A Loop in Time (4 page)

When Granger arrived at the Colonel’s office, Dr. Ralston, Major Stubs and Corporal Mortenson were already there. Granger was hesitant to enter, but the Colonel said, “Come on in, Lieutenant, this involves you, also.”

The office was sparse as the Colonel did not like a lot of clutter. There was one window to the side of the desk that let in light, and two florescent lights hanging from the ceiling. One bookcase on the opposite side of the desk from the window and one M-16 rifle was leaning against the corner within easy reach.

“Yes, Sir,” Granger said as he entered the room.

“As I was saying,” Ralston continued. “There is a major push to reopen Route 13. That is going to mean casualties and a lot of them are going to be sent here. I am going to need all of the beds that I have and I see no need to have a healthy amnesiac or a spy taking up space.”

“Excuse me sir, but Sergeant Johnson is no longer taking up space, and before you release the prisoner, I need to show you this.” Granger put the ring on the Colonel’s desk. “Please notice the year on the ring.”

The Colonel picked it up and read out loud, “2010. Is this some type of a joke?”

“2010 fits our timeline very well. Four years out of the academy and he could be flying test planes. They like the test pilots young,” the Corporal said.

“What time line?” The Colonel’s cheeks were starting to get red.

The Major put the equipment ID plates on the desk. “Sir, we found interesting things when we went through the wreckage. I brought the Corporal here to explain them to you.”

“If you look at the equipment tags, you will see manufacturing dates ranging from 2012 to 2014. Having a class ring with a graduation date of 2010 makes sense. This craft somehow has transcended time and crashed. We can only assume the pilot was looking at something in our time and then was going back to his time when the crash occurred. If you will also note, all of the parts were made in the United States. We do not think there was any hostile intent to these actions. The man is possibly trapped in our time, but they might send a rescue mission for him.”

The Colonel just stared at Phil for the longest time. He was gauging the man. When he finally spoke he said, “Do you believe that, or is this just part of an elaborate ruse?”

It was the Major who answered. “Sir, we sent a box for the Corporal to look at. His conclusion is that it is a fully operational computer, more powerful than our whole computer lab. Yet it was small enough to fit in the control panel of an airplane.”

“Yes, Sir,” the Corporal said. He sounded enthusiastic. “They have managed to miniaturize everything. The chips they have in that thing have more memory capacity than ten of the computers that we have here on base. If I were to replicate the amount of memory that one of their chips have, I would have to use up two entire rooms. I’m not talking about small rooms, either.”

It was hard for the Colonel to believe so he turned to the Doctor. “Is there any way that this John Doe could be faking amnesia, or could he be a plant?”

“Sir, no, to both questions. He was honestly hurt ejecting from that plane. You can’t fake that. As for the amnesia, I brought in a specialist to look at the patient. He
is
suffering from amnesia. He has all of the classic signs and symptoms.”

The Colonel looked at the ring again and compared it to his own. Then he looked at the equipment ID plates. He scratched his head.

“Begging your pardon, Sir,” Granger cut in. “There would be no reason for someone to fake all of this. It would cost thousands of dollars, maybe millions, to make a plane and then crash it. The patient, although not exactly cooperative, shows every indication of being an American.”

The Colonel looked up at Granger. “You, of all people, I thought would be the most skeptical.”

“I saw the look in the man’s eyes when he handed me that ring. He looked extremely worried about what he was revealing. I have seen the look before. It’s a look you cannot fake.”

“Well,” the Colonel said. He stopped. He looked around his office and then sighed. He kept silent for the longest time. When he finally did speak he said, “How am I going to put this into a report?”

They all started talking at once.

The doctor said, “Don’t do that; they will euthanize and dissect my patient.”

“That is a good way to end all of our careers,” the Major protested.

“No, the technicians will take all of these fun gadgets, then I will never be able to figure them out,” replied the Corporal.

“It would be a security nightmare,” said the Lieutenant. “If the press gets word of this, the base will be inundated twenty four seven.”

The Colonel waited for the group to stop its protesting before he asked, “Are you suggesting that I don’t report it?”

All of them replied, “Yes, Sir.”

“What do I tell the General about the wreckage recovery?”

“Why don’t you tell him it was a weather balloon? It worked at Roswell,” the Major suggested.

 “It didn’t work in Roswell because nobody believed them,” the Colonel reminded him.

“Begging your pardon, Sir,” the Lieutenant replied. “What if we turn all of the wreckage over to them, less the electronics, and say that it looks like someone piled a bunch of scraps in the shape of a plane and then exploded it to make it look like a plane crash. Then add that this stuff could not have come from a real airplane, obviously. Then say that the man we found was from a separate incidence. We believe he was part of a skydivers club, but we can’t say conclusively because he has amnesia and nobody has reported him missing yet.”

As the Colonel contemplated what Granger had said, the others were nodding their heads in approval. “It just might work. The truth is impossible, so we can give the General something that sounds possible as the truth.”

Everyone was in agreement. They all sat down and got their stories together so they could present the same exact story to anyone who would ask in the future.

Major Stubbs and Corporal Phil went back to the plane where they would purge the wreckage of anything that could reveal its real origin. Phil would store the stuff in a closet at the computer lab that only he had access to. It would give him time to look at it all, piece by piece.

 The Lieutenant went to check on his security detail and the doctor went back to the hospital to prepare for the new load of casualties that were going to be shipped in from Vietnam.

The Colonel sat down to type out his report. He could have his assistant do it, but this was too important and had to be worded just right. It was up to him to pass off the lie. They had to keep the truth hidden for the rest of his and everyone’s life time who had been in that room. The truth could simply not get out.

“Release him? Where is he going to go?” Susan asked. “He doesn’t know who he is. How is he supposed to find his family?” The doctor had come back to the hospital to ask Susan to get the patient ready to be released. 

“I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have any immediate family yet.”

“What does that mean?”

The doctor realized what he had said. “I mean, um, never mind what I mean. He will have to get a job, I guess. I have casualties coming soon and I need the bed. He is perfectly healthy, except for his amnesia. I guess he can do some yard work around my house. I don’t know otherwise.”

Susan was frustrated. Men were so insensitive. She was going to have to handle the situation herself. She went to grab John’s clothes out of the closet and started to bring them to him. They were burned, so she thought better of it. There was a small bit of a fabric ID badge on his flight suit. It only had an ‘R’ on it. The rest was burned too badly to read. She then realized that the flight suit had some type of flame retardant on it. It had burned, but he had not. The retardant had saved his life.

She went to the supply Sergeant. “I need some clothes for a six foot two male, average build.”

“This isn’t Montgomery Ward’s, Lady, you can’t just order clothes,” the Sergeant shot back.

“May I remind you, Sergeant, that I am a Lieutenant in the United States Army? I have a patient whose clothes were burned and they are unusable. He is to be released and I don’t want him leaving here in his underwear and a hospital gown. Is that clear?”

“Yes, Ma’am. Crystal clear.” He always tried to intimidate people who came into the supply hut. Sometimes it worked. This time it didn’t. He grumbled under his breath, but when he handed over the clothes, he managed a smile. “Here you go, Lieutenant. If they don’t fit, come back and we will fix it.”

He was being condescending, but she didn’t care, as long as she got the clothes.

She didn’t say a word, just stomped out of the hut and marched over to the hospital ward. She drew the curtain around John and handed him the clothes. “You are being released. Here are some clothes. If they do not fit, I don’t want to hear about it. You have no idea what I have gone through to get them.”

John looked shocked and worried at the same time, so she added. “You can stay at my place for a few days. The rules are, no hanky panky, don’t even think about it. You clean up after yourself and you help with the chores. It’s just until you can find a job and get your own place.”

“Um, okay, thank you. This is all so sudden. I thought that I would be here until I got my memory back. They don’t want to see me again?”

“No, this is a patch them up and send them home hospital and we are going to have a lot more soldiers to patch up in the next few days.” She smiled at him and then left him to get dressed.

When he finished he drew back the curtain. Susan and the doctor were both standing there when he walked out.

John was shocked when Dr. Ralston handed him back his ring. “You seem to be a pilot, Son. Perhaps you can go to the nearest flight school and get your license. I would hide that ring. If anyone asks, you were part of a parachute club. Don’t tell anyone about dates and times that are not in the here and now.”

“I don’t understand.” John said
. 

“You are not of this time; that much we have figured out. You need to make up the story of your life. Pick a name and adjust. You did not graduate from the Air Force Academy in 2010 because it hasn’t happened yet.”

John swallowed hard. “I see. Yes, I can figure out something. What about my memories?”

“You are probably better off without them,” the doctor replied and then walked off.

John was stunned that he would say something like that. Susan just patted his arm and said, “Come with me. My house is outside the base, so you will be able to come and go as you please.”

 “Thank you so much for doing this for me.” He was genuinely grateful.

“Just remember the rules.”

He smiled, “Yes, no hanky panky. I can remember that one.”

She smiled but said, “Yes, and don’t even think about it.”

“Yes, Ma’am.”

 They left out the front door. The Arizona sun hurt John’s eyes until he adjusted to it. It was so much brighter than the hospital ward. He looked around and noticed that everything looked so old and dated. He didn’t know what he expected, but this wasn’t it.

The base was made up of a dozen Quonset huts and had a chain link fence around it. A guard’s shack at the front entrance regulated traffic coming on and off the base. The area was barren. Except for a few scraggly bushes on the surrounding hillsides, there was no green at all.

Susan climbed in a Jeep and so John climbed in beside her. She ground the gears but finally got it into first and then gunned it. She only slowed down for the gate and then she sped through the small town that surrounded the base. The jeep was a military surplus with the white star on the hood and sides painted over with mismatched paint. The tires looked bald. He hardly had time to notice the surrounding hills full of low brush and dead grass.

John held his breath. It was not because she was going fast, but because she didn’t appear to be in control. He was relieved when they arrived at her house. The home was small and had a flat roof. The exterior was tan colored stucco. The doors and window seals didn’t look like they had been painted in a very long time. They had blue highlights that indicated that they were that color long ago, but now they were faded and peeling.

“I think I will drive from now on,” John said when he got out of the Jeep.

“You don’t have a license,” was her retort.

“How do you know? I might have one. I just don’t remember.”

“Let me put it this way, you don’t have a license in this century.”

“We don’t know that I am from the future.” He was amazed that she would say something like that. It may have been because he insulted her driving, but it was really bad.

“Put it this way, when I asked about your family Dr. Ralston said, ‘I am pretty sure he doesn’t have any immediate family yet.’ My guess is that they found something in the wreckage that they are not talking about. So I go with my previous statement, you don’t have a license in this century, Future Man.”

“If they thought that I was from the future, why did they release me?”

Susan decided to calm down. She knew her driving was bad, but she hated it when people insulted it anyway. She took a deep breath. “We are at war. The hospital is about to receive a lot of casualties from Vietnam. We needed the bed space. You were a healthy body in a much needed bed. You had to go.”

“Vietnam?”

Susan saw a flash of memory across his face. “Do you know about Vietnam? Do we win the war? What happens?”

“I’ve heard that name before, but it wasn’t associated with a good feeling so I think it does not end well, but I don’t know.”

“Tell me if you remember.” Susan opened the door to the house.

“I just need to say a couple of things,” John started out. “I don’t think you should call me Future Man. That could cause an uproar. Secondly, I don’t think I should be talking about the future. I could accidentally change it and it would destroy my own future.”

“Okay, no talking about the future, but what should I call you then?”

“I don’t mind John, but I am definitely not a Doe. How about John Buck?”

“Fine, John Buck, welcome to my home.”

They entered through the laundry room, where both the washer and the dryer were stacked with clothes, along with a heaping laundry hamper. The next room was the kitchen. It, too, was a mess with dishes stacked everywhere. The walls were all a drab off white color.

“If I had known that I was going to have company tonight, I would have cleaned up.” Susan was embarrassed. She didn’t remember leaving it this bad. The living room just had a couch and a chair, both of which were coved with throws. The parts that the throws did not cover were a faded green. The carpet was blue shag and very worn. There was a small television in the corner sitting on a metal shelf.

She led him down the hall into a cluttered room. It was half full of boxes. “I have this roll away bed for when my mother comes to visit. It is real uncomfortable. I like it that way because she doesn’t stay long because of it.” Susan undid the roll away and the room just had a narrow walkway with boxes on one side and the bed on the other. “My mother just finds an empty box to put her clothes in when she is here. I suggest you do the same. The bedroom on the other side of the hall is off limits and there is only one bath, so you will have to wait until I am done before you use it.”

“Got it,” John said with a smile. “Oh, and no hanky panky.”

“You just love saying that, don’t you?” Susan replied.

“It does have an old time nostalgic feel to it.” John was smiling when he said it.

“I am going to change. You can watch TV until I get back.”

“Sure, I will just find an empty box to put all of my extra clothes in,” John replied.

“Yeah, we will need to do something about that, but not today. I know you are not going to fit in any of mine. I can ask around. Just to get something to tide you over until you can get some money of your own.”

 “I was just kidding. Thank you for getting what you got. I will just go and watch TV.”

Susan smiled as she went to change.