My name is Colonel John Cord. I’m a Federation Time Cop from the 30 th Century. I’m here to protect and save the Federation and our Time Line from bad guys.
That’s what I’m supposed to say. The truth is, just about anyone who travels back in Time is a bad guy. The grandmother who wants to pick the lovely and innocent looking flowers could be the reason why Owlum Odeeti decided to mass murder a thousand citizens in the middle of Ramadan. Improbable, highly unlikely? You can tell that to my boss when he stumps through the hallway yelling, “Is there a Time Cop in the house. Bad guy is afoot!”
That was how this day started, or was that yesterday? Strange thing is I don’t believe it matters. I travel through time and I have a life expectancy of five hundred, at least, if I don’t get myself whacked first. That includes at this moment. The thing is, I’m in a tight spot. The guy, Odeeti, is not from this time period, neither am I, but that’s beside the point. Odeeti tossed a grenade, a very powerful one, in the middle of a crowd. One thousand years in the past from my present time line. What makes this so tragic is that the incident is in recorded history. So, I wasn’t supposed to stop him. That’s the part that hurts. I wasn’t supposed to stop him from mass murder just stop him afterwards. What type of compassion is that? They tell me it’s necessary. The Time Line is important and we must preserve the Line as much as possible. Still doesn’t stop it from making me sad, but I’ve been profiled to be a person who can overcome sadness. I can shut it down like an outdated computer. Flip the switch and be done with it. Except it doesn’t always work – not entirely.
“Agee,” I said in Vulcan.
“Yes, John,” She whispered in my ear. The receiver implant embedded neatly on the surface of my temporal bone.
“You have a fix on the guy hanging onto my foot?”
“Yes, John. I do.”
“Query. Probable outcome if subject falls to his death?”
“Working, John.” Her voice was warm and sensual. Many a time I fantasized on Agee. That sweet voice of hers had saved my butt more than once. Of course, I couldn’t dwell on Agee’s voice for long. Odeeti was trying to climb up my leg.
I looked down and yelled, “Hey, I thought you had a death wish?”
He reached up another hand and grabbed a handful of caftan. I felt a rip. The caftan was slipping and so was my grip.
“I will choose my own time and place.” He replied.
Agee whispered, “His death will not affect the current timeline –“
Great! I stumped my foot in his face several times, hard. The last time I felt something in his face give way. He released my caftan and tumbled thirty stories down. He missed the crowd and that was a blessing. Sometimes my luck is timely. I hoisted myself up and back into the building.
Agee whispered, “John, sorry to bother you, but his death will not effect the timeline if his body is recovered and beamed back to the Chaos Theory.”
Great! “Agee, now you tell me!”
“You didn’t give me a chance to finish.”
Sometimes my luck is not. “True, however, I was rushed for a decision, sorry.”
“Under the circumstances, all will be forgiven – if you retrieve the body before it is autopsied.”
“Okay, but why the hassle?” I had made my way into the hallway and caught an elevator to the bottom floor. People stared at me as I passed. My caftan was torn and dirty in places, my sunglasses were bent slightly and I talked to myself in a strange language. Luckily, I blended in. I mostly look Sudanese with a touch of makeup. This mission didn’t require a holoshield so I left it. Unfortunately, the torn and dirty caftan screamed outsider. So, I got out of the building – quickly. Once outside I headed for the streets. Odeeti was waiting for me and I didn’t want to be late. However, when I arrived he was gone and the crowd had dispersed. I took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Agee? Where would a dead broken up body go?”
“With other dead broken up bodies?”
“Funny, Agee, funny.”
“Occam’s razor, John.”
I smiled. “Of course.”
I made my way to the local Hospital. “Agee,” I said, “give me a quick lesson in 21 st century medicine.”
She replied, ”You are a Doctor?”
“Yes. Make me a regular practitioner. Also feed me information on personnel and the other Hospitals in the area.”
“Yes, John. Please find some place to relax. The information you are requesting is extensive. You will not like the effects of such a large download.”
I nodded and found a bench. Two people were already sitting at one end, a young woman and older one. Both were crying. The wailing was about to get on my nerves when Agee hit me with a stream. I felt the import heat up and my eyes bugged out. I got dizzy and light-headed at the same time and nearly threw up. Five minutes later she was done and I was tired. My head pounded.
The two women had stopped crying. They were staring at me.
I never know how I’m going to react when Agee starts a stream. I guess this time it was enough to stop the grieving women. I turned to them and said, “I am so overcome with sadness, and my body takes control.”
They squeezed themselves further away from me.
It was time for me to leave.
I made my way to a local Hospital. One of the locals said that the bodies from the last terrorist attack were brought here. He was passionate in his gestures and at one point started yelling that the terrorists are the reason the Americans have invaded his country. I fed him a fake middle-eastern accent, pounded my chest a few times and cursed the Terrorist and Americans.
He calmed down and gave me directions. Seconds after that he was normal, I made a quick retreat. He seemed more like an incident waiting to happen. Not me, I wasn’t going to be there.
Once inside the hospital a soldier stopped me. I told him I was a doctor and he let he pass. On the way in, a little girl was rushed past me. She had a wound on her forehead.
“John,” Agee whispered, “what are you doing?”
“Going to help out.”
Agee remained silent. We’ve worked together long enough for her to know I made up my mind and nothing was going to change it. She did tell me that the little girl was supposed to live and that a visiting Doctor helped save her live. Later, the doctor could not be located. It was presumed that he was killed in a terrorist attack.
After I helped the little girl I made my way through the halls to the makeshift morgue. One of the Doctors gave me directions. I told him that my brother was missing and I feared he was killed while at prayer. The Doctor became passionate and cursed the terrorists. If only he knew. I let him vent and thanked him for his time. He acted like the intense rants were a normal part of his day and wished me luck.
At the entrance a Father was cradling a lifeless child, tearfully and loudly mourning his loss. Only a cold hearted brut could walk through here and not be phased.
Agee whispered in my ear, "John, your heart rate has elevated. You are now in tachycardia. Please settle down."
I whispered, "I can't. Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"
"John, I'm in your head."
"But not my emotions --" Agee tended to be touchy about emotions. "Sorry, Agee, I will settle down."
"Thank you."
"Agee, I really do apologize --"
"John, it is alright. I am sensitive about such things but I am getting better. However, with that said, I still need you to settle down. This is not a flight or fight situation. You are at 95 beats per minute. Please drop it to below 90 and I will stop bothering you."
I said, "Yes, Ma'am." I tried not to let the scene get to me. I took a relatively big breath. The air stunk of decay, blood, and grief and I let it out slowly. I could feel my heart slow down.
"Thank you John. Your pulse is at 72 beats per minute."
I nodded and kept walking the line. About half way through the twelfth row Agee said, "Stop, John. Second body to your right. Odeeti has been found."
I squatted near the body and lifted up the red colored sheet. It was Odeeti's crushed body all right. I stood up and looked around. How to get the body out of here without being noticed? American soldiers had a very strong presence in the room. They all had guns and body armour. The War against terrorism took an ugly turn for the worst and they were fighting three fronts. "Agee, any computers and infrastructures you can control?"
"Sorry, John, this is a very poor country. Working --"
I waited and looked around. I counted thirty soldiers. All with automatic rifles and looking mean. There were three exits and lots of people - dead and alive.
"John --"
"Good news?"
"Possibly, see the soldier at 3 o'clock?"
“Yeah, I do.”
“That is a Mach Byrd Rifle.”
I nearly laughed out loud, “Seriously?”
“There are three soldiers carrying such rifles.”
“Then you can do something?”
“I will lock their bolts back and start ejecting rounds. Once the rifle is pointed up I’ll lock, load, and fire. You’ll be able to snatch the body.”
I nodded and I felt my pulse rise. Fight or flight time.
A dozen seconds later I heard automatic fire. The orderly and controlled atmosphere went to pieces. People screamed, ducked, rolled and ran. I grabbed Odeeti and started walking to a clear exit. I was out the door and ten steps into the street when I heard, “You there! Person carrying the body. Stop and show proper ID.”
I showed him my backside and the heels of my feet. I ran like hell. What to do, what to do? “Agee, time check. Give me five seconds ahead. Anything I could use?”
“Working –“
I zigzagged around people shopping at a open market. I could sense someone behind me. I flung Odeeti over my shoulder, which allowed me to run faster.
Agee said, “Five are behind you.”
My heart rate jumped. I knew it hit passed 100 beats per minute.
“John, your heart rate is back into tachycardia. Please lower it.”
“Agee, not now. I’m busy running with a dead body over my shoulder and five mean pissed off Soldiers with high tech weapons at my heels.”
“Just concerned about your well-being.”
“Thanks, Agee, I appreciate –“ I dodged around a fruit cart and one of the soldiers slammed into it. The cart owner must have had lead weights in the thing. He never made it through.
“John?”
“Yes Agee.” I said breathlessly.
“John, there was a riot -- will be a riot in your area today. It occurs in three minutes.”
I sucked in some air and forced it out. I was getting tired. “Any reason why?”
“Yes, a surviving Vid interview said the Americans killed a man and chased his brother, as he carried the brother’s body, through the open-market. After the riot, both disappeared without a trace.”
I huffed out, “Anyone look –“
“There John, the woman, to your left.”
I stopped and looked. A woman was picking through some fruit. I quickly walked up to her and started wailing. I said in Farsi, “The American animals. They killed my brother and now they are after me.”
Heads looked up and eyes turned to me.
So I yelled louder. Four of the Soldiers stopped just outside my safe zone. “These Americans killed my brother. He was helping them and they shot him! In the back!”
Two of the soldiers reached out to me. The woman got in their way. “You come into our country to fight terrorism yet you kill us as the terrorist do.” She screamed, “We hate you!!”
Several other people joined her.
She continued, “You rape our country for your pockets.”
The entire market turned ugly. I took Odeeti and slipped into a building. It was empty. “Agee? Signal the ship.”
A second later I was on the first deck. Then the scene flashed and I was in medical. Dr. Polux stepped up.
“Happy hunting?”
“Here.” I said and handed him Odeeti. “I’m gonna clean up and change.”
He nodded.
I walked between the two vertical standing Cleansor Light and headed to my quarters. I stuffed my clothes into the recycler, showered, dressed into something comfortable, got a cup of herbal tea and fell asleep. I’m always exhausted after a mission, more so today than any other.
Agee whispered, “John, the old man is on. He wants a report.”
“Tell him I’m sleeping.”
“Too late, he tapped in.”
I heard that, “Colonel, report!”
“Hey, boss” I said, “Earth is still here. I must have succeeded.”
“Give me details.”
“Mind if I get some sleep first?”
“Yes, I do mind. Spill it.”
I gritted my teeth and spilled it. I told him everything, the near mishap with Odeeti, the Hospital, the riot, everything.
He grunted a dozen times. “Good work. Be careful next time!” Then he was off.
Then Murphy, my first officer and partner, clicked in. “Cord? You asleep yet?”
“Not yet, you want some company?”
She laughed, “Maybe later. Gonna go down and do some clean up. Not too bad this time.”
I smiled. “Great! Let me know when you’re back, okay? I want to rub your feet.”
She laughed again, “Maybe I will let you touch them this time.” Then she clicked out.
“Anyone else Agee?”
“No John, that is all.”
I stretched out and let the kinks move on. “More tea please.”
The old cup disappeared and the new cup appeared. I have one thing to say about being a Time Cop. You meet forgotten people, at different times, get to see forgotten places, at other times, and at the end of the day time waits for you. And the pay is good too.
End of Episode I
