Hunter Page 5

  Episode 4

  A memory

  Jeff walked down the street, lights illuminating the evening stroll. It was a warm summer night with a decent number of people also wandering the roadways. Jeff felt calm in this environment, though he couldn't identify exactly why. Probably the same reason he aimlessly strolled about.

  Off the corner of his eye there was a couple coming up from behind. He slid over to the side to let them by. He was saddened in the memory of being with Kara on a street just like this one. He felt no ill or jealousy towards the couple, instead mentally giving a prayer for the strangers.

  Looking around, Jeff thought he recognized some of the restaurants and other small businesses that laid across the sidewalk. He never paid much attention before, but the colors and other features looked similar to his own world.

  He thought about it for a second, then gave a shrug. "Something familiar had to show up sometime," he said to himself.

  A woman had passed him by as he pondered that question. Jeff continued his stroll behind her.

  Then as the woman passed along a dark alleyway, a shadow popped out. He tugged at the purse that the woman had. She tried to pull it back, but the robber was too quick. He ran up the street just as soon as he got possession of the purse.

  The sequence happened too quick for Jeff to interrupt. Running past the woman he chased the dark-cloaked robber.

  The villain turned to the left and into another dark alley. Jeff rotated in pursuit, then saw the man aiming at him. He ducked behind the wall to avoid any gun fire. Two shots fired in his direction while he pulled his gun out. Then Jeff looked back down the alley to find the robber had continued his flight.

  Jeff gave chase, rounding another corner into a bright street. He was far ahead, concentrating on running away while still brandishing the pistol. Deciding on a different tact, Jeff stopped to raise his gun. Taking only a second to aim, he fired.

  The robber collapsed forward, having his leg wounded. The gun had flown out of his hand. He cried out in pain, then regained a bit of composure. He looked up and found his gun lying a couple of feet from him.

  He reached for it, but his hand was stamped on by a foot. Jeff had his gun still aimed at him.

  "I suggest you stay still," Jeff sternly said to the robber.

  Then, a loud footstep came from the street. Jeff quickly reacted, aiming his weapon at the newcomer.

  Then he saw it was a woman; someone he very much recognized. He softly lowered his weapon, with a surprised look on his face.

  Her green eyes stared at him as she approached. "Kara?" he said in amazement.

  Completely surprised by his appearance, she elatedly yelled, "Jeff!" She leaped onto Jeff in a hug, tears running down her face.

  Jeff lifted his free hand to return the hug. But his face showed a sad realization: this was not his Kara.

  Three years ago

  Jeff and Brian were walking down that same street. The businesses were different, but much of the design was very similar. They had been conversing while they walked around. There was a moderate crowd surrounding them. Jeff didn't pay as much attention to them as to his friend.

  Brian said to Jeff, "And you think that car companies won't put out hovercraft cars?"

  It was a casual debate that Jeff often enjoyed conversing with Brian on.

  "The problem is that as long as Washington subsidizes the technology rather than mandate it," Jeff responded, "The car companies won't have any real incentive to produce them. People, and moreover corporations, like stability. To keep things the same."

  Brian moved onto a different subject, "Well, speaking of that: We're going to have to change come next month."

  "Yeah, graduating with Masters. You hadn't heard from anyone yet?"

  Brian shook his head, "I thought you would get something, Mr. Top-of-the-class."

  Jeff laughed at the comment. "I've looked, but nothing for theoretical physics unless you got a brilliant idea."

  Brian gave a short laugh at his own thought, "You rely on me too much."

  "Well, I.." Jeff bumped into a woman. He looked down to see her sitting on the ground, hair had flown a bit over her face. It didn't hide the somewhat sly smile, as she appeared to take the fall in stride.

  "I'm sorry," Jeff apologized.

  He offered a hand. She took took it and he lifted her up. Giving a pleasant smile to him, she said, "I should be sorry, I was in too much of a hurry. Thank you, though."

  They stood for a second before Jeff said, "Well, then I won't take anymore of your time. Have a good day."

  "You too," she replied

  She hurriedly walked away, while both Jeff and Brian watched her leave. When she was clear, Brian nudged Jeff, "You should have asked for her number."

  Jeff shrugged, "She was in a hurry. Plus, knowing my luck, she probably already has a boyfriend."

  "Well, in that case, come to the party tonight. I'm sure there'll be plenty of single women there."

  Jeff shook his head in negative, "Nah. I got a few things to do at home anyways."

  "Your loss...as always."

  The two continued down the street. Jeff would later learn her name: Kara.

  present day

  Jeff released Kara and she got down from her embracing hug. They gave a good look at each other. Jeff held the sad truth in his eyes. Kara's expression changed from relief to confusion.

  Worried, she asked him, "Jeff, what happened to..."

  Jeff cut her off, showing just as much disappointment in his voice, "Kara, I'm not Jeff. Not the one you knew."

  Confused, she said, "Then...who are you?"

  "It's a little complicated. I'll explain after I take care of this." He was referring to the man he was still subduing with his foot.

  Jeff snagged the purse from the man, who was still in pain from the heavy foot and wounded leg. He lowered his gaze to the leg, which had bleed through the pants. Using his glasses, Jeff scanned the leg. "Your leg will be fine," he stated to the robber, "I suggest you find a hospital and never try anything like that again."

  The robber nodded. "Alright."

  Jeff released his foot. The man got onto his good knee, and began to reach for his gun. When Jeff spoke, the robber paused. "And leave the gun."

  The robber re-composed himself to going back all the way to a standing position. He then hobbled into the darkness.

  Jeff now directed himself back to Kara. "I'll drop this off and meet you at home."

  Kara was confused and wanted answers, but gave in, "Sure."

  The two began to walk in separate directions. Then, Jeff remembered something and turned to ask Kara, "Just in case, our house is on Banson?"

  Kara gave the same pleasant smile, "Yes, on Banson."

  Both seemed to want to talk more, standing for a seemingly long second. But then both simultaneously decided to walk away.

  Jeff walked toward the quiet house. It was the same, calm neighborhood that he knew. The entire experience put a sense of deja-vu, despite being only a month removed from it all. Even the tan house was exactly the same as his own world. "It looks exactly as I left it...

  "If it was my house."

  The intellectual part of himself had to be in the forefront. Otherwise he might have lost himself in an imaginary moment.

  He walked to the house, and onto the front porch. His finger hovered inches away from the doorbell. Instead, he decided to try something else. He removed a small set of keys from his pocket. Shifting through them, he chose one key in particular. Pressing it into the doorknob, Jeff found it went all the way through.

  "Even my keys work here," he observed. Turning the key, the door opened all too easily.

  Entering the house, Jeff removed his key and quietly closed the door. He wandered in the dark hallway. The rest of the house was dark, spare one room. It was down the hall only a little bit: the living room was obviously occupied. Jeff slowly walked to it.

  Passing through the main hallway, he saw that pictures were
still lining the wall. The one that caught his eye was of his wedding day. He and Kara stood, posing for the camera; though the happiness that was displayed was real.

  Leaving it, he turned the corner to find one lamp lit. Kara was sitting on a couch, waiting. She turned to look at him. "You have glasses. I didn't notice before."

  "Oh, yeah," he said to himself. Jeff removed his glasses but held them in his hand. "That is part of the explanation I have. But first, do you know where your Jeff is?"

  One could tell that the answer brought sorrow to Kara. "You...he died. Killed at the military base where he worked."

  He knew all too well the pain she felt. "I'm sorry."

  Kara saw that pain, and wanted to ask, but Jeff spoke just as Kara was about to ask.

  "The work I did, at the military base, was top secret," Jeff explained, "For a reason. I was working on a way to traverse into alternate universes."

  "Like that one Star Trek we watched together?"

  A minor laugh came to Jeff's mouth. "Yeah. But it seems that your world and mine are more similar then they are apart."

  Although it answered a lot, there was one particular question she needed to ask, "So, what happen to your...me?"

  "My Kara died."

  "Oh," She let that revelation hang. The two were quiet, Jeff standing while Kara sat. The silence was more discomforting than anything else.

  So Jeff explained further, "Kara...my Kara, was killed by the mob boss, Nathaniel Karns. He stole one of the prototypes I was working on. And that's why I'm here."

  "You think he's here?"

  Jeff shook his head. "No, not anymore. It takes time for me to track him, and he probably jumped to a new world before I arrived." He had to ask about her situation, "But what about your Jeff?"

  She was lost, not knowing exactly what to do. She answered, "I don't know. They won't tell me anything, not even how he died."

  He offered, "Then I'll see. It's the least I can do."

  Kara gave a smile to him, showing approval toward the offer. The words were of further kindness, "I could always tell that you were a kind person. Even when we first met."

  Jeff returned the smile. "And I always envied that ability of yours."

  They stood, and their smiles faded.

  "I should head on out."

  Kara stood up. "It's late," she said to him, "You can stay here."

  "No, I can't." It showed in the look in his eyes.

  Kara sighed, hoping for an escape of any measure.

  Jeff turned, about to leave when Kara yelled, "Jeff!"

  Turning back around, he looked right at her.

  Kara began, "I...never got the chance to say this...to my Jeff at least. You remember when we first bumped into each other?"

  Jeff laughed, remembering it clearly. "Very much."

  Kara was very timid toward admitting, "Well...it wasn't an accident. I saw you and..."

  Jeff smiled. "Yeah, I understand. Thanks."

  With that good thought in mind, he walked out of the house. Though it wasn't entirely pleasant, the visit ended with that good thought.

  Jeff stood within a hotel room. It wasn't much, with only beds and a table between them. He held his cell phone, the very one that he had from his own world. He didn't know if it would work or not as he turned it on. As the home screen came up, the small icon showed that it had a strong signal.

  On the table was a phone book, with the white pages open. He didn't need to reference it as he dialed; he already knew the number. Though this was a different world, he needed to double-check everything for minor changes.

  Putting the phone to his ear, he heard the phone ring. It was late night, so he didn't know if it would be answered or not. It took several rings, each couldn't come sooner. Then it finally answered,

  "Hello?" said a very groggy man.

  "Brian, this is Jeff." He knew that his name coming up would be a surprise.

  Brian didn't betray that expectation. "Jeff Hunter?"

  "I've heard that I was dead."

  Being late at night didn't help Brian's comprehension. "Well...yeah..."

  Jeff explained, "You know the project."

  He heard Brian slap himself in the face. "You're not Jeff-Jeff"

  "I wouldn't put it that way. But yeah, I'm not the Jeff you knew."

  That revelation woke him up. "So....crap! It worked. The transport worked!"

  "You didn't get that far here?"

  "No," Brian exclaimed, "We were a few weeks from some final tests. The portal was formed, but we didn't test the Transports ability to go through yet."

  Jeff trailed off to himself, "At least there's some differences..."

  Brian didn't get the reference, "What?"

  Jeff went back to the conversation on the phone, "Nothing. At least for you."

  "So are you going to help us?"

  Jeff solemnly answered, "No. I was calling to see if you heard anything about your Jeff's death."

  Disappointed, Brian still answered the request. "Nothing. We haven't been able to get into the lab all week. I think the military is trying to keep as much of the investigation in house."

  It wasn't the answers he was hoping for. Brian was generally good at hearing things. This was one of the cases that even he was out of the loop. Jeff gave a polite, "Thanks."

  Brian interrupted the goodbye, "Before you go, you want to meet up, at a bar or something?"

  Jeff though about it for a quick second, "I'll have to see about it. I'm not sure if I'll be around for long."

  Brian gave a short laugh, "Your typical answer."

  "I'll call if I need you."

  "Sure. You should know how to call me."

  Jeff said to himself, "Maybe."

  He pressed the end-call button. With nothing gained, he sat down onto the bed. That was his best bet on starting his investigation. He couldn't go to the police...that would be an interesting and awkward situation.

  There was one thing he could do, "I guess I'll go to where this began."

  Jeff walked up to the gate. It was manned by one military-dressed security guard. The guard was still very alert, and immediately saw the approaching Jeff Hunter. The expression on his face showed the guard didn't recognize the scientist.

  As Jeff got parallel with the guard post, the officer demanded, "Sir, can I see your I.D."

  Jeff had a different idea. He said to the guard, "Actually, I don't think that would be a good idea."

  Not even giving the argument a thought, the guard replied, "I can't let you enter for any reason unless I see your I.D."

  "Can you contact Commander Elsworth? He'll vouch for me."

  Military Guard though for a second, looking at Jeff. It was an unusual situation. He had to gauge whether the man standing in front of him was a threat or not. As he looked at him, the guard's memory started to kick in, "You do seem familiar..."

  "Yeah, that's why I didn't want you to see my I.D," Jeff knew that the guard probably read newspapers or watched the news. Either way, he couldn't give his own presence away without even more questions being brought up; questions he didn't want to answer.

  The guard went to the booth, deciding to refer to the Commander. He picked the phone and dialed a number.

  Jeff yelled, "Tell him it involves the Dimensional Transport Project." He knew that the name wouldn't give away much, if anything. It would be enough for the Commander to identify him.

  The guard kept his eye on Jeff throughout the phone call. The stare was less of suspicion than in keeping to procedure."Sir, I have someone at the gate who asked for you.

  "He refused to give a name or I.D., but said to mention the...Dimensional Transport Project.

  "All right, I'll do that."

  The guard hung up the phone and again approached Jeff. He asked formally, "Do you have any weapons on you?"

  Jeff silently acknowledged by removing his gun, and handing it to the guard by the barrel.

  The guard went through his procedure, "I'm to escort you t
o the Commander's office and keep you there until he arrives."

  Understanding the need for security, he acknowledged the procedure. The guard quickly went to the booth to press a few buttons that opened the gate. The two stood side-by-side, mostly so the guard would have an eye on Jeff, as they went into the facility.

  The guard had waited the hour before Commander Elsworth arrived. He stood in the doorway, blocking the rest of the facility from Jeff. The scientist sat in a chair, placed right in front of the desk. He would have been standing, but the guard ordered otherwise.

  Commander Elsworth stepped behind the guard, and looked at the visitor. "Holy shit." Elsworth turned to the guard. "You can go back to the gate."

  The guard simply said, "Yes, sir." With no questions or requests, the guard left. It wasn't his place to do so, even with concerns over security.

  Elsworth wandered around Jeff, studying him. He got behind his desk, still standing, before speaking. "Since you mentioned the project, I presume that you're not our Jeff Hunter."

  Jeff bluntly answered, "No, I'm not."

  "Well, it was a good thing you didn't a name back there. Even with him, it would have been considered a major leak.

  "The question is now: why did you want me?"

  Jeff was up-front in his request, "I'm looking into the death of your Jeff."

  The military officer nodded. He knew that this Jeff didn't know that from a newspaper. "You visited Kara, then?"

  "Yes," he answered, the acknowledged, "And before you ask, I did tell her about the project."

  It wasn't the best news for the commander, but it was unavoidable. "Considering, you weren't wrong. It helps that the project is suspended at the moment."

  "So, 'my death' was related to the project?"

  Elsworth looked at Jeff. It was an interesting question, even if this Hunter was similar to is own. "You came here for information," he prodded.

  Jeff nodded.

  "Then you have to answer a few questions for me."

  Jeff was a bit reserved at first, then said, "Fine, ask away."

  "Is there anyone else with you, from your world?"

  "No, I came alone. I'm actually chasing someone who stole the primary prototype." Jeff wondered what kind of response Elsworth would give.

  He gave something unexpected, "I'll take a guess. Nathaniel Karns?"

  It still surprised Jeff. Karns in his world stole the Transport right at completion. This world's Transport was not ready yet, so Karns shouldn't be interested in it. Yet the name came up. "He was involved here too?" Jeff had to ask.

  "Right now, he's our main suspect. What happened on your side of thing?"

  Jeff told the sad event, "Shortly before Karns took the prototype...

  "He killed Kara."

  Elsworth gave a look of sympathy. "I'm sorry." That bit of news prompted Elsworth to sit down.

  It was an off-hand question, Elsworth asked, "So, if I asked you whether to continue the project or not..."

  "I would," Jeff answered immediately.

  It surprised the commander. "Really? Why?"

  "I've seen a lot. Some of which was why you gave us a go for the project. These glasses, for example, were used by police and doctors. I still think the Transport can bring good things."

  The answer seemed sound, "Fair enough."

  With that bit of conversation done, he rifled through some papers. He took a set out and passed them to Jeff.

  "Here's what we got thus far. Sparing the body and some bullet casings, nothing at the site has been disturbed."

  Without even looking at the papers, Jeff asked, "Can you take me there?"

  It wasn't much, so Elsworth answered, "Sure."

  They both got up. Elsworth rounded around the desk, and Jeff followed him to the hallway.

  It had only taken a few minutes for the two to arrive. Even though Elsworth led the way, Jeff recognized every hall they went down. He only had access to a limited part of the building, so that fact told him that this Karns was after the Transport.

  The hallway was dark, but the lights still partly lit the way. It was enough to see the various markers investigators put down.

  "It isn't far from the hanger," Elsworth explained, even though Jeff already knew it.

  The area was roped around with the familiar yellow tape. All the evidence had been long removed, with each marker showing where they were at. One was larger than the others; Jeff guessed that was where this worlds...Jeff had laid.

  Once again Jeff had tapped his glasses to begin his visual investigation. They didn't add much to his general scanning, but sometimes did pick up something his naked eye couldn't.

  Elsworth stayed back as Jeff walked around the perimeter. "Since you're investigating this," He said to Jeff, "You might be recognized by people who aren't cleared. And I prefer.."

  Jeff continued his visual survey while he responded, "Already done. I'll just say I'm a brother."

  Elsworth shrugged, "You thought it through."

  "Once I figured out what kind of world this is, yeah. Trouble is making sure everyone else knows my cover story."

  Elsworth was about to respond, but then noticed that Jeff found something. The view of his glasses showed a set of shoe prints.

  "It was a good thing that this is a lab environment," Jeff explained, "There's prints that would have gone away otherwise."

  The commander found this curious, "We didn't find those before. Dirt prints?"

  Jeff replied, "No, something different. I think a chemical print. Probably from someplace else on the base."

  "Unfortunately, when Karns and his men charged in, they killed the cameras. We don't know where anyone was that night."

  "Well, if he did it, he did it alone and from close range," Jeff surmised, "Karns probably killed me that night."

  3 years ago

  Jeff was within his old apartment. Sparsely decorated, everything was placed in a practical manner. It was small, with only a single room to it beyond the bathroom. Even the small kitchen was more or less part of the same room.

  All he did this night was wonder around. Something had come to mind earlier, but he couldn't quiet complete it. This incomplete idea had kept him up and pacing.

  He decided to sit down at the computer desk, facing away from the monitor. At this point, the computer wouldn't help at all. Jeff just needed to figure out one last problem with this thought. Swinging his seat around to face the desk, Jeff grabbed a large pad of paper. As he swung back around, he snagged a pen off the desk.

  He wrote down a short scientific equation, then another one below, and one last one below that. Visualizing it on paper was working much better than just in his head. He looked the entire thing for a second, then scratched out something in the middle equation, correcting it with something slightly different.

  "That's it."

  Jeff was more than satisfied. He knew he found something important.

  He dived to the other side of the room and picked up the cell phone. Quickly going through list of contacts, he clicked the dial button.

  Putting the phone to his ear, he heard it ring a few times. When it was answered, he could hear music booming through. He could barely hear Brian answer, "Jeff! Wondering where I am?"

  He was in a bar, very crowded by the sound of it. This was Brian's typical Saturday night activity. It seemed like one of Brian's life goals was to get him into a party, bar, anywhere that Jeff just wasn't interested in going.

  So Jeff ignored the question, "Actually, I think I have some good news. You know that fifth dimensional theoretical computation that was theorized."

  Brian wasn't entirely sober, "I...think so. You may have to simplify it for me right now. I had a few."

  So Jeff did just that, "I think I found how to travel between alternate realities."

  "That's great!"

  Jeff heard a higher-pitched voice in the background. He couldn't tell what she was saying, but he could tell it was directed at Brian. "Jeff, I'll talk to you l
ater."

  He knew what the situation was. "You're trying to hook up, aren't you?"

  "Very much so. Later."

  "Later, Brian."

  Jeff placed the phone back down, and returned to his desk. He sat there, thinking how to further perfect his theories.

  Present day

  Jeff went back into Elsworth's office. Although it was morning, no one would tell by the lack of windows. The commander had used his chair to get the rest of the night's rest. The knock that Jeff gave woke the man up. It somewhat embarrassed the commander, but Jeff gave no indication that he should be. After all, he was in similar situations in his dimensional travels.

  Swinging upward, he asked Jeff, "You have anything?"

  "Nothing more than those chemical prints. Tried to find out what it was, but a dozen possibilities remain. Being they're from an equal number of rooms, I can't rule anything based on it."

  "So that leaves Karns as our main suspect."

  "Or one of his two men that remain. We need the gun for definite proof."

  Elsworth nodded. He knew what needed to be done, "Then I think you should hook up with Captain Allen at the police station."

  "The police are in on this? You usually would keep everything in house."

  The commander gave a shrug, "Had to. If there's one thing we have to be, it's efficient. I decided that the man-power to have one of our investigators catch up on the Karns investigation would take too much time."

  "A current investigation on Karns?" Jeff asked.

  It was another thing that he couldn't answer. "You'll have to ask the Captain on the details."

  "And what about the leak. Being the Transport was a top secret project, how did Karns learn of it."

  "Well, that where you come in. I was planning on sending someone over as a liaison, but you seem to be a better suit. If the Captain needs to do a raid, call me."

  "Right," Jeff confirmed.

  Jeff was about to leave when Elsworth gave one more piece of advice, "Jeff, don't tell anyone about the project unless absolutely necessary."

  Jeff smiled, "I wouldn't have expected anything else."

  The police station was full of officers running around, making calls and doing other tasks. There was one officer on the phone, Captain Allen, who had a bigger desk then most of the other officers. He just ended the phone call as Jeff approached and held out a hand in greeting.

  "Captain, I'm Steve Hunter, the liaison from Ousters Military Base."

  Allen returned the handshake. "Steve Hunter, related to the guy that died?"

  "Yes, very much so." He had to faint some grief, drawing from the loss of his own Kara.

  "And the commander there didn't think this would inherently be a conflict of interest?"

  "He had confidence that won't happen. Actually, he sent me for my....expertise in the matter."

  Allen didn't like that Jeff was being coy, but knew that element came with the territory. "Well, just in case, you have to follow me on this. I want to nail this son of a bitch."

  Allen began to walk toward the front of the office, and toward the exit of the station. Jeff stayed along in tow.

  "How long have you been on this investigation?" Jeff asked, trying to catch up on the investigation.

  "Months. After Karns got out of jail from the last fraud charge, I never doubted that he would try something."

  "Considering his reputation, I'm not surprised." He knew Karns reputation more now that he was chasing him. Before, the man was an often used name in newscasts, usually in press conferences. The man was admittedly smart, avoiding prosecution and long sentences.

  Allen continued the conversation on his target, "He's been lucky thus far, having lackeys take the fall."

  "I guess you're not one to take pawns with the king in sight."

  "That's exactly it."

  They got to the front of the office when another officer approached them. Both Jeff and Allen turned towards the newcomer. "Sir, we found a truck," the officer informed the Captain, "It was ditched on Aurora."

  "All right, we'll be right there." He turned back to Jeff, ordering, "I'll drive."

  The van was on the side of a road far outside the city. It was along a quiet plains where development was very limited. There was one other police car already there, with its lights on but not blocking the road.

  Allen's car drove past and parked on the other side of the van from the police car. The two doors opened at the same time, with Jeff coming out of the passenger side. The captain reached back into the car and removed a small box.

  They walked over to the open van, where the waiting officer looked around the area. Jeff paid more attention to the van, whereas Allen went to the officer for an update.

  The officer began without being asked, "I did a quick search. Didn't find much, except some papers from that Ousters job.

  That peaked Jeff's interest. From the other side of the van, he yelled, "Did you read those papers?"

  "Only a little bit before I found that they were top secret. It was all a bit on the scientific mumbo-jumbo side."

  Allen nodded, "All right. Keep a look out and we'll see if we can find anything more."

  The officer formally responded, "Yes, sir." He wandered off, taking a semi-patrol around the vehicle.

  Allen moved to the open front, driver-side door of the van, and set the box onto the seat. Opening it, he took out the fingerprint dusting kit and started dusting the wheel.

  Jeff, already inside, moved to the back seat and found the papers scattered on the seat and floor. He picked one up, recognizing it immediately. "Yup, these were the papers that were missing."

  Allen was more methodical in his investigation, checking for prints in the likely places like the steering wheel. "Care to let me in on what they were trying to steal?"

  "Nope."

  Allen gave a single-exhale laugh. "Typical of the military."

  Underneath one paper, Jeff found a small black box. Opening it, he found a bracelet. It wasn't just like the one he gave to Kara, it was exactly the one. It had the same ruby and sapphire jewels. He removed his own, scared bracelet and held them side-by-side. They were exactly the same.

  This was a curious thing. It might have been one of Karns' lackeys that took it, or Karns himself. Others about this world in general, like the time-line of events. Jeff bought the bracelet only a few days his and Kara's anniversary. Was that the case here? Did they marry on a different date?

  "Got something?" Allens asked.

  Jeff closed the box and replaced his own bracelet. "No," he replied, setting the box aside. If it was important, he would retrieve it later.

  Jeff continued looking around the papers. It didn't take long before he found a little blood on one paper. "There's some blood on one of these," he announced to Allen, "Probably from a paper cut."

  "Any chance for DNA?" Allen asked, not even looking up to see the paper.

  "Possibly. It still has a small bit of moisture to it."

  That was a curious find. "This car was found only fifteen minutes ago," Allen stated, "Blood doesn't take that long to dry. So, if it's been a week, why would they only look and ditch this van so suddenly?"

  "The papers might just be a curiosity. As for the van..." Jeff leaned out of the van, calling out, "Officer!"

  There was no response. Jeff doubted that he was far away, so his absence was curious. Going out through the sliding doorway, Jeff moved out of the van. Going across the back, he headed toward the other officer's car.

  Around the van, he saw the body. The officer had been shot in the head without any warning.

  Jeff yelled at Allen, "Get down!"

  He dove behind the van. Several bullets penetrated the van, missing Jeff if only by luck. Inside, Allen got low, also having avoided penetrating shots. He slid out of the van, and quickly got behind next to Jeff.

  Jeff quickly leaned out, to get a view. He held his hand on his glasses. He quickly scanned to the right, then leaned further to scan leftwa
rd. There, two dots appeared. Numbers next to them showed that they were 200 feet away, low to the grass.

  "I see two of them," he informed the captain, "Probably using sniper rifles."

  "So this was a trap," Allen surmised.

  "It at least turned out to be one."

  Jeff looked around, checking the view to see if there was anymore enemies. There weren't any that the glasses could identify. That meant he could do something.

  "I have an idea. They're low in the grass, straight forward. If you can get their attention, I might be able to do something."

  Allen nodded, readying his side-arm, "All right, I'll go to the car. If they're using sniper rifles, you'd be out of sight."

  Jeff nodded. "Then on your mark."

  Allen readied himself, gun raised. With a quick breath, he dashed up and to the police vehicle. He fired several shots over to about where the two henchmen were.

  While the sniper tracked Allen, he saw that he aimed his pistol at them. He was about to pull the trigger when one shot hit the ground just in front of him. "Dang, when he see us?"

  The other henchman was next to him, also lying prone. He didn't have anything but his bare eyes to see the action with. "I told you that we should have set up farther back."

  "And you can make these shots any better? I don't think so. Heck, if it wasn't for you, we would have just brought handguns with us."

  "Hey, who dropped the gas can! We would have this thing scorched!"

  The henchman was finished with the argument. "Oh, shut it! Let me make this shot."

  The first henchman set his eyes back to the sniper scope. He laid there on his belly, slowing his breath, waiting for his opportunity.

  "Hold it!" The two gunmen lean up and turn around to see Jeff behind them, holding his gun to them.

  They both held their hands upward, feigning defeat. Then the henchman grabbed his sniper rifle. Jeff fires his gun to the side of him. The other henchman dove at Jeff, knocking both of them down.

  The two rolled on the ground, trying to gain the upper-hand. The gun was flailed out to somewhere in the grass. Without a weapon, Jeff punched at his foe. The henchman blocked it, retaliating with a head-butt. This left Jeff's forehead bloody, but otherwise he was fine.

  Pushing the henchman away, the two disengaged from each other and rolled to a crouching position. The other henchman took this opportunity to grab the sniper rifle and had it aimed at Jeff.

  Then the loud bang of gunfire erupted; the henchmen was hit through the heart. The dead body collapsed onto the ground, while his partner watched.

  Allen had his gun raised, now set on the second henchman. He was still kneeling, holding what was Jeff's gun. He looked at Allen, then Jeff; thinking what to do.

  The henchman dropped it. He then raised his arms in defeat, knowing that the odds were against him.

  Allan rotated around him, taking out a pair of handcuffs, while Jeff retrieved his gun. Once Allen was at the henchman's back, he took one arm down, then the other to handcuff him.

  He looked back up to Jeff, "Let's head to the precinct for some answers."

  Three years ago

  Jeff was briskly walking with a huge pile of papers in hand. He mumbled to himself, flicking through the different papers. For him, everything had to be correct for the meeting that he was going to.

  Looking up, he checked the street sign. Shifting his head a bit to both sides, he played with two different routes he could take. He decided to turn right along that road. With that decision made, he went back to shuffling the papers.

  Then he ran into a wall.

  Looking up, he didn't actually walk right into a wall, but into a woman. He had accidentally knocked both Kara and himself down.

  "Sorry."

  Kara looked up to see him. She saw a stack of papers had fallen near her. She grabbed it and handed it to him. "That's fine. I do that too often."

  Jeff took the papers and set it along with the rest of his stack. The two got up and looked at each other.

  Then Kara recognized him. "Wait, didn't I bump into you a few weeks ago."

  Jeff was a bit flustered over it, but he too remembered it. "Yeah, that was me. I guess I pay too much attention to what I'm doing than where I'm going."

  Kara gave a short laugh at the notion, "Then you're in a hurry for something right now?"

  "Not really, I'm just making a business proposal."

  "To whom?"

  He thought about what to answer, then decided, "I can't really say."

  That disappointed Kara. "Oh, OK."

  The two stood there, quiet; expecting the other to say something to continue the conversation. Eventually, Jeff said, "I'd better get going."

  She cheerfully said, "Good luck!"

  Jeff once again walked to his destination, leaving Kara behind.

  Present day

  The room was bright, the lone lamp above searing the metal table below. The captured henchman sat, defeated. His mood very much showed that defeat.

  Jeff stood in the corner, while Allen stood over the prisoner on the other side of the table. "What was in the van?" The tone that Allen put was very demanding.

  The henchman gave an honest, though nervous, answer, "Just papers, I didn't even look."

  "Who did look?"

  "I dunno; the boss I think."

  Jeff spoke up, "You're referring to Karns?" He was much more calm, keeping his insistence to a more subtle tone. Both he and Allen had already knew the answer, but had to confirm the fact anyway.

  The captive nodded, "Yeah." He then shook his head, saying to himself, "I'm so dead just for saying that."

  Jeff had to ask, "Why work for him, with that over your head?"

  The henchman's mood turned more energetic, but still had the depression of before. "He wasn't like other bosses. He was...fair. You didn't get punished unless you fucked up."

  Allen took his turn to speak up, "And you did just that."

  "No. He's offing us now!" the henchman proclaimed, "It's like a clean slate. I don't know what it was, but it started after that job. I just hoped to get on his good side."

  Allen walked to the door, waving to Jeff to follow. They quietly exited the room and closed the door behind them.

  Once outside, Jeff faced Allen for the conversation, "We might not get much more from him. He's just babbling because he has nothing else."

  Allen looked over toward the door, toward the henchman for a quick second. "Yeah, I got that as well. I'm a little afraid of that "clean slate" comment. Do you have an idea what Karns was after."

  Once again, Jeff had to respond with, "I can't say." This time, he very much inferred he knew the secret, since he very much knew what Karns was after.

  Allen didn't like that. "I thought so. I had done some digging, found no "brother" to Jeffrey Hunter. Who the heck are you then?"

  This was something that Jeff was afraid of. "You wouldn't believe me."

  "Well, I'm entitled to something. It's very suspicious to have the military send some guy that looks exactly like a dead person. One that I know is dead."

  Jeff sighed, knowing that he had to reveal something. "It'll be a little complicated, so it's better..."

  "One of my best guys is dead! So forgive me when I saw screw that! What was Hunter working on? I doubt cloning, since he wasn't a biologist. Unless it..."

  Jeff stopped him, "If you're going to speculate that much, I might as well tell you. Just remember, this is considered a military secret, and you have to treat it as such."

  Allen nodded, knowing that it was a reasonable request. "All right, what is it?"

  "I'm from an alternate universe."

  Allen knew exactly what Jeff talked about. "A parallel world that's similar to ours, just that for some reason you lived while our Jeffrey Hunter died."

  Jeff was a bit surprised by how well he grasped the concept. "Exactly. How did you..."

  Allen smirked, "I read a lot of science articles, as well as plenty of sci-fi. I tak
e it goes along the lines of string theory."

  Jeff wasn't comfortable putting it in those terms. "Not exactly, though that is a decent description of it."

  Allen had to get back to business, "So that is what Karns was after."

  "Yes. In my world, he succeeded. In this one, for some reason he didn't."

  "He tried to kill you there too?"

  That was the hardest part of admitting Jeff's situation. "Yes....instead he got Kara."

  The captain saw the pain in the traveler's eyes. "Sorry. I'm sure this has to be a bit awkward."

  "A little," Jeff admitted, "But let's get back to work."

  Allen shrugged. "Well, unfortunately we can't do anything for a little while. What we're going to do is find out where this guy has gone. In the meanwhile, I was going to take a break, and you should too."

  "I've only been at this for four hours. I think..."

  The officer had to interrupt him, "Trust me, take this time off. Once we get something on Karns, we won't stop for a long while. At least I won't. So when that happens, we'll call you. Just grab a phone from the clerk."

  Jeff sighed. He wanted to continue, but Allen had a point. "Alright. I'll try to stay close."

  Jeff strolled slowly on the sidewalk. He was passing by Kara's studio, not expecting anyone there. It was in part for a need of nostalgia, and in part because he didn't know when he would be able to see it again.

  He looked inside to find that Kara was inside. Expressing surprise that Kara was dancing, he couldn't but help to lull himself too deep into that sense of nostalgia. He saw her - just as she was the day that fateful day.

  He looked down with that last day in mind. Jeff couldn't help but see Kara, and feel sadness.

  But then a thought hit him. Kara, the Kara that was inside, was probably also going through the same thing. Even though it wasn't the Kara he knew, and wanted, he had to go in and see if he could somehow help her. If it was only a little bit, that would be enough.

  He walked through the door, triggering the familiar ring. Kara abruptly stopped her practice. At first, she showed enthusiasm, as though it was just like her Jeff had entered. But then she remembered who it actually was. It saddened her. As with Jeff, the knowledge of the tragedy before her couldn't help but enter her mind.

  "I just saw you while passing by," he explained.

  Kara composed herself the best she could. "I...just wanted to get my mind off everything...that has happened."

  Jeff nodded, "I understand. I have those moments as well. And..."

  Kara blurted out, as though she was afraid to say it but needed to anyway. "Is that why you left your world? To get away?"

  Jeff stood there, thinking about it. He looked through his feelings, and knew, "No, I think it was the opposite. If I wanted to escape, I would have just gone back to work; away from everyone. I'd go back to who I was, before I met you.

  "Thinking about it, I wish I didn't do as much work, back then. I should have..."

  "No you shouldn't." She practically yelled it. Kara cried, tears of both remorse and happiness. "I loved that about you; your passion. I didn't care that you were at work all the time, because you loved it.

  "I didn't have that passion. Didn't....."

  Jeff took a few slow steps, then embraced Kara. While it was her, the embrace wasn't with his wife; it was with what might be a friend. A grieving friend in which he was going through the exact same thing.

  "I needed you..." Kara whispered.

  ...He was going through the exact same thing.

  Jeff walked into the small apartment. It was a clean, average apartment; one that no one would have expected from a criminal henchman. There was no clutter lying around. Only some personal nick-nacks lay on a bookshelf - one that contained no books.

  Looking around, Jeff noticed that there was one subtle commonality: the place wasn't settled in. The resident could have packed up in a few hours and leave to any destination.

  "You wanted me to see something?"

  Allen was holding a cell phone. He was going through more of the numbers. It had been only an hour since he had called Jeff. "Yeah...that was then. There was several calls made to this phone; came up as random numbers that had no names to them."

  "You guessed they were Karns."

  "Can't confirm it though. Actually, we can't even confirm anything about these numbers." Allen quit looking through the phone. Now he faced Jeff, giving him the bad news.

  "Our dead perp had calls received by a completely anonymous person. The tech guys think that Karns didn't use a normal phone," Allen explained to Jeff. "Instead, it was through an Internet connection. He went through several techniques, most that I don't understand, to make sure that each call was anonymous."

  Jeff nodded. But then a thought came to him. "Can you hand me the phone?"

  Allen gave him the phone. Jeff shuffled through the numbers, each with no name to them. Jeff was going through each number as they came in, looking at the times that they came in.

  Jeff pulled out his own cell phone. He quickly pressed a few buttons to dial up a number, then held the phone to his ear.

  The answer came from Elsworth, "Hello?"

  "This is Jeff."

  Elsnworth was interested, "Jeff, have you found anything?"

  "Possibly. I needed to confirm something. What time was Karns in the facility?"

  The commander gave his answer very quickly, "Specifically, it was eleven forty-three, and he exited at twelve twenty-two. I had to memorize every detail of that night. You...the other Jeff, was found exactly an hour later. What do you need this for?"

  "We got two of his guys;...one dead. But I think we may have something from him."

  "If you need to, give me a call and I can give you as much support you'll need."

  Jeff had to admit, "That may happen..."

  Without a goodbye, Jeff hung up the phone. Returning to the dead man's cell phone, he found one entry that was late in Karns' operation.

  "You know quite a bit of science fiction, but I know quite a bit on computer science," Jeff said to Allen, "Karns used his phone late in his raid."

  The officer was a bit confused to where Jeff was going, "How would that help?"

  Jeff walked around to find a phone book. Opening it, he looked for an entry for Internet Service Providers. While he talked, he called that company.

  "Anonymous can work only if you're looking from afar. If you know where they connected..."

  Jeff continued, "You can figure out who they are based on that connection. But wouldn't you have to..."

  Jeff kept the officer silent with a raise of his finger. He spoke into his cell phone, "Can you get me someone who can look at records of Wi-Max router connections?

  "Yeah, the warrant that I have covers both any connections to or from the phone that was called. We just need a number or IP address.

  "I'll hold."

  Jeff turned back to Allen. "I know exactly what Karns connected to. There's only one outside Internet connection within five miles of the military facility; hopefully no one else was on as well."

  The person on the phone talked to Jeff, notifying him that he was ready. "OK, I need to know a phone number or IP address for any connections made at twelve-fifteen two days ago.

  "There's just one? Just a second..."

  Jeff took looked around for a pad of paper and pencil, which he found near the land-line phone. "Ready." Jeff wrote down a series of numbers for an IP address. With that finished, he ended with a simple, "Thank you."

  Jeff hung up the phone, readying himself to leave. "Let's go find Karns."

  Allen, enjoying the major break in the case, followed Jeff out of the room.

  Allen's car pulled up to a marked property that was far outside the city. There was one building set on what otherwise looked like an old farm. The entire area was disguised further with overgrown with large weeds and other various plants. There was one path to it: a graveled road that had a metal bar that acted as the barrier. br />
  Not far behind them came two other police vehicles along with a SWAT van. No matter how covert they acted, anyone could have noticed them. Luckily they were a good ways from the buildings.

  Allen and Jeff got out of the front car. The police officer looked around, trying to see if there was anyone that was going to take pot-shots at them like before. Jeff looked directly at the building while holding the rim of his glasses.

  From his view, he could see many red dots - many people were inside.

  "Can you tell if he's in there?" Allen asked.

  "Unfortunately not, but this is the place. However, the IP connection hasn't moved in the past two hours. Considering all the electrical signals I see in there, this definitely is the place."

  Allen turned around to face the two vehicles that had followed. He gave a confirmational nod to them. Two officers came out of the smaller car, while the van opened in the rear. A dozen heavily armed SWAT officers came out and lined up next to Jeff and Allen.

  Allen faced the building. Without facing Jeff, he asked, "Will your Army guys be here?"

  Jeff replied in a similar fashion, "They will. If nothing else, they are reliable."

  Allen removed his pistol, with Jeff followed suit.

  "Then let's get him." Allen announced.

  The small door exploded into an open position. A couple of SWAT officers ran through first, aiming their rifles at different directions. Jeff and Allen walked in right after, taking a similar attitude of making sure that they had all angles covered.

  The room was empty, blatantly disguised as a waiting room. The chairs were unorganized. It was as though the last people who used them did not reorganize anything.

  Jeff moved to the back, where two bookcases were placed separately on the wall. Using his glasses, he scanned both of them. The lenses revealed electrical signals behind both bookcases, as though both had doors.

  He turned to whisper to the others, "There's something behind both these bookcases. I wouldn't be surprised if one was booby-trapped."

  Allen was the first to speak up, "Can you tell which is safe?"

  Jeff used his glasses, moving closer to see if he could somehow see details of what was giving off those signals. However, the vision was too fuzzy; one could see a basic shape but nothing else.

  He stood back, trying to think of how to get past this obstacle. Then he got an idea. He switched his glasses to the infrared mode. He saw heat signatures of people behind the right-hand bookcase.

  Pointing it out, he said, "That's my best bet."

  Two SWAT officers moved to each side of the bookcase. They moved it just so then the metal door was visible. Then another officer came from the back and examined the door. After a short look, he waved for everyone to get back.

  From one of his waist mounted his pocket he took out a small box. The box was placed onto the door hinge, then the SWAT officer ran back. In the middle of his run, he grabbed the detonator from another pocket. Once he was at the entrance, the red button was pressed.

  A loud bang echoed in the room. The SWAT officers swiftly walked to the door and entered.

  That is where the firefight began. Shots were fired from the SWAT and unseen enemies. The first two slowly proceeded, gaining ground for the ones behind them. Jeff and Allen were the next ones in, both diving toward pillars; the best cover that they had.

  Jeff immediately saw that gunfire came from slits in the metal panels. It was obvious that Karns set up barriers for just this situation.

  More SWAT came in, all trying to find cover. The first two were shot in the chest; only one was able to shrug it off. The other clutched the wound, trying his best to stay in the fight.

  One SWAT officer yelled out, "Flashbang!"

  Jeff knew those words. He turned the other way and shut his eyes. The clank of a grenade fell in front of one metal barrier, then a flash lit everything around it.

  The gunfire continued, although it seemed to be less numerous than before. Some of the SWAT officers moved around, trying to position themselves to get around the barriers. Unfortunately, they had to retreat when more bullets responded to their movement.

  Jeff took out his cell phone and began typing.

  Allen noticed this, "What are you doing?"

  "Calling in the calvary."

  He pressed the send button then waited. Gunfire continued to suppress the SWAT team behind the pillars.

  Then a large boom rattled the ground. The gunfire stopped, as all the guards were now curious as what that boom was. The SWAT team had the same feeling. Another boom came, now causing a part of the upper wall to explode. It exposed daylight to the large room.

  One of the enemy guards yelled, "Shit! They have a tank!"

  Jeff dove out of his cover, quickly running across the large expanse. With the guards distracted with the military, he was able to get behind the first metal barrier. Other SWAT officers followed, moving behind the four barriers and surrounding the guards.

  From the back of the facility, several doors opened. People poured out, fleeing from the inevitable defeat. Jeff didn't bother to count the number beyond guessing it was a few dozen. There was one side door that they funneled into. A few of the men and women had their guns out and were firing at the SWAT teams.

  Other SWAT officers had moved into the crowd, as more and more of the fleeing mob fell to return fire. With less gunfire coming out, they attempted to keep as much of the mob from fleeing.

  Allen spotted Karns. He was attempting to blend into the small crowd, but not holding any weapon that would make him stand out.

  Allen ran across to the other side of the large room, then towards the back. One of the henchmen in front of Karns noticed him and fired his weapon clumsily. The police officer quickly shot the man in the head, exposing Karns.

  Karns saw Allen, having a gun pointed in his direction. "Nathaniel Karns, put your hands up!"

  Now the SWAT was moving forward. Karns took stock of his chances of running. He looked at the two SWAT officers that was nearing; one had blood on his shirt from a previous wound.

  Karns raised his hands behind his head, knowing that it was over for him.

  All the gunfire had ended. Jeff was helping one of the SWAT officers cuff one of the guards. The tank had moved close to the building, showing itself through the hole it had made. Soldiers stood in front of it, aiming their weapons and making their presence well known.

  Karns had been cuffed and was now being marched to the front of the room. Jeff saw Karns calmly walk, seeing how he was still calculating a plan. Karns looked around, as he was looking at each SWAT officer and soldier part of the operation. But when Jeff and Karns' eyes met, something was different.

  Jeff remembered how Karns, the one that killed his Kara, had reacted when they met. That Karns knew Jeff, even though they had never met before that moment. This Karns didn't react that way. It was as though Jeff was just as much a stranger as any other member of the SWAT team or any of the soldiers.

  Jeff knew what that meant. "Damn, he didn't do it."

  3 years ago

  Jeff and Brian were sitting across from each other while conversing. They were in Jeff's apartment, with daylight heavily contrasting parts of the room. It wasn't their usual spot, but they were waiting for a phone call.

  Brian reviewed Jeff's theory, "You think that this energy is present pretty much everywhere?"

  "I know it is. It's just distributed to a very thin level."

  "So why don't we use that for the Dimensional Transport?"

  Jeff shook his head. "There's just too little. To get to a different universe, you need a lot of it."

  Brian leaned forward for his argument. "Jeff, it isn't about whether it's possible or not. They don't do experiments like in the Cold War days, exploring things like telepathy and such. With something like this we have to show that it is not only possible, but that we can do it. If we can show that there are multiple routes to traversing alternate universes, it would give them much more confid
ence in us."

  Brian was a much better pitchman than Jeff and they both knew it. However, Jeff was never comfortable with spinning anything or giving half-truths.

  "The method we have works; that's what the mathematical formulas show. If there was any other way, someone else probably would have discovered it by now."

  Brian replied, "That may or may not be true, but that's not the point. We have to operate as though we're proposing to politicians. They won't understand the theories exactly, only in general. And..."

  Jeff's phone rang. He looked at the caller ID, quickly saying before he picked it up, "Well, let's see if we got it."

  Holding the cell phone to his head, Jeff carefully listened to the phone while keeping a neutral face on what he heard. "This is Jeffrey Hunter.

  "OK We'll be there Monday."

  Jeff hung up his phone, placing it back on the table.

  Brian was metaphorically on the edge of his seat, restraining himself to not make it literal. "Well?"

  Jeff simply said, "We got it. Starting Monday, we have to gather a team and begin building."

  Brian was ecstatic. "That's great!"

  Jeff, while showing content, was far from as energetic as Brian.

  The friend got up and headed towards the door. This wasn't a moment that he could celebrate in that room. He offered to Jeff, "Hey, come join me and Liz at the bar to celebrate. She'll love to hear the news."

  Jeff held up a hand in refusal, "I don't know. There might be a few things I'll need to do."

  "Jeff, this is a once in a lifetime success. Just this once, come celebrate it. I know you'll love it."

  Jeff swung his head, deciding one way or another. Then his decision came, "You said that last time, but what-the-hey."

  Jeff got up to follow.

  This was another thing to celebrate for Brian. "Excellent. And this time, we'll go to a place that doesn't have a bull rider."

  Present day

  Karns was sitting in the interrogation room across from Allen. He was calm, as though he still didn't have anything to fear.

  On the other side of the glass was where Jeff and Elsworth stood. They had watched the two for the better part of an hour, mostly going nowhere.

  Allen continued his line of questions that were also part-accusation, "You deny getting anything at the Ousters Military Base?"

  He replied with as much calculation as always, "Yes. I will only say that I had entered. I doubt you have anything more than breaking and entering."

  "What about that minion of yours that killed an officer, and attempted to kill me and a military consultant."

  "He was not "one of my minions". He was a former associate that operated on his own."

  Allen put more pressure in, "That isn't what he said."

  Karns simply waved his hand, "I doubt he wouldn't say otherwise. Not with someone else to blame for his own crimes."

  Allen's phone beeped. He took it out and read the text that he received. Without a word, he left the room, returning to the viewing room that Jeff and Elsworth was in.

  Jeff said to the captain, "I'm guessing that text message wasn't good."

  "No. Ballistics came in negative for your...other self."

  "I wasn't expecting it to," Jeff said, not saying exactly why.

  "Well, it would help if the military can give us the papers that was confiscated."

  Allen was referring that to Elsworth, who stood back and observed everything that went on. But with that accusation, he had to step forward, "Considering that some of those documents may have came from us, we can not let state secrets out."

  That still didn't please the police officer, "Yeah, but longer we don't have evidence, the more likely this guy goes free again."

  "He has already admitted to trespassing onto military property; I doubt he'll go free for long."

  Allen was turning very frustrated with this line of conversation. "I want to prosecute him for the murder of one of my officers. You are hindering that."

  Elsworth kept posture, although he too was being frustrated by the conversation. "And we will assist in your investigation and prosecution of Karns; just as soon as we clear everything that we have."

  Allen turned and left in frustration.

  Jeff had stood in the middle, trying not to get into the argument. He feared any intervention may cause even more problems.

  Elsworth sighed and turned toward Karns, who was standing patiently. He decided to change the conversation, "How did you know that Karns didn't kill you."

  Jeff also turned to face Karns. "The way he looked at me. In my world, Karns knew me. He tried to kill me, and he recognized me when he saw me in my first trip following him. That wasn't the case here.

  "Something's different. Something beyond that I had died and Kara lived. And that Karns didn't get the Dimensional Transport."

  "Is it possible to find out what was different?"

  "Possible, but not likely. I think it was best described that time is like a river; a single stone could change the course of things. That stone could be incredibly small, or very large. It's impossible to tell which."

  The military commander didn't like that concept. "If it isn't Karns, then we hit a dead-end." Elsworth turned directly to Jeff, looking into his eyes, "You did good work. Do not forget that."

  Jeff wasn't so optimistic, "I just wish I could do more."

  The larger, older man said, "We all do. Everyone looks back and wishes that. For better or worse."

  Jeff turned back to see Karns, sitting in his prison; the one he is in now and the one he will be in.

  Daylight penetrated through the windows, lighting most of the Hunter residence. It felt calm and empty. The doorbell rang. Kara walked through the hallway from the back entertainment room. She opened the door to reveal Jeff.

  She was silent with her greetings; something that wasn't like her.

  Jeff explained his visit, "I just wanted to visit one last last time."

  Kara turned to let Jeff inside. He wandered along the hallway, heading toward the back entertainment room; for no particular reason. Kara walked next to him.

  "Did you find anything?"

  Jeff answered, "No. I thought it was someone, the same man that killed my Kara. But it didn't turn out that way."

  She wondered, "So, are you going to stay for a while?"

  Jeff shook his head in a negative fashion. "I can't. I still have to get Karns...my Karns. But also....this isn't a place for me."

  Jeff started looking at the pictures that was lined up on the wall. They varied from portraits to fun pictures of Kara and Jeff. He looked upon them as he said to her, "There isn't much for me here. It isn't the place I remember it to be; it feels like someone else's."

  She couldn't help but say to that, "Funny, I feel like that sometimes."

  Hearing that, Jeff looked right into Kara's eyes. She was very sad, still going through her own grief. Jeff mentally questioned on if either one of them would ever find peace in themselves.

  He looked back at the pictures. Moving onto the next picture, he saw something curious. The picture was of him, alone, in graduation garb. "I remember...this was different. Where's Brian?"

  "Who?"

  "He's my friend. I met him at college, for my masters."

  Kara distinctly did not remember things that way. "No...You said you didn't have any friends at college. You were too busy with studies to do anything else."

  Jeff pointed to the picture, with a realization in mind. He said to himself, "That's what's different."

  Kara didn't get what he meant. "What?"

  But Jeff didn't hear her. There was a lead and he needed to follow it. He marched to the door, saying to Kara behind him, "I need to go. I think that I may have found a lead."

  Kara just stood, a little befuddled at what Jeff was doing. Before she knew it, he had closed the door behind him.

  Back in the military base, the Dimensional Transport stood in the hanger. It looked complete, but there was stil
l plenty of parts that was lying around it.

  Jeff opened the door, calling, "Brian! I heard you were in here. We need to talk."

  Then suddenly a shot came his way. Jeff ducked, then dove behind a computer monitor. The metal base was more than enough to shield him; since they were build for random debris to hit them. He removed his own gun, readying it for combat.

  Brian could be heard, echoing around the hanger. "I knew you would find me; you were always too smart for your own good."

  Jeff looked around; he couldn't identify exactly where Brian was. He yelled out, "Is this what a friend does?"

  Brian laughed. "A friend? I can't imagine that! You were always studying, always doing your best to be the best. I knew I couldn't compete with that!"

  Jeff switched his glasses on, to find in infrared exactly where Brian was. He was behind one of the large boxes.

  "Ironic isn't it? That you would find your own killer. You always wanted to excel..." This was a rant that Brian needed to yell out.

  Jeff rotated around the monitor, firing his gun next to where Brian was taking cover. Jumping down to the main floor, he ran to the other side of the box.

  Just as he rounded the corner, Brian ran right at Jeff. The punch knocked both of them down on the floor, with Brian working more aggressively to get footing. Brian dove, intending to tackle the already downed opponent. Jeff responded by kicking, hitting Brian in the face.

  Jeff got up and looked around. He saw his gun a few feet away from him. Brian had the same idea, finding his own gun near him.

  The two dove for their respective guns. Jeff was too quick, grabbing and aiming his weapon before Brian could even get a hand on his gun. He froze, knowing that Jeff could fire if he made a further move.

  Jeff slowly walked up to Brian, all the while saying, "If you knew me, as my Brian did, then you would know one thing: I didn't care about myself. At this moment, I only care that you hurt Kara."

  Brian was befuddled with what Jeff had said. But before he could even say or do anything, Jeff punched him, knocking him unconscious.

  Jeff looked up, seeing the roof open and revealing the gathering clouds. The weather was not going to be good.

  3 years ago

  Jeff was at the bar, talking to Brian. Liz was on the other side, also in the conversation. They were all happy, with Brian and Liz occasionally laughing. Jeff on the other hand felt out of place.

  Then he looked behind him. The sight forced him to fully rotate in his chair. He saw Kara, dancing on the floor. She was not with anyone, just dancing to unheard music.

  He thought to himself, thinking whether to do something or not. Things were stopping him, the very things that had kept him away from places like this. But something inside grabbed him; told him that this wasn't a moment to skip. Jeff got up and walked through the crowd to Kara...

  Present day

  Jeff stood at the beach side. The wind was whipping across his face. And rain was coming, but he didn't care. All he did was look out, deep in thought and memory.

  Liz walked up to him. "No one told me that you were here."

  Jeff's only response was to say, "Sorry."

  Liz shrugged her shoulder. "Considering everything, I don't blame you."

  The two looked down at the grey, sandy plains. The water continued to wave back and forth.

  "This was the exact spot."

  Liz had to ask, "Exact spot?"

  Jeff nodded, having more memories come to him. "This was the place that I had asked Kara to marry me. It just seemed perfect. Here we could just be ourselves, have fun and do anything we wanted to. And we could be alone if we wanted to, or go down a half-a-mile to find a huge crowd."

  Liz said, "I think it was the same way here."

  Jeff honestly said to his coworker and friend, "That's why it's so hard to leave. Yet, I can't stay here. Not with what I have to do. Not with everything that has happened...to the both of us."

  The friend put her hand onto Jeff's shoulder. "I understand. The funeral's in twenty, I'll give you a ride."

  Kara's expression was of great sadness. In front of her, was the closed casket of her Jeffrey Hunter. While she was standing next to several other people, two were Elsworth and Liz. They both stood with umbrellas to protect themselves. Kara went without one.

  Jeff watched from afar. He too was unprotected from the rain. He was only looking at Kara, seeing her both as the Kara he met in this world and the Kara that he had lost.

  Quietly, Jeff turned around and left.