The Third Ten

by Jacqueline Druga

  “Didn’t you hear?”

  Ah, there was that question again.

  “Actually, I haven’t heard anything.”

  ‘There’s a Mardi Gras of sorts in Beginnings to celebrate the cure of the brain Flu.”

  George laughed. “Thank God, they’re putting that ruse to rest. Nah, I think I’ll pass. The Nice Slagel issued me a movie player, got some old flicks if you wanna stay here and cuddle.”

  “I’ll pass. I’d rather give an embrace to Joe Slagel.”

  George crinkled his brow. “That’s an odd comment.”

  “Well, if you would listen. Joe is back.”

  “Joe is dead. He wasn’t on vacation.”

  “No, he was in limbo.”

  “They buried him.”

  Margret shook her head. “No, they buried Future Joe. Future Joe came back to get present Joe out of the picture so Frank can make the military decisions. But, I don’t know what happened, Robbie found out. Joe’s alive.’

  “I’ll be damned.” George smiled. “This is amazing. I am thrilled. Do I need to be in Costume? Because I’m not wearing one.”

  “It’s a Mardi Gras.”

  “Fine. I’ll go as the former President of the United States. Come in while I get ready.”

  “Will you wear the blue shirt and red tie?”

  George smiled. “Absolutely,” He closed door. “And Margret thank you. Thank you for telling me.”

  <><><><>

  Jason placed down his phone on his lab counter. “That was Margret. George is alive,” he said to Roy.

  “Were we worried that he wasn’t.”

  “No one saw him for twenty-four hours.” Jason sighed out. “My God, this is a break after the clinic madness.”

  “Was it right that we left Dean to finish?”

  “Yes. Yes. It was. You and I have this time machine to get ready. We need to have backups to the backups for a thousand year trip.”

  “Very well. Does George Hadley know that Joe is alive?”

  “I guess he does now.”

  “Oh, how happy he will be. History tells that at one point they were great friends.”

  “Early on,” Jason said.

  “But George died before Joe.”

  Curiously, Jason looked at him. “George was dead in the original Great War history.”

  “Oh, yes. Since Beginnings did not have knowledge of the Great War, no one was there to stop Mick from shooting George.”

  “Do you realize just stopping George’s death changes the outcome of the Great War.”

  “How do you figure?” Roy asked.

  “Well, if George died before the Great War, then his people scattered. When we discovered it, we would have wasted a lot of time getting his men and been shy of ground troops and manpower. But George didn’t die, therefore his troops are ready. Plus, we got the ALS3, which we didn’t have in the future.” Jason slammed down his hand. “Do you realize you didn’t have to kill Joe?”

  “Oh, no, Frank still needs to make this decision, I tell you. Trust me.”

  “Don’t you think you could have just told Joe.”

  “I tried that. It didn’t work.”

  Jason grumbled. “Alright, tomorrow I want to go through and clear the memory of the time machine. Store it externally so we have it.”

  “We should scan and compare.”

  “Scan and compare what?” Jason asked.

  “My machine tells of when trips were taken and where. We should compare to see how many time strips were actually taken outside of your machine.”

  Jason rubbed his chin. “That sounds like a good idea. Would we pick up the one trip Fort took in.”

  “Yes, but we will not see a return.” Roy replied. “Nor the return from the invisible soldiers. We will only be able to see trips taken to and from this point in time and earlier. For example. We can see a time trip two weeks ago that went to the future. But we cannot see a trip taken in the future to a farther future.”

  “Like the Danny Hoi trip, you mentioned.”

  “Exactly.”

  “This will be good to put in history as well. Especially if we can’t account for one.”

  “Agreed and it will be fun.”

  “Like a puzzle.”

  “I like puzzles.” Roy grinned then looked at his watch. “We should be going. I have to dress up for the Mardi Gras.”

  “Go on, I’ll meet you there,” Jason said.

  “Thank you. I look forward to working with you tomorrow.” Roy gathered his things and headed toward the door. “Are you dressing in Costume?’

  “No.”

  “Will you at least whip you hair.”

  Jason stared for a second then replied. “No. Absolutely not.”

  “It will be all the rage and you will miss it.”

  “I’m sure.”

  Roy left excitedly, and Jason returned to closing down for the evening. He liked the idea of pulling a time trip audit. Of course, there were a few trips, he’d swear Roy to secrecy on, like the one he and Dean took to the 1980 Republican Convention. He was certain though that would not be a problem.

  Amid all of those thoughts, it finally dawned on Jason and in a delayed reaction, looked to the closed door. “Whip my hair?”

  <><><><>

  “Is Uncle Frank ever gonna stay here at the house longer than a couple hours?” Alexandra asked as Ellen brushed her hair.

  “One day sweetie. He was really busy with being president and some other stuff is going on, too.”

  “Daddy said I need to enjoy the break.”

  Ellen laughed. “Daddy’s right.”

  There was a triple knock on the arch of the bedroom door and Ellen looked up to see Dean standing there, arms folded.

  “Dean.”

  “Daddy.”

  “Good to hear you say I’m right.” Dean smiled.

  “We’re getting ready to go to the party,” Alexandra said. “We get to wear masks. Danny Hoi got a whole bunch.”

  “Very cool,” Dean winked. “Alex Sweetie, can I speak to Mommy?”

  “Okay, I hate getting my hair brushed anyhow.” She darted by Dean.

  “So what brings you here? Another marriage proposal, oh, that would be wonderful. Even though you perform evil magic.” Ellen set down the brush, almost losing her fairy tale character for a second. “Does she not have beautiful hair?”

  “Kind of funny,” Dean rubbed the bridge of his nose. “You called me Daddy.”

  “Well, one must go along with what a child says. Right?”

  “We have issues, Missy Jane.” Dean shut the door. “Seems when we did test for when you bumped your head, we saw something on the tests and I want to put you immediately in the clinic for observation and testing.”

  “But the party is tonight. What could possibly be so wrong.” Ellen stood and placed her back to him.

  “It doesn’t look good. In fact, the entire personality change is brought on by something similar to what Johnny had. Only worse, only bigger, the bump on the head … not much time.”

  Ellen gasped and turned around. “Dean, listen, the memory …”

  “Won’t ever come back.” Dean shook his head and sighed out heavily. “I’m afraid, the Ellen that we knew is gone and the last we’ll know of her is being Missy Jane. Sad.”

  “No.” Ellen moved to him. “Check again. I want to see the CT scan.”

  “What do you know of it? You live in a cottage. Trust me. It’s bad. Maybe you should go to the party tonight. Smile have a good time. Hope for the best.”

  Ellen was about to panic. Her hands trembled and heart raced. She tried to remain calm. “I still would like to see the CT scan. And why isn’t Andrea here telling me.”

  “She doesn’t know. Isn’t she the golden Stepmother.”

  “Dean, cut the shit,” Ellen said. “Forget Missy Jane and her tales, I need to know …” Ellen stopped when Dean cracked a smile. “You lied. You lied to call me out.”

  “I’m sorry, a
ctually Billy figured it out ….”

  “Asshole!” Both hands forward, Ellen smacked down against Dean’s chest. “That is so fucking unethical to do that to someone.”

  “Yeah, well, it’s unethical to lie about amnesia.”

  “Yeah, well, it’s unethical to lie about someone’s father being alive when I thought he was dead!”

  “In my defense, I had to keep it a secret. He asked. Frank and Hal didn’t even ….”

  “Whoa. Whoa. Whoa.” Ellen lifted her hand. “He asked. How long did you know. Before yesterday.”

  “Yes.”

  “Asshole!”

  “We established.”

  Ellen growled. “I’m done. I’m mad. Don’t even try to talk to me. And you better forewarn Hal, Robbie, Joe and Frank.”

  “Should include, Danny, Jason and Roy as well.”

  “No, I’m not. Because they aren’t close to me like you are.” Ellen pushed aside. “I’m leaving and taking Alex. We’re going to the party.”

  “What about Billy?”

  “He’s your mini me, you take him.” Ellen stormed down the hall, her voice trailing. “Come on Alex.”

  Dean listened from the bedroom.

  “What’s wrong?” Alex asked.

  “We hate Daddy tonight.”

  “Oh, good. I like when we are mad at him.”

  Dean cringed when he heard the front door slam. Then after a moment, he laughed. He debated on not giving a heads up to Frank and the others, but opted against it. It would be much more fun to see them turn the tables on Ellen.

  <><><><>

  No one would ever say life was predictable. Especially not Henry. But if there was one thing he could have never predicted it would have been his downfall in Beginnings.

  He was an original, he founded the place, and now he was just a step above a maintenance man, the same position he always had before the plague.

  Sure, he still was trusted with some things, but not like he was. They said he was still head of Mechanics, but technically Danny Hoi was. Danny came into the picture and just outshined. He took over Mechanics just like he did the counsel position.

  Of course, Henry knew a lot of that was his own doing. He was the one that was wrong, did things, lied about things and broke the trust.

  But it didn’t mean he had to lose everything.

  He recalled painfully, one day in the Social Hall where he was told by another resident that he was just like everyone else. That ‘How did it feel?’ and that made Henry wonder how much of a snob he actually was.

  He went from hero to zero in a year. If he were a character in book, he probably hadn’t made an appearance in a scene in hundreds of pages.

  Henry was full of self-pity. He lost his friends, but made new ones. That was a positive.

  That was the story of his life and he vowed on this night, after seeing Joe, after feeling the joy or his friends return, that he would make a change.

  He finished fixing the holy water bowl at the chapel, and locked up. As he left he could hear Robbie’s band warming up. The party was going to be great and a start to a brand new Henry era.

  He’d home, shower, grab some rice cakes to add to the food table and he’d be a part of it all.

  He was meant to be a part of Beginnings and while he felt left out, Henry was ready to reclaim that spot.

  <><><><>

  Life in the foreign world was getting boring for Chaka. As the days moved on, he became more and more convinced that he was still on his planet, just swept away in some sort of bizarre time warp.

  But did he go to the past or to the future? He leaned more towards he was in the future. The big sun was still in place, the smaller two suns were not. Did they burn out. But the biggest factor that made him believe that he had jumped into a future world was the Primals.

  They were advanced. They dressed in full coverings, they spoke and were organized. They didn’t run for their lives, it was as if they ruled the planet, and from what Chaka witnessed, they did. The only thing that Chaka saw that was similar was the female Primal. There were very few and the male primal did not associate with them.

  Not from what Chaka saw. The males worked in packs. Much like the Hubra, his own species. Perhaps they too treated the females as pets and for fulfillment. That would explain why Chaka only saw one.

  Then again, he only saw their village from a distance, and even then he only saw males in that town riding animals and all dressed the same.

  He saw no other Hubra at all.

  It had to be the future.

  He was raised to believe that God had created Hubra in his own image. That God placed upon the earth several Hubra to begin life. And they did.

  As a child, Chaka recalled the story of a primal male who was unlike any other. He came from the stars, spoke his language, yet was part Hubra. He told how primals ruled the world.

  But that was only a story, no one ever offered proof the God liked Primals’ appearance. It was theorized that, a Hubra mated with an intelligent Primal and the child was born a primal instead of a Hubra. That child organized the primals and they eventually took over.

  To him it was nonsense. There was no such thing as an intelligent female primal. Even in the time frame he visited now, the primal women were not smart.

  Actually, to Chaka, the primal females of the time frame were in a sense were better. The pet he encountered was. She smelled clean and pleasant, was docile and welcomed him. She knew her duties. That in turn made Chaka favor her.

  He wondered were all like her? He assumed they were all docile.

  This particular pet with hair the color of the setting sun, was on his mind. He felt the need for her and the calling in his system.

  They say there is no better relationship than A Hubra and his pet. He wanted this pet to be his own. He would visit the Pet arena, but never did he feel the need to take one home.

  Until now.

  From his hidden camp, he caught her scent and followed it back to where he had her.

  But she wasn’t there. She didn’t return. Usually pets return to certain places.

  With nothing else to do, and knowing she would be a great companion for him. Chaka decided to find her. He was master tracker and knew he’d have little problem.

  Just after he returned to his camp to gather his things he heard the sound of music. It was a new sound to him and it floated in the air. It came from a different direction than the other village. It was closer.

  Perhaps there was a celebration.

  Perhaps that was where the other Hubra were.

  With the music in his ears and the pet on his mind, Chaka headed East.

  Chapter Ten

  One of the first to arrive at the gala, Ellen stood off to the side by the band. She watched Joe, as he held one spot near the makeshift bar outside the Social Hall. Standing there, greeting people.

  Ellen huffed.

  She loved him and all and was so grateful to have him back, but it irritated her that she grieved so deeply and was one of the last to know he defeated death.

  Another thing that irritated her, was everyone was dressed up as Joe.

  How was that a costume?

  Alexandra had darted off and Ellen waited by the Elliott to tell him the ruse was done. Busted.

  “Ellen.” Roy called her name pleasantly.

  She cocked an eyebrow when he approached in brown pants and a white button down shirt. “I see you’re being Joe as well.”

  “Ah, yes, it is a celebration of his life.”

  “I thought we were celebrating the end of the brain flu.”

  “Joe’s return is real and joyous. Do you think I look like him?”

  “Um. Yeah, in a nicer way.” Ellen pointed. “Except, you have a pocket protector. Joe doesn’t wear one.”

  “He should. He would not have the spots on his shirts if he did.”

  “True.”

  Roy held up a clipboard. “I am signing people up for the Whip your hair contest.”


  “Whip my hair? Wow, as enticing as that sounds. I have to pass. I have a head injury. Alex will do it though.”

  “I shall sign her up.” Roy smiled “And how is the head? Your personality is back.”

  ‘It’s fine. Just sore.”

  “Good. I was worried considering you hit the opposite side of you head.”

  Ellen sighed out. “You know, Billy figured it out. You did as well. I think Dean is slipping.”

  “No, he was just not thinking because he was worried about you and the fact that you are not putting him in your story.”

  “That’s the sad part, he will be. Or was. And why is my father staring at me like that.”

  Roy looked over his shoulder to Joe, he did indeed stare down Ellen, only he added a ‘come here’ curl of his finger. “I believe he wants you.”

  Ellen gasped. “He’s standing there like he’s a king or something.”

  “He is. Did you not call him that.”

  “Well he can come to me.”

  “Ellen!” Joe yelled. “Goddamn it, I know you see me. Come here.”

  “Or not.” Ellen exhaled and made her way over. “Oh, hey, Roy, put Frank down for that contest and Dean.”

  “Oh! I will thank you.”

  Ellen winked and headed to Joe.

  <><><><>

  Even though Hal teased him quite a bit, he was proud of Elliott and his musical endeavors. Before he even hit the celebration in town, Hal could hear his right hand man’s voice blending with Robbie’s. It made him smile.

  Hal had a lot on his mind, especially with the future LEP on the loose. He wouldn’t be far from his phone, in case there was trouble in one of the providences.

  Last check in there was no sign of the LEP. It was as if he appeared, killed a few men, ate a few men, had sex with Jenny and then vanished.

  Was it possible that he had his own means of traveling through time.

  Hal didn’t know, that was something he wanted to discuss with his brothers after the Mardi Gras. He picked up a movie from the red Dan Box and it was one that he knew could be reference for the impending trip into the future.

  Planet of the Apes.

  Although he was pretty certain, Frank could probably recite the entire movie.