Chapter One: Reflections

It was late summer of 1994 in Hill Valley, California. A beautifully restored farmhouse sat in a lonely meadow, surrounded on all sides by trees. Its only neighbor was a large barn. The seclusion was necessary, for the inhabitants of the house did not want anybody to see the machinery kept within the barn. This house was the home of a pair of time machines.

Their inventor, Dr. Emmett Brown, was currently inside the barn, his laboratory, hunched over a desk covered with wires and computer circuits. His friend, Lisa, was eyeing a computer monitor, watching a scan of some programming that was going to be input into the DeLorean and, later, the train. She was supposed to tell him if any problems turned up, though she found her mind starting to wander.

She thought about what had happened since last year and before. In August of 1993, she had returned to Doc Brown’s life after a very long absence, much to his delight. She had missed a lot from being away…Doc returning with his wife and two sons to the twentieth century, Marty McFly’s marriage to Jennifer Parker.

Lisa sighed her herself. While leaving wasn’t entirely her fault, staying away was her choice. She couldn’t help it, but when Doc had shown up in the time train on the tracks of Eastwood Ravine with Clara, Jules and Verne – his family – she’d felt extremely jealous of them and thought that Doc wouldn’t need her to be his family anymore.

She was wrong, of course, as Doc was constantly reminding her. In the past year, she had resumed her position in Doc’s family. She would help Clara around the house and help Doc test his new inventions and additions to the time machines. That took some of the strain off Marty, at any rate, who was busy with college.

Jules and Verne were a little harder to please. They were old enough to not need a babysitter, so she didn’t have to do that. Luckily, fifteen-year-old Jules’ scientific mind was intrigued at studying her powers and planet of origin – Alnilam – and thirteen-year-old Verne had an interest in animals, so her ability to speak to them interested him greatly.

She yawned, bringing her back to the task at hand. So far, as far as she knew, anyway, nothing had turned up amiss.

“You’re not falling asleep, are you?” Doc asked, amused, casting a side-long glance at her and noting the hunched, slumped-over way she was sitting with her chin in her hands, her wings hanging limply behind her.

“Huh?” she said, jerking up. “Uh, no. Of course not.” She hid another yawn.

Doc smiled at her. “Is the scan finished?”

It did just then. “Yeah. Everything looks clear.”

“Good. Let’s take a break.”

“Good idea. Come on, Einie.”

The aging sheepdog mutt got up from his bed, located in a warm corner of the lab, and padded quietly to Lisa’s side, following her and Doc outside.

She spread her wings, allowing them to absorb a lot of the heat from the mid-afternoon sun, and leaned against the wall of the barn. She and Doc watched as the dog disappeared into some bushes.

You ever think of what’s going to happen when Einstein passes, Doc? Lisa asked her friend telepathically, opening up the special link they shared.

Doc blinked and looked at her, catching that she didn’t want the dog to hear her talking of his eventual death. Occasionally, he replied. He is getting old. I’m sure it will be a tough time, especially on the boys.

Think you’ll get another dog?

Probably. He suddenly looked at her sharply. Why? Has he said something?

Oh, no! she assured him, placing one hand on his arm. No, he’s fine. Eager to change the subject, she said aloud, “So, any chance of getting that system to work?”

“There’s always a chance. How big of one…that will depend on the next test.”

“I still say you should try to somehow make the inside of the De’ bigger.” “De’ ” was her nickname for the DeLorean. The car would seat three rather uncomfortably, and the train was too big and bulky for small trips.

“If I could find a way to fit a larger interior to a smaller exterior, I would.”

Lisa stared up at the big, puffy clouds, her mind elsewhere. Or, perhaps, elsewhen. “Right…”

End chapter one.

Back *~*~* Chapter Two