by Chris Mills
“That may be true,” Persis said. “We do not know. A previous reality has been overwritten. How would you feel if a person never existed and you never knew about it? Does it do justice on their account?”
Why hadn’t Herald told them? Gabe tapped his foot. “We had nothing to do with it,” he assured. “We didn’t prevent someone else from being on the council.”
“Time travel is something we haven’t dealt with. The tear is space if very special. What comes back does not return to what it knows. This may be from unimportant things, as you made yourself out to be.”
“I didn’t say we were meaningless.”
“Do you understand my point?”
“Yes,” Gabe said. When he returned, would Persis not be on the council or would he be there - or better yet, would someone else be in his place?
Silence fell. Willard stepped forward. His mouth opened. “I must speak,” the weird alien that floated in invisible water said. Without this translator, Gabe would be lost. Her mouth moved weirdly compared to the others. “I am Councilwoman Iwerin and I must speak on this. The most important question has not been stated. Why are you here?”
“Pardon me,” Gabe said, “but you know why.”
“I want you to clarify,” Iwerin said. “Tell me why.”
Gabe about scoffed. “We’re here because of Herald,” he said. “He brought us here. We never had time to act.”
“You spoke earlier that he did not force Stephen Jones. Did he force you?”
“He never,” Gabe began. He rubbed his foot on the ground. “His timing was bad. Stephen should have been given more time to consider the offer. What else were we supposed to do? I’d have -” Kim’s ocean blue eyes kept with his. “We couldn’t let him go.”
“I see,” Iwerin said.
“The situation -”
“Let me ask a few more questions. Did something force you to board that shuttle?”
“No,” Gabe said.
“Did you have ample time to leave, or were you injured and unable to?”
“No,” Gabe spoke.
“Then why are you here?”
“I’m here,” Gabe said. His fists clenched. “Because I did not leave the shuttle and stayed by my friend.”
“You’re here because you chose to be,” Iwerin said. “There had been ample time for you to leave. Herald Zumerkrin gave you warnings. Regardless of the situation, you could have stayed.”
“But how would we live with ourselves?” Kim said. “I wouldn’t have been able to sleep.”
“A choice had been made. Do you understand?”
“Yes,” Kim said softly. She hung her head. “I wanted to see him well, ma'am. Some choices must be taken.” Some nods came to that. Gabe took a deep breath. Willard stepped forward once more. Not another in the council spoke. Iwerin soon motioned for him.
“That brings us to a vote,” Willard said. “We must decide if you return based on everything presented.”
Iwerin suddenly looked away. “Willard, we must make haste,” she soon said. “I am needed. There are some issues on my homeworld I must attend to. I do apologize.”
“Hands in favor,” Willard said. He raised his hand first. Jim followed. The lizard’s soon came up. Gabe’s body became a statue. “Anymore? This is a matter that affects their future.” Not a budge. Iwerin floated away suddenly. She soon returned. Gabe stare, eyes begging. “Against.” Four hands quickly rose.
Gabe found it hard to breathe. “May I ask that we reconvene on this issue?” Jim said. The council’s eyes snapped to him. “This does impact them.” Kim eyes were wide. It was hard to tell if her chest kept rising. “Let time be a factor till then. We may see things differently. This has been the only time an issue like this occurred.”
“Hands in favor?” Willard said. Once more the three rose their hands. Iwerin’s hand slowly rose. Persis followed quickly. “We will reconvene on a further date.”
Light rose in the room. All at once the council vanished besides the two who brought them here. It started in the feet and moved up the body. Gabe’s fist shook hard. “You said that we’d fucking go home!” he barked at Jim. “How dare you!”
“Stop,” Kim said. She sunk to the floor holding her face.
“Kim!”
The girl Gabe loved more than anything broke down. She stared at no one, only held her face. Gabe came to his knees. He tried to touch her. No turn came to him, no hold like in the past. He stared at Jim and Willard with fury. Someone had to do something. Gabe once more put his hand on her shoulder. No matter what, he swore now that he’d get her home - at any cost.
Chapter Twenty
“What?” Stephen questioned.
Jim shook his head. “I didn’t expect that,” he said. “Only three. The right decision should have easily been said.”
“They’re stuck here?”
“We managed to get another meeting.”
“When?”
“That hasn’t been discussed.”
“How are they going to change their minds?”
“It only takes one,” Jim said. “The council doesn’t know a thing about them. If they knew more, maybe they’d have. I can’t believe this. I’m so sorry.”
“Where are they?”
“With one of my assistants,” Jim said. He took a seat behind his desk. “I’m terribly sorry.” He folded his hand and closed his eyes. “They need to be alone. I have never seen a woman break down like that for a while. Don’t, Stephen.” Stephen’s hand had about hit the panel in the office. “You can’t help them right now.”
“This isn’t right.”
“I know,” Jim said. “Willard is lost too. He has gone to see his daughter. This was to conclude our current meeting. I have cancelled my next meeting to extend our time.”
Herald sat in the chair close staring at the ground. Of anything, there should have been fairness here. Andy too kept to himself in the corner. His arms were crossed, head hung. Why would someone deny a birthright that Herald gave Stephen to those here? The past deserved those in it. So much for their universal principle bullshit.
“I can try to get a date set,” Jim said. He sighed. “It won’t help now. They are more likely to agree the same. A sudden change of heart isn’t something we should have in this line of work.”
“What am I supposed to do or say?” Stephen said.
“Nothing, not now. You have to wait. Let them be. I need to think on what to do with you in this new situation. Their situation doesn’t change that. We can’t have you stored away.”
“What are you thinking?” Herald questioned. “We don’t have the obvious means to separate Kodon. And stored away?”
“I should have not said it like that. We have to figure out the future. I have an idea, but I will need to talk to Willard. He is on this with me right now. Stephen, what would you want to do?”
“I want to find the Aliefens I heard of today,” Stephen said. “If anyone knows something about Kodon, they must. It’s something. Something is something right now. I don’t want to be an experiment in a lab.” Thoughts of being led to a lab every day for years to come made him cringe.
“I agree that their knowledge and technology is above ours,” Jim said. He tapped his desk and leaned back. “It’s a risk, but I agree. They may be a place to start. There may be others who are familiar with Kodon. We however, may have known by now.”
“What do you mean?” Herald asked.
“Kodon wasn’t hidden from all,” Jim said. “You did hand over some information on it a decade ago in hopes that someone else stumbled upon another. That information traveled, excluding the power that can be drawn from it. It had all those years for someone to take wind and come speak to us. I can network it again, but I can’t promise it will be different.”
Stephen rubbed the back of his head. “I hate to bring it up, but how long till I am known?” he said.
“Known?” Jim questioned.
“That I am Kodon.”
�
��Only Willard and I know that besides your friends,” Jim said. “We can keep it that way for now. That information may stay that way till we say different. There is the chance you could live your life while it is assumed Kodon never left that tube.”
“That is a big risk,” Andy said. “If Stephen tries to have a life and someone does come, I’d hate to be the one who believed nothing could happen. He needs to be safe. This thing needs to vanish.”
“There could be risks,” Jim agreed. Stephen rested his back on the wall. On top of his future, he kept thinking to Gabe and Kim. They were here because they cared. Shouldn’t they be free in this before Stephen took course? “I have an idea, but I will need time to see if it is feasible. I know it is, but not in the manner I see fit.”
“What is it?” Herald said.
“There could be more to come if we did find the Aliefen,” Jim said. “We’d have to start with them. I think at least.” There had to be something. “More can come as I said. We might be able to reach an agreement and have them help us in other areas. They have acted where many failed. Plagues have been cured by them, and an entire race had been saved.”
“You mean we find them and get ahold of their knowledge too?” Andy questioned. “That seems wrong. Aren’t we asking enough as it is?”
“We’ve always wanted to make a connection with them,” Jim said. “Anyone on the council would agree that they would be a great asset. I know they wouldn’t join the empire from our attempts before, but if they were to, it would be substantial.”
“Let’s start with one thing,” Stephen said.
“Yes, but there has to be more in order to get this going.”
“What exactly do you need?”
**
Christmas had been big at the Miller home. Andy’s mother would ensure a fresh Christmas tree came and was given the best care. She hated killing them and eventually found a service that gave a live tree that could have another home the next year. She’d decorate it, humming away, and do her best every year to tell Andy about it. He used to feel over the trees and try to figure out what ornaments were meant for him.
Andy never felt close to a god until a fateful day and tried his best after to be a better son. He wanted to be able to sit back home with his mother at Christmas and talk. The idea of seeing a real tree in his living room, like a miniature one of the huge one in the lobby, would be wonderful. This one had modifications done so it could get to this size.
The idea of going home couldn’t come, and now Andy didn’t see that option. Four councilmembers would have still raised their hands against. Could his sight story have made it better or worse?
A chair would be nice now. Andy hunched over the rail. Evening had come and dinner consisted of a pizza with something called klune on it. It tasted like ham. A box went into the room nearby. These doors kept sounds out. Kim hadn’t cried on the way back but did before she went into her room. Andy barely handed the box to Gabe when a door came between them.
“You should go for a walk,” Herald called. He strolled down the hall, munching on something. “It’ll be a better night than last.”
“I find that hard to believe,” Andy said.
“Come, Andy. Do you really feel that way?”
“No,” Andy sighed. Everyone was here, besides Stephen who had gone to the pool alone to soak in the hot tub. “I wish things were better. I understand their ruling. I don’t want to, but I do.” Herald rested against the rail and held out a black nut. Andy’s fingers rose for a bit. Herald brought it closer.
What the? This little nut had chocolate inside, not covered. Herald dumped a few more into Andy’s hand. “Go on,” Herald said.
“We screwed up a future,” Andy said. The damn nuts were hard not to bite into. Each had a different type of chocolate; white, dark, milk, and one too sweet. “They don’t like the idea of more changes we can’t see coming. I’d hate to suddenly cease to be or my friend.”
“Things weren’t too messed up,” Herald cut. “I saw little things. From what Jim told me, Persis got mad because he probably felt someone more important had the role, and now, he had it. The future is what it is. I’ve yet to see something that has really caused me not to sleep.”
“I see,” Andy said. “Do you think they can go home?”
“There is always hope. It’s what Stephen and I are living on with his situation.”
Andy nodded. Hope sounded at times like a go to thing when people didn’t really have answers. He believed in it and here, he did hope for both cases - regardless of their difficulty. How did you separate something fused with another, and how did you convince one person to change their mind? If the two did manage to go home, what the hell were they supposed to say? Sorry, we went to Africa for a month and Stephen and Andy joined a tribe?
“I’m not sure about Jim’s plan,” Andy said.
“Each councilmember has control of one-seventh of the empire’s forces, not only the military. Jim has the power to do what he wants with his own ships within reason. He can be taken out of his position if he did something foolish.”
“They can dethrone him?”
“He’s not an emperor,” Herald reminded. “Jim holds power and can do much with it. If he wants a ship to pursue a mission, he has to convince people. We’ll know soon enough what all he has come up with. I had hoped things were where we hoped, and we could be free of this.”
“That would leave Gabe and Kim here.”
“I know,” Herald said. “Nothing has gone to plan since we came back.”
“No, it hasn’t.”
Andy wished he knew what to do next. It felt like Stephen and Herald were the ones who Jim worked with now. Andy had no geks, and no place to go. He’d gladly help anyway he could, but where would that leave the other two? Their stay here had been extended, and who really knew when Jim would have a finite plan. If it fell apart, what then? They couldn’t live off Herald. Work experience had changed in the centuries that passed.
“There’s one thing I’ve come to like about the future,” Andy said.
“Does it involve travel?” Herald questioned.
“No,” Andy said. “Well, I do like the idea of going anywhere. I have come to like the little things.”
“You said one thing.”
“It’s something I didn’t have back home,” Andy said. “I expected everything. Nothing changed. I can be down here and suddenly I’m handed something amazing to try. Like those nuts. It’s nice.”
“It’s an interesting view,” Herald said. He dumped the last of the nuts into Andy’s hand. “The past has helped you and Stephen. You’ll have an excellent time associating. You’ve looked at everyone the same. I’ve had to warn Gabe and Stephen not to stare before.”
“People are people.”
“And that’s what many forget.”
“People are people so why should it be,” someone sung. “You and I should get along so awfully.”
“Really, Stephen?” Andy questioned. “Depeche Mode?”
“Sorry,” Stephen chuckled. He rubbed a towel over his head. He wore the trunks he bought earlier and a white sleeveless t-shirt. “I didn’t mean to eavesdrop.”
“What’s a Depeche mode?” Herald asked.
“It’s a band from the eighties,” Andy explained. “Stephen’s father loved that decade. I remember coming over and him blasting it out back.”
“He never did like our stuff,” Stephen said. Andy shook his head. He broke Stephen’s CD in half once after he heard some of the lyrics. To defend Caleb, that band ended up falling apart and sounded like crap.
“How about we all go out for a walk?” Herald questioned. “This time, it will be different. I promise.”
“Eh,” Stephen began. He flipped the towel over his shoulder. “Sorry. I think I’m going to watch a movie. You two can go ahead. I need to get some sleep tonight.”
“Yes, you do. We all do.”
**
The morning sun had yet to rise. The flow
of traffic had slowed and soon would pick up to what Galat II should be known for. A slight chill hovered in the air, or possibly, it only came to Kim. The hotel had an outdoor balcony with many tables for guests to use near the top. It had been a rare find early this morning when she consulted her room computer on what she could do in the hotel.
Kim took a nice breath in. And she was to be called a therapist. Countless times, she watched someone break and cry in sessions. In college, she had to learn to not react like she had. It didn’t help when she had the issues. She rubbed her dry eyes. Crying got old quickly. She had done it plenty in the past and hated it. Her mother told her always to be tough, to ‘turn the other cheek’ stuff, and at most deal with her emotions without bottling them up or letting them boil.
When it came to dealing with emotions, Kim had many things she’d do. Never had she been one to run or workout to help. She read, did some yoga, wrote down her thoughts, gone for a long walk, and oddly played Minecraft on occasion. She could try yoga now. The rest required something she hadn’t access to, and she didn’t want to leave the hotel.
Kim kept close to the rail that gave off a nice blue glow. This place really had a nice feel to it. Her room was nice, the food was great, and she did feel safe in her room. The future scared her, yet she knew it couldn’t be that bad. Back home, terrible things happened. How long would it take before it hit her then? She doubted another Hanash character would have met her.
“Oh,” someone said. “Good morning.”
“Stephen?” Kim questioned. “What are you doing up?”
“I could ask the same.”
Stephen strolled forth in a pair of shorts and a plain t-shirt. “I needed a break,” Kim said.
“I fell asleep early,” Stephen said. “I had some weird dreams. I tried to go back to sleep again, but here I am. I came here the first night with Herald. It really is a nice view.”
“Yeah.”
“Kim, how are you?”
“A therapist would help,” Kim said. She tried not to chuckle at the thought but did. “It’s not fair. I had this feeling though, Stephen.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah,” Kim said. Stephen plopped down in a chair and yawned. “I anticipated it. The idea of having to state a case came to mind, and I felt that they would rule against it.”