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  A loud and insistent ringing brought her out of the memory loop. She reached groggily for the cell phone beside the bed, and put it to her ear.

  ‘Cara?’ It was Jac. She didn’t know whether to feel happy or sad, to know he’d taken her at her word and rung. She looked at the bedside clock. It was just after nine.

  ‘I’m here, Jack.’

  ‘Can I see you? I want to explain.’

  ‘Are you willing to let me help you? I know people who can help you.’

  There was silence, and she wondered if he was going to hang up on her.

  ‘Yeah, anything you want. Just meet me, okay. There’s a café down the street from your place. Chez Vous, I think it’s called. I’m there now.’

  ‘Okay, I’ll be with you in about fifteen minutes. Okay?’

  ‘’Kay.’

  When she entered the café a short time later, she picked him out immediately. He looked the way she felt: Shattered. He was still wearing the black shirt and jeans from the night before. They were crushed, as if he’d slept in them. She wondered if he’d been drinking or doing drugs. Funny, the thought that he was on drugs had never crossed her mind, until that moment.

  He looked up at her as she approached the table, and pushed the seat next to him out so she could sit. He already had a black coffee in front of him, but he signalled the waiter over to order a latte for her.

  ‘Do you want breakfast?’ He spoke in monotone.

  ‘No, I couldn’t eat. Coffee is fine.’

  ‘I’m sorry I lost it last night, Cara. It must have been really frightening for you. Thank you for the lifeline. I would have left, if you hadn’t given me your number. I nearly did, anyway.’

  ‘I’m glad you didn’t. I want to help, if I can.’

  ‘You were born Cara Ellen Masterson, the only child of Mary and Phillip Masterson. You attended Lake Innes Elementary, and later, Eleanor Roosevelt High. You graduated top of your class. ‘

  ‘Jack, how do you know all this…’ she interrupted, her mind spinning.

  ‘Because I have memorised your dossier. That’s my job. I Jump to different points on the Space-Time Continuum, and I Retrieve specifically targeted individuals.

  ‘People like me do this job because we can’t breed, Cara. We can’t reproduce and repopulate the world. And there are no longer billions of people over-populating the planet; there’s only a minute fraction of that number. There’s not enough to carry out all the tasks required by an advanced civilization. It’s this, or the human race dies out. The only way our race can continue is by bringing in new people from elsewhere. Although, elsewhen, might be a more accurate term.’

  ‘Oh Jack, do you know how you sound to me? Do you understand that I can’t possibly believe what you’re telling me?’ She was pleading with him, her hands held out in supplication.

  ‘I know exactly how I sound. And I know you can’t believe me. I wouldn’t believe me, either, if I were you. But, nonetheless, what I’m telling you is the truth. And my job is to offer you a second chance. A new life. This one will end shortly. You can’t avoid it. I wish that were possible. All I can do is offer you this chance, and give you a demonstration. Proof that what I’m saying is the truth.’

  Cara looked at him from under her bangs. He sounded totally rational. Perfectly sane. It was what he was saying that was insane. Nevertheless, she would approach it in just the way he was doing – rationally.

  ‘All right Jack, I will watch your demonstration. See your proof. But if I’m not convinced, I need you to promise me that you will let me get you help.’

  ‘I agree. Now, here’s your coffee. You’ll need the sugar. When you’re finished, we’ll go to your place, if that’s okay. It’s private. Or if you aren’t comfortable with that, we can go to the park up the street.’

  ‘My place will be fine. I trust you.’ Cara couldn’t believe she was agreeing to take Jac back to her place. If he were to become violent, when she refused to believe his ‘proof’, she could be in real danger. On the other hand, a secluded park was no less dangerous. At least in her own home she knew where the knives were.

  She drank her coffee quickly, and then followed Jac out of the café. She was still stunned that such a beautiful man could be so damaged. Her heart broke every time she looked at him.

  They reached her apartment block, and climbed the stairs quickly. She paused for a moment, before opening the door to her home.

  ‘No matter what, Cara, I am no threat to you. I would never hurt you,’ he said from behind her, seeming to know exactly what was going through her mind.

  ‘I know that, Jack. I’m just a bit jumpy. I’m way out of my depth with this.’

  ‘Yeah, anyone would be. I’ve seen it all before. You’re remarkable, really, the way you’re handling the situation. I wonder if that’s because of your work with autism.’

  ‘You know what I do?’

  ‘I know everything there is to know about you, from a records point of view. I even had your last driver’s licence picture, so I would recognise you. You are far lovelier than that picture indicates.’

  ‘Thanks, I think they intentionally make you look as bad as possible.’ She didn’t question that he had seen her licence. It would be on a computer system somewhere, and if he was as techy, as he said he was, then it would be an easy matter to hack into the DMV, and find her licence.

  That he had gone to that sort of trouble was the thing that concerned her most. Could he have done it all since they first met? Had he become obsessed with her, after she’d tried to help him that first day, and spent the intervening period tracking down everything he could about her?

  They were in the small, modern living room /kitchenette now, and she saw him admiring her décor. She was proud of her space. It reflected her well. Pale blue walls, with sky blue framed Mediterranean prints that matched the sky-blue, damask cushioned sofa and chair. And a whole wall of white bookshelves, filled to overflowing with her addiction: books. And more books.

  The open French windows were dressed with heavy damask curtains, the same sky blue as the sofa, and looked out over the park. In the distance, a thin line of ink blue water could be seen, with the Catskill Mountains, just beyond it.

  ‘All right Cara, the only way I can prove to you that I am from the future, as crazy as that sounds, is to open the Continuum using my PA – Portal Activator. It will appear to you as a curtain of falling sparks that extends from about seven feet above us, right to the floor. Its width is about six feet.

  ‘If I pass through that shower, I will leave this space/time axis point, and reappear wherever and whenever I’ve programed as my destination – the new axis point. I’ll disappear, and the shower will disappear. I will then reactivate it and reappear, hopefully ten minutes later. You clear?’

  Cara nodded, afraid that if she spoke her voice would come out as a squeak. What was happening had suddenly started feeling real. Something about how he spoke was convincing her there was substance to his seeming delusions. And there was a part of her that was hoping desperately that Jac’s portal would open, and that he’d be beamed up like Kirk on Star Trek.

  If that happened, it would mean that her beautiful new friend was not mentally ill. It would mean he wasn’t a young man, looking for a mother figure or a cougar. It would mean he was a man from the future, hundreds of years older than her. And wasn’t that thought mindboggling!

  Another part of her wanted nothing to happen, and that her safe, understandable little world would continue just as it had. Jac would get help, and the sun would come up tomorrow, just as it always did.

  Jac pulled a blackberry size gadget, the supposed PA, out of his pocket, and pressed some buttons. Suddenly, a shower of sparkling lights, like scrolling computer code, superimposed itself over the middle of her living room. She looked to see if the hologram was being created by the gadget. There seemed to be no beam issuing from it. The shower made a slight fizzing sound.

  Cara walked toward the curtain of sparkli
ng light, and started to reach out to touch it. She looked back at Jac to get his approval.

  ‘Yeah, you can touch it. Just don’t pass all the way through, okay?’

  She nodded and extended her hand. With the very tips of her fingers she touched what she thought was a hologram. Her fingertips fizzed.

  ‘Feels weird, huh? It takes a bit of getting used to when you walk through. For a couple of seconds, there’s nothing but light and buzz, like every cell in your body is jumping around like crazy inside you. And the sound, the buzz, is loud. Really loud. And it feels like you’re taking one long step in slow motion. Then, before it gets too overwhelming, and your eardrums burst, your foot comes down on the other side, and you’re out. In a different place and a different time.’

  She nodded, and let her fingers go further into the hologram. The tingling was nice.

  Moving around so that she was standing at the side of the hologram, she stared at the half inch thick edge of it. Slowly, she put her hand in on one side, and looked to see if her fingers came through the other side. They didn’t.

  She drew her hand back quickly.

  ‘Woow! That is weird.’ She looked across at Jac. He seemed to be enjoying watching her play. And the experience was giving her a childlike sense of wonder, as she explored. It was all so surreal. IBM must really be into advanced technology, if this was a sample of the projects he was working on. Would they be angry with him for taking the prototype out of the research facility? Wasn’t there all sorts of safeguards against technological espionage?

  ‘You do it. Put your arm in. I want to watch what happens.’

  Jac stepped forward to oblige. He put his arm in, all the way to his shoulder, and she could clearly see where his arm should have been. But it wasn’t. Even when she went up, and felt for an invisible arm, there was nothing there.

  It was a phenomenal illusion!

  ‘You could be doing the Las Vegas nightclub scene with this act!’

  Jac brought his hand back, and frowned at her. ‘You aren’t convinced are you? Even if I step through and disappear, you’re going to see it as a trick of some kind. Some kind of special effect.’

  Cara wanted to believe him. She really did. And it was a really neat trick, however he was doing it. But she just didn’t believe it. Couldn’t believe it. In fact, the more convinced she became, the more she fought to find rational answers for what was happening. If she was convinced, then everything she believed to be true and real in her world was in jeopardy.

  ‘Okay, I’m not supposed to do this, but I can’t see any other way of convincing you. How would you like to see the original Olympic Games? From Mount Olympus. I’ve got that one calibrated from an earlier Jump. Not a Retrieval, but some short term research I was asked to do.’

  Cara wanted to laugh, she truly did. Everything was starting to tip into the absurd. She wondered if she was having a breakdown.

  ‘All right. As long as you bring me right back.’

  ‘Absolutely. We’ll do your ‘two step’. One step forward, and then immediately one step back. It’s unlikely anyone will see us, but it’s better to be quick. But be prepared to see a lot of naked men.’

  ‘Okay, that should be interesting.’

  Jac fiddled with his gadget, and the shower of sparks disappeared. Then he gestured for her to come to him. He put his arms around her waist, and smiled down at her. The twinkle in his green eyes told her he was enjoying himself. All the tension and sadness on his handsome face were gone.

  ‘Going to kiss you now, for good luck. Okay?’

  Cara nodded, actually pleased that he wanted to kiss her again. Since the kiss the night before, she’d been kicking herself for her initial reaction. If she’d just gone with it, been an adult about it, rather than a prudish old maid, they would have finished their evening on an enjoyable note. It had, up to that point, been the best date she’d ever been on. She’d loved how willingly he’d tried to dance. And, feeling his erection pressed against her, had been one hell of a compliment. She shouldn’t have been surprised when he kissed her. It was obvious, from his body’s reaction, that he saw her as more than a friend.

  When he lowered his mouth to hers this time, she felt none of the reserve that had held her back before. He was no longer a boy half her age. He was just an attractive, younger man who was paying her a very wonderful compliment by finding her attractive. That he was crazy was beside the point.

  She couldn’t stop the little moan that forced its way from her mouth as his soft, smooth lips claimed hers. He might only be just out of his teens, but he was obviously very experienced. He knew exactly how much control to take, how much pressure to apply. He didn’t thrust his tongue down her throat the moment she opened her mouth, but made the most of their lips, exploring for taste and texture, until he felt sure she was ready for more. Very slowly, but with absolute confidence, his tongue entered her. And Cara’s arousal skyrocketed.

  Cara drew back quickly, shaken, lips still tingling from the contact. She lifted her head to stare into his electric, hooded eyes, and felt a shockwave of pure sexuality pulse out from their depths, and reverberate right into her core.

  He smiled slowly, with those amazing eyes, and she was aware that he knew exactly what affect he’d been having on her. In no uncertain terms, he was letting her know that he was a long way from the youth she saw him as.

  ‘Ready to travel two and a half thousand years into the past?’

  ‘Absolutely!’ she croaked.

  Still a little unsteady on her feet from the kiss, she let him go so he could press more buttons on his gadget. Then, he drew her against his side as the light returned, and moved her toward the shimmering curtain.

  For all the evidence accumulating in his favour, Cara still didn’t believe anything was going to happen. She expected to experience the tingly lights as she stepped into the shower, and then find herself back in her living room, on the other side of the curtain. How could anything else be real?

  She stepped with him …

  … onto a mountainside, where the sun was hot on her skin, and the air smelled of pine trees. There was a soft breeze blowing. She noticed the edges of her thin shirt flapped. Below her, she could see a Grecian temple and a long grassy field. Crowds of white clad people sat on stone benches tiered up the hillside, the full length of the field. On the grass, naked men threw discusses. She saw one shoot into the air, as the crowd exclaimed their approval.

  ‘Oh, shit!’ she said with a gasp, feeling her legs go out from under her. ‘You’re telling the truth!’

  Chapter Five

  They took the step back, Jac holding her tightly to his side, carrying the bulk of her weight. The heat, the people, and the grassy field were gone, and they were once more staring at the shower of sparkling lights in Cara’s living room.

  Jac turned off the Portal, led her to the blue sofa, and gently lowered her into it.

  ‘Can I get you something?’ he asked gently, aware that she was in shock. She needed something hot and sweet.

  ‘Coffee. Black coffee with plenty of sugar.’

  He smiled, but hid it from her. Her voice sounded shaky, but in a good way. It was like he’d just told her she’d won the lottery. Disbelief warred with delight.

  Walking across to the modern kitchenette, which was divided off from the living space by a long, grey-laminate counter, he filled the kettle, and found some instant coffee in the top cupboard. He added a heaped spoonful of granules and several more of sugar to an earthenware mug he found hanging from a hook under the eye-level cabinets. He then did the same for an identical mug he claimed as his own. When the kettle boiled, he added water and stirred. The whole process took only a couple of minutes, but during that time, Cara said nothing. She just stared at the place where the Portal had been, a strange expression on her face. It didn’t look like delight anymore.

  The little, everyday actions settled him. The aftershock of their kiss was still vibrating through his body. What he’d inten
ded as a lesson had backfired, badly. Yes, she’d been moved by the kiss as he’d intended, but his own reaction to the brief contact was not intended. Every cell in his body sang to her, wanted her, and claimed her as his own. It had taken all his control to keep himself from dragging her off into the bedroom, and taking what his body was screaming for.

  She now knew he was not an inexperienced youth. But he now knew that, where Cara was concerned, he was in totally uncharted territory. Nothing with her was how it should be, or had always been. And it terrified him.

  He added a little cold water to her coffee, so it wasn’t too hot. Then he brought it to her. She drank it down in several thirsty gulps, her expression telling him it was either still a little too hot, or a little too sweet for her tastes.

  Sipping at his own coffee, he sat on the chair across from her. She was as pale as a ghost, and her hands were shaking as they held the almost empty mug. He took it from her.

  ‘The up-side is that I’m not a crazy man, just out of adolescence,’ he said lightly, trying to nudge her out of shock.

  ‘The down-side is that I’m the one who’s crazy.’ Her voice was scratchy with tension.

  ‘Oh, for god’s sake Cara, why can’t you just accept that there are some things that exist beyond your current understanding? Did the first person, who discovered the world wasn’t flat, decide they were insane? ‘

  ‘Probably!’

  ‘Ahhh, you are infuriating! Just go with it, please. Just allow for the possibility that what you experienced was real. Just for a little while. You can go back to thinking you’re crazy, later. But for now, just go with it…’

  She looked at him with serious eyes, and his heart sank.

  ‘If I go with it, even for a little while, I have to accept that everything you said is true. That I’m going to die.’

  He reached over, took up her hands, and gently rubbed warmth back into them. They were as cold as death.

  ‘No, that’s the point. You aren’t going to die. I’m going to take you back through that curtain of lights to my time. We’ll grow you a new body, a young body like I’ve got, and you’ll have a whole new world to explore. It’s not like this one, I can’t tell you it is. It’s very different. But it’s a good life, and you can live it for hundreds of years.’