The Sphere: A Journey In Time (9 page)

"Release Subject 34 records to Adelaide MacDuff, authority two charlie whiskey five, James Grovner."

It unnerved me to hear him refer to Noah as a subject number.

"Do you want me to stay?" Jim said.

"No. I'll find you when I'm done." Jim stood and left, pausing for a moment to rest a hand on my shoulder and give it a soft squeeze. As soon as the door closed behind him I was back at the front of my chair. "Subject 34, file b."

Four images of the examination room came into view. In one of them, Doctor Crebbs was obviously out of her element. She stood back from the door, hesitating over what to do. Another camera showed that the aids from the first room were holding Noah's arms and trying to force him to the examination table. He freed one of his arms and ripped one of the hoses from one of the aides containment suit helmets. The man screamed and backed away, clearly afraid of exposing himself to something from Noah. The remaining aides tried to regain control of Noah. While he was distracted with the struggle, Doctor Crebbs injected something in his arm. He immediately started to calm and after a few seconds, collapsed into the arms of the aides. They kept him upright and moved him over to the examination table. Doctor Crebbs secured him to the table with some straps and the aides retreated. The file closed.

Doctor Crebbs accepted the risks associated with her position. She found the contamination suits unwieldy and too intrusive on the examination process. She liked to be able to interact with her patients directly. The aides were not as trusting of the medical process, with good reason. I had heard of a librarian who came back infected with the black plague. Our vaccine had not been adequate and when she realized that she was getting sick, she abandoned her mission and returned early for fear of being quarantined. She was in bad shape when she reappeared and the aides were afraid to go near her. It was at that point that they had requested the containment suits. They also argued that we should go through our decontamination process immediately, but the scientists in charge wanted to know if we brought something back.

"Subject 34, file c." Again, four images of the examination room came into view.

"This is Doctor Crebbs. DNA analysis confirms patient is Noah Kent. Patient-" Doctor Crebbs had been dictating to the recorders but was interrupted by another voice I didn't recognize.

"Pardon Doctor, repeat that please?"

"Patient is Noah Kent. Patient bone and tissue samples compared with initial indoctrination samples indicate an aging of about seventy-two years." I heard something that sounded like a swear from the other voice before the mic cut out. "Patient is suffering from severe disorientation and malnutrition. 0952, attempting to restore consciousness." She approached Noah with another injector. Noah started coming to, but before his eyes even opened he started to scream again. "Restoring sedation." I forced myself to listen to the screams. It didn't sound like screams of pain, but I couldn't be sure. The file ended again with Noah settling back down into sleep.

The next file was a reawakening of Noah, but this time he didn't start screaming. He cried. There was a strange looking helmet on his head. In Subject 34, file e, Doctor Crebbs was trying to talk to Noah. His face was blank. It was as if he didn't even know she was there. "Subject 34, file a."

The images of the White Box came into view again. When Noah stared out at the aide retreating with the sphere I paused the image. He wasn't looking at the aide, he was looking at the sphere. The sphere was the only thing he had had in his hands on his return, which implied this wasn't a planned return. We weren't supposed to leave anything behind. There was something about his stare that gave me the feeling he knew exactly where he was. "Jim."

The door opened behind me almost immediately. Jim had not gone far. He walked to the side of his desk and looked down at me but didn't say anything. I stood to meet his gaze. The shock and fear were gone. This was business again. Though I cared immensely for Noah, I wanted nothing more than to find out what had happened. My researcher instincts had kicked in. "I want to see him." Jim nodded once and led me out of the room.

Chapter 9

Jim led me down the hall away from his office. He motioned to a door and nodded to the guard, then walked further down the hall, leaving me with the guard. No doubt Jim was heading to a room somewhere to watch my reunion with Noah. I waited till Jim was out of sight, stalling my entry. I wasn't sure what I was going to say to Noah, but I knew there was no point in further delaying it, so I turned to the door and nodded to the guard. He opened it to let me in. Noah was sitting in an armchair when I entered in the room. His arms gripped the sides of the chair.

I paused just inside the doorway. I heard the guard close it behind me. Noah made no move to look at me or acknowledge my presence in any way. Fear gripped me in place. This man I had known for years was foreign to me. He had exhibited violent behavior. I hadn't thought to ask if he was still under sedation. I knew there were guards just outside the door. If I screamed, how long would it take them to get in here? If I was able to get a scream out, at least. Someone must be watching. If I kept my distance and Noah made any sort of threatening move towards me, they'd be on their way in before he reached me.

The room was mostly empty. There was a cot along the far edge of the wall. The chair Noah sat in was next to a table, but he was turned away from it, facing a blank wall. His shoulders and head moved up and down ever so slightly with his breath. I forced myself to walk over to the other chair at the table. I stood behind it for a moment, gripping the back for support and just looked at him for a few moments. He didn't blink. He didn't look at me. Nothing changed about his demeanor. I pulled the chair out from the table. The wooden legs made a scraping noise against the floor. I sat and again was still for a moment to watch him.

This was not my Noah. He was completely different. He looked weak and tired. Yet behind the fatigue his eyes were wild. I found it hard to believe that this was the same person I had lunch with just over a week ago. It took every ounce of courage I had to speak his name. "Noah." I didn't want him to react. I didn't want it to be true. This couldn't possibly be him.

His breathing paused for a moment. He blinked once then returned to his previous state. It was definitely a reaction, but I wasn't sure exactly what it was a reaction to.

"Noah, it's Adelaide." Again he paused. I thought I saw activity behind his eyes as though he was processing the information, but it had no impact and his breathing pattern reverted to its first state. My voice was a little more urgent, "It's Addy, Noah."

Once more he paused. When he began breathing again though, the breaths were more accelerated. His eyes moved around but still seemed unfocused. He was thinking. It was clear, he was thinking about something. "Addy." He didn't look at me. "Addy?" His breathing paused again. A pained look covered his face and he slowly turned his head to look at me.

I wanted to cry, and I wasn't sure if it was due to joy or pain. "Yes, it's me, Addy." I tried to look kind and smile, but I was sure I was failing.

"Addy." he said again. He looked more intently at me, like he was trying to see something in my face. "Why are you familiar?" He looked me up and down then focused on my face again.

"Because we're friends. We've been friends for five years."

His expression changed to one of distrust. "An impossibility."

"Well, I mean, we were friends. Many years ago." From his point of view it would've been.

He looked me over again. "You are far too young to be a friend of mine. And you certainly are not from Salem." His gaze wandered around the room. "What is this place? I wish to return to my home."

"Noah, this is your home."

He stood up from his chair and yelled, "My name is not Noah!"

I could almost hear the gasp I tried to subdue echoed in the other room by Jim. This was Noah. There was no doubt about that in my mind any more. But it seemed like trying to convince him of that was a pointless cause. Instead I thought I'd play along for now. "Then who are you?"

His breathing was still heavy with anger. "My name is Doctor Montgomery Welsher. And I demand that you return me to my home."

My brain tried to grasp this new information. Montgomery Welsher was the name Noah used on missions. It was the same as the gardener's. He used it because it was familiar to him and for most missions he'd been on, time period appropriate. I couldn't think of anything else to say and hoped my legs would hold out as I stood up from the chair. I wanted to stay on his good side at least. "I'll see what I can do."

Jim was waiting outside the door. "We need more information. How did he get here? What does he remember? What has he been doing these past seventy-two years? We need a general timeline of his life to get an idea for where things went wrong."

I flattened my hand against the wall for support. My head was spinning. How could Noah have forgotten who he really was? "Jim, I need a minute."

"Of course." He put his arm around my shoulders and led me to a bench a little ways down the hall. He produced a glass of water from thin air and handed it to me. I tried to steady my breathing and drink the water. "You realize you're the best person for this task."

I nodded. From what I had seen, I was the only person Noah had spoken anything coherent to so far.

"We have to be better informed before we can decide what to do next," Jim said.

I nodded again.

"Find out what he remembers."

I finished my water and handed the glass back to Jim before rising and going back to the door. The guard opened it and I took a deep breath before going in again.

Noah had been rocking in his chair with his arms wrapped around him. When I entered the room his rocking paused, but he kept his arms wrapped around himself. He looked at my warily. "Are you going to send me home?"

"It's not my decision." I sat down in the chair at the table again and looked at him. He looked at me with a terribly distraught face. "Look, No-," I paused for a moment after realizing I nearly called him Noah. "Montgomery, I need you to trust me. I know you don't remember me, but I am your friend and I want nothing more than to help you."

"Then tell me something. Demonstrate your trust in me and I will return it in kind."

I tried to proceed with caution and keep my voice as gentle as possible. "What do you want to know?"

"How did I come to be in this place?"

Of course. At least I could be partially honest about this one. "I'm not entirely sure. What's the last thing you remember?"

He sighed in frustration. "I had retired to my study. I was reading an essay by my good friend, James Otis. My granddaughter entered and asked to borrow my magnifying glass. I went to open my case and in the course of removing the glass, I knocked a little metal sphere onto the ground. It rolled under my desk. My granddaughter fetched it for me and I traded her the magnifying glass. I went to return the sphere back to my case and suddenly found myself here."

I couldn't move or speak. Granddaughter? I tried to put that aside and focus. "Tell me about the sphere."

"It is just a metal sphere. It had been in my case since..." He frowned. "Well let me think. I acquired it at..." He trailed off again lost in thought.

"Montgomery do you remember your childhood?"

He looked down at the floor and seemed to struggle. "I…do not."

“Do you remember how you ended up in Salem?”

He was silent and squirmed in his chair. His eyes widened with fear and confusion.

I had to try and calm him down again. "Tell me about your wife."

"Oh, Marie." He relaxed a little. "She is a blessed woman. She has been such a good mother, and an excellent homemaker." He smiled for the first time since he came back, but it was quickly replaced with a frown. "I hope she is well."

"How many children do you have?"

"Two. My daughter, Juliet, and son, Thomas. Juliet has two daughters, my two grandchildren."

"I'm sure they're all doing fine." I smiled, willing him to relax.

"What is this place?"

I hesitated and glanced around the room, wondering what they would want me to say. Technically, Noah already knew this. "The future."

He looked at me like I was crazy. "Whose future?"

"Where were you born? What are your parents' names? Surely I can't be the first person who's asked you this."

"What has happened to me?"

"I don't know." It was the truth. I had no idea why he wouldn't come back when he was supposed to. Perhaps he was in an accident and lost his memory. He had no idea what the sphere was for, but had felt compelled to keep it. "What is your earliest memory?"

"There was a woman. I woke up from a sleep and there was a woman in the house with me. She thanked me. I explained to her that I did not know what she was thanking me for and she said she knew. Then she departed. I wandered out of the house and another man found me, a doctor. He seemed to be familiar with me, he told me he was my employer. I had no choice but to believe him. I went to work for him and hoped that in time things would be clear again. I never saw the woman again."

So he didn't remember what the sphere was for. "You did something to the sphere, didn't you? Just before you came here?"

He lowered his head and pressed his fingers against his temples. "I honestly do not remember. I was thinking about it as I went to put it back, I remember that. Perhaps I did." He raised his head again and shook it. "Those last few minutes are difficult to remember."

I tried a smile. "You've been very helpful, Montgomery. I'm sorry I can't explain more right now, but I'll do everything I can to get you back to your family." As I stood up from my chair I hoped I hadn't just lied to Noah.

When I got to the hall one of the guards motioned for me to follow him. I was led to a room a few doors down. Inside were Jim and a bunch of people I didn't know, sitting around a large table wearing more formal clothes. I guessed they were Jim's bosses and heads of the lab. I couldn't pick one out that I recalled seeing in the habitat domes. In the middle of the large conference table a video display showed that Noah had returned to his seat. He was hugging himself and slightly rocking back and forth. Jim nodded to an empty chair next to him and as quietly as possible I took it. Everyone's gaze followed me as I took my seat. It was unnerving. I preferred to not see the people who were keeping track of me.

A woman across the table sat up in her chair, leaned her elbows on the table and tented her fingers in front of her throat. She was dressed in a severe, stark manner and the look she gave me matched. I didn't know if she was expecting me to speak and I glanced at Jim with concern. His face was blank and he looked back at the woman as she started to speak. "Well Miss MacDuff. It looks like we have a problem on our hands. What do you suggest we do about Mr. Kent?"

I was surprised to be asked my opinion, and positive they wouldn't like it. "We have to send him back to when he left."

"There's only one sphere. We'd lose it."

I tried to sound confident in my idea. "Send a scout back first. A few minutes before you plan to send Noah back. He'll wait for Noah then come back with the extra sphere later."

"The timelines don't work that way. We'd end up creating an alternate timeline and he wouldn't come back here. We'd still lose the sphere."

"But you send scouts back to the same point all the time."

"Scouts are trained very thoroughly on how to perform their missions. I don’t have time to explain to you the physics of multiple spheres overlapping, and the potential danger that puts them in."

A man further down the table cleared his throat and spoke up. "We have to send someone back to when he was supposed to return, to prevent this from happening to Noah at all."