by Joel Adrian
“Things going well in here?” Wayne asked in his high-pitched, southern drawl.
Emersyn let her eyes fall back to the table. “I can’t really . . . wrap my head around it all, but I get it.”
“That’s all we needed at this point. Just an acknowledgment,” Bravon said. “I think we’ve all looked to each other once or twice just to make sure we aren’t crazy.” He stopped, studying them both. A small smile cracked at the edges of his mouth. “I didn’t see it before, not when you two were separate, but you’re definitely the same person.”
“Damn straight we are.” The older Emersyn turned and winked at Emersyn.
She chuckled. Letting the mood lighten wasn’t a bad thing, she decided. It helped ease her into the reality.
“So, there’s some type of mission you’re doing?” Emersyn asked, eyes peeking up.
Bravon folded his arms and nodded his head. “That comes down from the top. Not the top of this base, not the top of the military, but the top. Straight from President Warren.” He started pacing slowly around the table. “It’s been . . . agreed that the best course of action is to first give validity to these claims. After all, we know you’re both the same person, but this Requiem-thing, that’s a whole ‘nother topic.”
Everyone was quiet, their focus on the Sergeant Major as he made his way around the table.
“I’m to lead a small team and test it. From the intel we’ve gathered from Mona here, that’s in Idaho.” Bravon pointed at the older Emersyn. “Problem is, the Commander-In-Chief doesn’t want to spend military resources unnecessarily, and I’d normally be inclined to agree, but . . .” Bravon trailed off.
Emersyn saw Bravon hesitate, choosing his words carefully. It seemed he didn’t agree with the decision.
“Anyway,” he resumed, “It’ll be myself, Mona here, two of my best soldiers, and two volunteer prisoners.”
The older Emersyn cocked her head, turning back to face him. “Prisoners? All due respect sir, this isn’t something you want to be putting anywhere near criminals.”
“I . . . understand. I expressed to the President such concerns could be raised. But this is a trial, a test. Our scientists and gemologists can’t make heads or tails of this Requiem gem. It’s drowning in energy, but we can’t identify it, and we aren’t going to fund further research until we determine it works.” He placed his hands on the back of a chair and looked at everyone in the room side-to-side. “We’ve got men on-site at this activation area you told us about in Idaho. It’s checked out, but it’s not enough for the President.” He clenched the edge of the table. “I won’t lie to you, this isn’t ideal. But we’ll get it done. We’re to test it, and, assuming it works, bring as much intel or evidence that we can, and then we call it a day, folks. I’ll be one step closer to retirement, and we’ll all rest easy knowing we saved the world.”
“What about her?” the older Emersyn asked, looking at Emersyn.
Bravon turned to face her. “Well, Ms. Berg, if you’ll come, we’ll have you. I’ve been instructed to persuade you by any means necessary, but I’m not going to hold you here against your will. I brought you, I showed you, you’re free to walk away and return to your apartment in Ohio. Nobody will force you. But, if you’d consider it, I think you’d be an invaluable asset.”
Emersyn raised her head to the Sergeant, avoiding his eyes. “Why’s that?”
He planted a hand on the back of the older Emersyn’s chair. “Look at her. She’s a kick-ass soldier with enough willpower to get here. I don’t know if she told you just how bad things are in her timeline, but it’s been ripped apart by bombs. Call it a hunch, but she’s you,” he said, leveling a finger at her. “Two soldiers are better than one. I’d rather have more of you at my back than prisoners, that’s for damn sure.”
Emersyn tried to stifle her laugh. “I’m not a soldier, I’m just a girl . . . I work at a call center, for god’s sake. I don’t know how to fight, or k-kill.” She stumbled over the last word, having trouble even fathoming shooting someone. She cleared her throat. “I’m not who she is.”
Bravon studied her. “Mm. Maybe not.”
Wayne placed a hand on the door. “Emersyn, you’re free to stay. We have openings in the scientist bunks. We’re a friendly bunch, don’t worry. We work all night, so you’ll probably be the only one sleeping.” He laughed in his high-pitched voice. “Comfy beds though, warm meal. You can stay the night if you’re not ready to decide.”
She looked at him. Something about Wayne made her feel more at ease. She offered a feeble smile. “Thank you, I-I think I’ll do that.”
“Mona, you’re going to have to go back to the cell,” Bravon said, turning and motioning to the guard. “Don’t worry, things move like I want them to, this’ll be the last night.”
The older Emersyn smirked. “Didn’t you say that last night, sir?”
“Shut it, Corporal.” He turned and offered Emersyn a hand up. She accepted, and he helped steady her. “Try not to take too much time thinking about all this you heard today. The technical details, the science, it doesn’t matter much. What matters is it happened, and we’re the ones who have to fix this.”
She followed the other Emersyn out of the office. “Since when do you go by our middle name, ‘Mona’?”
The older Emersyn slyly smiled. “We’ve always hated the name Emersyn . . . haven’t we?”
Emersyn came to a stop outside, watching the guard escort Mona to a jeep nearby. She turned and looked around the base. There were still soldiers training, still camo-covered Hummers driving to and fro. It was a busy base.
After a moment of being outside, the heat hit her. It was intense, striking down a direct assault with nary a cloud to break it up. She held a hand up to shield her eyes from the harsh rays. Feeling out of place wasn’t something Emersyn was foreign to but being on this base made her feel like she’d crash-landed on a distant planet.
The office emptied of the rest of the occupants, and Wayne put a hand on her shoulder. “Want to come get settled in?”
She turned and nodded. “Sure.”
Chapter 3
The scientist’s bunks were nicer than Emersyn anticipated. Instead of having a barracks setup where the beds were stacked one on top of the other in a central room, each room held two beds and even had a desk and chair. They were stuffy, and just as Wayne claimed, hardly occupied.
He gave her an empty one and told her she wouldn’t have to share it as they were short-staffed this time of year. She tossed her bag onto the bed and collapsed, relief washing over her. Even though her mind and perception of reality had been thrown for a loop, having a second to collect herself eradicated her anxiety for the moment.
She found an outlet and put her phone on the charger. There were four texts waiting for her, all from Ollie. They ranged from asking how she was, to begging her to call him.
Emersyn went to oblige, but her thumb hovered over the ‘call’ button. She remembered what Mona said: her and Ollie got married, but it ended four years after.
The swell of uncertainty came up like the urge to puke. She set the phone down, and let her head fall back onto the stiff pillow. She’d always wanted to get married and have a family. But she didn’t want to waste time on Ollie if it wasn’t going to work. She’d always known, one way or another, that he wasn’t right for her. His enthusiasm lacked even a week into their relationship and had been waning since then.
But was it fair to dismiss him because Mona left him? In her own words, she was here to change things. This timeline was different.
Emersyn felt paralyzed with indecision again. Just like she’d been when Whitney and Anne confronted her in the parking lot. She wanted to leave things the way they were, the familiar comfortability of it all.
Hard to call it comfortable when you’re sitting in a strange bed, 10 hours from home, she thought.
Being alone didn’t sate her anymore. She stood and decided that she would check out the base. Walking around a strange
world she knew nothing about would normally terrify her, but her world had been thrown upside down already. She decided to push her limits.
A few of the scientists, all wearing white lab coats, nodded to her as she traversed the halls and made her way back to the exit. Outside, a group of three scientists were conversing and smoking. Wayne Baron was among them. He waved a hand to her and tossed the cigarette butt onto the ground. He stomped it out with the heel of his shoe and made his way over to her.
“Didn’t expect to see you back out so soon.” He held a hand up, blocking the unforgiving rays of the sun. “Something I can help you with, child?”
She shook her head. “Not really. Just needed to get out. The room’s nice, but kind of . . . empty.”
Wayne shifted his position. The underarms and neck of his suit were stained wet with sweat. “Well, there’s not much in the way of recreation ‘round these parts, but—”
“That’s okay,” she said. “I’m just going to walk around.”
“Oh, sure, child. Just holler if you need anythin’. If anyone gives you any trouble tell them you’re a part of ‘Project Requiem,’ and they’ll leave you alone.”
She thanked them and started down the road that Wayne had driven along to get to the barracks. Things on this part of the base weren’t quite as lively and active as near Sergeant Bravon Pearson's office, but there were still groups of soldiers using obstacle courses and training, as well as the occasional vehicle passing through.
As she walked along the heat-scorched pavement of the roads, she found herself wanting to talk to Mona. She had questions. Even if things weren’t going to play out the same, she wanted to know about possibilities. She struggled to ever picture herself suiting up and defending her country, but in some world, in some timeline, she did just that.
It almost brought a sense of peace to her. Somehow, things worked out. She wasn’t going to be damned to work at Atriarch Communications for all of eternity. One day, she had enough and left.
Her rational reminded her that, in that timeline, the world also ended with a nuclear war. One that she was being invited along to help prevent.
There hadn’t been much time spent on the decision. She wiped the sweat from her head and considered both of her options. She had enough information now that if she went home, she felt she could implement some positive changes in her life. Maybe sit down with Ollie and figure things out. Get out of Atriarch with her newfound hope. Try to make life right as rain and work on herself.
But she’d always end up with questions at the back of her mind. Like a child who discovers a magic box, but never opens it. The idea of time travel, while confirmed, could never be expanded on again. She had no reason to believe this wasn’t the biggest moment of her life and to walk away from it all didn’t feel right.
If she went, she might likely die. She knew of the war from Mona, but beyond that, she had no idea of what the future would hold. At what point in time would they arrive in this other universe? How dangerous was it going to be? Was it even going to work? She forgot to ask Mona how well-tested and functional this Requiem was.
Emersyn crossed the road and walked towards the center of the base. Down inside her, she knew that even if it was extremely dangerous, she’d agree to it. She couldn’t sate her desire by walking away, no matter how safe and appealing retreating back to Ohio and getting a new job was.
This was revolutionizing their world as they know it. That wasn’t something she would throw away.
She didn’t know how long she’d been walking, but the office she came upon looked familiar. She recognized it as Sergeant Bravon Pearson’s. Turning back, she looked for the scientist barracks, but it was beyond her range of sight.
Late afternoon was setting in. The sun had reached its apex and was now on the descent, but the rays of heat were cast down with as much resolve as ever. Sweat had broken out across her arms and back, leaving her shirt wet and stuck to her body
She succumbed to the subtle call of Bravon’s air conditioner and headed for the door.
Two knocks later, Bravon opened the door. He was dressed more casually: his uniform had the sleeves rolled up and it was unbuttoned, revealing a tight black shirt underneath.
His eyes widened when he saw her. “Oh, Emersyn.” He glanced behind her and then arched his head to look to the side of the office. “You alone? Wayne didn’t drive you?”
“I wanted to go for a walk, walked a bit further than I thought I would. Is this a bad time?”
He turned and looked at his wristwatch. “No, I just got off duty about 20 minutes ago. Was there something you needed?”
“Just . . . wanted to pop in, I suppose.”
He tilted his head. “Well, can’t say that I’m used to social visits here, but I’m open to the change.” He turned to the side and motioned for her to come in. “Get out of that heat.”
She walked into the office for the second time that day, welcoming the cooling breath of the air conditioner.
“Wayne get you set up with a bed?”
“Mhm. It’s so empty there.”
Bravon chuckled as he sat at his desk. “Yeah, those scientists don’t believe in sleep. Me? If I don’t get my 6 hours I turn into a real asshole.”
She snagged one of the plastic chairs sitting around the meeting table and pulled it up to his desk. “I’m going with you on the mission.”
He looked up, smiling. “Now there’s a surprise. A damn good surprise.” He leaned back and laughed to himself. “A costly one, too. I had $30 with one of the other Sergeants that you were out of here first thing tomorrow.”
She giggled. “Sorry.”
“Well, It’ll be a mission that’s the first of it’s kind, that’s for sure. The details are changing by the minute. Mona’s giving us as much intel as she can, but she was thrust into this role at the last minute.” He brought a hand up and rubbed his eyes. “The truth is, this could very well not work at all. We’ve opened up this dimension, this idea, that we dismissed as a fantasy before.” He stared at his desk, shaking his head gently. “It’s scary, Emersyn. I’ll give it to you straight.”
“No, what’s scary is seeing that woman sit in front of you. I’m still trying to come to grips with the fact that that was . . . me.” The words didn’t taste right in her mouth, and she frowned. “I understand that fundamentally and scientifically, she’s me. But do we trust her motives? I’m a bit enamored with her, but I think that’s just because she’s me. What do you think?”
He rubbed his hands together, considering her question. “We’d have to come up with a damn good ulterior motive if she’s not on our side, I’ll say that much. But it’s a valid question.”
The room fell quiet. Emersyn noticed a picture on Bravon’s desk. It was of a young girl, maybe fourteen years old. She wore a pink shirt and had the same eyes as Bravon. “Is she your daughter?”
He glanced up at the picture. “Yeah, that’s my Tracey.” He stood and walked towards the door. “I was supposed to be here for one or two more months, then I was retiring and moving to be with her. Now, this mission kind of threw my plans to hell.”
Emersyn could hear the emotion in his voice. “That sucks. Can’t you appeal? Don’t they have other Sergeants?”
“Sure. But none of them are as decorated as me. They’re sending me because I’m the best on this base. President Warren is buying into everything Mona’s said, and I tend to agree. It’s got to be me.”
He opened the door and turned back to her. “I’m glad to hear that you’ll be coming with us, Ms. Berg. I think having you there is going to be a tremendous asset. We meet our prisoner soldiers tomorrow, and then everything should be good.”
She stood and headed for the door.
“Do you want me to have one of the drill instructors give you as much of a crash course as they can muster? Perhaps some weapons training, basic self-defense. . .?”
She shook her head. “Not right now. But thanks.”
“Anytime. I sho
uld get some of this paperwork done. You able to find your way back to the science barracks okay?”
She pointed a thumb in the direction she’d come. “Just walk that way.”
He smirked. “You got it.”
Things were quiet the rest of the night. Wayne found Emersyn in the evening and showed her to the showers, where she was finally able to rid herself of the sweat and wash her greasy hair. She was concerned one of the scientists would walk in on her, but Wayne assured her they were all working. Afterward, she settled down on her bed and pulled out her cell phone.
Six more texts from Ollie. They gradually grew in concern, asking for her to contact him and consisting of him freaking out that she left him. She disregarded them; she didn’t have the energy to deal with another one of his freak-outs again.
Sleep claimed her quickly. She woke up in a sweating panic multiple times throughout the night, only to find her anxieties and worry transfer from the dreams to reality. The tugging of anxiousness at her stomach caused her to groan, and she’d roll onto her side and try to fall back into sleep’s grace.
The next day, she woke to a knock on the door.
Emersyn opened it to find Wayne Baron on the other side, dressed in a short-sleeve polo and a pair of black slacks. He offered her a kind smile and held up a tray of food. “Grabbed this from the mess for you.”
“Thank you.” She offered him a groggy smile.
“Thought you should know the prisoners are ‘bout to be finished processing.” He glanced around her room and folded his arms. “I’m hopin’ they’re no trouble, but with these kinds, one can never be too careful.”
She set the tray down on the desk in the room. “Are they in for minor crimes or serious criminals?”
His face formed a pinched expression. “Bit of both. Catalina Hernandez is no trouble. Stealing, used to have a drug problem. Been up for parole three times due to excellent behavior.” He frowned. “Joey Del Core is another story. A big-time mobster. He’s killed at least two dozen, ever’body knows. But officially, legally, he’s only in for dealing coke, though.”
