September 21, 1998

I had promised to drive Mrs. Mallory home after she returned to our world. Her timer had been scheduled for 9:)) AM. I reached Yerba Buena at 8:20 and waited. I took a look around the old place, saying hi to Drs. Vladimir Jariabek and Isaac Clark and the other researchers.

Mr. Almquist also waited.

It was nine o'clock.

There was this silent alarm indicating that a vortex opened in the embarkation room.

I waited.

Elizabeth Mallory could have chosen to stay behind with her son.

Or something could have happened to her.

Or a disaster could have struck that other version of New York City.

These questions were answered when she appeared out in the waiting room.

"How was your trip, Mrs. Mallory?" I asked.

"I learned a lot," she said. "Shall we go?"

We got in my car and left the parking lot. Soon we were on the Bay Bridge, heading towards San Francisco.

"I had a great time," she said. "We visited some places. I saw Michael again, his living other self. I met Katie, the daughter I never had. And Colin- he's a lieutenant in the Navy and he was on furlough visiting Quinn and Michael and Katie when I arrived. I saw the man he would've been."

It wasn't too long before we reached the Mallory residence. I stepped out of the car after Mrs. Mallory did.

"There was a Colin Mallory native to this dimension, wasn't there?" I asked.

She stopped right by the picket fence gate leading to the house.

"Yes," she answered. "Michael and I- we were excited as any first time parents were back in 1971. But there were complications, and he was stillborn."

"I'm terribly sorry."

"Yes, we named him Colin. Quinn being born was just sort of a miracle, after the doctors told me before I'd never deliver another baby. Michael and I decided to not have another and Katie wasn't born in this world.

"We never told Quinn. Michael and I got a safe deposit box at the bank and put Colin's birth certificate, his death certificate, and the only picture we have of him in there. The morning after Quinn returned home, I took him to the bank and showed everything, told him everything."

She walked to the front door. "I hope you have a great day, Mr. Arturo," she said.

"You too," I replied.