Until Time Stands Still

by Scott, Lona

  “To what end?” Mykel asked. “I don’t want to die in some shit hole place in history that no one has ever heard of. I’m a simple man. I want a family. Kids. You know, grow old with someone. I never wanted to be a solider.”

  “Well, son…if you want those things, my program is your best shot.” The General said grimly. “I really shouldn’t be telling you this, so keep your trap shut about it until the rest of the boys know.” The man eyed Mykel.

  “I won’t say anything.” Mykel said firmly.

  “If you do, I’ll shoot you myself.” General Palmer said.

  “Just tell me.” Mykel sighed. He hated the posturing macho crap.

  The General studied the man for a moment. Mykel had dark hair, and blue eyes that showed him to be far wiser than his years. Maybe he was an old soul, or perhaps he had just seen too much. Like so many others had. Finally, he made a choice and nodded, more to himself than to Mykel.

  “According to our last government census, over half the women who got pregnant last year, had spontaneous miscarriages. My own wife included a few months back. Several more who made it to full term had stillborn births. One of the doctors at the CDC said something about residual radiation sickness and the genetic code being fucked. No woman can produce healthy offspring anymore. At least until we figure out how to fix it. Honestly, I don’t really understand the medical mumbo jumbo. All I know is, at this rate, the human race could die out within the next generation, maybe two, if we don’t do something about it now.”

  “What do you plan to do about it?” Mykel asked, frowning. “And what does it have to do with me?”

  “Almost all of the women of our time are sick. Most of the younger women, teenagers, don’t have a clue they can’t have children yet. To keep the human race alive, we have to go back to before the Third War, and bring women here, and produce healthy children.”

  “Wait…a breeding program? You want me to be a part of a breeding program?” Mykel sat stunned. “You can’t just…do that. It’s wrong.”

  “We can do it with the Time Jumper Program. And we will. I have orders to follow, same as my men do. It’s out of my hands. We need your help. People are dying too quickly for the population to survive.”

  Mykel shook his head. “People die all the time. You can’t just steal women from other time periods and force them to have children. That’s barbaric and I won’t be a part of it.”

  “I know it is! But we have no choice. If you don’t help us, the entire human race could be at stake! You’ll condemn us to death!”

  “What, do I have super sperm or something? I can’t change that. Find someone else.”

  “It’s been determined by what is left of our government; that the human race surviving is more important than individual free will at this point. The women will be between the ages of eighteen and twenty five. Every single military man will be required to marry one of the woman and produce at least one boy and two girls, healthy enough to produce children when they get older. Whether you agree with it or not, this is happening.”

  Mykel just stared at the General. “I don’t have a choice either, do I? You’re going to force me to join your rag tag little time jumping team aren’t you?”

  “I’ve been authorized to do whatever is necessary. We need time jumpers. You specifically. Most men can’t do what you can do, especially without the nanites, and the few that can don’t have the discipline or mental capacity to follow orders.” He admitted. “I don’t want to have to be an asshole about it, but we really do need your help. Graham’s team is all we have left. We need you. For the foreseeable future, you will all be responsible for bringing women from the past here. Hopefully willingly.”

  “So essentially, we are government sanctioned kidnappers.” Mykel snorted.

  “The women will be very well taken care of. Over time, they will learn to be happy here.” General Palmer said firmly.

  Mykel’s laughter could be heard through the whole floor.

  Chapter Two

  Isabelle Carter sat stiffly at the dining table, sitting in silence across the table from her husband, who ignored her behind the newspaper. She picked at her fruit and muffin.

  “Would you stop picking at that damn muffin!” Lewis Carter growled, slapping the paper down on the table. Isabelle sighed, and wrapped her muffin in her napkin. She stood, and silently brushed the crumbs off her pants suit.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” He snapped. He stood.

  She froze. “Work.”

  “I don’t know why you keep that silly book shop. I make more than enough money to support you. I give you an allowance.” He shouted.

  “I’m not a child that needs an allowance. I’m an adult who wants to work and earn a salary.” She snapped. She ran to her room and locked the door behind her. She only breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the front door slam shut. Lewis had been cold as ice to her for the last six months, and she had no clue why.

  “Mrs. Carter?” Their housekeeper, Darla walked into the room. “You called for me?”

  “Yes, Darla.” She smiled kindly at the woman who had been her closest friend since she had married Lewis. “Are you aware of anything that might be bothering Lewis? He’s been so grumpy lately.”

  “I don’t know what he’s been upset about. He’s been fairly kind toward me.”

  “Have you noticed him acting strangely at all?”

  “Not really.” Darla said.

  Isabelle sighed. “I’ll have to talk to him. Thank you sweetheart.”

  On the way to work, she tried to put her husband out of her mind, rocking out to her favorite radio station and dancing in her seat. She felt most free when she was listening to music. At a stoplight, someone pulled up next to her sports car and started seat dancing with her. She busted out laughing and tooted the horn as she drove off.

  Her assistant, Sarah was already there, unpacking the new shipment of books.

  “Heya, Isabelle! You’re late!” Sarah said, brushing a strand of long blonde hair out of her face.

  “Yeah.” She said. She went to the backroom and put her purse and coat away.

  “Alright, spill it.” Sarah demanded. “What did he do this time?” She leaned against the doorframe with her arms crossed over her chest.

  “What makes you think he did anything?” Isabelle said softly.

  “You usually come in here smiling.” Sarah said. “You look like you’re about to burst into tears.”

  “Oh.” Isabelle sighed. “I don’t know what his problem is with me. He’s been so distant. I think he might be having an affair.” She sighed and began eating the rest of her muffin.

  “Really? Are you sure?”

  “No. But what else could it be?”

  “Lots of things. Guys get grumpy when they are stressed with work.”

  “Yeah, maybe. That’s no reason to take it out on me.” She said firmly. “He used to be so romantic. Not just in big ways, but every day. Now, he barely looks at me. He never touches me anymore. I’ve lost twelve pounds. I changed my hair. I even got new lingerie. He doesn’t even notice.” She sighed. “I don’t know what else to do.”

  “Honey, don’t jump to conclusions. Just ask him what’s up. Until you do, don’t torture yourself about it. Come on, let’s crank up the tunes and get this shipment on the shelves.”

  They spent the next four hours working steadily in between customers, and for a brief moment in time, Isabelle forgot about her miserable marriage.

  ********************

  The team spent the last six months training him in all things military. He picked it up rather quickly, much to the General’s pleasure. He found he actually liked the guys in his unit and he genuinely respected Captain Winters. Now, they worked like a well-oiled machine, jumping through time, collecting historical items. Together, they had overtaken a Spanish galleon before it sank. The gold they recovered funded the new project the General wanted to start. The quarters for the women were completed, and the G
eneral sent them out to start finding women.

  “Okay boys, you know the drill.” Graham said. “Fan out.”

  The team came through a secondary lay line energy portal in the woods. Mykel was still amazed at how well he came through without the side effects. Instead of feeling torn apart from the inside out, it was more like a punch in the gut that leaves you breathless. He didn’t even get dizzy anymore.

  They were there to scout out a few of the women they were to take back with them. Bryant and Mykel were paired up. The two broke up off from the rest of the group and went west into nearest city.

  “So, Myke, what kind of woman are you looking for?” Hollister said, nudging him playfully.

  “I don’t know.” He shrugged. “I still think it’s wrong.”

  “We all do, dude.” Bry said. “But you know we don’t have a choice.”

  “I get it.” And Myke did. Hundreds of people died every day, some of natural causes, old age. But more and more were dying from starvation and cancer, because of the radiation. Others froze to death in the colder temperatures. People killed each other over a loaf of bread and a case of water. Logically he knew, they had to do something drastic to restore the balance of the population, but morally, he was opposed to being forced into marriage with a total stranger.

  Dressed in civilian clothing, they were blending into the crowd smoothly, pretending to window shop. He was amazed at how abundantly rich this time was. People could still afford to drive, and go to grocery stores to purchase anything they wanted. He saw people just giving out money on street corners. In his time, no one had any to spare. People worked hard doing anything they could, for a few scraps of food. Salt, sugar and coffee were as good as gold. Begging usually got you shot, and once you were dead, whatever you had on you was stolen. He saw a woman drop some change on the ground and she just kept walking. He bent and picked up the quarter, stuffing it into his pocket.

  “Isn’t it weird?” Bryant said. “If they only knew what was coming, no one would be so wasteful.” He plucked half a doughnut out of the top of the trash and ate it, savouring the sugary treat as they walked. The whole team knew his favourite part of missions was the good eats they could get so easily. Whenever they could, they went to a buffet and gorged themselves until they almost puked, just because they could. The first time, Mykel had felt guilty about it, knowing how many kids and people starved in their own time. But after a while, he just learned to appreciate it. Sometimes he would sneak food back into the city and give it to his neighbour's sixteen year old daughter in the apartment building he used to live in. She especially liked peanut butter cups and strawberries.

  “It’s better they don’t know. It would just cause too much chaos.” Mykel said. “Do you see anyone yet?”

  “I like redheads.” Bryant said. “Like her…only younger.” He motioned to a short haired middle aged woman walking down the street with her head down. She was doing something with her cell phone. She didn’t even notice them as she walked by.

  “These people wouldn’t last a day in our world.” Mykel said. “They are all soft. Spoiled. Lazy. No situational awareness.”

  “Maybe.” Bryant said. “They will learn to get along though. We did.”

  Mykel sighed. “Let’s just find you a woman and get out of here.”

  “What about you?”

  Mykel didn’t answer him.

  Bryant found a beautiful woman in the local park. She was jogging with her dog. She was about twenty or so, and fit, with long auburn hair tied into a braid. They followed her home, as discretely as they could, and waited until dark. Graham was having a hard time finding a woman who wasn’t repulsed by the nasty scar on his face. Johnny was staking out the movie theatre at the mall with Jacob.

  “I feel like a fucking peeping tom.” Mykel growled, shifting in his crouched position. His leg was falling asleep. “I’m going for a coffee. Want one? They have those weird sugary ones in this time.”

  “We aren’t supposed to split up. You know that.”

  “It’s not like we are in the middle of a fire fight dude. I’ll be back in ten. Do you want a coffee or not?”

  “Sure.” Bryant grinned. “Get me another doughnut huh?”

  Myke grinned. “Man, it’s a good thing we don’t have those on base. You’d have a doughnut belly and never be able to keep up on the fitness tests.”

  “Yeah…probably. I wonder if she can cook…how do they make doughnuts?” Myke snuck back toward the street. He liked Bryant, but he talked too much. He liked all the guys really. At first, when he joined the program, he thought they would haze him for being the new guy. He was right. They did, until he found them a mother lode of treasure. After that, they all respected him. He was finally one of them. They trained him in military tactics and he taught them all how to use ancient weapons and swords, just in case they ever had to go back to a time before guns.

  Of all the time periods he’d been to, he liked this one the best. They were cleaner, for one. Nothing was worse than standing within twenty feet of people who only bathed once a year and never shaved. He hated the middle ages. The one time he got yanked back, he nearly caught the plague. He hightailed it out of the town and hid up in the mountains away from everyone, and scrubbed daily, checking for flea bites every hour until another portal had opened up for him. When he got back to his time, he spent all his savings to get a decontamination shower and a physical, just to be sure he didn’t bring it back into their time. The last thing they needed was another million people dying because of him. He had told the General that story, and they agreed to implement a decontamination system into the program. So far they had been lucky.

  He had placed their coffee order in a crowded shop, and was making his way back to their hide when he saw a very beautiful woman with long hair come out of a bookstore. She was dressed nicely, in a pale blue blouse and jeans. She was absolutely stunning. She turned a corner and on instinct he followed her, immediately drawn to her. She walked down an alley and turned right.

  Mykel made it out of the alley and turned, just in time to see a man grab the woman, put her into a headlock and drag her backward, up into a van and slam the door shut. No one around seemed to have noticed, it happened so fast. If he hadn’t been watching her already, he may not have noticed either. The van sped off. He dropped the coffee and ran after the van, full speed. He keyed the microphone hidden just under his shirt at his throat.

  “Top, we have a situation. I just witnessed a woman being abducted.”

  “Was she one you wanted?”

  “No, but I’m chasing the van.”

  “Don’t.” The reply came back a few seconds later.

  “What?”

  “We aren’t from here. We have no identification. No address. Even if the police were called, and you gave a statement, you couldn’t give them any personal info on yourself. That looks shady to cops. Makes them ask questions. We don’t like questions.”

  “We can rescue her without the cops.” Myke huffed. The van turned the corner and he jumped over a newspaper stand and propelled himself forward, narrowly missing colliding into a woman with a baby stroller.

  “If we go off mission, there has to be a damn good reason for it. Like you bringing the woman back with you. Otherwise, let it go. So I’ll ask again, do you want her?”

  Mykel cursed as he ran. “I fucking hate you right now.”

  “Noted. Make up your mind.”

  “Yes!” Mykel huffed. “I’m on…Cherry and 5th, turning left and heading west.” He could run for about two miles, three if he had too. He had no plan after that.

  “I’m in range.” Graham said. “If you can, find a way to track the vehicle so we can regroup and track them when they stop.”

  “How the fuck am I supposed to do that?” He breathed in between words. His calves were burning. The van was slowing down at a red.

  “Figure it out. I’ll be there in five.”

  Myke slowed down only slightly and pulled his knife
out of his boot. Before he thought twice about it, he dug the blade into his skin and yanked hard, sliced open the palm of his hand. He closed his fist as best he could and hissed, the pain radiating up his arm. He smeared the blood across the back bumper of the van, and jumped up, balancing on the back of the van. Holding onto the handle with his good hand, he sat in a crouch and waited for the van to pull forward.

  A car honked behind him and he scowled at the driver, putting his bleeding hand to his lips to shush them. The man honked again. Mykel ignored him, and the van sped up with a jerk. He nearly lost his balance and grabbed on with both hands, smearing blood everywhere. He looked back and saw the driver talking to someone on the cell phone.