Empty Planet

by Lynette Sloane

  The next morning Gemma called around.

  She said, “Before we left natural time Zee gave me a small RD. I asked her why we needed it seeing as ours was the last jump and we couldn’t send it back for analysis. She told me to keep it safe and take the usual readings and photographs, especially of you and Lillie.”

  “Strange.”

  “She also said that it would act as homing devise; if a vortex was to open it would be drawn the location of the RD.”

  This gave me hope. Maybe one day they would send another vortex and I would see Anna again, or at least Gemma could send the readings and pictures back through time and Anna would see how Lillie and I were doing.

  The days turned into weeks, and months. Late autumn brought cooler weather and high winds, then the first light snowfalls of winter fell, but no vortex appeared. I didn’t give up hope, not even after three years had passed. Of course Lillie didn’t remember anything of her life in natural time and ran around chatting and laughing like any happy, well-adjusted child. I often showed her the picture of her mother I still kept in my now unnecessary wallet, and sat with her to look through our wedding album. I told Lillie stories of how her mother and I had met, and of Grandpa George and Uncle David on the farm, but this wasn’t the same as having a mother to look after her and tuck her into bed at night.

  Everyone had a part to play in this new society. The settlers had formed a governing body and I had been given the role of legal advisor. In doing this I felt I was contributing to our new, cashless society.

  Lillie was no longer the only child in the settlements; several other Jumpers had produced offspring including Carla and Geoff who had birthed twins. All the children born in this century were found to be stable and didn’t suffer jumping deprivation as Lillie had before she left natural time. Gemma had moved on too. She had a love interest, Marco, although she insisted they weren’t ready to start a family.

  After supper one evening I sat with Lillie at our dinning table. Under Tim’s instruction I’d fashioned it out of left over pieces of wood given to me by the timber workers. I’d become quite a craftsman. I’d made beds for Lillie and myself and a couple of chairs for the living room.

  Lillie was a bright child, which was to be expected, as she was the offspring of a Jumper. I opened an alphabet book in front of her and we read together: “A is for apple; B is for ball; C is for cat,” and so forth, Lillie pointing to the relevant pictures.

  When we got to M is for Mummy Lillie looked up at me with innocent, wide-open eyes, “Daddy, when am I going to have a Mummy?” she asked.

  Her question shook me, “You have a Mummy, I showed you the photos,” I replied.

  “I want a Mummy who hugs me,” she said sadly.

  As I was wondering how to respond to that Gemma burst through the door, clearly out of breath. We both turned and looked at her in surprise.

  “What’s up?” I asked. It was obvious she had been running.

  “It’s the RD,” she managed between gasps, “it’s started to vibrate. I think they may be sending a vortex.”

  She placed the devise on the large floor rug in the centre of the room and stood back.

  “Look away,” I said, quickly shielding Lillie’s eyes from the intense light.

  A moment later, when the vortex had dimmed, we saw my father staring back at us from the other side of time.

  I grabbed Lillie as a precaution in case she tried to run through the vortex.

  “We haven’t got long,” Dad said with urgency, “pass me the RD. Gemma picked it up and looked for something to use to pass it to Dad, who was captivated by Lillie.

  Gemma chose one of my dinner plates, put the RD on it and pushed it through the vortex. Dad thanked her. The plate crumpled to dust as it arrived in his timeframe.

  Zee stood near the temporal doorway, “I had hoped to join you today, but there is someone else whom I believe you would prefer to see,” she said.

  I gasped as Anna joined Zee by the gateway.

  “That’s your Mummy,” I said to Lillie excitedly, picking her up so she didn’t pull out of my arms and run to her mother. Anna and I stepped towards each other carefully staying on our own sides of time. We stood facing each other, only centimetres apart yet separated by many thousands of years. My heart beat faster; I felt like a teenager on a date. I wanted to take her in my arms, to hold her tightly, kiss her passionately and never let go, but neither of us could touch the other. It would have been so easy to take that one step forward, but I knew it would have been my last. I shuddered as I remembered what had happened the old man who ran through the vortex; this jump was nearly twice as far as the one he took, so I imagined death being instant if either of us passed through the time portal.

  Anna took a step back, thanked and hugged Zee, and then the impossible, the unthinkable, happened. Anna started to step through the vortex.

  “No!” I shouted, realising what she was going to do. “You’ll be killed.” I couldn’t let Anna do that. I was prepared to push her back knowing that I would die when I passed through the time portal. I was willing to give my life to save her, but hesitated for a second only because Lillie was in my arms and I didn’t have time to put her down. I had to protect my small daughter too.

  That second’s hesitation was all it took for Anna to pass through the vortex and stand next to us. I was stricken, for a moment expecting her to drop down dead, but she didn’t. She said she felt a little dizzy, but otherwise appeared healthy.

  “Is this Lillie?” she asked excitedly, looking at the child.

  “Yes.”

  I put Lillie down, still firmly holding her hand. She hid behind my leg, a little frightened, and not understanding what was happening.

  Gemma took hold of her as I reached out and touched Anna. She was wearing a loose fitting blue dress and sensible shoes, which wasn’t at all her usual style. In a moment we were in each other’s arms and I knew why she was dressed that way: she was pregnant.

  Having used up most of its power reserves, the vortex faded slightly. Dad and Zee knew they didn’t have long, so starting pushing a large aluminium trunk through the vortex.

  When it was nearly through Dad said, “For goodness sake Steve, help us with this. I grabbed hold of the trunk and pulled with all my strength, and as it cleared the temporal doorway, the doorway closed.

  Making her way to my front door, Gemma said, “I’m going to find Carla and fill her in. You two have a lot of catching up to do.”

  Anna knelt down and spoke to Lillie who was standing nearby, watching her mother suspiciously, “It’s all right, you don’t have to be nervous. I’m your Mummy.”

  Lillie looked at her mother for a few more moments, then reached out and tugged on my T-shirt, saying, “I’m hungry Daddy. She looked back at her mother, then without speaking to her, walked into the kitchen area and helped herself to a cookie.

  I could see this upset Anna so I helped her back to her feet and took her in my arms saying, “You have to be patient. Give her a little while to get used to you. She’s a bright child; it won’t take long.”

  A few minutes later Carla ran through my front doorway staring at Anna and the trunk with interest.

  “I thought you were a norm, how’d you manage to survive the jump?” Carla asked.

  “I need to talk to Steve first, but I’ll tell you everything tomorrow,” Anna answered. Carla agreed, still eyeing the trunk with interest. “A girl needs to bring her favourite clothes,” Anna added gesturing to the trunk. “It was a one way trip after all.”

  “Ok, I look forward to hearing about everything in the morning,” Carla said, leaving my little family to catch up.

  I put Lillie to bed and tucked her in, trying to explain to her what had just happened.

  “I understand Daddy,” she said, looking thoughtful. “Are Grandpa George, Uncle David and Charlie are coming too?”

  “I’m sorry Lillie, they can’t, but it’s wonderful to have Mummy here.”

  L
illie nodded in agreement and shut her eyes. I knew the little girl would warm to her mother very quickly.

  Anna wanted to hold Lillie tight, but Lillie wasn’t ready for that yet. Her mother would have to be patient even though the wait was so frustrating.

  As Lillie lay sleeping Anna said, “It’s all so strange. From my perspective it’s only been a few months since Lillie was a baby crawling around the cave, now she’s nearly four. I’ve missed her first steps, her first words and lots of other special moments.”

  That night, as Anna and I lay on our bed, she told me her story:

  “Steve, when you stepped through the vortex I was distraught. I told myself that you and Lillie had to leave, but it didn’t help. John tried to comfort me but I was inconsolable.

  “Zee was very nice and checked on me that evening. Even though I was poor company, she came to our cave several times over the next few weeks and we got to know each other quite well.

  “I knew she had a daughter, Sue, because we stayed in her bungalow that time, but I didn’t know if she had any other children, so I asked her.

  “She seemed reluctant to answer at first, then told me she had another daughter and a son. Unfortunately the son had refused the vaccination as he thought he wouldn’t need it. I must have looked concerned because Zee said, “It’s ok, he’ll be fine.”

  “I assumed she was living in denial; no one refusing the vaccination would be fine. The virus had gone pandemic within a matter of weeks. Your father told me that each generation had to be vaccinated against it and Section were making plans to educate the remaining population to this fact. In the mean time there were plans to bring all expectant mothers and mothers with newborn babies into the caves, or other special isolation units, for protection from the virus, where they would stay until the babies were strong enough be immunised.”

  I held Anna closer, “Do you want me to continue?” she asked.

  “If you’re not too tired Sweetie.”

  “Everyone at Section seemed very busy and I was really wondering if I should return to live on the surface. There didn’t seem to be any point in staying in the caves now you’d left. I didn’t serve any function and wasn’t trained to do anything except apply makeup and prosthetics, which wasn’t very useful down there.

  “I helped in the canteen for a while, but the smell of steaming fish soon made me feel really sick, especially in the mornings. I quickly realised I was having another baby. The thought of this new life growing within me helped me cope with loosing you and Lillie, although I was concerned that this new baby might be a Jumper too, and would suffer jumping depredation and die of old age like Lillie would have if she hadn’t gone with you. John said he would run some tests, as this was quite likely.

  “Zee came straight over to congratulate me and took me to the lower caves for a chat. You must admit that living in that closed community made it very hard to get any personal time or have a private conversation. We walked by the lakes and I saw some of the fish and the blind newt-like creatures that live down there.

  “She asked if I remembered her mentioning her son and daughters. I nodded. “Let’s sit here a moment,” she said motioning to a flat rock underneath some cave lighting.

  “We sat down. I could sense her apprehension and I wondered what she wanted to tell me. She said she hadn’t always been known as Zee. That came as no surprise, but what she said next rocked me to the core. She said she had been born Melody Zena Mantle, her married name was Franklin and she was my mother!”

  “I stood up, staring at her in disbelief, and demanded to know why she’d said that. With all I’d been through in the last few months, I couldn’t take it in. I shouted, “You can’t be my mother! My mother was a Gypsy who ran off with another man. She never contacted me, not even on birthdays or at Christmas.”

  “Zee gave me a few moments to settle and let her words sink in, then told me she’d sent David and me cards every year, and letters when we were old enough to read.

  “I was still upset and stood up for my father. I told her Dad hadn’t known if she was alive or dead, but she disagreed. She said he’d moved away so she couldn’t find him, and years later, after she’d got her degree and joined Section, she used their software to trace him, but he refused point blank to let her have any contact with either of us.

  “Zee met up with him a few years later, but he told her that David and I had refused to see her. Then she found out I was dating one of the Jumpers.

  Anna took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before continuing, “I told her I wasn’t sure I believed her and Dad wouldn’t have done that to us, so she told me a story to convince me that she was who she said she was. It was that one I told you about, the one where I was walking by a river with Mum when I was about Lillie’s age.” I nodded, remembering the story. “Zee said she was holding my hand and I pulled away when I spotted some bluebells growing by the trees. I picked some for her, but when I ran back I tripped over and cut my knee. She said she sat me on her lap and dabbed my cut with a handkerchief.

  “I asked her why she picked this story. She said it was because of the bluebells. This was why she had often called me Anna-bells when I was very small.

  “I was convinced, but didn’t speak for a moment, unsure of what to say. That night I told your father what Zee had said. He was amazed. He persuaded me to stay in the cave system until our baby was born, and was old enough to be vaccinated, before I relocated outside the caves. I was going to join the outreach team, as it was called. I would be travelling around outside with a group of others, informing pregnant ladies that their babies would need to be vaccinated and showing them my new son to prove it was harmless.”

  I hugged Anna again and kissed her, so pleased that she was having a boy.

  “Oh sorry, I gave the game away there,” she said.

  “It doesn’t matter. I always wanted a son. Shall we get up for a while?” I asked her, “I’ll make us a drink.” She nodded and got out of bed. I made some nettle tea—a new recipe some of the ladies had concocted—and handed it to Anna. She looked a bit uncertain at first, but after a few sips decided she liked it.

  “Steve, I still can’t believe I’m with you and Lillie,” she said. “Do you have doctors here ‘cause Steve junior is due in about four months?”

  “Yes there’s one nearby and another in the next village group. If you feel up to it we can walk over to see them tomorrow, or if you’d prefer, one of them could do a home visit.”

  I told Anna she should get some sleep and could continue her story in the morning, but she was eager to carry on.

  “Ok, if you’re sure,” I said.

  She continued, “A few days later I overheard a couple of technicians talking about the vortex core. One was saying that there was enough energy stored to make another jump. I knew you were the last Jumper so wondered why they were storing more energy. I couldn’t help being excited at the thought that I might be able to see you and Lillie through the vortex.

  “I went straight to Zee’s office. She was in a meeting, so I waited outside her door determined to find out what was going on. When everyone had left I knocked on the door. Zee told me to enter.

  “She’d been expecting your father but was pleased to see me. I told her what I’d overheard, but not whom I’d heard it from, as I didn’t want to get anyone into trouble. She said she was going to speak to John about some change of plan.

  “He had been very busy running with the theory that if some Earthsong members had survived when they’d been sent back in time, their descendants could still be living on earth and some of these descendants might carry the genes that allowed temporal jumping.

  “I asked Zee how John would find out who they were. She told me he’d started by testing David’s DNA. This proved positive. The genes were dormant, but had contributed to him surviving the super-virus.

  “Zee paused and looked down when she mentioned David’s name. She bit her bottom lip the same way I do when I feel awkward. I aske
d her what was wrong. She told me that she’d visited him after he’d been brought back through time and found it strange knowing that the old man before her was her own son. At that point he was many years her senior. However, when she told him that she was his mother he completely blanked her.

  “I took Zee’s hand in mine and told her how David had called me Anna-bells when he lay on the floor outside the caravan, dying.

  “Until she had visited him he’d never known the truth about why his mother had left him when he was a small boy, and as an old man he couldn’t cope with the revelation.

  “After a few minutes Zee was able to continue with her explanations. She told me that John and the team had tested the DNA samples of all Section workers, including hers. She was the only one carrying the full set of required genes. Whilst they were for the most part dormant, they could be encouraged to allow her to jump. Sadly, she didn’t pass these genes on to Sue, but she did pass them on to me, and Steve, my temporal genes are active.

  “Suddenly I had hope, I asked if I could go to you and Lillie. Zee said that in view of discoveries made since you and the rest of the Jumpers left, and with a little help from the genetic science department, it might be possible. Apparently I needed a set of injections to get me ready for the jump. Zee assured me the injections wouldn’t harm the baby, and would prepare him for the jump too, as he would obviously be going with me.

  “The programme had allowed the Jumpers to built up their resistance to the final jump by firstly taking smaller jumps, then increasingly larger jumps, until, over a period of years, they built up resistance to the twenty thousand year jump. So for the next two weeks I had the daily injections that did the same thing for junior and me.

  “It puzzled me that hadn’t I aged prematurely like the Jumpers who had left the programme, so I asked Zee about it. I hadn’t been on any jumps other than parallel ones. She explained this was because my temporal genes hadn’t been primed by going on a jump when I was six years old. Lillie’s temporal genes didn’t need priming, as she is the child of two Jumpers.