The Last Time Traveler
Page 31
“I know. I love it. That's not the point, though.”
“No,” the traveler laughed. “I guess it's not. Anyways, let's get back to the ship.”
“Hold on there, Hos,” Morgan said shaking his head.
“Hos?” Robert said. “That's what I call you sometimes.”
“Well, it seems it's also what I call you sometimes,” the young man replied. “Anyways, you did your bit. Now give me a minute to do mine.”
“Knock yourself out.”
“Morgan,” Azure said, gazing at the young man from beneath one raised eyebrow. “What are you doing?”
“I'm doing what I'm doing,” he replied, before dropping on his own knees in the sand. “Azure...”
“Morgan,” she interrupted. “We haven't really known...”
“Do you mind?” he counter-interrupted. “Let me ask my question. I mean, you get to do the answering part, but I think I've earned the right to ask you a question if I want to.”
“Alright,” she sighed refusing to look him in the face.
“Azure,” he said staring up at her, “would you do me the honor of going out with me like once a week or so?”
“What?”
“Well, me and Rob got this double-date plan, but it ain't really going work without you, so I need a little commitment here.”
“Oh,” she giggled. “Yeah, of course. We can certainly do like a date night once a week or something.”
“Great,” he said, jumping to his feet. “And I was also wondering if you might just want to seal it...”
“Morgan,” she interrupted. “A woman doesn't always want to be asked. She also doesn't always want to be the one to have to...”
Azure had no idea she had just given Morgan about fifteen times as much encouragement as he needed. If she had just assured him that she wouldn't stab him with something he would have taken the initiative and kissed her long before. Either way, she found out pretty quick.
He grabbed her in his arms, putting his right hand in the small of her back and his left hand behind her head. Then he kissed her with everything he had and everything he had ever seen in the movies. The young man lifted her from the ground pressing her body gently against his while they shared a truly magical moment. And since he was in charge of the clock this time, he sure wasn't in no hurry to bring it to an end.
“Morgan, man,” the traveler said gazing down at the ground, “come on. It's been like forty-five seconds.”
“Mind your business,” the young man said, pulling away for a moment before going in for seconds.
This interruption gave Azure a chance to gasp for breath, however, and put her hand to Morgan's chest.
“Wait,” she said panting, gently pushing him away. “Morgan, that was a bit more than our normal level of kissing.”
“Well, yeah,” he said, “But I figured you owed me something for that time you shot me with the tranq-gun.”
“That's true,” she giggled, a bit of a blush on her face, “but we're probably even now.”
“No worries,” he replied. “Consider this an advance.”
Once more he put his mouth to hers giving her a three or four second finishing touch.
“Alright,” he said, pulling her away and putting her arm around his. “Now we can go.”
The four of them headed for the ship, Azure having a bit of difficulty with balance after her experience.
“Morgan,” she whispered. “You really are a fast learner. You know that?”
“I'm beginning to realize it,” he said with a contented sigh.
As soon as they were on the ship all four went to change. They had to go blow up the time drive and then head to Vox's house for dinner. Since it would have been hard to explain to Celeste why they had changed clothes on the way to pick up a car part, they decided put on the same clothes they had on when they picked Vox up. As the young men were making their way to their rooms Morgan made an observation.
“You smell like honeysuckle, Rob” the young man pointed out.
“I know,” the traveler replied, lifting part of his coat to his face and breathing deeply. “It's awesome, isn't it? I've always loved honeysuckle.”
“Me too, Rob,” the young man nodded. “Me too.”
Just minutes later Morgan stepped back onto the bridge before sliding into his usual seat.
“You need to change that shirt,” the traveler said, glancing over at the young man. “That's not what you were wearing when we grabbed Vox.”
“No,” Morgan agreed looking down at his shirt. “It's not. Do you know why it's not, Rob?”
“Oh yeah,” he said, snapping his fingers. “I dissolved those clothes for you.”
“You did,” the young man replied. “And now I know enough to thank you for that.”
“No problem,” the traveler laughed. “Anytime.”
“And what happened to your eye?”
“Doc fixed it already.”
“Man! I wanted a picture of that!”
“Sorry, bro,” the traveler replied shaking his head. “Maybe next time.”
“Sure...” the young man said, thoughtfully gazing out into non-space. “You know, bro, I'm pretty sure Azure planned to kiss me before we even left the ship.”
“What makes you think that?”
“Well, right near the end of that first kiss,” Morgan mused, “I tasted just a hint of cherry.”
“Did you?” Robert asked getting a wide grin on his face. “And what do you make of that?”
“Well, obviously,” Morgan explained, “she must have been chewing gum before we went down there. Which may mean she was planning to kiss me. And I think that's a good sign.”
“Oh,” the traveler chuckled, “I certainly agree that it is a good sign.”
“Cool,” the young man replied, growing silent for a few moments before his mind fixated on another subject. “Rob, what if someone turns all this into sci-fi?”
“What do you mean?” the traveler asked.
“I mean,” Morgan explained, “what if someone from the future, I mean after we fix it, rewrites our story and takes it back into history as fiction?”
“I can’t imagine anyone being that stupid, Morgan.”
“I don’t know,” the young man replied. “I can imagine it. It would make an awesome book. Think about it! The Chronicles of Morgan. Or maybe: Morgan Harker and the Rainbow Women of Time. Morgan Trek?”
“If it ever happened,” the traveler said, shaking his head, “which it won’t, the book would be called: The Last Time Traveler.”
“You have a serious ego issue. You know that, right?”
“This from Mr. Morganatron?”
Shortly after this idiotic speculation about borderline impossible future events that certainty did not happen, no matter what that website says, the ship dropped into real-space in Never Never Land. Seconds later the time drive that was the cause of all this trouble was nothing but a bunch of pieces scattered through the hulk of derelict ship and the companions were once again on their way. Just hours later they found themselves flying above Duck à l'orange. And minutes after this, all six companions were walking through Vox's front door.
“Hey Celeste!” Robert called out as he strode into the room. “We brought another one for dinner. I hope that's cool.”
“Always, Rob,” she called from the kitchen. “Dinner's almost ready. Come on in and sit down.”
All of them made their way into the dining room and sat around Vox's large, and very expensive, table.
“Celeste,” the traveler said as soon as she stepped in the room, “this is Azure. She's Morgan's girlfriend.”
“Nice to meet you,” Celeste replied with light laugh. “Robert you should have told me the boy had a girlfriend! I was afraid he was trying to move in on your turf.”
“I'm not really...” Azure began before stopping with a blush.
“Not what, dear?” Celeste asked with a wide smile.
“I'm not really surprised Rob for
got to mention it,” she replied, “Me and Morgan just officially got together.”
“Good,” Celeste replied. “Maybe you two can teach Rob something about official.”
“I've learned, mama,” the traveler replied, taking Cleo by the hand and holding out the ring for Celeste's inspection.
“Well it's about time, boy!” she exclaimed. “But I don't know what kind a man asks a girl to marry him on a trip to an auto parts store...”
“A man like Rob,” Cleo laughed.
Moments later Celeste was filling up and handing out plates that were quickly passed around the table.
“So, what are y'all really up to, Rob?” Celeste asked, gazing at him with a knowing smile.
“What makes you ask that?” he smiled.
“The fact that I’m not a fool,” she laughed.
“Well…” he said taking a deep breath. “Celeste, the truth is that I'm the last time traveler and we’re actually an elite team of heroes trying to save the entire universe.”
“Rob,” she laughed again, “I just said I wasn't a fool.”
“Right, right,” he nodded. “Well the real truth is that me and Vox are building a race car.”
“Yea,” she smiled. “I figured it was something like that.”
The Pause
Thank You!
Dear reader, I'm Aaron J. Ethridge, the author of The Last Time Traveler, and I want to thank you for taking the time to read it. I sincerely hope you enjoyed it. I put a great deal of time and effort (as well as love and soul) into it. And I want you to know that this is but the first in what I plan to be a lengthy series. And if you're interesting in reading the further adventures of the last time traveler and his companions, you can do something to help me make it happen.
You see, it can be very difficult for a new author to reach readers. However, the most helpful group of people in the world for doing just that are an author's current readers. Your opinion really does matter, and a few seconds of your time could change my life for years to come. So, I ask you to take a moment to review my work or post about it on your social networks using the links below.
Also, if you like The Last Time Traveler, you may also enjoy my more classical fantasy series The Chronicles of Areon and my light hearted fantasy series (set in a world ruled by cruel undead) The Tales of Zanoth. The first books in both these series are currently available on Amazon. You can take a look using the links below.
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Morgan
Chapter 2: Cleo
Chapter 3: Vox & The Doc
Chapter 4: A Plan of Action
Chapter 5: To Kill A Time Machine
Chapter 6: Ach, Zombies
Chapter 7: Azure
Chapter 8: Pick Up & Delivery
Chapter 9: Tea for Two
Chapter 10: What is Love
Chapter 11: Electric Avenue
Chapter 12: The Sword in the Stone
Chapter 13: Double Date
Chapter 14: You Maniacs
Chapter 15: If You Can't Take The Heat
Chapter 16: All's Well That End's Well
Thank You!