She swayed slightly as the world came to a stop. She looked around, the place where earlier had been the side of a rather busy street in Tokyo, was now a small street in…Tokyo? This did not resemble the place she just left. BEEP!

She jumped to the curb. Evidently the sidewalk no longer extended as far either. Looking around she saw cars, buildings, and people completely different. She looked uncertain for a moment as what to do. Going back and time was not exactly normal.

"Dr. Black?" A middle-aged American stepped from the shadows to introduce himself. He was the contact who she was to meet. She had heard about him, he was the one who volunteered to live back in the forties as a contact, and naturally continued on in to the fifties. She smiled with relief. "I am the one who knows what will happen."

She said the counter password. "And I am the one experience it."

The man smiled. "I knew you'd being coming. They sent me a letter. I didn't know what day, but they told me the approximate date and exact time, so I've been showing up here for a month. You must be cold. It's March twenty-second here, the first day of spring."

She was cold, but it hadn't been as cold as when she left. Back in the future it had been February eleventh when she left. "Well, it wasn't as far off as they told me to expect. So I'm happy."

"Before I take you to HQ, there are some things you need to understand, though I'm sure they drilled you before you left. First, your language, keep out most of your expression from the newer times than here. Second, it is very rare, maybe unheard of to be a woman doctor, so you're going to have to better than good. Lucky for you, the military has been desperate for doctors. Third, try your best not to mess up your future or anyone else's. And that's about all the advice I can give you."

"Well, I think I'm gonna have as much fun as kids making mudpies in their Sunday best."

"That's the spirit."