Free Just in Time: Portals of Time by Kathryn Shay Page A

Dorian’s tone was matter-of-fact.
    “Her what?”
    “We’ll explain all that later.”
    Dorian asked, “Should we call Celi to participate in our explanation?”
    “All this turmoil has affected her greatly.” Alisha shook her head. “Let her sleep.”
    Rhea continued, “I’m going to give you some theories of time travel that were the basis for our experiments. I’ll explain the first with an illustration.”
    On a flat-topped surface, she laid out several twelve-inch-long threads. They were thick and comingled with each other. “The Institute’s research theorizes that time is a continuum, existing all at once.” She gestured to the threads. “The first third of these is the past, the middle the present and the rest the future.” She marked off each third with her hand. “Given this theory, it’s believed that travel among all three dimensions is possible.”
    No one spoke.
    “There are two distinct theories on traveling to the past. The most accepted one, and the one we’ve based our calculations on, is that it’s possible to backtrack into the past”—again she placed her finger on the last third of the threads and drew an imaginary arc in the air to the first—“and change only one thread.” She plucked out a silvery strand as an example. “The future will be altered for this particular aspect of society.” She gestured to what was left on the table. “These threads remain the same.”
    “That makes sense.” This from David, the pastor.
    “So if we go back to change one thing in the past, the future will be altered but not the entire future. Other threads, as I said, would remain intact.”
    Again, silence
    “But, of course, there’s the opposite theory of time travel—that the threads of time are weaved too tightly and no change can be brought about.”
    Luke raised a brow. “If that’s true, you can do nothing if Jess is really in trouble.”
    Alisha froze the chip. “The computeller predicts a ninety-nine point one percent probability that the past can be changed.” Her tone was hopeful. When Luke nodded, she started the video.
    The explanation began again. “There’s a final point that needs to be made. Some researchers contend there are paradoxes in time travel. One purports that if a person of the future goes back to change the past, and succeeds, he or she was meant to make the changes all along. That’s called the fatalist theory.”
    Alisha stopped the chip again. “Any questions?” she asked.
    “Uh, yeah! But keep going.” Luke’s tone remained skeptical.
    The recording began once more. “The computeller pinpoints the location of a portal. Picture it as a small break in the threads of time. This was part of the Institute’s discovery yearlings ago. Once again, video chips and some of the speculative fiction of your century show openings like this in time.”
    The presentation ended and a collective silence settled over the room.
    Alisha spoke again. “There’s more.” To the computer, she said, “Call up data used to show what happened originally.”
    “Affirmative.”
    The machine spun into a remarkable tale. Luke was prepared not to believe. But holy hell, if this was a hoax, it was pretty damn good. He gasped at one of the pictures. It was of him, holding…Lord, holding Jess and Helen’s daughter, Jessica. A beautiful baby in a tiny pink dress. Then it hit him. Jess was not in the picture with Helen and him.
    Jess was dead?
    He glanced at his brother, and his hardened policeman’s heart stuttered in his chest. He and Helen were both crying openly as they stared at the screen. Helen reached out and touched the face of the child she thought she’d never have.
    Was it possible to believe in miracles?
    Shaking off the sentiment, he focused on Dorian. He couldn’t risk Jess’s death under any circumstances. He’d work with the devil to prevent it. Besides, this explanation put together some pieces of the puzzle that was Dorian Masters. “It makes sense