Blood in the Fire (Timelaws Trilogy) (17 page)

HMSS Ingeniur – November 2184

Mark

Luke had lost it. His face was pale and his eyes were unfocused and tired. Big bro had aged ten years in five days. And he was tense. I had never seen Luke light up. Two nights ago, he asked Jack for his pack of smokes, took them out to the backyard and burned through seven of ‘em one after the other.

The thing was, I got it. The problem with my brother and sister is that they’re too damn much alike. If something happened to Liz, Luke would take it hard and feel like he was to blame. And when we watched her fall off that cliff, it scared both of us straight. Only Liz is the same way. She couldn’t give up this life to sit at home and watch TV, not when she felt responsible for people’s lives.

Both looked to me for help. Liz wanted me to tell Luke that she could take care of herself and Luke wanted me to convince her that she was just a teenager and shouldn’t take these kinds of risks with her life. They both thought I could make the other listen to me. Truth is, I can't make either one listen to what they don't want to hear. Not on this. Even if I could, what would I say? Of course, I wanted Liz to be safe, but she would lose part of who she was if she gave this crap up. There wasn’t a compromise I could see between them.

It tore me up, thinking about what it would be like at home: the two of them constantly fighting. Luke permanently worn out. Liz racked up with guilt, knowing what she was doing to him but not seeing a way out. It was pretty sucky all around.

“Anton, I picked up a ship nearby,” Tamer said, interrupting my thoughts. We were on a spaceship. Didn’t seem too odd to me there’d be others around. More quietly, Tamer answered my unasked question. “This area of space is as interesting as a dead snail,” he said.

“Which means?” I asked.

“Means they shouldn’t be here unless they’re looking for us,” Anton replied.

“Magnifying their position and heading on the front viewer now,” Anthe said. The whole time we’d been in this room, the wall and ceiling had been nothing but black interrupted by intermittent stars and asteroids. Then a section flickered at the front of the room. The display showed a 3D grid with a blue dot at the center and a red dot on the right. Not exactly what I’d expected when Anthe announced her intent to magnify something. Below the grid, was some text I couldn’t read. Whatever spell allowed us to understand this language didn’t seem to extend to the written word.

“Can we do an electro-reflection scan and spectroscopic analysis on their emissions?” Anton asked. Then again, I wasn’t sure it was so great at translating speech either.

“Yes, doing it now,” Tamer replied without looking up from the screen in front of him. “We’ll have results in about eleven minutes.” Jeez, that sounded like a long time. I turned toward Luke to see if his patience could withstand an eleven minute wait for God-knows-what. Dude looked like he was gonna be sick.

“Hey, why don’t we take a seat?” I suggested. “I’m not so sure you’re cut out for this space stuff, bro.” He shook his head and just stared ahead at the blue and red dots. “Them specks ain’t gonna start talking to you,” I pushed. “Take a break.”

“Tamer, power up weapons,” Anton commanded. “Not a lot of planets in this area, and the closest two won’t make for good hiding spots.”

Weapons. Great.
What about shields?
“Power up the shields too,” I said.

“Our primary shields are always on unless we deactivate them,” Tamer replied.

For a few minutes everyone quietly tapped away at their screens. It seemed like there wasn’t enough yelling of information and taking orders. Just too quiet, all creepy-like. And Luke wasn’t looking too good either. Not sure if it was the ship moving or all this talk about weapons and escape plans that was doing him in. I concluded it was time to distract him again. Get him out of the room. Pretending I wanted to play with the buttons earlier had worked pretty good. He couldn’t get me off the bridge fast enough.

“I’m gonna go take a firsthand look at those weapons ya’ll mentioned,” I said. “Tamer, don’t fire at nothing until I get down there to see them in action.” That would get Luke going.

“It’s headed toward us,” Tamer announced. “They found us.” Damn.

“You two. Sit down and buckle up,” Anton ordered.

Luke and I exchanged confused looks.
Seatbelts? Star Trek never mentioned seatbelts.

Tamer pulled out two chairs from the console next to him and then reached for his own belt. I plopped down next to Tamer and Luke took the seat next to me.

“The Fraunhofer lines show 2% hydrogen, 94% helium and trace amounts of heavier elements,” Tamer said. He continued punching buttons. “Secondary nuclear magnetic resonance data suggests .75% deuterium and trace amounts of protium and tritium.”

What the hell does that matter?

“Their ship is powered by fusion reaction,” Anton said with a voice so soft I almost didn’t hear him.

“And why do we care?” I asked as Anton stated his plan.

“We’ll run away, I’m taking this ship to maximum speed heading…” Anton continued to spew out coordinates.

Tamer stopped with his buttons and looked over at me, taking a deep breath before he spoke. “A ship powered by fusion is likely to be huge and not light on power hungry tech. We’re outgunned. Big time.”

Elizabeth

The shrill cries of forest animals punched through my dreams and pulled me out of a restless sleep. It hadn’t been easy to make the decision to get some shut-eye, but I didn’t have the power to contact Melissa right away, I was exhausted. Although only six hours would pass for Anthe and my brothers before I reunited with my body, it had already been longer than that for me. Rest had seemed like the only way to clear the heavy fog from my mind.

I opened my eyes and saw holo-Anton perched by the cave entrance, keeping watch. I hadn’t told him about the result from the satellite system. It was hard keeping that to myself when I could hear how worried he was. Part of me longed to share what was going on. The logical part of me knew I couldn’t. Instead, he’d redirected his efforts toward persuading me to sleep. I told myself the decision to rest was entirely my own. This hologram couldn’t influence me. Honestly, I wasn’t sure if that were true.

I rotated my body away from him. The rocky ground below me had left my back and shoulder aching. Perched on my side, I peered at the dimming blaze. It continued to crackle, although the cave had begun to succumb to the biting chill blown in from the forest.

The meah below the fire bubbled and popped as it burned. One particularly large bubble exploded and sent glowing goo into the air. Warm currents carried the bright liquid toward the cave ceiling. Finally, the floating drops burned out and disappeared from my view. I reached out and let my hand hover above the flames, enjoying the glow.
Stay with me a little longer,
I prayed to the fire. I didn’t relish another trek into the cold, predatory night.

“You weren’t disturbed, I hope, by that pea I placed beneath your bed of rocks?” Anton asked. I almost turned to tell him I’d eaten it and needed another.

Naimi began to move around in my skirt pocket. She must have been uncomfortable since I’d rolled over. Reluctantly, I pulled my hand away from the blaze and fished her out. She peered at me curiously, as if to ask, “Well, are you going to put me down?” I set her on a large rock next to the fire and hoped she wouldn’t find a way to the floor. The last thing I needed was to lose her. Then I closed my eyes and started the spell to contact Melissa. My power levels were still low, but I had enough to reach her.

Slowly, the words of the spell began to take hold and the sound of the wind howling at the cave entrance began to fade from my ears. I took a deep breath to calm my nerves as a surge of dizziness overcame me. It seemed my mind was floating on waves of darkness. Another slow breath. I let myself sink deeper into the black, allowing the spell to overwhelm my senses. The bubbling, crackling sound of the blaze faded and disappeared. I became numb to the hard ground below my body. Gradually, another image began to take shape. I was in a grand room with brown marble floors and tall burgundy walls. Above me, thousands of small crystal teardrops hung down from the ceiling at different heights. Hidden lights illuminated them from above so that they shimmered like diamond rain. At the center of the room was a large dining room table that must have seated at least two dozen guests. Perched comfortably at its head, with her feet resting on the next chair over, was Melissa.

She hadn’t seen me yet. Her eyes were closed and her head was rolled back, resting on the cushioned backrest. Short, curly hair covered most of her face. Her right hand lay on the table next to a pen, a thick, hand-written book and a goblet. For a moment, I eyed the goblet longingly. Could there be water inside? It didn’t matter; I was just a projection in this room and there was no way for me to take the drink back to my real body in the cave.

“Melissa,” I barked. I might have been more gentle, but I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to pay her back for all the grief she’d caused me on our last encounter. Melissa startled and the chair at her feet toppled over. She fumbled, but then spotted me and regained her composure.

Pushing a mess of brown tangles out of her eyes, Melissa locked her gaze on me and demanded, “Who are you and how’d you get in here?”

“A ghost,” I replied, thinking that the very fuzzy and translucent projection of me probably looked the part.

“I’m not much of a believer,” she said. “Try again.”

I smiled. As much as I enjoyed having the advantage over Melissa for once, this was not the time for games. “I’m someone with a message,” I told her. “I’m here to help you.”

Her expression softened. “What’s the message?” she asked. It seemed I had gotten her attention. However, I suddenly found myself distracted. Something was wrong. A heavy weight walked up and down my chest, trying to pull me out of this spell.
Get it done
.

“Have the wizards won the war?” I asked. “Did they expose us and then turn the universe against us?”

“No,” Melissa replied. “But that’s not a message. That’s a question.”

A wave of relief washed over me. I closed my eyes and pictured the battle Melissa and I had fought side-by-side. Thanks to this moment, that battle would take place as I remembered it with us victorious. Despite everything, this one piece of good news threatened to levitate me off the floor in true ghost fashion. “That’s wonderful,” I said. “That means what I do here works. That means we don’t lose the war.”

“You sound surprised,” Melissa charged. She seemed amused.

“I wasn’t sure until now,” I explained. “So here’s what you need to know. In your future, you will encounter a time when the Timelaws don’t exist.” A loud shriek erupted in my head and caused me to stagger. My eyes darted around the room, but I saw nothing to explain the sound.

If Melissa had heard the same thing, she didn’t react to it. “That’s garbage,” she accused. “If the Timelaws cease to exist, they do so in all times.”

I shook my head. Already, I wasn’t making sense. It happens when you start talking time travel. Nonetheless, I had to try and convey this in simple terms. “I know you’re right. But only one stretch of time will be memorable to you. Those of us who were involved with creating the spell remember that period where we got involved.” Another loud squeal erupted through my skull. My hands fired up to cover my ears. The room began to dim.
Not yet!
I closed my eyes and fought the urge to wake up in my body. It seemed the world was swimming in blackness again.

“So I’m going to be involved in creating the Timelaws?” Melissa asked, oblivious to my struggle. She didn’t sound like she believed me.

Not yet,
I commanded again and opened my eyes. The room came back into view. I took a few slow breaths to regain my bearings, but Melissa’s impatient gaze prompted me to answer her question. “Yes.” I wondered if my voice sounded as shaky as I felt. “Now, when you do encounter a universe absent Timelaws, you should head to these coordinates and this time period.” I walked over to her. “Write this down,” I said, pointing to the pen on the table. “I’ll only say this once.” Without waiting for a reply, I began reciting the coordinates. She didn’t have time to object. With a frustrated gesture, she grabbed the pen and scribbled on the corner of her book.

“I would have preferred not to write on that,” Melissa protested.

I smiled apologetically, not sure if she could tell. “I’m sorry, but I don’t have much time. Here, you’ll find a wizard troop. You have to stop them from finishing what they’re gathered there to do.”

“And what will that be?” she asked.

“Expose us and turn most of the universe against us. If they succeed, we lose the war.”

“And you know this how?” Melissa probed.
I don’t have time to play twenty questions.

“I already explained. Those of us who created the Timelaws remember it. I saw multiple potential timelines, but this is the one that matters. Look, I know you don’t believe me, but when the Timelaws are broken, there are versions of you who will know that the wizards did expose us and that we lost the war. You will experience that loss firsthand.” I felt out of breath.
Could something be happening to my body back in the cave?
I shook my head and banished the thought. My lungs were still exposed to the cold, forest air. I told myself that was the reason for my trouble breathing. “When this goes down, peer into the alternate versions of your life and see that what I’m saying is true. The only way to stop that reality is to do what I say. Defeat the wizard troop and everything as it is now will stay the same.”