“Follow me, please.” Exiting the bedroom, we went to a conference room. Inside was a table where the head and the foot were not occupied. Seated to the right was Ryan, Nurse Todd, Nurse Tim and another person unknown to me. On the left was Dr. Jill, Another unknown lady, and a very attractive lady. Andrew took a seat. “Well, now that everyone’s here, shall we begin.” We opened with a prayer. The lady kept eyeing me. I felt hot under the collar but knowing that I was probably married, dead, and gone by now cooled me down.

“His test’s show that he is fully capable of the project, Andrew.” Dr. Jill said.

“He’s as strong as an ox.” Nurse Tim said.

“His mind is clean as a whistle.” The other man said.

“I think he’s ready for the job.” Nurse Todd said.

“Okay, Adam. According to my associates, you’re physically and emotionally ready for the task ahead of you.” Andrew said.

“And just what is that task? Just to find the Double D?”

“No, you’re task is much more serious than that. After the Double D escaped, they not only took your Da Vinci Palette, but other priceless artifacts of time that effect the future. Minute by minute the future as we know it is deteriorating, it isn’t even the same as when you came. Wars have been started since you have come.” Andrew said.

“Fortunately for us, the United States has put a hold on all time travel. This means that if the Double D tries to travel through time, we can spot them and catch them.” The other gentleman said. “So they are trapped in this time frame.”

“Your job is to flush them out of hiding.” Ryan said.

“But as I told Ryan, I will need some help, I don’t know how to get about in this time frame, or other things.” I said.

“That’s where she comes in.” Andrew said, pointing to the lady to my left. “Adam let me introduce you to your great-granddaughter, Carrie Chapman.”

“My what?”

“He’s right, great-grandfather.”

“Oh boy! This will take a little getting use to!”

“I know what your going to ask next, and yes, Jill, Ryan, Carrie, and I are all your descendants.” Andrew said.

“WOW! Now what?” I asked.

“Carrie is going to be your wife.”

“My wife?! She’s my great-granddaughter!!” I said.

“Not for real.” Ryan said.

“Seeing as you both have the same last name, we will move you to the city where the Double D was last seen. There you will assume the fact that you and Carrie are married. We will give you an … what did you call it … an apartment. There you will pretend that you and Carrie here are married. She will show you the ways of the time frame. You will also look for the Double D. Ryan here will be around as your contact with us. Once you have found the Double D, let him know.”

“Then what happens?”

“Then we’ll transport you back to your time, wipe both your and Tricia’s memory and make it as though you never traveled to the future.”

“Swell, I knew it was too good to be true.”

“We have packed some clothes for you and sent them on their way.” Nurse Todd said.

“Well thanks for the game, I’ll see you later.” He left the room. I moved toward a bed and sat down. Directly in front of the foot of the bed was a box. “I wonder if that is today’s equivalent of a T.V.. I wonder how you turn it on.” Right when I said on, there was a burst of sound and in front of me was a 3-D image of piloting a space ship. I yelled, “VOLUME DOWN!” It immediately went down. I found a card of instructions to my right. Reading the instructions, I “flipped” through the channels, but found that even in the future T.V. is just thirty-six channels with nothing worth watching. Although it did enlighten me to some of the new ideas of fashion in 2060.

I had just about laid down to fall asleep when the door opened. I looked, and I think it was Nurse Tim. He greeted me and told me how to get a hold of him if I needed him. Also he told me that in one hour was my exercise period. He said that this was to build up my strength and endurance for my mission, whatever it is. I laid back down on my bed when I was again disturbed by the door opening. In came Ryan. “So how’s the ancient detective?”

“Ancient? I’m twenty three!”

“Not in this time frame.”

“So how did you guys know to contact me? Even if one of you did know me in your time frame, you would have been a little kid.”

“You were my mentor in 2025 when you caught those two. You continued to teach me until I got out of college and we were good friends, but then came the accident.”

“What accident?”

“Never mind. Let’s get down to business. Andrew sent me to tell you your mission, he has a big case.”

“Okay, so what’s my mission.”

“We need you to locate the Double D’s hide out.”

“How am I supposed to do that?! I have no knowledge of your futuristic machines!”

“True, but you are the only detective that caught the Double D, plus they won’t expect your being here.”

“Swell, and how am I supposed to know where to start?”

“We have arranged for you to have a partner from this time frame, but we’ll fill you in totally tomorrow. For right now, you need to get healthy and find the Double D so we can return you to your own time!”

“You’re telling me!” Ryan said good-bye and left the room. Nurse Tim came in, and after rigorous training, I returned to my room and fell asleep. The next morning Andrew came in and woke me.

“It’s time for you to leave.” He said. I got up, and got dressed. “Do you people always undress, then redress?”

“What do you mean?”

“Why not just wear the clothes? OH! Your clothes wrinkle! I forgot! Sorry. Our clothes are wrinkle free.”

“Won’t the clothes get smelly though?”

“Won’t??”

“Will they not get smelly though?”

“No, use this button to clean them while they are on you.”

“Wow!” I said, trying it.

As we materialized, I felt the pressure again on my leg. I almost collapsed under the pressure. They carried me to a table and I was moved into a different room. I either fell unconscious or they forced it on me. When I awoke my leg was healed. Raising my head, I caught a glimpse of Andrew and a doctor talking to each other. I let my head rest on the table and waited until one came over. It was Ryan. He checked to see if I was awake. Noticing that I was, he went to tell Andrew. “So, our guest is alive after all! Do you want to try to walk on that leg?” He asked, helping me up.

I was sitting upright on the table. I got down and started to walk. I lost balance and almost fell. I was helped up, although by the nurse. “Hello, I’m Nurse Todd.” He said.

“Thanks.” I responded.

“Nurse Todd, take him to recovery room 3.” The doctor said. Todd helped me out the door and to recovery room 3. He opened the door. He helped me sit in the chair, and he sat across from me.

“Nurse Todd (can I call you Todd?) Who was that?” I asked.

“That was Doctor Jill Colley.” Todd said.

“What exactly am I doing here?”

“I really don’t know. It’s not normal policy to bring people from the past into the future. I guess we’ll just have to wait until we find out what you are to do.”

“Great.” I said sarcastically.

“How is that great?” He asked.

“I didn’t mean it that way.” I responded.

“Oh! I didn’t stop to think that you might speak a little differently than we do. Sorry.”

“So now what do I do, just sit here forever? Is there anything to do?”

“Well, there’s not much you can do on that leg. What would you like to do?”

“How about some softball?”

“I’ll ask the doctor.” He got up and exited the room. The room that I am in is about normal size with pink walls. It has kind of a slot in the wall, kinda like the food replicators on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Next to my chair is what looked like a computer. I reached over to it and accessed something, but I didn’t know what it meant.

Todd reentered the room. “The doctor says, ‘If he can walk, he can play softball.’ She says that tomorrow you’ll be ready to leave.”

“Well, let’s see if I can walk.” I started up and was able to support myself. Todd gave me some decent clothes and we went out of the recovery room and to another room. It had ‘Recreation’ marked on the door. We went inside where there were all sorts of games already in progress. This room looked immense. We went into the area marked softball where there was a game in progress. We sat on the side lines. Some one saw us and call us into the game on opposite teams.

The game’s rules must have changed. I can’t even begin to describe the game. It had changed so much, I barely knew how to play. When we finished, Nurse Todd took me to a bedroom in a dorm like hall. There he said, “I get off duty in a few hours, I will be substituted for Nurse Tim.”

“Aren’t there any girl nurses?” I asked.

“Why of course there are, but they are tending the girl patients.”