EIGHTTEEN

July 18, 1986

9:03 p.m. EDT

The air around Marty started glowing red hot as he free fell back to earth. Soon he could see nothing at all, just red blurs. Due to all of Doc's protective measures, however, he felt no harm at all. It was like the ultimate rush.

Finally, after a few minutes, the turbulence subsided and the sky became clear and blue under the light of the moon. "This is great, Doc!" he called out to his friend as they sailed through the scattered cumulous clouds over the ocean.

"Indeed," Doc agreed. Once they were through the clouds, the scientist called out, "OK, open chutes!"

"Right," Marty pulled the cords, and his chute opened with a loud snap. He instinctually grabbed for the newspaper he'd picked up the other day, which he'd been carrying with him through the whole journey. Sure enough, it was now starting to change. But it didn't change into what Marty had expected.

"Doc, look at this!" he shouted excitedly, "He made it back! And he's still alive!"

"Let me see that!" Doc pressed some buttons on his parachute that activated some thrusters that sent him jetting over to his young friend. The article, which had previous announced David's finding after eight years, now read FREEMAN'S DRAMATIC NINETH INNING HOMER LIFTS CANES TO COLLEGE WORLD SERIES TITLE and showed an image of a University of Miami player connecting on a longball. A very familiar looking player. "Great Scott!" Doc yelled happily, "It worked exactly as I'd hoped! We've succeeded in our mission even more than I would have expected!"

"So that means Miss MacAdams is still alive, right?" that was something else that had been grating on Marty's conscience.

"And Catledge has not harmed my family at all!" Doc added, "In short, no evil has transpired!"

He tossed the paper up in the air in ecstasy. Flushed with joy, Marty looked down to see the ocean looming large below them. "So, uh, Doc, are we going to have to swim half a mile back to shore?" he asked, a little worried now.

"Not at all," Doc pulled a small rubbery object from his pant pocket, yanked a cord on the side to inflate it, and dropped in below, "We're going to get a lift from the portable rafts as astronauts will have on them two hundred years from now."

They touched down in the Atlantic a few yards from where the still-inflating raft had landed. "So we get a lift, huh?" Wayne asked as he and the others swam over, their chutes trailing behind in the water.

"Yes, all aboard," Doc gestured to the raft. There was a scrambling for it, particularly from a frantic Amy, once again nervous in the water. "What about me?" Johnny-5 buzzed over, protected by his own personal floatation device that he'd activated before touchdown.

"I think you should have your own personal propulsion system if I read your semantics properly," Doc said, "Race you to the shore."

"You're on, big boy!" Johnny-5 started spinning his third arm like a propeller and rocketed toward the glowing lights of the Fort Lauderdale waterfront ahead of them. Doc started the engine of the raft. "Hang on tight, this goes very fast," he advised the others as they took off after their robot friend.

"Good, Doc, because I'm about ready to crawl back into bed and stay there for about a month," Marty admitted. He was unable to suppress a large yawn. The longest day of his life was thankfully over, and he could now sleep in peace knowing everything was back in order with the cosmos.

July 19, 1986

4:51 p.m.

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, if I can have your attention please," the Edison Awards chairman was announcing late the next afternoon, "We will announce the winner of this year's Thomas A. Edison Inventor of the Year Award."

There was scattered applause all over the convention center. From their section of the floor, Doc asided to a melancholy Wayne, "Still feeling guilty about giving up your shrinking machine to get David back in time?"

"Probably'll always be," Wayne said, "It was what I'd built my life toward, and I was really hoping to win the award with it this year."

"Well, let me put your mind at ease and tell you that you did the right thing," Doc reassured him, "And if I win anything with my fusion engine, I'll give you the funds to build another one." He leaned closer to his former pupil and whispered, "But take my advice on this: if you're offered a position at Sterling in Las Vegas, turn it down. It will be very positive for your family and career to reject any offers from that facility."

Before Wayne could respond, the chairman came to the microphone again. "And now for the moment you've all been waiting for," he told them, "The winner of this year's Edison Award is…Dr. Emmett Brown with his fusion engine design."

"Yes!" Marty pumped his fists in delight, "We did it Doc!"

Doc smiled happily as he made his way with his friend to the stage. The applause, Marty thought was surprisingly loud, considering how isolated Doc was in the science community. "Dr. Brown, thank you for delivering such a great design for us," the chairman told him as he handed him the trophy, "And considering everything you went through with Dale Catledge over the last fifty years, I'd say this is a fitting happy ending for you."

"What?" Doc frowned, "What about Dale Catledge?"

The chairman laughed. "Isn't he modest, folks?" he asked the other scientists, who for some bizarre reason Marty couldn't understand were also laughing in a positive way, "Come on Dr. Brown," he went on, "After your eloquent and heartfelt testimony at his federal trial last December about how he framed you for his crimes and almost sold us out to evil powers, it's only fitting that you receive this award after decades of being shunted to the sidelines because of his blacklisting you. And it's even more fitting considering how he was convicted only yesterday."

"WHAT!!??" Doc was both shocked and elated by this unexpected turn of events. Marty had no idea what had happened that had brought them all this good fortune, but he knew how to find out. As Doc went into his off-kilter acceptance speak, the teen rushed across the floor to the newsstand. Inserting a quarter, he pulled out the front most paper. Right on the front page was a picture of Catledge being led toward a police car by federal marshals, swearing at the top of his lungs. "GUILTY" read the big black caption. "What has been called the Trial of the Century came to an end yesterday as Dr. Dale Catledge, formerly one of the most respected men in the nation's scientific community, was convicted of numerous crimes, including embezzling, fraud, perjury, and murder," Marty read off the paper, "Judge Mitchell Bock, calling Catledge a sad excuse for humanity, and perhaps taking into account his numerous attempts to blackmail him and threaten the jury, sentenced him to 5,015 years in the federal penitentiary at San Quentin without the possibility of parole. Hey Doc, read this, you're mentioned!"

Doc, who'd finished his speech early and had followed Marty over, took the paper. "The convincing testimony came from Catledge's former colleague Emmett Brown, who exposed Catledge's dark intentions dating back to World War II during a four-day testimony last month. Brown, who's diary revealing Catledge's theft of plutonium started the investigation into Catledge's crimes eight six years ago, could not be reached for comment at press time. Nine other associates of Catledge were also indicted and sentenced to prison time ranging up to a hundred and fifty years, including NASA Chief Scientific Officer Charles Faraday, who received a fifty year sentence for perjury and misuse of life and property for crimes committed in conjunction with Catledge." The scientist let out a yelp of delight. "We did it Marty! We put that ape behind bars! And it looks like O.J.'s won't be the trial of the century after all!"

"O.J.? O.J. Simpson? What about him?" Marty asked.

Doc groaned and slapped his face again. "Nothing, absolutely nothing?" he said quickly. Then his expression leveled out. "But I see no reason why I'd've handed over my diary to the authorities six years ago when I've never done it my whole life," he pointed out.

"Maybe I can explain that, Dr. Brown," came a voice behind him. Marty's heart leaped. It couldn't be…

"DAVID!!??" he exclaimed. It was almost impossible to believe. But there was the boy they'd just helped get back to his own time, now twenty years old and beaming from ear to ear. "How'd you know where to find us?" the teen asked, amazed.

"I figured you'd be here," David said, "It was in the paper that the great Emmett Brown was going to return to prominence after he was framed as a crackpot by the evil Dale Catledge. By the way, congratulations on your win today, and I think this belongs to you."

He handed Doc a small book. "My diary," Doc exclaimed, "How did you get your hands on it?"

"I picked it up at your place, "David said, "I overheard what you said about how it proved he was guilty and everything he'd done to bring you down, so I borrowed it and gave it to the Broward County sheriff's office in 1980. The rest, as you'll find out, was history."

"So you were listening to that too?" Marty asked.

"Yep," David nodded, "I knew all along. I turned down the dare, all for the better."

"Yes, we saw what you did for the Miami Hurricanes," Marty said, "How's your life been going otherwise?"

"Couldn't be better," David smiled, "I made up with my family. I found out that Carolyn's OK and enrolled at Miami a couple of years before me, so I got a year or so getting back in touch with her, even though she had no idea who I was. And I'm engaged to Jennifer now. We'll be married next August."

"Great, that's wonderful," Marty patted him on the back, "Like I told you, if you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything."

"I know," David said, "Am I right, pukmarin?" he pulled the strange alien creature he'd grown attached to out of his pocket. "You've still got that thing?" Marty was amazed.

"Apparently they live a long time," David shrugged, "So, I was wondering if you two wanted to celebrate your win here with me? My parents were going to take me to one of those big restaurants tonight to celebrate the College World Series win, and you're more than invited."

"It would be an honor," Doc said, "I'll go inform the others of this."

"Good, see you in the parking lot when you're ready," David smiled again and walked outside. "You know Doc," Marty commented as they watched him go, "I know you always say that time travel can screw everything up if it's done the wrong way, but I think that, apart from Hell Valley, we've really made the world a much better place by doing it."

"True," Doc agreed, "However, one's luck cannot last forever and thus I still don't approve of extended time travel usage. But at any rate, I shall go tell the others of this positive development. I can only imagine what else now works in our way since Catledge has fallen."

"I don't know what else, but it's probably good," Marty said as Doc walked back toward the convention center floor. The teen took a deep, pleased breath and walked out into the late Florida afternoon. A strange feeling made him look up abruptly. Something small and metallic looking was passing overhead, something that looked strangely like…

"Nah," Marty shrugged it off. It couldn't be. He walked toward Doc's van and waited for the scientist to come out with the others. It was going to be a great future for all of them.