Chapter 1

Tom Andrews and his girlfriend Mary Nilsen parked his Toyota Land Cruiser under a tree in the parking area of the national forest. They had stopped by the ranger station to file their hiking plans with the ranger and register their hunting licenses and carry permits. They were going to be out for just over a week and had two full packs of gear including side arms for protection and a rifle for hunting in case they ran across any wild boars that had been tearing up the forest. They planned to hike about ten miles and set up camp between the river and the mountainside and then do day hikes out of the base camp. This time of year wasn’t the most crowded time in the forest because the grade school kids were still in classes so they and their families wouldn’t be around to ruin the peace and tranquility of nature.

After arriving at the campsite, they set up the tent and their cooking area. They both gathered firewood and were done in the late afternoon. Tom removed a sleeve that was attached to the outside of his pack and a small case. After getting everything out and putting it together, he took his fly rod over to the river and started to fish. He is a good fisherman, but tonight was just plain lucky when he caught a good-sized rainbow trout on his third cast. After pulling it to shore and cleaning it on a rock in the river he carried it to the camp where they fixed it along with some things from the pack and they sat under the stars and talked while eating dinner.

Mary is a very smart girl who was valedictorian in high school. She was talking about the different constellations and navigating by the stars. She’d studied it in one of her science classes. The campfire lit up her face and Tom could only wonder what he’d done to deserve the beauty and brains that he called his. It must have been all the beatings that he’d taken from his brothers but even that had made him stronger.

There are many hiking purists that try to make everything as light as possible and make everything multitasking, but Tom didn’t want to use his sock to strain spaghetti or only have his hiking boots. In camp he preferred a nice pair of leather sandals they weighed a bit, but he didn’t care. They were away for the week, not hiking the Appalachian Trail. He had convinced Mary that wearing her boots always would get old and her feet would thank her, so she followed suit and brought a pair for herself as well. That was the catalyst for what changed their lives. Tom wanted to try to set out some traps to catch a rabbit. He had seen some trails in the clearing and wanted to have rabbit for breakfast. As Mary cleaned the dishes, Tom took some cord and went out to set a few traps.

He was walking along the base of the rock faced wall covered by moss and vines when he got a rock in his sandal. He shook his foot and hopped on one foot trying to set it free, but it stuck to the rubber sole and frustrated him until he stopped. Tom put one hand against the wall to balance himself as he used the other to remove the stone when he almost fell into the wall. The vines and moss covered over the hidden entrance to a cave. He looked in but just saw darkness so he didn’t venture in but after stepping back he couldn’t see an entrance at all. The way that the rocks overlapped, and the overgrowth broke up the surface you couldn’t see the entrance standing even three feet away, staring right at it. Tom marked the entrance with one of his snares and made it back to camp.

Mary was sitting on a log in front of the fire with her long bare legs stretched out in front of her. He paused at her position and he often had to stop and take a breath when she came into his view. He did enjoy spending his time with her. “Mary, I found a cave and want to look around with you after breakfast. I don’t know if it goes back five feet or five miles back under that mountain. Are you up for a little spelunking? You know that I like to explore caves. Speaking of exploring, are you almost ready for bed?”

Tom stood and took her hand leading her to the tent. He wanted to continue exploring heavenly bodies. As he stood aside and watched her ass disappear into the tent, he couldn’t help but think back to the first time that they’d had sex. The internet and life had helped both to open and explore their sexuality. They both had Fetlife accounts and from time to time would step out to meet others with similar kinks. Tom had traveled the world and on his down time had been educated by women from around the world on different techniques, but more importantly attitudes towards sex. He knew that he was a dominant man and enjoyed submissive women. There was a play party in Atlanta one weekend and that was where he met Mary.

Tom is 6’3” tall, blonde hair, blue eyes and in great shape after years in the military. He was in special forces for six years starting right out of high school even having his 18th birthday just before graduating from boot camp. He had all the training in special forces and could shoot and fight with the best of them, but he also served as the team medic carrying extra gear and taking care of any and all medical needs of his team.

He had grown up on a farm in Northern Kentucky spending his free time hunting, fishing and farming. He could build a barn, bale hay, shoe, and break horses and manage a herd of cattle. He did well in school but didn’t have a real direction after high school. He had two brothers that had gone to college. One did well and worked in Cincinnati for Proctor and Gamble the other dropped out and worked the family farm after his dad had helped him build another house on the property for him and his new family.

Tom was the baby and had to learn to do things better from a young age to protect himself from the torment of the older boys. He could run and fight to save his life. When he finished school, he didn’t know what he wanted so he joined the military and based on his ability to fight and how well he did with his weapons, he was chosen to try out for the special forces. He finished the training without quitting or getting dropped. It was great training, but he didn’t want to hunt and kill humans for a living, so he did his six years and went to Georgia State in Atlanta to get a degree in business. He was almost through with his Senior year just needing a few more classes to finish his degree.

Mary was a tall blonde girl with a thin frame. Her small breasts were perfect for her athletic lifestyle as she ran most mornings as well as yoga and other things. She also had blue eyes and her Norwegian heritage was something she took pride in. When she was a teen, she read a few books she found in her parent’s room including The Joy of Sex. She wasn’t a slut in high school but did have strong desires and fantasies that she used to have good masturbation sessions most nights.

In college she had a slutty roommate and one night watched as her roommate brought home a guy and did him across the room in her bed. The guy told her roommate what to do and she did it. It made her hot to watch and the thought of telling someone what to do made the excitement grow. She started to do some more reading on the subject and after some soul searching and self-diagnosis, she determined that she was a switch meaning she could see and enjoy herself as both a dominant and a submissive. She explored more as the years passed and found that she was more dominant when she explored her bisexual side with other women starting with her slutty roommate and she was more submissive with most men.

The men she was submissive to had to be able to stand up to her in both stature and character to earn her trust and submission. She didn’t like bullies but didn’t like men that wouldn’t stand up and be proud of who they were. There is a fine line between confidence and cockiness, and she was very picky on who she would play with and normally ended up just playing with girls. She had graduated from Georgia Tech and worked for an engineering firm in Atlanta as a Mechanical Engineer. She did a lot of consulting on various projects and specialized in patent projects specking out and confirming new ideas and concepts before they were filed.

Tom awoke but his eyes were still closed, and his sleeping bag was warm. A warm double sleeping bag that he’d given her the Christmas before. He could hear the crackle of the fire, the squirrels rustling the leaves, the birds calling out to wake the day and he could smell the coffee. One of his favorite smells was that of coffee both freshly ground and freshly brewed. Coffee like beer is one of those things that is hated by most when they first drink it but then the taste is acquired and refined until a true connoisseur can pick out subtle differences like wine.

As he let his mind awaken, he started to think. “Oh my, Mary is so amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever met such an animal in bed. Beyond that she is so smart, fun, hardworking and loving. I wish I could spend the rest of my life with her.” Those thoughts were ones that he didn’t want to end thinking about the night before. But today was a new day and that meant getting moving. A quick run out to check the traps. A rinse in the stream and then exploring that cave before the hike up to the falls. They would need to bring a couple flashlights, their head lamps, and some rope just in case. They didn’t have the equipment to go too deep, so no food was needed. Water was always on his hip while camping so that should be good unless they saw something in which case they would come back out and regroup. With that process behind him, he emerged from the tent and he saw the branches and sky before turning to see Mary with those sexy legs and tight ass bent over to work on something. His last thought was “This is going to be a great day.”

Just the sound of her voice was beautiful. It didn’t matter what she was saying. It just multiplied her physical beauty. You know when you see someone from behind and are in total lust until they turn so you can see their face and the attraction is ruined? Mary is just the opposite. She is lovely on the eyes and her voice just draws you in to want her even more. The look of her legs and ass as she leaned over to cook made Tom feel so lucky and then her asking how he’d slept made him think back to her in his arms and his heart sped up a bit and the smile on his face grew wider.

“I always sleep better in the fresh air than in the apartment. I always sleep better with you in my arms and I always sleep better after making love. I guess that means that I slept perfectly. I hope that I didn’t snore and ruin a peaceful night’s sleep for you.”

He walked over to the cute girl and leaned in to give her a kiss. “Good morning, Beautiful.” Taking her cup and then a sip of the sweetened liquid before handing it back to her. Tom said, “I’m hunting wabbits,” in his best Elmer Fudd impression. “I’ll be back in ten minutes. Unless I caught a mountain lion.” The trip to check and collect the traps was quick and uneventful as they were all empty. Stopping at the stream on the way back to camp, he got undressed and waded into the mountain water and rinsed the sweat and grime off from the previous day. He even dunked his head and scrubbed his hair before bouncing out of the water and making his way back to camp to dry and redress in front of the fire.

“Sorry Hun, no wabbits for breakfast. I’m sure what you fixed will be just fine without it though. After I clean up the dishes, we can check out the cave and then maybe I will fix you lunch before our hike this afternoon?”

They had their gear and went over to the cave entrance. When Tom stopped at his last trap that was used to Tom the entrance Mary just thought that he’d just stopped to get the trap because she couldn’t see the entrance. He turned and pointed at the side of the mountain. “Here it is.”

She didn’t see it. Even after he showed it to her, she stepped back and didn’t see it. She knew it was there, but the camouflage was such that its blended in. Almost as if it was magic. Tom just smiled at her amazement at the optical illusion. He’d done the same thing the day before. He pushed past the ivy and into the opening that went back at an angle into the mountain. It became like a curved hallway that took them into a room that was about the size of a twenty-foot box. When they were both in the center of the room looking around. The room suddenly started to glow but there were no lights. Out walked a man and it scared the shit out of them.

He looked like just an ordinary guy wearing jeans and a t-shirt. “Hello”

He carried no weapons and wasn’t threatening in any way. Tom was still defensive but not scared. “How did you get in here? Sorry, I’m Tom and this is Mary.” Mary nodded hello.

The man responded, “Tom and Mary, my name is Phillip. I don’t want you to be alarmed but I am not from this planet. I am not here to harm you and after today you will never see me again. I am going to tell you a story and then you can ask questions. After that you are free to do as you wish. This is a portal that was created by my race about a million years ago. You two are the first to walk into this chamber thus claiming this as yours. This chamber is a transporter to other places but also more importantly other times. You can just name the place and time and you will be transported there.

“If you leave this chamber today at 10am and travel to watch your Boston tea party you will actually enter a parallel universe so any changes that you make won’t affect what is happening in this universe. You won’t accidentally change something that will hurt or help this world. Those changes have ripple effects that could leave one or both of you not being born. That could cause problems when you return.

“As I was saying, if you leave at 10am, you can be gone twenty minutes or two hundred years and when you return here, it will be 10:01 the same day. You will not age when you are away. Your time will stop and then pick up when you return. This is your portal and only the two of you will be allowed to pass through. You can’t bring other animals in either direction. I mean humans or pets. You can carry things through the portal. I see that you have flashlights. Those can be brought through. Do you have other things with you?”

Tom spoke, “I’m not calling you a liar, but this is crazy to even think about what you are saying is possible. We have a tent and camping equipment. We have backpacks to carry enough for a week or so. I have some guns for the wild hogs and protection.”

Phillip put his hand to his chin as he thought. “You two look like you enjoy a good adventure and didn’t freak out when I met you, so I’ll tell you what I’m going to do. I will change your backpacks into replicators, or more accurately fixers or replenishment devices. If you put something in the backpack it will take it back to its new condition. You will not run out of bullets if you put the box back in the pack. Your food wrappers or a piece of the food will create a whole one. nothing will spoil in there either. That is my gift to you.”

Mary asked, “How does the portal work and how do we get back? Do we have to find this spot in another universe because it was hard enough right here?”

Phillip replied, “I will give you each a bracelet that will be invisible and you won’t feel them. When you place them together and say the passwords you create, it will take you here. From here you can just say where you want to go and then say the passwords and place the bracelets together. Like that Wizard of Oz and the clicking the shoes thing. Go get your supplies and I will get you all set up.”

There were going to be more questions, but Tom believed him and wasn’t going to upset him. They left the cave and Mary stopped. She didn’t want to lose the entrance. She said that she was staying right where she was. Tom went back and packed everything. It took a while longer, but he carried the two packs one on his back and one in his arms back to the cave entrance. Mary was just finishing carving a heart with their initials on it into the tree near the entrance. Tom hated the vandalism but was proud of her ingenuity and kissed her in thank you.

They reentered the cave and Phillip again walked out of the wall. He looked at everything and took out the equipment. When he picked up the rifle, Tom got a little nervous, but Phillip gave him a calming smile. “I will change this to a night vision scope so you can see things better. When you change times and locations the people most likely won’t be wearing Levi’s and Nike. They won’t speak your language. When you are wearing the bracelets, you will be seen by them wearing what they would consider to be normal. Like I am here. You will be heard in their language and they will hear you in theirs. Just speak English or other languages that you know, and they will hear you and understand you. You don’t have to worry about diseases, and you can’t get anyone pregnant. Those are good things, but the bracelets don’t stop spears, bullets or knives so be careful. Do you have any questions before I leave you?”

Mary asked, “What if one of us dies? Will the other person be stuck?”

Phillip said, “That would be tragic, but you would just have to grip the other person’s arm touching the bracelets and say, ‘Home,’ and you would be returned here. The dead person would still be dead, but you would be home and could pass it off as a camping accident.”

Tom looked at Mary but couldn’t think of anything to ask. Phillip was already putting a silver looking bracelet on Tom’s left forearm. “Phillip, I have no idea what to ask. I’m sure that I will have a hundred questions as soon as you walk out of here, but I guess that is part of the adventure. Thank you for this opportunity.” They shook hands and Phillip moved to Mary.

Phillip continued by slipping another bracelet on Mary, “Figuring the rest out is part of the adventure. Now pick a password or phrase for your bracelets.”

Tom said, “There’s no place like home.” After Phillip nodded that the bracelets were set up, Tom said, “It will be like Dorothy anytime we want to come home.”

Phillip even chuckled at that. “Just say home as your destination and then your password and you will travel back to this place and this time. Other than that, just say where you want to go and then the password and you will go there. Have fun, be safe and good luck.” With that, he walked into the wall and was gone. The room was silent except for the breathing of Tom and Mary.

Tom was a businessman or would be when he graduated. He thought about what this meant if it were real. Turning to Mary, “He didn’t say that we couldn’t use this as often as we wanted. I think that we should run some tests to see what we can and can’t do. I think we should stay somewhat close to home. If we do get stuck somewhere, I’d rather it not be in caveman times. Let’s try to just make a jump, try out the backpack tricks and then come home. Can we only pick a time and location, Boston 1776 or can we say, ‘site of largest gold nugget a year before anyone found it? These are things we can try. I am not trying to break the rules but walking up to that line is part of the game. What do you think Mary? Would you like to finish our camping trip in another time and place?

The room still glowed but Tom’s headlamp shone on Mary. He could see her thinking. He was hoping that she would want to go and have some idea about where and when. He started thinking about money and surviving past the first couple days if they really wanted to make it in some other time. They knew so much between them that they could always sell some ideas to pay the bills but the replicator in the backpack would be an easy way to make things and sell them if it worked the way that Tom envisioned it. There was only one way to find out and Tom watched and waited for Mary to give her answer.

Mary touched her hand to his jaw, as he spoke, and tried to think of the best way to test all that they’d been told. “I’ll go with you anywhere, Tom. Anywhere would be an adventure. I guess that it would be too boring an adventure to go back to yesterday, just to test, huh? And it might be cool to go to someplace like ... um, hmm ... the 20’s with gambling and Prohibition or right before that, with all the new inventions, but maybe we can go back to last weekend first. If nothing is affected here, it would hardly hurt if we bet on a game or race, that you know the winner already, to bet on and get some money. We can win, find out if we can bring back the money in the backpack. Or even deposit some of it into our bank account “over there”, in that time, and check our bank balance when we get back, to see if it really is unaffected.” She picked up her pack, then set it down at her feet to touch his bracelet with her hand. “Tom, do you think it will work?”

Tom was amused that they were having this serious and potentially life changing conversation in a cave wearing headlamps shining in each other’s eyes. “Mary, we can run all kinds of tests, he said that it would be a parallel universe. Is it one universe or a new one each time? I remember most of the basketball scores from last weekend so that sounds perfect. We can go back once or maybe two or three times. I don’t know if we will be there if we go back a second time. Let’s go back and take some notes. We can bet on some games and see how it works out. We can take some money out of the ATM and check our balance. We will need to take out the cash if we want the bets to be worth anything. I bet I only have thirty dollars plus the hundred that I keep tucked away for emergencies.”

He helped Mary into her backpack and made sure that his pack was settled on his shoulders before taking her hand and the bracelets were touching. There was a long pause as they looked at each other and finally she gave a slight nod that let him know that she was ready. Tom said, “Las Vegas, Nevada last month March 17th, 2016.” With a brief pause and a nod, they said together, “There’s no place like home.” Everything went black. The headlamps were useless. There was total silence even when he tried to speak. It seemed like five minutes but was probably only about thirty seconds. And then they were standing beside a dumpster in the parking lot behind a strip center just off the strip. When he thought about it later, there were no people and no cameras like there would have been anywhere on the casino property.

They walked out in the dawn light. They took off their headlamps and stored them in the backpacks before walking a block to the Tropicana hotel and casino. Looking at his watch he saw that it was just past eight in the morning. That would be eleven in the morning east coast time and with the college tournaments would be starting the next day. That meant three full weeks of basketball. Upon entering the casino, he stopped at an ATM and took out a thousand dollars. It always amused him that the machines in Vegas dispensed hundred-dollar bills. Anywhere else he would be carrying fifty twenty-dollar bills if the machine would even allow that much to be withdrawn. The receipt confirmed the date as if showing up behind a dumpster wasn’t enough to convince him that this was real.