Winds of Change

Stepping back, Michelle let John precede her up the stairs to the porch where Bobbie waited, smiling. John nodded to her, then stepped up to her and wrapped his free arm around her. Her arms were around his neck in an instant. She squeezed him for an instant, then let go quickly. Stepping back, Bobbie disengaged herself from John, a shy smile on her lips, eyes twinkling. Smiling John just nodded at her once more.

"Well, I'm ready to get back to work. I don't know why Calvin brought me here," John said loudly.

"No," Michelle almost shouts. "Doctor's instructions have you resting the rest of today. If you feel better tomorrow, then you can go back to work."

"Fine. Bobbie, Calvin back to work."

"What... "

"Don't worry about Michelle, I'll be here and she can take care of herself just fine."

"Okay boss," Calvin said turning and going back to his car.

"Are you sure John?" Bobbie asked.

"Yes, go."

Shrugging, Bobbie headed for her car. Within seconds, the front yard of the sheriff's home was empty, just Michelle, Rudy and John standing on the porch, staring after the two squad cars, racing away from them.

"Will you join me for lunch, my dear?" John asked Michelle.

Rudy barked and headed for the front door, sat waiting for John to open it for him. Michelle laughed as she turned and joined Rudy by the door. Shaking his head John went to the door opening it for the pair. Rudy rushed past Michelle and John, his toenails clicking loudly on the wood floor, heading for the kitchen and lunch.

Chapter 25

All day Michelle hovered over John. She was always there when he got up from wherever he sat or lay. There were times when he just wanted to scream, but also found himself enjoying her company and her help. At lunchtime, Michelle made some sandwiches and poured John a beer. That night, Michelle and John cooked dinner together and sat down to eat early in the evening. They both kept the conversation light and cheerful. After dinner, Michelle forced John to sit in the living room while she cleaned up the kitchen and the dinner dishes. After she was finished, she joined him on the couch.

"Now tell me in detail what you found," John told the diminutive redhead who wouldn't talk about what had precipitated John's unfortunate circumstances.

"What I found... what I found. It would seem that my boss hasn't been very forthcoming in his work with the rest of his research assistants."

"Okay... "

"From what I gleaned from the files I accessed, dear old Professor Kane has a device that will allow the user to move in time. There are several documents, proposals really, that explains the device and methodology used in its development. Then there are the technical specification and diagrams. The last document was the user manual."

"Users manual?" asked John

"Yes, it describes how to use the device and what to expect when you use the thing. It's a very exciting reading."

"I see. Did you happen to print them out?"

"Yes, I did. In fact, they are sitting in the printer in my office as we speak."

"What?"

"Don't worry, nobody will bother them. Nobody ever goes into my office."

"Why not?" asked John.

"Because I'm never there, I spend all my time in my lab. I have a desk there too, so I use it instead of the one in my office."

"What about the device?"

"Oh, I know where it is. I moved it so they couldn't find it," Michelle giggled.

"Well, then we'll just let everything be for a while. We'll have to see if things cool down. I don't want you going to work alone. I will assign a Deputy to you. I think for the next couple of days, Jimmy will be your shadow."

"If you say so, John, but doesn't Jimmy have more important work to do?"

"Not for the next couple of days," John said smiling at Michelle.

"Ah, I see. It's good to be Caesar."

"It is."

The two talked about other things for a short while then went to bed.

When John woke, he found he was sore all over. He lay in bed motionless. He could feel every muscle and joint in his body and wondered if this was what it felt like to get old. Breathing shallowly, John tried to relax. First, he cleared his mind, then started to relax each and every muscle in his body. He felt Michelle's warm supple body gently press against his. Her warmth helped him. He felt her breath on his neck as she spoke.

"Susan told me you would be sore this morning. She gave me something for your pain. If you want I can inject it for you."

John sighed as she told him this. "Yes please," he gasped.

Rolling gently away from John, Michelle retrieved the syringe from the refrigerator. Leaning over John, she swabbed his upper arm with the alcohol swab she brought, then pressed the needle into his arm. She gently and slowly pressed the plunger into the body of the syringe. John only grunted softly as she did this.

"You should feel better in a couple of minutes."

"What was it? Morphine?" asked John.

"Yes, so don't think you're going to get any more of it. Not for a long while," Michelle scolded. "I'll go start the coffee while that takes effect."

"Thank you."

"No sir, thank you," Michelle stammered her eyes filling with tears. "You have... "

"Shhh, no need my dear, I promise." John smiled up at her as she hovered over him, her tears dripping down onto his chest. "Now go. Splash cool water on your face and start the coffee. This old man will need a scant few minutes to gather his wits and climb out of bed for the day."

Michelle nodded, wiped her tears away with the back of her hand, leaned down and kissed John's forehead. John reached up and caressed her cheek. She smiled, turned and was gone. John sighed as the morphine started to work.

Chapter 26

After a shower and a light breakfast, John was ready to go. Michelle didn't want him to leave the house.

"I don't think you should leave the house yet, you were shot just two days ago," Michelle argued.

"I'm not going to sit around here and sulk all day. I'm going to work if you want to stay her fine."

"Fine, fine... but I'm driving, you're on drugs," Michelle chuckled finally caving.

John just laughed handing his car keys to her. She took his car keys, grabbed her purse and drove him in his squad car to the office. When they arrived, Carol was waiting at the door a stack of messages in her hand.

"Everyone that you know has called to find out how you are," Carol said handing John the messages.

"Thanks, Carol," John told her as he took the stack from her. "Could you get Jimmy to come to the office as soon as he can?"

"Of course," Carol said turning to return to her desk.

"You're not," Michelle started.

"Yes, I am," John told her, taking her hand and gently guiding her to his office. "Now have a seat, it might be awhile."

John sat behind his desk, placed the stack of messages to the side, opened his desk drawer and started to reread the reports on the two murdered women. He could sense Michelle fidgeting across the office as she sat on the brown leather couch. Smiling he looked up at her. She frowned back at him. John smiled even more. Just then, Jimmy stepped into the room.

"Ah, your knight protector has arrived. Jimmy, please take Michelle wherever she wishes and stay with her until I send someone to relieve you."

"Will do boss," Jimmy responded, smiling at Michelle.

"Fine," Michelle huffed rising from the couch.

"Do you have that Sig I loaned you?"

"You know I do."

"Good. Remember what I taught you."

"I did, I will," she said softly.

Michelle rushed to John's side, bent down and kissed him soundly on the lips. Then just as quickly, she was out the door of his office with Jimmy rushing to catch up to her. John laughed silently as he picked up the stack of messages. For the next hour, John returned the phone calls of his friends and acquaintances.

Michelle had Jimmy take her so she could change clothes. Then to the University where she planned on doing some work. Once there Jimmy took up residence in the corner of her lab watching her as she worked. Sitting at her desk, she started a search on the computer, then grabbed a stack of exam papers from one corner of the desk. Silently she went through the process of grading the papers. After about an hour, the door to her lab opened and in strode Harvey Muller. Michelle looked up and shook her head.

"You have a lot of nerve coming here," Michelle said continuing to grade the exam papers in front of her.

"Not nerve dear Doctor, authority," Harvey said with a smirk on his face.

Stopping in front of Michelle's desk, Harvey looked down at her with a malevolent smile on his lips.

"Now my dear, where is it?"

"Where is what Harv?"

"That's Chief, Doctor."

"And you're an asshole, Chief."

At Michelle's words, Harvey's hand moved to his sidearm. It halted when he heard the sound of Jimmy's automatic cocking. Turning he saw the muzzle of Jimmy's Colt pointed at his face, from no less than two feet.

"You are assaulting a police officer in the performance of his duties, Deputy."

"And you are harassing a witness in a County murder case. Also, as Doctor Wilfinger noted, you are an asshole." Jimmy waited for Harvey's answer.

"You seem to have the advantage of me."

"Always," Jimmy said softly.

"Then I had better be going," said Harvey, nodding at Jimmy.

"Yes, you should. A word of advice, leave Doctor Wilfinger alone, she is under county protection and if anything, anything at all happens to her, I'm coming after you. You got that Harvey?" Stepping back Jimmy left enough space for Harvey to leave.

"I do," said Harvey, turning and leaving the room stiff-legged, pounding his heels into the floor. Jimmy never took his eyes off him until the door closed behind him.

"Thank you, Jimmy," Michelle whispered.

"My pleasure Ma'am," Jimmy whispered back, still watching the door.

After a few more seconds, Jimmy went back to his chair and Michelle went back to grading the exams. The rest of the morning was quiet. At noon, John showed up and took Michelle and Jimmy out for lunch. Jimmy told him what happened and John was livid.

"Calm down my dutiful Sheriff," Michelle smiled at his outrage, "all was taken care of by my knight protector."

John laughed when Michelle used the title John had given Jimmy, who sat blushing across from them in the diner. The conversation turned to other happenings around the county. When lunch was finished, Bobbie showed up to relieve Jimmy. Jimmy and John went their separate ways, while Bobbie drove Michelle back to the University.

Chapter 27

Later in the afternoon, Michelle called John at the office. She was very excited about something.

"You have to come relieve Bobbie so she can get home to her husband," Michelle said in a rush.

"I will, I'll be there at five," John told her.

At five that evening, John walked into Michelle's lab. Bobbie and she were talking and giggling when he walked in but both fell silent as he approached them. Nodding at Bobbie, she rose and hurried out of the lab. Michelle smiled as John hugged her with his good arm then stepped back.

"So what's so important?"

"I just thought you would like to read this," Michelle said sliding a sheaf of papers toward John.

"Ah, the infamous user's manual," John exclaimed.

"Indeed," Michelle responded.

"Did you also retrieve the device?"

"I did. Did I do right?"

"Yes, you did. Now let me read this. I assume you have something to do?"

"I do. I won't be long though."

John nodded as he had already started to read the manual.

A short time later, John was just finishing the manual when Michelle placed an antique looking chrome device on the tabletop in front of him.

"That's it?"

"Yes."

John picked up the device, sliding the manual across the table toward Michelle.

"How do we turn it on," John said looking the device over.

"It said to press the green button to activate the device," Michelle told John.

"All right here goes," John muttered as he pressed the green button, more of a stud really. "Nothing, nothing is happening."

"It should work," Michelle cries, flipping through the pages of the manual.

"What does it say about this flat, circular area?" asked John.

"Nothing... wait, here it is," Michelle flips through the sheaf of papers in her hand. "Yes, yes, here it is... it says to place the disk there! What disk?"

John digs in his shirt pocket and pulls out the envelope containing the disc. Opening it, he dumps the small metal object into his hand. "This disk," he said.

"Where did you get that?" asked Michelle.

"It's a long story. Now," he muttered as he placed the small circle of metal onto the apparatus on the table between them.

They both gasped in surprise as the disk slides forward into a slot that appeared at its touch. The buttons on the device glow brightly.

"I guess it's all powered up now," Michelle said. "You'll tell me later where you got the disk?"

"It was found in the purse of the first victim," John told her staring at the device on the table.

Picking up the device, John pressed the green stud. Suddenly the room around him changed. Everything has slowed. John can even see the air flowing through the room. He watched as Michelle lifted her head very slowly from looking at the tabletop to look at him.

John involuntarily took a step back. He jerked in surprise to see Michelle and himself huddled around the table looking at the device he now has in his hand. Shaken to the core, John stepped forward. He was suddenly looking into Michelle's beautiful eyes once more. Her mouth was moving but John hears nothing. Pressing the stud again, everything was as it should be.

"... what the hell," shouted Michelle as she jerked back from the table.

"Whoa," John blurted out. "That was... freaky."

"What happened?"

"I... I don't know. One minute I was pressing the button. Then I watched, as everything slowed way down... I could see the air moving through the room. I watched your head come up to look at me and I took a step back." John shook his head as if to clear it of fogginess.

"Then what?" gasped Michelle.

"I was looking at you, and me, bent over the table looking at the device. I then took a step forward and pressed the button. Damn that was freaky."

Turning the device over, John noticed a flat protrusion that hadn't been there before. He pressed it.

"What are you doing?" Michelle almost screamed.

"That's what I figured. See that's the eject button for the disc." The disk fell into John's hand.

"Ah," Michelle squeaked softly.

"Now, let's pack this stuff up and get the hell out of here. My place or my office would be better," John told Michelle as he put the device in her purse.

Michelle pushed the stack of papers, which were the instructions on how to operate the device, into her briefcase. Looking up at John, she smiled. John smiled back and they both turned and left her lab. As they approached the main entrance, John felt the tiny hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Pushing Michelle to a doorway to the side of the entrance, John pulled his Colt from its holster. Michelle gasped as John pushed her into a broom closet. Then seeing John's Colt in his hand, she dug in her purse for the SIG he had loaned her. By the time she had it out, she could see two city cops hurrying past the closet, through the slim crack John left to look out.

Michelle and John watched the two cops hurry down the hall toward Michelle's lab. Michelle squeezed John's shoulder. He just placed his hand atop hers as a signal to stay put. Within seconds, the two cops returned down the hall, carefully glancing from side to side as they went. As they got closer to the closet Michelle and John were in, John slowly and quietly pulled the door closed. Then they waited in silence. After a few minutes, they heard the car the cops came in, startup and drive away. Relaxing just a little, John slowly opened the closet door. He slowly stepped out and looked around. Reaching back inside he pulled Michelle out and almost dragging her, headed for the door and the darkness of the night outside.

Fifteen minutes later Michelle was safely home, with orders to stay there until John came and got her. She was to open the door for no one and she was to call the duty Deputy if Harvey or any of the city police showed up at her place.

Chapter 28

John sat in his easy chair at home, staring down at the device in his hand. In his other hand was the disk. Looking around the room, Rudy was the only other living thing around. Nodding to himself, he put the device down and picked up the stack of papers Michelle had left with him. The instructions for the device were cryptic at best, yet there were little tidbits of information contained within. One of those pieces of information was how to locate the time in the stream you wanted to go. How to get to a particular place once you got there was a little vague. John was rereading that process to see if he could glean any more from it than he had already.

The document said, "... shift the pointer to the spatial direction you wish to proceed along and press the triangular shaped button at the top of the device. Then turn the wheel located under the left thumb." Looking at the device, John didn't see a triangular shaped button, yet there were many different triangle shapes carved into the face of the device. And what pointer were they talking about, was it part of the HUD that was mentioned earlier? He did see the dial, more of a wheel, on the left side of the device. There was also one on the right side that the document said controlled the temporal transition. John turned back to the beginning of the document and started to read again.

Two hours later, John sat in his chair holding the device. Nodding, he placed the disk on the device and watched as it disappeared inside. The device came to life a few seconds after the disk slid into its slot. John sat there staring at the device in his hand. Then with a shiver, John pressed the activation stud. Again, everything slowed down. John then pressed the button to activate the HUD. He hadn't done this the last time they, Michelle and him, had powered up the device and he was surprised by the image displayed before him. This was clearly a very sophisticated device, almost otherworldly.

The display before him showed the current date and time in the upper right corner of the HUD. Right below that was a second date and time. Neither was marked. In the middle of the display was an arrow, two arrows actually, both perfectly aligned to appear as one. One was red in color the other blue. John sat studying the HUD and the device now that they were activated. He found the triangular button at the top of the device. He found the thumbwheel on the right side and the other on the left. The document said they control the temporal aspect of the device, although you could physically move through time without them.

Turning the device over, John pressed the eject button, caught the disk and slipped it in the envelope and sat waiting.

No longer than fifteen minutes after turning the device off, John heard a car coming down the road. Rising, John went to his safe and placed the device inside, closed the door and turned the handle until it dropped home. The disk he tucked away in his shirt pocket in its usual envelope. Taking his Colt from the countertop in the kitchen, John walked to the back door and let Rudy out. Turning the lights out, John slipped out with him. Rudy was immediately on alert. The car had stopped about a quarter mile down the road and sat like a dark lump on the shoulder. Rudy was off the porch, out into the dark field. John silently walked after him. Within minutes, there came loud screams from the intruders and a loud snarl from Rudy. John was running toward the sound as the screams increased in pitch. What John found were Rudy and two men. Both men were on their backs, legs and feet pointed at Rudy. Both had blood dripping from their legs, arms, and faces.