Out of Time

by E W Barnes

  After what felt like hours, Caelen inhaled a ragged breath and the monitoring device they had attached to his arm began beeping a steady rhythm. Choking and coughing, Caelen strained to sit up, but a medic told him to lie still. They carefully lifted him onto a stretcher, and it wasn’t until they raised it to carry him from the room that he saw Sharon.

  “Sharon?”

  She rubbed the back of her hand across her nose. “Yes, it’s me, Caelen,” she said thickly.

  He tried to sit up again, wobbling the stretcher. “Where are we?”

  “It’s ok. We’re safe,” Sharon answered. “Lie down. Everything’s ok.”

  She took his hand as they carried him out. Walking next to the stretcher, Sharon looked back. Richard was still standing near the curved glass wall that housed the temporal nexus. Lucinda spoke to him and he startled as if he’d been asleep before following the medics through the double doors.

  The medical facility was in what had been a semi-circular lecture hall. Beds for patients lined the wall where a lecturer would have stood, while laboratory benches, shelves, and cabinets containing medical equipment were stacked on the risers facing the beds. They put Caelen in the bed farthest from the door and a medic examined him as Sharon lingered in the doorway.

  “We have rooms for you and Richard,” Emory said coming up behind Sharon. “And some new clothing if you’d like to clean up.”

  Lucinda was gently guiding Richard, who looked unfocused, like he was in a trance.

  “Richard needs medical care, too,” Sharon said, lifting the filthy leg of Richard’s pants, showing Emory the wound from the wild dog bite.

  Emory frowned in concern.

  “Don’t worry, we’ll take care of it.” Emory got the attention of another medic. “Please treat his leg right away.”

  “We should probably look you over, too,” the medic said to Sharon, as he bent to more closely examine Richard’s injury. “But unless you have an immediate need, it can wait until you get cleaned up.”

  Sharon walked to Caelen’s bed. “Are you comfortable?”

  “For the moment,” he said. “I think they’ve given me something for the pain. I’m feeling a little floaty.” He chuckled.

  “I’ll wash and change, and then I’ll be back.”

  “Ok,” he said and then peered at her more closely. “Is that what you were going to wear for our date?”

  She looked down at what remained of her dress and laughed. The blue was almost unrecognizable under the filth. “Yeah, it’s a little trashed now,” she said.

  “No, it looks nice,” he said sleepily. “I mean, it would’ve looked nice.”

  She kissed his forehead. “Be back soon.”

  ✽✽✽

  They showed her to a small, windowless room that might have been the office Agent Berg interrogated her in centuries before, or one just like it. Now it had a single bed with a rod across one wall for hanging clothes. There was a set of towels, a comb, a toothbrush, and a gray jumpsuit in the same style as those worn by the community residents. There was also a pair of soft sandals and a pair of sneakers made of a durable woven material.

  She gathered the towels and jumpsuit and followed her escort to the bathing area. In the center was a large tub the size of a backyard swimming pool and several private shower stalls along the walls. She chose one of the latter and, after learning how to turn on the water (pulling a lever) and controlling the temperature (turning a knob), she gratefully rinsed off. The water did not get much warmer than lukewarm, but it was enough. On a shelf outside the shower stall was a bar of homemade soap, which she used to remove the grimy evidence of her travails through the ruined city. The soap and water stung the abrasions on her shoulders, and she promised herself she would get the medic to look at them next.

  After she dried off, she put on the jumpsuit. It didn’t fit her perfectly, but it was comfortable enough and a vast improvement over her filthy dress.

  “What should I do with this?” Sharon showed her escort the ragged remains of her dress as she stepped out of the shower alcove.

  The woman took it from her and looked it over carefully.

  “We can clean it if you want it back. Otherwise we can keep it and the find other uses for the material.”

  Sharon chuckled. “If I can keep the jumpsuit, you can have the dress.”

  The woman smiled eagerly already making plans for how she would use the tatters of silky blue material.

  Her escort showed Sharon back to her small room, where she hung the towels to dry and pulled the comb through her hair until it cleared of tangles. After which she found her way back to the medical facility.

  “How is he?” she asked the first person she saw, nodding toward Caelen’s bed.

  “He’s resting. You can sit with him, if you want.”

  “Actually, I wondered if I could get some help with this,” Sharon answered as she pulled the jumpsuit away from her shoulder to expose the abrasions.

  The medic applied a cream to the abrasions, resulting in instant relief, and covered them with a light cloth bandage. Finally, he offered her painkillers which she accepted gladly. Pulling up a chair, she sat next to Caelen’s bed. He was breathing steadily, and his color looked good. She took his hand again and laid her head on the bed. She closed her eyes and within minutes she was asleep.

  ✽✽✽

  Sharon woke to a soft touch.

  “Ms. Gorse?” a voice whispered. Sharon looked up. It was Lucinda.

  “We thought you might like to have supper,” Lucinda said.

  “How long have I been asleep?” Sharon asked.

  “Several hours,” Lucinda answered.

  “And Richard? Where is he?”

  “He’s sleeping in his room. I’ll invite him to join us if you’re ready to eat.”

  Sharon looked at Caelen. He was still sound asleep and still looked and he did when she’d dozed off. Finding the medic who had treated her, she asked him to find her if Caelen woke before she returned.

  They stopped at Richard’s room, but he was not there. Lucinda did not appear alarmed at his absence. Sharon expected to be led to the communal eating area, but instead Lucinda showed her to another conference room set up as a small dining room.

  “We use this room when we have working meals with community leaders,” Lucinda explained.

  Emory was already there along with Richard. Richard’s hair was damp, and he was wearing the same style of jumpsuit as Sharon. He looked rested and Sharon was glad he was finally comfortable. The food laid on the table included several courses of fresh vegetables, herb-flavored flat breads, and the fungus again, this time served in a savory sauce. Sharon did not refuse when offered seconds. It felt like years since she’d eaten her fill.

  When the meal ended, and Sharon was relaxed, Emory offered them a black tea.

  “We’d like to ask you a few more questions, if you’re willing,” he said as he poured a cup for Richard.

  “How can we help?” Sharon asked.

  “We’d like to know more about how you shifted here. Without a working temporal amplifier, it should have been impossible, but you are here.”

  Richard pulled the small device he’d used to kidnap Sharon out of a pocket and held it up. Emory reached for it, but Richard pulled back.

  “I’m sorry, I can’t let you touch it.”

  “What is it?” Lucinda asked. “It looks like a temporal amplifier portable interface unit.”

  “It’s not of this world,” Richard said. “Though you’re not wrong—it’s the parallel earth’s version of the portable interface unit.”

  “How do you have it?” Emory asked. His eyes were hard as he watched Richard, and Sharon saw his mind working, assessing whether they’d let a dangerous traitor into their midst.

  “Don’t worry, I’m one of the good guys,” Richard said as if he read Emory’s mind. “When my temporal amplifier was sabotaged, it sent me across the rift to the parallel universe. I assume they intended me to
die there. But I didn’t die, and eventually I regained my senses enough to steal one of these to get back to this world.”

  “Why did you bring Sharon Gorse here?” Lucinda asked.

  “To save our world.”

  “How will you do that?”

  “We must go to the other side.”

  “The other side of what?”

  “Of the rift.”

  “Take me to the parallel earth?” Sharon recoiled. “Why do I need to go there?”

  “What do you mean save our world?” Emory interjected.

  “To stop the invasion and the destruction,” Richard answered.

  “To change the timeline, you mean,” Lucinda said.

  “To correct the timeline,” Richard responded.

  “How can you use it without a working temporal amplifier?” Emory asked.

  “I can tap into the temporal nexus. It will power our shift across the rift.”

  “But if you change the timeline, we cease to exist, isn’t that right? All of this,” Emory gestured around him taking in their community with his hand. “All of this, all these people would cease to exist.”

  “Yes,” Richard said. “Probably.”

  “Do you know what you’re saying? How can you consider just wiping us out from existence? Have you given any thought to the lives you are willing to just eliminate?” Lucinda was close to tears.

  “They may still exist in the new timeline.”

  “But many won’t, and you know that,” Emory said. “We cannot allow this.”

  “In the space of a week, five billion people died or were forever taken away,” Richard’s voice was no longer rough and raspy, but deep and powerful. The change stunned Sharon. “The weapons used by the other earth contaminated the soil and the water. You know this. Those who remain are slowly dying.”

  “We are safe here, we will thrive…” Emory sputtered.

  “The few who remain are members of a species slowly going extinct. There will be no revival, no renewal. The earth is dying. The human race is dying. All this,” Richard gestured. “All this that you’ve built will be gone in a matter of centuries.”

  “You don’t know that,” Lucinda whispered in shock. “You’re… you’re wrong, you’re just guessing…”

  “I do know that. And the only way I can stop it is if Sharon goes with me to the parallel earth.”

  “But why me?” Sharon demanded. “Why couldn’t you do what needed to be done while you were there? Why do you need to take me back?”

  Richard held her eyes. “Because it has to be you.”

  Sharon slouched back in her chair at Richard’s unsatisfactory answer, but Emory and Lucinda were not focused on his insistence on taking Sharon across the rift.

  “Lucinda and I, our community, are what’s left of the Temporal Protection Corps,” Emory growled. “What you’re proposing is wrong. We cannot allow this violation of temporal policy and we have the authority and ability to stop it. You have accepted our hospitality and you are welcome to stay with us and become members of our community. If you wish to leave, we will help you get to the surface and you can go where you will. If you choose to stay, the temporal nexus will be off limits and we will not allow you near it.”

  Emory sighed, as if overwhelmed by the weight of his own pronouncement. “We invite you to share this technology from the other earth, to help us learn from it and perhaps repair our own temporal systems,” he said in a gentler voice. “If we can get our temporal amplifier working again, we’ll send you home to your time if that’s what you want. Otherwise, we’re happy for you to become part of our community in this time frame… for the rest of your lives.”

  With that, they ended the meal. Emory escorted Richard back to his room, while Lucinda walked a stunned Sharon back to the medical facility. Wordlessly Sharon sat next to Caelen again, staring at the ceiling. She didn’t know which shocked her more, Emory’s decree that they were stuck there forever, or Richard’s admission that he planned to take her to the parallel earth. She couldn’t imagine what he needed her for—what could she do there to save the world here? How could her going to the parallel earth accomplish that? It was a moot point now, though, she thought glumly. They were here to stay. At least Caelen was here, too. That was her silver lining.

  Another medic approached her. Would she like to stretch out and sleep while she waited? he quietly asked as he pointed to a chair that reclined. Sharon thanked him for his kindness and after moving the chair next to Caelen’s bed, she relaxed under a coarse blanket and eventually fell asleep.

  She woke to find Caelen smiling at her.

  “Good morning,” he said. “I thought I dreamed you were here, but it really is you, isn’t it?”

  “It’s me,” she said, taking his hand. “It’s good to see you awake. How are you feeling?”

  “I have a bit of a headache, but otherwise I feel fine. Where are we?”

  “What do you remember?” Sharon asked.

  “I remember evacuating the TPC through the old tunnel. Agent MacGregor was the last one to come through. Director Veta asked him to be sure we left no one behind. There was a saboteur,” Caelen lowered his voice and Sharon nodded, encouraging him to continue. “We wanted to be sure the saboteur couldn’t do more damage. At the exit to the CERN level there were energy discharges from the temporal nexus. They were powerful.”

  “I’ve seen them,” Sharon said.

  “Agent MacGregor was caught by one. Director Veta and I pulled him out and we were hit. It was so strong. It felt like someone was pushing me into it.”

  “History recorded that you and Director Veta died in the evacuation,” Sharon said gently.

  “History? Where are we, Shar?”

  “The year is 2337. We’re in the time frame Yorga planned to send you to, the one with no working temporal amplifiers.”

  “Did Director Veta come with me? She was hit, too,” he started but Sharon shook her head.

  “No, it was just you. You appeared in a flash of light next to the temporal nexus. There was no one else.”

  “Who are these people?” he dropped his voice to a whisper as a medic walked past.

  “They are the descendants of the TPC staff you and Director Veta saved.”

  “A lot of people helped with that,” he muttered. He closed his eyes. “Everyone we knew is dead, aren’t they?”

  “The people we knew are dead now, yes, but they left a legacy here.”

  “And how did you get here? What happened to you? The night before the evacuation, when you disappeared?”

  Sharon cocked her head at him, frowning.

  “What do you mean? You were there, you saw Richard kidnap me.”

  “No, I wasn’t there. That wasn’t me. When I got to your apartment, you were gone. It was another Caelen. Director Veta thought it might be me from a future timeline, but whoever it was, it wasn’t me.”

  “Why would a you from a future timeline have been there?”

  “I don’t know. I’m sure it would have been to help you or help the TPC,” he said exhaling tiredly.

  “Maybe. But he didn’t get a chance, Richard happened first.”

  “Who’s Richard?”

  “You remember—Rose made a hologram of him,” Sharon stopped as Caelen’s brow furrowed.

  “In that timeline I don’t remember?” he asked teasingly.

  Sharon nodded with a grin, remembering their first adventure together, most of which Caelen didn’t remember. Then she explained to him how Richard was her grandmother’s friend afflicted by temporal aberration disorder, and how he believed Sharon could stop the parallel earth from invading.

  “But how could the invasion have happened in the first place? What about the safeguards against another Alexander Event…?” he began.

  “Richard said that when Yorga shifted to the future from the ‘Email Timeline,’ that timeline continued to exist,” Sharon explained. “Because of the email, the safeguards to protect against an Alexander Event
were never developed in that timeline. And because of the virus in the temporal mainframe, when the parallel earth opened the rift, it opened across all timelines.”

  Caelen dropped his head back against the pillow and closed his eyes, frustration etched on his face. Sharon said nothing, lost in her own thoughts.

  Finally, Caelen spoke again. “This Richard thinks he can fix it?”

  Sharon rolled her eyes, trying to hide her fear. “Yeah, by taking me across the rift to the parallel earth.”

  “What? No. No. That’s out of the question. You can’t go,” Caelen pushed himself up. Several medics turned to see what was going on. Sharon stood and eased him back down.

  “Don’t worry, these people have scuttled his plan,” she said quietly.

  “Good,” Caelen exhaled. “Why did he think he needed you, anyway?”

  Sharon shrugged. “I don’t know. But he insists it has to be me.”

  “What makes you doubt him?”

  Sharon hesitated. Because he kidnapped me, she wanted to say, but that wasn’t the whole reason. It was clear Richard completely believed he was acting in the best interests of the world. But there was something else that bothered her. It wasn’t Richard’s fault the temporal aberration disorder made him erratic and unpredictable. Yet, as it had been with her mother, Sharon resented his volatility. If they were going to save the world, she longed to count on him, as her teenaged self had longed for a stable mother as she entered adulthood. Then she had run away from it. Now she was trapped with it. She sighed.

  “It’s not that I doubt him, it’s just hard to have faith sometimes.”

  “So, what do we do now?”

  “Nothing,” Sharon said. “There’s no temporal amplifier here and they won’t let Richard go through with his plan. We’re stuck here.”

  “Would you like something to eat?” a voice asked. It was the medic who had offered Sharon the reclining chair. Now he had a tray of food for Caelen.

  “How soon can I get up?” Caelen asked the medic as he placed the tray across his lap.