by Karl Morgan
“Me too!” Fa-a-Di shouted. “I will use all the resources of Greater Gallia to correct this disaster.”
“I have a feeling the torch will fall to you again, Dave Brewster,” Odo said. “My mind tells me you are the key to all of this. I hope you do remember and find a way to stop this plan.”
“If he survives,” Ulook interrupted. “If any of us do.”
The room was empty. Tens of thousands of Zula swam around the dome traveling to work or home. None of them had ever seen any meeting, as it had never occurred.
Chapter 30
Dave Brewster lost his job six months ago, and looking for work during the horrendous recession of 2009 to 2012 had made him bitter and forlorn. He spent most days looking for job postings and trying to network with his friends and acquaintances. As the weeks slipped by, and his prospects did not improve, he let his feelings of inadequacy and helplessness take over. Darlene, his wife, tried to keep things normal, but Dave was sinking. Today, he just had to get away from home and at least interact with some other people, so he decided to visit his neighborhood Starbucks for a coffee and a Danish pastry.
He felt better as he pulled out of the driveway and drove the short four blocks to the closest Starbucks. Dave did not like people parking too close to his car, and he had plenty of experience dealing with dings and nicks in his car to justify his actions. He parked at the far end of the lot where most spaces were empty. He could feel a spring in his step as he felt separated from home and his laptop. The day was fairly cloudy, but he could see the cloud cover starting to break already, which was a great sign for a June day in San Diego. Typically, the cloud cover did not break until early afternoon. Things were looking up.
At the other end of the small parking lot sat a Ford sedan with a single man sitting behind the wheel, idling the engine. Fola Untor had been monitoring these few days of time for weeks now, waiting for a key moment in time when he could strike out at Dave Brewster, the stupid human from twenty-first century Earth 47. It had been difficult to mask his activity moving through time. He knew even the simple people of thirty-second century Earth 47 could time travel and therefore find signs in time of tampering and unapproved travel. But that could not be helped. It was this Brewster fellow who led humanity to find the Hive on Tak-Makla and eventually reconnect the Society of Humanity with their lost colonies in this galaxy. Fola had tried to dissuade him when they met on Hive 1008 and the Nightsky in orbit over Earth Prime, but failed. The events of the Grand Conclave led to the breakup of the Society and the persecution of his beloved Brotherhood. The most difficult jobs had already been accomplished when his fleets destroyed much of Lagamar Ulu and Nan, killing Odo Pak and Obu Neela. Those two held the keys to protecting Dave, but now they were dead and buried. It would be a simple thing to do. Fola had watched this day a dozen times already. Dave would park at the far end of the lot and walk slowly toward the coffee shop. He only had to wait for the moment when there were no other cars moving and Dave was exposed. He would run him down with this stolen car. If that failed, he had his blaster clipped to his belt. Then he could return to Earth Prime and resume his place as leader of the Brotherhood.
Dave was walking through the parking lot. The fragrance of coffee was heavy in the air, pleasing him all the more. Good coffee was one of Dave’s few remaining passions. As he crossed the pavement, he heard the sound of wheels screeching and turned to see a car racing toward him. Reality seemed to slow down. He could hear his heart beating and the pounding of his shoes on the pavement as he rushed for the curb. He even noticed the driver had light blonde hair and a look of intense anger in his silver-blue eyes. That sinister look made Dave wonder why this person was trying to kill him. Dave raised his foot to step on the curb as the bumper of the car struck him. He felt his body smash against the vehicle and become airborne. Before his body struck the ground, he passed out.
The driver slammed on his brakes and jumped out of the car. He held an odd pistol-like device in his hand. He looked around for Dave, having followed the arc of the flying body through the air. But he wasn’t there. A crowd of people had heard the commotion and were beginning to gather around. The killer pointed his weapon at them and they began to scatter. He rushed over to the bushes where Dave should have landed, but could find no trace of his body or any impact site. Something was terribly wrong, he thought. He heard an odd click and spun around. Rence Rialto stood next to him with a revolver pressed up against his head. “Fola, you son of a bitch,” Rence said as he pulled the trigger, spraying a nearby wall with blood. Fola fell to the ground dead. Rence grabbed the blaster from Fola’s hand and ran around the corner of the building and into an open portal, which closed behind him in a flash of light.
A crowd began to form around the dead body as a squad car arrived and the officers pushed them back. They called for reinforcements and cordoned off the area. Within ten minutes other officers arrived and began to question the by-standers. Muncie, who had appeared through the portal with Rence and Aria moments before the attack, searched the area where Dave’s body flew after being hit by the car. He could find no sign of him and gave up as the police pushed the crowd further back. “Muncie, where’s Dave?” Aria asked.
“I don’t know, Aria,” he replied. “Fola’s car struck him hard, but even he couldn’t find where Dave’s body went. It’s a though he disappeared into thin air. That’s good news isn’t it?”
“The fact that any of us are here is very good news,” Aria replied. “Somehow time must get changed back, but I have no idea how.”
“All we know is that if Dave was dead, none of us would be here, unless Charlie is the key,” Muncie replied.
“Kally and Taron have Charlie on lockdown now,” she said. “I got a message seconds ago saying he was okay, so it looks like Dave was the target.”
“But where the hell is he!” Muncie said.
“Someone else must have intervened,” she replied. “We were obviously too late. We should get back and make a report. Lanz is not going to be happy we let Dave get hit by a car. Also, Rence is in a lot of trouble for killing Fola. We should have taken him back with us.”
“I disagree,” he replied. “If he survived, he might try to find another way to change the past. Now, that can never happen, although we cannot know if this is the only change Fola made to time. Perhaps other more subtle changes are yet to be found. But Rence should not have left the body. His fingerprints and identity don’t exist here.”
“It will be just another John Doe homicide,” Aria continued. “How the police will explain it is anyone’s guess. Lots of people saw Dave hit, but there’s no body. They saw Rence kill Fola, but Rence is gone. But we do have another problem.”
“Darlene and the kids,” Muncie answered. “I know. She’ll be out of her mind with Dave gone. We need to contact her. You and Charlie became her friends, but none of that has happened yet. That’s going to be very hard.”
“Let’s go there now,” Aria replied. “but I think we should wait for a while to let things happen the way they were meant to.”
“Something better happen soon, Aria,” Muncie said. “Since we’re still here, Dave has to end up in our time somehow. But it doesn’t make any sense to me at all.”
“We also need to get Charlie over here right away,” Aria replied. “Dave could reappear at any moment to resume the normal flow of time. If Charlie isn’t behind him in line when he gets here, the time line will change again.
Chapter 31
Passor Valka and his top aides were sitting quietly in the conference room of their headquarters deep in the Valandes Desert of Narta Ela. More than five million Brotherhood agents had arrived over the last few weeks. Soon, they would have enough Hives to move all of them and their fleets to the Ulagong Galaxy. The Supreme Leader was overdue for the meeting. He had asked Passor to gather the men at 1000 hours local. It was now almost 1130. “Passor, how much longer do we have to wait?” asked Agent Armand Coos.
“Patience, my frien
d,” Passor replied. “We are waiting for the Supreme Leader. All of us have sworn sacred vows to him and his tardiness is not our concern. We must wait until he chooses to arrive.”
Agent Febo Loo asked, “Passor, where has the Supreme Leader been? None of us have had any communication from him in months. This is very unusual. Are we certain he is well?”
“It was only yesterday when he asked me to set up this meeting,” Passor replied. “As you can imagine, he is a very busy man. He has been working with me to gain influence with enough Hives to transport us to Atar Pa in the Ulagong Galaxy. Also, you can see how many of your fellow agents are arriving here daily. None of that happens without a lot of work on his part. You men are being quite overzealous on this matter.”
“We meant no disrespect to you or the Supreme Leader,” Armand said softly. “We are just concerned about his health. Please forgive us if we gave you another impression.”
“Don’t worry about it. I feel the same way myself. It is difficult for us to keep moving forward without his help. However, we must wait for him to lay out the strategy for our next steps,” Passor replied. He rose and began to walk around the table, patting each agent on the back as he passed by. “You know, I have worked with each of you for many years. Together we have seen the heights of joy and depths of despair. Now we are already climbing back from the abyss caused by Dave Brewster and Fa-a-Di. Our enemies are being punished and soon we will move to a place where they cannot reach us. In time, we will return to greatness. In the past, we were the enforcers for the Society. We will never be in that role again. Now we will become the rulers!”
“Passor, aren’t there serious threats in the Ulagong Galaxy as well?” Armand asked. “I have heard stories of the Paxran, Donnaki and other empires. How will we fight them while we are still rebuilding?”
Passor chuckled softly. “Again, thanks to the brilliance of our Supreme Leader, we are already building a coalition in that galaxy to stand against their Free Society. We should have an ample period of peace and cooperation with those others to safeguard our planets. If the Paxran or others choose to attack us later, we will have Hives and weapons to easily defeat them. You have all read the Supreme Leader’s manifesto. So you know this is all planned. All we have to do is carry out his orders. I know that I can count on each one of you to do your part.”
There was a flash of light in the room and the agents averted their eyes. When they looked back, Alana Albright and ten tekkan soldiers were in the room, all pointing their laser rifles at the men. “Good morning, Brotherhood,” Alana laughed. “I hope we’re not interrupting anything important.”
“What is the meaning of this?” Passor shouted.
Alana lowered her blaster and opened a pouch on her belt. She removed another blaster and set it on the table. “We brought you a gift from your Supreme Leader, Fola Untor,” she replied.
“Who is Fola Untor?” Passor asked. “I have never heard that name before.”
“The lies just roll off your tongue, don’t they Passor,” she chuckled. “We already know about him and have for some time. If you are all waiting here for him, you needn’t bother. Fola Untor is dead. This was his blaster. You can see it is stained with blood. That is his blood of course. You can do a DNA check if you like.”
“This is ridiculous,” Armand scoffed. “Passor Valka is our Supreme Leader. Ask any of us.”
“Fine, say whatever you want,” she replied. “Whoever Fola Untor was, he is dead now, buried many centuries ago in an unmarked grave. He chose to change the course of time by altering the past. He succeeded, but the major change he achieved was his own death.”
“How did this man die? What did you say his name was?” Passor lied.
“You mean Fola Untor? Unfortunately, those secrets are lost in time as well,” she said confidently. “None of you will ever know. But this is not all I came to tell you.”
“You must realize that our security forces will be here any minute,” Febo sneered. “They have undoubtedly noticed your sudden arrival. Your own deaths will come soon.”
Alana laughed out loud. “Poor little Febo Loo. Yes, your teams will come, but we will be gone before then. However, I am also here to give you a warning. The actions of your Supreme Leader have put all societies on high alert. We know your people will distort time without regard for the consequences on the present. Every free Hive is now monitoring time travel and sharing information. Any attempt to travel in time by Brotherhood agents will be met with the same quick justice that claimed Fola’s life.” She and one tekkan stepped up to Febo and touched him with their hands. “Let me show you what I mean.” The three disappeared from the room. The other agents jumped up in surprise, but sat again quickly as the tekkans aimed at them.
Febo was standing in a hospital room with the tekkan. A young woman was sleeping on the single bed. She looked familiar. Alana whistled softly and he turned his head. She held a long knife menacingly at the throat of a newborn baby in a bassinette on the other side of the room. She waved him over to the baby and pointed to the chart at the foot of the tiny crib. He stared and a look of abject horror crossed his face when he read the name “Febo Xanther Loo” on the form.
Alana put the knife back into its scabbard and walked over to Febo, who could still feel the laser rifle poking into his back. She whispered, “You were such a cute baby, Febo. And your mother looks so happy and beautiful. Please know that I would never hurt this child, however, if we find that you have been traveling in time, this tekkan or any of a million others would gladly come here and slit you open in your crib. I hope I am being quite clear on this.” Febo could only nod his head as he looked down on his earlier self. Alana reached over and kissed him on the cheek. “Now, go over there and kiss your mother and we’ll go back.”
He walked over to the bed and smiled down at his mother, dreaming so peacefully. He fought his tears and kissed her softly on the cheek. She smiled but remained asleep. Alana and the tekkan touched him and instantly they were back in the conference room. “Febo Loo now knows exactly what we are capable of,” Alana said. “For God’s sake, please don’t make us do what I could have done. But it is up to you to decide.” She and the tekkans disappeared from the room just as the security agents broke in the door.
“Is everyone okay?” the lead guard shouted.
“Yes, we’re fine,” Passor answered. “Now get out of here. But first take this blaster and have the blood stains compared to any current or past agents and let us know the results as soon as possible.”
When they were alone again, Passor walked over to Febo and put his hands on his shoulders. Febo was sitting again with an odd combination of joy and horror on his face. “Are you okay, brother?” Passor asked. “What did that bitch do to you?”
He thought for a moment about resigning on the spot and returning home to Ednak Ela, his home planet. His parents were still living, but getting quite old now. His father had always wanted him to be an astrophysicist like himself, but Febo chose the Brotherhood instead. “We were in the hospital room,” he started at last. “My mother was sleeping soundly. She looked so young and beautiful that I almost didn’t recognize her. Then the woman made a sound. I turned to see her holding a long knife against the throat of a newborn baby. She motioned me over and I read the chart. The baby was me!”
“What did she do then?” Armand asked.
“Nothing. She put the knife away and kissed me on the cheek, saying how she would never hurt me, but others would if I traveled in time,” Febo said staring into space. “Then she told me to kiss my mother. After I did, we were back here.” He turned to look at Passor in the eyes. “What do you think our Supreme Leader did to them? What would make people think about doing something so diabolical?”
Passor sat heavily his chair and sighed. “God only knows, Febo. Fola always played his cards close to the chest. He said he had a plan to change the past so the Grand Conclave never took place and we would still have power. Since that woman and the
tekkans were here, and we’re not on Earth Prime right now, I have to assume that he failed. What do we do now?”
“Passor, we have to elect a new Supreme Leader,” Armand said. “We’re all here and I recommend we pick you. You were the closest to Fola and were the President of the High Council. Who else has your qualifications?”
“If I may say one more thing,” Febo interrupted. “If the Brotherhood wants to use time travel as a weapon, I have to resign right now! You didn’t see what I saw. If Fola did anything like that, he deserved to die. I won’t be part of that anymore.”
“Dear brother Febo,” Passor said softly, “I can promise you if I am Supreme Leader, time travel will be strictly forbidden. The unknown consequences are just too great. Besides, we don’t need that to get back at our enemies. We have Hives and battle cruisers!”
Febo stood up and shouted, “Passor Valka for Supreme Leader!” The other agents joined in the chorus. Several bottles of whisky and brandy were pulled from the cabinets and opened. The men cheered for their new leader and toasted to their future success. Even though he drank and cheered with the rest, Febo Loo could not get the image of the woman holding a knife over the baby who would become him. Perhaps he should go home soon, he thought. His parents would love to see him again.
Chapter 32
Dave Brewster knew he was dead. He had just been run over by a speeding car in the parking lot. He remembered the sound of his bones and joints cracking as he slammed into the front of the car. He snapped over at the waist on impact, causing his head and face to slam into the hood of the car. Then he was airborne, tumbling in the air toward a wall and some bushes. He was about to hit the wall when suddenly he was far away, speeding through space surrounded by millions of strings of light. The searing pain and agony he had felt at the crash was gone. He felt perfectly fine, but not quite conscious. Was he in shock, or was this the road to Heaven or a quick ride to Hell?
