TIME AND TIME AGAIN The sequel to 3037 (3 page)

Several of us copied her and she smiled and motioned for us to join her in an area where there were a group of large boulders.

At first we couldn’t understand what she was saying.  It was another language.  Then, all of a sudden, we were speaking the same language and I couldn’t tell whether she was speaking our language or we were speaking hers.  But we understood each other.

I looked at Joe and smiled.  He nodded, “Once again the cave has fixed things for us,” he said.  We turned to listen to her.

“I am called
Rodena
.  What are you called?”

We introduced ourselves and by now everyone was gathered around, sitting on the rocks.  There must have been close to 300 people including the people from the cave and the white people.

“We don’t usually allow colored people here,” she continued.  “You must be new or you
would know this.  Where do you h
ome from?”

I looked at Joe, “I think she wants to know where we came from. 
Do you want to answer her?”

But when Joe began speaking, she held up her hand and said, while looking at me, “Silence the male.  What he says means nothing.  Who is your leader?”

I spoke up, “We don’t have a leader, where and when we came from, we are all equal.”

She then noticed John and Joseph, the two black musicians in Joe’s band.  She pointed to them and said, “You and you, come forward.”

They looked at each other and laughed as they got up and headed toward her.  When they got there, she stood and looked at them.  She was eye level with them even though they were very tall.

“You two will carry me,” she said and snapped her fingers.  Two very small white men ran forward with something I had neve
r
seen before.
  I
t looked like someone had taken the inside of an old car, the part with the seats and the camshaft and decorated it in gold and silver.

These poor little men were carrying it between them but it was an effort for them, they appeared to be struggling.

John and Joseph ran over and took it from them and she nodded.  She thought this meant they had agreed to carry her in that thing.  John and Joseph set the contraption down and came back to join us.

It was obvious that she was used to being obeyed when she said, “No, you will not stand there.  You will stand before me.
”

“I don’t think so,” Joseph said.

“
Then you will be driven out of the chosen area and made to live with the others.  And I mean all of you colored people.
”

CHAPTER FOUR

No one said anything for what seemed like at least five minutes.
  It seemed it was a stalemate.  I wondered how laws were enforced on this planet, but it seemed that everyone obeyed
Rodena
without question.

We all turned and walked away and the whole time she was screaming for us to come back.

“I wonder what the hell we’re supposed to accomplish here,” Joe said as we walked toward the cave.

“I hope we find out soon,” Joseph said as he caught up with us.  “Imagine me, a musician, carrying that bitch
around
in that piece of car.  That woman gave me the creeps.”

A thought came into my mind and I couldn’t get rid of it, “Let’s go back down tomorrow and entertain them.”

“I was thinking the same thing,” Irene said.  “But right now, let’s finish exploring some more.
”

We walked around for over an hour before the landscape changed and when it did it was sudden.  It was almost like someone had drawn a line and, as soon as we crossed it,
everything changed.

I
t
looked like there had been a major fire.  Everything was black like charcoal.  As we walked, our feet stirred up black dust and we all started coughing.

I thought I caught movement off to the right and I saw something dart behind a tree stump.  “Wait,” I called and she peeked around the stump.

“You all stay here, I don’t want to frighten her,” I said as I w
a
lked toward her with
my hands out in fron
t of me.

“I won’t hurt you,” I said as I came toward her.  “Do you know what I’m saying?  Can you understand me?”

Her voice trembled when she answered, “Who are you people?  Where did you come from?”

“We came from another time and place.  May I come closer and talk to you?”

She nodded and when I got close, I thought she was an old woman.  It was difficult to tel
l.  She was completely black fro
m the charcoal dust, even her hair.

“My name is Ashley, and this is my husband, Joe.  Would like to come with us and see where we live?”

She seemed to shrink from me and said, “We’re not allowed to go into the chosen area.”

“How many of you are there?”

“There are only twenty three left.  The others coughed to death.”

“If you will come with us, you all can be healed.  We live in a wonderful city and many have been healed there.”

“Where is this city?  Why have I not heard of it?  Is it in the chosen area?”

“We brought the city with us.  It’s inside a cave
and many people live there.  Many people from other planets have joined us.
”

Just then a huge man came running out of the woods and the exercise made him start coughing. 
I felt Joe put a protective hand on my shoulder.

“I’ve been listening and I don’t believe a word I’m hearing,” The giant said and began to cough
again
.  “We might not live in the chosen are
a
and be one of the chose ones, but we’re not stupid.”

“I don’t believe you’re stupid, but why don’t you come with us and check it out yourself?”

He turned around and addressed the others.  By now I had began to notice other people peeking out from behind tree stumps.  They we h
ard to see, being all dark gray to
black
like their surroundings
.
.

“Everyone else
,
stay here,” He said.  Then he looked at me and actually winked, “Lead the way, beautiful.”

As we started up the hill, I explained to him, “We have a custom.  When we get to the cave, we
will all gather around in the
entrance and you will tell your story.  We w
ill tell you our stories.  The c
ity inside the cave will decide if you are worthy of entering and being healed.”

CHAPTER FIVE

Most of the others had gone on ahead and some of the women had prepared a meal for us.  I asked the giant, “What is your name?”

“I’m Abbott.  My wife is
Nime
.  She’s the one you were talking to.”

I made intr
oductions all around
and we settled on the spheres.  At first Abbott refused to sit on one saying he was too heavy and might break it.  After being assured he wasn’
t too heavy
he settled in with a loud sigh
.  Before we had a chance to serve the food, he was snoring loudly.

“Poor thing,” I said, “No telling what they have to sleep on.  Let’s let him sleep awhile.”

After we ate most of the others went back to the city leaving Joe and me behind.  We settled onto one of the spheres together with a glass of wine.

“You know, I missed these spheres while we were on earth,” Joe said.

“
Me
too,” I said,” r
emember the first time we shared one?”

He chuckled s he reached under my blouse and fondled my nipple, “I had n
ever known sex could be so good.  Too bad we have company right now.  I want you so badly, I’m about to explode.”

Abbott suddenly sat up with a snort and Joe and I jumped.  J
oe moved his hand away.  Then Abbott
yawned without covering his mouth and I noticed his teeth and tongue were dark gray.  I got up and brought him a plate of food and he ate like he was starved.

“Where did you get such food as this?” He asked.  “I remember food like this when I was a little boy.”

I tried to picture him as a little boy and failed.  He ate an enormous amount and let out a loud burp when he was done.  He drained his wine glass and got a really goofy grin on his face.

Then he did something that shocked me.  He grabbed his crotch and looked at me, “This drink makes me want it.  Come here, Ashley.”

It made Joe so mad, He was ready to fight and Joe was always so gentle.  I held Joe back, and started giggling and, when I did, Abbott seemed to
take that as a sign that I wanted him too.  Without warning he came over and picked me up.

It scared me so much I started hitting him in the face and neck until he suddenly stopped and said, “Oh, you don’t want to?  Every woman wants Abbott.”
  He put me down with a puzzled look on his face.

I left them and headed back to the city, calling over my shoulder, “Explain everything to him, Joe.  I’m going to check on the kids and gather everyone else up so we can share stories.”

For some reason I had always been the first one to tell my story.  Because we had been on earth without the cave for two years, I was suddenly nervous about talking.

Joe patted my thigh and I calmed down somewhat.  I cleared my throat and began.

“I died in 1973 on planet earth and woke up in 3037 on planet
Sunio
two, Joe’s planet.
”

“Wait a minute, wait a minute!” Abbott roared.  “That doesn’t make any sense.  First of all, this is the planet that everyone lives on. 
Usauris
is the name of the planet.

“And what do you mean, you died in 1973.  Why, that’s almost a thousand years from now.”

“What year is this?” Joe asked.

“The year is 1001,” He said as he puffe
d his chest out like he knew
much more than we did.

He started coughing and had a hard time getting his breath.  “Let’s take him to the city and tell the stories later,” Irene suggested.  “I think once he sees, he will understand.”

We asked him to follow us and he walked through the dark passage like he was used to the dark.  When we got to the city, His mouth fell open and he dropped to his knees.

“You are gods, and this must be heaven.  The white people are not gods.”

Irene put her hand on his shoulder, “Get up, we don’t deserve to be
bowed down to.  We are not gods and neither are the white people.”

As soon as Abbott had dropped to his knees, I noticed the membrane that covers the mouth of the cave had dropped.  He was ready.  The cave would let him enter.

When he got on his feet I said, “Would you like to look around?”

He dropped his head and shyly nodded.  “Come on,” I said taking his hand.

As soon as we got into the city he fell on his knees and cried out in pain while grabbing his throat.  Black foam started coming out of his mouth as his eyes went wild.  I knew i
t was hard for him.  H
e didn’t understand what was happening.

“Maybe we should have warned him,” I thought.

It was over in seconds and he stood up and looked at us with amazement, “What happened?  I can breathe so deep. 
I haven’t been able to breathe like this in a very long time. 
I feel so good.”

It was always like this when the cave healed someone.  We never got used to it and we gazed at him in wonder.

“Come on, buddy,” Joe said.  Let’s get you cleaned up.”

Joe led him to one of the crystal clear lakes and he said, “Water to drink.  So much clear water to drink.
”

“This is not our drinking water, this is where you can get clean,” I said as I waded out a ways and then dove under.  “Come on,” I yelled and Joe came out and joined me.

“No, it’s not right,” he said.  “It’s wasteful.  This is enough clean water to quench the thirst of all my people for several years.”

It took a lot of talking but we finally got him into the water.  Ir
ene pitched Joe a bar of soap Ulla, o
ur soap maker had made.

Abbott watched as Joe took the soap and rubbed it between the palms of his hands and made lather.  He rubbed it on his chest and passed it to Abbott.

Abbott laug
hed like a little boy as he soaped
his whole body and watched the water around him turn gray.
  I was surprised when he washed and rinsed his hair.  He had beautiful blond, almost white hair and his eyes were a light blue.  He was a very handsome man, even more handsome than Joe.