by Kord Stone
“Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. They develop weaponry for the United States government and the military primarily. I saw a prototype of a cloaking device like that. When it was activated you could only see the person if you had on special goggles, and it looked a lot like this. But their prototype was huge.”
“That could be, it seems a little advanced for their technology level though. I have not seen anything like that. The only reason we can see them is that our probe analyzes multi-spacial spectrums simultaneously. But something does not feel right about this. I was thinking it might be one of the races who can sense when we alter events. As I said Elgon made enemies, but if you saw that technology on Earth, it might be as you suspect.”
“Is there anything we can do?” Jason asked as he looked back to the display.
“That is what we will have to look into. If it is your government, and they are monitoring your family, they will know when we rescue them and if we return them at a later date, whoever is responsible for this could just have them killed at that time. Regardless of who is after your family, we would have to convince them that your family members are dead, and I cannot think how to do that if your family is being monitored.”
“If the government or someone else is watching us, wouldn’t they have seen this ship come get me?”
Alise smiled and said, “Like I said, Elgon was getting paranoid in the end and with good reason apparently. When you pushed the blue button, it did one other thing. It caused a five-minute paradox. The ship, once you were onboard and you pushed the button, went back in time to a microsecond before we appeared, and caused the explosion with the meteor impact. There was a temporal echo that you thought was a flash from an explosion and a sonic boom. What it did was create a bubble of time that is unique to itself, and technically it killed you for that five-minute bubble. But within the quantum phasing of this ship, you are not really dead. So to answer your question, no they would not have seen you being rescued.”
“So I’m Schrödinger’s cat?”
Alise just looked at him a second before busting out with laughter. When she finally caught her breath, she said, “That was hilarious. You are going to be a delight to be bonded with. Yes, you are right. In essence you are like the cat.”
“So,” he said, “how long do we have to come up with a solution?”
Alise closed her eyes for a second, then said, “Ninety-eight hours and counting until we have to come out of time displacement.”
He was in shock. “Ninety-eight, but last night the computer said one hundred and twenty.”
“Well, I did call you a sleepyhead.”
“How long have you had this information?” he asked nervously.
“About two minutes before you awoke,” she said.
He let out a sigh. “Good, I was worried I had wasted time sleeping that could have been used to save my family.”
He put his boots on and standing up he said, “Let’s stick this pig.” He heard Alise’s laughter following him to the corner of the room to descend back to the control room.
Chapter Nine
Alise and Jason worked for three days straight before a solution came to him. His mind seemed to be wandering off topic a lot over the past days. He was a bit dejected when she asked him if he was hungry yet. Something bubbled up from the back of his mind, and he asked her to say that again. With a quizzical look she repeated her question, and he had a holy shit moment of clarity.
“Can this ship make complete bodies other than the one you have?” he asked excitedly.
She stared at him with a crestfallen look. “Yes, do you not like my appearance?”
He smiled and said, “I love your appearance.”
He hurried on to say, “That’s not why I asked though. I think I may have a plan. How long does it take to transfer a body from one place to another?”
Alise said, “About half a second, why?”
Jason laid out his plan. “If we create cloned copies of my family’s bodies we could swap them at the last second and do the same thing as Elgon had me do with the blue button, right?”
“Yes, but we will be cutting it very close with the time we have left for cloning and transport… There. I have begun the cloning process. This process will work for your family members in the church, but your brothers’ and cousin’s deaths were up close and personal. We will need to swap the bodies after the attacks to make whoever attacked your brothers believe they are dead. We will not have to create a paradox for then though. Once they are transported aboard this ship, they will be safe. The only reason we needed to do that with you, is that this ship was in real time until you boarded it.”
Jason asked, “Can we track the person doing all—”
He was interrupted by a brilliant flash in the room. A moment later Jason shook his head, trying to regain focus. He noticed Alise looked dazed too. “What were we talking about?”
Shaking her head, she said, “Uh…swapping the family’s bodies for the clones.”
Jason still felt his mind going a little fuzzy, and he asked, “Don’t you need their DNA to make the clones?”
“Oh, yes we had all of your family’s DNA on file. It allowed us to use genetic tracking to find you and your relatives. The probe is still at the location of the explosion and I can gather the DNA of the non-genetic family members there as well. I will review the position and injuries to your cousin Jeff and your brothers and have the cloned bodies reflect the same. A distraction and direct transfer to medical will be safest for him. So, we will get your cousin first as he is the next to die. It is best to not waste energy going back and forth too much. After we get him then we will go forward in time and save your family from the explosion, then go back and retrieve your brothers. Since the killer is working in linear time, he should not notice what we have done. After we collect them it will not make a difference because all of your family will be safe in a temporal bubble as soon as we have them onboard this ship. But we will not be able to bring them back to Earth until we make sure whoever is after all of you is taken care of.”
Jason thought she just said that and was about to ask Alise something, but the thought seemed to be wiped from his mind as he looked into her eyes. He just stared in awe at her as she explained the timing.
“We only have twenty-three hours eleven minutes of time displacement left until we have to recharge. So we will have to phase in at the moment of Jeff’s attack, do the transport, and then time displacement. That will use up three hours from our energy reserves, and then we will move forward to get the rest of your family.
“We will have to pull them out a half of a second before the blast though. After we retrieve your brothers, we will have to get out of this solar system. Our displacement will drop about seven minutes after we hit the blue button the third time, but we will be well away from here by then.”
Jason let out a sigh, he had never imagined it was possible that his brothers would be alive again and he said. “That sounds good. It looks like our plan is ready! When do we set it in motion?”
Alise looked at him and said with a smile, “We already have.”
Chapter Ten
Jason was in the control room watching as the events in the prison played out on his display. His cousin Jeff was walking in a circle inside the courtyard for his sixty minutes of allocated physical exercise. The inmate shackled behind him moved closer and a second later he proceeded to stab Jeff several times before breaking the shiv off in Jeff’s back as he was collapsing to the ground. Alise caused a distraction by activating an alarm to the north of the courtyard, and a second later it was done. They had swapped his cousin with the cloned body and Jason felt the familiar blurring associated with time displacement before they were moving again.
Alise looked at Jason. “Jeff is responding well in medical. We have twenty-five minutes before the next rescue. Your cousin should be awake in a moment. You might want to explain what you can to him.”
Jason nodded then walke
d down the corridor to the medical room. The doors had been sealed so he put his hand up to the wall and said, “Entry,” and an archway appeared and opened in front of him. He entered the room and heard Jeff yelling a litany of curses. His cousin was immobilized on the medical table, and though he was unable to see Jason, he seemed to know someone else was in the room with him now.
Jeff yelled, “Get over here you fucking asshole, so I can kick your fucking ass!”
Jason chuckled and said, “Language, language! Is that any way to talk to your favorite cousin, who by the way just saved your sorry ass?”
As Jason came into view, Jeff got a dumbfounded look on his face and croaked, “Jason? What the hell?”
Jason laughed and said, “You just experienced a severe trauma. I’ll drop the immobilization field, but don’t try to move very fast, and I will explain what I can.”
He dropped the field and helped Jeff sit up. Jeff removed his shirt and, turning it around, he looked it over. “Man that hurt like hell!” He peered at Jason through the bloodied holes in his shirt. “How the hell is this happening?”
Jason explained to him about the murder of his brothers, then about the ship coming for him, the extremely beautiful Alise and their relative Elgon, his own circumstances and those of the rest of their family. Jeff looked a little lightheaded from either the blood loss or the information, but otherwise he seemed to be taking it well.
His cousin took a hard look at him, and said, “Damn! It’s been nine years since I saw you last and you don’t look a day older. As a matter of fact, you look younger than me now.”
Jason knew he was in better shape from the bonding, but he hadn’t seen his reflection yet and didn’t know how much he should tell his cousin. So he just said with a laugh, “Healthy living and exercise, little cousin.”
Jason helped Jeff to his feet and escorted him to the control room. He looked around for Alise, intending to introduce Jeff to her but she was nowhere to be found. Shrugging it off, he led Jeff to the inner corridor, told him to stand in the same spot Alise had told him to stand, and said, “Ascend level three.”
“What the hell!” Jeff shouted.
As Jeff was ascending, Jason told him, “Get some rest. I’ll be back with the others as soon as I can.”
Once his cousin passed the ceiling and it closed, Alise came up behind Jason and whispered into his ear, “You are an evil cousin,” followed by a laugh.
Turning to face her, he smirked and told her, “I knew he was going to be difficult, so I didn’t give him a choice in the matter.” He thought about it a second and laughed, “That’s why you did it to me!”
She had a guilty smile as she said, “We are coming up on the next rescues.”
* * * * *
Jason was disappointed at the small turnout for his funeral, but it did not surprise him. Ever since getting out of the military he had been reclusive and had lost touch with all but his family. They were the only people who showed up. They were seated and facing an enlarged photo of him from when he was in the military. Someone Jason didn’t know was giving a speech from the pulpit. Their movements slowed to a crawl, and in the blink of an eye, the transport of his living relatives to the ship and the clones to the church had been completed. A moment later, the room filled with fire after the bomb detonated. At that moment the blurring occurred as the time dilation engaged, and it marked another successful mission for them.
Alise smiled at him. “All of your family are in decon. It will be another hour until we can retrieve your brothers. The man who was giving the speech is sedated in medical at the moment. Any ideas on what you want to do with him?”
He looked at her and asked, “Can you look into his mind and see who he is? Find out what kind of response we can expect when we tell him what’s happened?”
Alise said, “Will do, Captain,” and gave him a mock salute.
He snorted. “Me? Captain? Ha! More like you captain. I’m just along for the ride. After you’ve determined whether he is a threat or not, could you arrange quarters for our new guests?”
She nodded and he headed down the corridor toward decon. Upon approaching the room, he heard very faint yelling behind the wall. He put his hand to the wall and said, “Entry.” The sounds of yelling voices exploded out of the room. When he entered he thought his father was going to have a heart attack and die on the spot. He rushed and pulled Jason into a tight hug, and he began crying. His aunt looked like she was about to pass out, and his half brother said, “What the hell?”
“Okay…okay,” said Jason, “we need to get you all settled so I can explain what just happened. I doubt you’ll accept my word for it, but seeing is believing. What you’ve experienced so far should have done it, but follow me.”
As he walked down the corridor he asked Alise in mind, How is it going?
She sighed. We might have a problem if this fellow wakes up on a spaceship. Apparently he is highly religious and may not take this very well.
He sighed and replied, Okay, I’ll deal with him in a bit. I need a room set up to talk with my family. Do you have any ideas?
Take them to level two. A few couches have been arranged so you can speak to all of them at once. Afterwards we can convert the room into bedrooms.
Jason knew without her help his family would all be gone. I don’t know how I can thank you enough.
Alise simply replied, It is my pleasure.
He made it to the inner corridor with his family in tow. Turning to them he told his younger half brother and two nephews to stand where the gravity lift was, and said, “Ascend level two.” His two nephews busted out with giggles and his brother said, “What the hell?”
As they floated up, he heard his stepmother from behind him. “Well that’s going to be interesting.”
Jason cracked a smile. “Just wait. It’s more fun than it looks.”
He got them all comfortable and told them he had to get Jeff. He would be back as soon as he could and would explain everything as soon as they were all together.
Jeff was lying down when Jason arrived, but stood up and met him halfway across the floor, and pulled him into the tightest hug. Jason patted him on the back. “Let’s get you cleaned up then we can go confer with the family.”
Jason walked over and put his hand on the wall and with a smirk he said, “Wardrobe.” Jeff let out an audible gasp when he saw just how many outfits were available. Jeff picked out a suit similar to the one Jason was wearing, and they exited the room. He opened the bathroom and pointing to a spot on the floor he said, “Stand there and I’ll activate the ion shower.”
Jeff looked confused. “I don’t need to get undressed first?”
“No the ion shower will clean you and your clothing.” Looking at what remained of his cousin’s prison uniform he said, “But somehow I don’t think you’re going to want to keep wearing that outfit.”
Jeff snorted. “You know that!”
Jeff stood in the ion shower and Jason activated it. A few seconds later Jeff was clean and Jason gave him a moment to put on his outfit.
Jeff let out a chortle and Jason asked, “What’s that about?”
Jeff replied, “I was just thinking that if they had showers like that in prison, you wouldn’t have to worry about dropping the soap.”
Jason started laughing and signaled for Jeff to follow him, and once he was out of the bathroom, Jason brought up the display so Jeff could select a pair of shoes. Once again, Jeff opted for the same style Jason was wearing. He had always done that growing up, but it didn’t bother Jason.
Jason asked him, “Are you ready to be reunited with the family?”
He nodded and Jason led him to the corner, then said, “Descend level two.”
Chapter Eleven
All in all, the family took Jeff and his return to the fold pretty well. He and his father had been estranged from the time he was little and they sat in the room in uncomfortable silence at first. The family was astounded to find out the reason he had b
een missing was that he was in prison, and it appeared they thought he was guilty.
They were about to tear into him when Jason spoke up. “You all need to give him a break. Jeff was set up and almost murdered. And all of you were almost murdered as well.”
This statement got them quieted until he explained exactly what was happening, and that their next stop was to retrieve Justin and Jerren. His father looked shocked to hear what was happening to them, and that turned to irritation that he didn’t know any of the family history. Jason reminded him that his Great Grandpa Stone had died when his grandfather was only a baby and couldn’t have passed on the history even if he had known it. He reminded them it had been fifteen thousand years after all, and in all that time any number of things could have happened. The truth had been lost to time, but at least they were safe for now.
Alise chimed in. Jason, we are almost ready to retrieve your brothers.
Jason got to his feet. Okay, I’m on my way.
Jason told his family to hold their questions and said he would be back with Jerren and Justin as soon as possible.
* * * * *
Jason was watching the scene of his brothers’ murders play out again. It had been very brutal but he forced himself to watch. Alise had stopped the probe in time ten seconds after the attacker had left his brothers and entered his bedroom, and set that time as their destination.
Alise said, “This one is going to be very close. We will have to do the transports later than I would like but we cannot cut it any closer. Otherwise, the attacker might notice the transfer. We want them to think all of you are dead.” Alise moved the ship to their targeted destination and with a shimmer and a slight bump they were there. A second later she swapped the bodies, then activated the engine and they were off. And man they were hauling ass! It looked faster than any science fiction spaceship ever went.
Alise looked at Jason and said, “Your brothers are alive, but with the time we had to wait for the attacker to leave the room we almost lost them. It is going to take a few more minutes of healing before they are conscious.”
