Before Ryan reached Duncan, he pulled
out a stunner and aimed it Ryan. “I don’t want to use this, but I will if you
force me to.” Ryan stopped short of Duncan. Duncan continued, “Have you lost
your mind? You’ve broken so many temporal laws I don’t even know where to begin
figuring out how to defend you once word of this gets to the Tribunal. What the
fuck is going on in your head?”
“The same thing that’s
going through your head, trying to figure out what’s happening,” Ryan retorted
angrily.
“You used your access
code to override the security lockouts and make an unauthorized trip back in
time.” Duncan held up his hand to stop the rant that he knew Ryan was about to
unleash. “I understand why you did it. I know you’re in love with Ethan, but it
can’t work. If you go back in time to be with him, no matter how careful you
are, the risk of contaminating the timeline is too great.
“If Ethan comes
forward to this time, eight hundred years into the future I might add, he will
be at a terrible disadvantage. What would he do for work? Where would he live?”
Ryan’s frustration
and anger slowly dissipated once he realized that Duncan was just as concerned
for Ethan as he was for the timeline. “I’ve been thinking about that. He would,
of course, live with me. As far as what he would do for work, can you think of
anyone better to be a historian?”
Duncan was quiet as
he contemplated this. “No, actually I can’t. He would definitely be an asset,
but can he learn eight hundred years of history?”
“Other than the
salient points, does he really need to?”
“I guess not. We,
however, still need to figure out what triggered the paradox alarm. In light of
this, I can’t take the chance of you making any more unauthorized trips to the
past. Scott, lock out Ryan’s access codes to the central computer.” Scott shot
Duncan a do-you-really-want-to-do-that look but complied anyway.
Ryan shot Duncan a
bitter look. “I guess my usefulness here has ended,” he mumbled as he walked
out the door, ignoring Duncan’s order to come back.
₪₪₪₪₪
“I’m really not
surprised he did that,” Anne commented to Adrienne. “You can tell he really
loves that guy from the past. I wish I knew how to help him.
“I still feel that
the answer is in these photos and periodical articles. We’re just not seeing
it,” Adrienne said.
“Let’s take another
look at the pictures. Periodical articles aren’t totally reliable no matter how
hard they try. They rely on information given to them, and if that information
is inaccurate, so is the article.”
“True, but pictures
can be edited as well. It’s six of one, half a dozen of the other.” Adrienne replied.
“Okay. This picture,”
Adrienne handed it to Anne, “shows Ethan and Ryan with their arms around each
other in front of Ethan’s shop. The sign reads ‘Evans and Edwards Woodworking’.
This periodical article talks about Ethan Evans taking on Ryan Edwards as a
partner, both in his personal and professional life.”
Anne looked at the
picture then scanned the periodical article. “I’ve known Ryan since he was in
college, and I know for a fact that he knows absolutely nothing about
woodworking, so I’m pretty sure we can rule this one out.”
“I’m not so sure
about that,” Adrienne argued.
“Why is that?”
“Maybe he took Ryan
on to manage the business so he could concentrate on the woodworking.”
Anne sat back in her
chair. “I hadn’t thought of that. That puts us back to square one.”
“Maybe, maybe not. We
know that Ryan going back in time to be with Ethan could have serious
repercussions as far as the timeline goes. He’s thinking with his heart, not
his brain. Once he starts thinking properly, he’ll realize that going back in
time to stay with Ethan is not an option.”
“So, let’s take a look
at the other picture, the one that shows the shop run down and the weeds
overgrown.” Anne pushed the picture towards the center of the table so everyone
can look at it.
After studying the
picture carefully, Liam asked for the hi-resolution scanner. “Something doesn’t
look right, but I can’t put my finger on it.” He studied the picture for about five
minutes before exclaiming. “That’s it! The sign; it says “Evans Woodworking. I
think this is the correct picture and the one we should be focusing on.”
“Normally I would
agree with you,” Connor joined in the conversation for the first time, “but
there’s still the issue of the periodical article saying that all four Evans’
disappeared without a trace.”
“Did they?” Cindy,
another agent, spoke up. “Maybe Ethan did come forward to this time, and the
others moved somewhere else, somewhere where they wouldn’t be found.”
“And where would that
be?” Liam challenged.
“I don’t know. I’m
just throwing out possibilities.”
“Okay, let’s say I
buy into this,” Liam began, “when Ethan and his brother Chris were brought here
by Ryan, it set off the paradox alarm.”
Anne said, “I think
it was because all four of them were supposed to come forward. Also, there’s
the possibility that only Ethan was supposed to come forward now, and then the
others follow later.”
“I agree, but how do
we convince Duncan to try either possibility?” Connor said.
“We present the facts
to him and hope he listens to reason. That’s all we can do,” Liam explained.
“But what about poor
Ryan?” Anne asked.
₪₪₪₪₪
Ryan paced the confines of his apartment, Ethan foremost in his thoughts. Oh, my God, Ethan. What are we going to do? I love you so much that I want to spend the rest of my life with you. There’s got to be a way for us to be together. I don’t know how I’m going to pull this off, but I swear to you that someday, somehow, no matter where you are, I’ll be there.
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