“How?”
“He is having trouble adapting to what is, from his perspective, their rapid aging.”
“I think he just wants to strike at the aliens,” said Ramirez.
“Time travel is destroying,” said Lillishenger. “You step out of a machine after a couple of weeks to find ten years has passed by, even though you are barely any older. The human brain is complex enough and has plenty to deal with. We all like these people – which is why you insist upon keeping them in good health – and watching them age so rapidly is hard to deal with.”
Ramirez turned away to the moisture in his eyes did not betray his inner emotion. “You’re right there,” he stuttered.
The next phase of their journey was interrupted by some exterior problem which caused a slight loss of stability for a moment. Alarms flashed and the Captain brought them out of warp to a lower level while they analysed the data. There had been a momentary cut to the power supply to the stabilising chamber and the generators had cut in. Stiers chose not to investigate further but to press on. He kept them at seventy per cent until satisfied then took them to one hundred per cent to make their deadline. The chronometers indicated the accurate time as they came from warp and halted inside the dome. The door, which could only be unlocked from the inside, was still tightly closed. They unlocked it and walked into the concrete building where sun shone through new windows.
Two men faced them. Both were sitting in chairs, one black and one white; except that did not accurately describe their complexions which were dark brown and a much lighter shade tinged with red here and there. Sean and Eric looked at them and smiled, each with lovely white teeth; which did accurately describe their colour. The men stood, Sean the older by eleven years with Eric aged about 27.
“Spot on again,” said Eric and rushed to greet the two women.
“God you’ve grown,” said Gowan.
“It has been twenty years,” said Eric. “I was just a tiddler back then. You look younger.”
“I am younger than you now,” said Gowan. “And Sean is as old as the Captain.”
“Almost,” said Stiers and shook the men’s hands. “How are your folks,” he asked.
“Mom is here,” said Eric Junior. “She is fine. I’m in the family business now. It is growing and she is priming me to take over.”
“That won’t be for a while,” said the Captain.
“Mom is 62 now.”
“And my mom is 65 and dad is 76,” said Sean Dunfield. “They are here also.”
“And Sue?” asked Ramirez, who seemed to only have seen her a short time ago.
“She’s here. She’s growing older – 37 now. She has a boy and girl of her own,” said Sean. “She lives with her husband in Sacramento. He’s in the space industry. Well, they both are.” He paused. “We had some problems during the collapse of the satellites and had to resort to the generators and wind power.”
“We noticed that,” said the Captain.
“Can we go inside?” asked Lillishenger. “Inside the house.”
“I’m sorry. Of course. It’s your house.”
“No. I was only ever holding it in trust for you,” said the Professor.
“This is 2034 right?” asked Ogden to confirm his own readings.
“Yes,” said Eric Junior. “We survived the satellite hits.”
“I know that,” said Ogden.
“Of course you do,” said Eric. “It’s not often you meet somebody from the past who is also from your future.”
“Are you married, Sean?” asked Gowan.
“No. Only to the business. Thanks to you we are all very wealthy.”
“Me neither,” said Eric. “But that won’t last.”
“Being single is not a natural state,” said Ogden as they left the building and walked to the house. Sarah and Hugh came onto the porch as they approached – a shorter woman with grey hair and a tall man who walked with a slight stoop and who had little hair remaining of any colour.
“It has been a very long time,” said Hugh, extending a hand of veins and wrinkles.
“Too long,” said Sarah and smiled a smile of crinkled and sunworn leathery flesh.
This time they remained as guests for two weeks while Ramirez and Lillishenger did what they could to rejuvenate and restore the health of their friends. Stiers was noticeable morose but unwilling to explain why when asked. His depression cast a strange air over the house for several days then he seemed to snap out of it and took pleasure in learning about all the new children in the families.
The area had changed, seeing a new growth in housing in the nearby town and restoration of some of its facilities. Holmgrove was not bustling and not as busy as it had been in its heyday, but there were no broken down homes and people travelled on hybrid and electric cars of small dimensions. There were still gasoline powered vehicles but these were now mostly commercial. The desert was blooming with tourists and those who sought pretty rocks.
Stiers grew sad again after they left and gone back into warp and when not working spent time in his cabin, which was where Ogden found him. “It’s getting to you, isn’t it?” said the Englishman.
“What is?”
“These visits to the old homestead, as it were. We sit in here for a few weeks then go outside to find the world has changed. Except it isn’t changing, of course. It is turning into the world we know and are trying to save.”
“It hurts to know these people are already dead in our time and don’t know the extent of their contribution.”
“And nobody will ever know unless we succeed.”
In the background engines hummed quietly and there was no sensation of the speed at which they were moving in a tight circle.
The Captain said, “They are withering and dying as we watch, Ogden. It isn’t natural or normal.”
“None of this is. We have been thrown here out of our time and perhaps for a reason. Some would say the creation of worlds and life are nothing more than a series of accidents. I’m beginning to see it more your way. We must focus on our success.”
“And when we next stop?”
“We can expect some people to be older and others to have died,” said Ogden.
“That doesn’t make it any easier,” said Stiers.
“What shook you the most?”
“Seeing Jenny at age 62.”
“She is still in good health.
Lillishenger approached the Captain when he was at his console. “There is a problem,” she said.
“Serious?”
“It could be.”
“We’ll gather for a meeting here. Who is resting?”
“Daniel and Eric Ramirez.”
“Can it wait till change of shift?”
“Yes, Captain.”
So when Ogden and Ramirez appeared they held a brief meeting while the Professor outlined the problems. “There is an anomaly,” she admitted reluctantly. “The gel-packs for the Sarin are deteriorating more rapidly than they should.”
“Explain,” said Stiers.
“It’s as if they are living in normal Earth time.”
“Where are they stored?”
“Below decks between the inner and outer hulls,” she said.
The Captain sighed. “They’re outside the inner shield protection area,” he said. “Could that be it?”
“It may contribute.”
“The gel-packs are organic,” said Ogden.
“So are we,” said Stiers.
“It may explain their premature breakdown. You recall Gowan and the Professor suffering giddy spells at certain speeds. Could the gel be suffering in the same way?”
“That’s very possible,” said Lillishenger. “I don’t think we can reformat the gel. Let me explain. If and when we attack the aliens we must burst through their hull with a small hole and fire the gel packs at that same point. They are designed to penetrate the hull and disperse the sarin while the gel seals the hole against internal pressure from inside the alien
craft.”
“Can we transfer the Sarin into new packs?” asked the Captain.
“While we’re travelling?”
“Yes.”
“I would not advise it.”
“Is there a plan B?”
“We can wrap a new outer layer round the packs – a very thin strong layer which will disintegrate upon violent impact,” said the Professor.
“Can that be done without slowing?”
“Yes. But we’ll need to move the packs inside our protected area.”
“So we’ll have to spend the next sixty years travelling in their company?”
“A few months anyway.”
“It will feel like sixty years,” said Ramirez.
“It will,” agreed Stiers.
“We can provide a better solution at next touchdown,” said Lillishenger.
“Okay. You and Ogden work on that. Meanwhile do what you have to do. I have no intention of slowing to less than 95 per cent. We’re only halfway to our next stop.”
“We have to be prepared, psychologically for that to be a bad one,” said the Professor.
“I’m aware of that,” said Stiers.
“Why?” asked Gowan.
“Because people are likely to be dead and gone – people we know as good friends.”
“Just remember it is an illusion,” said the Professor. “We are not in our own time and we need these families to keep the property and the project together.”
“I don’t like them growing older so quickly,” said Gowan.
“Think of it as pages from an old photo album,” said Lillishenger. “As you flick through you see people grow from babies into old people then die. You are an observer, not a participant.”
The gel packs were coated and dragged from between the hulls to inside the inner hull and away from the below decks machinery. They were stored in a locker in the medical area while they all contributed to a longer term solution.
Stiers had them examine every millimetre of Challenger for any signs of premature aging, especially the outer hull but the ship had been made to last a long time. For safety they insulated all inside areas of the outer hull with an elastic sealant which they had to grow inside the ship itself. This absorbed any vibrations and prevented any damage to the composite. Fortunately this kept them occupied and the time to the next touchdown was easily filled this way.
They were apprehensive as they came to a halt in 2054, not knowing exactly what to expect.
Young Eric – no longer Eric Junior – was there to greet them, a huge smile breaking across his friendly black face. Sean was there – a 58 year old with two strong sons with him – one aged 16 and the other, Hugh Junior, a couple of years younger. But the news was not good for the crew. Hugh Senior had died eight years earlier. Sarah was now fragile and suffered from dementia but still lived at the house with her son and daughter-in-law, Syrene. Jenny was 82 and there to greet them although she was wheelchair bound and now quite dumpy. Junette Gowan wanted to sob when she saw them as nothing had prepared her for the reality of what she faced.
Ramirez said, “Don’t worry. We’ll do what we can to help. We’re only 40 years from home.”
“They are dying and I still haven’t been born,” she said and turned away.
“We knew about this.”
“But it’s all so sudden.”
“We never belonged in their world,” he said. “Just think how lucky we were – how lucky the planet is – that we met such wonderful people.”
“I want to save them all and take them with us.”
“Junette, you are not God and neither am I. We are faced with something that may never happen again in the history of the universe. Don’t concern yourself with things too great and marvellous for you.”
“How do you mean?”
“By accident or great design we are challenged with something no other humans have had to endure. It’s obvious we were always going to have our faces slapped hard at some point. This is that slap. I still believe we will likely die and this may have been for nothing but we must try. I love you, Gowan. I need you beside me.”
“I love you too, Ramirez. I don’t know why but it feels so right.”
“It is right.”
“Then do what you can for them. Make them all as fit and comfortable as you can.”
“It won’t be too long before their medicine catches up with ours.”
“It’s still forty years behind,” she said. “We can still help.”
“And we will.”
Sarah, who hardly knew what day it was anymore, remembered them exceptionally well as is often the case with dementia. “My children,” she said and recited their names accurately.
“Her memory is usually bad,” explained Jenny from her wheelchair. There was no disputing the fact that despite their otherwise good health, the years had taken a toll. Jenny was wrinkled and her once black skin was now pale and blotchy. Sarah, the young woman who had cooked them so many meals and put humour into their lives, had very thin, white hair with a pinkness under the roots.
Their sons were still quite fit and active although obviously older. Sean had a slight stomach and Eric was very fit as if he spent much time at the gym.
The crew spent a week there and visited Hugh’s grave in nearby Holmgrove. Sarah didn’t come as she had forgotten the death of her husband and continued to expect him home “anytime now”.
The crew met with Sean, Eric and Sean’s two sons onboard Challenger to discuss the gel pack problems. Lillishenger explained, “We have to separate cannons in alignment – or at least they are in alignment at anything below thirty feet. Above that there may be some variation. We plan to fire a disrupter cannon at the hull of the craft followed immediately by a gel pack. These are designed to release their Sarin inside the control bridge then seal the gap made by the disruptor. They are made to expand fully one their load is discharged and prevent leakage from the cabin area. We will have to do this four times but we still have no idea what the effect is of super Sarin on the aliens. It may give them a slight headache or wipe them out. There is no script for this. We are just going with what seems the most likely plan.”
“How can we help?” asked Hugh Junior.
“Just keep this place going. We cannot afford to lose this base.”
“We’re looking at developing anti-grav as a means of propulsion,” said Sean. “We have prototypes in the factory but only small success so far.”
“Keep on with it,” said Stiers. “Obviously we can’t help you overly there. It would not be fair and it could change history – or from your point of view, the future.”
“We only plan to use it as an alternative form of desert transport at this stage.”
“Anti-grav is the future of all transport on and around Earth. It doesn’t work so well when there’s no gravity to push against,” said Ogden.
“That’s what we figured.”
Feeling in safe hands the crew said their goodbyes and entered their own ship, sealing the chamber behind them. The concrete structure of the building still seemed in good shape and their Earthbound task force had done an excellent job of keeping the outside sealed tight.
The next flight of four weeks was busy enough. Gowan and Ramirez found time to slide against each other silkily while the Professor and Ogden rooted like water buffalo. Stiers thought a lot about home and wondered if he was getting closer to it or condemning himself to death. In many ways their mission seemed futile but if he was to die he wanted to do it in his own time period. The ship performed flawlessly coming to a halt in 2074. They all wondered what to expect, fearing the worst as always.
Sarah was dead and so was Jenny. The former was buried with Hugh and the latter’s grave was near San Francisco. There was no time to visit her. She had been cremated and there was just a marker, according to her son who was showing signs of his age although still less than 70 years old. Sean was 78 and spritely with his two sons and one grandson aged 12 helping with the bus
iness. Between them they had perfected a limited anti-grav device which operated for a short time on power from a cell but which could propel an ATV for eight hours.
The elder of Sean’s sons, Hugh Junior, was now in his mid-thirties and he was the father of the twelve year old. They told him Eric had married late and was prolific, now have two boys and two girls, half of whom were already at college and being trained to take over the family business.
“When will you be back?” asked Sean.
“About twenty years,” said the Captain. “Start protecting your patents.”
“I expect I’ll be dead next time you’re here.”
“I hope not. I don’t want any more deaths.”
“Your visits are just like that,” said Sean. “You guys never change even as we age and die.”
“We’ll be dying sooner than you,” said Stiers. “At least you live your lives while ours will almost certainly be over in a few weeks from our viewpoint.”
“I guess you are the brave ones.”
“Whatever we are, we are nothing without your constant support and help.”
“Thanks, Captain.”
“As usual we’ll be giving you all medicals before we leave. We want you all to have as long as possible.”
This twenty year inspection was essential for their good health. The ship equipment was able to perform small adjustments and experiments to keep the ground support at its fittest.
The house had been remodelled again and the factory at the rear had expanded. They found time to visit the grave again and stare down at what remained of Sarah and Hugh under the Earth.
“Do you believe in God?” A sad and tearful Gowan asked Ramirez.
“At times like this, you have to,” he replied. “Otherwise all we do is futile.”
“You want to see God?” asked Stiers as he stood across from them. “Look at the blue skies and green fields and long-lived trees. You can lives as a tree twenty times what we have travelled. Trees see and record all. Think about the series of circumstances that have delivered us here.”
“And to be next to die,” said Ogden.
“That has always been the destiny of every man and woman. To die in battle is an honour above all others.”
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