The Time Stone (39 page)

“
Yes Uncle” he muttered
under his breath as he got up and ran off towards his quarters
without the elder having to say a word as they have been in this
situation multiple times already.

“
It seems that boy won’t
ever really learn.” Dr. Ordox shakes his head.

“
He is not the only one
who needs a lesson” said a dark crinkly voice behind
him.

“
Oh my” turned Dr. Ordox
and looked into the darkness, a pair of red eyes glimpsed back at
him squinting, the form of a man hidden to him in pure shadow, the
head of the form appearing feathered with small horns.

“
This entire world needs a
lesson and soon will have it. The day of reckoning is upon
us.”

“
Yes my lordship. It shall
be” said Dr. Ordox bowing his hand with sincerity and
fear.

“
But there is something
else that must be done.” The shadow spoke.

“
What is that my lord?”
Dr. Ordox asked.

“
A great disturbance is
amongst us, one I have not felt in a very, very long time.” The
shadow recalled. “A temporal energy is nearby.”

“
Whatever it is lord, we
will destroy it.” Dr. Ordox insisted.

“
Make sure it is done. The
future of the power of the triad depends on it.” His form fizzled
into nothingness and his red eyes dimmed away.

“
Oh boy” said Dr. Ordox to
himself as he walked out quickly knowing who he had to
find.

The foursome, James, Tina, Mercedes,
and Drax wandered through the dirt roads surrounding the muddy
waters towards the central encampment of the shanty
town.

“
So why did we wind up
here? I thought we were going to go back to our own time.” Said
Tina.

“
I know. Looks like we
overshot the mark by about a century or so but can’t figure out
why.” Said Drax.

“
Maybe we didn’t think
hard enough in the vacuum” joked Tina.

“
Hardly amusing” said
Drax.

“
What do you suppose
happened to this town?” Asked Mercedes.

“
It seems that the
increase in domestic generated pollutants have caused a cloud of
darkness to permeate the atmosphere.” Said Drax walking with his
hand held scanner. “I am picking up an increase of carbon monoxide
emissions in the air. This is poison but it’s high enough that it
isn’t enough to kill us here and now but it is spreading so in
another hundred years, I think it will be a different
story.”

“
It’s dark during the day”
said Tina.

“
It’s the carbon in the
air blocking part of the sunlight. I doubt this place can support
even the basic crops of agriculture. The amount of time the carbon
emissions has been growing in the air has created the soil barren
and the Earth dull” explained Mercedes.

“
What could have done
this?” Asked James.

“
Centuries of increase
carbon-based byproducts being pushed into the air.” Replied
Mercedes. “I worked with groups trying to combat the problem back
home but it keeps getting worse every year. I guess this is the end
result taken to the extreme.”

“
Global Warming at its
finest” said Tina.

“
What is that over there?”
Pointed James.

“
A town” replied Tina,
“not much of one.”

“
Let’s go check it out.”
Said Drax. “We need to find out as much information as we can here
so we can be sure to get back home when the Time Stone
recharges.”

“
How does it do that?”
Asked James.

“
Solar energy. The Time
Stone gets its energy from the stars themselves and it can also
destroy one.”

“
Wow” said James. The
foursome walks into the central square of the town being eyed by
the locals curiously.

“
I think we need to get
some new clothes” Mercedes said.

“
Yeah, I just realized we
were wearing the same clothes since the last time period we were
in.” Said Drax. “Let’s see what we can dredge up.”

“
Don’t think there is an
open Bloomingdales around here” laughed Tina.

“
Hmmm” Said Drax as he
noticed a beautiful petite young woman with short hair and who wore
a leather jacket approach them.

“
Welcome to Lightning
Way!” She smiled.

“
Thanks.” Said Drax
extending his hand and gripping hers firmly.

“
What a hold stranger. You
must have served.” The woman said.

“
Well as a matter of
fact…” Drax started.

“
What’s your pleasure
here? You guys from Old Millburn?” The woman asked frantically
looking behind her with a nervous look.

“
Well, we are from out of
town. Just looking for supplies.” Drax nods. “Do you know if we can
get to a place to change?”

“
Absolutely” the woman
responds and pointed them to a tall brawling man with a square
bearded jaw who approached wearing a long coat over a broad set of
shoulders. “I’m Alana. This is Mr. Haverstraw. He can help you from
here. I have to run. Nice seeing you.” She ran off towards the far
end of the camp where a group of men were gathering with various
forms of weaponry.

“
Hi” said Drax on behalf
of his entourage as they stared into the strong but silent eyes of
Mr. Haverstraw.

After a brief shower and then changing
into more common clothes, décor fit for a play on nineteenth
century life, they wandered about the encampment looking about and
wondering what to do.

“
This place sure is odd
for the future” said Tina.

“
Must have been some type
of ecological disaster or something” said Drax.

“
Is there anything else
that could trigger high carbon emissions and dark skies?” Asked
James.

“
Nothing short of a
thermonuclear explosion” laughed Drax.

James looked at him with a puzzled
grin. “I have something to say” said James when Mr. Haverstraw
interrupted them.

“
Come. We are about to
enjoy our midday meal and would care for you to join us.” Mr.
Haverstraw said.

“
Sounds like a plan” said
Tina.

They followed him into the dining hall
similar in drab and dirt to the other rooms with a long table where
they took their seats in turn. The small portioned meal was served
of roast veal and cornmeal.

“
This is quaint” said
Mercedes sarcastically as she picked at the plate before
her.

“
It’s not bad actually”
said Tina scarfing down her portion as was James but slowly as he
was thinking how to tell them of his vision.

Alana explained as she ate her
portions slowly, “We have to conserve food rations around here. As
you probably noticed, vegetation isn’t common here so we harness
whatever staple food sources we can from grains and meats that get
sent from neighboring villages or from the food regenerator that
allows us to replicate certain items but its power reserve is low.
Sometimes we just go hungry for a while depending on the
season.”

“
Guys I have to tell you
about what I saw when we were in Ancient Egypt” said
James.

“
Ancient Egypt?” Said
Haverstraw. “You guys aren’t from Old Millburn are you?”

“
Well…” Drax started to
explain.

“
It’s important and cannot
wait” insisted James.

Drax leaned over to whisper in James’
ear. “We shouldn’t be talking about the time stone or any prior
trip we took in front of the locals.”

“
Oh come on. This is
baloney. We need to tell now,” yelled James.

“
James, don’t do this,
wait…” said Tina.

“
I had a vision”
interrupted James.

“
A vision?” Said
Haverstraw.

“
We’re from your past.”
Said James.

“
James.” Scolded
Tina.

“
It’s true. We travelled
here through time and space from the past, specifically from
Ancient Egypt, where I had a vision. It was a mushroom cloud, a
perfect civilization that didn’t exist to us yet wiped out by
catastrophe.” James said quickly.

Drax shook his head and covered his
eyes.

“
Oh my God, Daryl… they’re
jumpers.” Said Alana with a wide glare in her eyes.

“
What was that?” Asked
Drax.

“
The ones who have been
plucked out of their own time periods and journey along the
temporal spatial streams! It’s an old legend I heard when I was a
kid.”

“
We all heard it” said
Haverstraw. “But it is only a legend and not reality. They are
liars.”

“
No it’s true” said
Mercedes, “I know it’s a little bit unbelievable.”

“
I know. Come with me into
the situation room. We need to discuss some things” said Alana
looking at Daryl both rising from their chairs.

In the situation room, a small area,
surrounding a long brown table with a map emblazed on it, the two
group leaders Alana and Daryl talk to the foursome about their
unbelievable adventures.

“
So let me get this
straight” said Daryl inquisitively, “you guys found the ancient
relic, the eye of the gods otherwise known as the time stone? That
is the only real explanation.”

“
That’s correct” said Drax
reluctantly.

“
Prove it” said
Daryl.

“
OK, this is how we travel
through time.” He takes out the green emerald. “Legend calls this
‘the eye of the gods’ as you just did but we call it the Time Stone
as also just did. We seem to lose its function in each time period
of zone we land in but it emits a temporal wormhole, a powerful
gateway along the spatial temporal stream.” Drax said.

“
You guys really are from
another world or time…” said Alana. “We only heard of this in
stories passed down from our forefathers from before the Great
Conflict.”

“
It is pretty amazing”
beckoned Mercedes.

“
And the future vision you
received James, why didn’t you tell us sooner?” Asked
Drax.

“
I didn’t really get the
chance with all we’ve been through back there but it’s like I
experienced it first hand, I saw it as if I was there but never
left my spot in that past time period. I saw, smelt, and felt the
flames and heard the explosion, a beautiful city with amazing
technological advancements and roads that stretch to the heavens,
flying cars and ships, all wiped out in an instant.” James finished
his sentence.

“
We don’t know if that is
the case for sure” said Drax.

“
I know” said James
sincerely.

“
How is that possible?”
Asked Tina. “James, could your psychokinetic powers have grown to
full blown premonitions over time?”

“
Maybe” James
said.

“
Maybe his mind as the
mythic being the Holder of Stones can culminate multiple powers at
once, such as psychokinetic abilities, telepathy, and even remote
viewing of events in time and space.” Said Drax.

“
That’s incredible” said
Mercedes. “Our minds are receptive to things in our direct
environment so it’s possible James has the extra sensory perception
of picking things up in distant locations and can recollect it in
his temporal lobe and case specific subconscious memory. We all
have lapses in our minds as the brain is still a mystery. We can
see into normal flows of space and time. He can additionally see
beyond normal space and time.”

“
So I am some kind of
psychic?” Said James.

“
Well, you saw the future
but now it is the past. Are there no records of what happened?”
Asked Drax to Alana.

“
Nothing survived the
Great Conflict but word of mouth. Very few remember or are willing
to talk about it. Some were sworn to secrecy and long since
forgotten things like my uncle, a big general during the conflict.”
Alana said.

“
Oh no” said
Tina.

“
There was one guy, the
old kook in the woods, what’s his name, Kokoro?” Asked
Daryl.

“
Kowolski, Howard
Kowalski.” Stated Alana. “He was a very brilliant scientist, worked
for the old Army during the Great Conflict and knows a lot about
life beforehand but he is very old now and gone quite crazy. Last I
heard he build a small shack in the middle of the woods and wanted
to remain isolated from people. He said it was too painful to be in
this city. I doubt he would be of any help if he is even still
alive.”

“
It’s worth a try to track
him down. Maybe we can do something to help prevent this future
when we go back.” Said Mercedes.

“
If you really want to
help us, we can use your abilities and knowledge of the past to
help us find the ‘Dark Star.’” Said Alana.

“
What’s that?” Asked
Drax.

“
It’s another stupid
legend” said Daryl, “not real you know.”

“
That’s what they said
about the jumpers and look who we have here” said Alana. “It’s no
legend. It’s an ancient artifact that was supposed to be built and
harnessed by a great and powerful warrior. It is rumored in legend
that the possessor would gain the strength of a million armies. It
was lost long ago in the dark forest and would prove
extraordinarily resilient in facing our current
dilemma.”