CHAPTER 32

He was the freakingvillain of the story. They all thought so. Including Kalli. He was the evil man who had torn the lovers asunder. He was the one who didn’t believe in love and was refusing the woman who, right now, could be carrying his child. A shudder shook him at the thought.

It shouldn’t matter to him. He knew he was doing the right thing. The logical thing. But damn it all, it mattered. He cared. For all his pretensions otherwise. He had feelings. Inconvenient, annoying, and useless feelings. No matter how much he’d tried, he had never been able to rid himself of them completely. Sometimes he envied parbots. It must be so much easier to be a robot.

The first leg of their journey though time had gone smoothly. They had arrived in Olivia’s time on the morning after the night when she had been transported in time. After he collected their luggage, Olivia drove off in her car, leaving them by the ruins. He arranged their trunks around them in a compact pile, and then set up the observation tent over them, leaving just enough space for them to crawl inside.

“Are you ready, Kalli?” She was watching the retreating vehicle and the sadness in her eyes tore at his heart.

“Yes, of course. Ready when you are.”

“Alright then. Just give me a few minutes to recalibrate the TEQT.”

“You mean the time machine?” Kalli said with a roll of her eyes.

He felt his lips twitch despite his glum mood. “It’s called the Temporal Engine Quantum Transducer. The time machine is an invention that only exists in science fiction works.”

“As you wish, nerd. Just set it up so we can go home.”

Her teasing felt good. It made him feel... cherished. He had never had that before.

He focused on the calibration of the engine and, when that was done, they crawled into the tent. The cramped space only allowed for one position, which was Kalli sitting between his legs, her back to his front. They had traveled to the past in this same fashion. Neither of them had batted an eye at their bodies’ nearness then. Now, the position was so erotic, it was unsettling.

He sat, and she moved into position. As she lowered herself, her arse brushed against his cock, with predictable results. He grabbed her hip with one hand.

“Stop wriggling, damn it,” he hissed in her ear.

“You are poking at me. I can’t get comfortable.”

“Well, no wonder. If you don’t stop moving, I’m going to poke you even more.”

“Hmm, is that a threat or a promise?”

Her voice had lowered seductively, and the honeyed words went straight to his groin. He groaned.

“Don’t do this, Kalli. For goodness’ sake, not now.”

“You are right, sorry.”

She sounded chastened, and he immediately regretted his words. The urge to lean forward, embrace her, and forget everything else was overwhelming. Only the circumstances and lack of space prevented him from acting on his impulse, which was worrying in itself.

She had stopped moving, but his erection stubbornly refused to subside. Oh, well... a trip through time would take care of that. He set off the TEQT and the last leg of the trip went as smoothly as the first. When they came out of the tent, they were back in their time. The familiar silhouette of the domed hangar from where they had departed a few weeks ago could be seen in the middle distance.

Strange to think that for the people here, only one day had passed since they left. For them, it had been six weeks. So much had happened in those weeks. He felt irrevocably changed. And he wasn’t the only one. So many lives had been altered. And yet, here they were. Only one day after the day they left.

They knew it was important to keep track of the passing of time. Six weeks and one time travel made little difference in a lifetime. But if time travel became more frequent, and a person skipped through time several times in their lifetime, it could add up to months or years of their life. They had thought of that, prepared for it. But no one had considered what could happen during that time. Yet one more thing to ponder in this time-travel business.

Leaving the tent and most of their luggage behind, they set off walking towards the hangar, carrying only the backpacks with their computers and other personal items. Someone could retrieve the rest of the stuff later. Right now, they needed to make it back to the hangar as soon as possible. If they registered the arrival of the TEQT, but couldn’t find them, the team would worry. As they approached the structure, the frantic energy of raised voices and shuffling feet told them that was the case.

“They should be here already!” someone shouted.

“Are you sure you registered the return of the TEQT?” another voice asked.

“Of course!” the first person responded.

“But where are they?”

“Hey, people! We are over here,” Dariux announced, interrupting their argument.

All conversation died, and a dozen faces turned to stare at them.

“Mr. Kincaid! Sir, so glad to have you back. And Dr. Brooks, too. How did everything go? How much time did you spend in the past? Did you encounter any problems?”

Mr. Carlson, his right-hand man and the genius who had helped him develop the TEQT, rushed to them. The questions poured from his mouth. He wanted to know everything about their mission all at once. Dariux couldn’t deal with this at the moment.

“Carlson, I’ll be happy to answer all your questions, besides providing a thorough report on our activities and observations. But right now, we are tired and need to go home and recover. I’m sure you understand.”

“Of course, Mr. Kincaid. I have arranged for transportation for the two of you. The vehicles are waiting at the entrance, ready to take you home. Will we see you tomorrow?”

“I’ll be here at seven. Dr. Brooks will report to her superiors on her own schedule.”

“Perfect, sir. We’ll see you tomorrow then. And on behalf of the entire team, I’d like to welcome you both home and congratulate you on a successful mission.”

“Thank you, Carlson. By the way, the tent with the equipment is in the ruins. We found it necessary to change the point of return. I’ll explain the details at our next meeting. For now, please have someone retrieve everything.”

The other man nodded. “Immediately, sir.”

Carlson left to give the orders, and he turned to Kalli, who had remained silent since their arrival. He peered at her. “Are you all right?”

“Yes, of course. Well, I guess this is goodbye then.” She extended her hand, offering a parting handshake. “I’ll send notice if there are any... developments.”

He glanced between her hand and her face, and his brow creased with incredulity. Did she think he was going to let her out of his sight before finding out if she was carrying his child? Not a chance. He grabbed her outstretched hand, but instead of shaking it, as she intended, he used his hold to tow her behind him.

“Nice try, Kalli. You won’t get rid of me just yet. We are going to a pharmacy for a pregnancy test.”

“Now? There’s no need to rush. It is probably too soon to tell, anyway. I told you I will let you know as soon as I find out.”

“No. We are finding out now. I have already lost enough sleep over this.”

They had arrived at the front of the hangar where, as promised, two vehicles waited to take them home. He opened the door of the nearest one. “Get in.”

Kalli looked mutinous, but thankfully didn’t protest anymore and got in the car.

“Take us to the nearest pharmacy,” Dariux ordered the car after getting in. The doors locked, and they were off.

It was a relief to feel the speed of fast movement after more than a month of traveling everywhere at a crawling pace. In less than five minutes, they had arrived at a pharmacy. They ordered the test through the ordering screen and, not a minute later, the delivery bot deposited it in their car.

They both stared at the little packet that held the answer they both sought.

“Well? What are you waiting for? Open it!” he urged.

Kalli ripped out the package and took out the little device. After placing it on her finger and activating it, they both waited, staring at the small screen.

“It takes a few minutes,” she said, sounding tense.

He didn’t respond. He couldn’t. His heart was beating a staccato rhythm on his chest, reverberating throughout his whole body. He had never been more nervous in his life. But no matter what happened, he would do the right thing. He would stand by Kalli and their child, he would—

BEEP.

The notification they were expecting interrupted his thoughts, and Kalli snatched her hand back to peer at the screen.

“Well? What does it say?”

She looked up and offered the test for him to see. But he saw the answer in her eyes. When he looked down at the screen, it was only for confirmation.

The feeling that swamped him was not the one he had expected.