He sat down in the alley and closed his eyes. With his eyes closed he started counting backwards from ten.
CHAPTER THIRTY SIX
Chattanooga, Tennessee – Present Day
At first, there was only silence. Then, the hum of machinery came from somewhere in the dark. The hum grew louder and Jack knew he was back.
“You’re back!” Jasper exclaimed.
Jack looked up and felt the nausea beginning to take hold again. He held out his hand to stop Jasper from coming closer. His stomach was empty from retching in London and he dry heaved several times. Jasper watched concerned but each time he attempted to come closer Jack waived him away.
Finally the nausea subsided. Jasper helped Jack stand and guided him to a chair. Jack allowed Jasper to help him sit and he looked at Jasper. “I’m back,” Jack agreed smiling.
“Do you need a minute? How about some water?” Jasper asked.
“Water would be great.”
Jasper grabbed a water bottle and returned to Jack. “You smell awful.”
“I feel great,” Jack admitted. His head still buzzed and everything was hazy but he had grown used to his new perception. His head had been pounding for several days but now the pain subsided – the adrenaline from what he had just experienced drowned any pain.
“So how was it?” Jasper asked.
“It was filthy,” Jack answered honestly.
“As filthy as you?”
“Worse. I was by far the cleanest person there.”
“Did you interact with anyone?” Jasper asked.
“I scared off a few children.”
Jack started at the beginning. He began with the experience of creating the wormhole and ended with the police officer who had grown suspicious of him.
“How long have I been gone?” Jack asked when he finished.
“You’ve been gone a little over two hours.”
“So that answers that.”
They had both been unsure if time in the new timeline would elapse correspondingly with the original timeframe; or if because they were in another time, would leaving and returning be instantaneous?
“Tell me about the nausea.”
“It’s awful. Worse than any time I’ve ever been sick. Worse than that time I had food poisoning.”
“That’s something we’ll work on. That could be an inconvenience depending on what’s occurring when you arrive. It could draw unwanted attention.”
They spoke for several hours on the experience of time travel. Jasper asked him several times to recreate the experience of the wormhole while recording the interview. Jasper wanted to be sure he understood everything that had occurred.
When they finished with the discussion on the wormhole, Jasper looked at Jack. “You’ve had a long day. Why don’t you get a shower and I’ll pull together something to eat? I imagine you want to sleep.”
Jack nodded appreciatively. In truth, his body was exhausted but his mind was wired. He knew it would take him awhile to get to sleep but the shower and food would help.
After the shower, Jack felt much better. He had scrubbed his entire body three times and washed his hair twice. After the third time washing the soap from his body, he finally felt clean. He dressed and went downstairs to the kitchen and saw meatloaf laid out.
“You made meatloaf?” Jack asked holding back a laugh.
“Carmen did. She dropped it off about an hour after you traveled.”
Jack nodded.
“So what are you going to do about your clothes? They’re filthy. And they’re not designed to be machine washed.”
Jack thought for a moment. “I’m stick them in a bag.”
“You’re kidding?” Jasper replied, unsure if he was supposed to laugh or not.
“No, really. You don’t understand how completely filthy London was. When I go back…”
“You’re going back?” Jasper interrupted.
“When I go back,” Jack continued, “the dirtier I can be the better. I’ll let the clothes stew in their own foul aroma for a while. Next time I’ll fit right in.”
“So you’re going back?”
“Did you not hear me say when I go back?”
“Very interesting. What made you change your mind?”
Jack took a bite of his food and held up his finger for Jasper to give him a moment. After he swallowed, he looked at Jasper. “Carmen sure can cook a mean meatloaf.”
“Yes, Paula Dean had better watch out. Now, what made you change your mind?”
Jack smiled. “I was thinking back on your idea that we could solve the identity of Jack the Ripper.”
Jasper looked surprised.
“After all,” said Jack, “you have the case study, do you not? We know where each murder occurs and we have the general time of each murder. I can go to that area and scope it out since I know what to look for.”
Jasper nodded approvingly. Then, a strange look came over his face.
“What is it?” Jack asked.
“Well, if this indeed is the direction we take, it poses the one big question in regard to time travel.”
“Which is?”
“Do we stop Jack the Ripper and change history or do we allow him to continue his killing, only collecting additional facts and solve the mystery in our present time?” Jasper answered.
Jack looked at Jasper seriously, understanding the dilemma of such an undertaking. “I’ll have to sleep on that,” Jack admitted.
The two spoke for a while longer as Jack ate. After he finished, he said goodnight to Jasper and went upstairs.
That night he dreamed he killed a woman.
CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN
Chattanooga, Tennessee – Present Day
Jack was done. He could not take any more questions and could not handle going through his entire experience again. They had spent the last several days going over, step-by-step, what had occurred before, during and after Jack’s travel.
They looked at possible ways to reduce the nausea
