by Saxon Andrew
Arvolo looked at the shimmering field and took the Jukebox through. He accelerated to the moon’s surface and scanned the crashed Jenze Ship. “The reactors are in the rear behind the cargo bay. I’m landing next to the ship and powering a shuttle to go over to the Jenze. Please board now and I’ll meet you as soon as the ship is landed.”
Jillian looked at Izzy and nodded toward the bridge exit. They exited the bridge, ran to the elevator, and went down to the landing bay and undocked a shuttle. Arvolo arrived just as Jillian completed the shuttle’s systems check. “Make sure your armor is powered and intact. We’re lifting now.”
The small shuttle lifted off the floor and moved smoothly out the open landing bay door. Arvolo took it over to the side of the Jenze ship and landed. He added weight and the shuttle settled in on its landing legs. He reached over in the tool bag and took out a gravity gun, “What are you going to do with that?”
“Commodore, I’m going to attempt to hide our taking a reactor. I want you to take the shuttle and place its nose against the side of the battleship. I’m going to hit the Jenze Ship with a gravity beam and make it almost weightless. Once that’s done I want you to use the shuttle to nudge the ship over so the landing bay is out from under it.”
Jillian watched Arvolo go out to the moon’s surface and fire the gravity gun from one end of the huge ship to the other. “Give it a try.” Jillian put the nose of the shuttle on the side of the giant ship and started applying force to the rear thrusters. The huge ship hesitated for a moment and then rolled over. “Now back the shuttle up and aim the forward beam at the center of the landing bay door. Set it to fire a twenty foot beam at maximum power for a half second.”
“You don’t think it will blow through the ship?”
“I don’t think so but I’m not sure. We’ll make an adjustment if it doesn’t go through.”
“What about fires?”
“If it blows through, the vacuum of space will put them out.” Jillian set the beam manually and announced, “I’m firing in five seconds; stand clear.”
Izzy watched from her chair and saw the beam hit and burn through the hull.”
“Alright, Jillian, the inner insulated wall is still intact. Reduce the power to one hundredth and fire again for a hundredth of a second.” Jillian fired again and watched as the atmosphere that was in the landing bay rushed out in explosive decompression. Arvolo said, “We’re through. Bring the lasers and let’s get to work.”
The three of them entered the huge landing bay and turned on the laminated surface of their armor. The entire surface glowed and lit up the interior of the landing bay. Arvolo turned to the right and moved toward a huge door in the middle of the wall. Jillian watched him and looked at the armored door, “Are we going to have to cut through?”
Arvolo looked at a panel next to the door and used his laser to cut off the front of the panel. Inside there were three buttons colored red, yellow, and blue. He pushed the blue button and the door slid up.
Izzy shook her head, “How did you know it was the blue one?”
“Because fire is red and yellow is also hot.” Arvolo looked around and said, “The reactor room was penetrated. There was no decompression when we opened it. Jillian, you lead the way and tell us what we need to do.”
“I want you to look at the controls with me and see if they make sense to you.”
“Yes Sir.”
The three entered the huge room and saw eight large rounded tanks on the deck. Jillian moved among them and started looking at their displays. Arvolo went the opposite direction checking the ones on his side and listened for her to call him. He saw that three of the four on his side were still active but not sending out power. Jillian hit her com, “All of the reactors on this side are still active. They’ll have to be shut down to move them.”
“I have one over here that has a dark panel. It may be shut down.” Izzy had followed him over and went to look at the dark reactor. Arvolo watched her look at the panel and saw a hand come out from under the reactor and grab Izzy’s leg. She screamed and Arvolo pulled his laser quicker than Izzy could see and reached down and squeezed the arm holding Izzy. The hand released her and Arvolo fell to the floor and looked under the reactor. A Jenze was trapped and looked to be in bad shape. The hand grabbed Arvolo’s arm and then let go. The Jenze’s head that was slightly raised fell to the floor. Arvolo saw that the Jenze was in a space suit that was still intact but that its legs were at a twisted angle.
Jillian came running up and had her laser out. “We have an injured Jenze here, Commodore.”
Jillian looked at Arvolo on the floor and joined him staring at the unconscious body. “Why did they leave him?”
“I suspect they didn’t know he was in here. They knew the reactor room was penetrated and that they could go at any moment. I suspect that this poor soul was injured when the ship was hit and was unconscious until they left.”
Jillian looked at the reactor and smiled, “Well, it appears that he was able to shut this one down before it rolled over on him. Most of the connections have been pulled loose so we should be able to move it if we can cut through the remaining bolts on this side.”
Arvolo took his laser and began working on the bolts. The bolts were made of a hardened material and took four hours to cut through. The Jenze woke three times and watched them but lost consciousness each time. Finally the final bolt was cut and Arvolo hit the huge reactor with the gravity gun. He grabbed the reactor and lifted it off the floor.
“Hold on just a minute. There are three cables and two conduits still attached.” Jillian took her laser knife and cut through them. Arvolo turned and lifted the giant reactor over his head and took it into the landing bay. Jillian and Izzy followed him and Arvolo turned and went back into the reactor room. “Where are you going?”
“I’m not going to leave the Jenze to die.”
“Captain Arvolo, we cannot save him. We don’t know what kind of impact it will have on history?”
“Yes, you do.”
“Pardon me.”
“You saw the Jenze ships that returned did not come to this ship. They explored the silver ship and burned this one. This Jenze will die when they arrive the day after tomorrow. I can’t just leave him to be burned.”
Jillian and Izzy looked at each other and Jillian was extremely apprehensive. “Captain, we just don’t know enough to take this risk.”
Arvolo smiled, “Would you want a time traveler to save you if you were in this predicament? Or would you prefer to die?”
“Captain, do you really think this won’t disrupt the future?”
“I don’t see how it could. He was trapped and it was clear that he was unable to contact the twenty ships when they arrived. He will die unless we take him with us.”
“Why don’t we leave him out on the surface for them to find him?”
“Now that might make a change. He’s seen us and the Jenze will know the ship has been tampered with. If they suspect someone has taken one of their reactors they will react differently than what originally happened. The choice is simple; either we take him or leave him.”
“Let’s get the reactor on the Jukebox and give me some time to think about this.”
Arvolo picked up the reactor and used his suit thrusters to leave the Jenze ship and fly to the Jukebox’s landing bay. He used tie down bars and then used the gravity gun to return the reactor to full weight. As he turned to go back to the Jenze Battleship he saw Jillian and Izzy carrying the injured Jenze on board. Arvolo smiled and said, “Izzy, if you would take the Jenze to the Medical Room and strap him in, Jillian and I are going to hide our theft.”
Jillian looked at Arvolo, “You need to take the shuttle and roll the ship back over on its landing bay door.”
Jillian nodded and flew out of the landing bay. Arvolo followed and watched as the huge ship rolled back over, “Hold it right there.” He used the gravity gun to return the giant ship’s weight and said, “Done! Let’s get out o
f here.”
Arvolo beat Jillian back to the landing bay and assisted her in tying the shuttle down. Jillian said, “I’m going to go check on the Jenze. You get us back to our universe.”
Arvolo saluted and rushed to the bridge. He lifted the Jukebox and took it through the flickering time field. Chris turned off the time field and flew the Ninja into the landing bay as Arvolo set the field emitters to watch the moon. Chris came out of the Ninja and pushed his com, “Jillian, I’m in and coming to the Bridge.”
“Chris, Izzy and I are in the Medical Room with the injured Jenze.”
“YOU’RE WHAT!?!”
“Come here and I’ll explain.”
Arvolo smiled and decided to stay on the bridge to give the Admiral some time to come to his senses. He turned on the intercom in the Medical Room and listened in.
“Jillian, his legs are broken and look like the bones have punctured the skin. I am going to have to set them or he’ll die.” Chris looked at the two of them and was stunned.
“Are you able to do that Izzy?”
“I had a Medical Degree before I joined the Fleet. I’ve done this before and I know we have what I need to do it. My main concern is that we’re going to have to remove his space suit and I don’t know what kind of atmosphere he’ll need.”
Arvolo punched com, “The Jenze breath oxygen and nitrogen just like we do.”
Jillian looked at the speaker, “How do you know that?”
“I took a reading of the Jenze Planet being attacked by the silver ships. There were some different trace elements but it was basically like our own.”
Chris got control of his shock and said, “This Jenze is not as short and heavy as the one we saw on Earth.”
Jillian nodded, “Well, we have no choice. He’ll die if we don’t. Chris, help us take off his suit.”
Izzy went to the medical closet and said, “Before you do that, I want to give him a sedative to keep him unconscious. Just open a small area and I’ll administer it. Jillian, can you assist me?”
“Izzy, it appears doctors love the service. I also have a medical degree. I’ll be your second. Chris, why don’t you go to the bridge and see what Arvolo is up to?”
“Hey, hey, I’m just sitting here behaving myself.”
Izzy muttered, “Yeah, right.”
“I heard that.”
Chris left the Medical Room and went to the Bridge, “What possessed you to save that Jenze?”
“It was the right thing to do. The Jenze are not our enemy…yet.”
Chris saw the display showing the two ships on the moon, “What are you doing?”
“I want to see if we covered our tracks. The twenty Jenze Battleships will be here tomorrow and we should make sure they don’t uncover any evidence of us taking a reactor.”
Chris sat down in the command chair and looked at Arvolo, “You’re right. While we’re waiting, let’s talk about time travel.”
Arvolo leaned back and said, “We could affect our time if we’re not careful. However, I think the things we’d do are already built into the future.”
Chris looked at the ceiling and said, “Tell me why you think that, Captain?”
“Chris, you need to get down here now!”
Chris looked at Arvolo and said, “What’s wrong?”
“Just get down here!”
Chris jumped up and ran off the bridge. Arvolo smiled and watched the display.
* * *
Chris ran into the Medical Room and saw Jillian standing at the foot of the operating table holding a foot as Izzy set the bones. Chris did a double take because the foot had five toes and looked exactly like a human’s. He stepped closer and saw the Jenze with a mask over their human face. Chris stopped dead in his tracks and Jillian said, “His blood is O-positive.”
Chris was speechless. He saw the Jenze’s hand and it had four fingers and an opposable thumb. He looked at Jillian and she said through her surgical mask, “His DNA is identical to ours, Chris.”
Chris looked back at the unconscious Jenze and saw that he was human. “How do we explain this?”
“I have no idea but that trip to look at their past now becomes extremely important; either he is human or we are Jenze. We need to find out which.”
Chris stared at the Jenze and Jillian read his thoughts. She said, “There is no possibility of two species having identical DNA. The chances of that are so astronomical as to be impossible. Even his brain waves match up with ours. This Jenze is Human.”
“How much longer before you finish the operation?”
Izzy didn’t look up and said, “About another thirty minutes. I’m going to keep him sedated for twenty four hours to allow the cast to mold securely to his legs and for the antibiotics to work.”
Chris looked Jillian in the eyes and lowered his gaze, “I’m going back to the bridge and will watch the display with Captain Arvolo. Join me when you can.”
Izzy looked at Chris and said, “I’m going to stay with the patient. Call me if you need me.”
Chris said, “We’ll handle the weapons, Lieutenant. You stay here.” Izzy nodded and Jillian grabbed the second leg for Izzy to set.
* * *
Chris arrived on the bridge and Arvolo moved from the command chair to the weapons chair. Arvolo raised his eyebrows and Chris shook his head. Chris thought for a moment and said, “Contact Dolly Garcia.”
The left display illuminated and Dolly was staring at them, “Please tell me you were able to retrieve a reactor.”
“We were successful, Dolly but another issue has developed.”
“What is that?”
“The crewmembers that retrieved the reactor found an injured Jenze on the ship and brought him back to the Jukebox. Izzy and Jillian are currently setting his broken legs as we speak.”
“Chris, was that wise? It could disrupt the future.”
“I’m not completely certain it would; however, if we didn’t save him he would have died when the Jenze destroyed the crashed ship. I’m certain that taking him will not change any future events.”
“Then what’s the issue?”
“Dolly, the Jenze is Human.” Dolly and Arvolo stared at Chris saying nothing. “Jillian ran a DNA scan and he is identical to us.”
Dolly leaned back in her chair and Chris saw her furrowed brow which let him know she was thinking intently about what she had just heard, “Are you sure about the DNA?”
“Yes and his blood type is O-positive.”
“Chris, modern Humans are only two hundred thousand years old. How far back did you go to get that reactor?”
“More than sixty million years.”
“Then Humans are Jenze; there can’t be any other possibility.”
“Are you certain about that?”
“Yes I am.”
“There is another possibility.”
Dolly slowly shook her head, “I don’t see how. The remains of modern man first appeared two hundred thousand years ago.”
“You know we are able to go into the past, Dolly. What if one of our ships was trapped in the distant past? That would cause them to come into existence.”
Arvolo said, “That is not a possibility.”
Chris looked away from the display to Arvolo, “Why not?”
“If that happened, the universe would have become a parallel universe and would not affect us. Just like the universe where you took the Jenze Weapon, we would not have contact with it. If we do something to radically change the future in a universe, it will branch off and form a new one.”
“How did we radically change the universe when we took the Jenze Weapon? Everything was destroyed by the asteroid and wouldn’t have affected the future.”
Dolly looked at Arvolo and wondered how the Crazy Cuban came up with that concept.
“It wasn’t taking the weapon that made the impact; it was allowing the gas and debris to blow through the time screen when Jillian escaped that made the radical change.”
Chris star
ted slowly shaking his head but Dolly spoke before he could challenge Arvolo, “You think that by a section of the explosion being weakened that it had an impact on those that survived the asteroid?”
Chris looked up at Dolly and Arvolo said, “Yes I do. What if that shock wave was shortened by only a couple of miles as part of it blew through the time field and as a result two animals that were originally killed by the blast survived? In ten years those animals could number twenty; a hundred years later a couple of thousand; and a thousand years later, there could be millions. Millions of years later the hunting patterns of ancient humans could have been radically changed by a food source that existed now but didn’t after the original blast when we didn’t take the weapon.”
Chris saw it, “So that universe branched off from ours at that event and became a new parallel universe?”
“That’s how I see it and that’s why we don’t see you in the light from that time. However, this time it’s different.”
“How so, Captain?”
“Madam Director, if the Jenze Ships show up and don’t do anything different from the first event, then taking this Jenze with us will have no affect on the future and we will see us taking the reactor in reflected light. That will tell us that we are still viewing our original universe. You should also consider that the Jenze we brought back may be more important than the reactor.” Chris and Dolly sat up straighter as Arvolo said, “That Jenze was sent to take the reactors off line after the ship was damaged and before it crashed on the moon. He must be the officer that was trained on them and knows how they operate.”
“Chris, do you think he’s right?”
“It makes sense. We watched the Jenze blast their crashed battleship without going onboard to check for survivors. The Jenze died in the original event. There was no way for him to have any impact on the future. I didn’t know they found him in the reactor room.” Chris rubbed his forehead and said, “It does seem logical, Dolly.”
Dolly stared at Arvolo and after a long pause asked, “Who suggested taking the Jenze?”
“I did.”
“Did you make that decision because you thought he could help us?”