Preserving Hope (2 page)

Two men and a woman had rescued him and healed him using incredibly advanced medical devices based on nanotechnology. Will was introduced to the Aliomenti, a group which had mastered the development and use of Energy, an inner force capable of incredible actions like telepathy, empathy, telekinesis, clairvoyance, and for the most advanced practitioners, teleportation. The Aliomenti prescribed harsh penalties for sharing the knowledge of developing this Energy and associated abilities with the outside world, and a small faction had broken away in protest, choosing to pursue the goal of advancing all of humanity from the shadows rather than suppressing them. The core Aliomenti leadership formed a trio of Hunters who would track down deserters. An Assassin would kill any “humans” suspected of having knowledge of the Aliomenti or their technological advancements. They’d believed Will the most prominent of the deserters, and the explosion, fire, and attack were triggered by the Assassin and Hunters for that reason. They’d realized Will wasn’t who – or more accurately,
what
– they’d expected as they’d prepared to incarcerate him.

Will had been rescued by members of the breakaway faction, the Alliance, and they’d healed his wounds and taught him the secrets of Energy. They’d also introduced their secret technology, based on self-directed, problem-solving nanomachines that could collaborate in sufficient numbers to perform nearly any activity, all without detection by the Hunters. Will, seeing in those skills and machines the chance to avenge his family or, failing that, to prevent others from suffering the same fate, had progressed in rapid fashion, until he’d drawn the attention of the Hunters and Assassin again. In the process of meeting the Hunters and their Leader, Will had learned he’d been living nearly two centuries into his future since the time of his rescue, among people who had learned to live, effectively, forever. Those who’d saved him admitted that he’d been brought forward to the future in a time machine.

When the trio offered him the chance to use the time machine to go back and save his wife and son, Will had literally leaped at the chance. He’d been made aware of several challenges in such a trip, the most notable being the fact that nobody named Will Stark existed on the planet after the fire. He’d either succeeded, or died trying, and in this case dying might mean he’d had to end his own life to protect the integrity of history. Even then, he’d accepted his duty. As the time machine started its journey, he’d learned that one of the men helping him – and aggravating him – was his own grown son, Josh, and that the woman was the grown daughter he’d never known he’d had.

Now he found himself in the distant past, knowing only that a young Hope was in some unspecified danger and that Will, with his advanced Energy skills and nanomachines, was to protect her. The letter he’d received indicated only that she was sixteen years old. Will had also inferred, based upon his history lessons, that he was arriving at a time when the original Aliomenti hadn’t yet figured out how to live forever or unleash their Energy.

His abilities and technology, therefore, would give him tremendous advantages. Yet based on his beliefs and the promises he’d made to his children, no matter the deception, he wouldn’t use those advantages to impose his own will. That meant he’d rely on the skills he’d built in his business dealings to read the emotions and body language of others, rather than using Empathy and Telepathy to remove the risk of misreading. He’d use those advanced Energy skills and the nanos for protecting himself and others he found in danger – especially Hope – but he’d not actively try to hurt or coerce others. He also decided not to arm himself with a sword, or bow, or whatever form of weapon was common in this era. He could protect himself from any foe or weapon, and suspected that choosing to be unarmed would make him seem a lesser threat.

Then again, considering that he’d been thoroughly manipulated by his children into accepting this mission, he might not be much of a threat regardless of the advantages he held. They’d maneuvered every concern he had back to saving Hope and Josh from the fire, or guilt over having failed to prevent their deaths, until he’d finally snapped. When they’d offered him the chance to save the two of them, his affirmative response was assured. They’d done their duty, and it allowed them to send Will back in time to the year 1018 A.D. Now they expected him to do his duty, and make sure that Elizabeth – her name in this era – survived.

Right now, he hated his future self for his good fortune in meeting Hope. And he’d like the chance to ground his children and take away their allowances for lying to their father and not allowing him to make his own decision, fully informed, about his centuries-long journey. He vowed he’d never mislead others in the way he’d been misled. And though he’d been deceived as to the nature of his mission, the objective was one he’d attack with fervor. Hope, regardless of her age or name, was someone he’d always be willing to protect, regardless of the inconvenience or pain it might bring to him.

His only guidance on this journey of a thousand years came in the form of a piece of highly advanced technology, a computer that looked and felt like a blank piece of paper. He pulled it out and looked at it again. In reality, it looked the type of paper he’d expect to see in a scroll, which would be useful if he happened to be caught reading the screen. He checked it, and found nothing useful; in fact, the original letter he’d read when he found the time machine gone had vanished. He remembered reading that his wife was now about sixteen years old, and that she’d soon lose her mother if she hadn’t already. His fist clenched. Elizabeth had been used by her own father. He remembered that. So it was his job to take care of her. She lived in the earliest group of the Aliomenti, and that meant he’d need to join up. He had no idea how to accomplish such a feat, though if they’d developed modest Energy levels he could pretend to be quite intuitive in the Energy’s usage and help advance their skills. He suspected, however, that a group that would cause harm to a young girl wouldn’t be trustworthy. Therefore, he’d show nothing of his Energy skills until he needed to do so, until he was sure he could trust them.

He stopped walking. He wasn’t a compulsive student of history, but he did know that people had grown taller, on average, over time. At six feet tall, Will would likely be by far the tallest man around in most eras, tall enough to cause fear and unnecessary curiosity. He also remembered that one of the Hunters mentioned that he was taller than they remembered. Both of those bits of information meant that Will needed to
shrink
before he met up with any of the Aliomenti.

Modern medicine might be able to use surgical procedures to reduce the size of his bones. Will had no access to modern hospitals; if he still had the time machine, he could go back to the future and undergo the surgery, after first berating his children and their friend Adam. That wasn’t an option, and he had to work with the skills and technology he had. That meant his Energy and nanos, the microscopic intelligent machines that could combine to form nearly any shape or perform any task he could imagine, had to be the answer.

Will suspected that if he was about three inches shorter, he’d still be relatively tall, but not dramatically so. With nothing to base it on, he pushed his Energy around so that it surrounded his body and infused every cell, and pictured himself shrinking until the top of his head was about the previous level of his eyes. Much to his surprise, he could feel the effects of shrinking begin only a few moments later, a sensation that his body was being compacted. His muscles became larger and more defined; he realized that he was losing height without losing mass.

When he felt the shrinking effect stop, he glanced at one of the trees nearby. It was difficult to be certain, but the lowest branches of the closest tree did seem to be farther from the top of his head than they’d been just moments earlier. Satisfied that he’d succeeded in his height-altering goal, Will began moving again.

After walking deeper into the forest, Will spotted a high fence, more like the walls circling a town, ahead of him. It was a strange sight; he’d never considered that someone might build walls or a fence
inside
a forest, but conceded that it might be wise. In fact, for a group like the first Aliomenti, it was likely a necessity, for if they were found they could legally be required to resume their roles as serfs. It was unlikely they’d go quietly, however, and the walls suggested that they intended to fight anyone seeking to return them to their beginnings.

As he searched for an opening in the fence, he reviewed the back story he’d invented for himself. Thankfully, it mirrored his actual story. Thieves, incorrectly believing that he’d stolen from them, set upon his wife and son and killed them, burning the family home down in the process. Left with no family, no home, and no possessions save for his money pouch and the clothes he wore, he left his town, walking aimlessly, and electing to do so until he saw a new town. He’d move into that community, if possible, and begin his life in new surroundings. He chose a random direction, started walking and found himself here. He’d been a merchant and had enjoyed modest financial success, so he did have some money to pay for food and lodging.

Will wasn’t able to find a gap in the walls, and the only entry into the community, a gate, was locked. Since he’d neither seen nor heard any sign of inhabitants of the village, he climbed the wall and jumped down inside. Once inside, he walked around, observing the layout and looking for someone from whom he might request lodging. He suspected that this was where his future wife lived, for the obvious efforts at secrecy and defense fit with the few clues he had about her past, and with the earliest days of the Aliomenti.

The buildings were constructed of rough, hand-hewn beams and featured thatched roofs that sloped down in one direction. The bulk of the buildings on the perimeter were small, as evidenced by the closely-spaced doors and tiny windows; Will was reminded of the college dorm rooms in his day. These small rooms shared common walls. A second double of rooms was built at the far end of the village, creating a small “street” within the village. Small wooden signs were fastened to each room’s door with a single name scrawled using what looked like paint.

The center of the village was dominated by a series of shops which looked to provide the tools needed to create a wide variety of crafts. He saw large stone hearths, which he suspected could be used for baking or even smelting metal for shaping into weapons or tools. On the opposite side of the center section were buildings that looked like they were used to store finished products. Two of the buildings looked like grain silos.

Nearest to the gate was what amounted to a courtyard, an open area save for a large stone well with a winch used for fetching water. There were several paddocks he walked by, to his left as he looked back at the gate, where he saw pigs, cows, goats, and chickens. A large stable occupied one corner nearest the gate, and Will suspected he’d find horses inside the structure.

Will turned to his right, where he spotted the two largest buildings inside the fortress he’d entered. One was of similar construction to the other small buildings that Will had speculated were single-person dwellings, but was over twice the size of the others. Written on the nameplate were the words “Arthur Lowell and Family.” Will frowned, realizing that none of the other nameplates mentioned families, or provided family names.

The other structure was the largest building he had seen, and he inspected it more closely as he completed his circuit through the community. It was unique in that it had no person’s name scratched on the identifying plate, but rather a phrase. “ALIO INCREMENTUM SCHOLA.” He choked back a startled gasp as he translated the Latin phrase:
personal growth school
. For Will, it was obvious that the small, hand-painted sign was the eventual source of the name of the group he’d come to hate.
Alio incrementum
would one day compress to form
Aliomenti
. He wondered idly when, and how, the name would come to be adopted.

In addition to the unique name, the “school” was also the only building in the entire community which possessed a lock, a large and visible one requiring a key to open. Clearly, access to this building was to be limited to only those with access to the key or keys that fit the lock. He wondered why a school would need to be locked up, but then realized that schools in his own day were heavily secured. Some things never changed.

Will heard voices in the distance. As the voices grew louder and more distinct, Will realized that it was a large crowd, perhaps forty people or more in total. Since he did not wish to surprise the villagers, Will moved to stand near the well, where he’d be clearly visible to anyone entering the community through the gate. Hiding, only to be found later, would make it seem as though he had negative intentions for his visit, and he wanted to avoid that making that impression.

The gate opened, and the men and women of the community entered. And it was truly men and women; everyone was at least in their twenties or thirties, with no children in sight. The people were clearly in high spirits, and despite the early morning chill in the air, every one of them was soaking wet in their clothing. Though it was early summer, it was cool here in the northern climate.

A man near the front of the group spotted Will by the well, and he held up his hand. The crowd stopped and fell silent, making Will quite aware that he was outnumbered by dozens of strangers who had the only exit blocked. He could escape, of course, but it would raise too many questions. Will knew that it was best for him to stay where he was, and adapt to the changing circumstances.