Chapter Three

Monday, June 4, 2001
8:23 P.M.
Hill Valley, California

James Door stood at the door of the Brown mansion, waiting for an answer to his doorbell. After what seemed like several minutes, the door was answered by Doc.

"Jim!" Doc said, "I appreciate you coming over at such a late hour…"

"Not at all, not at all," Door said as he entered the foyer, "I imagine you had a busy day?"

"Precisely!" Doc said, grinning from ear to ear, "EBE just made a deal with the Russian government to dispose of all of its nuclear waste. The deal alone is worth nearly ten billion dollars! And that doesn't include the value of the refined waste products! Moreover, this means that the risk of so-called 'loose nukes' is drastically cut!"

"Congratulations!" Door said, "So what, you guys are gonna be Fortune 500, now?"

"Right!" Doc said as he led Door to his office.

Doc's office was small compared to his lab, which was in another area of the house. He used his office for small tinkering and business work, while the majority of his hands-on inventing was in the lab, near the dining room and kitchen. He also kept the majority of his clocks in the office, leading the family to call it the "clock room."

A table was set up in the middle of the office that wasn't usually there. Spread across it were a number of papers and books, and beneath that a large, detailed map of England.

"The roots of your family trace back to the village of Clayton in West Sussex in the south of England," Doc said, pointing at the spot on the map. "There is a small church there called the Church of St. John the Baptist. I took the liberty of calling their present day counterpart, and I believe that records of interest will be available there around the year 1590."

"1590?" Door asked, "Won't we have to talk like Shakespeare?"

Doc shook his head, pointing at some of the books on the table, "I have been researching the history of the English language and have determined that our accents can pass as being period cockney accents, especially if we give them a bit of a British flair."

He handed Door a VHS tape, "This is a documentary about the British variant of our language. If you can practice a fake accent you should be able to pass. Remember, people in this era rarely left their own village, and would in all probability be unable to recognize the difference between a true accent and a fake one."

"If you say so, Emmett," Door said, tucking the tape under his arm.

"Our cover story," Doc said, "Is that you and I are priests from the London area looking for information about a land deal regarding a former resident of Clayton."

"Sounds like a good plan," Door said, "Say, where's Clara? I was wondering if I could talk to her, ask her a few questions."

"Certainly," Doc said, "She's out in the observatory. I'll take you there."

The Brown property consisted of several buildings: the main house, a large barn which concealed the time machines, and the smallest building, the observatory, which was located on a promontory some distance from the house.

As they walked over, Doc asked, "What was it you wanted to know?"

"Just some details about life in the nineteenth century," Door said, "I mean, I suppose I could ask you, seeing as you lived there as well, but you weren't born and raised there."

Doc nodded in understanding. Soon, they reached the door of the observatory. Doc had to knock three times before Clara said "Come in."

Clara was leaning over a large computer, something that seemed a little too modern to Door's eyes, making him wonder if it was a product of the future. Next to her, in the center of the room, was a very large telescope, nearly ten feet long.

"I'm sorry!" Clara said without looking up from the computer, "I thought I had something. Turns out it was just a very remote galaxy."

"What are you looking for?" Door asked.

Clara started, "Oh, James, I didn't see you there. I'm comet hunting."

Clara turned back to her computer and typed something. She looked up and said, "What brings you here?"

"Jim would like to talk to you for a few minutes about life in the nineteenth century," Doc said.

"Certainly," Clara said, "The computer handles most of the work, anyway."

Door shot Doc a look. Doc nodded slightly and said, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have work to do." Giving his wife a kiss on the cheek, Doc turned and left the observatory.

"So," Door said, pulling over a chair and taking a notebook out of his pocket, "How did you get interested in astronomy?"

"Well, when I was eleven, I had diphtheria and was quarantined for about three months. My father got me my first telescope to occupy my time and, well, it was love at first sight."

"It was very unusual for a woman of your time to have a scientific interest, wasn't it?"

"Oh, definitely," Clara said, "The limits placed on women by society are the one reason I'm rarely homesick. You know, I considered joining the local suffragette's committee back in '86, and then Emmett told me women wouldn't be allowed to vote until 1920!" She laughed, "It seemed kind of pointless, after I heard that."

"Who knows?" Door said, "You could've changed history by joining that committee."

"I know," Clara said, "Emmett was adamant about not doing that. I didn't want to upset the cosmic order and so forth."

Door wrote something in his notepad and said, "You said you're rarely homesick. Can you be a little more specific?"

Clara considered this for a minute. Then she said, "Well, I miss my sister and my brother and my parents. But that's it, really. When I went west back in '85, I had already thought I would never see them again. So I've managed to accept that loss."

Door nodded, "So, comet hunting? You're hoping to find a comet?"

Clara nodded, "They'd call it Comet Brown, I suppose, which sounds rather bland to me. Comet Clayton sounds better, I think."

Door nodded. He agreed, but he didn't say anything.

"So," Door said, "Did you find it hard adjusting to the twenty-first century?"

"Well, I arrived here full time in 1995," Clara said, "And there was some difficulty adapting to modern technology, but with Emmett's help, I learned. The biggest surprise was the noise."

"Noise?"

"Cars and so forth. The nineteenth century was very quiet."

The computer began beeping. Excited, Clara turned to it.

"What is it?" Door asked.

"I think I may have found something."

"Really?"

Clara held up a hand, "It's a bit too early to congratulate me, James. Though my catalogue is extensive, it could still be a known object. Let me e-mail the IAU and…" Clara fell silent, concentrating on her computer. Door waited patiently for her to finish.

"It's not in their catalogues," Clara said excitedly, "Which means it probably is a comet!"

"So now what?" Door asked.

"I'll have other astronomers track the same object and, after several days, we should know whether or not for certain."

Door smiled at her and nodded.

"I must tell Emmett!" Clara said, "Come with me into the house."

Door and Clara left the observatory to give Doc the news.