Until Time Stands Still

by Scott, Lona

  Mykel waved him away. “Isabelle.” He said, he gently touched her arm. She flinched and cried out. “I’m sorry baby. It wasn’t supposed to be that harsh for you.”

  “H…hurts.” She said, clamping her hands around her ears. She was curled up in a tiny ball, shaking.

  “That will pass,” he whispered. He stood and hobbled over to drop his gear down the same chute. He leaned against the wall, shaking and sweating from the effort. His own head swimming. Eventually he made it back to where she was laying, and slumped down next to her.

  “Just relax…breathe through it darlin.” He said softly. “You’ll be okay.”

  “I can’t see.” She whimpered.

  “That’s ok. When the ringing in your ears stops, I’ll take the shades off. You want to keep them on for a while.” He’d already taken his off. He was more used to the effects of time jumps and had adjusted within seconds. He sat with her, and carefully rubbed her arms and legs, to help with the circulation and tingling.

  “I think I’m going to be sick.” She croaked, heaving. He helped her to roll over, and she puked, dry heaving over and over again.

  “That’s okay too.” He said. “Slow, even breaths.” He said, rubbing her back. “There ya go.” The spasms stopped.

  “This sucks.” She gasped.

  “Trust me babe, I know.” He said. “I’ve done worse.”

  Eventually the headache eased, and her ears stopped buzzing and the heaving, queasy feeling faded.

  “Let’s get you up and in the shower.” He said. “That will make you feel better.” He lifted her to her feet and walked her toward the decontamination showers. He stopped her, and helped her remove her clothes.

  “Why do you have to do special showers?” She asked, standing stiffly. She still couldn’t see a thing.

  “To make sure no viruses or bacteria from any other time or place comes back here with us. Once you are done in the shower, you’ll have to go to the infirmary to be checked out. They will give you a few different shots, to inoculate you against various things you could be exposed to. It’s all procedure, after the last major plague outbreak.” He explained, peeling off her pants.

  The bruise on her thigh where she had been kicked was huge, bigger than a grapefruit, and dark black. He hadn’t noticed it in the dark the night before. “I didn’t hurt you, did I? Last night?” He asked. He lifted her arms and pulled her shirt off over her head, so that she was standing in nothing. He admired her body openly, not saying a word. She was stunning, despite the tiny scratches from brambles and broken glass, the leaves in her hair, and the dirt she had managed to get everywhere.

  “No.” She shook her head. Her long hair, still in its braid, was loose and messy. “Last night was wonderful.” She said.

  “I’m going to take the glasses off now. Keep your eyes closed for a bit though. The lights are dim in here, but it will still feel bright.”

  “Ok.” She slowly opened her eyes and looked around. The room they were in was grey metal, and blue walls. One wall leads to some communal showers. It looked mostly like a locker room. She giggled. Some things don’t change that much in the future.

  He led her to the showers and turned on the hot water, which blasted from jets in several directions. Carefully he soaped her up from head to toe, including her long, beautiful hair. The water blasted again, this time twice as hot, and she squealed in shock. He took a special light, and ran it over every inch of her body, looking for decontaminant material. “Okay, again.” He said. He gave her a rough sponge and told her to scrub until her skin was bright pink. He sat on a bench and watched her, unable to stand any more. When she was scrubbed raw, and she felt like she didn’t have any skin left, he handed her a special brush and a cup of rinse for her mouth, for which she was beyond grateful. After trampling around in the woods, she really needed a toothbrush and a shower, even if it was with boiling hot water. Huge hot dryers came down from the ceiling and dried her in a matter of seconds, her hair flying all over the place. She nearly fell over, startled by them. He laughed.

  The medical team rushed in, with a gurney. He wrapped a towel around her, then himself as they swarmed into the showers. Two of the men grabbed her and forced her onto another gurney.

  “Hey, let me go!” She hissed, fighting their hold.

  He frowned. “This isn’t like the world you knew, sweetheart.”

  “I get that.” She said.

  “No, I don’t think you do. But you will. Cooperate with them, and don’t speak to any of the other men you see unless I’m with you.”

  She glared at him. “What aren’t you telling me?” She asked, suspicious.

  “Things are just different here, honey. You need to take some time to adjust. Don’t worry about stuff like that right now.”

  She wondered what he meant, but tried to put it out of her mind. Her head still hurt.

  He hopped up on the gurney and let them fuss over him.

  She was forced to lay down and someone strapped her down. She was wheeled down the hall behind him, to an examination room. She was poked, prodded, examined and had all sorts of fluids drawn, all the while he was being worked on next to her.

  “Is all this really necessary?” She asked him at one point.

  “Yes.” He said simply. His whole leg was numb, but he was still conscious. A huge curtain was up, and he was unable to see what they were doing to her. He was torn about how to tell her about the breeding program. He knew it wouldn’t stay a secret for very long. But he was hoping by the time she found out about it, she would be so in love with him, it wouldn’t matter. He did want children someday, and now, he knew he wanted them with her. Hopefully she would want them with him too.

  Bryant came into the infirmary and stood over him. “We lost Jacob.” Bryant said. “He was just not strong enough after all the blood loss, and the jump.” His tone was somber, quiet.

  “But don’t the nanites help us to heal faster?” The cut on his hand was almost gone, and he could feel the nanites collecting in his leg, making his whole leg tremble and itch. The healing had begun before they were even done digging the bullet out of him.

  “Not fast enough.” Bryant said. “The bullet pulverized his lungs. The surgeon said he lasted longer than anyone should have.”

  Mykel quietly raged inside. “He was a good man. One of the best.”

  “Yeah. Graham is putting together a service.”

  “Does his family know yet?”

  “His parents died from radiation sickness. He didn’t have anyone but us.” Hollister said. “We are his family.” Mykel nodded, somber. A lot of men who had no one left joined up. Mykel never wanted to go that route, but it happened anyway. Most days, it wasn’t so bad. He actually found he enjoyed it. Some people wanted revenge, and others just didn’t have anywhere else to go. He was a bit of both. The military, as limited as it was, provided them with better than they could ever do on their own in the world.

  “The General wants to see you.” Bryant finally said.

  “Of course he does.” Mykel sighed, and drifted off. Someone had given him happy drugs and his whole body went blissfully numb.

  Chapter Seven

  General Palmer was in his office, barking orders on the phone, when Mykel rapt on the door the next day. He motioned for Mykel to come forward. He stood at attention until the General got off the phone. “At ease.”

  “You wanted to see me, Sir?” Mykel asked, he eased into a seat and set his crutches down on the floor.

  “Is your woman secure now?” The General asked.

  “Yes, General. She’s with the doctors now, getting checked out. She should be out of mandatory isolation very soon.”

  “Good.” He studied a piece of paper on his desk. “Graham’s report seems to be incomplete.” He rubbed his jaw, scratching the days growth of his beard.

  “Sir?”

  “Why that woman? Why did you risk your life, and your entire team, for a woman you don’t even know?”

&nbs
p; “At the time, Sir, it seemed like the right thing to do. She was being kidnapped and I was a witness. I couldn’t just sit by and do nothing, when I knew we all had the training to tack and retrieve her. I made a judgment call.” Mykel said.

  “It’s not your job to call the shots on anything! Someone died today, because you made the wrong call! You got shot! Graham got a graze on his arm as well.” The General roared. “I should have you lashed on the whipping post for this, boy!”

  “Yes, Sir.” Mykel said stiffly. “But you should know, if I could do it over again, I probably would. I love her. She is worth any price I have to pay.” He said.

  “I don’t care if you love her or not!” The man hollered. “All that matters is that you produce healthy children with the woman.”

  “Yes, Sir. I plan to.” Mykel said stiffly.

  “You boys have another mission. Because Jacob isn’t with us anymore, I can’t very well hobble my best team by beating you senseless like you deserve.” He handed Mykel a classified folder. “Graham and the others are in the war room. Join them. If there are any more of your kind of judgment calls, you’ll spend the next year in the brig, clear?”

  “Crystal, General!” Mykel said, saluting smartly.

  “Get out of my face.”

  Mykel turned on his heel and walked from the room.

  *******************

  “Where are we going now?” Isabelle asked, happy to be finally dressed in real clothes again. She felt a little woozy from the blood loss. They took a pint of her blood, and several more vials for testing. She felt like a freaking pin cushion. The doctors had all been nice, and fairly gentle with her, but silent. The isolation had been horrible. The worst part was the boredom. She couldn’t even talk to Mykel because he was in recovery, and no one would let her see him. None of the doctors answered her questions about him either. They only spoke when necessary, and none of them really looked her in the eye. The grossest part was the green goo they made her drink. It tasted vile, like rotten seaweed and mud. She couldn’t wait to get the taste out of her mouth.

  “Somewhere.” He said.

  “Thank you Captain Obvious.” She snorted. “I can see that.”

  “I’m taking you home.” Mykel laughed, slipping his arm around his woman to give her a hug. They ambled along slowly. He wasn’t very proficient on the crutches, and hated having to use them. But for the next few days, until his leg fully healed, he didn’t have a choice.

  “Good. I’m tired.” She said, yawing.

  “It’s been a long couple of days for you.” He said, walking them past several buildings and groups of soldiers training. She looked around in interest. She’d never been on a military base before. She noticed the high fence around the compound and looked beyond it. There was a line of thick trees, and in the distance she could see a few city lights and a thick, redish hazy cloud over the sky.

  “What caused that?” She asked, pointing.

  “The war, pollution.” He shrugged. “The ozone has more holes in it. Some areas of the world are pretty uninhabitable now, because of the snow. It’s dangerous outside the base, especially for you.” He said. “So please, don’t try to leave without me.”

  “Why especially for me?” She asked.

  “Because you don’t know how to protect yourself in this time. Or yours.” He said.

  “Hey!” She shoved him playfully, and he nearly toppled over on his crutches. She caught his shirt and yanked him up before he hit the ground.

  He laughed. “Ok, so you can maybe protect yourself against a cripple.”

  “Will you show me around someday soon?” She asked.

  “Of course I will, Isy.”

  She laughed. “No one has ever called me that before.” She said.

  “I like it.” He said, smiling easily at her. He loved her laugh. “I really hope you are happy here with me.” He said. He turned left and walked several more yards to the end of his small driveway. His house was painted a slate blue colour with white trim. He had a small bench on the porch.

  “Well, what do you think?” He asked, holding his breath.

  “I want to see the inside.” She said.

  “You got it babe.” He said. Together they went up the walk and she waited patiently while he put his thumb print over the lock. A green light glowed and the door swung open. He turned on the lights. “We will calibrate your fingerprints too.”

  “How?” She asked.

  “That panel on the wall there.” He motioned to the screen on the wall. “After the tour.” He chuckled. The first thing that caught her eye was an entire wall of books. He had built floor to ceiling shelves and crammed them full.

  “Wow.” She said, stepping forward into the room. The only other furniture was a long couch, a small two person table, and a few end tables. A fireplace was the focal point of the room, opposite the bookshelves. He had more shelves sitting all around the fireplace. “So you read a lot huh?”

  “There isn’t much else to do when you live by yourself.” He said. “Besides, when I’m not working on missions, I’m usually with the guys training, or sleeping.”

  “That’s kind of a sad way to live.” She said.

  “Well, I don’t have a reason to be sad anymore.” He said. “Now that you are here.” She smiled warmly at him, flipping her long hair behind her, tucking a flyaway piece behind her ear. For a second, when she looked at him like that, he couldn’t even breathe. He knew if he kissed her right then, he would never stop, but he had to go.

  “Stay here, raid the fridge, read a book, nap. Whatever.” He said. “I have a mission with the boys.”

  “How can you possibly go anywhere all hopping around?”

  “They are my team. I can do a lot to help them, even if I can’t move as fast. If they go into the field, I go with them. No matter what.”

  “Where are you going?”

  “I’m not sure yet. Can I have a kiss for good luck?” He asked, stepping close to her. He ached to kiss her.

  “No.” She said simply, holding her hand out to stop him.

  “Why not?” He pouted. He looked so adorable with his lip sticking out and a piece of hair flopping forward into his blue eyes that she almost gave in.

  She laughed. “This way, you’ll have something to come home for.” She said.

  “Oh, I’ll come home, and I will be collecting that kiss.” He said, huskily. He gave her that look that made her gasp and everything tighten in sweet, sharp desire for him. She watched him hobble out the door with a duffle full of gear slung across his shoulder, and bit her tongue to keep from calling him back to her.

  ********************

  Once he got back from his mission, they both attended Jacob’s funeral. She felt awkward going, being that she barely knew the man, but…he had died to save her, so it was the least she could do to honour his memory. She met some of the other men at the base who were Mykel’s superiors. They seemed to take quite an interest in her, asking questions about her life. The General spoke some eloquent words about honour and duty, integrity and the warrior spirit. His team carried his casket and one by one, stood at attention and saluted until he was lowered into the ground. Not one of them shed a single tear while she stood beside them. The twenty one gun salute was not done, like she had expected, and she briefly wondered why. She made a mental note to ask Mykel about it later.

  It was that night, when they were alone, that Mykel broke down. She found him in the kitchen, washing the dishes from that morning, and crying into the sink, his shoulders shaking silently. Slowly she walked up behind him, and touched his shoulder. He stiffened.

  “It’s okay Mykel.” She whispered. “You don’t have to always be the big strong warrior with me.” She said softly.

  “Yes I do.” He said hoarsely.

  She grabbed him at the elbow and turned him around to face her. He tried to wipe his face and be all stoic, but his lower lip trembled. She kissed him softly.

  “Not tonight you don’t.” She
whispered. “I’m here for you.” She kissed him again. Slowly she led him to the bedroom and stripped him down. Without a word, she led him to the shower, and washed him head to toe while he stood uneasily on his newly healed leg. Neither of them spoke as she slowly ran her hands over every inch of his body. When the water ran cold, she turned it off and dried him off, then herself. His hand in hers, she laid down on the bed and pulled him onto the bed with her. She pulled him half onto her chest, and let him use her breasts as a pillow.