Chapter 13

David Evans was waiting, thinking of the recent changes in his life. He had now completed what he halfway planned, up on Mars, when the thought had first occurred to him. He'd gone back in time, using the device, and warned himself, his back-in-time self, about all the trouble and destruction he'd caused and done. At all those spaced apart times, he strictly warned himself of the consequence of his actions, and told him what had happened. Now back, he knew, from his newly formed memory, he did not go into area 51, ever, as counseled. But aware that he had gone in and what he had done that first time through, that past tunnel of his life, he still thought Groom Lake was pretty cool to visit, and he might, just might sometime, go back, but he would stay well hidden.

There was no destruction of government facilities, now, and no one died. It was done. He'd cleaned up the messes he'd made.

His past person, the person he'd been, had heeded his advice and now David was back in his own time, in his own future and his own world, and moments. Mars was still his hobby, as it had been before this huge decision. His research into odd corners of physics was still interesting and continuing, but he knew from his two-point-oh, redo--in his memories, that he wasn't threatened, and was at peace with everyone, but most importantly, himself.

David still had his stasis ring and the device still functioned as it should, eternally slung around his neck, and the women he'd been involved with in the past were all oblivious to him, except the woman in Nevada, he'd made younger, giving her another chance on life. He couldn't even recall her name, at the moment, but she was doing okay, he knew. He checked up on her once. The world was not his enemy, anymore, either, except for the tax people, the good old I.R.S. They got their cut every year, as did the state. They were always the enemy weren't they?. But he was still very wealthy and he still lived in his mansion protected by the stasis bubble and a newly installed double chain link fence with razor wire on top of both, with the inner fence electrified. It would keep curiosity seekers away from the invisible bubble of the stasis field, something that had grown out of The Device technology.

He was sitting in his Rubicon Jeep waiting for Angela, at the entrance to his property. The stasis dome completely surrounded it, the entire property, and no one could get through that stasis bubble without him being in the car or touching them with the device on or the stasis ring on. One or the other, or both. Angela was still cleaning his vehicles for him, still being sweet and innocent, and he'd talk to her often, as a friend, but he was not romantically engaged with her and didn't want to be, in spite of her looks. David had learned his lesson.

He recalled his trips to Mars, now, and from earth's ancient past, in other time travels, bringing back specimens from the Pleistocene and the age of dinosaurs, and beyond. It was a fun project, Mars, and the ancient animals hurt no one. Sure made people scratch there heads, though. And he could still continue to have fun that way.

His new dealings with his family were better, too. He'd had time for them, since counseling himself. Life had been better for the new David, but he knew what he was feeling and that was boredom with, again, a capitol B. He needed some kind of stimulus. Something new, something exciting.

Angela arrived on her bicycle and David took her and her transportation into the complex of his huge mansion and the privacy of his grounds. She was his cleaner, keeping the cars shined and the batteries charged, and running the engines, too, from time to time. That was it and they were friends, of sorts, David keeping it pleasant and friendly. He was twenty-three, after all, even though he appeared to be much younger, and Angela was only fifteen but still, he always had to be on guard. He had fallen for girls that age before and they'd ended up very hurt or dead. That wasn't going to happen again.

The more he thought about her, the girl that died, his Betty, the more he wanted to go see what she was doing now that she was once more alive. He wanted to rush out and put on his flight suit, stupidly, he knew, the new one that was all shiny black and chrome, polished copper and stainless steel, the suit with blue piping on its seams that was not only long term space worthy, but cool looking and pure function. Yes, he wanted to spy on Betty, now that she was alive again, but decided against it, really thinking it through. It would be much easier to say no, now, than when he was watching her. He might weaken and start the whole affair over again. It was too much to risk. No. They had to stay out of his life. All of them. The government could easily kill them if he ever did something to bend them over backwards, again. With his track record, he might. Life was too convoluted to predict with any accuracy.

He tried putting all that behind him. He could relax now, but knew how stupid he'd been. For a smart guy, I've sure been an ass, the last few years.

David got up and out of the Jeep. He was tired of making himself sick to his stomach over all this ugly past of his--over all those destructive memories.

He went inside, rushed up stairs, stripped naked and dressed in his Asics running shoes and some old shorts. Exercise, hard exercise, always made him feel better. He slipped into a white tee shirt as he left the front door and out through the hidden rear gate.

He ran through the back country, over open ground, carefully enough so he wouldn't roll his ankle but not wimpy slow, either. Every so often he would cross one of several trails in the woods, but if there was clear ground on the other side, he would go over it and keep going. Trails were okay, some days, but he preferred the discovery of new spots and areas of forest he hadn't seen. David was thankful there weren't that many bears in the area, too. Not that they could actually hurt him, but bears had always scared the hello out of him. The hunter's were keeping them down, unlike in some of the other parts of the states. And they were black bears. They were quite skiddish, sometimes. You clapped your hands and yelled and nine times out of ten, it would scare them off.

David ran out of open area and followed a trail, now. There was heavy brush on both sides of it and he had no choice.

"On your right," a definite feminine voice called out. David clumsily moved over. He hadn't seen or heard her when he turned to run the trail. And she was quick, moving much faster than he was and he thought he was in pretty good shape. Like someone said, in a book somewhere, 'There's always someone faster, stronger, or smarter'.

He didn't see her face when she passed, watching the ground off trail as he moved over it, but the back of her looked kind of scranny. Tall, but thin. Trim waist, narrow shoulders, hair tied in a pony tail, strong looking legs, and a thin, almost too trim, butt.

He didn't try to keep up. She was the better athlete. Sides, he didn't need a girlfriend or involvement on any level. He had physics, didn't he? He wrestled with the idea, but it sounded like something from, The Big Bang Theory, on TV, something Lenard would said. Oh yeah, he thought, his sub-conscious taking the opposite side, now; But physics problems won't kiss you good morning or keep you warm at night, will they? But he let it go as he followed the trail along, deeper into a draw and then out of the deep ravine, and up its steep far side. He had to pay attention to his footing. It winded him, too, and he gasped for air as he got to the top but kept moving. The breathing evened out and so did his thoughts, long lost now, in the endorphins and oxygen high he was feeling after a minute or so.

Cornering around a big granite boulder, the ancient ice caps had left there, millions of years ago, he passed the girl, standing behind it, bent over. She was leaning on her knees and breathing very hard. Her face was quite powdery.

He trotted to a stop, looking back at her and approached cautiously.

"You okay?" he said, stupidly, as he came back. She obviously wasn't.

She stood up, looking askance at him. She was pretty, sort of, but very thin. Quite tall and gaunt of cheek, he now saw ... She wasn't wearing a bra, either, he noted. He couldn't have missed it. Her nipples were too well defined beneath her thin running jersey, soaked through with sweat, but they too seemed, well, thin, like the rest of her.

"Yeah," she said, wheezing a little and continuing to breathe weakly and cough. "I'm okay. Just Asthma," and coughed harder, several times more. She spat and put her hands on her hips.

Then the girl leaned over again, her arms stretched out onto her knees, still gasping for air. Again, David couldn't help but notice the sight of her little breasts as the running tank-top opened up. It embarrassed him and he looked away, seeing all of one little thing.

Kneeling on one knee, he wouldn't be distracted so much, and suggested, "Lets sit down, okay," and they did, under a pine and on the long dry needles of yesteryear.

"It just has to work its way out of my system," she told him, a bit horse, now.

"I understand. I'll stay here, though, if you don't mind?"

Amidst her coughs, she nodded, and put a hand out, as if to say, Thank you. She was a bit too uncomfortable to talk, but nodded, again, briefly, Yes.

David had caught his breath but she seemed to be working harder to breathe and her color didn't look good at all, becoming more and more ashen. He felt helpless, at first, and then had an idea. He had never thought of it like this, but possibly, with the stasis ring on, it could possibly, help her, the power of it radiated throughout the body, surrounding it with a protective field. If he held her, she might somehow feel better. It was worth a try.

He scooted up next to her, turning to face her on his knees and without asking, took both her long delicate hands in his. He drew them together and with a slight adjustment to his ring, increased the power, though it could not be felt in any way, and she almost immediately calmed down. Her breathing became smooth and she looked up at him, her new friend. She took deep breaths, which was rather difficult for David not to gawk over her chest, but managed to control himself, and several seconds went by and then she smiled. She looked much better, too, with rosy cheeks and her lips turning from blue to a lovely shade of rose.

"What did you do?" she had to ask.

"Um..." he wasn't prepared to answer questions. But he was glad to see she wasn't coughing up a lung and a half, now. It was just an experiment and it seemed to work. Cool. His hunch had paid off.

"You did something? What was it?"

"Um, I don't know. I just thought I could calm you, is all."

"What did you do with that ring then?"

"It always bothers me when it's on crooked." Good-come-back, David. She'll buy that, he knew.

"Oh! Well. It worked, I guess," she said, looking at her hands and they back at David. "We can let go of our hands now, can't we?"

"I don't know. You think you can? Besides, it's kinda nice, isn't it?"

"It was at first but its getting kinda creepy, now."

"Oh!" David exclaimed, immediately letting her have her hands back. "Sorry. I don't always pick up on things like that. You sure you're okay now?"

"Yes, thank you."

They both stood and didn't know what to say to each other, and she seemed fine, now, thank goodness.

"I felt something warm go through my whole body, after you adjusted your ring. You sure you didn't do anything?" she inquired, looking him carefully in the eye. She was only an inch or two shorter than him.

Hmm ... Must be five eight or nine, he calculated.

"No, not that I know of. You're feeling good now, then, is that right?"

"Yes. I feel wonderful, really. I guess I got too much rag weed in my system, but I'm okay now. What's your name?"

"David Evans," he told her, and stuck out his hand to shake, and then, hesitantly, withdrew it, thinking it would be creepy for her, after what she had said.

She laughed. "It's okay," she assured him, and stuck out hers. "I'm Simp. That's my nick name. Sheila is my real name but everyone calls me Simp. I used to be shorter when I was a kid," and she smiled at her own joke, even though David didn't quite understand it.

Must be a family thing/joke of some kind, he considered.

"Me, too," David grinned, meaning of course, he used to be shorter. "You still in school?"

"I just graduated."

"What's your last name?"

"Christensen."

"Well, Simp, enjoy the rest of your run. And good luck with that asthma." He was just starting to run off when she stopped him.

"Are you the son of that David Evans that built the big mansion near the edge of the plateau?"

"Yes, that's me. I mean, my father lives in Illinois. I'm David Evans. That's my house."

"You look so young."

"I get that a lot, yes. I have one of those young faces. I'm twenty-three. You should come by some time. I'll give you the 50 cent tour," he said, wondering why he'd said it. He didn't need any complications in his life and women always were, exactly that.

"Did your father pay for the house?"

David thought that was a bit nosy but he told her the truth, racking it up to youthful indiscretion, and not so important, really. "I have a gift for picking good stocks. I was kind of a mathematical wizard growing up."

"So—why do you have an electrified fence around your property?"

"I have a lot of expensive cars in my garage. The house is full of stuff people would love to steel, too. There are good reason's for it."

"Uh-huh. Okay, I get it. Maybe I'll drop by someday and check it out. Thanks for your help."

"Sure thing. Are you going to continue on the trail? We could run together, a little, if you don't mind slowing down."

"No. I think I'm going to walk back home. I skipped my asthma treatment this morning and that's probably why I had an attack. Thanks anyway."

"I see. Would you like me to go with you? Walk you home?"

"No. I'll be alright if I just walk. Overexertion is what brings it on. See ya," Simp said, and spun, walking away.

David watched her go. She was pretty, in her own way, but probably not someone I'd like to get involved with. Little on the homely, side, too, if you go, feature by feature.

That was mean and shallow, he scolded himself, turning to run again. Oh well. I'll probably never see here again.

Showered and sitting in front of one of his humongous TV screens in his underwear, playing a video game, he suddenly realized, Angela must still be in the house. He dropped the controller and ran upstairs, dressed in jeans and tee shirt, then went to the garage.

"Angela?" he called, looking anxiously towards the hot rods he'd assigned her to polish, earlier, she answered right next to him and David jerked. "Jee's!" he spun to his left.

She was on one of the stools, next to the long wooden work bench of his. "You scared the shit out of me." And then thought, "Oh, I'm sorry," he cried, holding out his hand with the palm up and covering his mouth with his other hand, as though he could stop the word from coming out.

She grinned. "It's okay, David. I hear worse in the halls at school."

She was looking at his plans for the hyper plane. He kept all his blueprints, plans, and imaginative ideas in the enormous garage on rolled up sheets of paper, big paper. It helped him think outside the box and was a reminder to always do things yourself, whenever possible, if you had the means.

His first reaction was to cover up the plans and tell Angela with some seriousness to never look at these blueprint papers again, but he didn't, not seeing her cute smiling face. She was just too sweet to get angry at.

"What have you got there?" he asked, strolling to her side. "Oh, my hyper sled. Pretty cool, huh? Too bad I don't have a motor for it." He was more than well aware she knew about it. I think I showed it to her when she first started working for me, didn't I? Wondering if he was getting forgetful in his old age. Besides, it was hovering right behind them, in the south-western corner of the garage, draped by a huge plastic tarp.