"Some. You?"
"Barely." He ran a hand through his hair. "Too wired. This is actually happening."
"I know, right?" Stephen leaned back in his chair. "Time travel. Actual bloody time travel. My gran's going to lose her mind when I tell her. If I can tell her. The whole secrecy thing is still a bit fuzzy."
"You can't tell her," Dev said. "That was explicitly covered in the briefing."
"I know, I know. But come on. Time travel."
They were excited. I watched them talk, volleying theories and jokes back and forth, and felt that familiar distance open up. The glass wall between me and the world.
I sipped my coffee. It was too hot, burned my tongue, but at least it was something to focus on.
The rest of the team trickled in over the next twenty minutes. Researchers mostly, carrying equipment cases and laptops. They nodded at us but didn't engage. We were the carriers. The power sources. Not really part of the intellectual side of things.
Then Nathan and Megan arrived.
They came down together, close but not touching. Megan wore practical outdoor gear, hair pulled back in a neat ponytail. Nathan had his project manager face on—controlled, focused, scanning the room.
His eyes found mine. Held for half a second.
I looked away first.
"Right then," Nathan said, addressing the group. "Transport's outside. We'll do final checks at the site. Stay together, watch your footing on the path down, and remember—no phones once we're inside. Electromagnetic interference could compromise the readings."
Professional. Efficient. Like we were colleagues and nothing more.
Maybe that's all we'd ever been.
We filed out into the cold. Three vehicles this time—proper 4x4s with heavy treads. I ended up in the second one, wedged between Dev and Megan, who looked out of the window and ignored me.
Stephen was in the front seat, chatting with Nathan. "So this cave," he said. "It's been studied for centuries?"
"Since the 1600s," Nathan said. "Maybe longer. The gateway's been documented that whole time. Same schedule—noon and midnight, every day. Like clockwork."
"And people have gone through before?"
"A few. Most didn't come back. The ones who did..." He trailed off, shook his head. "Different time. No preparation. They went mad, mostly. Couldn't process what they'd seen."
A chill ran down my spine that had nothing to do with the temperature.
"We'll be fine," Dev said quietly beside me. "We have preparation. Training. A plan."
I wanted to believe him.
The landscape changed as we drove. Rolling fields gave way to forest, then rocky terrain. The road narrowed, became rougher. Snow lay thicker here, pristine and untouched except for the tracks of whatever had come through before us.
After forty minutes, we stopped.
The cave entrance wasn't dramatic. No yawning mouth in a cliff face, no ominous darkness. Just a wide opening in a hillside, reinforced with modern steel supports, a metal door with a keypad lock. Professional. Contained.
Like they'd tried to domesticate something ancient.
Nathan punched in the code. The door clicked open.
"Watch your step," he said. "It's warm inside, but the entrance can be slippery."
Warm was an understatement.
