Second Chances

Jennifer slowly sat down. “My God.”

“There are two Dr. Jennifer Townsends in New York City right this very moment. One of you is twenty-two years old, the other is twenty-seven. Your twenty-seven-year-old-self---she calls herself Jenn----she’s at the Hard Rock party right now, pretending to be you.”

“She was in the convenience store with me when you arrived. While I kept you busy she bought a cup of coffee and went out. Agents from Merlin followed her, thinking she was you. Merlin wants to make sure Jenn and I do nothing that will prevent you from developing your time-travel theories. They’re following you to make sure we don’t get close to you.”

Jennifer was silent, just watching him. Then, as if she couldn’t hold it in any longer, she leaned forward, spearing him with the intensity of her gaze. “How does it work?” she asked. “Where have I been going wrong in my equations? Is it the…”

“Whoa.” Brian held up his hand. “I don’t know anything about that stuff.”

She stood up in one swift motion, whirling around the room. “It works, God, it really works!”

Brian laughed at her totally un-Jenn-like outburst. He hadn’t known she was capable of such sheer, unadulterated joy.

But as quickly as she’s started to dance, she stopped. She nearly ran to a small writing desk that sat near the entrance to the room. She opened the drawers, rifling through them until she came up with paper and a pen. She quickly brought them back to the sitting area, scribbling what looked like equations as she mumbled aloud.

Brian’s strengths didn’t lie in math, but he knew one thing. She had to have a mind like a computer to be able to think in terms of the kind of equations she’d just scratched onto that piece of paper. For the first time he fully realized how intelligent Jennifer Townsend was.

As Brian watched she threw down the pen and raked her fingers through her hair. “What am I doing? All I have to do is talk to……my other self. She can tell me where I’m going wrong. Jenn, right?” She paused. “Why does she call herself Jenn?”

“Because I gave her that nickname,” Brian told her.

She looked at him. Really looked at him. Brian could practically see the wheels turning in her head. “Are we lovers?” she asked quietly. The chill in her eyes was completely gone. She smiled slightly, almost shyly. “Please say yes.”

He nodded. “Yes,” he said. “Lovers---and friends.”

Jennifer nodded too. “That’s a good combination.”

Brian had to look away. “Jenn doesn’t seem to think so.”

“Of course she does. I should know because she’s me, right? I’m her.” She smiled again. “God, I can’t believe it’s really going to work! Do you know how many years I’ve been working on this?”

Brian shook his head. “No.” Jenn hadn’t told him much of anything about herself.

“I’ve been interested in the thought of time-travel ever since I was a little kid. I used to watch Star Trek all the time, which explains why I named the device the Enterprise. But, I didn’t seriously start working on it day and night until about three years ago.”

“Why?” He asked. “Why did it become so important to you?” Maybe JENNIFER would tell him…

But she didn’t answer right away. She just looked at him. “It’s very important to me,” she finally said. “Ever since…” she broke off. “I haven’t told you anything about it?”

“Sharing’s not exactly something you are comfortable doing.”

She changed the subject. “You said I came back in time to ‘set things right.’”

He met her gaze. “That’s right. Five years from now your top priority will not be to develop time travel. It’ll be to make sure you DON’T develop it. Jennifer, that’s what I’m here to ask you to do. Stop your research. Don’t let it go any further.”

He’d shocked her. He saw it clearly in her eyes. Jenn never would have let it show. “How can I stop when I’m obviously so close to success?”

“Because if you DON’T stop hundreds of people will die, including YOU. Jenn seemed to think you would do well to go into medical research and…”

“But it’s all going to be different now,” Jennifer interrupted him. “Now that I know what’s going to happen, I can make sure Merlin isn’t involved in the project.”

“There’s no way you can do that. They’ll kill you and steal the Enterprise if they have to.”

“So what am I supposed to do? Burn my papers? Erase my computer files? Promise never even to THINK about time travel again?”

“Yes,” Brian said.

That wasn’t what she’d expected him to say. She stared at him. “Are you sure you want me to do that?” She asked. “Just like that, everything will be different. We might never meet. Are you willing to risk that, Brian?”

“But we HAVE met,” he countered. “We’re here, right now……”

“I’m here, but are you? Are you from the future? Because if you are, if I make one little seemingly inconsequential decision, you’re going to disappear. You and Jenn will vanish.”

Vanish?

“Think about it,” she said. “If I don’t continue, the Wells Project won’t happen. I won’t invent the Enterprise…”

“I’m not from the future. But…..Oh, my God,” he whispered. “If you don’t invent the Enterprise, there’ll be no way for Jenn to travel back in time and….” He broke off, staring at Jennifer. “Will I even remember that she was here? Will I remember her at all?”

There was compassion in her eyes. “I don’t know.”

Brian closed his eyes, remembering the way Jenn had kissed him in the dressing room of the bridal shop where she had bought the dress for the party. They were about to leave for the convenience story, to intercept Jennifer, and Jenn had pulled him into her arms and kissed him so sweetly, so tenderly. He realized now that that had been a kiss good-bye. She’d fully intended never to see him again.

Right now she was at the party, all alone, waiting for herself to cease to be. She knew that if Brian succeeded, she would disappear. The past five years of Jenn’s life, everything she’d done and dreamed and hoped and felt, would be gone.

Brian stood up. His legs felt weak, and his voice sounded just as wobbly. “I have to find Jenn.” He headed for the door. “Come on, Jennifer, you’ve got to help me. There’s got to be another way.”

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