The Search for Cleo

by Aaron J. Ethridge

  “That's right,” Robert replied. “The first time we came here it was to buy that generator for the Delmont job which we never did after we finished it.”

  “Because Delmont never had a time machine?”

  “That's right.”

  “But...” Morgan said, pausing for a moment as if he were dazed. “Karl recognized us when we went to get the parts to make the counterfeit Delmont Drive.”

  “Of course, he did,” Robert laughed. “He just met us today and we show up to buy that stuff tomorrow. He'd have a hard time forgetting us in twenty-four hours.”

  “That was months ago!”

  “From our point of view. For him, it hasn't happened yet.”

  “But... he knew us in our past even though he hadn't met us yet.”

  “Apparently.”

  “Rob,” Morgan said, with a tone of warning. “Did you just change our time-lines?”

  “How would I know?” the traveler shrugged. “If I did, I wouldn't remember, would I?”

  “You had to have!” the young man asserted. “If Karl knew us in our past, then he had to have met us before in his past, which he just did in our future...”

  “Our immediate past,” Robert corrected.

  “Meaning,” Morgan continued, “that the first time we met Karl he didn't know us, but that the second time, he did.”

  “That's only logical,” the traveler laughed.

  “No! I mean; the first time he met us the second time, he didn't know us, but the second time he did, he did.”

  “What?”

  “Sturm is right!” Morgan yelled. “You're a lunatic! You risked the entire future of the universe to go haggle with a friend of yours who didn't even know you.”

  “Look, Morgan,” Robert replied. “Even if I did change our time-lines – and I can't be positive that I did – it's not that big a deal. None of the parts we just bought are time important, this is one of the safest places in the universe for us to be, because we already know what happens, and I don't see how Karl already knowing us in the future could hurt anything (which it obviously didn't). It's like I've told you countless times before; underwear elastic.”

  “I just hope you don't end up snapping it at some point!”

  As soon as the two got back to the ship, Robert explained to the rest of his crew what he had done. This caused them to go borderline hysterical – all of them agreeing that Robert was occasionally a complete maniac. After Cleo woke up, she forgave him for shooting her (seeing as how he and Morgan had been in no danger at all), and said she would do her best to be more trusting in the future. She then slapped him almost off his feet for risking the future in order to go play with Karl. He took this in the spirit in which it was given, and went to get himself an icepack without complaint.

  As he had predicted, Karl got the goods to the ship in roughly three hours’ time. Moments after the last of it was on board, Robert sent he and his crew hurtling toward their next destination.

  “All we need to do now,” he said with a broad smile, “is figure out where Sturm has hidden Cleo, find a way to reach her without him knowing it, and take her back. All things considered, this has been a piece of cake.”

  “All things considered,” the young man retorted, “you're out of your mind.”

  “You mean to tell me that you haven't enjoyed the last few weeks?”

  “I... Yeah... I guess I have, really. I just wish we had a better stocked larder.... and a bowling alley.”

  “As the future wasn't on the line,” Vox observed, “it's actually kind of been like a little vacation – especially since we found those marital supplies.”

  “I agree,” Robert nodded. “But, it's almost time to get back to work. After months, the game is afoot.”

  Chapter 15: The Game is Afoot

  “How long before we get there?” Morgan asked, sliding down into his now-usual seat on the bridge.

  “A few more days,” Robert replied, gazing out of the window.

  “This bird's not quite as fast as Cleo,” the young man observed.

  “Nope.”

  “Where are we heading?”

  “Back to where we know she is,” the traveler replied distractedly.

  “Are you alright?”

  “Yep.”

  “Ah... I just expected you to be working with Vox.”

  “He's got it at the moment,” Robert replied, his eyes still locked on deep space. “I'm just taking a little break. There's no need to get done days in advance so we can have nothing left to tinker on during the rest of the trip.”

  “Where are the girls?”

  “I don't know. I think they said something about going up to the farm or something.”

  “What's wrong, bro?” Morgan asked, trying to figure out what Robert was staring at.

  “Nothing,” he said, taking a deep breath. “I was just sitting here trying to work out how many hours it will be until Cleo's hair has grown back to the right length again.”

  “You have issues,” the young man asserted before making another observation. “We've had a whole lot of time to kill these past couple of days.”

  “We have...” Robert nodded. “You can only play so many hands of poker and watch so many foreign films.”

  “We do that every night.”

  “Which is why we haven't been doing it every day.”

  “Space travel can have a lot of dead time in it.”

  “This is what Star Trek was actually like, you know?”

  “Was it?!” Morgan exclaimed.

  “Would have been like…,” Robert restated. “In between episodes, they were flying around doing nothing for weeks at a time.”

  “Which is why they had a holodeck.”

  “And why we have a bowling alley.”

  “Had.”

  “Will have again soon,” Robert asserted.

  “Hey...” Morgan said thoughtfully. “You know what would really eat up the time? Making out.”

  “We can’t just make out with the girls all the time,” Robert said, slowly shaking his head.

  “Why not?”

  “After a while, we might not want to stop.”

  “The girls would stop us.”

  “After a while, they might not want to stop,” the traveler explained.

  “What’s wrong with that?”

  “Morgan, you wouldn’t want use this situation to take advantage of Azure, would you?”

  For several seconds the young man sat in silent thought.

  “Well?!” Robert finally barked.

  “I’m thinkin’,” the young man claimed before continuing with a sigh. “No, obviously, I wouldn't want to do that. It's just that we're all getting to be more self-controlled and...”

  “And, Cleo and I have to have impenetrable barriers to protect us,” Robert said, finally turning his face to his companion. “The limitations are the only thing that make self-control at all possible for the two of us.”

  “You ought to just marry the girl.”

  “I will,” he said, turning back to the void of space. “As soon as I can.”

  “Rob,” Morgan said moments later. “While we're alone, I want to ask you about something else.”

  “Yeah?”

  “What happened to my parents?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “That's a lie, bro,” Morgan asserted. “I've known you long enough to know when you're lying.”

  “No one's known me that long,” Robert smiled.

  “Be that as it may, I know you're lying this time.”

  “No, you don't.”

  “Rob, man, this is really important. Please tell me the truth.”

  “You don't want to know, Morgan.”

  “The problem is that I can't help but think that maybe they died horribly or something like that.”

  “It’s worse than that.”

  “It’s worse than: they died horribly?”

  “It is,” the traveler nodded slowly. “So, can we please jus
t drop it?”

  “I guess, Rob,” the young man replied with a sigh.

  “Look, Morgan, none of that matters now,” Robert said, turning to look him in the eyes. “In your current life – which is to say: in your real life – I’m basically your Dad.”

  “Then, who’s my Mom?”

  “Clearly, that would be Cleo.”

  “That is just nasty, Rob!” Morgan exclaimed. “That is disgusting for so many reasons – on so many levels – I can’t even grasp them all.”

  “You’re right,” the traveler agreed, rubbing his chin as he spoke. “I wasn’t thinking. That was just a stream of consciousness flowing out of my mind. Having given it a moment’s reflection, though, it’s obvious that Celeste and Vox are your mother and father.”

  “What does that make Doc?”

  “Obviously, he’s your wizened old uncle.”

  “Yeah, that is obvious,” the young man agreed. “So, are you my brother, then?”

  “I’m actually your grandfather.”

  “You don’t act like a grandfather.”

  “I’m one of those really cool grandfathers that let’s my grandson do really exciting things that his parents don’t really approve of, but feel that they can’t put a stop to.”

  “I can actually see that,” Morgan nodded. “But, doesn’t that mean Cleo is my grandmother?”

  “Absolutely not,” Robert replied. “She’s just engaged to your grandfather. I’m also one of those grandads who would marry a scalding hot girl not even close to half his age right in the middle of his dotage. In my case, obviously, the aforementioned scalding hot girl would have to be Cleo but, the principle’s still the same.”

  “That works,” Morgan smiled. “What about Azure, though? She’s not my cousin or anything is she?”

  “She’s not,” Robert assured him. “She’s clearly my granddaughter, but she’s adopted, so you two aren’t kin at all.”

  “Thank goodness for that,” he said with a sigh of relief, “because, the truth of the matter is - even if she were my cousin - I don’t think I could change my feelings for her.”

  “I feel ya. Just be glad fate didn’t deal you that kind of dirty hand.”

  “Oh, I am.”

  “Rob,” Cleo said with a very no-nonsense tone as she stepped onto the bridge with Azure at her heels. “We need to talk.”

  “I'm glad,” he replied with a wide smile. “I really love the sound of your voice. Especially when its whispering in my ear and giggling. You want to sit on my lap while we chat?”

  “Don't do that,” she said, putting her hands on her hips. “I hate it when you do that.”

  “When I do what?”

  “When you flirt with me – in the most overt and ridiculous terms – because you realize that I'm angry at you.”

  “You hate that?” he asked with a rising inflection. “I thought you were supposed to be 'little miss tell the truth'.”

  “Alright,” she replied with a frustrated sigh and a slight blush. “I admit that I like it, but I don't like that I like it.”

  “That's hardly my fault,” Robert laughed. “You need to just let yourself go and come over here and sit on my lap.”

  “Robert,” she warned.

  “I can't possibly have done anything today,” he asserted.

  “You haven't,” she said, taking up her usual seat and gazing into his eyes. “It's what you did days ago.”

  “What did I do?”

  “I've considered it from every angle, Rob,” she said, “and, as far as I can tell, you had to have altered our pasts. Please, as my fiancé, be honest with me; can you see any other possibilities.”

  “No,” he admitted, “I can't.”

  “Which means, you risked the future just to...”

  “Hold on,” he said, raising his hands. “I didn't say that I did alter our pasts...”

  “Rob...”

  “Captain Hood,” he interjected. “I'm being serious, Cleo.”

  “Go on,” she sighed.

  “At the moment,” he said, “I can't be sure whether I did or not. However, I assure you, if I did, I had a plan. I didn't just roll the dice with the entire universe on the table.”

  “Then, what did you do?”

  “I don't know,” he replied, shaking his head. “But, I know I didn't risk trapping us in a paradox so I could go argue with Karl over the price of some junk.”

  “Well... that does make me feel a little better,” she nodded. “What about the dramoor, though?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You're going to be my husband, Rob,” she explained. “I can't just accept the fact that you're an irresponsible jackass who might destroy the entire universe – or, at the very least, throw your life away – because you didn't take five minutes to consider the situation. Which is why I want to know what you were thinking.”

  “Alright,” he nodded. “I guess that's fair. My thought process went something like this: Dramoor start out about the size of a dime...”

  “They do?” Morgan interjected.

  “They do,” Cleo nodded. “Go on, Rob.”

  “I felt certain that – even had they survived the crash – they would probably have starved to death in their cages decades ago...”

  “You knew that wasn't true the moment you saw that room full of webs,” she pointed out.

  “I did,” he nodded. “I also knew that they had gotten to be way bigger than a dime. However, I figured they'd almost certainly abandoned the derelict, as I couldn't see where they would find food.”

  “Those caves probably lead to the surface somewhere,” she speculated.

  “Probably,” he agreed. “At the time, though, I felt it likely that the dramoor had deserted the place. When we got a little deeper in, I realized I was wrong. I was shocked that so many... In fact, that any at all... had gotten behind us.”

  “Those caves must be full of them,” Azure interjected.

  “It wouldn't surprise me,” he said, turning his attention to the blue maiden. “Had I thought that at the time, we'd have headed back immediately. If our retreat had been clear, we'd never have been in any real danger. The lesson is: never leave an unexplored area behind you. Had Morgan and I taken a gander into the cavern, we wouldn't have gotten ourselves surrounded.”

  “Why didn't you want us to go with you?” Cleo asked suspiciously.

  “Always expect the unexpected,” Robert replied. “I wanted you somewhere safe 'just in case'.”

  “You didn't do a very good job of 'expecting the unexpected',” she opined, “but, at least now I can understand your thought process. You weren't careless; you just made a mistake.”

  “I did,” he smiled.

  “I'm glad that's all it was,” she said, rising from her seat with a smile and moving toward the doorway. “I hate having to correct you. It hurts me on an emotional – as well as a physical – level. But, I'm going to have to do whatever it takes to teach you to be more responsible. I'm very happy to see that – in the case of this 'alter our pasts' thing – you don't need to be corrected.”

  “I hope you realize that you were wrong the last two out of two about me being irresponsible,” Robert pointed out.

  “Whether or not you meant to,” she replied, “you put you and Morgan's lives at risk. Just consider the correction you got for that a lesson in being more cautious.”

  “What about already slapping me once for going to Karl's?”

  “I made a mistake,” she admitted. “I shouldn't have done that. Although, really, I can't feel all that bad about it. I'm sure you've been guilty of things I didn't catch you at. You can count that one as me correcting you for some of that. You know what you did, even if I don't.”

  “You'd better watch yourself, Miss Zelbizarre,” he smiled. “If you're not careful, you might find yourself in a situation where I decide that you need a little correction.”

  “That reminds me!” she said, snapping her fingers. “I've been thinking, when we
get the ship back, you might want to repaint the cargo-bay again.”

  “What color?” he asked.

  “Spanking Cleo,” she said with a coy smile before leaving the chamber with Azure following right behind her.

  “I think she may be right,” Robert said after several seconds. “I'm not sure that flirting in the most overt and ridiculous terms is a very good idea after all.”

  “Rob,” Morgan said thoughtfully. “What color is...”

  “Shut up, Morgan.”

  Several relatively empty days after this conversation, the ship reached its destination. The moment they dropped into real-space, Robert once again gathered his crew in the saloon.

  “Alright, guys,” he said, taking up a seat on the couch at Cleo's side, “we've reached Rouladen about an hour before we get here...”

  “What?” Morgan interjected.

  “Rouladen,” Robert repeated. “You know, the planet where we had to go stop Miss Marrison from meeting her husband, scan her brain...”

  “I know what planet it is, Rob. What I mean is; what?”

  “In about an hour,” he replied, “we're going to arrive here for the first time, climb in the car and head for the planet, you and Cleo are going to go give Emily a lunch...”

  “Rob is going to get arrested,” Cleo smiled.

  “Then escape,” he added.

  “Why come here and now, though?” Celeste asked.

  “This is the safest place to do what we have to do,” Robert explained.

  “What is that?” Morgan asked.

  “We’re going to board Cleo,” the green maiden said, “and make some minor modifications, which we won't notice in the past, that will help us find her in the future.”

  “Like setting up a distress beacon,” Robert said, “that will let The Mogan-mobile – and nothing else – know exactly when and where she is after she's been kidnapped.”

  “Captured,” Morgan corrected.

  “Doing that,” Vox said, “is going to mean installing some hidden hardware and making modifications to the ship's OS.”

  “While making sure that Sturm and his cronies can't find them,” Cleo pointed out.

  “How do we do that?”

  “We be careful,” Robert said. “Now, the first thing we have to do is borrow the car. When we headed for Rouladen, Cleo put the ship on lock down. You still remember the pass code you used, love?”