Chapter 19
by Dan Kirk
“Remind me why we’re doing this again?” Davey asked with a heavy sigh as we sat down for lunch. It was a little restaurant just off of
“Because it’s important to build the right connections from the beginning.” I reminded him as the waiter left.
“You know I support the other guy, right?” He leaned in and whispered with a conspiratorial smile.
“Even after all the crap that I told you about in other timelines?” I asked him and he frowned before shaking his head.
“I don’t believe I’m really a Democrat.” Davey muttered for the fiftieth time.
“Wait until 1992.” I assured him and he shook his head again. Sure, Dukakis lost, and he lost big, and here in
“I know, I know.” Davey said with a sigh. Walking precincts was the basic level of work, along with phone banking, and we were doing both for the doomed Dukakis for President campaign. It helped build credibility for things I wanted to happen down the road, and in
Todd and Trevor showed up before we ordered, and they both griped at me for talking them into this. Brandon and Sean both were phone banking today, and probably getting nasty comments and hang-ups, just like we were getting doors slammed in our faces. Four years from now it’d be a totally different story, but this was the here and now, and besides we likely wouldn’t be in
After lunch, it was back into the one hundred plus degree heat for more precinct walking. Sure, it was late September, but the heat lingered here well into October sometimes. It was days like this one that made me think I’d picked the wrong school.
Dinner reaffirmed my having made the right choice, though, as we showed up at Professor Lee’s house. It was a private dinner, with some of his fellow professors, two graduate students, and then Davey and I. While we were technically in our second ‘year’ of attending college, both Davey and I had accumulated enough credits that we were on the border between Sophomore and Junior status.
It wasn’t exactly easy going on either of us. Davey had nearly had a mental breakdown over the summer, and so we’d taken a lighter load for the second half of summer. The truth was I needed that lighter class load too. Then, instead of visiting family in
After dinner, we were sitting around Professor Lee’s living room, sipping cognac and discussing some of the finer points of Stalin’s Five-Year Plan when the Professor got around to the purpose of the dinner. It wasn’t the first dinner we’d been to at his house, and we were always the only undergraduates there, although he had thrown a big party at the end of the year for all of his Russian language students. He had these dinners at least once a month, though. The difference was that he’d just hosted one two weeks ago.
“Brian, Davey, I hope you remember the discussion we had when you first came to Arizona State about what you see as the imminent collapse of the Soviet Union.” Professor Lee began, and there was actually a few giggles from the graduate students.
“Yes, Professor.” I said while Davey cautiously nodded.
“You two did a joint report for me last year where you provided some good supporting facts.” Professor Vikten, a wrinkled, bald man in his late sixties added with a nod towards us. “You had quite a lot of interesting facts in there that I have never seen added up quite that way before. It was either a work of genius or sheer stupidity.”
That got more giggles, and a few chuckles from the other professors in the room while Davey blushed and I tried not to laugh. Knowing the
“I hope you thought it was genius because we both got an A on it.” I finally said after getting the urge to laugh under control. This time there was a lot more open laughter.
“Yes, whether it was right or wrong, it was well researched and well written.” He praised us, and from him it was high praise.
“It was well written enough that it formed the core of a grant request that we submitted over the summer.” Professor Lee added and this time I was surprised. I had not expected that. “The grant has been approved, and we are forming the research group that will work on the grant. All the people here tonight have expertise in the areas we need, and the idea came from the two of you. I took the liberty of submitting your names to the government already, and the preliminary security clearances were approved for both of you, despite, um well I believe we do not need to go into that.”
That did surprise me a bit. It wasn’t until Bill Clinton took office that the rules were changed regarding gay people having security clearances. In this time, merely being gay usually classified someone as a security risk and they would not be given any sort of security clearance by the government. Some strings must have been pulled on this, and it showed I had indeed picked the right school.
“We’re going to be studying the economic conditions in Eastern Europe with a focus on how it might bring about the collapse of the
“You’re both four-oh students, this was your idea to begin with, and your research papers have shown you know how to conduct proper research.” Professor Vikten said bluntly. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you both were graduate students already. You will of course receive a small stipend, not that either of you need it from what I hear, and you will receive course credit for your work, as upper-division credit. Is it correct that you’re both only taking eighteen units this semester?”
“Only eighteen?” One of the graduate students gasped.
“That’s right.” I confirmed. “It was getting a little bit much for us over the summer so we decided to lighten the load a bit. It’ll mean graduating after summer school in ’91 instead of Spring ’91, but it’s better than having a breakdown.”
“Yes, it is.” Vikten agreed. “Do you think you can handle the extra work if you join us on the grant team?”
“We can.” Davey said excitedly. I nodded my agreement.
“Good, then let’s start talking details.” Professor Lee said as he finished off his drink and started into the details of what the grant covered, and what each person’s role would be. Honestly, it was more than I could have hoped for, although some of the preliminary conclusions would come too late, I knew, at least it’d be on record that we were part of the team predicting the fall of the
A problem cropped up the next week though, when two FBI agents interviewed Davey and me separately. In my interview, it quickly became apparent that the agent didn’t like gay people, and didn’t believe either of us should have a security clearance of any type. Most of the information we would have access to was economic in nature, not military, but it still was sensitive information.
“You’re a homosexual.” The agent, a middle-aged man in a dark suit said as he sat across from me at a small table. He looked unpleasant in the extreme.
“Yes.” I answered simply and honestly.
“Homosexuals can’t be trusted with government secrets.” He stated succinctly and started to stand up.
“Why not?” I asked him calmly and he looked at me with a little surprise at the challenge to his statement.
“You’re too easy to blackmail.” He grunted.
“Blackmail?” I laughed softly. “What is there to blackmail me about?”
“The communists could threaten to reveal your perversion publicly.” He said sourly.
“Hmmm.” I said while tapping my finger on my chin. “Who would they threaten to reveal it to that would scare me? I just told you, an FBI agent, that I was gay. My parents know. My friends know. My professors know, and many students I go to classes with know or at least suspect. They could shout it from the rooftops, take an ad out in the New York Times, or announce it on television for all I care. How can they use it to blackmail me when I don’t care who knows?”
“They could seduce you.” He said flatly.
“They could seduce anyone.” I pointed out. “It’s a constant threat, isn’t it? That someone with sensitive information will fall into bed with an agent and give up everything they know for love. Sorry, but I already have someone I love. We’re in a relationship together, and we have been for years. I’m not going to risk that for some random romp in the hay no matter how cute the guy might be.”
“It’s easy to say that, but reality is different.” He said. “You’re a guy, a guy who sleeps with other guys. Fidelity isn’t in your nature.”
“You don’t know me well enough to say that.” I snapped. “You’re married, and you’re a guy. Aren’t you a risk because some pretty woman might try to seduce you? That happens all the time in this country, you know. Married men cheating on their spouses.”
“Don’t try to switch this back on me.” He fumed, but he looked like he was at least thinking.
“The purpose of an investigation for a security clearance is to determine if the person will be a risk, right?” I asked him in a neutral tone. “It’s your job to find out as much about me as you can to help you decide if I will reveal classified information to people who should not have it.”
“Your explanation is a little simplistic.” He said, but he wasn’t hostile.
“How thorough have you been?” I asked him with a raised eyebrow. “What about that bitch, Marcie? Do you have that incident in my file?”
“Your ex-girlfriend who tried to trap you into marrying her.” He grumbled. “So you’re not really a homosexual, are you?”
“More bi-sexual, but I’m in a homosexual relationship and never plan to leave that relationship.” I shrugged.
“I don’t get how you can just blabber about being a pervert.” He grumbled. “You know, I could arrest you for violating the sodomy laws here in this state. How can I give someone who is knowingly breaking state law a security clearance?”
“Can the FBI arrest me for violating a state law?” I asked him.
“Well I can have you arrested by a state trooper.” He corrected. “The Supreme Court just upheld sodomy laws in
“Yes, I know.” I smiled. “Um, have I admitted to having sexual intercourse in violation of the law?”
“You’ve said you were a homosexual.” He stated.
“But did I admit to any sexual activity while in the state of
“No.” He frowned.
“So you can’t have me arrested for violating state sodomy laws when I haven’t admitted to violating them.” I pointed out. “Just being gay doesn’t mean I have to have sex here in this state. Davey and I could drive across the border to
“This is getting us nowhere.” He groused.
“No it isn’t.” I agreed. “If you believe I’m a security risk, deny me clearance. All I ask is that you base it on a real judgment about me, not because you believe I’m a pervert. Which I disagree with, by the way.”
“Fine.” He grumbled.
Davey’s interview went much the same as mine, except Davey really tore into his agent who got decidedly uncomfortable at a few things. My lover’s luck was with him as always, and he had been able to guess the man was a closet case. He’d used that mercilessly to rake the poor agent over the coals without flat out saying he was sure the man was a closet case. The next day word came down that we had received our clearances.
Normally we would have gone to the game that night and cheered our school’s team on (and Trevor), but Davey and I wanted a private celebration. I cooked a romantic dinner for two, and we ate over a candlelit table. These moments were important for both of us, because they helped keep our relationship as more than simple friendship. Sean hadn’t gone either since he had a class tonight.
After dinner, we put the plates in the dishwasher and moved upstairs to our room, the master bedroom for the house. We had moved Davey’s king-size waterbed out here, and on nights like this one, I was glad I’d insisted we get one of the new wave-less water mattresses.
We must have spent a good half-hour doing nothing more than kissing and slowly undressing each other, covering each other’s bodies with our hands and our mouths. Making love with Davey was always different. Sometimes it was quick and dirty, and other times, like tonight it was slow and sensual. We’d achieved another victory, overcoming the homophobic prejudices of the FBI agents, and that made our lovemaking all the sweeter.
An hour after we’d begun, I was buried deep inside Davey, his legs over my shoulders, and he was leaning up so we could kiss while I fucked him with long, slow strokes. Everything was so perfect, and that was when the door to our bedroom flew open. We were playing Davey’s radio, one of
“What the fuck?” Davey yelled at the interruption, and I felt a moment of fear. Had the FBI agents set this up so they could try and get a prosecution of us under the state’s sodomy laws? Would the state even bother prosecuting it since it could result in bad publicity.
“Uh, you both need to get dressed.” One of the officers in the black swat gear, his face hidden by a ski mask and his helmet, said in a voice that almost sounded like he was on the verge of laughing.
“What’s going on here?” I demanded as I pulled out of Davey. Already I’d gone soft, but I made no move to cover myself. I’d be damned if I’d let these motherfuckers think I was ashamed.
“You need to come with us, immediately.” The same officer said in a slightly calmer voice.
“Are you arresting us?” Davey demanded as he raised himself up on his elbows and glared at them. “On what charge?”
“You’re not under arrest.” The agent said as he signaled with his hands for the other men to leave the room. A few of them were snickering, and one was muttering something that sounded a little disgusted, but that was all. “We’re actually here for your protection, by order of the President of the
“What?” Davey exclaimed in surprise while I got a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. I immediately suspected that somehow, our secret had gotten out. With a sigh I nodded at the officer.
“Can you give us a moment to get dressed?” I asked him.
“I’m not supposed to let either of you out of my sight.” He said with amusement in his voice.
“How much time do we have?” I asked him, trying to think quickly. “Could we take a quick shower so we don’t smell wherever we’re going?”
“As long as you leave the bathroom door open and don’t take too long.” He said after thinking for a moment.
“C’mon Davey.” I said to my lover. “We’ll shower together to save time.”
“Okay.” Davey said in a shaky voice as we got off the bed and headed into the bathroom, leaving the door open. As the hot water gave us a little privacy, I leaned in to whisper to him.
“I think somehow they know about time travel.” I whispered.
“No shit.” Davey murmured. “What else would get us this much attention? The shit in
“We’ll probably find out soon enough.” I said.
“We don’t have all night.” The officer called from the doorway, and we finished the shower in a hurry. When we were both dry and headed over to the dresser to pull out some underwear, he spoke again. “You might want to dress comfortably and pack a bag or two with some nicer clothes in them. It’s a little cold where you’re going.”
“Where are we going?” Davey asked as he slipped on a pair of red bikini briefs I had bought for him. He looked so damn good in them.
“Let’s just say back east.” The officer said with a shrug. “There’s a plane flying in to
“Can we leave a note for our roommates?” I asked as I pulled on a pair of white briefs and a t-shirt. Davey was already pulling out white socks, dress socks, extra t-shirts, and our ties. I went over to the closet and pulled out two pairs of jeans, some polo shirts, and two light jackets that we almost never used here in
“There’s no need for that.” The officer said. “You almost done?”
“We’re done.” Davey said as I zipped up the garment bag and folded it over for transport.
“Good, you don’t waste any time.” The man said as he waved for us to lead the way out of the room. We moved in a circle of armed men as we left the house and got into several vans marked with ATF and DEA. I noticed a large group of onlookers, mostly fellow college students and wondered what stories would circulate now.
Probably how we were drug dealers or something, since it was the Drug Enforcement Agency and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
I did notice that several regular Tempe Police officers were standing guard outside the house as we pulled away. Davey and I were in the back of one of the vans, and once inside we could see nothing. We were alone here, and Davey’s hand found mine, squeezing it tightly.
“What do we do now?” He asked me in a scared voice.
“I don’t know.” I admitted. “This wasn’t something I’d planned for, really.”
“Then you’ll want me to take the lead, eh?” He asked with a little smile. “You’re always saying I think better on my feet.”
“You do, love.” I assured him, and part of me actually relaxed a little. Having Davey stepping up to the plate like this, where it would be me leaning on him for a bit was nice. It felt more like the old relationship I’d had with the other Davey, the more experienced Davey.
Fifteen minutes later the doors of the van were open, and we got out at the airport. We were in front of the National Guard hangar, and quickly escorted inside. That was where we found the rest of our friends waiting for us. Poor Trevor was still in his football uniform, although he’d managed to ditch his shoulder pads.
“We brought some clothes for you.” The agent who’d spoken in the house said and I noticed for the first time that a few of the agents had some familiar-looking duffel bags. Trevor let out a sigh of relief, although he looked damn hot in his football uniform.
“Took you guys long enough.”
“Yeah, well, since Brian was plowing my ass when they broke in, I think it’s better we don’t smell like sex.” Davey murmured.
“Oh shit, you guys were bumping when they showed up?” Todd laughed while Sean chortled before frowning.
“Sorry.” Sean said. “I… I didn’t remember what you guys were doing tonight. Hell, I wasn’t even sure what night it was.”
“You came back in time!” Davey exclaimed in a startled voice.
“Keep it down.” Sean said quietly. From their reactions, our other friends had already been told.
“Which Sean are you?” I asked quietly with narrowed eyes.
“Huh?” Sean asked with a look of confusion.
“Are you the Sean from my timeline, this timeline, or another timeline?” I asked him.
“I’m the Sean from this timeline, or what was this timeline until I created a new one by coming back.” Sean said with a shake of his head.
“The fucking scientist.” Davey growled. “You’re studying physics now so you can get in with him and keep an eye on him. That’s the plan.”
“Yeah, and it kind of worked.” Sean said with a shake of his head.
“I’m going to go get changed. Wait until I get back. Sean hasn’t told us much more than that.” Trevor said as he headed off.
“Excuse me gentlemen.” The agent who’d talked to me before came over to us. He was no longer wearing his ski mask. “There’s a shower facility here if you would like to utilize it before your plane arrives. You will need to be quick, no more than fifteen minutes.”
“Hold the explanations, I’m going to get cleaned up.”
“I promise.” Sean said softly and then waited until
“Yes, well I want to know why, scratch that, first I want to know how you did it.” I said firmly. “Sean, the other timeline’s Sean, he swore it would be next to impossible to beat the jamming device.”
“From all the stories you’ve told me about time travel, you should know by know that it’s always up to me to come back and save yours and Davey’s butts.” Sean said with a slight smile and then he frowned. “Ouch.”
“Are you hurt?” Davey asked in a worried tone.
“Not now, but the crystal-clear memory does have a downside.” Sean answered with a frown as he ran a hand along his flat belly. “Getting shot three times really does hurt, and remembering it as clear as day really sucks.”
“I can imagine.” I said with a shake of my head. “So, you came back in time…”
“I’m not going to say anything until they get back, Brian.” Sean said with a shake of his head. “
“That’s fair.” Davey said with a stern look at me. He didn’t need to give me that look, but neither did I protest. Sean had a good reason. I hadn’t told him about the breakup between Sean and Brandon in my own timeline, but it had been because of something similar.
Everyone was back, dressed in casual clothes, and cleaned up by the time a sleek business jet pulled up in front of the hangar. It had Air Force markings, and a Lieutenant Colonel got out as soon as the plane’s door was open. He had a brief discussion with the agent in charge, and we were quickly bustled aboard.
“Gentlemen, please take a seat.” The officer said as we entered the fairly well-appointed jet. There were eight seat, and the Lt. Colonel took one near the front after the rest of us were seated and buckled in. “If anyone’s hungry, the steward will prepare a meal as soon as we’re airborne, or you can just have a snack and something to drink. I haven’t been briefed on why you’re flying to
“Well, there goes the chance at an explanation.” Davey muttered sourly from the seat next to me. I reached out and squeezed his hand while the plane taxied for an immediate take off. Flying across country was never short, but the plane rumbled with the sounds of its engines going at maximum speed the entire way. I was far too nervous to sleep, and did not feel like joining in on the conversation the other guys started up.
Apparently Trevor had been pulled off the sidelines where he was waiting his opportunity to get in the game (he was the backup quarterback still) when two police officers had come up and talked to him at the same time as several more officers found the others in the stands. They’d been taken directly to the hangar where Sean was waiting for them, and there had been only a brief opportunity for him to explain he was from the future, our future, before we’d shown up.
Something must have gone really, really wrong.
My plans had included placing Sean with the scientist who had first invented time travel in order to keep an eye on him. Sean had agreed to this readily. With the jammer in place, it should have looked like the time travel theory was wrong, and the scientist should have been discouraged, or at least his funders should have been discouraged enough to stop funding his experiments. Apparently that had not happened.
The entire trip my mind tried to figure out what exactly had gone wrong. Sean was only a few feet away, but I knew better than to try to get him to tell me with the officer so close. He would follow his orders as all good military men do, and would stop any such conversation before it had more than started.
There were unmarked vans waiting for us as we landed at Andrews, and I wasn’t surprised that we were being taken to the Pentagon. What exactly had Sean already told them, and more importantly how had he gotten them to believe him so quickly? We all rode in one van, and with a partition between us and the driver, we could at last talk.
“So, you’ve got a lot of questions, right?” Sean asked.
“In case you haven’t placed the timing right, everyone here knows your role was to be keeping an eye on the crazy scientist.” I stated and he nodded.
“Yeah, I figured that.” Sean said with a shake of his head. “They do tend to get jumbled up at first, don’t they? They’re all so clear and fresh. Well, anyway, your plan’s a good one, Brian, as far as it goes. By 2004, the scientist was ready to try his experiments again, and they didn’t work. The Russian guy pulled his funding at first, and the scientist folded up shop. Then two years later he calls me and said he’d made a breakthrough and gotten more funding. I, of course, volunteered to help him out again, except it was a trap.”
“A trap?” Davey asked.
“Yeah, somehow he’d figured out about the jamming, and he figured out a counter to it.” Sean stated. “Something about the jamming reminded him of some calculations I’d done when I’d worked with him, and he was waiting for me with the Russian, who’d brought a couple of hired thugs with him. Since I’d called you all beforehand, you were waiting outside, ready to storm in and stop things before they went too far. That part didn’t go too well. They were ready to send someone back, and they were just making sure there weren’t other traps. I’m sorry, but they got the truth out of me with some drugs that had me kind of loopy.”
“It happens.” I shrugged.
“Yeah, well let’s just say the firefight of you guys trying to break in didn’t go too well.” Sean grimaced. “Their thugs were better than us, mostly I guess since none of us really had any military training. Davey did best, wounding the last thug before the guy killed him.”
“Ouch.” Davey grimaced.
“Yeah, I got hit in the process too.” Sean added, rubbing his stomach again. “So anyway, the scientist went back first as a test. Shevardnadze had a goon assistant who sent him back. When they verified it was successful, the goon sent Shevardnadze back. I was lying there pretty much bleeding to death. They thought I was dead and ignored me. At first, I was just to out of it to really understand what was happening, and by the time I figured out I had to do something, Shevardnadze had gone back. I got the goon with Davey’s gun, and set the time machine on auto before dumping out Shevardnadze’s body and climbing in myself.”
“You came back in the middle of class?” I asked with a little confusion. “The machine is supposed to pick a period where you’re asleep…”
“I fell asleep in class.” Sean mumbled with a red face. That got all of us to laugh. I seemed to remember Davey having done something similar on one of his trips back in time. “When I woke up, I went right for the nearest phone. I called Mr. Rush like you’d told me, and explained things to him. Somehow he believed me, and more importantly, he got the right people in government to believe him.”
“That would make sense.” I said with a look at the surprised Trevor. “He does have many of the right contacts.”
“Well, Shevardnadze and the scientist have been back here in time now for three months.” Sean said. “I don’t know for sure if they’ve done anything overt or not, but they could be planning on taking us out.”
“How do they know about me?” I asked with a raised eyebrow and Sean ducked his head.
“It was one of the things they tricked out of me.” He mumbled as the van pulled to a stop. The door opened a moment later, and a group of soldiers along with a three-star General were waiting for us. Sean and I got out first, and the General frowned at us.
“This better not be someone’s idea of a practical joke.” He grumbled to us.
“I wish it was.” Sean retorted and the General nodded.
“If you will follow me, we’ve got some people waiting inside to have a little chat with the lot of you.” He said in a tone that left no room for argument. Davey squeezed my hand as we followed the senior officer deep into the bowels of the Pentagon.
Once again the world had taken a turn for the worse. Could we put it back on the right track?
