Epic

by Alexander Strijewski

  “Well that’s the problem with Temporilium, anyone who studies it in depth usually winds up dead. Hence it’s being outlawed due to instability. But apparently there have been instances of others travelling through time and changing events as they would’ve unfolded, sometimes to disastrous results. This is something that the Galactic Confederacy would rather keep under wraps of course, that’s why you don’t hear about it. They would be after this just as much as anybody else. Just imagine what they could do with modern weapons attacking a smaller less technologically developed enemy from many years ago before it came to fruition. What better way to squelch a resistance?”

  “Hmm, yes well that’s all very interesting. But if we can’t sell, we can’t use it, we can’t move it and we can’t keep it here before it irradiates us to death, perhaps you could enlighten me as to just what we’re actually going to do with it then?”

  “Oh I never said we aren’t going to use it. We’re definitely going to use it. We need to pick the messages off of it.”

  “OK so let me get this straight!” Oh here we go, thought Render. “So we just went halfway across the galaxy, risked our lives on a harsh scrap heap of a planet, nearly got hacked to pieces by the natives while almost being scorched by acid rain so that we could bring back a highly unstable substance which once we use it will probably end up killing us. Oh and we’re doing it for free. Did I get all that right?”

  Render looked Brok over. A devout companion, he had stood by him through many an adventure, saved his life more than a few times. But he was afraid he might finally lose him this time. He sat back and spoke in a serious tone, which again took Brok a little by surprise.

  “All right look. I’ll be honest with you.” Render put his cigar away and an earnest look came over him. Now he was actually started to frighten Brok a little, “The whole reason I have devoted my life to being a relic hunter, the whole reason both my parents died, even the whole reason for my name is lying right there in that box. Yes, we have struck many riches and it’s true I have been keeping you on the short end of the stick. Yes, we’ve had a lot fun adventure and I wouldn’t trade the world for any of it, but all of it has been culminating in this. The truth is I have spent my life in trying to pinpoint this very planet! The rest is all fluff.”

  “Maybe you could have let me know some of this before now just maybe?”

  “Would I have made any difference? Besides I wouldn’t think a mission involving no money and the highest likelihood of death would be very motivating factors for you would they?”

  Brok thought it over.

  “Either way, we’re on the clock now because you’re right. Despite it being protected behind the screen of the black box it is irradiating the whole ship as we speak. So I would recommend us both donning our leaden evo-suits ASAP. But if it’s any consolation to you, the box is made of carbon derivative which is going to be very remunerative.”

  Oh yay, thought Brok. “So what does this have to do with your parents?”

  “As you know my parents, were famous relic hunters and archeologists. Everything was going along just fine, except when one day when my dad uncovered a deposit of Temporilium out on some planet. He knew the dangers involved. I had been conceived just before this took place. He left a message for me on my eighteenth Birthday in case they didn’t survive. He figured out how to extract the imprints from the metal, but what he didn’t know was that whenever someone made an extraction, an electromagnetic pulse was sent out into space which alerted certain, let’s say unsavory characters.”

  “Could we also call them freaking bastards?” Brok piped in.

  “Sure why not. Anyways, soon after pirates attacked the outpost my parents had inhabited, they were both murdered and they took the Temp. I was named in honor of the original sender of the message through time. It is a reminder to the actual purpose of my life, to fulfill my father’s legacy. But my identity was changed to throw anyone off the scent that I had any connection with this at all.”

  “So what was the original message to him?” Brok was now completely intrigued.

  “Look, I would love to spend the next several hours discussing the whats and wherefores of existence as well as the meaning of life but I really I have to get to work. Put on your suit.”

  They both walked over to the enviro cache and switched suits in silence.

  Brok broke the silence, “So tell me this much, when you use the Temp., what’s to stop it from sending out another EM pulse to Gods creation alerting everyone and their mom as to our whereabouts? Surely you can spare the few seconds it would take for you explain why we’re not going to get raided and killed shortly by five million pirates?”

  “I’ve fitted the ship with several protective coatings to prevent any radio wave emissions. But what keeps it from emitting also traps several harmful emissions in our ship. Unfortunately I haven’t had a chance to test them all with the Temporilium. Would you like for me to postpone and spend the several days putting the Temp. to extensive testing?”

  That shut Brok up, at least for now.

  “If it’s any consolation, if all of what we’re doing goes according to plan, we will wipe out piracy in this entire sector of the galaxy along with the Confederacies suppression of smaller nearby peaceful civilizations.” Render looked right at Brok,” and so we would wipe out the very people who killed my father and mother before they were ever born!”

  Brok’s jaw dropped.

  * * *

  ( About 1,200 years earlier )

  Things were getting more and more desperate. The military had found more Temporilium at the site and forced Rintar and his team to begin more experiments with it. Some disastrous results already occurred when they shone gamma rays at it. The nearby workers aged dramatically. Including Rintat himself, when he came home looking ten years older, his wife nearly fainted and his two kids asked where their father was.

  Next week they wanted to ramp up and use other wavelengths of various kinds. Every time Rintar observed the energy emissions to ensure they wouldn’t surpass critical mass. But it was becoming more and more unstable. There was no real stopping it. The only reason he and the others were alive at all was because he kept sending message back to himself the day before to keep himself from doing certain things which would have ended it all. If the metal did somehow reach the breaking point the resultant explosion may not physically destroy the city, but it would wipe out anything that was alive for a very wide radius. Just how far is something Rintar preferred not to think about.

  It became apparent that the answer did not lie in negotiating with the government to curtail the development of working with this substance. No one would listen to him and his family had been threatened more than once lest he continued on in his work. But Rintar had other ideas. And as long as he received a communication from himself from the day to come he knew there would be a tomorrow. That was one thing that kept him motivated. He could communicate with the future. Perhaps if he could reach out far enough into the future someone could help him. He set to work.

  * * *

  “OK I think I’ve got it. Let’s see what we can do here.”

  Render set the emitter facing the box and made some final calibrations. He had his transcoder at the ready nearby for language deciphering.

  “This will release a pulse of considerable magnitude just so you know. So if you want to pull out, now’s the time. Once we begin, the harmonic resonance of the metal will match with the one from long ago. It will harmonize with Temporilium which self-destructed quite magnificently long ago and we will have roughly 24 hours to stop it. That’s in addition to any pirates showing up on our doorstep who may want to put a stop to our general heartbeats if our stasis field doesn’t hold. Are you in?” he asked Brok.

  “OK now I’m really starting to see why you never told me about any of this before. Umm well, does it look like I have choice?” he replied.

  “Well no, in fact you don’t have any choice at all, our fates may already be
determined anyways. But I just thought I’d let you in on what’s happening since we are all being open and honest now. This is a commit, there’s no going back. I’m being polite.”

  “Man, don’t you ever have any good news at all ever?” Brok looked a little overwhelmed.

  “Besides Bolbods and the finest equipment, I’ve been investing our extraneous funds exclusively to finding out anything and everything that has ever been discovered about Temp. for the last few thousand years. Data that can only be gotten in the underground, while keeping our tracks covered. We have information on our side.”

  “And what have you learned?”

  “Well, that we’re probably gonna die.”

  “Wonderful.”

  Render put up a screen protecting himself and Brok before he set the emitter in motion. They hunkered down. Render took a moment to think about his life, all the places he’s been, the things he’s seen and the people he met. He never married because he knew this moment would eventually come and didn’t want to leave his kids like his father left him. A father he never really met. Perhaps this branch of time would end in his destruction and that of his friend with no hope of ever changing. At least it wouldn’t take an entire civilization with it in a giant blast, all part of the plan. With one last moment he closed his eyes and pressed the button.

  The emitter went into a high whine. All the while Rend kept a very close eye on the readouts to make sure critical mass was not breached. If it did he could pull the plug the last second. Even though it was still behind a box, the metal started to glow brilliant white. Render closed his eyes as did Brok. The blinding light penetrated through eyelids and after a moment was gone.

  He got up and walked over to the transcoder. There was a new message. After some decoding he read it.

  “What does it say Rend?”

  Render didn’t answer right away. He read the message a few times. “It’s a cry for help. We have to open a gate in time and create a paradox. All right look, it’s game time! I need you deploy all the battle drones and the turrets by the bay doors. No one can get in here. Put the aerial defense drones at the ready for launch and monitor nearby space for any and all unwelcome visitors. I’ve already created an algorithm to have our shields randomly rotate through thousands of phase variations so no one can get in and destroy out ship. We won’t deploy it until needed because we need to save power. You’re on defense detail. I am about enter into intense period of work and can’t be disturbed so no stupid questions. Oh and one more thing...”

  “What’s that?”

  “Can you get me a coffee?”

  Brok’s laugh was somewhat like listening to a deflating mattress. “Do you want cream and sugar?”

  But Render was already lost in his work. Brok turned and did his part.

  * * *

  Some hours passed as Brok religiously watched the radar screen with some anxiousness. There was no talking with Render, he was in his own world right now. Man how did he ever let himself get caught up in this? He knew one day something like this would happen. He should’ve just joined the Space Navy like his brother when he had the chance. Good honest work.

  It wasn’t much longer before some blips started to appear on his radar. Some things were starting to make sense. Brok always wondered why they had to have to highest grade defense systems and top of the line battle-drones, ones that no other civilian would ever be allowed to own and use. They were quite illegal in fact. He could practically take over a small planet with this ship alone. But it was never for attack, he had been planning for this day all along. No wonder he skimped on pay for years. Not accounting for the Bolbods or course.

  2 blips turned to 3. Brok started to sweat. If they were pirates, the aerial drones should be able to take care of them, but if they were part of the Confederacy… He debated whether he should interrupt him to let him know they would soon have company or just let him work. A few minutes passed, long enough for him to be able to identify their first arrivals. Render had started a timer for when the Temp. would hit critical mass, 20 hours remained. Their first visitors were local pirates. Good, thought Brok, they won’t get past their outer defenses. He wouldn’t bother him for that.

  The next group was also a band of pirates. Ha! This is where Allied Star Defense contractors came in handy, let them come. This should be fun to watch. He watched carefully as the last blip slowly split into two. Brok felt a sense of foreboding. He waited for them come into identifiable range… it was a massive Confederate cruiser which was now represented by two blips right next to each other. Brok’s heart sank. Our ship didn’t hold the EM pulse after all. He wondered if that was the case how many roentgens his body was at now. He didn’t want to think about it.

  Render suddenly interjected his thoughts “Ok get behind the barrier. I have to send another message!”

  Brok did as he was told. And again a crescendo of light filled their worlds.

  “Ah listen Rend, we have a problem.”

  Render didn’t notice him but continued working.

  “Ah, AHEM! Rend!” he caught his attention, ”Rend look we got a problem. We have a Fed ship coming.”

  Brok could see the life draining from his face.

  “Listen we have to get out of here before it’s too late. With our thrusters we can still make it. There’s still time.”

  “No! No, we can’t move the ship, not with the Temp. aboard. It would detonate.”

  “WE DON’T STAND A CHANCE AGAINST A CONFEDERATE CRUISER! We’re sitting ducks! Why didn’t you tell me this was going to be a suicide mission? I never would’ve come. You have no right! You have no right to end my life like this! I have a family!”

  “Yes! I never told because you never would’ve come. And I NEVER HAD A FAMILY TO START! I didn’t ask for this. My life was over before it ever began. My whole life I’ve had to live with this burden. We have a chance here! A chance to change things! We have a chance to make our lives actually worth something!”

  Brok came back with his usual line, “OK let me get this straight! So you made a unilateral decision for me to volunteer my life for a hopeless mission knowing full well that we would never live through this. And now here we sit, radiating to death, probably already beyond lethal limits, unable to move while waiting for a ship that outguns us by a factor of at least ten while you work trying to pull a miracle out of your ass using a substance which you know hardly anything about! Did I get that right!?”

  For the first time Render Bulwark had no real retort. He looked at the floor. “We have a message coming in a minute so we need to get behind the barrier again.” He paused, ”How long before they get here?”

  “18, maybe 19 hours.”

  “Can you hold them off for a bit?”

  Before he could answer everything turned white again.

  Render went over to get the message. He read it, and read it again.” DAMMIT!” He went back to his seat to continue his work.

  “I can only hold them for a short time, maybe half an hour before they get through our shields and then it’s a blaster free for all. Well maybe I can extend if I lay some traps…”Brok thought.

  “We can’t run. If we are gonna do this, we have to go all the way. Look, I’m sorry I dragged you into this. But you’re the best man I got. Please do what you can.”

  * * *

  ( About 1,200 years earlier )

  Finally! A response! Someone from the future answered his call, someone from the distant future evidently. It was unclear just how far he had reached but the fact remained that there was an existence far beyond the annihilation of Speros, his people, out into the future.

  This interesting twist of fate however presented quite an interesting dilemma. It necessitated Rintar ensuring the events of the future to be would actually take place. Whomever he was now communicating with had to have a proper amount of Temp. and not only did it have to be the right amount but it had be tuned for the ability to send imprints into the PAST, not the future. Something Rintar
had never thus far been able to accomplish without overloading the metal almost immediately! Not only that, he had to place it somewhere where it would not be found for a long time and but yet could be recovered by the man from the future. Finally it had to match the wavelengths of the current metals he was working so that communication was possible at all. Strange that in order to do this he NOW had to provide the means after the fact. The messages of today would not exist if he didn’t leave the deposit of Temp. later today! Rintar had a hard time wrapping his head around the whole thing.

  However that wasn’t his biggest problem. Yes, his family had been taken captive already due to his recalcitrance, yes he was feeling the effects of age being fatigued all the time and yes he was under an intense military scrutiny. But the unthinkable happened, his daily expected message from tomorrow didn’t arrive today. He had already once tried to send a message to tomorrow with no luck. That could only mean one thing, there WAS NO tomorrow! Something was going to happen today that he wouldn’t be able to reverse. But what was it? Maybe he should be capricious today. Do something he wouldn’t ordinarily do. Or maybe that’s what triggers the disaster? No! He can’t go round and round in this squirrel cage. He would do what he set out to do. Let come what may.

  This meant that not only did he have to figure out how to tune a block of Temp. to send messages back through time, he also had to be able to hide it away from everyone for perhaps thousands of years while basically under surveillance and at gun point by the military police, but he had to do it today! Now!

  Rintar had experimented already in attempting to use the Temporilium to make himself younger and more energetic but any time he tested trying to move BACK in time, rather than forward in time, the substance quickly went out of control and unstable. He always had to pull the plug. Forward was the only direction he could go. He just kept becoming more and more exhausted, maybe the radiation itself had something to do with it. But he kept on, because this lifeline from the future was his only hope now.