Jennifer folded her hands and gathered her words. “Valerie, I had you just before Roger and I started dating. I was working at his father's office and I was confused. Roger contacted someone at an adoption agency that his father donated money to and they found you a home. I was just starting out my career, Valerie. Roger was barely ready for marriage when we met! I didn't want to risk losing the love of my life because of a mistake.”
“A mistake?” Val said. “Is that what I am?”
“A mistake I've been trying to rectify since it was made,” she replied. “I always wanted to one day find you, and when we planned the mission, we decided we'd bring you along.”
“I can't believe what I'm hearing!” Val shouted. “Do you know what I had to grow up with?”
They both shook their heads.
“I was raised in a day care with the offspring of strippers. Every friend I had in high school took after our mothers. I fought for years throughout college to have a good name. I was alone and scared when the war started, and just when things started to go well, my husband died! Now, don't you think you were both being a little selfish?”
“Of course we were,” Jennifer answered. “I was eighteen when I had you. I'm only twenty-five years old now. This means that Roger has spent close to twenty years waiting for the chance to save me and find you. The only reason he never came looking for you sooner was because I told him to wait until there was hope – hope that our family could be united peacefully.”
Val shook her head, her temper raging within. “And you!” she shouted at Roger. “You sent me on all those dangerous missions by myself. I could've gotten myself killed!”
“Val, all of this was a risk. We knew this from the start. But I needed you - I knew you had your mother's passion in you; the same determination, even. I never meant to hurt you.”
“I'm truly sorry,” Jennifer said.
Val continued stewing and refused to make a sound.
“Val,” Roger finally said, “we should get back to the future.”
“I'm not going anywhere with either of you!” Val screamed.
Roger reached for his wife’s hands and shook his head. “I knew this was a bad idea.”
“There was no other way,” Jennifer said.
Val rolled her eyes as a tremendous anger boiled within. “Sure there was! You could have made sure I ended up in the hands of someone more responsible.”
Roger left his wife’s side and approached Val, the scowl on her face too impossible to hide. “I have many regrets in my life,” he said. “What we did was foolish, but we wanted to make it up to you the best way we could. And when we made the decision to bring real change to the world, we knew we couldn’t leave you behind.”
“Val,” her mother said, “your father was raised by a Nazi scientist in exile. In Brazil. Can you imagine the hardships he endured? But those very hardships are what gave him all of the wonderful talents he possesses now. I’m sure the same could be said of you.”
Val saw her parents move closer to console her, but she had no need for their affection. She folded her arms and resisted any attempts to calm her rage. “If you are twenty-five,” she said to Jennifer, “then that means I am a seven year-old girl right now, living in a trailer overrun with cockroaches. Do you know what happened to me when I was seven?”
They shook their heads.
“My mother’s boyfriend molested me. Are you trying to tell me that was a good thing? That it made me stronger?”
“Of course not,” Jennifer said, her eyes welling with tears as she listened to her daughter. “In all of your father’s visits, he never told me of that.”
“That’s because I never knew,” he said, then realizing he had just given away their most precious secret.
“Wait!” Val said. “You’ve been visiting her with the time-machine? But you forced me to seduce another man as punishment for seeing my dead husband?”
“Your mother already knew of our plan. Your husband didn’t. It was too big of a risk.”
Val’s rage was uncontainable. They reached to put their arms around her, but she broke free and stormed to the other side of the room. She tossed her wrist teleporter to the ground and crushed it beneath her foot. “I’m done being your whore.”
“But Valerie, we have great things planned for you,” her mother said calmly.
“I'm choosing my own path.” Then, she disappeared into the stream under her own power.
Jennifer and Roger stood in shock. “Oh, no,” Roger said.
“What happened?” his wife asked. “Where did she go?”
“We've made a terrible mistake, my love. A terrible mistake.”
Jennifer shook her head in disbelief. “Roger, what are you talking about? How did she do that?”
She never heard his answer. She doubled over in pain and slumped forward as Val emerged from the stream naked with a knife in her hand, its edge lodged firmly in her mother’s back.
“No! Jennifer!” Roger screamed. “I love you!”
Those words turned out to be his last. Without warning, he lost consciousness as his daughter exacted revenge and struck his head with a small statue. Val left Jennifer to die on the floor and smashed a nearby window to give the appearance of a break-in. Without a trace of Roger’s blood in sight, she lifted his body and carried him into the stream, ensuring that the other Roger would continue his work as before and see his wife’s death as a victim of a robbery.
Roger never regained consciousness again. His daughter made sure of it, leaving his naked body somewhere on Earth with just seconds remaining before the Apocalypse’s terrifying weapon fired into the atmosphere. He was but one of seven billion casualties.
Chapter 4
James and Genesis returned from the distant past to a barren, forsaken earth – devoid of all human life. Above them in the night sky, the Apocalypse loomed overhead. The night air was calm and animal life roamed about the city with reckless abandon in man's absence. The young human pair who suddenly appeared did nothing to displace the small creatures that now treated the streets as their own.
“I have nothing to be afraid of, do I?” James said as a pack of wolves spotted them from down the street.
Genesis shook her head. “Of course not. We need to get aboard that ship.”
“You can do that, can't you?”
“Are you coming with me?” she asked.
“Sure, give me a second; I think I may be able to fend for myself for once.” He ran across the street and down an alleyway to the other side of the city block. The hospital they left earlier was across the street. Right where he left it, the wrist device lied on the ground, underneath the scattered and torn rags of former clothing left behind by the human race. He picked up the device and fastened it to his wrist. Suddenly, and despite his expectations, the device activated.
Genesis approached from the across the street. “What did you find?”
“The wrist device I had before. It works now for some reason.”
“That's good, isn't it?”
“Let's hope so. When I teleport, do you think you'll be able to follow me in the stream?”
“I should be,” she said.
“Good, because the first thing we need to do when we get aboard is get some clothing – at least for me.”
She giggled. “Lead the way.”
He input the coordinates of the vessel that were programmed in the device and disappeared. A moment later, he was in his old quarters aboard the ship. The last time he was there, he knocked Val unconscious to get away from her; a small spot of her blood still lingered on the carpet.
A split-second after he arrived, Genesis appeared. “So, this is where you lived with that girl?” she asked, but not jealously.
“No, this was my room. But she left her clothes from the mission here. She's the same height as you, I think, so feel free to take what you like.”
Genesis began sorting through the bag of clothing near the dresser when she noticed the blood o
n the carpet. “Is that blood?”
“Hers,” James answered as he sifted through his closet. “Once I discovered what they were up to, she tried to kill me. I hit her with that lamp to get away.”
“So she went from trying to seduce a man to killing him, huh? I didn't think black widows grew to her size.”
“You know the funny thing about the whole trip?” he asked non-rhetorically as he began to dress. “Even though you were gone, the idea of cheating never entered my mind – at least in the beginning. What I mean is, the thought of betraying you was so far removed from my mind that I never realized she was coming onto me.”
“Really?” she asked. She finally found some of Val's clothing that seemed to match and started dressing.
“Well, at least in the beginning. Eventually, she made her intentions painfully obvious. Even then, I never gave in. You believe me, right?”
She laughed as she tried to fasten one of Val's bras and realized it didn't fit - too small. “I see now why you didn't.”
“If you're referring to the fact that you're way prettier than her, you're only half right. But I knew I was going to see you again, and so to me, you were never gone from my life.”
She finished dressing and approached James. “I love you, James,” she said. “And believe me: when we make it out of this, I'm going to make everything up to you.”
“Gen,” he said, “you owe me nothing.” He kissed her.
A moment later, he was finished getting dressed and ready to explore the ship. He looked at the clock and noticed it was still early in the morning, just before dawn. “Everyone on board is probably still sleeping. The first person we need to find is Roger; he's the guy in charge.”
The pair ran down the corridors as softly as they could. Just as expected, the ship was silent except for the ever-present sound of its engines humming. Not far from James's quarters was Archer's office. The light was off and most of the pages on his desk were disheveled as though someone had recently rummaged through his work. Along the corridor was the large storage compartment that served as civilians’ communal bedroom.
Further up the hall was the bridge and control room, which James decided they should avoid because of the guards undoubtedly roaming about. Oddly enough, in all their time snooping, James and Genesis never saw a guard. Then he realized they might already have been sent to earth for destruction with the rest of the crew.
“Keep an eye out for Val. She's probably not far,” James warned.
They finally reached the office of the late Roger Cooke. Before they could open the door, they felt the subtle shift in weight from footsteps behind them. Just as they were about to turn, they heard:
“Stop!”
The voice was Val's.
“Surprised to see us?” James said.
“Not really,” Val answered. “Once I realized your little woman could travel through time, I knew you'd show up eventually.”
They turned around to face Val, who stood weaponless and naked.
“And what's to stop us now?” James said. “You?”
“Wait a second,” Genesis said. “Something's not right here, James.”
Val grinned.
“What is it?” James asked.
“I felt something in the stream when we came back. I should have known.”
“Are you starting to figure it out yet, sweetie?” Val said.
“She's like me, James. Look at her: she's not wearing the device on her arm.”
James suddenly noticed the missing device that all crew were required to wear at all times. “How is that possible?”
“That’s not important,” Val said. “What’s important is that Genesis come with me.”
“Not a chance,” Genesis answered.
“Why, Val?” James asked. “Why are you doing all this?”
“You have no idea the sorts of betrayal I've had to face.”
“You did this because I rejected you?” James said.
“James, don’t be so vain. Roger was right: the world needed to be rebuilt, and I'm going to make sure that history doesn't repeat itself. No more deceptions, no more lies. Everything's an open book.”
“Does that mean telling the rest of the civilians about your new power?” Genesis asked.
“The pro-creators will fall in line because I'm the one who will protect them.”
“Val, this is insane,” James said. “All of us have been betrayed by someone we love. You can't really mean to make yourself ruler over these people!”
“Is that why you came back?” Val asked. “So the two of you could rule?”
“No,” Genesis said. “We returned for one purpose: justice.”
“Don't push me, girl,” Val said. “I know what else you can do.”
Genesis made no expression but laughed on the inside. She spent the majority of her life perfecting all of the powers she was given; there was no way Val could match her strength. “Then leave James out of this!”
“Not a chance. He betrayed me, so he has to die!”
Genesis finally laughed aloud. “You have nothing to fear,” she said to James.
“I never do.”
Just then, Val tried to attack but Genesis merely chuckled, shielded James, and tossed Val against the wall with her mind. “James, go!” she said. He touched his wrist and disappeared.
Val came to and got to her feet. “I'll find him,” she said.
“You are free to try,” Genesis responded.
Val grinned, then disappeared, but only slightly before Genesis followed.
On the surface of the earth, James stood waiting for Genesis to return. Not a second after arriving, Val appeared – more furious than ever. If fear was ever to grip James in the face of a girl he once rejected, it abated instantly when Genesis arrived. Val turned away from James and tried to lash out at Genesis. Fire erupted from Val’s hands, but a shield formed around her and absorbed the fire. Val prepared another attack when, above them, the Apocalypse listed to one side and began to descend. As it fell closer to the surface, James saw the faces of the other civilians on the bridge. The engines revved and the doomsday weapon charged for another discharge.
“Genesis!” he shouted.
Val smirked and disappeared into the stream.
Genesis grabbed hold of James and formed a shield around them as the weapon fired. She stood on the edge of the shield and focused all of her power into it. James huddled behind her. The weapon’s burst dissipated but the shield was holding all of its fury. She gathered all of her strength to keep it from penetrating the force-field.
“I can’t hold it forever!” she said.
James held onto her and realized the only option left would violate her most cardinal axiom: to never kill a human again. “We have no choice,” he said. “I forgive you.”
She knew what had to be done, and not only to save herself. She was always prepared to die instead of harming another soul. But she couldn’t let harm come to the man she loved. With every ounce of her remaining stamina, she pushed back against the surge of energy trapped within the shield. The energy finally reached the edge of the field where she channeled all of its strength into a narrow beam and fired it skyward, striking the Apocalypse. The shield collapsed and Genesis fell to the ground. They knew they were successful when the ship, now empty of all life (as well as a pilot), veered off course and fell to the ground miles away in a magnificent conflagration.
“Are you okay?” she said.
“I’m fine. You?”
“I’m a little winded. I need to get Val. But I’ll be keeping an eye on you. No harm will come.”
“I know. I’ll be here waiting.”
Genesis slipped into the stream of time to track Val, who was easily traceable. What Val apparently never learned was that jumping through space and time always left a mark, so her attempts to leap in and out of time to throw Genesis off her trail only made it easier for Genesis to find her. Amateur! Genesis thought.
Finally, Genesis exit
ed the stream and saw Val standing in front of a massive tree about a hundred feet away.
“Not so fast,” Val said.
Genesis stopped and prepared to defend herself against the only woman who could claim to be her equal. “Well, well, Val,” she said. “Looks like your little ruse has failed.”
Val smiled broadly. “You can't kill me, Genesis.”
“I'm quite sure I can.”
“Even while I carry his child?”
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