Date Unknown
Yolo, California
“Drink this Court. It’ll calm your nerves.”
I stare at the clear tall glass in front of me. It looks like iced tea, but I am wary. I will not drink it.
“Do you know what day it is?”
I slowly look at Kal. An iPad is capturing the whole exchange on video. I wonder fleetingly if it is just for show. She is acting like she didn’t stab an immobilizer serum into my neck. She is acting like she didn’t do anything to Josh.
But I know different.
“Do you know what year it is?”
I fold my hands. I know that being difficult will only make this last longer. “2014.”
“Date?”
“June 24?”
“June 21.”
We stare at each other.
“Tell me exactly what happened.”
“I think you already know.”
She doesn’t deny this. “In your words. Please.”
I close my eyes. How do I describe what happened? How do I describe what has happened to my heart in 72 hours time?
“I travelled to the agreed upon date and location. I observed current music and car trends for that particular period. I went into a nearby venue to use the restroom. I discovered that my travels also reversed my aging process, adapting my body to look as I did back in that year. Then I ran into Brian Littrell of the Backstreet Boys.”
“Coincidentally or on purpose?”
I decided keeping my eyes closed was too dangerous. I stared at her again.
“Perhaps a little of both.”
“And then?”
“I overindulged on alcoholic beverages in his presence and we ended up sleeping together.”
“Then?”
“I knew that I had violated the terms of the travel and knew I needed to leave as soon as possible. While he was asleep, I set the date back to present and tried to return.”
“Tried?”
“I arrived in what I thought was my apartment. Interestingly, I was still feeling the effects of the alcohol and went to sleep. When I woke the next morning, I was sleeping next to Nick Carter. I screamed and I thought a teenage version of Brian ran into the room. It turns out it was my son. With Brian.”
The corner of Kal’s lips twitch up into a semblance of a smile. “Your reaction?”
I smile. I can’t help it. Looking back, knowing what I know now, my reaction seems ridiculous. “Horrified.”
“Initially I thought that my actions had changed events in our world, but then I thought that I might have ended up in another dimension of our universe instead.”
“But you didn’t try to return?”
“Nick told me this wasn’t the first time I had appeared like I had. I had tried to return several times and each time I…” a lump forms in my throat. “came back to him.”
Kal folds her hands. “Did you want to return?”
“No.” I look down to hide the tears. “It was a different life, but it was….it was nice. I was a mom.”
“I never knew that was one of your life goals.”
Ben’s smile is burned into my mind. I know that I am never going to forget it for as long as I live. “Neither did I.”
“I’m sure you are wondering what has happened to Josh.”
I look up, surprised. I hadn’t expected her to bring it up.
“I am going to tell you everything,” Kal pauses. “But I have to evaluate you over the course of the next month first. You will stay here.”
“Stay here?” My blood runs cold. “At the lab?”
Kal looks pained. “It’s a precaution.”
“A precaution? Are you afraid I’m going to turn into a zombie?”
“Courtney, your physical makeup, the molecules that make up you have done what nobody and nothing has ever done before. We don’t know the medical or psychological effects. Our higher ups actually demanded a longer period, but I managed to tell them that whatever damage would appear in a short-term window.”
Her hand slides forward and turns off the iPad.
“I’m not going to do anything to hurt you,” she whispers so softly that I’m not quite sure she really said it. “Just trust me.”
I exhale. My choices seem limited.
I nod.
The iPad record light reappears.
“You’ll have to wear monitors at night that track your dream processes. A psychiatrist will give you some general tests. You need not tell her anything specific as to your mission. I will have to do a blood draw every three tests.”
“I’m ET,” I say lamely. It seems like such a Nick thing to say.
Nick.
“Well if you’re going to use that analogy, then all I can say is be patient.”
She smiles.
“We’ll get you home.”
