Emperors of Time (4 page)

“Touche,”
granted Tim.  “Sounds like you didn’t have too much trouble adjusting,
then?”

“Except for
where I was supposed to sit.  In most classes I just stood around at the
back of the room until someone said, ‘Julie, aren’t you going to sit down?’ and
pointed to my seat or something, or I waited until only one seat was
open.  Only the math teacher had to call me out for sitting in the wrong
place, and I made up for it later by, you know…  being a math whiz.”

Tim
chuckled.  “Sure.  So…  back to your checklist, it sounds like
Rose would be a good confidante, since she’s your best friend,” he
paused.  “By the way.  Why did you tell me?  I mean, I can’t be
the only person you know who could tell you who the 17th President was, right?”

“Yeah, I…” Julie
hesitated.  “I’m starting to think it didn’t happen in this timeline.”

“What didn’t?”
Tim asked.

“Doesn’t
matter.  We’ll talk about it another time, okay?  Right now, I need
to go watch evening television with my family.  Apparently that’s
something we do in this timeline.  Weird.  But tomorrow, you’ve got
to meet Rose, okay?  I think she’ll be good to help us with this, and also
she really does play a mean card game.  Maybe you can walk home with me
after school again and we can figure out the best way to break all this to
her.  You in?” she asked.

Tim decided not
to press the topic of why she trusted him.  She was right that there were
other things to be thinking about at the moment.  And while it did seem
weird to be focusing on following Hopkins’ instructions so closely, he was the
only person Tim had heard of who seemed to understand what this time travel was
all about.  Tim figured he should try to stop his head from spinning with
ideas of other timelines, Julie’s unknown motives, and super powerful
microchips that could alter time.  For now, he would just focus on the two
steps they could understand right now.  Get two more confidantes and dig
next to the oak tree.  All the rest, he hoped, would make sense in due
time.  “Yeah, sure…  I’m in.”

Not a lot happened
the next day at school.  Julie was her normal self and started finding
people who talked back to her when she said hi, instead of just looking at her
like a weirdo.  By the break between third and fourth period, Tim saw her
joking with a bunch of the popular kids, including Billy Connell, a senior from
the basketball team.  Julie waved at Tim as he passed, but Tim just gave a
curt nod, not because he was angry or anything, but because some of those kids
made him nervous.  To be honest, as much as Tim liked talking to Julie, he
wasn’t so loquacious around too many other people.

At lunch, as
always, they sat together.  Today, Julie appeased Sam by sitting in her
normal seat.  They had a relaxing conversation on topics ranging from how
well Sam had done at dodgeball to what strange species of mold might be growing
in Bridget’s locker (She had packed a lunch two weeks ago and never taken it
home.  The consensus opinion was that her salami sandwich would be a
particularly appealing environment for mold).  At the end of the day,
Julie and Tim met in the lobby again.

“So, I texted
Rose,” Julie stated, as they walked through the doors.  “We’ll meet her at
her place.”

“But you haven’t
told her why we’re meeting yet?”

“Right. 
All she knows is that I want her to meet my friend Tim from school,” Julie
confirmed.

“Yeah… 
It’s probably not the kind of thing you want to drop on someone in a text
message, anyway,” said Tim.  “What’s she like?  Like is she generally
pretty quirky?”

Julie
laughed.  “Yeah, I guess.  It wouldn’t be any fun being her friend if
not, would it?”

“Maybe she’ll
just buy it, then, at least at first.  There’s two of us who are saying
it’s true, at least.  Or were you planning another space-time field trip
for us?”

“I think time
travel will be tough to swallow, even for Rose.  But I don’t want to do it
again right now.  My Mom almost saw us, and that definitely would have
changed events.  Maybe if we tell her where the stuff Hopkins buried for
me is hidden, and dig it up with her?  It’ll be pretty obvious the area
hasn’t been dug up recently, so she’ll know it can’t have been us who put it
there,” said Julie.

“Yeah, but she
also knows time travel is impossible.  It’s one of those things you have
to see to believe.  It would seem more likely that we were playing the
long game and buried something a couple months ago.  Depends how much she
trusts you, I guess,” shrugged Tim.  “But it should be enough to keep her
on the hook.  We’re probably going to need to go back at least once, but
maybe with both the people we tell.  Have you decided who the second one
will be?”

“I was thinking
about Billy,” responded Julie.

“Wait… 
Billy Connell?  Our basketball team’s star player?” asked Tim, surprised.

“Yeah. 
He’s a good guy,” said Julie defensively.  Tim imagined she must have
picked up on his skepticism. 

“Really? 
Seems like kind of a goofball to me,” Tim pressed, thinking about how Billy
tended to behave in French class. 

“Well, sure,
sometimes…  But he can be serious when he has to.  I’ve seen it,”
argued Julie.

“Maybe in your
timeline,”

“Seriously, I
talked to him today before school and during a break.  He seems like the
same person, and we were close in my timeline.  Plus, it’s pretty clear
we’re good friends in this timeline, too.  Would the me in this timeline
be friends with someone who wasn’t trustworthy?” she asked.

“Whatever,” said
Tim, after a pause.  “It’s your decision, anyway.  I just hope you’re
right, ‘cause this would be a pretty sucky thing to screw up on.”

“You’ll see,”
insisted Julie.

They walked in
silence. 

“Sorry,” said
Tim, after a little while.

“Don’t be. 
We’re both having weird weeks.  Just trust me, though,” she said.  In
spite of the conciliatory words, her voice still sounded a bit hard.

They walked a
little longer in silence.

“So what’s this
war with Russia about, then?” asked Julie.  “I mean, I saw it in the
newspaper but…  like I said, it wasn’t happening in the timeline I came
from.”

“Right, okay,”
said Tim, glad to be talking about politics, which was something he liked, rather
than about Billy Connel, which was something he didn’t.  “Here’s
Geopolitics 101.  After The Great War -- you said you guys had that in
your timeline, too, right?  1914-1919?  1916-1919 for American
involvement?”

“In ours it was
over in 1917.  But yeah, Teddy Roosevelt led it,” she said.

“Well, Teddy
Roosevelt was president earlier for us,” said Tim.  After thinking for a
couple seconds he said, “1901-1909.  Our president in the Great War was
Charles E. Hughes.  We contributed loads of troops and basically won the
war.  During the peace talks, we took Croatia and Bosnia from the
Austro-Hungarians, to give us a territory on the Mediterranean Sea.  That
was the first real step toward an American Empire.  I mean, sure, we’d
taken the Philippines, Hawaii, Puerto Rico and stuff like that beforehand, but
this is really what got us involved in Europe’s business for good.”

“We gained land
in Europe from the Great War too, in my timeline,” noted Julie.

 “So fast
forward about a hundred years.  We’ve gotten more territory around the
world, including some that we acquired via Japan after they won them from
European colonial powers.  New Zealand, Vietnam, India, and Japan itself,
of course, but we’ve also lost some territory, like Croatia and Bosnia, to the
Russians.  Now we’re at war with them over China and the Middle
East.  We’re allied with the French, but they’re more concerned with their
African colonies.  So, it’s mostly us against the Russians.  The
war’s basically fought overseas, but every once in a while a few missiles make
it past the defense system.  That’s when the red lights go off.”

“So that’s what
they’re for?”

“Yeah. 
There’s at least one in every classroom, every home, every church, every
business.  Most places have alarms, too, but the red light is
mandatory.  Duck and cover if they blink red.  Most of the times that
works, unless it hits your building directly.”

“What kind of
missiles?” asked Julie.

“Just regular
missiles.  They hit the ground, level the area, leave a crater.  Far
better to have the missile defense system shoot them down over the sea,
although you’ve got to figure at some point the ocean’s going to get
crowded.  I’ve heard there are projects in the works to start reclaiming
some of the metal.  Probably to use it again to make more weapons,” said
Tim. 

“That’s a
cheerful thought,” said Julie with an eye roll.  “Anyway, we’re almost
there.  By the way:  Her name’s Rose.  You are under no
circumstances, like… ever…  to call her Rosie.  She
will
slap
you.  It’s happened to me.”

“Good to know,”
said Tim.  They were nearing Julie’s house now.

“And speaking of
names, she calls me July.  She misread it off of a birthday party
invitation I sent her when we were both, like, six, and it’s stuck.  She
wanted to know why July’s birthday party was in October.  But anyway,
don’t get confused:  she knows who I am now, she just calls me by the
wrong name,” Julie said, intentionally over explaining as if this were all very
tricky.

“I think I’ve
got it,” said Tim with a smile.  “Although I’ll still call you Julie.”

She
smiled.  “Rose lives in that yellow one there.”  And sure enough,
when they reached that house and stopped in front of it, a pretty blonde girl
walked out the front door to meet them. 

She immediately
shook Tim’s hand.  “The famous Timothy, I presume,” she said. 
“July’s told me all about you.  Tim
is
short for Timothy, right?”

“Er… 
Yeah.” 

Rose
smiled.  “You guys want to come in?  I’ve got some lemonade and
chips, I think.”

“Okay, this is
going to sound weird, but…  we need to dig something up in my
backyard.  We can explain while we’re digging,” said Julie apologetically.

“That
does
sound
weird, but in kind of a delightful way,” said Rose.  “Maybe I should still
bring the lemonade, it’s kind of warm out, so we could use the refreshment.”

Julie nodded,
and Rose ran quickly back into the house. 

“So we’re just
kind of going for it, in terms of telling her?” asked Tim, who had assumed
maybe he would meet her first and they could bring up the topic of time travel
another day.  After all, his testimony wouldn’t bear much weight on the
same day they met.

“Might as well,”
said Julie.  “She’ll be skeptical, but she’ll stick around long enough to
find out we’re telling the truth.  I’ve been her best friend for, like, a
decade.”

If Tim wanted to
say anything else, he was saved the trouble by Rose coming back out of the
house at that moment, carrying a big pitcher of lemonade and some paper
cups. 

Tim offered to
carry the pitcher for her, and they made their way to Julie’s house. 

“I cleared this
with my parents last night.  I said it was for a social studies project on
archaeology.  They think we’re looking for arrowheads, so they say
anywhere within the fenced in back yard is okay.  Luckily, that’s where
our oak tree is,” explained Julie.

“So this
isn’t
for school, then?” asked Rose curiously.

“No,” said Julie
hesitantly.  Tim figured she was judging how much to say right away.

“So what
are
we
looking for then?” she asked.  “Oooh!  I know!  Is it buried
treasure?”

“Not that
either,” said Julie, as she opened the gate.  There were already little
trowels on the patio, and they put the lemonade and cups on a picnic
table.  “Do you want to listen to a story that’s going to sound super
crazy?”

“Always!” Rose
answered brightly. 

“Okay, well,
here goes,” said Julie, with a glance at Tim.  “Go ahead and jump in if I
forget something important.”  But she didn’t.  And to her credit,
Rose listened to the whole story patiently, right up to the point where Julie
finished by saying, “And so I figure whatever Hopkins buried should be right
about… there.”  She pointed to a patch of grass near the oak tree.

Rose thought
about all this for a minute.  She turned to Tim.  “So you were with
her when she time travelled in her room?”

“Yeah,” Tim
nodded.

“And it actually
happened?  She’s not nuts?” asked Rose.

“Nope,” said
Tim.  “That is:  It did actually happen, and she’s not nuts.”

“Well…  If
this is a prank, I don’t believe you yet.  I want to see what’s buried
first, and then maybe later I’ll touch this…  magical medallion…  and
see what happens,” said Rose.

“Fair enough,”
Julie agreed.

“I mean, I’m not
gullible.  Just hopeful.  How cool would it be if this was actually
true?  Either way, it certainly beats your average Wednesday
afternoon.  But we’ve wasted enough time gabbing, yeah?  We should be
saving the world!  So, let’s dig this sucker up,” Rose suggested.

Each of them
grabbed a trowel and went to the spot where Hopkins’ message was meant to be
buried.

“Well, the grass
has certainly been here for awhile,” said Rose, as they struggled to dig
through the grass’s network of roots.  “And I’ve never noticed this area
being dug up.  I don’t think there’s ever been more than a month when I
haven’t been back here, either.”

Julie
nodded. 

“I don’t know why
Hopkins had to bury it though,” said Tim as he began to sweat from the exertion
of breaking through grass, roots, and packed dirt. 

“I thought about
that,” Julie said.  “But I figure if he put it in the house or something,
somebody else would have found it before me and gotten rid of it.”

“Fair point,”
agreed Tim.

It was a short
time before Rose hit a piece of metal.  The three were just beginning to
excitedly dig faster to uncover the rest of it when Mikey came through the
gate.

“Thought I heard
people back here,” said Mikey.  “Mom said they could help you dig even
before they got home?”

“Yes, Mikey,”
said Julie, with a heavy sigh.

Rose looked up
from her digging and said, “I don’t know why she’s so hard on you, Mikey. 
I wish I had a little brother.”

Mikey considered
this for a moment and then said, “Whatever.  I’m going to go play some
videogames.”

“That’s cool,”
said Rose.  She smiled at Tim as Mikey went into the house.  “That
kid thinks I’m ridiculous.  I’m always nice to him and he doesn’t know
what to do with it.  He probably still thinks that girls have cooties.”

Tim
nodded.  “You’re an only child?” he asked.

“Yeah. 
Just me and my Mom,” she said. 

“Come on…” Julie
coaxed.  “We can chat later…  Let’s dig this thing out.  I’m
kind of curious what Hopkins has to say.  Like you said, Rose, we
are
talking
about potentially saving the world here.”

After finding
the first bit of metal, it took another half hour to dig the rest of the tin
box out of the ground.  But when they finally did, they opened it and
found a journal inside.

“Well, July,
Timothy, this little adventure has already exceeded my expectations,” Rose
registered cheerfully.  “I didn’t think there’d be anything buried here at
all.”

Julie opened the
book to the first page.

The three
gathered around it and began to read what it said.

Dear Julie
and Friends,

The purpose
of this journal is to give you a puzzle and the clues to solve it.  When
Julie visited me, I was setting right the timeline that had been altered by
Lincoln’s survival. 

As I suspected,
no sooner had I gotten back than the Emperors of Time, my former colleagues on
the Tempus project, figured out what I had done and began creating a new
historical timeline that would get them back into power.