by Marc Neuffer
Noah tagged along behind the duo. I caught him checking out our female guide appreciatively a few times. It wasn’t too many years ago that I liked to girl-watch myself. I also caught Martin’s eyes following her, but not in an appreciative way. Something was bothering him. Well, he would either tell me or not. I claimed a homemade cane chair on the wooden sidewalk, propping my feet up on a horse rail.
Shopping over, our guide arranged to have Sarah’s purchases bundled up; to be delivered to our landing site on the day of our departure. Martin and I stayed put while she led the rest of our foursome through the town. We were Q-com linked to each other and to Ranger. I got the feeling that Ms. Andrews could handle any problem that might arise. She was a bit different from the other residents I’d met. Her accent didn’t match theirs and her eyes were always on the move. Her movements and scanning reminded me of a Marine I’d known; Sandy.
Dinner was at a quaint café. Lots of biscuits, brisket, potatoes and garden vegetables. Ms. Andrews had selected an out of the way table in the corner and claimed the chair against the back wall, facing the entrance; my usual selection, back in the old days. She propped her walking stick next to her, against the wall in the corner. Martin kept eyeing her staff, then her face, it was bordering on weird.
I’d known Martin his entire human life, and had never seen him act like this. After dinner, we stayed to enjoy a glass of the local wine while Ms. Andrews continued her patter about the sights, we would see tomorrow. Not a wine drinker, Martin excused himself to enjoy the cooling night air.
Sarah was enjoying having another girl in the company, if only for a few days. She asked our guide if her license would allow her to accompany us on the remainder of our trip on Earth.
“Sadly no, but thank you for the invitation.”
Martin came back in, on a mission, I could tell. He took his seat, seeming a bit more at ease. He turned to Ms. Andrews.
“So, Riley, how’s Michael doing? Still knocking about?”
Giving him a big grin, “Yes, Martin, the last time I saw him he was quite well. He told me, if I bumped into you, I should say hello.” Martin smiled and sat back, very pleased with himself.
Just what the hell was that all about. Did they have a mutual friend named Michael? Could they have a mutual friend? Her card had said R. Andrews. How did he know her first name? Martin had some explaining to do. Sarah and Noah had been talking about riding horses when the Martin-Riley exchange had taken place.
As we left the diner, I tugged Martin’s sleeve, slowing him, to give us space from the others for a little talk.
“Martin, how do you know someone she knows?”
“Oh, that. Well she knows Michael and I know Michael. He’s a Surron Library AI, or was.”
“And just when did she meet this AI Michael?”
“Let’s see … about seven thousand three-hundred and seventy-two years ago. Michael shared some videos of her and her friends with me and the other Library AIs. There were five of us at the time.
“If you want to know more, just ask her. According to Michael, she’s quite pleasant. At the landing site, when we first met, I had suspected she was Riley, especially when I saw her staff. When I stepped outside, I called Ranger and had him verify it with the library data.”
When we got back to the cabin, Sarah and Riley had tucked themselves into a corner, engaged in an animated, happy conversation. “Hey, Dad, we thought we’d lost you.”
Tomorrow. Tomorrow morning, first thing. Riley and I were going to have a little chat.
11 Transmutation
Transmutation: a radical change of one thing into another, such as the conversion of one element or nuclide into another, either naturally or artificially.
✽ ✽ ✽
Restless night. Was I a victim of some prank? Martin wasn’t the sort to do that. Since we’d first met Riley, I’d seen his unsettled looks, all day. Could this be a woman from over seven thousand years ago? Frustrated and exhausted by mental gymnastics, I finally drifted off in the early morning hours. Well, I’ve seen and been involved in stranger things
Bleary eyed, I shuffled into the cabin common room. I wanted coffee. Before another thought, I wanted coffee. Did they have coffee here, or would I have to trek five kilometers back to the ship for that? The climate here was not the coffee growing variety.
Riley, if that was her name, and Sarah were still in the same spot I’d left them last night. Sitting, legs tucked under, back and forth chatting. Different clothes, Coffee, I smelled coffee.
Riley looked in my direction, assessing. She pointed to the dry sink counter. “Over there, my special blend. I don’t go anywhere without it.” The large, had crafted, metal carafe had steam rising from its spout. Cups lined up in a row completed the tableau. I poured. I sipped, sipped again. Very hot but good. The mug warmed my hands. Turning, I saw Sarah pat the seat next to her, beckoning me to join them.
They hadn’t stayed up all night; a change of clothes and fresh morning faces looked at me. Warm faces, pleasant faces. Mine was a wreck. I knew that much. I noticed Riley’s walking stick beside her, leaning against the wall.
Riley started, “Well, I’ve got an interesting day lined up for your group. A family farm, then to the local salmon fishery and on to a few of the mills. Oh, and the smithy too.” Sarah looked ready to go. Ready to go with her new friend.
“Please, let me wake up first. Where’s Noah and Martin?”
Sarah answered, “They took a hike, Noah wanted to collect some botanical samples. They should be back soon.”
More coffee. Starting to feel human again. “Dad, do you know how old Riley is?”
“Yeah,” I replied, rubbing the sleep from my face, “seven-thousand something … according to Martin.”
“So, Martin told you. I thought he might not. I’m not really that old, linearly. In this time, I’m sure I’m quite dead. I’ve gotten used to it.”
I wasn’t sure about this. “So, you’re saying you jumped through time, to be here? Why?”
“Oh, I time jump a lot since we stopped the wave … back in my time. I don’t think Martin knows about that whole thing. I’m not sure how much Michael shared with the other Surron AIs.”
So, she knew about the Surrons, the AIs and Martin. There were a few thousand-year chunks missing in the middle of her revelation.
“As for why now and why here, I wanted to meet you. Meet the man who saved the universe, kept it from blowing away. Hey! I bet you didn’t know we’re related. You and your children are descendants of my sister. It’s a long stretch going back, but the line is there. I’ve researched it.”
“I didn’t think the Surrons had the tech to do time travel. Where did you pick that up?”
“It was partly their tech and partly, as Michael put it, my strong quantum signature. I’m a physicist, back in my time. We don’t understand it all, yet. My sister has the same capacity, but that’s a very long story. Anyway, I read about you and your team in the report the Bears compiled for the Library archives. Just wanted to meet you face to face. This trip took a lot of prep, Michael was a great help in that.”
She also knew about the Bears, and the Library. Through the window, we saw Martin and Noah coming up the trail to the cabin. Sarah jumped up. Moving to the door, over her shoulder, she commented, “Going to have a talk with Noah. Tell him to stop staring at Riley’s ass. After all, she’s a married woman.”
“Hey, I don’t mind, really, it’s okay. No need to burst his bubble. He might start acting weird if he knew I was married, a long lost relative … and so old. I’d have to smack him if he tried to call me aunt Riley.”
“Ok, but at least I’m telling him you’re married.”
Martin came in as Sarah and Noah talked on the porch. I looked at Martin, his eyebrows raised, questioningly. I gave him the answer, “Yeah, but not everything, not yet.”
Sarah came in, “Hey, we’re wasting daylight. Riley has a full day for us and I want to see everything.”
/> Riley took charge. “I recommend everyone take one of the small canvas packs. They’re over there. Change of socks, rain slicker, hat and leather gloves. Grab one of the food bags on the counter, we’ll be eating lunch in the wild. They don’t allow plastic here, so take a canteen. Oh, and other than a sheath knife, leave the other weapons here, they’ll be safe. The folk here are very picky about those things outside the village.”
Kitted out, we started toward the village, to get horses for our trip today. The stable was a large barn affair. We had horses back on Satchel. The government allowed them on the farms and ranches. They presented a smaller environmental foot print than wheeled vehicles in the protected areas.
Sarah and Noah had ridden since they were old enough to get their feet in the stirrups. I’d ridden at the ranch decades ago. Martin was a complete novice. He wasn’t sure about this. He did like what he called ‘Westerns’, but face to face, with a horse, for the first time, was a challenge for him.
“I know Sarah and Noah are experienced riders. Hornblower, you and Martin take the mares at the end, they’re gentle.” She called me Hornblower. Previously, it had been Mr. Bonner.
I helped Martin check the saddle cinches, bridal and reigns. Grabbing the pommel, he mounted with no problems. Riding might be another matter.
Riley soothed his concern, “Rainbow will follow the other horses, so don’t worry about steering her. Just stay behind either me or Sarah. I think Noah may want to move ahead quicker in places. He mentioned getting some plant samples.”
Swinging into my saddle, memories came back. There were too many good memories I’d shoved into dusty cubby-holes in my brain. It was getting easier and easier to let them bubble up. I told Martin how to avoid saddle sores, his, not the horses.
“Noah, you have a map. Just follow the trail. I briefed Sarah on our route, so you take the lead.”
The horses, in a practiced routine headed to the trail head. Our path would lead us to the furthest point, then lead us back to the village by evening. Martin followed Sarah, Riley and I rode side by side.
After five minutes I had found my riding rhythm. I was considering importing horses to Shangri La. Riley asked, “Do folks in your time ever wonder why, throughout billions of years, every long-lived civilization comes to an abrupt end, have they recognized the time-cycle? Hey, Martin, are you listening on your Q-com?” Ahead of us, he gave us a thumbs up sign.
“Our foundation has become involved in several archeological digs over the last twenty years. The Bears are helping other races dig further back in time in their galaxies. I don’t remember any mention of that, but then, I don’t keep track of what the Bears are doing, except in a broad-brush sense. I’ll ask them.”
“It was the Zees. They did it.” She remained silent for a few minutes, then, “I had another reason to meet you. I met Archer, a Surron, in the elsewhere. I think they want to come back. And … I’d like to find out how to go back there. See him again.”
So, the small bits of information teased out of the corners of the Libraries, those that led us to believe the Surrons still existed, had a second-source confirmation. Her initial story, about being from so far in the past, was a bit much to swallow, but I trusted Martin’s memories and research. I accepted that she was the real-deal.
“This trip was more than a lark. It took me months, in the learning pods, to become fluent in the languages of this time. I was surprised that, aside from regional dialects and local slang terms, the same language is used throughout the galaxy.”
“I think Q-commerce and entertainment has a lot to do with that. There are a few system enclaves that have attempted to revert back to what they think is a more ancestral language. A lot of history was lost during past times of cultural and political upheaval. I think humans have finally learned how to avoid, or at least limit the effects of those. Perhaps you can help the Bears exhume some of that past.”
“Sorry, that would be a huge undertaking. It may be strange to hear, but I don’t have the time for such a long-term project.”
Changing subjects, I noted, “It must have also taken a good bit of time to establish yourself here, as a guide.”
“Nope, just two weeks. Enough to get the lay of the land and culture here. Michael showed me how to inject my records into the Earth Conservator’s AI records. That’s how I was able to be tagged as your guide. Earth guides move around from time to time, so it wasn’t unusual, to the locals, when I showed up here.”
She spread her arms to encompass the land. “In my time, this area was a sparsely settled island. South, down the bay was a very large city called Seattle. I like that place, but it rains a lot there.”
She corrected my understanding of the area’s name. Not Van Coover. Originally, it had been Vancouver Island, in a country called Canada. Seattle had been a northern city in the United States, her home country. I was a bit confused when she referred to herself as an American and not a United Statesian. She solved that little mystery when she mentioned the full name of her country.
Riley’s pace let the others get ahead, then she and I stopped. She Q-com’d the others, saying we would catch up. She dismounted, tied off her reigns, and motioned me to do the same.
“Want to see something neat?”
“We’ll, I’m not sure.” Just what the hell was she planning?
“Watch this.” She took her staff and slammed it to the ground … she disappeared. I reached out to see if I could make physical contact. I suspected she had some personal cloaking tech. Nothing there. I don’t believe in magic, she had some tech, I’d never seen, never even heard of. And she’d had it from ancient times. Apparently, something to do with her staff.
In less than ten seconds, she reappeared, holding a white paper bag with a reddish logo on it. She sat on a fallen log, gesturing me to join her. As she unpacked the bag, some tempting aromas filled the air.
“Burger King, I just love their flame broiled burgers.” She handed me a paper wrapped sandwich. It was warm. “I got you a double-meat Whopper, fries and a Coke. She had the same. I watched as she took a huge mouthful of the bread and meat, seeming to have a euphoric experience.
Chewing the mass, she continued, “The food here is okay, but I miss fast food sometimes.” She picked up one of what she called a fry and popped it in my mouth. “Eat up, before it gets cold. Fries are horrible when they get cold.”
I was eating a sandwich that was over seven-thousand years old, straight from the grill. It was pretty good. I liked the carbonated sugar drink. I asked her about the staff. As we ate, she gave me the short version of its history.
“Ready for another surprise?” I guess she has a sack full of them. I shrugged. She pulled a metal disc from her pocket, “It’s a watch … a timepiece ... my sisters. About fifteen seconds more, I think.”
Seconds later, a woman appeared, a twin of Riley, an identical twin. Riley introduced me to her sister. Could everyone back then time jump? I doubted it. Riley offered her a cold fry.
“No, thanks. I know where your hands have been. Hey, I like this place. A real primeval feel to it. You’re right, he does look a bit like Alex, especially the eyes. A bit darker complexion though.”
“Told you so.” Turning to me, Riley commented, “Haley’s the outdoorsy type, jungle and frozen tundra and all that. It’s stretching things a bit for me, being here. Haley gave me riding lessons for this trip.”
We chatted a few more minutes. It felt like it had when I’d first met the Zees. Haley asked about the territory and the culture here. “Maybe I’ll bring Alex and the twins, when they get old enough to appreciate it. Speaking of the twins, I need to get back to finish their breakfast. Riley, when are you coming back?”
“In a minute. A few days more here, after I wrap things up. Tell Denver not to wait up.” In a blink, her sister was gone.
“How many other people can do this time jumping?”
“Only my sister and me. Michael called us a quantum anomaly. We’d better get goin
g. A fast ride will catch us up to the others.”
12 Oxidation
Oxidation: the process of giving up electrons to another substance. When iron reacts with oxygen it forms a compound called rust; oxidized iron.
✽ ✽ ✽
Just a kilometer short of the farm we were to visit, Riley and I rejoined our group. Riley rode ahead to let them know we were here. Our mounts followed at a slower pace as the forest gave way to cleared, gently rolling hills of corn, wheat and cotton. Noah had pointed them out, naming the vegetation that was just emerging from the spring soil. Cows grazed in the pasture, chickens searched for seed and bugs in the farmyard. Five children, of staggered ages, moved about the compound, engaged in various chores.
Most of the upper tier animals, such as cows and horses had died off during volcanic winters. They’d been re-introduced here a three thousand years ago. The crops, originally from earth, had also been transplants from some agricultural worlds. The large pines, firs and ferns were among the original vegetation for this area. And the bugs … they were everywhere. Noah told us it was a good indicator of a robust ecology.
Riley trotted her horse back to us, then led us on a path around the farm buildings. “We can’t go in the house but the outbuildings are more interesting anyway. They have a glass refractory here. The father and oldest son make window panes and glass sculptures. Being certified as products of Old Earth, they fetch a very good profit.”
“How do they get their products to off-world markets?”
“It’s a two-step process. Every month the Conservator sends collection ships to the landing sites of villages that participate in the export program. Produce and products are loaded, then an authorized agent spreads them around the galaxy, where there’s interest in such things. It’s closely monitored to ensure the settlers don’t get ripped off, at least on the first sale. Hear that roar? It’s the blast furnace. Let’s go inside.”