The Last Time Traveler

by Aaron J. Ethridge

  “You tell it before you add the water,” Robert explained.

  “Yeah,” Morgan replied thoughtfully. “I guess that makes sense.”

  “Oh, and it comes with a dehydrated bottle of champagne.”

  “Really?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Rob,” Vox chucked.

  “Okay… It’s really just red wine.”

  “That’s probably good enough for a second date,” Morgan mused.

  “Oh, it is,” the traveler assured him.

  “Rob,” Vox laughed again, “come on, man, you're trying to help him get the girl, remember?”

  “You're right,” Robert sighed. “I just couldn't resist temptation.”

  “You don't seem to try all that often,” Vox observed.

  “True,” the traveler nodded.

  “Except in one very specific area,” Morgan observed.

  “True,” Vox laughed, before stepping once again from the room.

  “So, no dehydrated food then?”

  “Nope,” the traveler confessed.

  “Well can we pick up food to cook?”

  “Why?” Robert asked. “You want to be ship's cook?”

  “If it means not eating those MREs all the time then, yes!”

  “Congratulations,” the traveler said with a salute. “You've just been promoted.”

  “Actually,” the young man said scratching his chin, “that leads me to another question.”

  “You astound me!”

  “Right...” Morgan said slowly. “Anyways, since this is the future...”

  “Well, it depends on when we are at the moment,” Robert interrupted. “But go on.”

  “Where is R2D2?”

  “I keep telling you…”

  “No, no,” Morgan continued. “I just mean: where are all the droids? Like, shouldn’t they have become sentient by now? We could sure use Data on some of these missions. Or at least a robot cook.”

  “You ever see Terminator?”

  “Oh yeah!” the young man replied excitedly. “But I didn’t like it as well as Conan. And really I liked Conan the Destroyer better than Conan the Barbarian. I know a lot of people didn’t, but I did. The chick was hotter and it wasn’t so dark. I guess I just prefer comedy really. Of course, Terminator 2 was really good. Maybe I just don’t like the Governator as a bad guy...”

  “Right...” Robert replied nodding his head slowly. “Not really my point… I was actually trying to mess with you, but you’re short attention span caused me to miss my shot.”

  “That’ll happen sometimes,” the young man admitted.

  “Anyways, Morgan,” the traveler replied. “The simple fact is that droids just aren't as good as people. Once we learned to unlock about fifty percent of our brain's potential they just couldn't keep up. For instance, I can do mathematical equations in my head thousands of times faster than the fastest computers from your time.”

  “Right,” the young man nodded. “And you use all that brain power to make dehydrated bottles of red wine.”

  “No, I'm serious,” the traveler chuckled. “This time I'm for real, man. And as you unlock more of your potential you'll realize it. For now just accept that droids were a fad and we've outgrown them as a culture.”

  “So no ship's cook droid then?”

  “Not at the moment...”

  “Okay... We got a stove?”

  “Not at the moment...”

  “Then we ain't likely to get no hot cooked food around here...”

  “Not at the moment...”

  Chapter 15: If You Can't Take The Heat

  “Morgan, what is that smell?” Cleo asked as the girls stepped onto the bridge.

  “Yeah,” Azure said taking a deep breath, “what is that smell?”

  “It's just a new cologne I picked up,” the young man replied.

  “It's kinda strong, isn't it?” Cleo asked with a cough.

  “Oh,” Morgan replied. “You want me to keep using that other stuff instead?”

  “No!” she exclaimed. “No, this is more you, I think. I just have to get used to it.”

  “Stand up, Morgan,” Azure said, stepping over to the young man and pulling him to his feet.

  The lovely young lady put her face almost to his chest before taking several deep breaths.

  “Cleo's right,” she asserted. “This is definitely more you... That other stuff was good, but this is incredible. Whatever you paid for it, you cheated the guy.”

  “Rob,” Morgan said, jerking his head to look at his companion. “I love you and I want to have your babies.”

  “I think you've mentioned it before,” Robert chuckled.

  “What?” Azure asked.

  “Nothing,” the traveler smiled. “Me and Morgan were just messin' with each other earlier and I'm pretty sure he just won. Anyways, we gotta make a quick detour. He and I need to go pick something up.”

  “Can we come?” Cleo asked.

  “Not unless you're into wandering around in a dusty warehouse before doing some heavy lifting.”

  “Pass,” she laughed.

  “And really,” Robert replied. “We won't be but like twenty minutes. We just happen to be going near the place and time where what I want is, so we're going to go grab it on the way to our next target.”

  “Sounds good,” Morgan said. “What is it?”

  “I'll show you when we get there.”

  Perhaps twenty minutes after this the ship touched down on the dark side of a world Morgan had never been on before. He didn't bother asking Robert what its name was. For one thing he was certain he would be told it was Crêpes Suzette or something like that. And since he had taken a menu from Parish on the Half-Shell as a souvenir he could make up idiotic planet names without Robert's help from now on.

  The two walked up to a warehouse with a large lock on its door, Morgan pulling a floating dolly behind him.

  “You gonna pick this lock, too?” the young man asked.

  “Sort of,” the traveler replied before drawing a laser pistol and shooting the lock off.

  “That's vandalism,” Morgan pointed-out. “I hope you know that.”

  “If anyone complains I'll pay for it.”

  The pair threw open the door and made their way inside. The large building was completely full of future appliances that looked much like regular electrical appliances, but that ran on future electricity. Robert wove his way through the maze of massive machines with Morgan following on his heels. Finally they reached an area that was just packed with stoves. After taking a good look at several of them the traveler turned to Morgan and spoke.

  “This one'll do,” he said. “Let's get it on the dolly.”

  “What?” Morgan asked.

  “Put the stove on the dolly,” Robert replied pointing from one to the other. “It ain't rocket science, bro.”

  “Are we paying for it?”

  “There's no one here to pay,” the traveler replied waving his hand around. “So let's get it on the dolly and get out of here.”

  “I’m not taking this stove, Rob,” Morgan replied shaking his head. “We’re not time-bandits, we’re time-un-bandits … or whatever that would be.”

  “It just so happens, Morgan,” the traveler said gazing out from under knitted brows, “that this stove is out of the time-lines. It just sits in this warehouse until this system’s sun explodes or something.

  “That doesn't mean I'm gonna help you steal it.”

  “It's not stealing if it doesn't belong to anyone, man,” the traveler pointed-out.

  “Well I'm still not comfortable with it!”

  “Do you know what my middle name is, Morgan?”

  “No, what is it?”

  “Nathaniel!” the traveler replied. “I’m Robert Nathaniel Hood! Rob N. Hood.”

  “You’re full of crap!” Morgan speculated.

  “No, I’m not!” Robert replied. “Ask Cleo! Either way, the time has come to rob from the rich to feed the poor. You n
ever wondered why they call me Rob?”

  “Well I just assumed…”

  “That’s right!” the traveler exclaim-interrupted. “And also because sometimes I have to rob. There are five hundred stoves in this warehouse and not one on the ship. From the point of view of stoves they are the rich and we are the poor. And unless we take one the only thing the poor are going to eat is more MREs.”

  “Let’s get it on the dolly,” Morgan sighed. “But I still don't like taking something we didn't pay for.”

  “Well I don't like waste!” Robert replied, grabbing the sides of the stove.

  “Well...” the young man said as soon as they had lifted it in place. “That's true, too. I guess it's better for us to take it then for it to die in a supernova.”

  “Exactly, Morgan,” Robert agreed. “Now let's get it back to the ship.

  After having gotten the stove on board and placed in an empty room that would henceforth be known as the galley they decided to go back and grab a freezer and fridge as well. After all, it seemed a shame to just let them get killed in a supernova when they could live on with a purpose... Once all these food related items were in place Robert felt it necessary to point out that his ship was not going to become the USS Grocery Store and that these things were only to be used in preparation for date night. Of course, since they were keeping all this secret from the girls for the moment the ladies weren't privy to all these high-pressure decisions the young men had to make...

  About an hour and a half after this appliance related adventure the party was once again gathered around the conference table.

  “This is the big one!” Robert said before Morgan had a chance to sit down.

  “Well done!” Morgan said. “You've broken the habit. It'll be easier from here on out.”

  “Thank you,” the traveler replied. “I certainly hope so. In any event, our next target is the first thing Marcus Delmont did and the last one we have to undo. After this it really will be smooth sailing until the very end of the job...”

  “What is the end of the job?” Morgan interrupted.

  “Making sure Delmont never gets his machine,” Robert replied. “It is a change to the time-lines, but it's justified. And it's also going to be crazy easy. No guards, no defenses, no rush. In fact, we don't even have to do it strictly speaking, I just want to. Either way, that's not what we're talking about now.”

  “Then what are we talking about?”

  “Well, Morgan” the traveler said, “we're talking about the time drive that Delmont stole. Just to recap...”

  “Delmont went back in time and stole a prototype time drive,” Morgan began. “He then sold it to a very advanced culture that didn't have time travel capabilities. This eventually kicked off an intergalactic war and dumped a number of time travelers on the time-lines that shouldn't have been there. It also caused the death of the original creator of the drive as he had a heart-attack when he found it missing. So, a number of should-have-been time travelers were simultaneous knocked out of existence. This basically set off the time-equivalent of a hydrogen bomb and destroyed the future.”

  “You remembered all that?” Cleo asked, clearly stunned.

  “Apparently so,” the young man chuckled.

  “Well I'm impressed,” she laughed.

  “Well done, Morgan,” Robert smiled before continuing. “Fortunately getting to the drive shouldn't be too exciting. It's on a military base, but they don't have the technology to counter the stealth generators. We also have all the base's schematics and most of their security codes. Cleo, I want you to go over them forwards and backwards until you could get us in and out blindfolded and asleep.”

  “No problem, Rob,” she smiled. “Having time to study up makes all the difference.”

  “We'll have to make our way to the very bottom of the complex to reach the vault. Again, fortune has smiled on us though, as there's a very high security elevator that leads straight to it. If we can crack the code on it we've got a direct passage. Well, we'll also have to bypass several other security systems to make it look like the elevator isn't moving.”

  “I'm sure me and small-girl got that,” Vox replied.

  “I am as well,” the traveler said. “We also need to be ready to disable their communications just in case. If a fire-fight breaks out we don't want them to be able to work as a team. We have better equipment, but only just.”

  “So far, so simple,” Vox replied. “What's the catch?”

  “Well, I guess the big thing is that the vault was sealed using the Enigma Code...”

  “What?!?!” Cleo interrupted. “If that's the case...”

  “It won't be a big...”

  “Yes, Rob, it will be! It will be a big deal! The Enigma Code is unbreakable!”

  “Unbroken,” the traveler corrected.

  “Unbreakable!” Cleo counter-corrected.

  “What's the big deal?” Morgan asked. “We just cut through the vault.”

  “A brilliant idea!” Robert exclaimed. “Unfortunately we can't.”

  “And why not?”

  “Morgan,” the traveler said, shaking his head, “don't you think if it was as simple as shoot the lock off it would have occurred to me already? The vault's shielded. In fact, its shields are almost as powerful as the ship's. There's one way in: the door.”

  “Then there's no way in, Rob,” Cleo said. “I can't crack the Enigma Code!”

  “I know, love,” he replied. “And you won't have to.”

  “What is the Enigma Code?” Azure asked.

  “The single greatest security code ever devised,” Cleo explained. “The lock is connected to a living mind. That mind is then subjected to five different random basic concepts: love, hate, lust, friendship, danger, etc. The mind will then naturally draw connections between those concepts. The Enigma Code then records the resulting brain patterns. In order to open the lock those patterns have to be replicated along with the desire to open the lock. That means only the person that locked it can open it. And even then only if they really want to. So unless we can get whoever locked the door and convince them that they really do want to open it for us, we're sunk.”

  “That's not exactly accurate,” Robert pointed out. “The entire locking mechanism is controlled by computer, so the brain patterns are simplified. They don't have to be an exact match, they only have to be very close.”

  “That's a theoretical distinction, Rob,” Cleo replied. “It doesn't make a real-world difference. The code has never been cracked.”

  “Well it's about to be,” he assured her. “I've spent years on this, Cleo, and I'm prepared.”

  “And if we fail?” Doc asked.

  “We knock out Delmont's machine and just see if the universe blows up or not,” the traveler replied with a shrug. “We don't have another choice.”

  “Then let's do it,” Vox replied.

  With the decision made the work began. For a little over two days Vox and Cleo poured over schematics and made plans while the rest of the crew went over maps of the base as well as where all the guards would be when. Due to the precision of the planning there was, as incredible as it may seem, a fairly wide tolerance for slip-ups.

  They would be inside a base where they had almost complete control of the security systems and would be completely invisible to their adversaries. In addition Robert had taken Morgan's advice and he and Vox had found a way to make the transponders visible to the team members. So, although the guards certainly wouldn't be able to see them, they would easily be able to detect each other.

  Had it been a standard vault sitting at the bottom of the facility the entire crew would have been laughing. However, the Enigma Code was more than enough to wipe the smiles from the faces of Cleo and Vox. And even Doc didn't feel the odds of success were high. I mean, Robert said he had it, but you've seen what a liar he was...

  Once theirs plans had been finalized the party armed themselves to the teeth. As Robert had pointed out this was the big one. They all
took a variety of weapons, were dressed out in cloth-armor, and each carried two shield and stealth field generators, a primary and a backup. They planned to get in and out alive if at all possible.

  Finally the ship touched down and the band piled into the car. Robert piloted them quite invisibly and very shielded to an empty place in a storage area on the base. Each switched on their shield and stealth generators and stepped from the car.

  “Everybody remember where we parked,” Robert whispered.

  “Funny, Rob,” Doc replied.

  “I thought so, too.”

  “Morgan,” Azure said softly, “hold my hand.”

  “Can't you see my transponder?” he asked.

  “Yes,” she replied. “I can.”

  “Good,” he said reaching out for her invisible form.

  Fortune smiled on the young man and he actually managed to take her hand without accidentally touching anything that might have gotten him slapped later on. The band then quickly made their way from one point to another along their rather twisted and convoluted path without a single mishap. Even without being invisible they would have probably made it inside undetected. Robert's timing was both precise and perfect and in minutes they were standing at the door of the elevator they sought.

  Cleo pushed an exact series of buttons and the elevator rose from the depths before the door opened. The party piled inside, pushed the down button, Cleo pushed another long sequence of buttons, and the elevator began to descend. Minutes later they were a few hundred feet under the ground standing in a long corridor filled with a series of locked doors. Vox pulled a key-card he and Cleo had prepared from his vest pocket and opened one door after another making their way straight for the vault and the Enigma Code.

  Everything had gone perfectly and in less than twenty minutes they were standing at the door of the vault.

  “Well,” Cleo said switching off her stealth generator, “this has been fun. Should we go now or did you bring something to eat?”

  “Funny,” Robert chuckled, switching off his generator.

  The rest of the party followed their example and almost instantly all six companions were quite visibly standing in front of the vault.

  “Robert,” Doc said with a smile. “Perhaps now would be a good time to tell us what your plan is.”