The Long Day

by Robert Harrison

  He said goodbye to each individually, then gave Asha a long hug and a final kiss. Before he stepped on the collector Paumi handed him a box and said, “This is what you asked for. It should do what you wanted.”

  Bishop stood on the collector. There was a rumble when they engaged the device, then Bishop was gone. A moment later the great void disappeared. Their universe had been released.

  Chapter 18: About Time

  Dr. Bishop Avery sat at the end of the boardroom table and concluded, “Well, that is my story. You may do with it what you’d like.” Then he reached out and took another swig of scotch. “Thank you for bringing this, Aaron. They have a lot of good drink there, but I really did miss the Scotch.”

  Everyone sat quiet for a moment, trying to digest all they had heard. Then the same person who’d made the comment about ancient aliens said, “Bullshit. I don’t believe it. The father of a universe, leader of three worlds, sex with aliens. C’mon. What do you take us for?”

  Bishop knew they were going to crucify him. He accepted his fate, but just then something happened to the right of him. A white dot appeared, then it opened like the iris on a camera. It was a least seven feet high and totally two dimensional. Absolutely flat. It opened to some white space filled with bright light. Then a being stepped out, a Sapien like being. It looked directly at Bishop and said, “Father, it’s time to go.”

  Bishop stood up and stepped through the iris with the alien. It closed behind him, and they were gone.

  The room was absolutely still. No one knew how to react.

  Then after a long silence, Dr. Everett, the head of the institute said, “Please complete a report as follows:

  “June 21st. Explosion occurred in the physics lab of Dr. Avery Bishop. Three casualties: Dr. Bishop Avery, Dr. Jason Smith, graduate student Karen White. Partial human remains found. Cause unknown. Investigation underway.”

  He paused a moment, then asked, “Does everyone agree with that assessment.”

  All agreed.

  *****************

  After stepping through the iris, Bishop found himself floating through space in some sort of clear, transparent craft.

  He asked the being next to him, “How did you find me?”

  The being said, “Reach up and feel the left side of your neck.”

  Bishop did so. His personal disk was still attached.

  The being continued, “We’ve been exploring the multi-verses. Once we hit the right universe, at pure random chance I might add, you were easy to find. Your personal locator is still functioning. In your timeline it’s only been a few hours since you left.”

  Bishop looked at the being and nodded his head to acknowledge, then he noticed the being was a Sapien, but not exactly. This being was a bit taller than most Sapiens, and he had a goatee. Sapiens didn’t have facial hair.

  Bishop asked, “Are you a Sapien?”

  “Not exactly,” he replied. “My name is Abba Avery. I’m a Humasapien. Actually, I’m your great, great, great, we’ll I’m not sure how many greats actually, so let’s just say I’m your great grandson. Nice to meet you father.”

  “You know who I am?”

  “Everyone knows who you are. You are the father and creator from Vhamora.”

  “Well, if you’re my descendant that makes sense. Thousands of years would have gone by since I left. I’m in the future?”

  “You are right now, but I’m taking you back home.”

  “Back in time, you mean.”

  “Yes.”

  “So you travel in time now? Won’t that create some sort of paradox?”

  “No. It works kind of like this. See, you once gave a lecture where you talked about the paradox of time travel. You said, ‘so what if you go back in time and kill your grandfather before your parent is born?’ Well, it turns out time has a way of protecting the continuity. If you tried to kill your grandparent, something is always going to happen to prevent it. Your weapon will misfire, or a meteor will fall out of the sky and knock your head off, or something. It will just never happen.

  “That works in the inverse too. Think about this, you came back right after you left for Vhamora. It’s always been true. It’s part of our history. In this case, time works to make sure it happens. In a way, I had no choice but to get you, me or someone. It happened in the past so it was time-locked. Someone was bringing you back. It was always going to happen. Besides, I had to obey the official decree. There’s a standing order to bring you back. Remember that?”

  “Yes, I do. That still stands?”

  “Never taken off the books.”

  “One thing, if you’re my descendant, how does that work? Your ancestor won’t be born until after I get back, so how is that not a paradox?”

  “It’s not. It’s not birth, its conception. Asha’s already pregnant with my ancestor. You remember how that happened, don’t you?”

  Bishop just smiled at that. “This whole time thing kind of makes your head spin, doesn’t it?” commented Bishop.

  “Time concepts are hard for everyone, even those of us who time travel. Now, that said, let’s get on our way. Someone wants to see you before I take you home.”

  “Who?” Bishop asked.

  “You’ll see.”

  The craft started moving. It was in space over the galaxy from the other universe of the Sapiens. It started speeding across the galaxy like you were watching a movie, or a simulation. Then it descended into the galactic plane and continued, passing right through all the obstructions. It passed through nebulas and even stars like they weren’t there at all. It shifted a bit and passed directly through the center of a massive blue giant star, with no effect.

  Bishop thought, “He did that on purpose, just to show me.”

  “What kind of craft is this?” asked Bishop.

  “It’s not exactly a craft. It’s more of an interdimensional construct. It’s a construct that moves through space, time, and the multi-verses. It’s here, but it’s also not here. It’s not here, but it’s everywhere. I don’t expect you to understand. Your physics haven’t reached that point yet.”

  The craft, or whatever it was, was almost invisible. There was no floor, no ceiling, and no walls. It was like flying through open space, except you could see a slight translucent shimmer at the boundaries of the construct.

  They flew at an amazing rate of speed. The entire galaxy passed by in just a few minutes, then Abba said, “We’re here.”

  The ship slowed as it approached a planet. There was the wreckage of a derelict ship orbiting the planet. It was one of the older Sapien fusion based interstellar vessels. They started descending. Beneath them was a beautiful living world with blue skies and white clouds, and giant patches of color – all colors: blue, orange, red, white, yellow, and others. Bishop could see they were flowers. The entire planet was in bloom.

  As they neared the ground Bishop could see something moving around in the gardens below, then it came into clear view. It was a Tecate’. The whole place was infested with Tecate’.

  Bishop winced. His heart started pounding and he said, “You’re taking me to the Tecate’?”

  Abba put his hand on his shoulder and said, “Oh, don’t worry. They’re actually quite docile. But we’re not going to see them, we’re here to see the Mahatma.”

  “How could this be? The planet of the Mahatma is a dead world.”

  “I’ll let the Mahatma catch you up.”

  Then the ship descended into the hole and came to rest on the floor of the cave of the Mahatma. The shimmering border disappeared and they were on standing solid ground. Bishop walked into the cave and saw a Tecate’ hovering over one of the heads of the Mahatma. The Tecate’ had a razor in its claws, right against the Mahatma’s throat.”

  “Oh, you’re here,” said the Mahatma. He could see the look of alarm on Bishop’s face. “Oh, don’t mind her. She's just giving me a shave. The Sapien head of Avan Moc may not grow a beard, but the rest of us do. It’s nice to be groomed on
ce in a while.”

  “How did you come across friendly Tecate’?” asked Bishop.

  “Oh, I didn’t,” replied the Mahatma. “It seems that when the Tecate’ first got the coordinates for Aquita and Dolis, they also got the coordinates for my planet. They used the interstellar craft they stole from Sapiens to come here. It was one of the older, slower craft. It took them many years to get here. By the time they arrived their ship was nearly out of power and life support. They just made it here before all the systems failed.

  “When they first got here they were the same Tecate’ you knew. Cold, indifferent, wanting to destroy everything not them – including me. The first thing they did was start a manava farm. They stayed on the surface and probably didn’t even know I was here, but then one of them fell down the hole and found its way to me. It was injured and nearly dead, but it wandered into my bio-matrix, which tried to join with it.

  “At first it nearly killed me. Its biology is very different, and we waged a biological war over who would control and which would survive. I eventually won, but in the process I discovered something. Their memories are stored in DNA strands, and after some time I was able to decode the structure of their memory. I saw everything they saw, and it was not a pretty sight, so I changed it. I gave the Tecate’ that was with me a new memory. I couldn’t erase the old, only the queen can do that. I just added a memory, then I released it to go back to the horde. It carried back the new memory.”

  “What was the new memory?”

  “That the king lived in this hole and wanted to see the queen.” I structured it like a typical Tecate’ command.”

  “Did that work?”

  “Not exactly, but it did get the queen to come down to see me. She recognized it as a false memory and wanted to destroy me, but then I showed her something. I showed her two futures that I foresaw. In one future she killed me and the Tecate’ took the planet, but it was short-lived. An alliance ship eventually showed up and all the Tecate’ were killed. That would be the extinction of her race and the end of the Tecate’ in this universe. The Tecate’ have an instinct for survival, and she found that outcome unacceptable. And since their ship was spent, there was no escape for them. That future was set.

  “And the other future, what was that?”

  “That she and I worked together to give the Tecate’ new memories, and give something to them they had never experienced before: joy. I would use my ability to configure DNA to manufacture new memories for them, and she would pass them on to her offspring and purge out the old memories. Did you know the queen could do that? She can control which memories get passed on.”

  “No, I did not know that.”

  “Well, they can. You see, the queen has absolute power. She can pass on directives and memories, or she can purge memories, if she so chooses.”

  “Anyway, I created a new history for the Tecate’. I gave them a memory that they were gardeners and nurturers of nature, and I wove into that new concepts: peace; joy; happiness; love of nature; appreciation for beauty. Because of their predisposition to farming, it wasn’t a far stretch. Just an alternate version. They easily accepted the gardener model.

  “After several generations all the old memories were purged. They are gardeners that nurture life. All they remember is gardening, and peace and joy. And look what they made of this planet. With the manava restoring the atmosphere, and them as the caretakers – it’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

  “Yes it is, but why did you want to see me?”

  “For one, I just wanted to say hello. I also wanted to remind you that while I couldn’t see any future with you not returning to your planet, I did see happiness in your future. Does that seem right, now that you know you’re going back?”

  “Yes, it does. Nothing would make me happier.”

  “Yes, as I predicted,” the Mahatma said almost a bit smugly, maybe with just a bit of sarcasm. “But, I have one more thing. I wanted you to see this. You will come across the Tecate’ that landed here, and the alliance will kill them unless you intercede. I want you to stop them when the time comes. You are the father and the creator, and you are the only one who can end this conflict and bring peace. Your job is not yet over.

  “Promise me you will do this,” the Mahatma demanded.

  “I promise, I will,” replied Bishop. “I trust you and believe you, as do all the Sapiens.”

  “Thank you,” answered the Mahatma. “Now go enjoy your life.”

  Bishop and Abba returned to the construct and got under way. They flew through space and time until they were back. Just before they arrived, Abba said, “You know, what you have seen is only for you. You can never discuss any of this with anyone in the past?”

  “I sort of assumed that,” replied Bishop.

  When they returned, everyone was still standing around the collector where they just sent Bishop home. Asha was crying, then a portal opened up before them, like an iris, and Bishop stepped through. Everyone exclaimed, “How?”

  Bishop simply answered, “Providence,” and he never said any more about it. Then he went to Asha and placed his hand on her stomach. He said, “I know something. We are going to have a son. He’s here right now.” Then he did a little circular rub on her belly.

  Asha had no idea, but she believed him. Then Bishop said, “Let’s head back to Sapiea. It’s time for a pairing ceremony.”

  Asha and Bishop would go on to lead a long and happy life. They had many more children and made a wonderful home on the Sapien moon, Barra, which the manava had transformed into a tropical planet with an oxygen rich atmosphere.

  Karen became a professor and postulated the theories that made travel through time and the multi-verses possible. Karen would also pair with a Sapien, and between her offspring and Bishops, they spawned the new hybrid species, the Humasapiens.

  Jason stayed with the Doleks for some time and eventually became commander of the Maximus, continuing its mission to explore. Jason was never know to have children, but it was rumored that Dolis suddenly had an outbreak of pinkish-blue Doleks.

  Chapter 19: On Porpoise

  A package arrived at the Dolphin Research Center in the Florida Keys. It was addressed to Dr. Mary Puglisi, a longtime friend of Bishop Avery. They grew up together and stayed in contact since childhood.

  Inside she found a cell phone and two camera-like devices. There was also a letter from Bishop. It read:

  Dear Mary,

  I ran across something I think you would find interesting. Enclosed is my old cell phone. It has an app called ‘Translate This’ on it. I believe this could assist you in your studies of dolphin speech. Please try it.

  To use it, simply attach the two remote devices to a couple of your dolphins and just let them do their thing for a week or so. Retrieve the devices and download the captured data to the app, then see what happens.

  If this works out for you, the source code is loaded on the drive.

  Your friend,

  Bishop

  Mary thought, “What could it hurt?”

  She mounted the device to a couple of the dolphins she worked with and gave it a week. She download the data, started the app and took the phone to the lagoon where a pod of dolphins was waiting to meet her.

  Mary said, “Hello everyone.”

  The phone spit out a bunch of chirps and squeals. One of the dolphins she worked with, Chipper, stuck her head out of the water and squealed.

  The phone said, “Good morning,” then suddenly Chipper made a bunch of excited sounding squeals. The phone said, “Hey, wait a minute. Did you just speak dolphin?”

  May said, “Did I? Do you understand me?”

  The phone chirped out a bunch of sounds and Chipper yelled out, “Hey guys. Check this out. She’s speaking Dolphin.”

  A bunch of heads popped up out of the water and one said, “No way. I don’t believe it.”

  Chipper replied, “Let’s test it.” Then she said to Mary, “Raise you right arm.”

  Ma
ry raised her right arm.

  Then Chipper said, “Raise your left arm.”

  Mary raised her left arm.

  Then Chipped said, “Turn around.”

  Mary turned a three sixty, then one of the dolphins shouted out, “Look they can do tricks.”

  All the dolphins laughed.

  Mary said, “Amazing. My name is Mary. It’s so nice to finally speak to you.”

  One of the male dolphins stuck his head up out of the water and said, “Give me a fish.”