“Seems a little ironic, to call me ‘baby’ now, doesn’t it? I really do look like I should be your mother. Or at least your great-aunt.” She crossed toward him. “Tell me more about this world you went to,” she said.
He told the story of his four-hour visit once again, trying to fill in any details he might have left out the night before. She asked questions, her teaching mind intensely curious about the people in Centra. She asked about the sky, the plants, the food, the wine. He could see something in her eyes he’d never seen before. It was a new spirit of adventure.
“I wish I could see that place,” she said.
“Well,” he said, more than a little surprised, “The Gate’s still out there. Randolph told me that if they last longer than a few days, they’re very likely permanent. I managed to get out of the base without them locking me up — I bet I could get us back in,” he offered.
She smiled and looked down. “Look at me, Steve,” she said. “I’m too old for adventuring.”
“Bullshit,” he smiled. “Who was it that took me kayaking for the first time? Who got me to try bungee jumping on our third date? Who always said she wanted to climb Pike’s Peak?”
“Well, yeah, but that was a long time ag—”
“But, nothing. You’re not a septuagenarian, honey. You —
we
— still have years and years to spend together, and you’re not too old for a little adventure.”
She was silent. He looked at her, seeing the gears turning in her mind. “What are you thinking?”
“Steve,” she said, “I’ve been thinking about all of this since last night. I — it’s been a joy having you here, feeling your touch again, but there’s something you need to know. You’re still the same 40-year old that you were fifteen years ago, but I’m a 53-year-old former schoolteacher who was alone for years… until I met someone two years ago.”
Steven stared at her.
“His name is Christopher,” she said. “I met him one day when I had a flat tire at the supermarket. He changed my tire for me, and then we started seeing each other not long after that. We were married last September. He’s a sales representative for H&E Equipment.”
Steven shook his head. “You — you’re married to another man? But I — last night —”
She looked at the floor. “I know. Chris is on a business trip to Chicago this week, otherwise that never would have happened. I
do
love you, Steve, and I always will, but it’s too late for us. I can’t go back to the way things were.”
“Sam’s wife — what was her name? Erica? She still called you Lynne Denver,” Steven gasped.
“I still go by that. I was Mrs. Denver for so many years, teaching, it only seemed natural to keep it.”
Steven couldn’t believe what he was hearing, and yet, deep down, he understood. He let out a moan, looking at her, shaking his head. “Don’t, please, Steve,” she said. “I have to at least work through this. You can’t possibly understand how it feels. It took me months to accept that you were gone, and
years
to get over the loss. And now here you are again, but you’re almost young enough to be my son, and I moved on with my life years ago.”
He closed his eyes and turned his face away, feeling as though someone had run his heart through with a skewer.
Chapter 22
Four days had passed since Steven’s return from Centra. He was staying with Lianne while he tried to figure out what he should do. He was sitting alone in her living room watching CNN and trying to sort out the changes in the world when the phone rang. Annie’s machine picked up on the second ring.
“Dad, it’s me,” he heard Samuel’s voice say. “Pick up.”
“Hey,” said Steven, picking up the receiver, “what’s going on, son?”
“I need to talk to you, Dad. Can I come over?”
“Of course, Samwise. Come on over. I’m just sitting here watching the tube.”
Fifteen minutes later they were sitting at Lianne’s retro-style kitchen table, coffee cups in hand.
“Dad,” Samuel began, “The other night you told me all about that place you went on your last trip in to the — Gatespace, you called it?”
“Centra.”
“Right. Centra. And the time before that you were on some strange world, and before that, in the Arctic… and…” He hesitated.
“What is it, Sam?”
“I… I’ve never done anything really exciting like that. I’ve never
had
an adventure. I’ve never been down the rabbit hole, or traveled to Mordor, or swum the English Channel. I’ve never been to Japan — which Nikki has. Ever since you disappeared, I poured myself into school and then later into this job…” He paused, looking at the floor.
“What are you saying, Sam?”
Samuel looked up at his father, locking eyes with him. “Take me there, Dad. I want to go to Centra with you. I didn’t document the fact that you came back. No one would ever know.”
Steven looked at his son with alarm. “What are you saying? Look what happened to me when I went! I lost fifteen years of my life!”
“No, you didn’t, Dad.
We
lost fifteen years of
your
life, but you’re still young. You still have years ahead of you…” He grimaced. “Mom has a new husband; I know what she told you the other morning. I know why you’re staying with Annie instead of with her.”
“So what are you saying? You figure since your mother kicked me to the curb, I don’t have anything to lose? I
did
lose those years! I lost fifteen years of seeing you grow up, you and your sisters! I can never get that time back!”
“I know,” Samuel said, “But… it’s just that I need to do this.
We
need to do this.”
Steven was silent for a moment.
“What does Erica think about this craziness?”
“She doesn’t know yet, but… well, I didn’t intend to tell you, not yet, but we’ve been in the process of a divorce for about three months.”
“A divorce? But… why, Sam?”
“She’s not happy here. She’s not happy with me. She’s just not happy in general… and she doesn’t know that I know it, but she’s been seeing another man.”
“Oh, shit. I’m sorry, Sam.”
“It’s all right, Dad. She’ll be happier, and…”
“And what about you? Will you be happy?” He remembered the little boy to whom every setback was a tragedy, every small disappointment an utter devastation.
“I don’t want to lose her, Dad, but if the truth be told, I don’t have her now. In her heart, she’s already gone. You can’t lose something you don’t have.”
Steven looked at the man who had been his little boy, and realized that somehow, in his twenty-six years, he had gained a measure of wisdom.
“So we’ll just be two bachelors, huh?”
“Two bachelors, on an adventure… in another world.”
Chapter 23
Steven stepped out onto the alien landscape with Samuel in tow. Sam fell to his knees, and Steven realized that the shock of Sam’s first excursion into the Gatespace had taken more of a toll than he expected. He helped Sam to his feet, steadying him, and was rewarded with a look of wonder that slowly spread across Sam’s face as the world came back into focus.
“Oh, man! This is incredible!” Samuel exclaimed, looking around. Steven noted that it seemed to be a different season than on his previous visit, for the trees which had been the color of malachite were now golden, but the sky was the same pinkish color. He led Sam toward the little town.
Soon he saw Randolph, still working on the three wheeled wagon. The old man looked up and began walking towards them.
When he was within shouting distance, Steven raised his hand and hailed him. “Randolph, my friend!” The old man stopped short and looked at him suspiciously.
“Do I know you?” he said to Steven.
“Do you —? Randolph, I’m Steven Denver. I came through the gate yesterday. Don’t you remember me?”
Randolph frowned and said, “Yesterday? We had no sojourners yesterday.”
“Well, the Gatespace does crazy things to time. Perhaps it’s been a while since I was here, or maybe I haven’t been here
yet
. What day is it?”
“Today,” said Randolph, “is June 23, 2769.”
“June 23,” Steven said. “Yes, when I was here yesterday you told me it was June 22. You took me to the inn and gave me a meal, and then I spent a few hours in your library, using the computer.”
“I don’t know what a
computer
is, stranger, and I certainly have never met you before. And as far as the library is concerned, only the priesthood has access to that.”
A look of chagrin came across Steven’s face. “But —”
“And you claim we
fed
you as well?” He gave a grim laugh. “There are
rules
in Centra, stranger.
No man shall eat except that he work.
What did you
do
to earn your meal?” He was stern now, not at all the welcoming sort of figure that Steven remembered from the day before.
“You treated me like a guest! You showed me around, introduced me to people,” Steven said. “Wait — I can
prove
we’ve met before!” He pointed at Randolph. “You were born on Earth, in Connecticut, in 1842. You came here through a Gate in 1872. Before that, you were in the Union Army during the Civil War!”
“Civil War? I am quite sure I don’t know what you mean,” said Randolph.
“The War Between the States, the North and the South!” Steven said.
“War between the states?” Randolph laughed. “I don’t know what you are talking about. There was no ‘war between the states.’ There was a dispute over the rights of slave owners in 1860, and the Southern states announced that they were leaving the Union,”
“Right, and there was a great civil war…”
“There
was no war,
” Randolph intoned. “President Douglas recognized their right to self-determination and the South formed their own nation, the Confederate States of America.”
“President Douglas?” Steven gasped.
“Stephen A. Douglas, who was president from 1861 to 1868,” Randolph replied.
Steven stood speechless, unsure of what to do. “And so black slavery was never abolished…?”
“
Abolished?
On the contrary, it became more widespread than
ever
. And slaves of
any
color are
still
quite popular, seven hundred years later, on Earth… as well as here in Centra.”
In all the confusion, Steven had failed to notice the group of grey-clad men that had approached them from behind. Now they grabbed Steven and Samuel roughly and began to bind them with ropes.
“Stop! You can’t do this!” Steven cried.
“Oh, but we can,” Randolph said. “We can always use a couple more strong backs to build our city. Oh, and for the record — I was indeed born in Connecticut, but my family moved to the sovereign state of South Carolina when I was just five years old.”
Steven fell to his knees, his eyes focusing on the far side of the town for the first time since their arrival back in Centra. He felt his throat go dry as he realized that the little western-style town he remembered was now a walled fortress, a massive stone castle — built by slaves.
Chapter 24
Steven awoke in the dark, lying on a cold stone floor. His head and ribs ached. There had been a beating, he remembered that much. One of his eyes wouldn’t focus. He realized he was no longer bound, and reached up to touch his left eye, which was caked with dried blood.
Samwise.
“Sam… Sam, are you here?”
There was a moan nearby. He felt his way in the darkness, crawling on his hands and knees, until he found his son. He pulled him into a sitting position, cradling his upper body in his arms. “Sam, are you all right?”
There was an odd, low murmuring sound. He listened for a moment, then realized that Samuel was laughing softly. “Gueth it wadn’t thuch a good idea to come heah, huh?” Samuel said quietly. His lips were swollen horribly.
He smiled in spite of it all. “No, son, I think that particular decision pretty much sucked.”
There was a clang, and a narrow rectangle of light appeared near the floor on the far side of the room. “Feeding time!” said a gruff voice. The light disappeared as the food door clanged shut.
Steven laid Samuel back on the stone floor gently and crawled toward where the light had been. He found two wooden bowls containing a meager amount of some sort of lukewarm gruel, and carried them back to where Sam lay.
There was bread, which seemed to be a staler, more meager version of the pink loaf he’d had the day before. There was also a narrow sliver of what he assumed was the sky-blue cheese he’d tasted, but when he bit into it, it was hard, dry and bitter.
Still, it’s food, I suppose.
Steven made sure Sam got some food down; he thought his son had lost some teeth, and was afraid he might even have a broken jaw.
They were in the cell for three days, with food brought only once a day, when the cell door opened unexpectedly and a man dressed in a black robe walked in, flanked by two guards bearing torches and clubs.
“I am Brother Frederick,” said the man. “I’m here to make sure your injuries are tended to. It wouldn’t do to have you unfit to work.”
He proceeded to examine them both. Steven’s injuries were minor — a scalp laceration, to which Frederick applied a sort of poultice, and some bruised ribs, for which only time would be the remedy. Samuel had lost two front teeth, and had some minor cuts and bruises, but was otherwise on the mend.
“You’ll be moved to slave quarters in the morning,” Frederick said, and left, the metal door slamming shut behind him.
Chapter 25
Over the next few months, Steven and Samuel were assigned to various duties; initially they were simple tasks of hard labor such as helping to move large stone blocks destined for the construction of castle walls, or lifting the blue-green logs that had been brought in from the forests outside the city from the carts that transported them. Eventually they were reassigned to slightly more challenging jobs such as the assisting with the felling of those trees, maintaining the system that siphoned water from the river into the irrigation and water supply systems of the castle, or harvesting the pinkish grain that was the raw material for the bread.