Kidnappers from the Future Page 2

  They were on the observation deck of the Freedom Tower, with its wraparound glass-walled lounge, intimidating Sky Portal view to the hundred-story drop below, and the eager crowd taking in the awe-inspiring view around them. Ben and Claire spoke quietly to be certain no one could overhear their conversation.

  For Claire it was something more approaching terrifying as she took in the view with a belch, and a death grip on Ben’s left hand with her right.

  “Sorry about that. That hotdog was great, but it’s coming back up on me a little.”

  Ben grinned. “Sabrett’s will do that to you.”

  She looked once again to the view: the horizon of skyscrapers, the immense bridges that now seemed so small from this angle, the rivers and the distant ocean and the massive vessels plying them, and any number of inspiring details that Ben could only imagine were catching her attention.

  “I can’t believe this view. Those buildings all looked so tall from the ground, but now they’re so far down. Any higher and I swear we’d touch heaven. You can see the entire island, across the river, the harbor, all the way to the ocean. I think you can even see the curvature of the earth from here! And look, another plane. There must be more of those things than birds. I never could have imagined anything like what I’m seeing now.”

  “It’s an unbelievable view, even for those of us more local to the time period,” Ben agreed.

  “Well, I think I’m going to faint. You sure this glass wall is strong enough? Oh, and look at those ships down there! Back in my time the docks were crowded with steamships and a few with sails; now there’s a lot less of them, but they’re so huge. We had so many belching out all that smoke, you could barely see through it around the docks at times, but now you got these things that look like floating skyscrapers lying on their sides. Oh, and all those bridges. I had the Brooklyn Bridge, but what are all those others?”

  “Well,” Ben said, pointing out each one in turn, “that’s the Washington Bridge; then over that way is the Manhattan Bridge. There are some pretty historic buildings as well. That one over there? That’s the Empire State Building, built back in the thirties. It’s sort of the city mascot.”

  “After my time,” Claire said with a grin. “We had the Woolworth Building and thought that was pretty amazing.”

  “It still is; the lobby’s open for tours even now. Then there’s the Chrysler Building, and . . . well, so many others. Just take your time absorbing it all. I’ll take you to anything that hits your fancy. I just want to see you happy.”

  “I think that’s far too soft a word for what I’m feeling right now. All the things you’ve shown me . . . Even after a couple months of touring around them movies, I just can’t believe those things‍—the sound, the pictures, and the size of that screen! I still don’t get half the references they make, but it makes going to a play look pretty tame. Oh, and that museum we saw!”

  “The Met,” Ben replied. “I don’t know how long it’s been there, but I imagine the collections have become much larger since your time.”

  “Around 1870, if I recall. That place is even older than me.” She added a giggle when she said this, then tossed a smile to Ben. “I still get the giggles when I say things like that. I’m the oldest person on the planet right now and not a day over twenty-four.”

  For a moment when she said that, her smile froze uncertainly on her face, her gaze distant.

  “Sorry about that,” she said after a moment, “but every so often it hits me. All my old friends, my family, they’re all dead and gone; I’ll never see them again.”

  “You have some new friends,” Ben said with a soft smile. “We’ll help you through it.”

  Some of her comments got an odd look from one passerby or another, but she simply ignored them as she took in the expansive New York skyline while her right hand reflexively slipped from Ben’s grip and snaked itself around his waist. For a moment they just stood there like that, Ben enjoying the company far more than the sights but unsure how to proceed. The moment finally ended rather suddenly with a kiss from Claire directly on his lips.

  “What was that for? Not that I mind, of course.”

  “For saving my life. And for being here right now. I would have died of influenza a century back if not for your time’s medical miracles. Of all the things that I’ve seen, from televisions to those little ovens that cook things in a minute or two, I think the fact that you’ve wiped the likes of smallpox from the face of the planet is the most amazing. I can only imagine how much better things are going to get in the next century.”

  “Well, stick around,” he said with a grin. “Maybe you’ll find a way to see that century as well.”

  “Only with you by my side. You’re my anchor in this new world you’ve brought me to.”

  Ben could feel himself blushing, and he knew that Claire could see it, but it only endeared him to her all the more. Then her glance fell to some of the other tourists walking across the observation lounge, specifically one young lady in a pair of new jeans that looked as if they had been purposefully shredded from hip to heel, Nike sneakers, and a baggy T-shirt with a nearly obscene graphic design, and with a large amount of very loud makeup on her face.

  “I can’t say much for the modern fashion sense, though,” Claire remarked. “I think there are still a few things that your century can learn from mine.”

  “It’s your century too now, remember.” Then, as Ben glanced over to the one she was looking at, he added, “Though I see your point. It looks like she really shoveled on that makeup.”

  “Ben, if you’re going to insult something, then you need a writer’s touch. Something to leave the other wondering if they’ve been insulted or not until you’re safely out of sight.”

  “Okay then, Miss Hill,” he said, grinning, “go to it. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

  “Challenge accepted.”

  Claire stood there for a few seconds thinking, her gaze never leaving the other young woman, until she came up with her insult, though for Ben’s ears alone.

  “Her makeup looks like a perfect sunset was trapped in one of your microwave ovens for too long, while her clothes look like the result of an unfortunate accident involving a wheat combine while trying to save a lost puppy, though it’s just a shame that said puppy got smeared all over her shirt like that. I can understand the shoes, though; I’d want to be ready to run, too, if I dressed like that.”

  Ben couldn’t help it: his growing smirk exploded into outright laughter of such intensity that he had to turn away from view of the passing young woman and face the New York skyline again. When the young woman glanced over to see what someone found so funny, Claire just smiled, gave a slight curtsey with one partially bent knee, then turned back to Ben and the view of the city.

  “But that’s just off the top of my head, mind you,” she said to him.

  Once he had contained himself, Ben reached down and planted a quick kiss on her lips.

  “Now what was that for?”

  “Being the perfect lady,” he replied. “At least for me.”

  “Well then, that’s something else you can learn from my time, because as far as a kiss from a man to his girl goes, that was pretty lackluster.”

  “Insults now? You realize we’re having a moment here.”

  “All the more reason to get it right.”

  “Oh, you mean like in those really old movies I showed you?”

  “First, keep in mind that those old movies are still after my time—and you’re going to have to show me more of them so I know what the heck you’re talking about‍—and second, yes. Here, I’ll get you started.”

  So saying, she pulled his arms around her waist, reached up to tilt his head down, then wrapped her arms around his back and drew herself in close.

  “Oh,” he said, “you mean more like this?”

  His lips touched
hers, lightly at first, then pressing all the more as he drew her nearer. It was as if a snap of energy had suddenly gone off between them, holding them there together. His hands squeezed her shoulders lightly, while her bosom pressed into his chest. It was infinity in a moment for them both, a new energy arising within each that wanted release. The moment come to its apex with the last crowning touch as Claire bent her right knee and gave the classic pose.

  When they finally broke for air Claire’s face was spotted with sweat, her breath a quick pant as she swallowed before replying. “Yeah, like that.”

  Ben smiled. “I’m a quick study.”

  It was their perfect moment, and like most perfect moments, it was short-lived. They both noticed that several of the passing tourists were aiming their cell phones in their direction. To Claire’s questioning look, Ben could only shrug as one woman remarked eagerly to her companions and whomever else might be listening in on her phone, “I’m hashtagging this ‘Perfect Kiss.’ It’ll be trending within the hour.”

  “Sorry, Claire,” Ben said. “I’ve explained about social media.”

  “Not one of your century’s better innovations, I have to say. Though from a reporter’s point of view I can see the benefits. Say, before we start trending, how’s about we start walking? I’m sure there’s other places you can show me.”

  She said this with a smile, which Ben completely missed the meaning of.

  “Plenty,” he began. “We haven’t been to Coney Island yet, and then there’s—”

  “Not what I had in mind,” she said, looking directly into his eyes. “I know you’re trying to be careful of my century-old sensibilities, but don’t you think it’s been long enough?”

  “Oh. You mean . . .”

  Her grin grew even more suggestive, her eyes twinkling.

  One minute later where they had stood was empty of their presence, the elevator that now carried them not going down fast enough for their tastes.

  * * *

  In time they had another view of the New York skyline: that from a hotel room in one of the finer places that New York City had to offer. In fact, for a couple of hours they saw nothing outside of that room, just each other, and that view was quite intimate indeed. Amid all the wonders and splendors of the modern age that Claire was still able to marvel over, there was only one marvel that she cared for above all, and only one wondrous sight that would forever after catch Ben’s attention.

  Sunset was just coming through the window when they took a pause from their passionate encounter. The light filtering through the thin curtain drawn across the window outlined Claire’s naked form in a glowing aura that made of her an angel from Ben’s view. He lay there on the bed taking it in as Claire looked out across the city.

  “It’s still a magnificent view,” she remarked.

  When he said nothing, she called back over her shoulder, “Isn’t this where you’re supposed to make some innuendo about how it certainly is, when you really mean me?”

  “I was thinking of that, but that line is just so overused. Do you know how many movies use some knockoff of that same line?”

  “Well, I haven’t seen hardly any of them, so it’s still new to me. The advantages of being a century out-of-date‍: you can try all your old lines on me and they’ll still work.”

  Her attention was fixed on the view outside and all the little wonders she might never get used to. From the sight of the many cars flooding the streets to the distant lights of Times Square starting in with their evening glow to even a jet racing by across the sky above, all of it held new wonder for her.

  “Of all the places you’ve taken me—the cities, those spectacular amusement parks, that big cruise liner—and all the modern wonders that you’ve shown me, there is still nothing to compare to a perfect sunset. Especially from twenty stories up in the air.”

  She took in a deep breath and slowly released it as she watched the sun cast its golden rays over the tops of the city’s skyscrapers.

  “It’s one of the few things that hasn’t changed since my time. My time: I say it like it was so long ago, but for me it was just a few months. There is nothing about this world that I know anymore, no one around that knows my face. My parents, friends, that old deli I used to go to‍—all of it completely gone, changed beyond belief. Except for that sunset, that’s still the one thing I can call my own.”

  She sighed and continued to watch the sun drop below the horizon, for a moment lost within herself.

  “No matter how many centuries I may see, there are some things that will never grow out of fashion.”

  When she heard nothing in reply, she turned around to see what was wrong, then immediately cast her eyes down. Ben was down before her on one knee, in his hand a single small ring in its open felt-lined box.

  “I quite agree,” he softly replied.

  Claire gasped in shock, hands going to her mouth as Ben looked up into her eyes. “Oh my gosh!”

  “And the fact that you think that ‘gosh’ is not a quaint, outdated term endears you to me the more. Claire Hill, would you do me the extreme honor of—”

  “Yes!”

  She held out a shaking left hand, her face quickly flexing through various expressions of joy and nervousness. Ben managed to hold himself steady enough to take the ring out and gently slip it on her finger. Then he rose to his feet to greet her with a kiss. He was barely all the way up, though, when Claire beat him to it.

  She flung her arms around his neck, boosted herself up for a full kiss, and wrapped her legs around his hips. One kiss came after another, barely giving Ben time for breath or to properly get his footing. He was assailed by a series of I love yous muttered between rapid lip-locking assaults, all while he reached under her legs to hold her up as he stepped back to balance himself. When his foot unexpectedly hit the edge of the bed he went tumbling back to land on the mattress.

  Claire didn’t even pause in her loving assault.

  “I’m going to . . . make love to you . . . all night, until—”

  Her barrage was abruptly cut off by an unexpected rendition of “Secret Agent Man” erupting from on top of the bed’s nightstand. A sharp scream and she was sitting bolt upright, quickly looking around while trying to cover her breasts with her hands. When she saw no one in the room but Ben, her gaze narrowed to the nightstand.

  “Just my cell phone,” he said with a chuckle.

  “I am still not used to that thing. I thought a band had snuck in here or something. Any way that you can just turn that thing off? Or maybe chuck it out the window so I can get back to ravaging you.”

  “Chuck?”

  Claire shrugged. “I’ve been trying to catch up on euphemisms.”

  “Well, that particular ringtone means that it’s Agent Hessman, which probably means that—”

  She sighed. “I’ll get dressed, then start packing. You see what he wants.”

  While Claire got off him to go gather her things, Ben pulled himself over to the nightstand and his phone, where a text message was waiting for him. It was a simple line that spoke volumes for their immediate future.

  Vacation over; we had an incident.

  3

  Tours and Upgrades

  “I must say, it looks good on you, Miss Hill.”Although Claire had on a new pastel-colored knee-length summer dress and silver sandals, and her long hair was resting on her shoulders, Dr. Weiss was not referring to any of that, but to the one accoutrement that counts for a young lady with a certain kind of smile on her face: the new ring on her finger. She was walking alongside Ben as Dr. Weiss led them down a long white corridor of the base hidden beneath the New Mexico desert, the base that was the home of Project Enlightenment and the time travel chamber.

  Sam still sported his walking cane, and while Ben looked a little rumpled, as if he’d slept in his baggy old clothes on the flight from Ne
w York, Claire looked as bright and cheerful as ever.

  “I think the ring goes well with the smile,” Dr. Weiss finished.

  “Thank you,” Claire replied as she dropped the hand she had been displaying. “And Ben helped me update my wardrobe while we were in New York. Though I must say, I don’t know what people see in those pantsuit things. A lady can look nice and be a professional at the same time, don’t you think?”

  Ben grinned. “You won’t hear any argument from me.”

  Their steps brought them to another hall perpendicular to their own. A digital clock on the wall displayed the time‍—7:00 p.m. on Friday—and to the right of it a sign pointed in the direction of security, while another, pointing left, was labeled section 2b. They were just coming up to the intersection when two people walked out from the right, one of whom all of them knew quite well. It was Special Agent Hessman, and by his side, Samantha, rubbing her shoulder.

  “Lou!” Claire brightly exclaimed. “It’s been too long.”

  She immediately skipped over and wrapped her arms around him for a quick hug before breaking off with a smile, her ring finger once again brought up for display.

  “Look what Ben got me. Oh, I hope you’ll be the best man when it’s time.”

  Agent Hessman glanced down at the ring, then gave her an efficient smile as the others joined them.

  “Congratulations, and I hope you have been acclimating well to our century, Miss Hill,” he replied.

  “I think that’s about as close to an emotional reaction as you’re going to get out of him,” Ben said, grinning.

  Nevertheless, Agent Hessman reached out to briefly shake Ben’s hand, while Dr. Weiss stepped up to make the introductions.

  “This is Samantha, my niece, a very bright girl that we’re all quite proud of. Samantha, this is Professor Ben Stein and Claire Hill.”

  “The girl from the past,” Samantha said as she reached out a hand to shake. “Lou here was getting me up-to-date with all the team members while my security chip was being implanted. My arm still stings.”