Time Drifters

I heard it first. That sound. It was deep and thunderous.

I hadn’t even cleared the Drift and it was already reaching in to me, getting louder by the second. The noise was terrifying and everywhere, like the roar of a million dragons about to strike. Everything was still misty white.

Was I getting stuck? Was I approaching an earthquake? It was too constant to be the sound of an animal. And yet I had the sense of ominous power, like something huge was being ripped apart.

I felt cold. The air was damp and I thought the mist around me was still part of the Drift until I felt the cold wash of it hitting my right cheek at the same moment that my fingers were contacting crispy straw. Grass. Not enough to hold onto. And something was wrong. The world was tilted and I couldn’t hold onto it.

My body was tumbling. Rolling down the side of a steep hill. I was flailing for anything to grab when my leg smacked into something hard. It was enough to stop me for a second, but my torso was still slipping and I snapped my fingers around the closest thing. A little tree stump poking up from the steep descent of a hill. My heart jumped into my throat, pounding like a steam train engine when I saw that in another ten feet there was a cliff that plunged into a deep gorge.

All my senses snapped to attention with the horror of where I was.

The sound was from gushing water driving desperately outward, right in front of me. Like an entire lake smashing down all at once onto the craggy boulders. A massive waterfall.

Get away from the cliff!

I jerked backwards, using the little trees to keep me secure, but one of them snapped and I flattened my whole body to the frigid ground. Traction versus gravity.

Even over the roar of the rushing water, I heard some high pitched, sharp sounds. People, but too far away to help.

I carefully reached back with my fingers, checking each stump for its width and strength until I got hold of one that felt the most secure. I used it as a pivot and slid myself around so my head was facing up the hillside. That’s when I saw her face. A teenager in a blue coat. Curly black hair under a small hat.

“Liam!” she said. She knew me! “Liam Trinder, it’s alright.”

I didn’t dare move, but I strained my eyes to watch her careful approach. She was carefully inching down the hillside, ramming the heels of her shoes into the dirt to give her traction as she descended towards me, her hand outstretched as if urging me to take it.. The dirt was cold, but I started digging in my fingers, pulling my body upwards. I used the larger tree stump and pushed against it with my shoe, beginning to climb.

I saw her shoes had turquoise buckles. She had dark stockings and a pleated skirt; some dark tartan. I focused on the buckles.

“It’s alright, you’ve enough ground,” she said. “Stay low and the hill isn’t so steep.”

I wasn’t looking back to prove her wrong. I pressed cautiously but constantly, feeling like a rock climber, even though my shoes were able to push into the dirt enough to rise.

I heard more commotion, other people nearby, but I couldn’t look. Our fingers met and then our grips locked. I was shaking from cold and fear. But knowing someone else was there gave me courage.

“Let me ease back up,” she said. “Take it slowly.”

“Right,” I said, feeling the grip just firmly enough to give me confidence that we’d make it, together. Once she’d reached the top, she tugged backward, pulling me easily up and towards her. I grabbed her shoulders as we took another couple of steps.

I looked back and my stomach sank seeing how close I had been to the edge where the water catapulted out into the air.

“It’s okay,” she said. “You’re alright. You’re safe.”

I didn’t feel it. I was still scanning the gorge. Looking to the left I suddenly knew where I was. I recognized the curving shape and the thunderous drop. This was Niagara Falls. We were standing right in the middle of it all, at the edge of a park. The voices were coming from a tiny island to our right that was surrounded by violent water and I felt as though I still might get pulled over the edge by the momentum.

“Get back!” I said, pushing her arms.

“No, we’re safe,” the girl repeated, gripping my shoulders. She was taller than me. Her eyes were green, like seawater, only lighter. Her skin was light brown.

“You’re a Drifter?” I asked numbly, getting a nod in response. “Why would they do that?” I asked, looking back to where I’d come in. “Why?”

The only response was a deep and urgent voice calling out above the continuing roar of the Falls.

“Hey! Get away from there.”

We turned and saw a young girl leaning over the guardrail beside us, and two other men running along the Park path. The one was in uniform and he repeated his warning. The other was tall and thin, with glasses and a long scarf that flopped madly as he ran.

“You’re not supposed to be over the rail,” the officer shouted, ignoring his own rules as he ducked to pass through the metal tubes, even though we were just a couple of feet away.

“Sorry officer,” the blue-coated girl who saved me said, ushering me past her.

“Damned fools,” he shouted, angrily. “What in the dickens? Can’t you read?”

He pointed to a large warning posted on the fence. I wanted to tell him that I couldn’t read it because the sign was facing the wrong way.

“Yes, I’m sorry,” repeated the teen in the blue coat, touching the shoulder of the girl who had waited by the rail. I got it… she was with us, too.

“I dropped my purse and Liam went after it,” she continued.

“Dropped it?” the officer asked, screwing up his face.

“It got caught by the wind,” she added.

“That’s not right,” he countered, frowning. “You’d have to fling it down the hill, unless you’re down by the whirlpool. Where’s the purse now?”

She pointed her thumb back in the direction of the cliff.

“I didn’t see it,” said the young man with glasses, who was out of breath. “But I’d only looked over when I saw this boy appear…”

He stared at me. He felt pretty desperate, all balled up with anger and fear—unless he was just frightened for me. I thought he looked way too old to be a Drifter, but then I’d thought that about Caelen and Walker, Sr. as well.

“So they’re with you then?” the officer asked him. The nametag on his jacket said Steven Rieger. Parks and something. A ranger, likely, but not the police.

“Yes, we’re together,” said my rescuer, reaching forward and grabbing the young man’s forearm as though she were happy to have been reunited. He looked surprised.

“Sir?” officer Rieger asked, wanting an adult to answer.

“Yes. Yes, sir, officer,” he said, still looking stunned. “I was completely… distracted. I won’t let that happen again.”

“We won’t either,” she said, smiling and leaning in towards her new chaperone. “I’m so very sorry to worry you. Liam meant well, but you know how silly boys can be.”

I felt betrayed but then I remembered it was all part of the game. A very real and dangerous one.

“Young lady,” Officer Rieger said, narrowing his eyes. “Are you pulling my leg?”

“No sir, I wouldn’t,” she replied, looking shocked.

“And your purse?”

“Oh, I know it’s gone, sir,” she said. “I want it back, very badly. But I’m just glad that nobody got hurt. Liam?” she continued, “Why don’t you take Adrienne’s hand? We can all walk back together, so we won’t worry the officer any longer.”

I stared at the girl I was about to hold hands with. She looked as awkward as I felt. She was almost pretty, in a nerdy kind of way. She was also a bit taller than me. Thin. Her straight hair was parted in the center and pulled tightly into two pigtails. Reddish brown. Part of what made her cute was that her features didn’t look like they’d grown at the same rate. Her nose was petite but her eyes were larger, and so were her plump lips. She had a red scarf tied around her neck, a kind of rebellion of color in comparison with the rest of her dark clothes.

I went to take her hand and realized she had white gloves on. I wiped the dirt from my fingers on my pants and then saw that I had to shake the dirt off of my pants and jacket as well.

Adrienne’s hands were cool to touch and I suddenly thought about how freezing my fingers felt. Coming from summer, it was as though I’d just stepped into a big walk-in fridge. It was cold enough to see your breath. I reached for my own gloves, hoping they were still there.

“Hello,” Adrienne said, managing a thin smile. I nodded, pulling on my gloves. When I took her hands again, I realized I was still shaking, but I knew it wasn’t just from the cold and I think she got that too. She squeezed my hand more tightly for a moment and smiled again.

As we walked across the cemented path, Officer Rieger periodically turned a suspicious eye back at us while adding in brief comments that underscored the reason for guardrails and the importance of reading signs. The other girl in the blue coat took the lead in bowing her head and agreeing with him.

“Who are they?” I asked.

“That’s… Helene,” Adrienne responded, hesitantly. “She arrived just before you did. I came in over there,” she added, pointing to a surprisingly dense stand of trees behind a stone building that looked like it would be a large food service stand during warmer weather.

“Lucky you,” I muttered. “They almost killed me.”

“You never know,” she said. I wondered what she meant, but I was still too shaken to ask.

We’d come to a small pedestrian bridge that curved down to the left and over a narrow shoot of coursing water. The others had separated from Officer Reiger, who was preoccupied by his walkie-talkie. They were already crossing over, but Adrienne turned when she noticed I had come to a complete stop.

“This is Goat Island that we’re on right now,” she said, pointing in front of us. “The water here goes over the Bridal Veil Falls. And that’s called Luna Island.”

She tugged me forward, as though I needed to proceed so she could continue her tourguide speech but I resisted. I couldn’t take my eyes off the froth beneath us, moving like a dense slab of clear candy that was hurtling towards a cold cauldron.

“When are you from?” I asked, distracted and looking to stall.

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to say,” Adrienne answered. She’d surprised me again, but her full attention was on the others who were already standing on the tiny, cemented platform ahead of us. Officer Reiger took off running and I reluctantly stepped down onto the platform Adrienne had just dignified as an island.

“What’s happening?” Adrienne asked when we caught up.

“A very good question,” said the young man, looking down at his escort. She ducked her head, the act of confidence fading from her young face.

“Where are the others?” I asked.

“What others?” the young man said.

“Well there has to be a fifth, right?” I added, knowing that there was never an even number of Drifters.

“No, Liam,” Adrienne said urgently. “There’s you and me and Helene,” she added, pointing to the girl in the blue coat.

“Helene,” I repeated, putting a name to her at last.

“Yes,” Helene nodded and smiled knowingly, turning to the young man beside her. “And you are…?”

“Uh, the guy who just covered for you with the Man,” said the tall guy, straightening his glasses and seeming annoyed. “Otherwise known as Lucas… or Luke, to my friends. And I’m hip enough to know when I’m being played. So, what’s your deal, huh? Why were you down there?”

“I don’t know what you mean?” Helene said, trying to disengage from Lucas’ arm.

“Not so fast, sister,” he said, his voice getting mean. He tightened his grip on Helene’s arm and started moving her across the platform towards the edge of the Falls.

“Hey!” she exclaimed. “What are you doing?”

Adrienne and I were rushing to keep up with them. I looked for help but there were only two other people nearby; an elderly couple who were staring up river and to the other shore, captivated by the view.

“I just want to know why you and he suddenly appeared up on that hill,” Lucas said.

“I told you and the Officer…” Helene tried to answer, but Lucas scoffed and pulled her all the way to the railing. I flinched at the site of the drop and stopped short.

“I was standing right here,” Lucas said, seeming quite upset. “And when I looked over at the Falls, and I asked…” He paused and looked back at me.

“There was this light, like a big round glow,” he said, seeming almost defensive. “And then you were just there, hanging for a second and then tumbling.”

None of us spoke and he let Helene go. She shook out her arm, although none of us dared to move.

“You walked over the rail and then down to him,” he said, pointing at Helene, “Acting just normal and then you reached out to get him.”

“He was about to fall,” Helene said calmly.

“He was in a ball of light!” Lucas yelled emphatically above the roar of the Falls.

The elderly couple was walking away. Just as well.

“They call this Luna Island because of the rainbows you can see in the mist during a full moon,” said Adrienne, trying to calm Lucas. “What you saw was likely just a refraction of the light, from the big Falls… the Horseshoe Falls. That’s all.”

“He was falling,” Helene added. “But it wasn’t as far or as dangerous as it likely appeared.”

I was about to object but Helene glared at me pointedly, so I knew she was distorting the truth of it to cover our tracks. I looked down and started to brush dirt off of my coat, trying to remove any evidence without Lucas noticing. He was very upset and kept shaking his head.

“I’m okay, mister… Lucas,” I said. “I didn’t fall. I thought I was going to but I didn’t. And, you helped.”

He looked at me and I was so surprised to see tears welling up in his eyes. This guy was really scared, I guess. His clothes weren’t dirty, like a homeless person, but he had wavy blond hair and a moustache kind of like some of the young men who asked for change in front of the mall, or on street corners down in the City.

“Thank you,” I said. It was the only thing I could think of.

He looked back to the Bridal Veil Falls and hung his head. He was too tall and I couldn’t see his face, only the tip of his corduroy jacket poking up above his wool scarf. I exchanged looks with Adrienne, but Helene was keeping a close watch on Lucas.

He finally turned and bent down on one knee, putting his hand out to my shoulder. I was looking at the railing, wondering if I could lunge for it to hold on, just in case this guy decided to pick me up and throw me over. It was a crazy thought, but it felt like part of him was about to explode, like he wasn’t quite mentally stable.

“How old are you?” he asked, so meekly I could barely hear.

“How old? I’m twelve,” I answered, hoping this might convince him I was too young to toss.

“Twelve,” he repeated. “Six more years.” His voice trailed off and it sounded like he said, “to Drift.”

“Just till I’m eighteen, you mean?” I said. He bowed his head and I saw his shoulders lurch, like he was sobbing. He covered his face with his free hand.

Helene shook her head in warning and I knew what she meant. He wasn’t a Drifter, but he had seen me arrive. That couldn’t be good. We were supposed to go unnoticed. Maybe the light from my appearance had messed him up really badly.

He cleared his throat, looking up at me. He had been crying but the way he was struggling to smile at me made his moustache wiggle. It looked funny and I smiled back.

“That’s it then, isn’t it!” he said, bracing himself on my shoulder and standing to his full height. He turned to gaze out over the gorge. When I knew he wasn’t looking, I took a couple of steps back, just in case.

“What is what, Luke?” Helene asked.

“It’s time to cross the river Jordan,” he said.

“Oh, no,” Adrienne said, “This is the Niagara River.”

He laughed. Adrienne frowned, but I liked her for thinking that the correct answer was what needed to be said. I did that, too. I also liked that I could finally hear just a slight accent. French? Or something else.

“Same difference, sister,” Lucas said. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath exhaling very slowly and purposefully through his mouth. When he opened his eyes, he seemed so focused and peaceful… or, at least, relaxed.

“Now, where are your parents?” he asked, looking at us as if he’d only just discovered that we were standing in front of him.

“Our parents aren’t here,” Helene said, exchanging looks with Adrienne and me. “We’re on a field trip. And we had some free time. I wanted to see what the American Falls looked like up close, so we came over to see it. That’s when I lost my purse.”

Adrienne and I nodded dutifully while Lucas scanned our faces. He was calmer, but he’d returned to being skeptical. He licked his lips and then used his front teeth to bite his lower lip. I didn’t think he was going to go along with the story, but then he chortled and rolled his eyes.

“So, you’re telling me you’re lost and you need to get back to Canada?” he asked.

“Yes, except we’re not really lost,” Helene said, smiling. “We know where we are. We’re just kind of late.”

“It looks like we’re all going that way, if you’d like to walk with me?” Lucas asked.

“You’d like to walk with us to Canada?” Helene said, winking at Lucas and then pulling the collar of her coat closer to her chest. “That would be delightful.”

He was handsome, no doubt, but I didn’t think she was old enough to be flirting with him. She did have a nice smile that made you feel at ease. But I could also see that Lucas seemed aware of what was in play between them. As they started walking, it didn’t look like he was going to allow Helene to be as familiar or close as she was before, when the Officer was around. I thought about Officer Stephen Rieger and decided I should keep an eye out for him.

I was thrilled to get off of Luna Island and Goat Island, too. The sooner the better. Lucas and Helene were setting a fast pace as we reached a wide bridge a ways upstream, crossing the broad river that was racing to the brink of the American Falls.

Helene was clearly the eldest. She had indicated that we weren’t going to be joined by anyone else. Strange, I thought, having just three of us, and a bit disappointing not to see the others. Then again, not seeing Thomas felt like a relief. And I was the only guy Drifter here. That had to mean something.

“Philadelphia, that’s such a beautiful city,” Helene said. “Historic, too. So much happens there.”

“They like to think so,” Lucas said.

“You were saying you’d seen our Prime Minister there?” Helene asked.

“When he spoke, yeah… getting his award, in April,” Lucas nodded. “He’s already a Nobel Peace Prize winner for his work in the Suez. Man! You probably know, being your country, of course. I’m just shooting my mouth off. But he spoke out against our bombing in Vietnam. Caught hell for it from LBJ. That takes guts. Made me think pretty seriously about what a good place it might be… to spend some time.”

“It’s a great place to visit,” said Adrienne, stepping around to flank Lucas and Helene, now that the sidewalk was wider on the other side of the bridge without the tight lanes for cars in the center.

“And you live there,” said Lucas. “A good place to live, too, right?”

“It’s cold, sometimes,” Helene said, cheerily, “but just like today, and not so different from the city of Brotherly Love.” She turned to walk backwards, as she was smiling at Lucas. “We can be just as kind to each other, too, eh?”

“I’m sure,” Lucas said, smiling. “Probably, I think Canadians have a better concept of Brotherly Love at the moment than we do down here.”

“Hmm,” said Helene, thoughtfully. “You’re talking about Hanoi? The Viet Cong, and all that?”

Lucas shook his head, like he was trying to get rid of something that was buzzing around his ears. He looked around and his height allowed him to see over our heads without acknowledging we were there.

“I think it’s just around a corner,” Lucas said. “Maybe up there.” He began striding ahead, his long legs putting distance between us. Adrienne and I looked at each other and started to jog to catch up. We’d move from parkland into a typical grid pattern of city streets. I started to feel like I was in a kind of antique auto rally. All the cars were larger and longer. Some had bulbous roofs with enormous windows. Others had tail fins at the back of huge trunks. Even the buses were round looking. One of them growled as it crossed the intersection ahead of us, belching blue smoke from its tail pipe. It smelled worse than the Port Authority terminal in New York City.

“Not very environmentally friendly,” I said to Adrienne. Thankfully, she laughed. I had no idea what time period she came from, but apparently it was closer to mine.

Lucas had turned right at an intersection up ahead of us. It didn’t make sense, since he was moving away from the border, but we rushed to follow.

“Just gotta grab something in here,” Lucas yelled back to us, heading into what looked like a bus terminal. “Be right back.”

“Finally,” Helene said, huddling us together. “Alright, Liam. What’s your Drift year and stats?”

“Um… Tarrytown. June, 2001,” I said.

“Right, and your Drift number?” she asked, casting a look over her shoulder towards the terminal building. “How many times have you done this?”

“First year, second drift,” I answered.

“Whoa, okay,” she said, flicking her tongue along her upper lip. “Adrienne, go inside and see if you can get an envelope and all that… things for the Post.”

“Right away,” Adrienne said, jumping into action.

“What about her stats?” I said, using the same lingo. “She said she didn’t know what to tell me when I asked.”

“That’s the thing,” Helene said. “We’re both from the same Drift station, just north of Montreal.”

“Canadian!” I said, suddenly adding up the fact that I was the only American as well as being the only boy.

“Yeah,” she nodded. “But I’m from 1998, and she’s from 2048.”

“What?” I said. My jaw dropped. I looked over at the glass doors into the Terminal, but I couldn’t see her any longer. This was, as Marijka had put it, one of the Future-Ones.

“That’s why I wanted to talk to you, alone,” she said. “She came in first and saw me arriving, so we already had a chance to compare notes, before you…”

“How did you know where I’d come in?” I asked.

“I was looking for a way over to Canada, because we couldn’t figure out why we ended up on this side,” she explained. “The rest was pretty obvious, about your arrival. I was practically staring straight through you when you Drifted in. And then Lucas meeting us. It makes sense. To me.”

“I don’t get it,” I said.

“Don’t worry,” she said. “We’re on track, I think. Adrienne has a very clear idea of what needs to happen. It’s at 5:16pm today. On the other side, down river at a massive power plant where they generate electricity.”

“Yeah, I know what a power plant is,” I said. “What do we have to do?”

“The thing is already done,” Helene said. “Or, so she says. A few days ago, one of the workers at the plant accidentally set one of the trip switches too low. We have to get over there to make sure it isn’t undone.”

“That sounds crazy,” I said. “How does she know this?”

“She’s from the future,” she said, “so I don’t ask too many questions, if you know what I mean. But when she was saying it, her stone was buzzing like crazy. I actually heard it. And I felt my own crystal going when I went to save you… and then again with Lucas when he asked if we’d like to walk to the border together.”

I remember thinking Helene was just flirting with Lucas. I’d forgotten about our crystals and how she’d touched her chest at that moment. I touched my own to make certain it hadn’t broken in the fall, but it seemed all there.

“But how are we gonna do this?” I asked. “And who is this Lucas guy? Is he, like, some famous person?”

“I don’t know,” Helene said. “It’s not always about that. Maybe he does something that has a huge effect, or maybe just a little one. We’re all connected.”

She looked anxiously at the Terminal just as a clock tower nearby started to ring out the chimes announcing a quarter past the hour. I had no idea which hour it was, but if we had a deadline then timing was an issue.

“Whoever he is, I think we need to stick with him,” Helene continued, ushering me towards the doors of the terminal. “So long as he doesn’t stop us from making it to the power plant. It’s the Adam Beck number 2 station. Just in case we get stopped or split up, can you remember that?”

“What am I supposed to do?” I asked, freaked out by the idea that I could now single-handedly go and fix everything.

“Never mind what comes later,” she said. “We take care of the moments and the hours will follow in line.”

“Please don’t leave me here to do this alone,” I said, just as the warmth of the air struck my face while we were walking inside. I shuddered from the temperature shift suddenly realizing how cold my skin felt. Helene pretended not to hear me while she scanned the layout.

There was a newsstand and mini gift shop in the left corner, a lot of bench seats lined up in the middle and then large glass doors leading out to the bays for the buses. On the right was a wall of lockers and a huge and shiny tile mural of Niagara Falls and a city skyline.

“Bathrooms… at the back, if you need one,” Helene said. “And there’s our man.”

Lucas was kneeling in front of a locker, hunched over a small open suitcase.

“Do you see that woman near the back, with the baby?” Helene asked, turning towards the street as she spoke.

“Yeah,” I said.

“Grab one of those apples when she’s not looking.” Helene said, casually.

“Steal it?” I asked, surprised.

“No!” she said, acting affronted. “It’s not stealing. It’s acquiring. You acquire it as a way of being resourceful.”

“But…”

“The baby is taking all her attention,” she continued. “Just sit beside her, pick it up like it’s yours and then put it in your pocket. Like you’ve decided you’ll eat it later.”

“I can’t…”

“Lucas has a problem and Adrienne is doing the Post,” she said. “This is what you’re doing.”

She was gone before I could argue. I saw Adrienne in line at the newsstand and she waved. I smiled back but I realized she had her assignment and I had mine.

I walked through the aisles of seats towards the big doors. I figured it would be better if the woman thought I was a real traveler, and real travelers would come from where the buses were. She had a blanket and a couple of sandwiches along with the apples sitting on the seat next to her. I tried to act casually bored when I sat down.

There were two middle-aged women sitting opposite me. One was immersed in a book, but the other was knitting. She tugged on the wool to pull a longer strand free from her bag sitting on the floor, all the while looking at me, sizing me up. I smiled and she just flicked her eyebrows and continued with the mad clicking of her long needles.

All the noises in the terminal echoed and smashed together in the open room, pinging off of the shiny tile floors and the high ceiling; people talking and competing songs on transistor radios clashed with the growl of bus engines revving and the hollow voices over the loud speaker, announcing departures.

A young businessman sat down next to me, putting his briefcase on the floor by my foot. He immediately flung open his newspaper and starting pursing his lips as he read it.

The apples were still sitting there. The mother still cooing at her baby. The knitting woman still pulling out more yarn and glancing at me.

Even if I took the apple, I couldn’t see how I’d be able to run between everyone to get away fast enough. I dug my fingers into the cracks between the seat upholstery, feeling like a very inadequate thief. Suddenly, my fingertips dislodged something and I turned to see what it was. A quarter. I had it.

“Excuse me,” I said to the lady beside me, leaning over the apples. “Madame?”

“The boy wants something,” said the knitting lady, speaking very loudly and waving her foot to catch the attention of the mother. I felt like she was looking for any excuse to have me removed from her immediate vicinity.

“Beg your pardon?” said the mother sympathetically, taking a break from her tickles and baby talk.

“Um, I was wondering,” I said, raising the quarter in front of me, like a shield. “The apple looks very green. And good. And my friends and I… Can I buy it? Please?”

“Well… certainly,” she said, still looking a bit hesitant. “But it’s not worth the quarter. Why don’t you just have it?”

“Really?” I said, amazed. “I can?”

“Just the one, then,” she nodded. “My husband likes his dessert, even with lunch.”

“Thank you very much,” I said, taking what looked like the smaller of the two.

“You’re very welcome, young man,” she said, smiling.

I got one last dirty look from the knitter and decided I’d take my prize before she skewered this free fruit for herself.

Everyone looked so buckled up and serious. The women’s hair was all bubble-like and pressed into tidy shapes. Their lipstick was strangely bright and very red, considering how grim most of their clothing looked. I saw a couple of older teens with long, long hair, loose vests and bright shirts. Their style fit what I had thought of as being typical of the 60s, but from the looks they got I could tell they were not generally-approved fashions.

Adrienne was already busy, using a seat as a makeshift desk. She had a white paper bag and was writing on it with a colorful pen.

“It has a little boat in it, see?” she said showing me the trick. The stock on the pen had a capsule with liquid in it. Along the back was a miniature panorama of Niagara Falls and at the bottom was a tiny white hull. Adrienne was making the boat slide from one end to the other just by tilting the whole thing. It was cool. Realizing that she was from the future, I wondered if this kind of thing looked even more like an antique to her.

“Neat-o!” I said, repeating a word I’d heard a teenager use just a moment before.

“I have to give it back, but the paper bag was free,” she added, finishing her writing. I made a mental note that Helene hadn’t asked her to steal anything.

The paper had Helene’s name first, with 1998 next to it, followed by my name and “stats” from 2001. Underneath that was Adrienne’s own name with 2048 next to it.

“We just need the envelope and the stamp,” she added.

“I have a quarter,” I said, holding it up. “I’d kind of like to buy you the pen, though. For a souvenir.”

“I couldn’t keep it anyway,” she said, smiling and then ducking her head a little. “But that’s really nice of you.”

“Of course,” I said, meaning that I just realized that we couldn’t bring anything back with us.

“I’ll take the twenty-five cents and see what I can do with it,” she said, jumping up and stepping over to the counter.

I glanced over to the lockers and saw Helene sitting next to Lucas. I heard an announcement for the noon bus to Syracuse. I saw a big clock above the glass doors. The sunlight has strong and harsh, angling in through the dusty windows and I had to strain to see the time. It was 11:35. What was taking the others so long?

Lucas’ suitcase was little, more the size of a carry-on bag. There were boxer shorts, a part of pants and T-shirts, and on top were papers. A newspaper article showed two pictures of the Pentagon and a corporate-looking man with round glasses and his hair parted tightly in the center. I had just read the name “Matthew Morrison” in the headline when Lucas quickly closed the lid.

“I don’t think the kids should be hearing about self-immolation,” Lucas said, suddenly jerking into motion when he saw us, and fitting everything inside in order to do up the latches. “I shouldn’t even be troubling you with all this.”

“It’s not a trouble, really,” Helene said, looking concerned as she stood. “But you can see why I think it’s better to leave the bag here. Just for now.”

“I’ll meet you outside,” Lucas said, reopening his locker.

Helene nodded and guided us back out to the street.

“What’s the problem?” I asked. “And what’s self-immo-cution?”

“Self-immolation is when people burn themselves as an act of protest,” Helene explained, matter-of-factly.

“They do what?”

“They set themselves on fire in order to draw attention to something they care about,” Helene continued.

“Well that’s pretty stupid,” I said. “How are they going to tell you what they care about if they’re on fire?”

“Very, very quickly,” Helene said, bursting out laughing.

“I don’t think that’s funny,” I said. Helene was still laughing. She had some very strange ideas. I saw that Adrienne had found the whole idea disturbing, because of the way she scrunched up her face. I was glad to think that burning oneself was not an idea she liked very much. It meant it probably didn’t become common in the future, plus we were less likely to have that as an option when we got to the power plant.

“I’m sorry,” said, Helene. “It’s horrible. True enough. But this man, Matthew Morrison did this to himself last week in front of the Pentagon. It’s the thing that sparked Lucas…”

She started to laugh all over again, but she was trying to control herself. Adrienne finally smiled and even I thought it was a bit infectious.

“It’s really life and death and I know I shouldn’t be saying this,” Helene said. “It’s just really so serious for Lucas.” She composed herself, fixing her eyes back towards the bus station.

“Basically, he’s a conscientious objector,” she continued.

“He’s what?” I asked.

“It’s someone who doesn’t believe in fighting in a war,” Adrienne said.

“He came here trying to decide if he should cross into Canada, or kill himself,” Helene continued, “because, if he doesn’t leave the U.S., he’s going to get drafted. He’ll have to go and fight in Vietnam.”

“But then, that’s like deserting, right?” I said.

“No, because he hasn’t been drafted, yet,” Helene countered. “But he knows it’s coming. He’s just graduated this spring. And like Adrienne says, he doesn’t believe in killing.”

“But serving for your Country, that’s something that you’re supposed to do,” I said, shuddering already from the cold. I saw the shadow of a flag flapping on the sidewalk and looked up to see the Stars and Stripes whipping in the wind. “It’s honorable. And if you run away, then that’s just the same thing as being a coward.”

“Liam!” Helene said, sounding very commanding. I looked to see what was wrong but she was staring over my head. I turned and saw Lucas standing stalk still, right behind Adrienne.