He led her down to a stream with a grassy bank and deep blue water. He motioned for her to sit, and he remained silent until the softness of the grass, combined with the smoothness of the stream, brought peace to her soul.
Eric spoke. “We still control the water. The Aliens cannot use it without coming through our area. And though we have no weapons, there are more of us than of them. Even on this planet, strength is in numbers.” His manner was reassuring. He inspired confidence. Mona felt this man had vigor in every fiber of his being. When he assured her that she would be safe from the Aliens, she believed him and decided to accept his offer.
“The Aliens will not know you are here,” Eric promised. “When we go back to the hut, you will need to stay there. Let me reiterate and clarify the reason we all wish to return to Earth.”
Mona listened intently as he explained. “There is very little to do here. Because of the original lack of food, we invented pills to replace it. Our supply will last another hundred years. Also, we have a permanent energy supply that needs no maintenance. Because of the use of static electricity, our environment is so clean that even the most menial housekeeping chores are unnecessary. Our most difficult job is washing our simple garments weekly. Oh, we could even eliminate that, but we deliberately have not. We must have something to do. Since we do not use money, there is no reason to work. We have no radios or television or anything else to amuse us. Our life is simple and extremely dull.
“There are no children, and when someone occasionally dies, we simply disintegrate the body. For a number of years, we were content and did not even try to find a solution. Now, our interest is in trying to return to Earth. We feel a deep desire to serve others, for without ambition or goals, or challenges, man cannot live. And, as I’ve already told you, we cannot die. So our ‘perfect life’ is quite imperfect. It has caused much dissatisfaction and we cannot go on this way — we will soon lose our minds.”
“Well,” Mona asked, “What kept you content before you decided to try to get back to Earth?”
“We used our brainpower to develop new medical techniques, techniques such as the method we used to revive you. Preventions for heart attacks and strokes, cures for AIDS, MS, cancer, and other fatal diseases. But once all our people were in good health and we had no way to practice, boredom set in, and we had to find something else to occupy us. Then, the division in forces came, and we have spent some time studying how to protect ourselves. You see, we still have the will to live even here; it is man’s strongest instinct.”
Eric’s answer satisfied her. It also made her think. Though many days in the past Mona would have loved to escape the drudgery of work, the prospect of staying on Svar forever made her question whether she was glad they’d saved her life. If she had to stay on this planet, Eric’s description convinced her that life would be far from ideal; it would be extremely uninteresting. She wouldn’t like that at all. Her thoughts of the prospect were short-lived because just then, Eric’s wife, the one they called Lydia, came up.
Eric bowed and said, “Greetings, Lydia.”
Behind Lydia’s skirt, Mona saw a tail wagging. It belonged to her dog. Overjoyed to see him, Mona jumped up from the soft grass and grabbed Pep, pulling him to her so tightly he squealed.
“Oh, Pep,” Mona said, “I’ve never been so glad to see anybody in my entire life. I thought you were gone forever.” She squeezed him again.
Solemnly Eric warned, “Mona, your dog may not live long. We have no assurance that our medicine will work on a dog. We have never tried it on an animal before.”
Tears ran down Mona’s cheeks as she contemplated the consequences Pep might face. But, she also realized that she might be in more danger than Pep. She was the one being experimented upon.
Nevertheless, when they went inside, she accepted the pills they gave her without comment. Since they had no food, it would do no good to protest. If they could find a way to be successful through her, they’d all soon head for Earth. Once there, they might let her go free.
A man called Marcus came into her hut. He was sent to bring her clothes.
“It will be best if you wear the same garments we do,” he explained. “If any of the Aliens come around, you are not as likely to be noticed. Just cover your face.”
Mona slipped into the clothes, putting them on over her own conservative black pants suit and white blouse. They felt strange, but not uncomfortable. Just like everything on Svar, they were different.
Mona looked around and surveyed the situation. There were three rooms in the fiberglass-type dwelling. She had been in two of the others and noticed that all had the same floor plan. Each unit consisted of a front room with two comfortable upholstered chairs and a little round table, a separate room with a flat bed covered with a mattress on a heavy pallet. It had sheets but no blanket, since the weather remained constant at 70 degrees. The last room contained only a commode and a washbowl. Thank God they have running water, she thought. But I wonder if they all take a swim in the creek to bathe? She also noticed that it had no mirror to tell her if all her telltale dark hair was under the hood of her garment. She found it strange to dress without a way to see her reflection.
That’s just one more thing I’ll have to get used to, she told herself. But it bothered her even more when it occurred to her that she had no toothbrush.
As Marcus turned to leave, she stopped him. “I have a question, Marcus: how do I brush my teeth? I can’t stand to get up in the morning without brushing my teeth right away.”
He laughed. “You never need to brush your teeth on Svar. Look,” he bared his white teeth. “We do not eat food. The medicine we use takes care of our hunger — and our teeth, too. Your mouth will not even feel dirty.”
Mona wasn’t convinced. She ran her tongue over her gums and rinsed her mouth with water from the washbowl. Marcus stepped close to her.
“If you put the water in your mouth, it will have a bad taste and it may make you ill,” he cautioned her, and she spit it out. She felt sick and dizzy.
“I — I feel awful,” she told Marcus, and he handed her a pill.
“It takes time to get adjusted. Lie down and rest. Once you become accustomed to our planet, you will never be ill again,” he told her, and she did as he said. Sleep came almost instantly.
Sometime later, Mona awoke with a start. Loud voices echoed in her ears. Two men that she hadn’t seen before stood in her doorway. Behind them, Marcus stood, silhouetted by a bright light. She was so weak, she could not speak. Marcus told the men to leave, but they did not. He pulled at their cloaks, and one of them shoved him to the ground. The other man came toward her. He pulled out a primitive looking knife made from stone.
“Come with me,” he ordered, flashing the knife in her face.
Unable to move, Mona shook her head and backed away. He became angry and grabbed at the neck of her gown.
Then, Eric barged in. Grabbing both men by the collar, he banged their heads together. The knife fell to the floor. Remorsefully, Eric picked it up.
“What are you doing? You are supposed to be one of us. Why did it have to come to this?” He looked at the knife. A sad expression crossed his face as he told the men, “Go.” With the knife still in his hand, Eric shoved the intruders out.
Mona just stood there, watching it all happen.
When she heard Eric tell Marcus, “Wazi and Cardrian have been troublemakers before, but this time they’ve gone too far.” Her eyes widened and she listened intently to Marcus’s reply.
“Yes, it’s obvious that they’re turncoats.”
“By kidnapping Mona and turning her over to Torpi, they’d use her as a pawn to try to force us to give up our secrets of stopping disease and achieving immortality.” Eric creased his brow. “They’ll try again.”
Fearful for her fate, a wide-eyed Mona blurted out, “You’re saying they’ll come back. What are you going to do about that?”
Eric put his hand on her shoulder, barely touching it. �
�Don’t be afraid. I’ll take care of those turncoats. We don’t tolerate such things on Svar.”
“Do you have a jail?”
With a half smile, Eric shook his head. “We don’t need one. I can banish them from our ranks, put them out, and let Torpi dole out their punishment. He is much more ruthless than I am.” He curled his lip. “Especially on men who have failed in their assigned tasks.”
Although Mona was not completely satisfied with Eric’s reassurance, illness and weakness overcame her, rendering her unable to pursue the issue. It even overwhelmed her fear to the point that she dropped back down on the bed and fell asleep.
Eric shook his head. “Marcus,” he said with deep concern, “We must do something quickly or she won’t survive.”
“Should we change the medication?”
In deep thought, Eric did not reply instantly. When he did, what he said was with confidence. “Give her the anti-serum, and I think she will be all right by the time we prepare the ship. This is the plan: you, Lydia, Mona, the dog, and I will go. We will return to the site where we picked up Mona. She will act as our liaison and, hopefully, we can change and rework our physical appearance. That will allow us to re-enter that point in time that we left. We may still have to face the atomic war, but maybe with wisdom we can avert it. We will all be much younger, and we will eventually lose the technology that we have gained, so we must transmit the knowledge to Earthlings as soon as possible. Also, we must pick the proper time to return to Svar to get the others.”
Marcus frowned. “Pardon me, sir, but the Aliens will take over as soon as they realize we are not coming back immediately. And they will try to convince our people to join their forces.”
“I know. But there is no alternative. We must either act now or give up forever.”
With that, the King had spoken, and the question was settled. They left the next evening.
The ship sailed through space faster than the speed of light. When Mona awakened, she found herself on board. Her malaise subsided, and she felt much better physically. Once she was told that the ship had radar plus some equipment with even more elaborate refinements, including radio facilities, in relief, her mental attitude improved, too. But she was still uneasy. Where they were going was not yet revealed to her.
The dark night sky was a welcome change from the bright light of Svar. Mona looked out into the vast, empty space, hoping to be headed for Earth. She dare not ask; the answer might not be the one she wanted to hear. That disappointment would be unbearable. But upon seeing her stir, the information was volunteered. Marcus and Eric spoke at the same time. Then, Marcus deferred to Eric who told Mona, “We are returning to Earth. You will find that we chose not to transgress time; we let it move forward.”
When he told her the entire plan, she willingly agreed to act as their liaison as long as necessary. It would be no trouble to explain how she escaped injury in the wreck that demolished her car — she could simply say she’d jumped out before it tumbled over the embankment. Although, it would require a stretch of imagination that would probably be accepted. After all, Pep had not been hurt. That triggered thoughts of her dog.
“Pep, where is Pep?” Mona inquired frantically. But she did not need to worry. At the sound of his name, Pep came running to lick her hand. Mona let out a sigh. Pep was with her and she really did not care what happened on Svar. All she wanted now was to make it back to Earth.
As Mona scratched behind Pep’s ears, she surveyed the ship’s stark white interior. Unlike American space ships, it didn’t have all of the equipment they used. The cockpit — if that’s what they called it — resembled one in a large commercial airliner. Every now and then, Eric went in there and checked controls, but Mona couldn’t tell what he was doing. She heard a radio transmission a couple of times, but it wasn’t clear enough for her to discern who was speaking or what was being said.
The rest of the ship looked much like the inside of a mobile home. Divided in two sections, it had a kitchen area with a ceramic-type cook top, a table and four chairs firmly bolted to the floor, and a sleeping area with a curtain wide open, showing a couple of mattresses on the floor. There was even a small bath, but no shower or tub.
A realization totally surprised her. She could sit, stand, or walk around without floating to the ceiling, so the ship must have gravity. She could also breathe freely, so they must have oxygen. Mona was curious, but she didn’t have a scientific mind. No need to ask Eric to explain the phenomenon; she wouldn’t understand if he did. Sensing her uneasiness, Eric came over and sat beside her. “Mona,” he began, “I know what you must be feeling. I’m sorry that we took you to Svar, a place so strange to you, but we need your help. We haven’t been on Earth for a long time. We need to know how it is now before we land again.”
All that happened came rushing in her brain. Mona gritted her teeth, then lashed out. “How could you possibly know what I’m feeling? You’re not even human.” Tears glistened on her cheeks. “Wazi and what-his-name could’ve killed me.”
In a soft voice, Eric replied, “Ah, Mona, give us a little credit. You were already dead when we found you.” He raised his index finger. “We brought you back to life.”
The realization that he spoke the truth hit her. Mona gasped and slapped the palm of her hand over her mouth. Dropping it quickly, she said, “You’re right. I don’t mean to be ungrateful.” She changed her tune completely. “All right, tell me what you need to know, and I’ll do the best I can.”
For the next couple of hours, Mona told Eric about technological inventions, cars, political situations and even about space exploration. So many changes had happened in the last century that she couldn’t address them all, but when she finished, Eric was satisfied that he was much better prepared to return to Earth than he had been.
When she’d asked, “Do you think Torpi will follow us?” Eric’s response was honest.
“I think he will,” he said. But he added reassurance. “We’re prepared to deal with him. Don’t worry; you’ll be back in your own home soon, very soon.”
Lydia’s quivering lip made Mona wonder, but she quickly turned her head. She refused to let fear raise its ugly head again.
By the time Eric left to take a nap, Mona felt that she’d really gotten to know him and that he was much more understanding and compassionate that she’d given him credit for being. She felt safe in his care.
Mona was tired, too, but as she was on her way to the other mattress, Lydia pulled on her sleeve. “I know you’re exhausted, Mona, but could we talk just for a moment?”
They sat at the kitchen table. “Woman to woman,” Lydia said, “I think I should tell you a few things about us.” Her eyes darkened. “We are different from Earthlings. We aren’t exactly betrothed, but our marriages are arranged in a way. From childhood, we associate with those our parents want us to intermingle with. In other words, we only know and mix with certain people. We have some choice in choosing our mates, but it’s limited.”
Mona squinted as she thought of eugenics. Were the Svarians planning a master race?
As if reading Mona’s mind, Lydia explained. “It’s not eugenics; at least not exactly. But we do want to produce children with good genes, both physically and intellectually.” She cut her eyes sideways and looked at her sleeping husband. “I chose Eric from three other men. He’s a good person. He loves me and I love him in a way that transcends time and space. It’s spiritual. I want to spend my life, or eternity, with him. Can you understand?”
Mona swallowed hard. Was this a revelation about love? It occurred to her that in the trauma of the last few days, she’d hadn’t given her ex-boyfriend a thought. Did that tell her that Lee Black, III wasn’t worthy of her love? She clasped her hands together tightly. Maybe this was the test and he didn’t pass.
Chapter 2
BY THE TIME MONA finally got back to her apartment overlooking Mobile Bay, she’d ridden in vehicles of many types — a space ship, a private car when she’d hitc
hed a ride, a taxi, and, lastly, a bus.
Well, I’m finally home again, she thought, elated that they’d set her free almost as soon as they landed. And they trusted her to return as per their agreement. But I have no idea of how much time has passed or what day it is. Now, how can I find out without arousing suspicion? It was a ridiculous position to be in. The solution struck her. “The paper. I can look at the date on the last paper delivered.”
Her newspapers had all been shoved through her mail slot and as she picked them up, she realized that she’d been gone for a week. The last date read July 2.
“Wow, but look what’s happened in that time. It’s unbelievable. My vacation’s over, Pep,” she said to the dog wagging his tail as he stood by her side. “And I can truly say it was out of this world.” She laughed and wondered if anyone missed her at all. She supposed not, since she’d told everyone that she’d definitely be “out of touch.”
Being a reporter, she couldn’t help but form a story in her mind. The headline would read: “Reporter Taken to Outer Space.” Still, she knew that was one that would never appear in print. “Document, Mona, document. You know the routine,” her editor would say. And she had no documentation. Besides, even if she did, Frank Dees could punch holes in the best of stories. Anyhow, he’d think she was looney, and she’d probably end up losing her job. She could hear his voice.
“Mona, for God’s sake, I can’t believe that you of all people are trying to hand me a faker like this. That week off must have been a dilly. What did you do — get high and hallucinate?” And off he’d go laughing. If she seriously pressed the issue, it would be, “Sorry, babe. Take a leave. Come back when you get over it.”
Mona sighed. The sad part was that she had nobody to talk to. She’d become a little cynical about people because she knew that quite often their interest and concern about others’ problems disappeared once they were out of sight. If this got published, the gossip would begin and big, wild tales would be spread all over town. She could visualize how her tale of the space ship would be received. The whispered words echoed in her mind:
Time Will Tell Page 2