The Domino Effect

Amy Alexander loved January 25th. It was the day she graduated with honors from the exclusive Physics in Time and Motion Academy. It was the day her boyfriend of three years proposed. And it was the day she was set to return to her hometown of Linron, California. Well, sort of. This visit would be 100 years in the past. Her only mission – prevent the death of one Gladys Maxwell. Easy beans.

“Are you ready?” Her partner, Marnie, was already suited up. Time travel put enormous pressure on the body so compression suits were mandated. Amy likewise suited up and joined her friend in the action room.

The two women sat across from each other, gripping the steady bars attached to the seats like an amusement park ride. Seconds later, the seats vibrated with violent intensity. Amy's eyesight blurred and she felt the familiar pull at her entire being, as if being gently tugged in a million different directions.

When the movement, and the nausea, stopped, aids handed her water and aspirin. The travel sickness was a small price to pay for the excitement of time travel. Amy had been on ten missions already and it never got old. She and Marnie unbuckled and changed into civilian clothes much better suited to the time period.

“I always feel like I'm playing dress up when we travel,” Marnie said with a giggle.

“Same.” Amy swirled to show off her broomstick skirt. “I wonder if my grandmother wore stuff like this.”

“This way, ladies,” said their assigned porter. He handed both manila envelopes with numerous documents. “These are your specs. The flight to Orange County leaves in fifteen minutes.”

The group walked to the tarmac and the women boarded the private aircraft. The trip was smooth and landed at John Wayne Airport an hour later. From there Amy and Marnie took a chauffeured car to their hotel. Everything was first class for PTMA operatives. Parent company Physics in Time and Motion Corp knew how to retain the best experts.

According to the portfolio they were given, Gladys Maxwell was a high level CEO for a start up computing company that had already developed micro computing components that were blowing away the competition. That wasn't their concern, though. On February 1st, 1981, she was assassinated during a press conference to announce their latest invention – internal medical analysis devices. That was what Amy and Marnie, or as they liked to call themselves, the AM Team, were tasked to prevent.

PTMC experts had done all the analysis and determined that, had Gladys lived, the device would have significantly impacted third world countries and detected multiple viruses before they became pandemic. Also, Gladys's husband would not go on a grief induced murderous rampage and assassinate the president.

With barely a week to prepare, Amy and Marnie quickly got down to business to form their plans. They only had one chance and didn't want to blow it like the team assigned to take down Adolf Hitler. From that disaster, the company learned to stay low to avoid disrupting the timeline.

While Amy was well aware of consequences, she secretly harbored a personal mission. Sparrow Technical was a struggling company in 1981. But in 2081 it would be a mega billion dollar company. Amy had secretly stashed ten thousand dollars worth of mid-nineteenth century bills in her bra. Her parents had gone broke funding Amy's education. The least she could do is get them a little stock in Sparrow Tech. It would be worth a fortune in a hundred years.

After spending five days working on the mission, scoping out the venue, and analyzing everything that might go wrong, Amy found her chance to sneak down to the stock brokerage she had researched.

As Marnie slept, Amy quietly slipped out of the room. She should have been sleeping as well, since tomorrow they would be up early the next day. But she figured a couple hours would be fine.

When they had arrived, Amy spotted a pay phone in the lobby. She knew there would be a phone book with the number and address of the brokerage. She wrote the information on a sheet, then called a taxi to take her to the destination.

“As quickly as possible and there's an extra twenty in it for you,” she told the driver.

“Yes, ma'am!” The driver pulled out a small booklet of maps and memorized the route. To his credit, they made it in just fifteen minutes.

The brokerage was located in an upscale business complex. Amy looked up at the sleek building as the taxi screeched off to his next fare. Squealing tires, a scream, and a heavy thud got Amy's attention. She looked over to see a crow gathering around the now halted cab, but she couldn't see much. With more important business, she entered the building and took the elevator to the company's office.

“Good afternoon, Miss Ames,” said the broker, shaking her hand. “What can I do for you?”

Amy took a seat. “I know it's not much, but I would like to invest ten thousand dollars in Sparrow Tech.”

“Sparrow Tech is a small business. These startups are extremely risky. Are you sure you wouldn't like to invest in something more promising?” He named off several solid companies that would definitely earn a decent payoff. But Sparrow Tech would dwarf those company earnings in fifty years. One hundred years and it would be a landslide. And she had the time.

Standing her ground, Amy completed the transaction using her grandmother's personal data that she had extricated from her mother and through research. She caught another cab back to the hotel. The crowd from earlier had dispersed so there was no trouble getting out of the complex.

Tiptoeing back into the hotel room, Amy went into the bathroom to ready for bed. It was still only six in the evening, but they would be getting up at midnight to get into the conference venue before anyone showed up. The conference was scheduled for eight in the morning and the AM Team needed to be completely prepared while not drawing attention. Since they weren't sure when the sniper would set up, they needed to ensure they had everything under control before that happened.

Five hours later, Marnie gently nudged Amy awake. “Time to get up, sleeping beauty.”

Amy groggily acknowledged her team mate. The sleeping medication still ran through her system, unlike her partner who had slept it all off. Still, she crawled out of bed and into her catsuit. She checked and double checked her supplies and the pair slipped out into the night.

Marnie took her position outside the building, while Amy used her tools to disarm the alarms and get into her position in the ceiling over the venue podium. Marnie would re-arm the alarm as soon as Amy gave her the signal. Then they waited. It didn't take long.

“They're here,” Marnie said into her mic. “Three men and a woman just got out. Two of the men are headed into the building. The woman and the man seem to be standing guard.”

“I see the targets now. They just entered the conference room.” Amy watched as the men skillfully maneuvered into positions they'd obviously scoped out earlier. One slipped into a small media room off the one side. The other briefly checked the room then left. Amy could hear him taking the same route into the ceiling that she had.

Stun gun prepped, she waited until she knew assassin number two had settled into his position. With catlike moves, she crawled to his approximate position. She could hear him breathing. Homing in on his exact location, she activated the smoke bomb and rolled it toward him. A second later she heard the man coughing and gasping. Two seconds later she heard a thump as he slumped over.

One down, one to go. Amy dropped lightly to the floor and crept over to the media room. In the dim light she could see assassin number one had left the door ever so slightly ajar. Hugging the wall, she moved as close as possible, then detonated another smoke bomb. Another thud and she knew he,too, was out like a light.

“Two birds down,” she whispered into her mic. A double tap let her know Marnie understood.

Confident her partner would handle the outside threats, Amy dragged her targets from their hiding spots and laid them out by the entrance. She watched the shadows outside as Marnie stunned her second victim, the first already sitting unconscious by the SUV. The second, the woman, proved harder to subdue as she and Marnie were locked in battle. Amy again disabled the alarm system and slipped outside. The woman had her back to Amy.

“I asked you the hell you are,” said the woman, a gun pointed at Marnie. “How many are with you.

“I told you, I'm alone,” Marnie smirked. “And I'm just an innocent passerby.”

“Not dressed like that.” The woman used the gun to indicate Marnie's jumpsuit.

Amy took advantage of the banter and pulled out her taser. She snuck up behind the woman and placed the device to her neck. The woman slumped unceremoniously to the hard concrete.

“Let's get these guys into the car.” Amy and Marnie dragged their respective targets to the SUV and hefted them inside. Amy noticed a fifth member slumped over the steering wheel. “I was a bit noisy getting the driver so I only had time to get the drop on the one. That lady proved to be freakishly tough,” Marnie explained.

After resetting the building's security alarm, Amy pushed the driver into the passenger seat and took the wheel while Marnie slid into the second row seats to monitor the rest. She drove the vehicle three hours outside of town to a deserted parking lot.

“They are going to have a lot of explaining to do when they wake up,” laughed Marnie, shutting her door. “Hey, give me the keys,” she added with a giggle. Amy tossed the set to Marnie who then wound up her arm like a professional baseball player, then pitched it as far as she could.

“That will keep them busy for a while.”

In the dim light of blossoming dawn, the two women walked back toward civilization. At a gas station they were able to call a taxi to take them back to the hotel where they changed into civilian clothes and packed for the trip home.

“We still have a couple hours before we need to check out,” Amy said. “I'm going to get in a little micro nap.”

“Sleep well,” answered Marnie as she turned on the television, setting the volume to low.

What seemed like just minutes later, Marnie was frantically shaking Amy awake.

“Amy, we're in trouble!” she cried. “Get up, we have a serious problem!”

“What is it,” Amy asked, rubbing her eyes.

“Jason Sparrow is dead!” Marnie was hyperventilating. “He's dead!”

“How? What the hell? He's supposed to live for another sixty years...” Amy sat up and stared at the television. Two newscasters with solemn expressions faced the camera. The man referred to notes in front of him.

“According to police, Jason Sparrow, CEO of the promising start up Sparrow Tech, has died.” the reporter announced. “After being struck by a taxi at four thirty pm. yesterday he was life-flighted to Memorial Hospital in critical condition. This morning at six he succumbed to his injuries, leaving behind a wife and two children and serious questions as to the future of Sparrow Technologies.

Amy's blood ran cold. That had been the commotion outside the business center. But why? If he was going to die so young they would have known. Nothing in their timeline indicated there could be an accident. And a taxi? A taxi. Her taxi. She did it. She killed Jason Sparrow.

“Oh, god, Marnie, I am so sorry!”

“Sparrow Tech made the transponders that made our time travel possible. If there's no Sparrow Tech, does that mean there are no transponders?”

“We need to get to the transport room.” Amy quickly got ready while Marnie called a taxi. They checked out of the hotel, then sat in silence on the ride to the airport.

Amy breathed a sigh of relief when they learned they still had reservations for the flight back. Once landed, the same porter brought them to the transport room, although the facility looked slightly different. It was sleeker, more visually appealing.

The AM Team changed clothes and buckled in, but with a somberness they'd not shown on the initial trip. Racked with guilt, Amy couldn't say a word. She almost cost them their lives. And she lost ten thousand dollars. It wasn't much, but how would she explain it to her parents? Plus, the panel would detect a change in the timeline, no matter how slight. And this one was huge.

The trip back to their own time was much smoother than the trip to the past. The seats vibrated as usual, but this time the pull on her body was non-existent. When the motion stopped, she didn't have the normal nausea.

“It looks like your trip was a success,” said the mission coordinator. “Good job ladies. Although we need to discuss the aberration.”

“What aberration?” asked Marnie.

“It's not her fault,” Amy blurted. “She didn't know anything about it. It's all on me.”

Amy broke down in sobs and confessed her transgression. She knew she would be fired from the program. She knew Marnie would never speak to her again. She knew her parents would be sorely disappointed in her.

After taking her statement, the coordinator ordered her remanded to quarters until a disciplinary committee could be arranged.

Two days later there was a knock on her door.

“May we come in?” Amy's parents stood at the threshold. Mrs. Alexander was dressed to the nines. Mr. Alexander looked impressive in a three-piece suit.

“Of course,” Amy straightened up her bed for them to sit on. “You two look great! Where did you get the money for such expensive clothes?”

“What do you mean? We always dress like this,” said Mrs. Alexander.

“But I threw off the entire timeline by investing in Sparrow Technologies. They were the best in technology in the world. The money I took would have been worth tens of millions today. But I lost it all.”

“Well, I don't know about Sparrow Technologies, but back in the 1980s your grandmother invested in a company run by a young man from Albuquerque. Started the operation from his garage. They're the ones that made the transponders for PTMC. We've never worried about money.”