Page 5 of Telling Time
His sister believed he was her grand-nephew.When he’d arrived in the future, his team’d had to believe who he was.The older him was just gone.So they’d constructed a story.Old Jack had died in a lab accident.And surprise.There was a grandson.
If his sister had been younger, she’d have noticed the holes in their story, but she was just relieved to have someone to take over for her brother.
And the things he did remember with, or about his sister, he’d had to suppress.He’d spent time listening to her remember.And he’d made sure to hug her as much as she’d let him.
He was glad about that.He’d got the news she was gone not long before he’d deployed for this mission into the past.Mel had been worried about him doing this, but it was one of time’s quirks.If he waited too long, it would be too late.
But right now, she was alive out there.With the version of himself he couldn’t remember?
At least Mel hadn’t told him not to go see himself or Dorothy.The temptation was there, but the risk was there, too.He could be spotted, photographed even, without realizing it.So he kept moving through the crowd, keeping his gaze—if not his thoughts—fixed on the goal.
It was already dangerous doing this much time tampering.You changed time too much and it punched back.
There were ways to get around that punch.He’d learned to track disturbances in time, but it was broad stroke, more like a hammer to a mosquito.They’d been lucky.So far.But if they were going to find the opposition, they needed to up their game.And put a new face on it.
It was why he was here, why he’d traveled back in time so he could stroll around a 1960s air show and not go see his sister.
They needed someone to test their new, and hopefully more efficient, time machine.He needed someone young, strong, adept, a top-notch pilot who wasn’t too risk-adverse—and someone who could believe the impossible.
That was always the tricky part.
The first time he’d told Mel—now his wife—that she could travel in time, she’d almost passed out.Ty Granger hadn’t wobbled on his feet even a little.But he hadn’t believed Jack either.
“Prove me wrong,” Jack had challenged him.That was the thing with pilots, they liked a challenge.
Ty made the leap—literally—and after, he’d agreed with Mel that you didn’t truly believe it until you did it.And even then, you wondered if you’d lost it.
Ty’s wife, Alice…Jack half frowned at the thought of Alice.Her relationship with time baffled them all, but there was no question she was a valuable asset to the team.Her brain had been wasted in the fifties.
“You put wings on a washing machine,” a voice broke into Jack’s thoughts, “and I can fly it.”
Jack stopped and studied the man leaning against a Pitts Special, using the bi-wings for shade.His cap tipped back from his head, he smiled at the small cluster of young women trying to look grownup.
If the kid was the pilot who had been flying a Pitts in air shows, then he was good.But anyone could lean against a plane, wearing the leather flying jacket, and pretend to be a pilot.
For a few seconds, his mind went back into the past, to his buddy, Rick.In the end, he’d died a hero, but he’d been more bluster than pilot.
Jack stepped closer, reaching up to touch the tip of the top wing, then walked forward, while running this hand along its edge.The name of the plane was right.Was this his man?
The pilot straightened, his gaze going past the girls to Jack.He settled his hat more firmly on his head and took a few steps in Jack’s direction.
The girls hesitated, their expressions disappointed, then they moved on.
“Yours?”Jack asked.Up close, he could see his face matched the photo of the pilot he’d hoped to meet today.Third time was the charm.
“Built it myself,” the man said.His manner had changed from cocky flirt to something more serious, as his gaze assessed Jack.
Jack knew what he’d see.Pilots recognized one another at a cellular level.
And the really good pilots would relax their swagger and use their eyes to measure each other.
“Nice,” Jack said.He held out a hand.“Jack Hamilton.”
“Connor Hayes.”The young pilot gripped Jack’s hand without trying to start an arm-wrestling match.
So far, Jack liked what he saw.He glanced at the bi-plane.A one seat.So that temptation was removed.There would be no joy rides today.Mel would be pleased.
Without prompting, Hayes began showing his Pitts to Jack, both the basic design and the innovations he’d added.It didn’t take long before they were talking stunts—at least Hayes was.Jack’s experiences were in battle.
