Part 21 (1/2)
Annie took a long sip of coffee. Abruptly, as if the caffeine woke up her brain, she had an idea.
”Suppose they're afraid he's going to alter the future somehow'”
Kay c.o.c.ked her head. ”There is that. No matter what James does, he's likely to change things a little bit.”
”No,” Annie said, very quietly. ”That's why he's here.” ”What' I don't get it, Annie.”
Annie put down her cup with a thunk. ”He told me he came here to--to escape the brutality of his world. That's what he said. But there's more to it than that, Kay. There has to be.” She started making circles in the air with her hands, as she often did when she was trying to explain something. ”Why would anyone want to come back three hundred years, to what must seem like the Dark Ages to his way of thinking' He had to have a reason for choosing this particular time period, didn't he'”
”Unless he was in a big hurry. Maybe they were after him and he just escaped to whatever setting was on the time machine. You know, like in Back to the Future.” ”He knew what year it was,” Annie said, thinking about it. ”It wasn't random. He meant to come here, Kay. And I think I understand why. He started the revolution that led to the deaths of all his people. He has over fifty million deaths on his conscience.” She paused. ”There is only one way he can fix things.”
Kay looked at her with dawning comprehension. ”By making certain they never happen in the first place.”
Annie nodded, recalling what she'd said to James. Sounds like your society could use altering.
I agree, he'd said. It could. ”Exactly,” she said. ”Why else would a man who has lost everything go back to the past' It makes sense, when you think about it. He came back to fix things.”
”How could he fix things from this distance'” Kay asked. ”Didn't he tell you his time was three centuries from now'”
”He must think there is something he can do in this time period to prevent the purge from happening. Some key that he could turn.” Annie frowned in concentration. ”What could he possibly do to change things that far in the future'”
Kay shook her head. ”It could be something incredibly subtle. If he a.n.a.lyzed the events that led to the purge--”
”I don't see how he could have made a terribly thorough a.n.a.lysis, Kay. He can't read.”
”Well, he could have gotten his information from video. I bet by then almost everyone will. Practically no one reads the newspaper anymore. Three centuries from now I doubt anyone will have a clue what a newspaper is.”
”Yeah, but video doesn't give you a really clear view of events.” Annie frowned. ”I don't get it. He told me the first thinking robot won't even be invented until fifty years from now. What could he possibly do right now to change his world'” ”Did he pick you on purpose'”
”Huh'”
”Did he choose you' Do you have something to do with it'”
Annie hesitated a long moment. ”I don't think so,” she said at last. ”He said the time machine wasn't that precise.”
”He could be lying. He might not want you to know.”
Annie shook her head. ”Think about it, Kay. If the time machine could send a person precisely to a person's house, then Dekka and her partner wouldn't be having any trouble hunting James down. They would have followed him right through into my kitchen and destroyed him instantly.”
Kay frowned. ”He's a humanoid, Annie, almost certainly smarter than most humans. Maybe he figured out a way to make the machine more precise.”
”Why would he be after me'”
”Beats me.” Kay sighed. ”If he wanted to change your personal history, all he would have had to do is kill you.”
”He had plenty of opportunity. He didn't.”
”Maybe seducing you was enough. Maybe you were fated to fall in love with someone else that night.”
”With who' I haven't had a date since Steve died, Kay. I wasn't even planning on going out that night.”
Kay shrugged. ”I don't know, Annie. It was just a thought.”
”You're suggesting he slept with me because he was trying to alter the future'”
Kay held up her hands in a gesture of surrender. ”Take it easy, Annie. It was only a suggestion.”
”Well, I don't--” Annie broke off as the door opened. ”Oh, no,” she muttered.
”What'” Kay looked around and saw Susan Takahas.h.i.+ heading toward them with grim determination.
She was dressed in a jade green silk blouse and pressed khaki slacks, and her lovely features were set in a stiff, courteous mask. ”Great,” Kay grumbled. ”Just what we needed.”
Susan paused by the table. ”Ladies,” she said in a stiltedly civil tone. ”Might I join you'”
”Actually, we were just about to get going,” Annie answered.
”This won't take long.”
”Didn't I just talk to you on the phone, Susan'” Susan smiled serenely. ”Cell phone. A wonderful invention. I couldn't live without it.” She pulled out a chair and sat, making it difficult for them to leave without appearing rude. She fixed Annie with a friendly smile. ”Where is James now'”
”Babysitting.”
”He does seem to like babies, doesn't he'”
Enough chitchat, Annie thought. She resorted to her characteristic bluntness. ”How can we help you,
Susan'”
Susan sat back in her chair with a studiedly casual air. ”An interesting bit of data surfaced this morning,”
she said. ”Did you happen to see the news two nights ago' A car ran off the road in the suburbs.”
Annie felt a cold chill. ”No,” she lied. ”I didn't see it.”
”Hmm. Well, it just happened to be very near your house, Ms. Simpson.”