Marlene Dotterer - Shipbuilder

He smiled at the thought. “You might, at that.” He nodded toward the campus. “I don’t know where he lives, but he works there. I suggest we find his office and see if he’ll do anything for us.”

“Maybe he’ll give us tea and biscuits,” Casey said with some hope, as she followed him onto campus.

It took about thirty minutes, but they eventually found themselves in what was currently the science building. They stood outside an office door, a nameplate declaring it belonged to “Dr. Colin Riley.” Sam’s knock brought no answer, and a passing student informed them, “Won’t be here until 9:00. Not an early riser.” They both automatically looked at their watches. It was 8:47.

Casey quirked an eyebrow. “Amazing. You brought us a hundred years into the past and hit it to the second. We’d get jet lag if we flew to New York.”

Sam shrugged. “The time of day wasn’t one of my variables. Since I didn’t change it, it stayed constant. Why make things harder than they have to be?”

Casey nodded. Then, like students everywhere who are forced to wait for a teacher, she sank to the ground, sitting cross-legged on the floor, her bag on her lap. Sam shook his head and moved across the hall to examine the trophy case.

He ignored the curious looks they garnered, but he noticed Casey shifting around as if nervous.

Soon, she came to stand next to him. “All the students are guys.”

“It’s 1906, Casey. Not sure if Queen’s even admitted women at this time.”

“Queen’s has always admitted women. I guess none of them are taking physics.” She was silent a moment. “They keep looking at me.”

Sam turned to examine her. As he had noticed last night, she was small. Daylight revealed long, curly red hair and the greenest eyes he’d ever seen. Her hooded black cloak was wool, under it, she wore a brown sweater, blue jeans and black boots. He grinned, amused. “With that hair, you’re obviously a girl, but you’re wearing pants and sitting on the floor. Not things a lady does in this time.”

She pursed her lips. “I’m going to have a hard time here, aren’t I?”

A voice interrupted them. “May I help you?”

They turned. The speaker was middle-aged, not as tall as Sam, wearing a bowler hat and a black coat over a three-piece suit. He carried a briefcase and an umbrella, and had the harried look of a man who had just arisen.

Sam stepped forward, hand outstretched. “Dr. Riley? I’m Dr. Samuel Altair, this is Miss Casey Wilson. We were hoping to talk with you a moment.”

Dr. Riley indicated his office and went inside, tossing his hat and coat on a rack in the corner. Sam and Casey followed, standing awkwardly amid stacks of books and papers that covered the desk and several feet of the floor. “My class starts in half an hour,” he said. “Until then, what can I do for you?” He looked them over, peering at their clothes, then shrugged. He placed a kettle of water on a small cook stove before lighting the coal inside. “Would you like some tea? I have some extra cups here somewhere.”

While Riley rummaged among a cascade of slide rules, paper, and various scales on his shelf, Sam decided to talk. “We have an unusual problem, Dr. Riley. I believe you’ve been working with light in relation to the new theory of relativity published last year by Albert Einstein?”

Dr. Riley nodded, throwing some tea leaves into a pot. “I wouldn’t say I’m working on it. Haven’t actually seen the paper. Heard of it, though. Have you a copy, perchance?”

Sam exchanged a glance with Casey, before plunging ahead. “I’ve used some of your findings in my own work on time travel, Dr. Riley.” He hesitated as Riley turned to stare at him. The air seemed to turn to molasses, but he forced himself to continue. “I had developed an experiment to move objects backward through time. Something went wrong, though. Casey and I have been displaced in time, Dr. Riley. We were in the year 2006.”

Riley blinked, then nodded. “Kelly put you up to this?”

“Excuse me?”

“Dr. Kelly. Put you up to it. Do let him know I’m quite impressed, and will spend a few days on my rejoinder.”

Casey snickered. Sam glared at her, then in one quick movement, took out his cell phone and tossed it to Riley, who barely caught it. Riley stared at it, as Sam said, “No, Dr. Riley. Dr. Kelly has nothing to do with this. We can show you other objects, if you wish. We just arrived last night. Spent the night in a storage room. All we have are the clothes we’re wearing and objects like that. Things that are useful for life in 2006, but won’t do anything for us, here.”

As anachronisms go, Sam thought the cell phone would be fairly convincing. When Riley opened it, he stumbled into his chair, never taking his eyes off the screen. He didn’t move for a while and to Sam’s relief, Casey took the tea in hand, pouring the boiling water into the teapot to steep, then passing out cups. As she placed a cup by Riley, she tapped his hand. He looked up at her.

“You got any biscuits or anything? This time traveler’s starving.”

He opened his mouth, but couldn’t make a sound. So he just pointed at the top desk drawer and looked back at the phone. Casey glanced at Sam, who shrugged. He didn’t know quite what to do, either.

While she pulled out a pack of biscuits, Sam held out his hand for the phone. Riley gave it to him without comment. “It’s a phone,” Sam explained. “Has other functions as well, but basically, it’s a telephone. However, it requires a network to function and obviously that network doesn’t exist in this time. It’s also a camera,” and he pointed it at Riley who jumped at the flash. Sam pressed a button and held the phone up for Riley to see, noting that color could actually drain from someone’s face.

“What… what do you want?” Riley asked, his voice a terrified whisper.

Sam spread his hands out. “Just assistance, Dr. Riley. You see, I can’t get us back to our own time. We’re stuck here. We don’t have clothes or money or any way to get them. At the very least, we could use some advice.” He pointed at Casey, who was staring at the biscuit in her hand. “This young lady is an innocent victim. She walked into my experiment by accident. She’s lost everything, Dr. Riley. Her family, her friends, her world. So have I.” He paused and smiled in apology. “We don’t want to burden you, but you’re the only person I could think of who lived here at this time. Would you be willing to help us?”

Riley’s mouth opened and closed a few times. On his fourth attempt, he managed, “Wait here,” and then he was out the door. Sam and Casey stared at each other, bewildered. They waited, sipping their tea. Neither felt like talking.

Riley was back in twenty minutes, bearing a tray of bread and jam. As he put on more tea, he explained, “Had my assistant take my class.” He sat down, shaking his head. “You could knock me over with a feather, Dr. Altair. I don’t know what happens with time theory between now and 2006, but I can guarantee we aren’t even close to time travel right now. It’s all thought experiments.”

Sam nodded. “I understand. We’re just at the threshold in my time. No one was more surprised than I, when this experiment actually worked.”

“I’ll have to give this some thought, sir. But I don’t mind telling you, this scares me to death. People from the future? What will your presence do? Now that I have knowledge of you, how will that affect my research?” Riley stared hard at Sam. “I’m tempted, sir, to just send you both away. Whatever you end up doing is up to you. I can’t control you. But I’d prefer it if you stayed out of my life.” His jaw worked with tension for a moment as he glanced at Sam’s cell phone, still on his desk.