Free Induction Day: Book Two in the Butterman Travel Series by PK Hrezo Page B

think?”
    Mom pulls a chair up beside us and sits. “You should hear yourself, Bianca. This kind of suspicion isn’t healthy. The DOT has much better things to do then focus energy on our small place of business.”
    “Then why are they here?” I say, searching their faces.
    “You really have to ask that?” Dad leans back in his chair, folding his arms over his chest. “It’s certainly not because your mother and I invited them.”
    “You’re forgetting what I told you about the future of Butterman Travel,” I say. “The DOT will always be up in our business ‘cause we’ll supersede their authority one day. Evangeline did everything but spell out the words for me back in 1969.”
    “I understand that,” Dad says. “But we can’t use that as an excuse for any kind of dissent under the DOT now. They can still shut us down today, and the course of the future, as you well know, can be altered.”
    Mom pats my knee. “How do we know the supposed takeover in the future is amicable? This may be our chance to ensure peace and help remove any corruption from the government. This is not a time to dismiss our ethics, Bianca. It’s a time to show how committed to excellence and integrity we are.”
    “I agree with your mother 100 percent.” Dad nods.
    “Maybe this is how it’s supposed to happen—ever consider that?” Mom asks.
    “Holy hell, Mom, don’t start in with some hocus-pocus about partnering with fate.”
    “Watch your language, young lady,” Dad says. “What your mother calls fate, you and I call a Consistent Causal Loop, and you never know when what’s happening is because it’s supposed to.”
    I don’t respond, because he’s right and we both know it and I’m too frustrated to admit it.
    Mom leans an elbow on the table. “Let’s consider all the pros and cons. Gavin, hand me your palm-com and I’ll record them. Something like this could even mean a waiver of those ugly port taxes.”
    “Good point.” Dad hands her his device.
    “Here’s a con,” I say. “The DOT could micromanage everything and the whole world will know if I make any mistakes.”
    “That’s kind of the point, Bee,” Dad says. “They want the world to watch you perform, which means it has to be error free. Garth wants to prove you know what you’re doing as much as we do—that’s why she suggested it.”
    I let out a flustered sigh. “Dad, think about what you’re proposing—the entire goal of my Induction Day is to save Titanic by fabricating a parallel shift. That’s a huge infraction as far as the DOT’s concerned. Garth would never allow it.”
    “But you’ve done the research,” Mom says. “How sure are you that the shift won’t affect our present time string?”
    “I’ve reviewed her data backwards and forwards,” Dad says to her, green eyes twinkling. “It’s brilliant. The dimensional split shouldn’t have any kind of ripple effect on our current timeline. If she’s able to initiate the shift during her exit from the 1912 vortex, the technique will prompt a complete tectonic duplication! Our timeline and the original Titanic survivors’ and their future generations will remain unaltered, thus permitting the 1912 time string to be sealed off into a new and separate alternate universe where Titanic will never sink.”
    “But would the DOT let her take that chance?” Mom asks Dad. “I can’t imagine them relaxing the regulations that much, and we all know they don’t condone parallel shifts and dimensional splits, regardless of family inductions. Plus, after all this scandal of competency and substance abuse? We’re talking about a giant task of precision here. Bianca may be your prodigy, but you forget she’s still only eighteen. People won’t look past that.”
    Dad thinks a minute. “As far as I know, the DOT doesn’t have the technology to surveillance the actual time trip past the 100 year limit, and even if they are concealing a new satellite capability, locking it down