A plane roared by overhead, drowning out their words and drawing both of their gazes skyward.When it had passed, a comfortable silence remained.
Jack patted the Pitts.She was a beauty.He felt a pang for Hayes.If he agreed to Jack’s proposition, the kid would miss her.
“Can I buy you lunch?”Jack asked.
Hayes hesitated, as if he sensed there was more to Jack’s question than was apparent.That was a good sign, too.The guy had good instincts.
“Sure.”Hayes said, his eyes studying Jack.“I don’t fly again for a couple of hours.”
“My wheels are this way,” Jack said, nodding back in the direction he’d come.This part both amused him and terrified him.He never knew how someone was going to react.He’d thought Ty might call an ambulance to come get him.
Jack hoped that Hayes would give him a chance to prove time travel was possible.It would save his life.
Chapter2
Time Travel Bunker, 2023
Connor Hayes was glad to not be dead.He hadn’t liked what Jack told him over their lunch the day they’d met.He’d thought the guy was nuts and that it was too bad because Con had liked the look of him.
The article about his death had looked pretty real, but he’d still wondered if something like that could be faked.And he’d had no way to prove Jack wrong except by waiting to live or die.
It had shaken him to see the burned wreck of his Pitts in the photo.He studied it for a good few minutes, but it was his.No question.Even burnt, his customizations to the original design were apparent.
He’d challenged Jack and Jack had challenged him back.
“Prove me wrong,” he’d said.“But if you come with me, there’s no going back.”
Con had almost told him to take a walk.His mom, his sister—but his gaze kept straying to that newspaper.If Jack wasn’t delusional, there’d be no coming back—but death was a lot more final than a trip into the future.
So here he was.The future wasn’t at all like the science fiction novels he’d read had predicted it would be.He’d expected a lot more.And it was possible, that he’d expected less.Cleaner, maybe?
The work was interesting—a serious understatement.
His lips quirked in a smile.He still had moments of “this can’t be happening.This is a dream and I’ll wake up wondering what I ate last night.”
So far, he hadn’t woke up.
Other than the trip to the future with Jack, his test “flights” had all been in short time frames.At first, it had been an hour, then several hours.He was up to days now.
He double-checked as the engines slowly settled into silence.He still had all his critical parts after finishing his current test.The jury on whether he had a brain was still out, but that wasn’t new.Everyone had always thought he was crazy.
Being crazy in the future?It was just a change of address…with a twist.
He released the straps and activated the hatch.TheTime Raywas small, sleek, fast, and alien, no matter where in the future it was intended to land.
Based on an aircraft design called theManta Ray, a plane that had flown once and crashed—his first sight of of thisRayhad not impressed him.No, his feelings could best be described as uneasy.And the fact that it’s predecessor had crashed wasn’t a positive either.
Alice had explained what happened, but that hadn’t helped as much as she’d hoped.
ThisRaylooked alien in a way that sent prickles of unease down his back.It was small, with a pointed nose and squat, flaring wings poking out from its rocket shape.It wasn’t the kind of craft that you could land at an airport without the men in black showing up.
This was what he was going to travel through time in?He’d thought it at the time.And might still think it.
Ty seemed to know how he felt.“Weird, isn’t it?”
Con had given a laconic shrug, but felt better knowing he wasn’t alone in his impressions.He hadn’t thought there was a plane built he wouldn’t want to fly.
“It’s fast,” Jack had said with satisfaction.
