Chapter 2: Starting Time, Part 2

Waltham, Massachusetts

Present day, 2036

"I'm sorry," Katya said as she sat in a very angry Cheryl Callahan's office. Cheryl was the co-founder of the NTRC with her husband, Kevin. This was her Waltham office.

"We have these rules for a reason, Miss Sevnik," the normally calm, middle-aged Cheryl yelled. "I don't care if you thought you were doing the right thing. Oy! You could have been killed, and you could have killed Mr. Ingraham along with you. He and his wife have a baby on the way. How could you forget what happened on 9-11 that year, aside from the mostly forgotten Hurricane Erin?"

"I'm really sorry, Cheryl. Please forgive me," Katya begged. "I promise I will never do it again. It wouldn't have been so bad if I had been alone. I do much better by myself."

"You know the rules," Cheryl replied. "No pilgrimages without a partner."

"Then I would like to request a new partner," Katya said. "Eli just isn't at the same level as me."

"Nobody is at your level, Katya, but you won't be doing any more pilgrimages for a while."

"What? But..." Katya stammered.

"No buts about it, young lady. You're grounded from further missions until I can figure out what to do with you. You will be transcribing reports for us and working in the lab. Oh, and you're also being transferred to Elgin where Kevin and I can keep an eye on you."

"Yes, ma'am," Katya said in a defeated voice. This made her sad. Although she didn't know when she was from and had no idea how to find her parents, she considered Boston her hometown and commuted to Waltham from there. Somehow, she knew she was originally from a small town near Boston that was either renamed or no longer existed.

* * * *

Elgin, Illinois

Three days later

Katya looked at the old observatory as she walked past it on Watch Street in the old section of Elgin. She knew that the observatory was built for the Elgin National Watch Factory, which once stood proudly just a block away. The small observatory was built to track time via the planets and stars. The factory fell victim to the wrecking ball in 1964 but had employed thousands of people over the course of a hundred years. This was the very site in which the Callahans had built their research center. It seemed fitting that it was on the exact spot that had been obsessed with time for well over a century.

Katya had never met her other boss, co-founder Kevin Callahan, but had corresponded with him via his wife, Cheryl, and video mail. She wondered how working here at the original NTRC-called National for short-would turn out. Perhaps her new co-workers could help her remember from whence she came.

On her own, Katya had jumped around in time often in her young life, sometimes staying in one time period for years. For the usual time pilgrim, there's a built-in set point for their own present-nature's way of helping them get back home to just the right moment after a jump. The Center was helping Katya stay in this present by having her create an imitation set point connected directly to it. It was the longest she'd ever stayed in one time period, but Katya firmly believed she wasn't originally from this here and now, at least from the Callahan's point of view.

As the attendant walked her through the building and toward the offices used by the Callahans, everyone was watching her. The employees rarely got to see new faces at the Center. They were also very curious about this "Power Pilgrim" as she'd been dubbed. She glanced at them as she passed, but Katya's gaze quickly landed on a handsome young man with bright blue eyes. She flashed him a flirtatious smile.

The dual offices of the Callahans were not as big or as decadent as Katya had imagined. They were normal-sized, messy, and down-to-earth. She thought that they didn't match their room names: Lord Elgin and Lady Elgin. She was afraid that Kevin would be cross over the 9-11 incident, but he smiled largely and made her feel right at ease.

"Good morning, Katya," he began. "It's so good to finally, ah...meet you." Kevin didn't want to tell her that he'd met her in the past once before, because, from Katya's point of view, it hadn't happened yet. "I know she'll be mad at me for telling you this, but you're Cheryl's favorite pilgrim."

Katya reached for his outstretched hand. "Good to know ya, Joe," she said. "You say that I am Mrs. Callahan's favorite? I thought she hated me."

"Heavens, no," said Kevin. "She's just tough on you because she sees so much potential in you." He leaned in close and said with a whisper, "She also sees a young Cheryl Bachman in you. That probably scares her a little."

Kevin looked her over, trying to time frame his one-time meeting with her. She was average height with a blonde bob, perhaps dyed, fair and feminine with dark brown eyes.

Their brief meeting had taken place during his and Cheryl's first-time pilgrimage, which occurred while traveling down Route 66 to save his grandmother's life. His Grandma Kate had gone missing right after giving birth to his father, Sean. But then Kevin and Cheryl saved her and changed history. This was also when he had discovered the secrets of time travel and the key role that water plays in all of it. Katya and her future partner would one day be curious about that moment and appear before the Callahans in 1946, just before Kevin and Cheryl made the jump back to their own time. For Kevin, this happened nearly twenty-five years ago.

Katya looked around the office nervously. She noticed a cabinet in the corner containing a collection of pocket watches.

"Groovy watch collection you have here," she blurted. "May I have a look-see?"

"Sure, be my guest," Kevin replied.

"Wow, you have a Yankee and some Elgins and Walthams...these are terriff!" She looked back at him.

"Thanks!" Kevin replied. "Do you see the one Elgin watch in the center? That one belonged to my grandfather."

She looked at it closely. It was displayed with the case opened. She noticed a beautiful woman pictured on the inside cover. "Kevin," she began. "Is that your grandmother, Katherine Callahan?" Everyone at both Center locations knew the tale of the Callahans and how Kevin had discovered time travel. The story was famous.

"Yup, that's my Grandma Kate," he answered. "That watch helped me concentrate on her. Add the water from the storms and the electrical field, and time pilgrimages were born."

"And now the government helps fund us to perfect it." Kevin and Katya turned toward the voice as Cheryl entered the room. "But we won't let them control it, will we, darling?" She bent down to kiss her husband. "Good morning, Katya. Welcome to National. When will your belongings arrive? We have a nice little house on the West Side purchased for you."

Katya stood to hug her. "Cheryl, as always, friendship is a sheltering tree."

Cheryl was getting used to Katya's sometimes strange greetings and speech patterns, but Kevin looked puzzled.

Katya continued. "They told me that my possessions would arrive before I got here."

"Good, then, you will have a nice house to go home to tonight after work," Cheryl said. "Speaking of which, I'll call for someone to show you to your office and take you around to meet the folks in the lab."

Katya looked confused. "You mean, I get my own office?"

"Don't let it go to your head, Miss Sevnik," Cheryl answered. "It's only a small one, and we have the room here. All of our frequent traveling pilgrims get one." She smiled at Katya.