“Just ignore that and keep going,” I said. “Danetta, get in.” The pounding on the front door continued.

She grabbed the case of money and walked as quickly as its weight allowed.

The controls on the older panel came back to me, and I managed to set the date and time and get her on her way. Chura and Chethra stood slackjawed as they watched her disappear in a shimmer of light. Although they had made jumps of their own, they never had seen one in person. I remembered how jarring it was the first time I saw a human being replaced by air.

The pounding from the front door grew louder. I couldn’t make out what the voices were saying. Still on the waiting room chairs, Theo managed to yell, “We don’t want what you’re sellin’!”

Chura went next followed by Chethra.

Just as Chethra dematerialized, a loud crashing sound came from the front room. Had someone smashed their way in? We had shut the door to the lab, so I couldn’t see what was happening.

I walked to the chamber, which I could control from the inside now. As I set it to follow me, I heard Theo again, but not loud enough for me to make out the words. I started the jump sequence.

“Git back here, you sumbitch!” Theo yelled. A loud bout of coughing followed.

Staring out from the chamber, I saw Glock come through the lab door, his shirt ripped in three places and both his pant legs shredded from the knee down. In the distance behind him was Speel, tending to Theo. Both of the agents had outlived their skyporter. I waved goodbye to Glock as the tingle of time’s pull shot through my body. I plunged into a depthless black, then a blinding white.

——-

“So quiet,” Chura said.

Danetta gazed skyward. “All I can hear are the birds and the breeze,” she said. She sat on the ground, both hands on the cash.

Chethra said, “Well, now it’s my turn to pee in these woods. Don’t worry, Danetta, I’m not going to steal your thunder by writing a note.” Her feet rustled away to find a private spot.

I knew we couldn’t relax long, but I needed to rest. I sat, leaned back against a tree, and closed my eyes, just taking deep breaths. Although the air was better in our time than before Danetta’s note, it was nothing like what filled my lungs as I dozed in and out of consciousness. I was vaguely aware of the planning going on after Chethra’s return. I wasn’t the brains behind the next part of the operation.

“So, do you know where you’re going first?” I asked.

“Well, first we have to get down off this mountain. The floodwaters don’t reach here,” Danetta said.

“Why don’t we count the money? Find out what we have to offer,” I said.

“I’ll do it,” Chura said. She looked at Danetta, who pushed the case her direction.

Chethra kicked the gravel parking lot, sending gray rocks pinging off the Jeep CJ-6’s hubs. “How likely is it that Time Code Enforcement will follow us here?” she asked.

“Not very. I left nothing that would tell them where or when we are. They don’t know the plan,” I said.

“Unless your hurt friend says something,” Chethra said.

“I know Theo well enough to tell you that he’s not telling them anything.”

“Unless they know what we’re up to, Chethra, there’s no reason for them to think we would come back here,” Danetta said.

I sat as Chura counted and the two sisters argued back and forth about the possibility of getting caught. They had 24 hours to accomplish their goal and get back to our time without dying, and they were worried about whether or not the law was on their tail. Obviously I was the only one around who had just been chased and nearly killed by a skyporter, and then narrowly missed by one of the robot agents that somehow survived a horrific crash.

Then there was Theo. I hoped that whatever we did this time would not result in his paralysis and possibly death. Then I smiled as I imagined Glock and Speel getting an earful of cowboy-cussing back in the time lab.

“So, what do we do about this thing?” Chethra asked, looking directly at me. She stood near the time chamber, it’s anachronistic gleam setting it well apart from its new surroundings.

I thought for a moment. “Not much hope covering it up. It’s too heavy to move.” I looked at the Jeep. “Unless.”

“You’re going to drive that thing?” Chethra asked.

Chura stopped counting the cash. “What? That sweeps! Can I ride?”

“We’re all going to need to ride in it to get off this mountain,” I said.

“You can start it?” Danetta asked.

“I can hotwire it. Something Theo taught me on one of our jumps.”

“Using it as a means of transportation is one thing. I’d rather you not use it to drag our hope for escape across the ground,” Danetta said.

“That chamber is resilient. It’s made to resist a lot of tampering,” I said. “We know from experience that we have at least three hours before that Jeep’s owner comes back.” I checked the Jeep’s doors. Unlocked. There was a toolbox in the back, next to a large tarp.

“Chura, take this screwdriver. There is a guest registration box not far down the trail. Use this to get into it and see if the Jeep people are staying overnight.” Some hikers filled out the voluntary cards, used by authorities in case anybody went missing, and for statistics on trail use. It was worth a try.

Then, to Danetta and Chethra, “You go leave your note just like you did before, and you help me move the time chamber.”

Chura and Danetta scampered across the road and onto the trail. Chura turned and shouted back, “Hey, guys, we have $160,000 so far. Is that a lot?”

Everybody looked at me. “Yes, that’s a lot,” I said.

Chethra and I spread out the tarp from the Jeep, then managed to tip the time chamber over and on top of it. We grabbed the tarp and tugged. The leaves providing a good sledding surface, we dragged the chamber far enough down the hill that it wasn’t visible from the parking lot. Danetta returned in time to help us fold up the tarp.

“So, do you feel like you just changed history — again?” I asked.

She just gave me a smirk and threw the tarp into the back of the Jeep.

Chura came running back across the road from the trailhead. “Hey, the latest card I see was filled out this morning, and says they’re doing a two-night backpacking trip.”

“Good news for us,” I said. “Okay, I’ve taken care of my end, the transportation. Now let’s execute this scheme you ladies hatched.”

We all climbed inside the Jeep, the case of cash now in the back where Chura could continue counting. I leaned down and, using pliers and a screwdriver from the toolbox, started work on hotwiring the Jeep. Let’s see, how was that? Red wire? Blue wire? Something about a solenoid…

A half hour and much brow sweat later, I still didn’t have the thing started. The sisters had exited the vehicle and were pacing, while Chura sat in the passenger’s seat watching me intently.

In a mocking tone, Chethra said, “I’ve taken care of my end, the transportation.”

“That’s enough,” Danetta said.

Chura chimed in. “Mom, give him a break.” She turned to me and whispered, “Falcon, you’ve done this before, right?”

“Well, Theo showed me how once, and it was on a much different type of vehicle.” Why did I find it easy to confide in a child? “Ummm… how much money did you say we have?”

“$225,000.”

“I can’t believe it. I’m sitting on that much cash in 1970 and here I am busting my ass to start a Jeep. Here goes.” I put my foot on the accelerator and pushed, then crossed the wires.

The engine rumbled to life. I gave the gas pedal a few pumps to make sure I had Chethra’s attention. That woman made me want to be a petty man.

“That sweeps!” Chura shouted.

The others climbed back in and I drove us down the narrow, winding dirt road. My display’s guidance system didn’t work without the proper satellites in orbit. Instead, I relied on the primitive compass mounted on the Jeep’s dash.

We passed a small, one-room church and a smattering of rundown houses. Some of the structures looked like a moderate wind would topple them. A few featured a red flag, with dark blue stripes forming an X filled with white stars.

“Oh, no, this is not good. I should have thought of this.”

“What is it, Aunt Danetta?”

“You know that flag we’ve been seeing?”

We all answered with a variety of affirmatives.

“Well, that’s a flag used by the Confederates in the U.S. Civil War.”

“That was, what, a hundred years ago?” Chethra asked.

“Sure, but people tucked up in these mountains might not like us much. To them, we’ll look like what they call black people.”

“But everyboy in the world looks like us,” Chura said.

“Not yet,” I said.

“Whoa. I guess I never realized just how far back we jumped,” Chura said.

This wasn’t a fun new wrinkle. Unless the locals were blinded by the color green on the cash, ours might be a cause with a helpless champion. I downshifted the Jeep as we started a steep descent. “A dog without teeth,” I said.

“What?” the ladies asked, almost in unison.

(continue on to Part 12)