – I know this place. This is great” as he weaved his way through the crowd.

Transfer office Teddy: “Heading to the landing.” The crew inside the dome, let out a brief sign of relief – more like a moan.

Gabby felt the heavy bandage on her forehead. It was amazing how she felt …actually, to her amazement,okay. The medic had suggested that she go to the hospital but as soon as she heard him say that, she felt overcome with wellness – weird! Her car had been loaded on a trailer already and the tow truck’s back lights disappeared through the crowd. Groups of people filled the street and sidewalks around her and she heard someone in the throng say that it was time to go back in and have a beer until everything cleared out. She seemed to be taken up by the wave of people and felt herself moving with the crowd almost automatically. “Might as well,” she whispered to nobody in particular. She let herself go with the flow, down the narrow sidewalk passing the open doors along the way jammed with costumed patrons. “We just had a train wreck, she wanted to say but didn’t. “Does anyone remember?”

The crowd poured into a small bar with a brightly lit neon sign over the door that read, The Serendipity Lounge.” Stepping inside, she stood looking for a place to sit while watching waitresses dressed like witches and cats balancing large trays of slopping beers from table to table. Suddenly she heard a familiar voice, “Gabby, Gabby over here!” Working her way towards the sound of the voice, she saw Jeremy wave at her and pointing to a bar stool. “Hey! What are you doing here?” he said. Before she could say answer, he took off on the train wreck story. The man beside him turned just then and Jeremy stopped midsentence and seemed to remember who he was with.

“Gabby, I want you to meet Senator O’Malley,” he said. Then turning to him, he said, “This is Gab…Gabrielle Huston. We work in the same office. “

The Senator turned to face her, repeating her name, “Gabrielle Huston, how do I know that name”” Then looking straight at her. “Have we met?”

She opened her mouth to speak but Jeremy jumped in, “She wrote an article about that was published recently in the Business Today and Tomorrow Journal.

Snapping his finger, Senator O’Malley, turned to her, “Yes, Yes! I know exactly who you are! What a coincidence that we should meet right now. I am actually testifying in the Senate committee on Environment and Public Works in DC and our opening meeting is in the morning! This couldn’t have come at a better time! He stopped for a moment and “Barkeep!” Then turning back to her, “Can I buy you a beer? And then, “What happened to your head?”

“Yeah – what happened?” Jeremy suddenly noticed the big white bandage on her head.

Her words seemed stuck in her throat. And then, “Yes, I would love a beer and this, pointing to her forehead, is a long story. Do you mind if we talk about it later? I would love to talk to you about your waterway pollution bill that’s going through Congress right now .”

“Would you mind if picked your brain?” Both spoke at once. “A beer for sure! But I can’t believe this! You are just the person I would like to talk to. “Oh,” as an after-thought,” and it’s nice to meet you Gabby. He beckoned to the over-whelmed bartender who motioned that he would get to him – in a bit.

Gabby felt her mind leave the hurricane of thoughts and boom! She was there – in that room – with the Senator – and ideas began to circulate and she could hear her voice. The room noise faded into the background and she heard herself say clearly, “Senator, I would like to hear your opinions as well. And it’s a pleasure to meet you.” And they took off on a verbal journey as though they were colleagues continuing a previously unfinished conversation..

Sometime later, she heard Jeremy’s voice, “Hey Senator, hey…I just got a call, pointing at his phone, and I have something I have to do – it’s family, and I don’t think, I mean I know I can’t go with you tomorrow…I have to get home….that was my mom…”

Without a blink, the senator looked directly into Gabby’s eyes, “What do you think Gabby? Would you be able to accompany me in the Senate hearings tomorrow? You would be a big help, that is, if you can get away. We would have to get you checked but…”

“Yes!” She heard herself cut him off with a direct hit. Her little cubby in the publishing firm seemed to drift off into space somewhere. She was floating in a bubble in time and she could feel the excitement building within her. It was almost 1 am and the bar was closing and they were still talking when a policeman tapped her on the shoulder.

“Miss, are you the woman who just missed getting hit by a train?”

“Yes I am.” Oh no, I am going to get arrested right here in front of the Senator, she thought, remembering the barrier. She felt the blood drain out of her face.

“Did you know the guy who was chasing you? (Yes, he WAS chasing me – I’m glad you know this.)There are some unusual items in the back of his van. Was he planning on hurting you, do you know?”

EPILOGUE;

In the tower, under the dome, a cheer went up as the crew all stood up from their stations and started high fives all around! It was finally brought to a halt when Commander Jae’s voice was heard over the din.

“Alright everyone! Gather around.”

“Mission accomplished!” More cheering.

“Stand by for shift review,” she commanded, while scrolling through the notes on the optical:

“Crew to start, the original message requesting an assistant for the senator was sent to Jeremy instead of the subject, Gabby Huston.

The second item: Unfortunately for us Jeremy accepted the assignment unexpectedly leaving Gabby in the building alone. The log book on potential settings for this event is heavy and began a millennia ago. We had to set up the construct for the potential elimination of the obstacle but it put our subject in peril as you know. The problem was compounded by many factors starting with:

“Number 3: The senator and Jeremy almost missed their train! “Landing signal officer Boyd, report please.”

LSO Boyd: “Their taxi got stuck in traffic. We had to change the timing on the lights and divert emergency vehicles. And increase air/wind velocity to lift them into the train (“Don’t you mean throw them into…” Said a voice from the crew followed by laughter.).

C Jae: Number 4: “Train speed. Air Traffic Officer El -The deer – real?”

ATO El: “Hologram – worked though, right? Slowed it down by 13.0071.”

C Jae: “Excellent – back to old tricks!”

C Jae, Also Number 4: “According to the intercom El, the train speed was a problem even after the deer – and still we almost got there too soon. Please report.”

ATO El: “OMG it took a fleet to move that fog 6 miles! And we almost missed.”

C Jae: “BUT You didn’t – all that matters. Good job.”

Turning, Number 5: “Thanks for taking one for the team Officer Min. Breaching the portal was last ditch – this time it was messy.”

Ground Support Officer Min: “Thanks Commander, my neck will never be the same not to mention my ribs! That guy was an animal!”

SGO X: “Commander, We missed the memory transport but gotta ask: Where did that memory come from in her head and why at that moment?– You know the one about hearing Jeremy through the wall talking about Senator O’Malley noticing her piece in the Journal?

C Jae: “Human minds are THEIR biggest advantage and their minds are OUR biggest challenges to put it mildly. This species moves through time lead by their memories of the past and this memory just surfaced in her hippocampus at a dangerous moment. And from there, all of her logic just went down the path and she reasoned that she needed to put things down on her computer right then. She was unaware that a killer was coming and he was close to ending her life. Check your manual under Damage Control.

C Jae: Number 6: Speaking of – Val – the caffeine boost helped her conscious awareness but on the down side, she stayed in the office too long.

Val: The microwave was easy but transferring the volt by bypassing the lines across space to get her out of the building was tricky but we shut down the light – again slowed both the subject and the obstacle. Door noise saved the project in the Morton building –literally.

No it was a team effort.

C Jae: Number 7:“That was a great move with blocking the aisle VC. Otherwise she would have run right into him.”

HHVC: “Right! We had to turn her. She was heading right towards him. The light was good for it.”

C Jae:Number 8: “Blocking that 2nd door sound was a good try VC. Actually working sound on the door latch was stellar.”

VC: “Yeah but it didn’t work. Had to enhance the 3rd one or she would never had heard him. He would have caught her in.03.

C Jae: Number 9: “DO block occurred 9 before landing. Report.”

DO: “Gabby, excuse me the subject, brushed him with her car in the garage – he was slightly off target. He was not knocked down by her car, and was able to get up – get to his vehicle and start that vehicle on the first try (we missed that one both times) and therefore get out of the parking garage. The taxi was inserted to block the van and force a right turn. The van passed to her left and she turned right.”

C Jae: Number 10: “Drive Officer HT You controlled the speed of the vehicle, right?”

DO HT “I had to; she was a millisecond late. She would have been smashed”.

ATO El: “Hey, nothing I could do about it. Our time was set at that point. The train was ahead in time frame.”

C Jae: “Number 11: Ground support, PZ – “Injury to subject, report.”

PZ: “Limited to head wound. Air body cloak in place, Commander.”

C Jae: “Number 12: “Using the crowd to propel her to the…what was the name…oh right, the Serendipity Lounge was good until she got inside the door. Her hesitation threw the timing off by .0001. AR what happened?”

Spec AR: “Jeremy saw her come in but he wasn’t going to call out and then something “odd” happened: He opened his mouth and words came out!” Laughter rocked the room.

“Alright now I want to talk to all of you seriously. As you know, this team was put together because we don’t fail.” Silence fell under the dome. She continued: “ Gabby Huston is a case that must be met with courage and clear-headedness. This case has been discussed and engineered since the beginning of time. We were chosen as the special team to see that she made this connection and I am proud to say that we accomplished our mission.” Clapping. “But we are not finished.”

“This human will save the planet Earth from destroying itself. She will lead her species into time by diverting their course and therefore their outcomes. It is up to us to see that she gets there. We have a big task in front of us and we cannot fail. . The life of planet Earth is over if we fail. This human will cross our axis in time intersections many times and from what I saw tonight, I know that we will be ready. Excellent work team! Praise from the Galaxy are coming in and we will remember this night in time to come as the night we started the course to change Planet Earth and therefore the living universe and that includes us.”

Looking around her crew under the dome, Commander Jae looked out over the faces turned up at her and felt once again that sense of pride and accomplishment – a feeling that not be duplicated. “Finish your reports, pass them through to the day shift and we’re out of here!”

The suns were peeking over the edge of their horizon as one by one the agents left the pods of the magnificent tower. The glow stood out against their sky as they each walked towards their portals and went home to their own bases. It was the end of the day for the night shift.