Excerpt of Nonprofit Chronowar by Michael D. Smith

"Urside, where are we?" Mandy whispered.

Urside's eyes adjusted to the dimness. Angled rafters above them. Below, two–by–fours nailed into a grid. "Watch out for the spaces between the boards," he said. "Looks like we're in an attic or something. That's just drywall for the ceiling there. I know––I put my foot through a ceiling like that once." Ahead, faint moonlight dropped through a vent.

"An attic? This is crazy! Ow!" Mandy said, bumping her head.

"Crawl slowly, after me." Urside crept across the two–by–fours with Mandy grunting behind him. "Set your weight only on the boards." Too bad they'd jumped into such a difficult spot, but it wasn't the first time he'd done that. You just figured out what your next step should be.

"Great, so somebody will hear us clonking up here and shoot us."

"I told you, nobody's ever hassled me on an HTT jump. They can't. They don't ever know we're here." Urside came to the vent and squinted through the slots. "Wow, looks like we hit a whole town of mansions or something. Some incredible grounds down there. I think we're three stories up."

Mandy came up and glanced out. "Huh. So how long do we have to stay?"

Moonlight shone on her face, but worry was cancelling her usual loveliness. "Look, it's okay. We just find proof of the date––like from a computer, or else a news printout or something. Then we either go home, or maybe jump somewhere else."

Mandy looked away. "I'm not so sure this was a good idea."

"But it liberates all these wonderful energies! Didn't you say that sounded great?"

"Yeah, but ... I guess I didn't think we would really go anywhere. I thought it was going to be more of ... I don't know, just meditating and having like ... a vision of going to another ... time zone, whatever you were saying ..."

"No, you really do go there. I thought I told you that."

"You did, but ..."

"That's one reason I like to confirm the date, to prove the jump really happened. Also it seems ... emotionally necessary somehow. It sort of balances the energies."

Mandy shook her head. Her breasts in that tight sweater! God, how he wanted to kiss them! The energy was flooding him. Why wasn't she feeling the same?

"You don't understand," Mandy said. "One second we're in your room, the next we're here ... in somebody's old attic."

"That's true. We hyperlinked to a difference space and I'm sure a different time."

"Can we get back?"

"Oh! Of course we can! That's what's worrying you! No problem! We just feel the emotional resonances, then just glide along the HTT links ... it's just like being on GaiaNet and following the links, wherever you want to go."

"Except you never know exactly where you're going to wind up! God, Urside, this is stupid! What are you doing with this HTT stuff?"

"Look, the more you explore, the more you follow the links, the more you learn how to connect your chi to all these ... possibilities." Urside knew he was parroting von Goertner's Guide to Heuristic Time Transition, but he wanted to reassure Mandy he knew what he was talking about. "We learn as we go along. Get more and more confident. You know why von Goertner uses the word heuristic? I had to look it up myself. It means ‘encouraging the student to discover for himself.' And that's what we're doing."

"You know how to do it! And you dragged me along somehow! But you could go away and leave me here by myself!"

"Shhh! If anyone hears––"

"You said nobody can know we're here!"

"Well, but––just to be on the safe side––I mean, look, it's okay! I would never leave you anywhere! I really do love you!"

But Mandy turned her beautiful cold moonlit face away.

"I mean, sure, you need my help at first, but after that you'll know how to flow with the links yourself. But we have to be emotionally together now, we can't be arguing and losing our contact."

Mandy's brown eyes grew large. "We––we could separate––get stranded here?"

"Only if we ... if we don't keep ... loving each other ..." Urside said, reaching for her. She climbed into his arms for a hug. "Look, I know it's scary the first time, but really, you'll feel the energies, I promise. You're probably feeling them right now, it's just that you got scared and they're coming out backwards ..."

"Maybe ... maybe that's it ..."

"Let's try to find a way down from this attic and we'll feel better. I mean, fear is just another HTT link flowing along, and you can choose to jump out of it to ... to pleasure, let's say."

"Oh ... okay ... I'll try ..."

"You'll be fine," Urside said. "Look, here's a little door right here." He opened it. A ladder led down into what appeared to be a closet.

"Yeah, this'll be easy," Urside said as they edged backwards down the rungs. "That attic was way too cramped." He opened the closet door and they found themselves in a huge dark room lined with bookshelves. Moonlight came through a window fifty feet away.

"Wow, the mansion's library," Urside joked.

"And they really don't know we're here?" Mandy said, sticking close as he ran his hands over disordered shelves of paperbacks and hardbacks.

"Really. Well, to be honest, there have been a couple times I've noticed odd reactions in people. I can be in the same room with them and they suddenly shiver and look around. They never see anything, though––so we're safe that way."