“Well, we can track the storms when they appear,” Manuel said, tapping on a computer screen that looked sort of like a weather radar scope, “Which is how we found you. We come out on a regular basis to try to help time refugees like you. The storms come through pretty regularly in this area, but unless we’re already within a mile or two, they usually disappear before we can get to them, or the ASF gets there first. We have to be careful to be gone before they get a drone close enough to ID us on camera or they get a hovercraft out there. Just the act of intentionally going in the direction of a time storm or contacting a time refugee is against the law. If the ASF catches you, the penalties are pretty severe. Most of the time they seize your boat and throw you in lockup for several months - and let me tell you, the lockup is pretty rough! Fortunately, we’ve got a few advantages that our tech guy Otto has set up, so we’re not at too much risk of getting caught if we’re careful – he’s jamming the drone cameras right now. But getting back to your question, as far as I know, there’s not any dependable way to get you back to your own time, although the ASF might have something they’re keeping a secret. Even if they did, they’re a lot more likely to imprison you for life than to help you, so I wouldn’t recommend going to them.”
“So, where am I exactly?” Jeff inquired.
“We’re off the Southeast coast of the state of Cuba - near Guantanamo Bay. I’m going to take you to our compound until your temperons are gone and we can hack you an identity chip,” Manuel replied.
Jeff held up his hand, “OK, we need to back up a bit. Did you say the state of Cuba?”
“Oh, yeah, Cuba became part of the United States in... Well, it was around 2100, as near as I remember from my government classes.”
“Close enough,” Jeff replied, “Now what was that stuff about temperons and identity chi...” Splash! A wave of saltwater crashed over the bow of the boat and hit Jeff full in the face. The boat veered hard to the left and Jeff lost his balance, nearly falling over the side, but Manuel grabbed him by the arm at the last second and pulled him back to the console. Jeff coughed as the saltwater burned at the back of his throat.
“Sorry!” Manuel apologized, “This boat is as old as shit and it doesn’t handle the waves like the hovercrafts do. I probably should concentrate on steering around the rough water. I’ll fill you in on everything when we get to the compound. We’ll be there in another 10 or 15 minutes.” Jeff nodded in agreement, still coughing the salty water out of his lungs. “In the meantime,” Manuel added, “You probably should go to the back and get Rita to give you some sunshield. You are getting seriously solared already!”
Jeff looked down at his arms and was shocked by how red they were. He carefully stumbled back to where Rita was sitting. The slender dark-haired woman was already digging in a gear bag. She pulled out a small bottle and fished out a couple of tiny spherical black pills. “Take these,” she instructed.
“Manuel said you had some sunscreen,” Jeff replied.
“Sunshield,” she corrected with a smile, “That’s what these are.” Jeff took the pills from Rita and tossed them in his mouth. Before he could even swallow, the tiny pills had completely dissolved and almost seemed to disappear. “You probably should sit down over there,” Rita said, nodding at a seat on the other side of the stern of the boat. “Manuel will do better avoiding the rough water now that he’s paying attention, but we’re probably still in for a bumpy ride for another few minutes.”
Jeff managed to make the few steps to the seat and plopped down in it. As he did, he felt something heavy in his pocket slap against his leg. He reached into his pocket and felt the gold coins he had grabbed back at the governor’s house in Pueblo Carcel. Well, at least he wouldn’t be starting out broke this time. In fact, he might actually be starting out as a wealthy man!
The boat pounded across the choppy water for several more minutes before entering a protected cove. The ride quickly became a lot smoother and Jeff could see a dock jutting into the water from the mangrove trees not far ahead. A few minutes later, Manuel backed off on the throttle and the boat drifted alongside the dock. Sam and Rita stood up and jumped onto the dock to tie the boat off. Jeff stood up and Sam leaned down extending his arm, “Let me give you a hand up. You still look a little wobbly,” the wiry, balding man offered.
“Thanks,” Jeff replied as he gripped Sam’s hand and climbed up on the dock.
Manuel climbed up after him and led the way down the dock. He paused halfway to the end and turned to Rita, “Better put a bug barrier on Jeff before we get to the trees, or the mosquitoes will drain him before we get him inside.” As the words left Manuel’s mouth, Jeff felt the familiar sting of a mosquito biting his neck and swatted it.
“Here, Jeff, let me put this on you,” Rita said, pulling a metal bottle from her bag.
Jeff stepped toward her and she started rolling the bottle on his arm. “Um, what are you doing?” he asked.
“Oh yeah, you probably don’t have this in your time, do you? This cylinder creates a layer of charged particles on your skin and clothing that repels the bugs,” Rita replied, still rolling the bottle on him.
“Cool!” Jeff exclaimed.
“I’m sorry, is the cylinder cold?” Rita asked.
“No, no, cool is just an expression. I just meant it is a nice step up from the insect repellants I’ve used before.”
“That should do it,” Rita said as she finished rolling Jeff’s body with the repellant and placed it back in her bag.
The group proceeded to the end of the dock and into the trees. They walked for a hundred yards or so through the mangrove trees before arriving at a set of doors projecting a few feet out of the ground, like the storm cellar entrances Jeff had seen on his travels in tornado country. Up the path, Jeff could see what looked like a large house through the trees. Manuel noticed his gaze, “That’s the main house,” Manuel pointed up the path, “but we need to get you in the bunker before the ASF satellite picks up your temperon signal. ” He and Sam each grabbed a door handle and pulled hard. The doors slowly creaked open to reveal a set of steps leading down to a well-lit hallway.
Rita led the way down the steps and Jeff followed her as Manuel and Sam closed the doors behind them. “The accommodations are a bit sparse, but they definitely beat what you’d have at an ASF lockup,” Rita said as they walked down the hallway, which consisted of bare concrete on the walls and floor and some type of luminescent material on the ceiling that lit the passageway.
A large metal door stood at the end of the hallway and Rita pulled it open and waved Jeff through. A handful of people were already inside. Two men were seated at a small table in the center of the room wearing goggles and suits that appeared to be part of some sort of virtual reality game, while two women were talking and sipping drinks in what looked to be the kitchen, and another man was seated at a desk reading a holographic display. They all stopped what they were doing and looked up at Jeff and the others as they came in. “These are your roommates - all time refugees like yourself,” Rita said. The men and women walked over and formed a line in front of Jeff as Manuel stepped forward to introduce him to the group.
“Everyone, this is Jeff. He’s originally from the year 2012, but this is his second trip through a time storm and he has just come from the 17th century!”
The first man, a dark-skinned gentleman who looked to Jeff to be about 50 stepped forward and shook Jeff’s hand, “I thought I had come from a long way back! My name is Earl. I’m from 2078.”
Next in line was a somewhat overweight man with curly red hair who Jeff figured to be in his mid-twenties. As they shook hands, the man introduced himself as Martin from the year 2099. The first of the women to be introduced was Allison, a fit-looking older woman from the year 2115. The last of the men was a stick-skinny middle-aged man with messy blonde hair named Brett, who was from 2119. Finally, there was the shapely woman with long blonde hair. Unlike the others who were dressed in what resembled surgical scrubs, she was
wearing a tight red dress and stiletto heels and her hair and makeup were impeccably done.
The bombshell eyed Jeff hungrily as she introduced herself in a low, husky voice as… “Roberta.” Roberta pushed Jeff’s handshake aside and pulled him into a tight embrace before kissing him on the cheek. “I’m from 2095. Where I come from, the men are men and… well, sometimes the women are too!”
The others laughed as Jeff recovered from his surprise and replied with a smile, “Nice to meet you, Roberta.”
Manuel spoke up, “Now that the introductions are out of the way, let me get you settled in. I’m sure you’re tired. Are you hungry? Thirsty?”
“Actually, the biggest priority right now is I need a restroom.”
“Restroom?” Manuel asked.
“I need to pee,” Jeff said, attempting to clarify, but Manuel still had a blank look on his face.
Martin broke in with a sigh of frustration, “The man needs to urinate.”
“Oh, yes, of course! We call it ‘nating’. Right this way,” Manuel waved for Jeff to follow him.
“Need a hand?” Roberta called out suggestively from behind them as Manuel directed Jeff down a short hallway.
“No, but thanks anyway, Roberta,” Jeff called back over his shoulder.
Jeff entered the room Manuel directed him to, but it didn’t look like any bathroom he had ever seen. The room was empty, except for a few buttons, a mirror, and what looked like some sort of drawers on the walls. Jeff popped his head back out into the hallway and said, “Manuel, I’m going to need a little guidance here…”
“Oh, of course…You’re from a lot further back than most of our guests. In fact, not even counting your stop-over in the 17th century, you’re from longer ago than anyone we’ve had before,” Manuel replied as he stepped into the room. “This button activates the waste processing system.” Manuel pushed the button and out slid a metal drawer with a seat on it that was sleek and shiny, but despite its high-tech appearance, it was instantly recognizable as a commode, except for the fact that it appeared to have solid bowl with no water in it, nor any visible means of emptying. “This button will activate the personal cleaning function when you are seated, but for standing use, simply do your thing and just push the main activation button again when you are finished and the unit will slide back into the wall,” Moving to the side, Manuel pointed at another button on the wall and explained, “This button activates the hand sanitizing unit. Just place your hands in the openings and it will clean and dry them. Again, just push the main button again to retract the unit. That button on the far wall activates the spray wash unit and the temperature control screen will appear when you activate the unit. When you are done with the spray wash, the next button over activates the body dryer. Any questions?”
“No, I think I’ve got it, thanks,” Jeff replied.
“In that case, I will leave you to your… What did you call it? B? D?”
“Pee,” Jeff said with a smile.
“Yes, well in any event, I will leave you to it.”
“Thanks Manuel.”
Manuel departed and closed the door behind him and Jeff turned to use the commode. As he loosened his rope belt, the gold coins in his pocket quickly pulled his pants to his ankles with a muffled jingly thud. He was going to have to figure out someplace to stash those as soon as possible. Jeff finished relieving himself and secured his pants before pushing the commode’s activation button. Instantly it slid into the wall and began making a low whooshing noise. Out of curiosity, he pushed the button again and after a momentary pause, the sound stopped and the commode slid out from the wall. Not only was it ready for use again, it was perfectly dry and there was no indication at all that it had ever been used, let alone used less than a minute before. “Hmph, that’s pretty cool,” Jeff said to himself.
He was now anxious to try out the hand cleaning unit, so he pushed the activation button and out slid a drawer with two side-by side openings. Jeff slid his hands through the openings and immediately felt them being sprayed with warm water – or some liquid – from all sides. A moment later, the spray stopped and warm air jets came on to dry his hands. After 30 seconds or so, the jets automatically switched off and Jeff pulled his still somewhat damp hands from the openings. Jeff had to laugh to himself. Even after more than a hundred years, and despite the other advancements in restroom technology, they still had not perfected the hand dryer and he wound up wiping his hands on his pants!
Jeff pushed the button and the hand cleaning unit slid back into the wall. He exited the room and Manuel was waiting for him.
“Let me show you the rest of the living arrangements,” he said as he directed Jeff through a door on the other side of the hallway. Jeff looked around the room. While it was a pretty large space, it seemed somewhat cramped because of the number of beds that had been squeezed into it. “This is the bedroom. I’m sorry that everyone has to share while they are here, but at least the beds are comfortable. You can take any bed you like that does not already have sheets on it, and you can find a selection of sheets, blankets, and pillows in the cabinet over there. Just use whatever you like. Now, if you’ll come with me, I’ll acquaint you with the kitchen and entertainment options.”
Jeff stopped him, “Um, Manuel… Exactly how long do you expect me to stay here?”
“Well, it takes about a month for the majority of your temperons to disperse so you can’t be picked up on the satellite scans. You will then be able to go topside and move into the main house. You’ll still need to stay with us for another month for your temperons to completely dissipate before it’s safe to leave the compound. Once your temperons are completely clear, we’ll help you get established with a new life where the ASF won’t be a problem.”
Jeff sighed, “OK, so what you are saying is that I’m going to be stuck down here in the bunker for a month?”
“I’m afraid so. Outside the bunker, the ASF can pick you up on their scanners as long as you are still emitting temperons…”
“Yeah, what exactly are temperons?” Jeff asked.
“When you travel through time, the body’s interaction with the time rift produces electrically-charged particles we call temperons. The ASF has satellite temperon scanners that sweep the area searching for time refugees. When you stay too long in one spot topside, the temperons collect in the air and the satellites can detect them. If the scans pick up anything, they send out a patrol to pick up the refugees and take them to lockup. Most of the time the temperons are depleted enough within a month or so that the satellites can’t pick them up anymore. Even then you still have to avoid going into any public areas with security checkpoints for another month or so because the checkpoint scanners are a lot more sensitive than the satellites.
“One more thing,” Jeff started, “What’s the deal with the ASF? I thought you said that Cuba was part of the United States now. How does the ASF have the power to patrol and incarcerate people in the United States?”
Manuel looked perplexed, “I’m not sure I understand the question. The ASF is the law enforcement branch of the United States. Oh, wait! You’re from 2012! You’re pre-corpornation!”
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Pirates of the Storm (Stranded In Time Book 1) Page 21
