Page 31 of Harbinger of Destiny

“You can never tell anybody what I’m gonna tell you now. Promise.”

“Promise,” Rosie said and leaned in.

18

BRAVE NEW WORLD

“Ready?”

Amy nodded and put her arms around Joshua. They stood in the middle of the Los Angeles National Cemetery near the UCLA campus. It was close to midnight, and they were the only people far and wide.

“Couldn’t we have just traveled back in time from your apartment?” Amy asked, feeling a little creeped out about the graves around them.

“I’m afraid not. The flat I rented doesn’t exist in 2085. It’s now in the ocean. But this cemetery is where the Institute for Time Travel is located. We’re only traveling through time, not through space.”

She nodded, more nervous now than when she’d made the decision to go with Joshua. “Okay. I’m ready.”

While she had her arms wrapped around Joshua, he pressed a button on his black watch. She wore a similar one, but hers was silver. A split second later, the night around them changed, became blurred. Everything was out of focus and suddenly began to spin around them. Pixels formed and turned into different colors. It wasn’t night anymore. But it wasn’t day either. As if everything was dissolving and then reassembling around them. The only constant was Joshua, whose arms were now around her, holding her close.

She was blinded by a sudden whiteness around them, but out of the white, colors emerged, and pixels were drawn to each other as if pulled by a strong magnet. Around them, a new world formed, until everything turned into focus again.

“We’re here,” Joshua said.

Saturday, July 21, 2085

The Institute for Time Travel wasn’t at all what Amy had expected. Not that she knew what she’d really expected, but, at least not this. They were standing in a large hall that reminded her of an indoor sports arena. It was divided into different sections, which were labeled with large signs. Men and women dressed in white full-body hazmat suits were busy attending to young couples and leading them to different, cordoned-off areas that reminded her of the treatment areas in the emergency room of a large hospital.

Joshua released her from his embrace and looked around.

A woman in a hazmat suit approached them. Her mouth and nose were hidden behind a surgical mask. A hologram—projected from her holocom—was hovering over her arm. “Identify yourself, please.”

Joshua tapped on his arm, and his holocom opened.

A beep sounded, and the woman nodded. “Welcome back, Joshua Fletcher, Romeo number 48.” Then she swept her gaze over Amy, startled for a brief moment, before she looked at the hologram again, clearly comparing her to a picture in her records. A picture that presumably didn’t show Amy’s scars. “Oh, you must be Amy Brooks. Welcome to 2085.” Then she added, “Please hand me your time-travel watches.”

Amy removed the silver watch Joshua had given her to time travel, and Joshua did the same and handed both to the woman.

The woman pointed to a sign that said New Arrivals 1 – 50. “Please line up behind this sign. You’re number 48 and will undergo a medical examination before you’ll be led to your quarantine quarters.”

“Quarantine?” Amy asked and glanced at Joshua.

He furrowed his forehead. “I wasn’t aware we’d be quarantined,” Joshua said, addressing the woman.

“I’m afraid it’s necessary. A few hours ago, we had an arrival, who showed symptoms of an infectious disease from 2025, and are therefore taking precautions.”

“Not the virus,” Amy said, scared all of a sudden. What were the odds of having escaped the pandemic, only to get sick here in 2085?

The woman turned to her, and even though her mouth wasn’t visible, Amy recognized that she was smiling. “Nothing of the sort. We’re just being overly cautious. You’ll undergo a quick full-body scan, and there’ll be a blood draw. Once the results come back negative, quarantine will be lifted.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Joshua said and took Amy’s hand. “Come. Let’s take care of this.”

Amy allowed Joshua to lead her to the indicated sign. He cast her an encouraging look. “Don’t look so worried. It’ll all be fine.”

As they walked to the indicated sign, Amy looked around. Other young couples like them were standing in lines or walking from one area to the next. It was all very orderly—and very sterile. Images of sci-fi movies where people were controlled by machines came to mind. What if she was marching to her doom?

When they arrived at the sign that said New Arrivals 1 – 50, a man dressed in scrubs and a surgical mask greeted them and ushered them behind a curtain. He looked at Joshua and pointed to a large machine that looked like the security check used at airports.

“Please scan your global ID number,” the man ordered.