The Third Ten

by Jacqueline Druga

  But even the protected pockets weren’t completely safe.

  Most of the money the government had, went to technology. Building a population to protect and farm, another large chunk went to defense; the tiny bit remaining went to the people.

  Roy wasn’t paid for anything he did.

  He was fed, protected, and given anything he needed.

  He had to be protected. He had to be sheltered. That was the plan. Roy would be fed information that they wanted him to have and only information pertinent to survival.

  As he ejected the cartridge from the news player, he noticed something else on the bag.

  “Happy Birthday, Roy.”

  Roy smiled. It was his birthday. Funny. He was alive for thirty-nine years, but his embryo had been created over eighty years before that.

  He remembered the birthdays of his youth.

  Movies, old television series, old Hoi Vision shows, all courtesy of Danny Hoi.

  He never got to speak to Danny. Not speak personally, they communicated via messaging. Roy was told it was because Danny knew Dean Hayes and didn’t want any influence, but he saw Danny Hoi often, through the observation window. He imagined Danny’s voice and how it sounded. Deep, and with authority.

  Roy was Danny’s brainchild.

  That was what General Spade had told him.

  When a world void of scientists and brilliant doctors started being ravished by disease, Danny was the one who came up with the idea to bring back the mind of Dean Hayes.

  He knew where the clone was hidden in the old world of Beginnings. It was Danny who created the artificial womb, he had information and education pumped in utero to Roy.

  It was Danny who dictated that Roy would exceed Dean’s intelligence capabilities. Theorizing that if unscathed by the world, uncomplicated by life, a great mind would be a vat and develop as such.

  It did.

  Danny would give Roy things to invent, or take one step further than he did.

  Danny Hoi invented up until the day he died. He lived a long life. Way past a hundred years old.

  Despite the blood recharging transfusion that Roy created, Danny’s body simply wore out.

  It was empty for a while after Danny.

  It was that emptiness that stayed with Roy. It was also Danny Hoi that made him plot and plan for over half his life on what he could do.

  He didn’t know the younger Danny Hoi that lived in Beginnings. He looked different, thinner. But he knew the mature Danny of the post world of the Great War.

  The Great War was the turning point.

  It had been said that had the Great War not had happened, or been handled differently, the world would have turned out differently.

  How Roy wanted to live in a world like Happy Days or like Beginnings.

  “If you could go back and change it would you?” Roy asked Danny during a messaging session. Roy was all but about Twenty-five. Danny was in the final years of his life.

  “You mean time travel?” Danny responded.

  “Yes. Like they had in Beginnings.”

  “To determine the point would be difficult,” Danny said. “There are lots of points. I would if I could. If I could figure out where. The mind isn’t as quick now.”

  “So you would?”

  “If I could. The world was not meant to be like this. History was not meant to be like this.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Can’t tell you.”

  “Would the world be different, Danny?”

  “Yes. Very. I told you this before. You’re like a child with a bedtime story. You have to hear it over and over.”

  “I like to hear it,” Roy typed. And he did. Many times Danny shared the story of the Aragon Window, and a future Dean told of when he went through.

  Danny continued, “But even if I could. Time travel was outlawed decades ago and the regressionator destroyed.”

  “Was the research data?”

  No response.

  “Can you get me the research data of Dr. Godrichson, Danny?”

  “Please erase that last line and clear the memory of your computer.”

  Roy was taken aback by that, and more surprised that Danny ended the conversation.

  But Danny sent him a box three days later.

  A box no one else could make heads or tails out of.

  A note accompanied it.

  A note that simply said. “It is a secret. It shall always be a secret. Do what you can. Let no one know.”

  Danny.

  The time machine, or HG Wells was Roy’s side project for a decade. But he was smart about it … of course. Even though no one was supposed to know, chances of his observers knowing were great. Therefore he invented two.

  One that the government would know about, and one only he would know about.

  The HG Wells 2 would be Roy’s means of travel.

  HGW2 was the better machine. It could be pinpointed for the traveler. Roy could target anyone as long as he had the coordinates, unlike HG1 which had to be near the travelers.

  When it came time to test the time machines, he let General Spade in on it.

  The test was a success, and as suspected, the government snatched it up. Not for use, time travel was outlawed, but for monitoring. Ever since the Regressionator was destroyed years earlier, they were looking for ways to monitor time travel anywhere. Should anyone invent it.

  Roy figured out the quirks for them, leaving out a few things for his benefit, and added a self-destruct mechanism to the government machine. It was linked to Roy’s and should Roy’s ever stop working, HGW1 would cease to work until Roy entered his restart pin code.

  That would stop them from using the machine to find him.

  Roy set his own with a safeguard. After so many trips within the same zone, the machine would ‘burn out’, Roy never though that would be a problem.

  He thought wrong.

  He had it planned out.

  One trip back was all it would take.

  One trip and if what he wanted to do was correct, the future he returned to would be bright and perhaps like the Aragon Window history.

  Roy knew the second he fired up the time machine, the government tracking would pick him up.

  He had to find a reason for the government to use theirs.

  He did.

  General Spade was drawn that day. His wife had died in a LEP attack.

  “You can bring her back,” Roy said. “You stay in the time room. You’ll feel the joy of her return.”

  The look on Spade’s face told him he knew what he was talking about. “We can’t go back and stop the attack,” Spade said. “Time travel is …”

  “Illegal. But what if we present to the counsel and government a one time trip. Maybe more. Send LEP soldiers in invisible suits to wipe out the LEP population before they progress.”

  “Go back to Beginnings where they started.”

  Roy nodded. “We have a date on that one, or time frame.”

  Spade conveyed that it was indeed a great suggestion for the future. Half the problems would be solved without the LEPS. Even though Roy knew the possibility of that was slim. With Frank and his men, the LEPS soldiers didn’t stand a chance and they would fail in their mission.

  A month later, it was approved. There would be two trips. A week apart future time. First LEPS soldiers would go to kill the LEP infants, the second trip was their backup to ensure no one stopped them.

  As they set the Beginnings time, and the date and so did Roy. The government picked March 1st and March 5th, Beginnings time to send the LEP invisible soldiers back to.

  Roy had to use the two trips wisely. They were only a week apart future time.

  During the government’s first release of the LEP soldiers, Roy went back to February 13th and borrowed the SUT tracker from Danny. He could track Dean to make sure he wasn’t around when he made his next trip.

  When the government sent the second wave of soldiers back. Simultaneously, Roy went back to
Beginnings, a few weeks earlier than the arrival of the LEP soldiers. His purpose, to return the SUT tracker and to change the future forever…

  The snow was falling hard and Roy landed oddly between the Containment building and the Social Hall. He knew the area from pictures, and made a mental note that should he have to go back, he would change coordinates. He checked the SUT tracker, Dean wasn’t around.

  There was laughter carrying throughout the streets as people walked and slid on the slippery surface.

  Hearing the music get louder every time the door opened, Roy headed to the Social Hall. As he thought, Joe was there.

  He coughed from the smoke and walked up to Joe.

  “Just like you not to wear a coat,” Joe said. “What’s up?”

  “We need to speak.”

  “If it’s about Frank or …”

  “Joe Slagel please. It is imperative. Can we go somewhere private?”

  There was a look in his eye as his mouth hovered over his drink, Joe cased Roy, up and down, and then he nodded.

  Jess was working Containment, and Joe used that office while Jess did lock down with the residents.

  “First, let me tell you, it is an honor.”

  “Who are you?” Joe asked.

  “How do you know I’m not Dean?” Roy asked.

  “The way you talk, look … Dean looks worn. You look like you’ve been laid.”

  “I’ve had much rest, thank you.”

  “Who …are you?”

  “My name is Roy Rogers 354.”

  Joe laughed. “Sorry.”

  “I am from the future.” From his pocket, Roy pulled out a disk. “This should work in your history. I have a copy, so I can have proof of what history was. The traveler safeguard.”

  “The constant,” Joe said.

  Roy nodded. “It is a self-extracting program that will work with your computer operation system. You have nothing like it in Beginnings so therefore you will have no problem believing what is on it. It isn’t much. It should be a secret, promise me, Joe Slagel, you will keep it a secret.”

  “You have my word.”

  Roy handed him the disk. “Your program information will disintegrate after you have viewed it. So take notes.”

  “You don’t trust me?”

  “I trust you. I just need to convey the information to you. Just information.”

  Joe took a deep breath and took the disk. “So after I watch it once, it’ll be a plain old disk.”

  “Yes.”

  “What is it?”

  “A future you do not want. A great war happens upon us. It is called the Great War. The information contained herein should give you the insight needed to plan and defend. You must do all in your power Joe Slagel to stop the war or win the war. You were ill prepared when it happened. Now, you will not be.”

  “Holy Mother of God.”

  “Save the future, Joe. You must.”

  Roy was grateful Joe didn’t give him a hard time. Maybe it was because he wasn’t wearing clothing of Beginnings time, whatever the reason, the information was passed.

  Roy thanked Joe, shook hands, wished him luck, returned Danny’s SUT tracker and went back to the future.

  He was filled with excitement as he prepped the HGW2. What would the new future be like, he wondered? He went through and returned to the future. His room was the same. That surprised Roy, but not much. Filled with excitement he looked out the window. He expected to see beauty, instead he saw the same. Poverty, hunger, homelessness.

  Curious, he went to the computer and pulled up history.

  Nothing changed. There was some defensive troop movement, but nothing in history had changed. Joe had the information. Joe had the foreknowledge.

  What went wrong? Why didn’t Beginnings win the Great War?

  It was then Roy realized he had to do more research. Obviously, the invasion happened in the Aragon Window history. But what was the difference? How did Beginnings win in that future?

  He’d make another trip, but before he did, Roy would learn all he had to learn, come up with every scenario, and make sure he didn’t fail.

  For the people starving in the streets, being killed by the LEPS, and for the dying civilized world, he would keep doing it until he didn’t fail.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  In a promise to himself that he had to keep, Robbie had to focus on his other work as well as the investigation. Plus, eventually, during the day he had to get some sleep. He scheduled with Dan for him to cover his last two hours.

  Dean gave Robbie a list of equipment he needed to work on the body analysis. Some was in the old trailer lab, some in his cryo lab. Knowing Ellen was in the cryo lab, Robbie would have to wait, or divert Ellen. Then again, Frank was supposed to talk to Ellen about the clone, and then Robbie could just go to Ellen and get the correct stuff.

  John Matoose was in charge of the afternoon check in on Dean, and Robbie had already placed that call to John about the things Dean needed. John had no problem taking them out.

  He secured his morning rounds bright and early, and then headed out to the trailer to work on the investigation and other things.

  He wanted to examine what the clone left behind, to see if there was any clue about what he knew.

  Arriving at the trailer, Robbie parked in the back and walked around to the front door.

  He paused when he saw it.

  Flashes of light coming from Jason’s quantum lab.

  Flashes.

  Usually that was consistent with one other thing … time travel.

  Had Jason fixed the time machine? To the best of Robbie’s knowledge, it was still broken.

  He walked to the door of the trailer lab and stopped.

  “Fuck.”

  He twitched his head in disgust. Totally forgetting they had changed the locks, Robbie left the new keys back at his office.

  He had a choice. Break in or drive back.

  Opting for driving, Robbie took advantage of the jeep time and called Dean.

  “Flashes?” Dean asked.

  “Yeah, blue.”

  “Time machine.”

  “That’s what I’m thinking.”

  “Which would make perfect sense,” Dean said. “If Jason were in on it, he could be lying about the machine not working to keep us from even suspecting Joe was in the future or …”

  “Stop us from stopping the death.”

  “Frank,” Dean whispered.

  “What?”

  “What was one of the first orders of business Frank did?”

  “Outlawed time travel” Robbie said in discovery. “I said it before Frank could be a part of it.”

  “I don’t know. First we have to determine if the body is that of a clone or imposter. Then we can go with the ‘Where is Joe’ theories.”

  “This is the biggest mystery yet, Dean,” Robbie said. “Not only where, but why.”

  “You know it has to do with this war. It has to.”

  “I know. So, should I stop and see Jason or what?”

  “I would watch. Just watch. Ask Henry about any power surges in the area.”

  “Good idea.”

  “Unless he’s using the titanium.”

  “True. OK. I better get to work. I’ll call you.”

  “Hey when you come out can you bring me the footage of the clone?” Dean requested.

  “Sure thing.” Robbie hung up, and drove the rest of the way into town in thought.

  He arrived at the line of utility buildings and parked the jeep by Frank’s trailer. He paused to see how well the construction was going on the new office. Just as he walked around the jeep, he spotted Andrea coming from Frank’s office.

  “Sweetheart!” She sang. “There you are. I have been looking all over for you.”

  “I’ve been working.” Robbie accepted the kiss on the cheek.

  “You look tired.” She rubbed his forehead.

  “I am. Been working like a dog.”

  “But doing a great
job.”

  “What brings you out here?” Robbie asked.

  “Oh, I made brownies.”

  “Brownies? Really?”

  “Yes, I did.” She smiled. “Dropped a plate off for you and Frank. Better get some before he eats them all.”

  “I love brownies, Andrea. You’re the best mom.”

  “You’re not going to Bowman are you? I have some for Hal.”

  Robbie shook his head. “John Matoose is.”

  “Oh no. I won’t bother him. I want to go hit the Unique Boutique it’s a Sunday Sale today only. I’ll drop them off for him.” She exhaled and looked at her watch. “Well, I missed you at service.”

  “Sorry. How’s the new guy working out?”

  “Divine. He’s not Robbie.”

  “Thanks.”

  “And Joe was restless.”

  Robbie chuckled. “I bet.”

  “I better be going. I want to drop off a plate to Jimmy then catch the Dan Tram and be back home for Sunday Supper. You’ll be there, right.”

  “You bet.”

  “You know how your father gets.” She kissed him on the cheek. “Be good and safe.”

  “You ... bet.” Robbie’s words slowed down.

  He stood there watching Andrea stroll away. Since his father’s passing, Andrea had been upbeat and bubbly, never really the mourning window. Insisting her grief was buried because she was blessed with the ghost of Joe.

  Robbie chuckled and laughed at that notion, playing along with Andrea with the sake of her mental state.

  But suddenly, her words seemed different.

  Since discovering the body, he didn’t feel like laughing anymore at Andrea.

  <><><><>

  Hal stared at the phone. He spoke briefly, pleasantly, with only a few nods, mainly yes and fantastic, but then after saying goodbye, he stared.

  “Captain?” Elliott called his attention.

  “Sorry.” Hal shook his head. “It was my stepmother.”

  “Everything OK?”

  “Oh, yes. She’s on her way to town, asked if I would like to shop with her, and plans to drop off brownies.”

  “That’s really great.”

  “Brownies, Elliott. My whole life we wanted a mother to make us brownies and I get it in a post-apocalyptic world.”