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  And every word had been true. Laura had been her best friend for most of her life. She’d been the person she’d missed most when she’d moved away to live with her grandmother. She was the first person she’d contacted when she moved back into town, after graduating college and taking up her first job. Laura had been her matron of honour at her wedding. And it was to her she’d turned when her marriage broke down, and when Billy was killed.

  It was so hard to say goodbye.

  Work was hard, too. She’d made some good friends amongst her colleagues. And it broke her heart to know she would not be finishing her work with her students. She knew there were plenty of good people out there who could replace her, but that didn’t negate the bond she had formed with her kids.

  It hurt to let them go.

  But finally, D Day was upon her. Jac had prepped her well. She thought it rather fitting that she would leave this life doing something she had enjoyed so much as a child.

  Last night, she and Jac had gone dancing. When they’d returned to her apartment, they’d had incredible sex, both of them trying to make the most of what might be their last time together. It was terrifying and intense, to make love that way; knowing that something might go wrong the next day, and she might not make the Jump. And even if she did, she might become one of Jac’s 3%. Worse still, to realise that once he was back in his own time, the lust he felt for her might fade.

  Later, they’d made hot chocolate in the kitchen, and while Cara sipped morosely on hers, as she sat on the sofa, Jac had begun rummaging around in one of the kitchen drawers. She was too caught up in her own sad thoughts to wonder what he was doing.

  When he’d thrust a small, gift-wrapped box with card into her hand, his face had been beat-red. She’d been both surprised and bemused.

  ‘I wanted you to have this,’ he’d said, a nervous smile on his handsome face.

  Inside the box was a heart shaped pendant, in gold filigree, that contained two pictures. One was of her parents and the other one was of Billy and Laura. Tears had made it hard to see the pictures clearly.

  Then she’d read the card ‘I’m so glad you came into my life,’ it said. ‘Love forever, Jac xxx’

  ‘Huh, that’s how you spell your name. I thought it was J A C K. Weird,’ was all she’d managed to say, as she’d risen to take the gift and card to the bedroom.

  ‘Can’t do that.’ He’d stopped her by taking her arm and reaching for the box and card. Then he’d closed the pendant into her palm, and placed the box and card on the coffee table. ‘This is another one of those paradox moments. The gift box and card were listed on police records. They were found right here. The necklace wasn’t with them.’

  ‘So, did you give me the present, and write those words, because you knew you had to?’ she’d asked, as she fiddled with the clasp on the chain. For some reason, it had felt disappointing that the gift was as staged as her death would be, the next day. It had only added to her feelings of sadness.

  ‘Actually, I picked up the gift the first day you went back to work. It didn’t enter my head until after I chose the card that it was part of the D Day scenario. The card looked really familiar, when I saw it on the rack, so I bought it. Then, on the way home, I realised why it was familiar. I’d seen it in the police pics. Weird stuff this time travel.’

  He’d taken the chain from her hands, and with the dexterity he couldn’t have mustered several weeks earlier, undid the clasp, placed it around her neck, and did it up.

  ‘You haven’t said whether you like it.’ He’d nuzzled her neck from behind, his arms wrapped around her body, holding her tight.

  ‘Oh Jac, of course I like it! You couldn’t have given me a better going-away gift. Having pictures to take with me… so special. Thank you!’

  ‘You, my lovely Cara, are more than welcome.’ He’d turned her toward him then, for a tender kiss.

  Now, with D Day’s morning sunshine bathing her skin in warmth, she lay in her bed beside Jac, looking down at the beautiful pendant that still hung around her neck.

  It was such a thoughtful gift. And she was inordinately glad that it had been unplanned and a genuine gesture. But it made it that much more painful, knowing his feelings for her wouldn’t last. Knowing the ‘love forever’ was something that would pass – just as Bill’s infatuation with her had passed. Nothing was forever.

  The fault was hers, of course. No matter how hard she’d tried, she hadn’t been able to stop herself falling deeply in love with Jac during their two weeks together. And she knew she was going to have trouble bouncing back from this heartbreak. She just hoped they would be able to stay friends after it. Because, as much as she valued him as a lover, she valued him even more as a friend.

  He was the sort of person she would always have liked, no matter what their relationship. His integrity, his kindness, his wit and intelligence, were all traits she valued. And he was loyal too, she’d discovered during long talks about his past.

  That would be the most heart-breaking part of it all – when he finally realised he didn’t really love her. His loyalty, and unwillingness to hurt her, might keep him at her side after the spark was gone. She hated that thought.

  She looked over at the slumbering man at her side, watching as sunshine glistened off the day-old beard on his dusky cheeks and turned his mussed hair into spun gold. His youthful face was beautiful in repose, all lean planes and sharp angles. But he no longer looked like a kid to her. In fact, somewhere along the way she’d stopped thinking of him as any age. He was just Jac, without a ‘k’, so it turned out. And he was beautiful to her, for reasons far beyond the physical.

  Cara fought down the urge to stroke his face, knowing that if she did, she would be setting the stage for morning sex. And they just didn’t have time for that. She had to be the first one at the boat house when it opened at 10.00 am. At that time, she would rent a one-person sailing dingy, just as she had the weekend before, and set sail for the opposite side of the lake. The reason timing was so crucial was that, by 10.15 am, the weather alert would be issued, and the boat house would be closed for the day. If she missed her window of opportunity… well, who knew what dominoes would fall the wrong way.

  It was hard to believe, as she shifted onto her side toward the bright sunlight, that what looked like perfect weather would soon manifest into a raging storm. But by just after midday, the storm would have passed, and the weather would clear again. By sundown, it would look as if the whole day had been one of unbroken sunshine.

  Of course, by then she would be gone. There would be no balmy summer evening to enjoy. No plans for the next day’s work. No late night pizza with Jac.

  ‘Penny for them,’ Jac said drowsily, his green gaze now on her.

  ‘Just savouring the last moments of this life. Just being grateful for all I have.’

  ‘All you will have, Cara. I know this is a time for letting go. But you are literally stepping into a brand new life in New Atlantis. One I know you’ll love, just as much as this one.’

  ‘Yeah, I get that. But in this moment, this endless moment, I have you and this life, and I am so grateful for that.’

  He leaned over to place a gentle kiss at the side of her mouth. Knowing their time was limited, he too was keeping it platonic. Their mind-blowing sex was a thing of the past, for now.

  In one graceful movement, Jac swung himself out of the bed, and then offer her his hand. ‘Come on, we have places to be!’

  By 9.30am they were both showered and dressed, ready to head down to the lake. Jac would see her off, and then meet her at a disused pier on the far side of the lake. He had an hour to get a taxi to the nearest house, jog in to the rendezvous point, and wait for Cara to get to the pier. They’d checked the location and correlated the Portal, several days earlier. Cara had also taken a refresher sailing lesson the weekend before, and sailed the distance to the pier, to check the timing. Barring some unforseen delay, Cara would be on dry land, her hire craft floating out into deeper wat
er, before the storm whipped up.

  ‘You ready to do this?’ Jac asked, as he headed for the door to her apartment for the last time.

  Cara cast her eyes around the pretty Mediterranean room, soaking up the scene. She had said goodbye to so much in the last few days. This was in some ways the hardest. All her lovely books, photo albums, DVD and CD collection, and knickknacks, all contained within a space that had been her home for nearly six years. All just things, she knew, but things that seemed to have a place in her soul. And she would miss them, and what they had given her.

  ‘Yep, let’s do it,’ she said, with a catch in her throat. Turning her back resolutely on the room, she followed Jac out the door.

  Jac stood on the rickety pier, sweating and shaking, more nervous that he‘d ever been in his life, as he watched for the first glimpse of Cara’s navy and white sail on the horizon.

  They knew it would take her an hour to cross the lake. Her childhood skills had been easily refreshed, and she was confident she could manage the craft in the calm conditions. Of course, if there was a delay, and the storm had a chance to get up before she reached the other side of the lake, she was in real trouble.

  This was the hardest part. The waiting – knowing that there was still the chaos of the unknown to be factored in. What if she had trouble out there – who knew what – and she was delayed? She might actually die in the coming storm. He might fail to Retrieve her. There was no way of knowing.

  He consciously drew in deep, cleansing breaths, and tried to ignore the fear. Losing her now would be beyond bearing. In his long, long life there had never been a time like these two short weeks. Everything had changed for him. And he knew the life he now looked forward to was beyond anything he could have hoped for.

  There was a part of him that waited for the axe to fall. A part that reminded him that whenever he thought life was going well; something would come along and sabotage it.

  He and Marcie had fought so hard to survive those awful years at the end of the Dark Age. They’d sacrificed so much to be together, and make a life. And when the twins had been born, it had felt like a reward for their struggle.

  Then, when the boys were just five years old, the Last Great Plague had ravaged the globe. In a matter of days, they were gone. It had been so sudden that, even hundreds of years later, he still felt the shock of it.

  That long-ago morning, he’d woken up to find himself one of only two survivors in their Ulster County township. Thousands had died, leaving just two survivors, numb and confused by the enormity of what had happened.

  Fleur had been the other survivor. She’d been twenty when she’d woken to find her parents and two sisters dead. He’d come across her wandering down an empty street, looking for life, any life, so that she wouldn’t have to be alone. They’d got each other through those first awful weeks.

  It had taken two weeks for the government troops to arrive. With only a few hundred military personnel still alive, co-ordinating and mounting a mission to find survivors, had been a painfully slow process. Fleur had stayed with him until they’d been relocated to New Atlantis. Then, when it seemed they had found hope, a new life, and people to share it with, Fleur had killed herself.

  There had been no warning. There were no tell-tale signs of depression. One day, she just walked into the ocean, and never came out again. She wasn’t the only one. In those early months, many choose to end it all. Especially once they discovered the plague had sterilised them.

  Jac might have joined her in death, if not for his obsessive need to save what was left of the human race. The idea that they would become extinct, like so many other species on the planet, drove thoughts of suicide from his mind. He worked. And he worked some more. And he kept on working, until the day he sat across a table from Cara, and heard her talk about bouncing back.

  And finally, he bounced back.

  But, as he scanned the glare of morning sunshine on the water, his terror was crippling. If Cara didn’t make it, he wouldn’t either. He was so tired, so damned tired of living his lonely, endless life. He’d done his share. He’d only be cutting his life-span down by a few decades. He deserved the right to do as Fleur had done. And he would join Cara, their bodies sharing the same time, and the same lake, for eternity.

  Then he saw it. After he’d looked down at his watch for the hundredth time, he saw it – the speck on the shining horizon – growing bigger. Until it was not just a speck, it was a sail. And the sail became a sailing boat, and he could just make out her yellow life preserver that she would take off and leave in the bottom of the craft, just as their records reported it.

  He waved his arm in greeting, his heart in his throat, fighting the tears that stung his eyes, blurring his vision.

  No death today. Only life. Their life together.

  In the next couple of minutes, she sailed the small craft into the inlet, and edged it up to the pier. He couldn’t help wrapping her in his arms the moment she was safely beside him on the pier.

  ‘Jeezus, I’ve never been so worried in my life,’ he mumbled into her hair, as he clung to her, drinking in every sensory detail of her soft body pressed against him.

  ‘I’m not late am I? Everything went without a hitch.’ She drew away, to look up at him in confusion.

  ‘No, not late. But I started getting antsy a few minutes ago, thinking all sorts of worst case scenarios. I’ve never been so happy to see anything, as I was to see your sail on the horizon.’

  She wrapped her hand around the back of his neck, and pulled his face down to hers. Then she claimed his mouth, passionately.

  ‘If you think I would stand you up, you’re crazy,’ she said between kisses. And for several minutes, there were no thoughts of the coming storm, no thoughts of the portal, or the future. There were just kisses and fast beating hearts.

  As the first gust of wind stirred the tendrils of her ponytail, Jac pulled away from her.

  ‘Okay, enough of that now. We have things to do. Get that vest off, and throw it into the hull. Then let’s push this thing out as far as we can. With the wind getting up, we should be able to angle it just right, so the sail fills and carries it away from shore.’

  By the time they stood watching the small craft bobbing in the waves, lurching further and further away from the pier, they were both exhilarated.

  ‘You know, there’s still a chance you’re crazy, and I’ve just cost myself a few thousand bucks in damages.’

  ‘Hey, if I’m crazy, you’ve just had the most exciting two weeks of your life, and you get the bonus of going back to your old life, valuing it as never before.’

  ‘Huh, I’ve had way more exciting times in my life. Don’t go cocky on me here, boy!’ she said with a grin, wrapping her arm around him as they negotiated the dangerously neglected pier back to the shore.

  When they reached the tree line, they turned back to watch the heavy cloudbank swirling toward them from the Catskill Mountains. The day was darkening, and it felt much later that it was. Thunder rumbled in the distance.

  ‘Perfect timing. You ready for this, my beautiful Cara?’ Jac asked, as he opened the Portal, and the curtain of showering lights appeared in front of them.

  ‘No time like the present!’

  Turning away from the gathering storm, Cara gave an excited little laugh as she took his crooked arm in hers.

  ‘Your present or mine?’ Jac quipped, as he drew her forward into the buzzing Portal.

  Chapter Ten

  Spring 2330, New Atlantis GAIAN CONFEDERACY

  Even though she had passed through the Portal once before, Cara had little memory of it. Everything had been so weird at the time, and the step in and back had taken only a few seconds. All she could clearly remember of the event was being bathed in a light that buzzed, and the noise being really loud, like a cranked up speaker right next to her ear.

  This time she really paid attention. This time it was for real, and there was no sense that she was just placating a madman. She kne
w that she was stepping into the space Between – moving out of her own Continuum and stepping into Jac’s. And it might be the only time she ever got a chance to cross over. She wanted the experience to be memorable.

  As Jac drew her into the shower, she felt the tingles surge up her outstretched leg. It felt nice. Then, as her torso shifted forward to follow her leg, the buzz overwhelmed her. Her vision went white, like a fade out in a movie. The time it took to put her foot down again seemed to take five times as long as it should. Her ears hurt. The buzz was deafening and right inside her ear, not coming from somewhere outside of her, as she’d experienced it the last time.

  Cara could feel Jac’s arm in hers, feel his comforting presence, but she couldn’t see him. She couldn’t even twist her head to the side to look at him. Then, when the pain in her ears got almost unbearable, the step was completed, and they left the light and the buzz behind.

  Taking a deep breath, she looked around her.

  Jac had told her what to expect about so much in this new world. But being told, and actually experiencing it, was worlds apart. Literally. She felt Jac squeeze her arm, to reassure her, and she turned her head to look up at him.

  ‘Geez Louise, this is …’

  ‘Yeah, it is,’ he finished for her, with a laugh.

  They stood in a huge cavern, hundreds of feet high and wide, illuminated by glowing threads of light running across all the stone surfaces in undulating waves. In combination, the threads made it as bright as midday, but she knew that it could be anytime. They were hundreds of feet below ground.

  On the huge expanse of beautiful, marble floor, was row after row of computer terminals unlike anything she had ever seen. It was only because Jac had told her what to expect that she could label them as computers, because they made all the SF movies she’d ever watched seem unimaginative.

  It was hard to even fully comprehend what she was seeing around her. Everything was so different, so unimaginable. It was like comparing the first telephone with an iphone. Unimaginably different. But, by labelling things with words that were as close to what she knew, she got some measure of control over the visual onslaught.