“Trust you to take her side, Linda,” he replied.
“Anyway, he kept repeating that humanity would end by the year 2305. But, after he’d said that, it was obvious to me that he was struggling to remember more.
He told me that someone had already come through from his time period and that he had to stop this someone from disrupting a vital project.
If he couldn’t stop this, someone. Then that would change the future, and that this what he called a Crillon or something like that, would destroy humanity by 2305.
I wasn’t sure if he meant, that this someone was an alien thing or a human.”
“But now we do know.”
“Yes Christine, thank goodness. He also told me that the 7th of April 2109 was a critical time for something. I’m sure that was the date he gave me.
But, by this time, his memory seemed to be more of a problem for him. He kept forgetting what he’d just said because then he changed the date to the 16th of December 2108.
Anyway, then I said I’d take him to the hospital, and he went mad. No hospital he kept repeating. He was adamant about that.
Then he seemed to get weaker by the minute and kept repeating the word, Pavonis. Until eventually he passed out.”
“Then you brought him here?”
“Yes, it was a bit of a shock to me, Christine. Seeing Tomas roll up, with a naked man in the car.”
“I bet you couldn’t take your eyes off him, Linda?”
Linda blushed.
“Well, then I’m right, you did peek.”
“Somebody had to help him. Luckily, he’d recovered enough, so as, not to be a dead weight. Tomas helped me get him upstairs to one of our guest bedrooms, and we managed to lay him on the bed.”
“Then Tomas left, I imagine?”
“Naturally. He’s useless at day-to-day work.” Linda replied, smiling slightly.
“So, let’s get this straight. Tomas left you alone with a naked man. Did you have an urge?” she laughingly asked Linda.
“That’s enough, both of you. Damn it, do your theorizing later.” Cedrick said, sounding a bit put out.
“Sorry Tomas,” Christine said, apologizing for getting carried away.
“Ok. By then, it was obvious he had nowhere to go. And, from hearing the information that he’d given me, it was also clear that he was in danger.
So, we agreed that he should stay with us in our home. Where we could look after him, and help him to regain his memory.
In the end, I realised that he’d virtually forgotten everything about himself and hadn’t even been able to remember his name.
Knowing that he had to have some sort of an identity, I searched for an obscure name from the death registers, looking for people who had been dead for many years. Then supplied him with all necessary credentials to make him appear legit,” he paused smiling.
“I must say that was one of the bonuses’ of working for SEID. That’s when he became active and known as Micky Sanderson,” he added then sat thinking for a moment.
“He told me about his wife, Alesha, Cedrick. And how she was murdered in a robbery, Oh, and his two friends that helped him hone his abilities.”
“Correct Christine. So I hope you can see now why I couldn’t tell him what he had formerly said.
Even that may have changed the future. I just couldn’t take the risk.”
He stopped, then looked at Christine, his expression grave.
“Christine. Everything, we've talked about here, must remain a secret between the three of us. Yes?”
“Yes. I understand Tomas.”
“Well, we had to train Micky for life in our century. Then once he was able to look after himself, we gave him a job at SEID.
That’s when his special ability, which the two friends you mentioned helped him to improve, became useful to us.”
Tomas stopped for a moment, remembering. He was obviously still in distress.
Christine was surprised as she noted he had tears in his eyes. She had forgotten for a moment that Micky was like their own son.
“Then you came on the scene, Christine,” Tomas said his voice quivering.
“He changed. It was as if he knew that you would be his link, a connection to his future.
You were part of the future, you, and your family name, all part of the solution that he couldn’t remember.
But you steered him to the correct conclusion, Christine. Without you knowing it.”
“I’ll get us some tea,” Linda said standing up. “Finish up Tomas.”
“Ok, but now there is still a danger to the future, Christine,” Tomas said as he picked an object from the box on the floor.
“This, as you know, was Axon’s particle beam weapon.”
“Yes Tomas, I’ve seen photos but never actually seen it in real life.”
“It’s useless now. I kept firing into the ground until its power source was exhausted.”
“It doesn’t belong in this time Tomas.”
“No, you’re right Christine, it doesn't. Now, we’ve come to what you were probably destined to do.”
“I don’t think I’m going to like this.”
“This weapon must be on the Acarea starship when it leaves for Deep Space.”
“To return it to its own time?”
“Yes. Or at least to its origin. You’ll have to work out how to do it. Your ancestors will hopefully be the answer to that.
But, this weapon must remain hidden until then. And, you must, as Micky asked, keep the Bernstein name in your family, no matter what.”
“I understand Tomas. May I hold it?”
“Take it, my dear.”
Christine held the weapon and wept.
Chapter 43.
Predictor.
Temporal Anchor 2725.
Supervisor Tranton stood motionless, peering out at the stars that he could see through the enormous, atom-glass window of Delta’s forward based Temporal Operations Centre.
In just two months time, he was to be relieved by another Supervisor, after spending almost a hundred years here. And, yes, he could see that he needed a rest. His reflection in the atom glass window told him that. His steel blue eyes seemed more sunken than usual. Even though his bronzed, wrinkle-free face and bald head, made him look fitter than he really was.
Thank goodness for my white Mantle, he thought. The mantle, of course, covered the rest of his body, hiding his frailness beneath.
Tranton had been Supervisor at Delta’s forward Centre for over a hundred years and had seen many Temporal changes that threatened their current Timeline.
He felt a presence approaching. Then Strantos, his senior Temporal Predictor, entered the room and with a few gliding steps, stood next to him.
Strantos directed his thoughts. Neither of them needed to use spoken words.
The Timeline has moved closer to zero, Supervisor Tranton.
So I see, Strantos. But, not close enough…What is your recommendation to correct the future’s divergence to zero?
There’s something amiss with our up-timeline prediction. So, It’s difficult to tell.
It was your calculation, Strantos. Your team had better revisit your original mathematical interpretation of events.
We are, Supervisor Tranton. My team’s already analyzing the initial correction that we made for the up-timeline adjustment.This will enable us to find where the error occurred in our original computation.
Good, Tranton acknowledged. I see our two new field operators have arrived. I will inform them of what we need from them. Then your team can go over the operational details and instruct them on how they will be able to accomplish the future’s timeline correction.
Don’t worry, Strantos, they will be okay. Tranton assured Strantos, sensing that he was uneasy about the two field operatives,
Has your team finally selected the insertion points?
Yes. All temporal points to correct the divergence have been located, and we are ready to go.
; Strantos considered his thoughts. So, the Timeship will be here as requested?
Of course, Tranton confirmed.
Both continued to watch the stars for a few more minutes before Strantos, Delta’s senior Temporal Predictor, left.
But, Supervisor Tranton had a bad feeling. The temporal shock wave had extended much further upward in time than expected. He was also well aware that, Strantos’s team, would be putting Delta’s Temporal field operators in real danger. Far more danger than should be expected of them.
Epilogue.
Christine Herriot Bernstein, generally known as Charlie, gave birth to twins in Chicago on the 6th July 2035. One Boy and one Girl.
After Micky had gone. Charlie moved into Cedrick’s family residence and lived with them for the rest of her life.
She raised her twins, with the help of Cedrick’s wife Linda, and her father, Hector Bernstein, who came over from England to visit her on a regular basis.
Although she had never got married, she remained hopeful that one day, the twin’s father, Micky Sanderson, would somehow return. But in her heart of hearts, she knew that was virtually impossible.
Cedrick Tomas Ervin of the Chicago division of SEID. Did as he had promised Micky, in that he and his wife Linda looked after Charlie and her siblings after his demise.
Charlie’s two children Colin and Christina excelled in mathematics. When they were 18 years old, they both went on to University, Afterwards joining Cebro, with both being committed to Project Acarea.
In 2087, Christine Herriot Bernstein died.
By this time, though both of her children were married, and had children.
Charlie’s children had both respected their mother’s wish that they must retain the Bernstein family name and include Micky, as one of the Christian names, for every boy that was born from now on.
Simon, Charlie’s son-in-law, had also agreed to insert the Bernstein name before his surname. Simon was working on the project so this would help to ensure that the name of Bernstein would remain synonymous with Project Acarea.
On Charlie’s death, the killer’s particle beam weapon was passed on to Charlie’s children, with them then passing it onto their own children later.
Their children, like their parents, were now involved in the Acarea project and had promised that the weapon would be on the Acarea when the ship left on its voyage.
Cedrick Tomas Ervin, Micky’s mentor. Died a contented man one year after his wife Linda and nearly five years after Charlie’s death.
Cedrick had done everything he had promised to do. So had been as sure as he could be that the timeline hadn’t changed, knowing that the Starship Acarea was still officially scheduled to be launched in 2109.
Only then, would they know if the change to the launch date that Micky had wanted would take place…and if the project to send the Acarea to Procyon, would succeed.
End of Book 4.
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If you haven’t read my
SpaceFed StarShips Trilogy.
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I invite you to read the following sample from my fifth book in what has now become my SpaceFed StarShips Series.
A sample from my next book.
Acarea- A Triumph or Disaster?
The Starship Acarea was ready to go at last and was waiting in orbit for the last of its passengers to board. There were just two days left for the Acarea’s shuttle to carry these passengers up to the ship, to ensure that Captain Traven’s deadline for everyone to be on board was met.
The Bernstein’s had indeed kept their promise to Micky Sanderson. In ensuring that members of the Bernstein family would be involved in the Acarea project and that some of his and Charlie’s descendants would be on the ship. With Harry, Anna, and Susie, being three of the eighty-five or so settlers. They were also lucky in that they would make the whole of the sixty-year journey in stasis, thereby ageing by just two years.
Trisha Bernstein and her husband were almost the same age as her cousin Anna and her new husband, Harry Turner-Bernstein. But, unlike her cousins, Trisha and Joe had been involved in the Acarea project for some time now and were members of the Acarea’s crew, as was Trisha’s other cousin, Henry.
Yesterday, while working in the embarkation terminal, Trisha had finally met Susie, Henry’s twin sister. Both Trisha and Joe immediately liked her and wished they had been able to meet her sooner, so were looking forward to seeing her again before she was placed in stasis.
Trisha knew that her uncle Michael was quite influential. Even so, she wondered how he had been able to get Susie selected without even having to attend an interview. It was a shame that Michael had been too old to join the Acarea, as he would have loved to go with them, she thought to herself.
Trisha and Joe were in the Acarea’s Shuttle departure area at the Kennedy Space Centre and were again working together in the embarkation terminal busily vetting people, then explaining the sequence of events to personnel preparing to board. Many of them still coming to terms with the reality that they would never see Earth again.
As the last pair, having passed all of their checks, left to board the shuttle, they finally relaxed. Everyone now knew exactly what was going to happen to them once the shuttle docked with the Acarea, later this afternoon.
A short time later they both collected their bags and joined the others queuing to board the shuttle. Then, as Trisha followed Joe up the steps, she heard a voice from behind her and turned to see a young and very attractive man following her.
“Hi, I’m Jeff Jackson,” he said with a smile.
“I’m Trisha. That’s my husband Joe, up front,” she said blushing as she spoke. Then turned back and carried on up the steps.
“Nice legs,” he commented.
She ignored his compliment but smiling to herself decided that she already liked him.
The transportation shuttles had a double row of seats, each side of a central aisle. And were able to carry up to twenty-two passengers, with two more seats earmarked for one shuttle crew member and a security guard. There were windows on each side of the shuttle. With the glass automatically dimming, when necessary, to protect the passengers from the sun’s harmful rays.
The shuttles had short and stubby variable geometry wings that automatically altered their shape, to provide maximum lift during take-off and when landing in earth’s atmosphere. Its two massive air-breathing engines, one mounted beneath each wing, enabled the shuttle to take-off and climb up to the near edge of space. Then two rocket engines at the rear of the shuttle would take over, and carry it on and up into space, and to the Acarea.
When they had all boarded and were securely buckled in their seats, the shuttle door closed and the cabin pressurised, as the rows of windows dimmed for take-off. Then a voice was heard over the cabin’s sound system.
“Good evening, I'm Captain Grantham. This shuttle will not be rotating so you will be in a zero gravity situation once we’re in space. Please stay in your seats for the whole journey, seat belts on. The transit time will be approximately forty minutes, but I’m afraid, there will be no refreshments.
You’ve all been instructed on how to use your magnetic boots. They will keep your feet on the floor when you disembark from the shuttle, and board the Acarea.”
As the shuttle’s engines started up. Trisha held Joe’s hand, tightly. The engines roared as they reached full throttle. Then the shuttle vibrated as they accelerated faster and faster down the runway. Until, suddenly, the nose lifted, and they started climbing away from Florida’s coastline.
The green and luxuriant Bahama Islands, now already well below them, came into view, then shrank rapidly as they headed on towards space.
The rows of windows on the opposite side to Trisha then dimmed again. Thankfully, for her and Joe, they had a clear view on their side as the horizon began to curve. Then Captain Gra
ntham’s voice was heard once again over the shuttle’s sound system.
“In exactly two minutes, the shuttle's rocket engines will fire up, and we’ll experience high vibration and an increase in the G force for the entirety of the sixty-eight-second burn.
Don’t worry. The rise in both the G-Force and the vibration level is entirely typical of this class of shuttle. Then, the shuttle’s rockets will take us on and up to Acarea’s orbit. Thank you.”
Below them, Trisha and Joe could see the curve of the Earth in all its glory. A thunderstorm raged over Europe, with flashes of lightning flickering from under the clouds.
Looking at it, both of them felt sad at leaving Earth, but at the same time, the prospect of a new life elsewhere was very inviting.
“The two air-breathing engines are struggling now. Can you hear, Trish?” Joe asked as the noise and vibration rapidly diminished.
Then, as the air-breathing engines died, the shuttle’s rocket engines fired, and took over. Sixty-eight seconds later, the burn suddenly ended and silence reigned, apart from the steady hiss of oxygen being delivered to the cabin as the shuttle surged onwards towards space, and the Acarea.
“Some flight Trisha,” Joe remarked, as he strained to see out of the nearest window.
Another five minutes passed, with the shuttle using her thrusters to execute the change-of-course manoeuvres. Then, the massive ‘pusher plate’ of the Acarea came into view.
Death of Time (SpaceFed StarShips Series Book 4) 2nd Edition.: A thrilling, psychological, Mystery and Suspense, sci-fi detective thriller. (SpaceFed StarShips Trilogy) Page 27