The Portal

Only two hours had passed in real time as David and his brother stumbled back out of the cave. They had been partying hard the last two days after the baseball game and got completely trashed two nights in a row. They were slightly hung over, but had their wits about them as they emerged from the cave and staggered back to the shed beside the house to get changed. David was happy to take those slacks off and put his jeans back on. Wearing a nice belt with a good buckle was preferred over the suspenders that had been annoying him the entire time he had been in New York. David also fished into the pockets of his pants to remove small items he had stuffed in there before he came back. There were some old coins from the change Ricky got from his purchases, and even an unopened bag of cracker jacks from the ball park that he wanted to keep. Ricky looked back at David and laughed.

“You actually kept one of those?” he said, looking at the small bag.

“Dad said we could bring back whatever was on our person when we return.” David reminded him, “So I wanted to test that on something small.”

“Not a bad idea.” His brother agreed, “But I’ll teach you how to bring bigger things back with you. I’ve pushed my luck, but there are some things that Gail has refused to let me bring back from the past.”

“Such as?” David asked.

“I wanted to see what would happen if I was in a car when I came back.” Ricky said, “Bring back some classic cars and put them in a fancy garage. Dad also said not to try, he didn’t want them to possibly damage the cave.”

“What about a motorcycle?” David suggested.

“Yes!” his brother said, his eyes lighting up. “Good idea!”

David held up the clothes when he was finished changing. “What do we do with this stuff?”

“Toss it in the hamper over there,” Ricky explained, “We wash them all differently based on what was normally used back in its time so it seems more authentic. Did you bring anything else back?”

David picked up something from the shelf that he didn’t show his brother yet. It was a blue baseball cap with a white B in the middle of it, which has the hat of the team they had watched win during their trip to New York. David put the cap on because he accidentally left his own ball cap at their dad’s house during the previous trip. After what he had just seen, this was his new favorite hat and he was looking forward to showing it off to everyone. He also still had the ticket stubs that Ricky had bought at Ebbet’s field, which he put into his wallet with the intent to frame and put up at his house at a later time.

As Ricky and David walked back into the house, Gail was waiting for them with a look on her face.

“Hey,” Rick said, sensing her hostility. “We only took one trip!”

“I know, and I appreciate that.” Gail said, but she looked over at David. “You have a visitor at the old house.”

“Shit,” David said, well aware of who it was.

With the help of one of the adopted kids, David took the lift back to the old house and his boss, the director, was waiting for him in the living room as he walked into the room.

“Hey boss!” David said as he strolled in, “I was getting your texts but cell service sucks out here so I couldn’t call you.”

“I believe you,” the director replied, “I’ve got only one bar up here. I think I need a new phone to go with our stellar service.”

“That would be a good idea,” David agreed, “So what’s up?”

“Well, I wanted to know how your brother is doing.” His boss answered, “And to update you on the man who tried to attack him at the hospital.”

“Is he talking?” David asked.

“I’m afraid not,” The director answered, “He died hours after you shot him. You’re not in trouble but that’s where things got interesting. We took his prints and DNA and this guy is not in the system. His name is also fake, only goes back a few months. This guy smells like deep ops. Why would someone like that be trying to hassle your brother?”

“I’m not sure,” David said, which was clearly a lie. “But I’ve been talking to him about it to get some clues or Intel that might help us find out. He’s also doing very well and the prognosis about him not walking anymore was false... he’s toes are wiggling and he’ll be back on his feet with rehab.”

“That’s great!” his boss said, slapping his shoulder. “Good news!”

“Yes, very good.” David agreed, “I’m just going to need a little more time away from work. I’ll make it up to you when I get back.”

“Will a week do?” his boss asked, “I’ll have to take it out of your vacation time, but you haven’t used any in forever so that shouldn’t be a problem.”

“I would appreciate that,” David said, thankful of the idea. “But now that my brother and I are reconnecting, I might be using some more in the near future.”

“Bonding over the holidays,” hit boss said, smiling. “That’s the kind of mushy stuff that will win me some points with the wife. She’s all about family during the holidays and will be ecstatic that you have one and that you’re finally spending time with them again.”

“It appears so,” David said, “Nothing brings family closer together than eminent danger.”

“That’s the spirit,” his boss said, slapping him on the shoulder like his father had earlier. “Keep in touch if you find out anything and I’ll do the same.”

“I’ll drop by the office later when I get a chance,” David also promised, “Thankfully I got all my paper work done before this all started.”

“That’s just one of many reasons why I’m not angry at you about this.” The director said as he walked to the door. “But you may need to do some for that shooting at the hospital. Not much, but enough to clean it up.”

“I’ll come by and do it later,” David said as he followed his boss to the door. “Thanks for checking in, I’ll try to answer back faster next time.”

His director stopped at the door and looked back at David. “I’ve got this feeling that you know something that I don’t.”

“You are correct.” David said, as he was through lying to his boss.

“Are you going to eventually share with me?” the boss asked.

“I want to,” David replied, “But I have a feeling you won’t believe me and think I’m pulling your leg. Hell, I hardly believe it myself. Just promise me that when I do eventually come clean, you’ll give me some leeway because this one is really out in left field.”

“It’s that whacked?” his boss asked.

“Do you want to sleep tonight?” David countered.

His boss sighed, “Alright, keep it to yourself for now, I don’t think I’m ready for anything that crazy this time of year.”

“Good call,” David said, “This is the kind of shit that needs time and a good bottle of scotch to really take in.”

“Ouch,” the director said, thinking about it. “When that time eventually comes, bring the scotch. Then I’ll know you’re about to hit me with a real whopper.”

“I’ll do that,” David agreed, “Take care, boss.”

After his boss was back on the road, David walked back to the spot where the kid was waiting to enter the turbo lift. Once he shuttled back to the hidden house, David went up the elevator to join Gail, Ricky and everyone else at the table. David took a seat and tried his best to be polite.

“I’m sorry about that,” David said, putting a napkin on his lap. “It’s taken care of, and I even got him to give me some more time off... to look after you as you recover from your wounds.”

“Whose idea was that?” Gail asked.

“Dad told us to limit our movements,” David told her, “To make sure the people who attacked him don’t come nosing around here.”

“That’s alright,” Ricky replied, “Gives me more time to work on you with the portal. Maybe by the end of the week, you’ll be ready to go out yourself.”

“Don’t rush him,” Gail warned her husband. “Let him get used to this thing before he ventures out in time by himself.”

“He’s getting the hang of it,” Ricky said, “But we’ll make sure he travels somewhere safe, just to make sure he doesn’t overwhelm himself on his first solo trip. It will be like a mini-vacation.”

“That sounds good to me,” David replied, as he dug into his dinner. “Somewhere with a beach would be preferable.”

“How about Cuba before the embargo?” Ricky suggested, “Havana used to be one of the best places to party on this side of the planet.”

“I do like cigars,” David admitted, “Can I go back even further to visit past relatives?”

“You mean like grandpa and great-grandparents?” Ricky asked.

“Yeah,” David confirmed, “Have you tried that?”

“I did,” Ricky confessed, “But Grandpa is the furthest I went back. He gave me a stern telling off for talking to him. Says it’s too dangerous to consort with past travelers, we might accidentally give away too much and cause paradoxes.”

“What happens when there’s a paradox?” David asked, “Does the world go in the crapper?”

“No, you do.” Ricky told him, “If you make too many changes, take that migraine you had and multiply it by a million. One of them was so bad that it caused a traveler’s brain to hemorrhage and it killed him.”

“Shit,” David said, putting his fork down. “That’s why you try to avoid big changes, because the reprinting of our memory could kill us if we’re overwhelmed.”

“Exactly,” Rick said, “So unless you want to mess up that fragile noodle between your ears, small changes only. You can do big changes as long as it doesn’t change the historical narrative like Dad did with the lifeboats on the titanic. The event didn’t change, just the body count.”

“And what changes have you made?” David then asked, “Dad says you haven’t told him anything you’ve done.”

“I’ve made a few small corrections.” Ricky replied, “Nothing major.”

“Are you serious?” Gail said, giving in the eye again. “Nothing major?”

“Spit it out,” David ordered.

“I made a small change on a major event.” Ricky said, “On 9/11.”

David sat back and sighed. “What change did you make?”

“I couldn’t stop the event,” Ricky started to explain, “I mean what person would honestly believe me if I tried to explain it to them? There’s no way in hell the cops or feds would believe a word so I had to improvise.”

“How did you improvise?” David asked.

“I called in a bomb threat.” Ricky answered, “An hour before the first plane hit the World Trade Center, I told them that there was a bomb in one of the towers and that it would go off at nine that morning.”

“Shit,” David said, “What difference did that make?”

“No one listens to a warning,” Ricky replied, “but if you call in a threat, the police by law have to respond to it. So when the first plane hit the towers, both buildings were already in the process of being evacuated.”

“Son of a bitch,” David said, thinking about it. “Over three thousand people still died.”

“I know,” Ricky recalled, “But the original number was a lot higher. Everyone was just getting into their offices at nine in the morning, so the attack originally had a higher body count.”

“How high?” David asked, curious to know the number.

“Just north of nineteen-thousand,” Ricky answered, “Because of my call, they managed to evacuate more than two thirds of them out before the first tower fell.”

“Damn,” David said, thinking about it. “That was one hell of a risk you took, Ricky.”

“Was worth it,” Ricky said, relieved to tell someone about it. “I saved a lot of lives; I just wish I could have saved them all.”

“Was probably for the best,” David said, much to everyone’s surprised. “Like Dad said to me, we can’t change the event itself.”

“That’s what causes paradoxes,” Ricky added, “Not the event itself, but the impact certain people can make after they survive. I haven’t received any fallout from my changes so far.”

“This is deep,” David said, taking a glass of wine and draining most of it. “I’m still blown away by the whole thing. We’re time travelers!”

When the meal was finished, David helped Gail clean up until Ricky asked him to take a walk with him.

“Are we going back to the Portal?” David asked as they walked outside.

“Not yet,” Ricky replied, “I just need to speak to you a bit more before we do anymore traveling.”

“Okay, about what?” David asked.

“About the kids that are in the house,” Ricky replied, “I know you’re curious about them and have a lot of questions.”

“Gail said something about them being adopted,” David recalled, “But where did they come from?”

“Two of them are from the past,” Ricky answered, “And one of them is from the future.”

David looked back at his brother with a shocked face, “We can bring people back as well as objects?”

“Yes, it’s possible.” Ricky confirmed, “But it’s very dangerous. Removing someone from a part of history can cause damage to the past or future, so who you bring back has to leave no mark on the narrative.”

“So where are these kids from?” David asked.

“The two younger ones, Anne and Howard, are from the Second World War.” Ricky replied, “I removed them both from one of the German death camps. As far as history is concerned, they were still executed and buried in a mass grave during the holocaust. They were never meant to live so there was no footprint to cover up.”

“What about the last one,” David said, “The older one that was working all the machines to heal you. I assume she’s the one from the future?”

“Yes,” Ricky replied, “Oulsa is from a distant future. One of the smartest people of her time and because of that she was prisoner and eventually became a wanted fugitive when she escaped.”

“Wanted by whom?” David asked.

“The government,” Ricky answered, “They wanted to use her to create more machines and be a slave to the system. To let her go free to do what she wanted for private companies was not something they wanted. She was on the run when I bumped into her. I offered to take her somewhere where the government could never find her: the past.”

“And in exchange, we get future tech that no one else has,” David said, as it was all making sense.

“This is a fair exchange,” Ricky said, trying to defend himself, “The tech we have here is to protect the family and the Portal. She gets freedom and privacy to do whatever she wants without someone looking over her shoulder or trying to use her for political or financial needs.”

“This could cause a paradox to end all paradoxes,” David warned him, “Are you sure it’s safe to have an inventor that bright living this far the past?”

“It’s not what you think,” Ricky tried to explain, “After the turbo lift and a few other things were done, she’s pretty much retired from inventing. She had been doing that most of her life and was sick and tired of it. The only things Ousla has been making lately is fashion and poetry.”

“Fashion?” David repeated.

“I know, right?” Ricky said, laughing. “Who do you think put together most of these old school threads for us to travel in? We gave her a chance to do something else, something normal that a kid her age would usually do. We don’t need her inventions, and neither does the future. They were just going to exploit her and keep her imprisoned like a slave.”

“I guess some things never change over the years,” David said, thinking about it more. “As long as she doesn’t make any headline news with an invention, the people in the future won’t find her.”

“Exactly,” Ricky concurred, “And she doesn’t want to invent. She’s happy to be not doing that anymore.”

“What does Dad think about all this?” David asked, “About the ability to bring people back and forth in time?”

“I haven’t told him,” Ricky replied.

“I kind of noticed that you also left the high tech sick bay out of the conversation.” David said as paced around the yard for a moment to process it, “Why haven’t you told him?”

“No one’s done it before!” Ricky answered, “I talked to Dad and even Grandpa; neither of them had brought people with them or even heard of it happening before. As far as I know, I’m the first person in our family who’s ever done this.”

“Alright,” David said, scratching his three day scruff. “Let’s assume you’re right, and no one’s ever done this before. How did it happen? I mean the first time; how did you discover you could do this?”

“I went to Germany during the war,” Ricky started, “And when the Nazis caught me wandering around, they became upset because I had no papers and my German is gaud awful. Based on that they assumed I was a Jewish refugee trying to escape, so they sent me to the camps.”

“They didn’t think you were a spy?” David asked.

“A spy would be smart enough to at least have fake papers,” Ricky answered, “The Gestapo thought I was too stupid to be a spy.”

“Fair enough,” David said, agreeing with the Gestapo.

“I had less than a day to go when they tossed me into one of the camps, and that place was hell on Earth.” Ricky continued, “There was no heat in these camps so most people cuddled with one another for heat. I had earlier protected these two kids from someone who was bullying them, so they wanted to stay next to me while they were sleeping. I had fallen asleep as well, and that’s what I was doing when I flashed back to the Portal. Because both kids where holding onto me, they were sent back with me. We all woke up in the cave and that’s where things got interesting. Gail was beside herself when we all walked back from the Cave. Once she heard where we had come from she was a lot more understanding and immediately made them something to eat. That was two years ago, and we’ve been raising them like they were our own.”

“So it was an accident,” David said, relieved Ricky was dumb enough to actually try it intentionally.

“I’m only telling you this so you don’t make my mistake.” Ricky continued, “If you’re touching or holding someone, the Portal may drag them through time with you.”

“What about the opposite?” David asked, “Can we bring someone with us if we’re holding one another?”

“I think so,” Ricky replied, “But if they’re not touching us when we go back, they might be left behind and there’s no guarantee the Portal will bring them back after two days.”

“Hold on,” David said, as he noticed something. “Can we whip back to our own time earlier than two days?”

“Kind of,” Ricky said.

“Kind of?” David repeated, “Can we control when we return?”

“No, we can’t.” Ricky answered, “But the portal will bring us back earlier if something dramatic occurs.”

“Such as?” David asked.

“The portal will bring us back early,” Ricky explained, “If we die.”