Date: 08/06/2001
From: SouthernSlider

Weekend's over, y'all. Back to work. Just hope you're not getting blown away or drowned by Barry.
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Chapter Nineteen

Arturo made his way down the corridor, retracing his steps from earlier. His four charges kept up with him in silence. Quinn felt it best not to stir the already-boiling pot. The other three followed suit. They went through the same barrage of checkpoints as before until they came to the main entrance hall. There, the same lady greeted them anew, expressing surprise that they had been gone for such a short time. Professor Arturo answered her with a ‘hrrrumph’, then told her he needed to see Jim.

“I’m sorry, Professor Arturo,” she said meekly, “He came in earlier and gave explicit directions that he was not to be disturbed.”

Quinn perked up at that bit of information, and came forward. “Was he alone?”

The receptionist’s mouth dropped to the floor. Professor Arturo groaned loudly, then mumbled, “Now you’ve done it, you blistering idiot!”

“Qui . . . Quinn Mallory? Professor Arturo! You have Quinn Mallory back. I . . . I can’t believe it. So that’s what you’ve been working on all this time. It’s . . . it’s
amazing. It’s more than amazing!” The lady was quite flustered, fumbling with everything in front of her. She reached for the keypad, typing in the code to allow them
access to the other wing. “I’m sure Mr. Austin will not mind this particular disturbance. Please do go right in.”

Professor Arturo heaved a heavy sigh and rolled his eyes. It certainly wasn’t what he wanted to happen, but, at least, it got him through the door. He leaned over the desk, speaking quietly.

“Of course, you understand, Miss Ellis, this is very confidential -- top, top secret. No one -- and I mean, absolutely, no one -- is to know about this yet.”

“Oh, of course, sir. You know I do not talk out of turn. I haven’t kept my job here for so many years by opening my mouth when I shouldn’t. Your secret is safe with me.”

Arturo straightened himself without a word of acknowledgment to the woman, then proceeded to the opening doors to his right. Quinn, Colin, Remmy and the man
from the time store followed, in that order. Quinn turned just before the doors closed to see the woman staring at him with wide eyes, shaking her head. It suddenly dawned on
him that she had never answered his question. Had this Jim Austin been alone when he arrived? He mentally kicked himself for not insisting on an answer.

As they moved down one corridor after another, the same set of checkpoints and stops they had gone through in the other wing was duplicated here. Remmy kept his eyes
on every door and window as they moved along in relative silence. He slowed his pace to lag just a little behind the others, hoping they would never notice. At the first sign of a room that mentioned time, he would silently disappear, and hoped he could follow out his plan.

He was about to lose confidence in that plan until they came to the next set of closed, and guarded, doors. Sitting squarely to the right of the huge double doors was a
sign: Timeline Enterprises
Time Travel Rooms 1 -4
1990’s - Room 1
1980’s - Room 2
1970’s - Room 3
1960’s - Room 4
1950’s and beyond - West Wing - Code Purple

Remmy swallowed hard. This was the moment of truth. He wavered as Arturo spoke with the guard, then entered his keycard in the slot. The doors opened slowly as the guard stepped aside. Remmy stared intently at the stiff, wooden soldier, then let his eyes wander to the gun at his side. He knew the man wouldn’t hesitate to use it if there
was a problem. He closed his eyes, and released a quivering breath.

The others moved forward, and Remmy let them get several steps ahead before he followed. Moving slowly, with a watchful eye, he came to the first room. Room # 4 -
1960’s. He shook his head. The rooms were in reverse order. He would have to continue along, but taking only one step for their two. The distance increased, luckily
with no one in the group noticing his lag behind.

Time seemed interminable. Remmy silently chuckled at that thought. The distance to the fourth door seemed to increase with each step he took. The corridor stretched on endlessly. He waited for one of them to turn around -- but no one did.

Finally after an agonizing trek, he reached that door. Room #1 - 1990’s. He could feel the cold sweat trickle down the side of his face. Reaching for the door handle
with a shaky hand, he grabbed it and held on firmly, trying to calm his nerves. The group grew smaller as they left him behind.

His grip tightened even more. Pushing ever so slowly, he heard the latch click; the door gave way. He tried to ignore the thunderous, loud beating of his heart booming
in his ears. A patch of bright light fell across his face. He squinted, then pushed some more. Taking a peak at his friends down the way, and seeing he was still not missed, he then craned his neck to take a peek inside. No one was there.

He slipped inside, closing the door silently behind him. His body still shook. Taking in his surroundings, he first noticed the lone chair in the center of the room. On
either side was some kind of contraption he was sure would take him back in time. But how?

A panel on the far wall was the only other fixture in the place. As he passed the chair to see if he could decipher anything from that panel, he saw a similar panel on the
arm. He stopped, looking at the thing with fear. Could he go through with it?

“Well, I guess it couldn’t be any worse than traveling through the multiverse, scraping my butt on a new world every few days,” he whispered, answering his silent
question.

He sighed, swallowed hard, then made his way to the opposite wall. The first words slapped him in the face: ENTER TIME CARD HERE. A slot to the right
yawned before him.

“Damn! Where the hell do I get a time card?”
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SS

Oops!

Date: 08/06/2001
From: DieselMickeyDolenz

There's never a time card around when you need one.

We escaped the wind and rain down here in central Florida, but I know the panhandle is getting a good bit of that. I'd imagine SweetOne's having a time of it in Alabama, too.

DMD

Thank Goodness

Date: 08/06/2001
From: sliderlynn

that Remmy doesn't have a time card.Why is it that people
always want to do the things that they're not suppose to??
Why doesn't the human race stop to think things through
first, before they get into trouble???? This is one time
that Remmy might be sorry,as Maggie now is.Our emotions
are our down fall big time, when it come to things like
this. Will be awaiting your next chapter patiently. :)

Original URL http://www.scifi.com/bboard/browse.cgi/1/5/1095/3529
Nominated by DieselMickeyDolenz