It’s the fall of 1998, and librarian Samantha Stewart is looking for a new job. After seeing an ad for a high-paying position at a company called Virtual Software that entails research and travel, Sam investigates the company and learns that its president has gone missing, and that it’s currently being run by the vice-president Greg Parsons.
Before Sam makes it to the interview, she’s visited by a strange woman who introduces herself as Jane Oldsfield: a time traveler whose mission Greg Parsons is trying to prevent.
Sam ignores the woman and goes on the job interview anyway. Soon, she finds herself involved not only with Greg Parsons, but also Philip Montmart, a chain-smoking detective with a vendetta for his wife’s killer, and the time-traveling Oldsfield and her feline accomplice.
Witnessing world events that have yet to happen in her lifetime, including 9/11, Hurricane Sandy, Y2K hysteria and the COVID pandemic, can Samantha figure out Oldsfield’s plans?
“Jane and I were involved in a very special project, Miss Stewart. We were trying to create a software program that would allow individuals to travel to places both local and foreign without the aid of commonplace transportation systems such as airplanes, trains, or cars. If we succeeded, the benefits to mankind would have been astronomical. Can you imagine the time and cost savings of such travel? It would’ve been the answer to traffic jams and jet lag. We were on the brink of bringing this new technology to fruition when Jane discovered the program had some major bugs. I won’t bore you with the technical details. Let’s just say my partner found that our travel program had the capacity to not only transport individuals to other places but also to other times.” Parsons stared at her as if transfixed by his story, regardless of the fact that it sounded rehearsed. She wondered if he’d told this story to anyone else or had memorized it especially for her. She pictured Detective Montmart in his Toyota laughing so hard his scar was cracking.
“That’s quite a story. Is that where Jane Oldsfield disappeared to – another time period?”
Parsons must’ve known she didn’t believe a word he said. She gave him credit for continuing the tale. “Jane travels back and forth between many time periods. She’s trying to stabilize the program so that the proper coordinates are aligned. You see, presently the time travel feature of the program is defective. When it’s activated, one never knows exactly to what year he or she will be transported.”
