Chapter 10
Sam took her seat in Mr. Hinkley's class. She couldn't help but feel sorry for the teacher as she understood that he would be seen as a crazy old man who chased aliens in the future.
Ralph smiled at Sam and came to speak with her before the rest of the rowdy class would filter in. He kneeled by her desk and spoke softly. "Morning Sam! You know, you have passed every test that I have given you in this class with flying colors. I think you should take an advanced math test for placement. You are really smart. I don't think your belong in this class."
She paused and wondered if perhaps she should not have been such a studious student for she needed to stay in his class to find out if the man in the red suit was real and if aliens did indeed give him such an advanced suit. "You do?" she gulped.
"I think you can do a normal class with ease, Sam." he assured her. "You are a very bright girl."
She figured she would need to purposely fail the next test to stay in his class. She warned, "Some times I do good for a while and then I can't focus. Don't be surprised if my good grades tank." she warned him of her intent.
He failed to heed the warning. "I think you are just shy. You are very sweet girl and I think you could do advanced classes, maybe even graduate early." He hoped to dangle a carrot before her eyes to get her motivated.
Sam needed to remain in the class. She suggested, "Let's see how my grades do before I go someplace I'm not supposed to be."
"Alright. Give it this week." he agreed.
The class filtered in. As they sat down Ralph noticed his student Tony was fiddling with a coin. "What ya got there, Tony?"
"Check out this cool quarter, Mr. H." he handed the coin to Ralph
Ralph took the coin and found the back had the name of a state rather than the eagle. "New Hampshire?" he asked unsure if it was real.
Tony told him, "Check out the date."
"2000." he read. He squinted, "This can't be right. Where did you get this?"
"Change at the mall." he told him.
Ralph asked, "You mean someone passed this off as real?" He gave a sigh, "It's obviously a fake coin. A really well made fake coin." he noticed.
"It's cool! I'm keeping it." Tony took the coin back.
Ralph warned, "Don't try to spend it. It's counterfeit. I guess you could put it in a coin collection." he suggested.
Sam needed the coin back for it was from the future and she had spent it. She asked, "Can I see it, Tony?"
"Sure." he let her handle his new prize. He liked the coin and the scene on the back and found it pleasing to the eye.
She offered, "Hey! I'll buy this coin from you. Maybe it's one of those collectable tokens." she suggested.
"Nah," he shook his head. "I like it. It's cool." For Tony is was a conversation piece the gained him attention.
She offered, "I'll give you fifty cents."
"Nah," he shook his head and took the coin back. He then took his seat still fiddling with his prize.
Sam offered, "A dollar."
Tony laughed, "Not for sale. I like my fake quarter."
"Two dollars." she countered.
Ralph found it odd that Sam would even offer fifty cents for a fake coin.
Tony refused, "Nope."
"Five dollars." she bid.
He laughed, "No man."
"Ten dollars." she countered.
The class fell quiet as Sam's offer went higher than anyone expected.
"Come on." Tony assumed she was pulling his leg.
"Twenty dollars." she offered with a very serious tone.
Tony came to attention, "You would pay me twenty bucks of a fake quarter with the wrong year?"
"Name your price." she stated firmly.
"It's not for sale." he refused. "It's cool and I like it."
She rubbed the side of her head, "Trust me there will be a ton more. A hundred dollars." she made another attempt to buy the quarter back.
Tony refused, "It's not for sale." He then cocked his head, "You really think it's worth a hundred bucks."
She shook her head, "No but I need it back…" she winced as she heard her words cross her lips.
Tony asked, "Whoa…you need it back? What you mean you need it back?"
She came up with a lie. "I mistook it for a real quarter. It's from a collection my dad had privately minted. I accidentally spent it and now I need to get it back."
"You mean there is a whole set like that?" Ralph asked her.
She nodded, "All fifty states. It's a coin collection." She didn't lie for her father did indeed collect all fifty state quarters as a school project when she was little.
Ralph asked, "Can you bring in his collection? I would love to see it."
Tony stated, "Will you be in trouble if you don't get your dad's coin back?"
She nodded. "And how."
"You bring in the rest and I'll give it to ya." he offered. He didn't want to keep a privately minted coin from a personal collection that was essentially stolen even if by mistake.
Ralph asked, "Can I hold onto the coin until Sam bring in her dad's collection? I can keep it locked in my desk." He looked at the pair for agreement.
Tony agreed. "Okay." He then stated, "If she brings in the rest of the coins and proves what she is saying."
"Which one is it again?" she asked.
"New Hampshire." Ralph read.
She nodded knowing she would have to get the collection from her father in the future. "Okay."
Later That Day
Caitlin drove Sam back to the airfield after school. Sam sat rather quietly as she tried to figured out how to gently tell her father that she needed to borrow his large book of state quarters that he had been collecting since she was a baby. It wasn't a small book, it was a very large folder-like book with the inside of a color coded map with issue dates with the markings of the mint. Not only did she need to borrow the collection but find a way to explain why the dates were from the future and why the book had mint release dates printed inside. Seemed she managed to dig the hole even deeper with each day as she made one mistake after another.
Upon parking and turning off the engine Caitlin looked over at Sam who seemed distant. "Cat got your tongue?" she asked her.
She came out of her trance, "No! Just thinking."
"About what?" Caitlin figured she had teenage girl problems and perhaps she could give her some advice.
She shook her head, "Nothing. Come on! Dom's got work for us."
"Call your father 'Dom' now, huh?" she asked. She climbed out of the vehicle waiting for Sam to explain.
"Sometimes." she shrugged it off. "Did you see Michael Knight today?"
"He's teaching English and Lit class." she nodded. "He was always a bit of a bookworm. I got String for math." She laughed, "There is this one kid in class named Ferris Bueller. Kid's trip."
Sam came to a halt, "You mean there really is a Ferris Bueller?"
"Huh?" she asked confused.
She made a face, "Must have based that stupid movie on him." She continued into the hangar.
Caitlin asked, "What movie?" She followed Sam inside. She grabbed her overalls from the hanger on the wall and slid one leg inside. She suggested, "I'll clean the parts on the table today. You can do some basic sweeping and clean up around the work areas." She buttoned up the coveralls to protect her clothing.
Sam stated, "I need to run out for a bit."
Caitlin handed her a broom, "After you are done with your chores."
She let out a heavy sigh and was growing tired of being treated like a kid sister. She grasped the broom figuring she would only need a moment for Caitlin to turn her back and she could slip through the wormhole back to the future and then beg her father to lend her the collection. She slowly took the handle of the broom with an annoyed expression on her face.
"Don't give me that look." Caitlin warned. "You'll thank me when you are older. You have to work your way up the ladder. Dom isn't going to just hand you the keys to the place and put you in charge."
"I never asked him too." she simply replied. She started to sweep the floor trying to get distance so she can make her break for the future.
Caitlin went to work on the parts. She then heard music as Sam had turned on the radio. She listed to the song as it drowned out any sounds of sweeping. She worked diligently and didn't think much of what Sam was doing behind her.
Sam had placed her phone on the table near the wormhole and inadvertently pressed the call button. She turned on the music and then suddenly the wormhole swept her up and she was back in her own time minus her phone which remained on the table by the radio.
Caitlin heard and felt nothing. She turned around to suggest they go get some ice cream later and found Sam was gone. She was not near the radio and broom was leaning against the table. She walked over and found the phone laying on the table top. She gently picked the device up unsure what she was even looking at. She fiddled with it and it lit up. She found what appeared to be a keypad and a green circle with an icon of a handset from a phone. She gently touched it and then felt a wave and a slight shaking of the ground. She blinked unsure what just happened. She then heard a voice from behind.
"I think you left your phone, Sam." Sinjin stated upon seeing Caitlin appear.
Caitlin turned around and found a large table before her with a contraption the likes of which she had never seen humming that was connected to a computer that looked very advanced to her estimation. At the desk where the computer was stationed sat an older man who looked familiar but she could not place his face. Beside him stood Sam with a perturbed look.
"As if this day could not get any worse?" Sam threw up her arms. "I suck at this whole time travel crap."
Sinjin soothed, "You are doing better than I would, honey. I mean…it's a lot to think about and a lot of detail to it. It's not like there is a manual to follow."
Caitlin asked, "Who are you?" She glanced around, "Is this the hangar?"
He nodded, "I'm Saint John Hawke. String is my brother."
"You're Sinjin!" she gasped. "What's going on? Time travel!" She looked at Sam confused.
"Sam is my daughter, Cait. She's not sixteen. She's twenty-two years old and is a scientist. That's her engine on the table. It's a prototype for a warp drive engine. The kind of engine NASA would need for space travel."
She looked at Sam, "You are not a 16 year old kid?"
She shook her head, "I'm an adult. I have a PhD in advanced physics. The year is 2022 and I was working on the engine when there a power surge. A warp drive engine works by warping space around a vessel and pushing it through space like a surfer riding a wave. The energy surge expanded and intensified the wave. It broke containment and created a wormhole through space and time that connects to 1984. Dom came through accidentally. He spent three days here and then we sent him back and I went with him. My name is Dr. Samantha Hawke. String is my uncle and Dom is my great uncle. My mother is Jo Santini…His niece."
"I see." she stated a bit shaken. Her mind tried to process what she was told but it so strange to her.
Sinjin assured, "You are here with us. You flew in from Texas when Dom came to our time. You know Sam and Jo. It's just you haven't meet us yet in your time."
"String knows?" she asked.
Sam nodded, "Oh' yeah…he figured out I wasn't Dom's kid real quick. The money is from me. We are on our own. The project is mine and on a shoestring budget. My mom owns the hangar. She's letting me use it. There is no government backing or any FIRM. I wanted to shut it down but Dad and Uncle String decided against it. We're trying to fix some family issues."
She stood shocked and simply blinked as she asked, "Family issues?"
Sinjin stated, "Dom will be killed in less than 2 years time, my brother will be badly injured and suffers the rest of his life. We are using this opportunity to change that."
She gulped, "Dom dies and String is injured? How? When?" she asked concerned.
"Sam knows the details." he told her. "She's the brains behind this engine. I'm the babysitter."
"Uncle String is helping me try to iron out some issues with the engine and address the wormhole. Right now, we don't know how to close it or if it can be closed. When I fuck up…I fuck up big." she admitted.
"I see that." she had to agreed.
Sinjin asked, "So…why do you need my state quarters collection again?" He spoke to Sam.
"One of the quarters I spent was found by a boy in class and he will only give it back if I can prove it's from my dad's collection. I told him it was a private mint…not real. It's New Hampshire."
"Sam, that collection is from 1999 to 2009. It took me ten years to put that thing together. It has US Government printed on the book." he explained. "How are you going to explain away the dates?"
She raised her finger, "I can tell them it's a mock US collection for projected dates."
Caitlin spoke, "So…you are the source of the odd bills."
She confessed, "I forgot that the money changed from your time to mine. I used my own money. I never thought it would be different." She looked to her father, "I can fake it. Tony won't give up the quarter. I tried offering him money and nope…He likes it too much. I lied and made up a story that accidentally got it from a private collection. He will only give it back if I can prove the collection story. I need to borrow your collection."
"What about the other quarters you spent?" he asked her. "Do you know what states they were? Because if other students find them you may have to use the same lame story."
She winced, "I have no idea what they were."
He stated, "Cait…give Sam back her phone."
She complied and handed the phone to Sam. She stated, "Here!"
He then sighed, "Watch the engine. I'll got get the collection." He stood up from his post as Sam took the seat. He rubbed his eyes, "You want anything while I'm out, Sammy?"
"Mocha and a cinnamon roll from Mickey D's." she requested.
He looked to Caitlin, "What any McDonald's?"
"Coffee," she requested. She then asked, "McDonald's has cinnamon rolls?"
"Take a trip with dad." she suggested. "I can watch this."
Caitlin asked, "It's the year 2022 and I've gone through time, correct?"
Sam nodded.
"Should I be leaving and looking around?" she wondered.
"I have no idea." Sam shrugged.
Sinjin spoke to Sam, "Our Cait is at the house. Is it safe for her to meet herself? Will any weird melting or same matter…space…" he struggled with the question.
Sam shook her head, "That whole 'don't meet yourself' is a bunch of baloney. She could shake her own hand and be fine."
Sinjin gave a nod, "Good to know."
"The question is what will she tell herself?" she grinned.
Caitlin asked, "Is this a 'fly by the seat of your pants' project? You don't seem to have many regulations and rules in place."
"It's just us, Cait." Sinjin clarified to her. "Just family. No regulations. None of that."
Sam added, "I will remember to write rules and regulations when I write the Explorer's Guild to Time Travel."
Sinjin stated, "I look forward to reading it. Come on, Cait. I'll give you a tour and debriefing." He grabbed his jacket and ushered her out the door leaving Sam to tend to the engine.