Chapter 6
The sun had just set when the two guards came back to my cell to escort me back to the central building. A very irate Dr. Grimes had informed me that my father was demanding to speak to me immediately. It seemed that Dad had remembered how I'd told him I'd always tell him myself if I was going to be late in getting home, and Dad had threatened to call the Sheriff if he wasn't allowed to speak to me on the phone. That had entailed a two-hour stand-off between Dr. Grimes and me. I was escorted back to my 'cell' never having spoken to my father.
Sometime during the night, two guards rushing into my room. They caught me totally off-guard and had me trussed hand and foot before I could defend myself. A dark hood was thrown over my head and my clothes were actually cut off of me. They left me on the floor of the room, bound hand and foot, with the hood over my head for hours.
Sometime the next morning, or at least what I thought was morning, I was unbound and dressed in some type of coveralls. Then they led me, still hooded, outside and into a car that drove for a while before stopping. I was then led back inside a building and stripped before being bound again and dumped on the floor. It was likely several hours later, but I was unable to really tell, when someone came back inside and lifted the hood just enough to slip a straw into my mouth. I was extremely thirsty, but sipped sparingly before the straw was taken away and the hood tied back tight.
It was my only glimpse of daylight that day.
I was freezing the next morning when they came into the room. I knew it was morning because the floor was freezing while during the day it was stifling hot in the small room. I was also fairly certain it was the same room I'd been in earlier, because the floor felt exactly the same. More than likely, they'd tried to confuse and disorient me or were trying to make me think they'd already moved me in order to scare me. I was dressed again in a pair of coveralls and walked the same distance to another building. The sound of the fan was the same as that first building and I knew I was in the same location.
"We've moved you and your family has been taken into custody, David." Dr. Grimes's voice made me jump slightly, but his words had me ready to laugh.
"You'll have to do better than this, Grimey." My voice cracked as I spoke, but that didn't matter. "I'm in the same room where we first talked. The distance is the same, and it's the same fan. Putting a bag over my head and trying to freeze me isn't enough."
"I was hoping you'd cooperate and I'd not have to go to the next level" Dr. Grimes stated when the door to the room banged open. I could hear his chair scrape and smiled to myself as Dr. Grimes spoke to whoever entered. "What are you doing here? This is a secure interrogation. You don't belong here."
"I'm sorry to interrupt, Dr. Grimes, but we have orders direct from the White House." A strange voice said as footsteps neared me. The hood was loosened and removed a little too quickly as my eyes blurred in the suddenly bright light. When they cleared, I was able to focus on a Navy Commander standing at the doorway, looking at me with a frown that was clearly not intended for me and I recognized one of the Shore Patrol petty officers from that first day. When the Commander figured my eyes had recovered enough he spoke to me. "Are you David Jones?"
"Yes, Commander, I am David Jones." I answered with a dry, raspy voice.
"Mikelson, release the young man." The Commander ordered in a stern voice and one of the sailors moved to obey.
"Hold it right there!" Dr. Grimes bellowed and the sailor froze. "This kid is part of a Soviet sleeper cell and is being interrogated by direct authority of the Vice-President of the United States!"
"Really?" The Commander's voice was filled with scorn and I had to do my best not to smile at that. "That's funny, Dr. Grimes, because forty minutes ago I was in the room when Rear Admiral Langsworth spoke directly with President Reagan and issued orders for us to come here and investigate what was going on. The President also instructed that we were to listen to David Jones and follow any suggestions he might have. It seems the President was concerned the young man was not being treated properly by you for some reason."
"That… that's a lie." Dr. Grimes snorted and puffed himself up. "You are interfering in official business, Commander and will pay for that!"
"Commander, I would suggest that if this building has a phone line that I be allowed to place a call." I rasped out.
"That's a good idea." The Commander said firmly, nodding to one of the men who disappeared while the sailor who'd been ordered to release me finally complied with that order. While a phone was brought in, I stretched my muscles and rubbed my sore wrists. When the phone was hooked up, I dialed the White House main line and asked for the President. The call was placed through about the same time as a glass of water was brought to me without me asking for it. It helped sooth my throat as I took a few sips.
"Davey, are you okay?" President Reagan's concerned voice came on the line as I put the glass down and cleared my throat.
"I'm alive, if a little sore right now, Mr. President." I said while Dr. Grimes gave me death glares. "I've been trussed up, nude, with a bag over my head the last few days because I refused to answer questions that Dr. Grimes asked in direct contradiction to the guidelines previously established. There's a few people in the room without security clearance so I can't be much more direct at the moment."
"That's okay, Davey, I'm just glad to hear that you're okay." President Reagan said in a voice that somehow was both sad and angry at the same time. "Your father called the White House this morning to complain about you being taken away and not being allowed to talk to him."
"Actually, I refused to talk to him because of the way I was being treated, sir." I answered honestly. "When I refused to answer the questions, I was handcuffed and held in the manner I described a moment ago by Dr. Grimes."
"Davey, I'm really sorry this happened." The President said. "I think we need to meet in person and discuss this directly."
"I agree with that, sir." I said firmly. My voice was still raspy, and it hurt a little to talk, but I was breathing some big sighs of relief. "Dr. Grimes is suggesting to the Commander that just arrived that I'm a Soviet spy and that he's acting with the full authority of the Vice-President. Would it be possible for you to clear that up, sir?"
"Put the Commander on, son." The President ordered and I handed the phone to the Commander who was glaring now at very nervous Dr. Grimes.
"This is Commander Olson, sir." The Commander said with a slightly nervous hitch in his voice. "Yes, Mr. President, I believe it is you, sir. Yes, sir. I understand sir and we'll do that right away."
"You can't do this." Dr. Grimes said softly, to no one in particular and I smiled at him evilly.
"Dr. Grimes, by order of the President of the United States I am placing you under arrest for unlawful imprisonment and torture." Commander Olson said as he hung up the phone. Two sailors immediately moved to secure Grimes, who started protesting loudly as he was led out of the room. "Mr. Jones, I've been instructed to take you to the base hospital to have a doctor look at you and to arrange a flight to Washington for you."
"That sounds fine to me, Commander." I said with a nod and tried to stand on my own. My legs were weak, but I moved out of the building under my own power, and got into the back of a Navy sedan with the Commander. The trip back to the main part of the base was made in relative silence, and he helped me out of the car once we got to the hospital.
The first corpsman who got a good look at me instantly barked out a series of orders that cleared the room of everyone but hospital staff, and I had a nurse sticking an I.V. in my left arm while another started to take blood samples from my right arm. Two hours later, I was on my third I.V. before they let Commander Olson back in, and this time he was accompanied by Rear Admiral Langsworth. I knew Langsworth from the last timeline, and had served under him. He looked younger and healthier than the last time I'd seen him, shortly before he'd died with the USS America at the hands of a Soviet submarine and bomber joint missile attack.
"The doctor tells me you're going to be just fine, son." Langsworth told me after introducing himself briefly. Commander Olson has interrogated the men with Dr. Grimes and they spilled their guts at the slightest hint of leniency, so we know what was done to you. Please, accept my personal apologies for allowing it to happen on my base."
"Without reservation, Admiral." I said quickly and emphatically. The wording surprised him a little, since it was common language among naval officers, and he most likely hadn't expected to hear it from me. In the other time, he'd known about me, but here and now he did not. If I had anything to say about it, he would though.
"Uh, yes, so, are you feeling better?" Langsworth stuttered a moment but recovered smoothly.
"Yes, sir, they are treating me just fine here and I'm feeling a lot better." I answered his current, and most likely next question at the same time.
"I'm glad to hear that." Langsworth said with a broad smile. "I don't understand what all went on, but I most definitely do not approve. Mr. Grimes is to be sent back to Washington, and unfortunately he'll be on he same plane as you. The Air Force is sending over a VC-20 for you, so he'll be kept handcuffed in another section of the plane. I do have to tell you that the doctors want you kept for observation overnight, so the plane won't be leaving until tomorrow morning. The men working with Mr. Grimes are being flown back east on a separate flight tomorrow afternoon. I've been informed that your father may fly back with you, if he insists. Right now, he's on his way here. I've left orders for him to be escorted through the gates and brought up here immediately."
"Thank you, Admiral." I said with a slight nod of my head. It irked me a little that I owed my father big time for his role in this, but it was also reassuring in a rather odd way. We'd been at odds so much in the prior lifetimes that I found it rather nice to have a different relationship with him this time around. Maybe, if I worked hard at it, by the time that I went back to Modesto and reinitiated my relationship with Brian, we'd be able to work through our problems.
"Maybe when you return we'll be able to offer you a ride in one of our jets." Admiral Langsworth said while I mulled my relationship with my father and it took me a moment to respond to his comment.
"That'd be nice, Admiral." I said, and thought of something. "My father would probably like one too, if that's possible."
"That would not be a problem at all, son." Langsworth said with a broad smile. There was a commotion at the door to the private room I'd been moved to and Dad entered with a petty officer following behind him.
"Mr. Jones?" Admiral Langsworth asked as Dad entered. "I'm Admiral Langsworth."
"It's nice to meet you." Dad said shortly, shaking the man's hand. His attention was on me though, and he stared for a moment at the I.V. "Son, are you okay?"
"Thanks to you Dad, I'm fine." I said softly. "Thanks."
"What exactly happened?" Dad demanded, his face going slightly red. "What was all that crap they tried to throw at me about you being held on charges?"
"I'll have to explain that to you later, Dad." I said cautiously, looking at all the other people in the room, hoping he'd put the issue at rest.
"You'll explain everything to me now." Dad demanded sternly. "I'm not going to let this rest now. I want to know exactly what's been going on with you."
"Admiral, please excuse us for a few minutes." I said to Langsworth who looked at me for a long moment before nodding.
"I'm posting a security guard at your door for the night." Langsworth stated. "He's not there to keep you in, just to make sure you're not disturbed. I'll stop by in the morning before the plane arrives for you."
"Thank you, Admiral." I agreed with him and he left along with the other people who had been in the room. When the door was shut, I turned to Dad who had pulled up a chair at my bedside and was looking at me with a very worried expression on his face.
"Son, I deserve to know what's going on with you." Dad said softly, his voice and face showing nothing but worry for me. I let out a long sigh, closed my eyes and began to speak in a very soft voice.
"It's something I've come to call a Do Over, Dad." I began explaining. I had never told him about this in the last lifetime, and had no idea how he'd react. "A Do Over refers to a time travel experiment I participated in over twenty-four years ago, subjectively. This crazy scientist hired me for ten thousand dollars to be the test subject in an experiment that would essentially allow me to observe the past. It didn't work, or rather it worked but not the way he'd told me it would. I found myself in the past, in my twelve-year old body, on August 1st, 1981. I lived for twenty-four years in that timeline before I was forced to participate in a second Do Over that led me back to March 30th, 1981. Now I have to live my life over again."
"You expect me to believe this?" Dad asked in a low voice edged with anger and I opened my eyes to look at him directly.
"In my original life, we moved to Eureka in September of 1983." I stated in a firm voice while looking him directly in the eyes. "In November of 1984, Mom was recovering from a particularly nasty bout of the flu. Nanny and Papa came out to visit with Shantill and her new baby, Whitney. When they were leaving just before Thanksgiving, Mom came into my room and asked if I wanted to go back for a visit with them over the holidays. A month later, she told me she was divorcing you because Jenny had finally told her that you'd been molesting her for two years."
"I've never…" Dad started to protest angrily, but his voice drifted off under my very direct gaze.
"You turned yourself in to the Modesto Police in January of 1984." I continued after he'd gone silent. "You ended up serving one year of house arrest. In 1987 I dropped out of high school and joined the navy, becoming a machine gunner in a small boat platoon. You and Mom got back together for a short time, but eventually finalized the divorce in 1990. In 1998 you re-married and died in 2000, six months after a quadruple by-pass surgery. Mom died two days after your surgery in 1999. Jenny was murdered by her husband, along with her two children, in 2003. You wanted to know how I knew about those other women? I knew because you told me while we sat in your hospital room after the doctors were pretty sure you'd eventually recovered. That night you cried for two hours and told me you'd give any thing to be able to take back what you did to Jenny, and to be the father you should have been. Guess what, Dad, you've gotten that chance and so far you're making pretty good on it."
"Son… I'd never…" Dad stammered, but he eventually broke away from my gaze and looked down at the floor. He took a few deep breaths and I thought it sounded like he'd almost sobbed. "I… for a moment… it crossed my mind… but I remembered what you said and went back to bed. I… it won't happen. I swear it won't!"
"You better damn well believe what will happen if you do, father." I said with a strong hint of anger in my voice. Two lifetimes later, it was still a very sore point with me.
"So, if you've lived two lifetimes, how old are you?" Dad asked, changing the subject and I let him. I doubted any more needed to be said on the other topic.
"Let's see, I was thirty-six both times I went back in time." I thought it all out loud. "In the second lifetime, I only lived twenty-four of those years, so I'm around sixty, give or take a few months. Physically, though, I'm twelve-years old. If you want to know hell, try going through puberty not once, not twice, but three times. This time when 2004 goes around, I'm buying a plane ticket to nowhere and spending the entire year in the air, far away from any possible time machines."
"Were you married?" Dad asked with a hopeful gleam in the eye and I had to pause while I thought about how to handle this. If I brought up the gay issue now, things would go to hell in a hand basket. "Did you have kids?"
"No kids, but you could say that I was married." I said after a moment. "You didn't approve, and that's all I'm going to say on that for now unless you want to end up in another argument."
"I… I think we can let that topic rest for now." Dad said carefully. "So, that flight to Virginia was about you coming back in time, not nuclear physics."
"Correct." I stated with a nod, but had to push the word out around a yawn. "The stuff I've told you so far has been about our family. Dad, you have to understand that this is one of the biggest secrets in this country. I'm not the only one who came back in time, but I'm the only American. You're a smart enough man to figure out what country at least one of the others belongs to, and you'll understand the dangers. I get paid to share my knowledge on national security matters. What happened here is that some elements in the government decided they wanted more than that, and would go to extreme measure to get that information. They didn't do more than blindfold me, put me in uncomfortable positions on a cold floor, and sweat me in a hot room during the day. You stopped it though, when you called the President."
"I found the number and password in your desk drawer." Dad stated, giving a very sharp look. "For some reason I think you left it there on purpose for just this sort of situation."
"I did." I admitted honestly. "You've done some very stupid things in this timeline, and in the others, but you've never been a stupid man. If you take the time to think things through, you usually reach the right conclusions."
"You're a homosexual." As surprising as the words were coming out of his mouth, what was more surprising was the utter lack of any condemnation. His gaze met mine, and I knew he needed no words to confirm his thinking. "You were sort of married, and had no kids. You wouldn't be in a relationship with a woman without getting married, I know you that well. You didn't have kids either. It couldn't have been a legal marriage."
"We were married in a church, with me in my full Navy dress uniform and over two hundred witnesses." I said firmly, daring him with my eyes to challenge what I was saying. "Former President Reagan attended with Nancy and his son Ron. The current President was there as well since he was also a personal friend. It was a fully legal wedding in the State of California. You weren't there, though, although we did invite you. Grandma attended, along with Aunt Bev and several cousins as well as several other relatives from mom's side of the family."
"What about your Mom and Jenny?" Dad asked and I closed my eyes at the remembered grief. It had been a bitter-sweet spot on that happy day when Brian and I were legally married.
"Mom and Jenny died in 1985 in that timeline." I said with a frown. "It was a stupid car accident on Christmas day. That's the problem with this time travel crap. Once the person goes back in time, we start a cascade of changes and sometimes those changes aren't always for the better. In that second time-line World War Three was fought with the Soviets and the US battling it out. I fought in that war, Dad, and was given the Medal of Honor for the things I did. None of that happened in the first timeline. The Soviet Union fell apart peacefully in the original timeline."
"Which means one of these other time travelers has to be a Soviet agent." Dad stated with conviction and I nodded. "There's another, right?"
"Yeah, and we really shouldn't be talking about it right now." I said firmly. "Dad, you have to understand I violated several security regulations and could spend the rest of my life in jail for doing that by telling you the truth."
"You haven't told me enough for them to do something like that." Dad said with conviction. "Besides, now that I know what's going on, I'll be able to help more. I… I also will give you more leeway in things. If what you've said is accurate, you're the same age, mentally at least, as my father would be right now if he were still alive."
"Kind of blows the mind to think about that, doesn't it?" I asked rhetorically and we both chuckled for a few minutes. "I don't think about it much, Dad. I just try to live my life in the present, while making plans for the future ahead of me. The thing that really bugged me the most about coming back this time was that I had to give up someone I loved with all my heart, and that I'd been dedicated to for over twenty years. We built a life together, a financial empire, and we were still as happy together as the first time we'd gotten together. I gave that up though, willingly, in order to protect and defend this country, as I swore to do when I became an officer."
"This… this homosexual thing is going to be very uneasy for me." Dad said with a deep breath, but he was meeting my gaze. "I have to ask though: were you faithful to him?"
"Yes, I was, and he was to me." I answered Dad honestly, looking deep into his eyes and imploring him silently to see the truth in mine. "We were so happy together, and we'd become millionaires together in business. The world was at our fingertips, with me being a war hero and his business savvy. Half the year we were overseas, traveling the world on business and pleasure trips. It was a fun life, a good life, and we lived it together. I can't say much about what led me to be here now, but it followed another war with another country and they had stolen the Do Over technology. It was literally a choice between living in whatever world that their Do Over created or giving up every thing I'd accomplished in that life, including him and our life together, in order to come back in time and stop their efforts. It broke my heart, Dad, but I chose duty first."
"That tells me what I needed to know about the man my son became." Dad said softly, and reached out to grip my hand. I squeezed back, and there were tears in my eyes. Somehow, this man who was the same man I'd known in the last two lifetimes, was reacting far differently than I'd ever expected him to in this situation. "I don't… like this homosexual thing, and I think you might be able to change it if you try hard enough, but I'm not going to denounce you over it either. Just… we'll need to talk about keeping things quiet or you know how the church would respond."
"They have no need to know." I said softly.
"Um, can I ask who this… person is that steals your heart?" Dad asked and I shook my head. He nodded after a moment. "So, the Admiral mentioned something about a plane?"
"Yes, I need to go to Washington and you need to go with me too." I said firmly. "Since I've shared the Do Over information with you, the President and his people need to decide exactly what you will be cleared for and what you won't be cleared for knowing. You should know that since you now know, they might want to have me stay back East and work with them on a full-time basis. One of the main reasons they didn't do that back in April was that they didn't want you to know the full story, and if you didn't know, you would likely have resisted any arrangement that took me out of the home."
"What do you want, son?" Dad asked me with a raised eyebrow and I had to swallow some more surprise. He was actually asking instead of telling me what to do!
"I… I've served the government far too much already, much less doing it full time for another lifespan." I answered him after some thought. "I'd prefer to be free to live my life on my own terms, with my family than in a government-controlled environment. Don't get me wrong, and I know that as long as I live under your roof there will be rules that you expect me to follow, but I'd rather be with my family and friends."
"Do you have any… friends in Eureka?" Dad asked, and his pause at that point let me know what he was really asking.
"The… person I fell in love with lives in Modesto, right now." I said calmly. "As for friends, I had some good friend here in my original life and I missed them after we moved back to California a lot more than I missed the ones we left by moving to Eureka. In the second life, we never made that move or it would have been reversed. Eventually, I'll want to return to Modesto, but that's years down the road."
"So, for now we argue with the government to keep you with us in Eureka." Dad said firmly and he gave me a long, searching look before standing. "You're tired. Get some sleep and we'll talk more about this tomorrow. I guess I should find somewhere to stay the night."
"Talk to the guard outside and tell him you need to speak to someone about finding quarters for the night." I told him around a wide yawn. I really was tired. "He'll get in touch with the duty officer and the Admiral's probably already thought of that. Langsworth's a good man, and a good officer."
"You knew him before?" Dad asked with a smile and I nodded.
"Served with him in the opening days of the war." I answered briefly. "He died when his carrier was blown up by Soviet missiles. I'd just been transferred off a few days before to serve on another warship."
"That's… that's so incredible." Dad said with a shake of his head before heading towards the door. Once there he paused and turned for a final word. "Get some sleep son, I love you."
"I love you too, Dad." I said softly, finally letting sleep take me. I dreamed that night about Brian, and about Dad, and I had to wonder for a moment if I'd willingly trade Brian for a loving relationship with my Dad. To my surprise, the answer was almost a 'yes'. What made it harder is I knew Brian would have almost agreed as well.
As with all my stories, E provides immeasurable input, grammar checking, and all those other lovely editing thingies that make the story so much better!
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