“John, this is creepy.”
I nodded. I’d be crept out if I saw my dehydrated 400 year old mummified body on an operating table waiting to be sliced open for an autopsy. “Yeah, that too.”
Murphy’s body was “discovered” in a Landfill by an Engineer fixing some hardware. The Terran Regional Authorities – The Police, had been called. A DNA sample was placed in the computer and a flag popped up at Temporal Investigations Bureau. It in turn made its way to the Temporal Prime Core system. It was a priority one-twelve, fellow cop down. We entered the current timeframe, beamed down, flashed IDs, collected the body and beamed up, watching the good Doctor enjoy his work a little too much.
The Doctor lifted up a small hand saw.
I asked, “Polux, why are you using such an archaic device as that?”
His shoulders sloped and he let out a deep and quick sigh. “Because the body is archaic. Now if you don’t mind? Shuddup and let me autopsy.”
I turned to Murphy, she was turning green, and said, “I’m having a hard time watching.”
She swallowed something back down, “I’m good.”
Polux started whistling as he cut through the chest plate.
Murphy swallowed hard. I heard a deep audible gulp.
When Polux cracked the chest open Murphy reached out and placed her hand on my shoulder. Agee whispered, “What a trooper.” I elected to keep quiet and watched. He poked around the cavity a bit and pulled out a few organs. He placed them on an old mechanical scale. He took sample from each organ and placed them in petri dishes and asked Agee to analyze. It was good he did that. The old methods took hours and days and weeks. Agee announced that Murphy, the dead one, died from asphyxiation.
She said, “The tissues have a high concentration of carbon dioxide.”
Polux nodded. “Even with the body being 400 years old I thought as much. Luckily, there weren’t any flesh eating bacteria or other animals in the vicinity during the first 212 hours. Otherwise there would be no trace of evidence.”
Murphy looked bummed out. “But how did I – will I die?”
Polux shrugged and said, “Alone, in utter darkness and in a very small space. It probably won’t be pleasant. From the way the hands and feet are curled I’d say your last moments will be in panic or convulsions. You tried to claw your way out, you can tell by the absence of several fingernails – but alas, as you can see, it didn’t work.”
Murphy said, “Gee, thanks Doc. You don’t have to sugarcoat it.”
He laughed, “Human Humor. I love it.” Then he became serious. “There are other tests to run.”
Murphy and I both nodded. I knew which one, and I knew Murphy knew which one. She looked Polux in the eyes. “Go ahead. Do it.”
He nodded and said, “I’ll spare you the archaic method –“
“Thanks, Doc. I do appreciate it.”
“Agee?” Polux said.
“Yes?”
“Scan the body’s genitalia, please.”
Agee replied, “Done.”
“And the results?”
“Inconclusive. Sexual activity may have been done four to 48 hours before.”
Polux looked to us, “Since you two are always copulating like Terran ferrets I’d have to say it was not forced –“
I opened my mouth to say something then promptly shut it.
“—until other evidence presents itself.” He pulled off his rubber gloves. “Agee, initiate storage routine Delta November Sierra – Teratino.”
The body sparkled away.
I turned to Murphy. Her face was unreadable. “You okay?”
Her shoulders slumped, “Yeah, I guess. I need a bath.”
“Company?”
She kissed me on the cheek. “Maybe later. Not feeling sociable at the moment.”
I nodded and watched her walk off. I tapped the side of my head to let Agee know to resume whispering in my ear.
***
MURPHY:
John worries about me too much. I know he loves and cares about me, but I am a big girl. I’m just as old as he is – I think. “Agee, how old is John?”
Agee said, “Cosmetic or standard?”
“Standard, please.”
“John is one hundred twelve years old.”
“Really? That old?”
“Yes, that old.”
And I’m, “Agee –“
“You are only forty-two years of age.”
“Oh – thanks.” Anyway, I’ve saved his butt many times. I can take care of myself. It’s not like something bad – well, okay, something bad did happen. But now that I know, I can tweak my own T-line. I’ve been tweaking for almost ten years now. I’m good at it. “Agee?”
“Yes?”
“How long –“
“Eighty years.”
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.”
That Agee, so efficient sometimes. Maybe too efficient. John loves the thing and that sometimes bothers me. It’s not like Agee is a real person. She’s not. She’s only a computer that is Sentient. She’ll never become a real person, at least not in another hundred years. I put other miscellaneous thoughts aside. “Agee?”
“Yes?”
“Is John –“
“In your shared quarters. He just finished talking to the Boss. Would you like me to patch you through?”
“No, not at the moment. Let him finish what needs to be finished.”
“Okay, will do.”
“Agee?”
“Yes?”
“Thanks.”
“No problem.”
She seems too real to me sometimes.
JOHN:
After the Autopsy the Boss called. His timing is like that. He wanted me to sit down. I walked over to my console and flipped him on to the flat-t.
“John,” he said, “we have a situation.”
I said, “Another one?”
His image nodded.”
“Okay, shoot.”
“We have to save Odeeti.”
We both stared at one another for a full minute. I break the silence, “Okay! You’re joking, right?”
He continued to stare.
“No, no, Boss, really. You’re joking, right. Tell me the truth. Who set you up to this?”
“I’m not joking – this time, John. This is serious. Temporal Prime Core says someone from the 23 rd century thinks that killing him will save millions of lives and –“
“Does it?”
The Boss was silent for a long time.
I said, “That someone is right?”
He nodded.
I continued, “But of course it’ll alter our timeline?”
He nodded again.
“Significantly?”
He nodded.
I sighed, “Damn! Odeeti gets saved. God hates us.”
The Boss signed off.
“John?”
“Yeah, Agee?”
“Do you really have to save him? Maybe there is a way to tweak him into being a dead ender sooner.”
I laughed lightly, “It was sooner.” Then I asked, “Did the Boss send you the usual divergence report?”
“Putting it up on the screen now.”
I looked over the report. Another spaghetti. “Agee, please call a meeting. Conference room. Ten minutes.”
“Done.”
***
The Chaos Theory has a small crew, ten in all, to handle various missions. Agee, of course, was everywhere. She is the Chaos Theory. Then there was Dr. Polux, our chief and only Medical Officer. Murphy, the head Tweaker – her official title was Continuity Technician and her staff, Donaldson, Pok, Spoyl and Splyit. The last two positions were vacant. I hadn’t filled them yet as no one had proved themselves flexible enough yet. They were ship’s Counselor and Historian. Both positions require – aptitude. I still have time.
This particular mission stank. We had to save Odeeti from an assassin. Irony is a lover you crossed once, which hasn’t forgotten about it. Our Irony was a particularly cruel and mean-spirited bitch. She saved all the bad karma and is now gonna give it to us.
“Murphy, any ideas?”
She looked at her TtADD, “One. We know this will be Odeeti’s first time. We also know that he kills three people.”
“Are they dead enders?” I asked.
“Yes, but not suitably material.”
I nodded.
Spoyl spoke up. “Colonel, we should treat this as a regular mission. You go down and make sure Odeeti survives. We observe from here. If anything goes wrong we can tweak. I do have one question.”
“Yes?”
“Our assassin –“ He looked at his TtADD, then looked up. “ Peabody Prepliek, what do we do to him?”
“Temporal Prime Core wants him alive. Why?” I shrugged. I really didn’t know. Temporal Prime Core rarely explains. They point and say, “Timeline must be saved.” Then we save it. End of discussion.
***
Odeeti was waiting at a bus stop. It dawned on me that this would be our first meeting. At least, his first time meeting me.
I walked up beside him and acted like I was waiting for the bus. The San Francisco line was very efficient and hundreds of thousands of people used it everyday. Odeeti, however, acted like he just came in from Mars. I thought of a catchy tune and started whistling it. The tune was from a show in the future. About a group of people traveling to different worlds threw a worm hole. Novel idea actually.
Odeeti turned to me and said, “You look awfully familiar, have me met?”
I smiled, “Probably not this time around.”
“Excuse me?”
I laughed, “Reincarnation.”
He relaxed somewhat, but I could tell he was nervous. He jingled the change in his pocket and took a handful out. He looked intently at the coins. “Umm, do you ride this community transportation service often?”
“Yeah, though taxi’s are better but more expensive and I shelved my car years ago.”
He nodded his head like he understood. He didn’t. I could tell by his eyes.
“How much is the currency?”
“The fare?” I laughed. “You’re not from around here?”
He looked hurt, almost mad. “That obvious?”
I nodded. “But not to worry, we get many tourist to our fair town – you have any place in particular you liked to go?”
He thought about it, “Not at the moment. I’m just traveling and seeing what takes me where.”
I saw a bus approaching us.
Odeeti looked hopeful.
Someone walked up behind Odeeti and pushed him hard. I didn’t get a good look and I didn’t want to say anything to Agee. People look at you funny when you say out of the blue things to yourself. And unfortunately, this time period hadn’t perfected the cell phone yet. I stuck out my arm and pushed him back onto the curb – just in time. The commuter bus blew it’s horn and whooshed by us. It was a limited line.
Odeeti, stunned, caught his breathe. “You saved my life!”
I nodded.
He turned around.
The would-be assailant was gone.
Odeeti appeared shakened. “Bastard! Who every he was – could have killed me!”
I nodded again and pulled Odeeti further back from the curb. Our bus had arrived. The doors opened and Odeeti stepped up and held out his hand. He looked pathetic really.
“Let me help you out there.” I plucked the proper change from his hand and dropped it in. I flashed my monthly pass – I’ve been doing this for eighty years. You learn and remember a few things during that time.
Odeeti thanked me and sat toward the front of the bus. He picked a seat on the same side as the driver facing the passenger side. I took a seat on the passenger side facing the driver side.
The bus pulled away and I heard some punk rock music blasting in the back of the bus. I looked and saw some punker giving a group of people dressed in Starfleet uniforms a hard time. I wanted to laugh. The old style looked odd. I whispered very softly, “Agee, start recording.”
She whispered back, “Already on it. I figured you’d recognize them.”
I caught myself from nodding.
Someone from the group, he was wearing a white robe with Vulcan stenciled down the edge, reach over and nerve pinched the guy.
The punker collapsed. His head bopped on top of the boombox and hit the stop button. The music stopped and the entire back of the bus erupted in applause. Damn! I love this job! Then I looked over and saw Murphy sitting in a seat in front of them. She was in tweaking mode so I let her be.
Odeeti leaned over and said, “What was that all about?”
“Trekkies flexing their muscle.”
Odeeti looked at me strangely.
I asked, “When are you from again?”
Agee yelled, “John!”
I ignored her.
He looked surprised, “Excuse me?”
I leaned further forward and raised my voice. “Sorry, all the clapping. Where are you from again?”
He reflected a bit. “From the future.”
I gave him my goofiest look and laughed like I meant it. “No, really, where are you from.”
He laughed too. I figured trying to come up with a good line. “ Canada.”
I nodded, “Ahh, no wonder. You guys do things differently.”
He smiled and relaxed. “Yes we do.”
The bus traveled for a few more blocks and I spotted the restaurant. I pulled the stop cord. The bus pulled over and we stepped out. We were halfway across the street when Agee said, “John, this is important. Push Odeeti, hard!”
I did.
Then she said, “Jump up three feet and hug your knees, now.”
I did.
When the car finally hit me, it was only going about twenty miles per hour. Luckily the driver was in the process of stopping the car. I merely cracked the windshield and slide off the hood when the car came to a complete rest.
I got up and dusted myself off. I’d probably be sore tomorrow. I looked at the driver and yelled, “Steal a car you can drive.”
The driver looked out, backed up, and took off.
I yelled, “Idiot! Go faster next time!”
Odeeti ran up to me, “Are you okay?”
I nodded.
He seemed distressed, “This is the second time you saved me. In less than an hour!”
I stretched all the kinks out and walked to the curb. All the bystanders were gone. Welcome to America I thought. Who wants to get involved?
“I don’t know what to say?”
I laughed, “Thanks and ‘I’ll buy you lunch?’”
He forced a laugh out. His expression was deep. The man was actually bothered by this.
“Really, I am okay. I am hungry though.”
He slowly nodded and stuck out his hand. “Thanks – what is your name?”
I shook his hand, “Cord, John Cord.”
“Well, Mr. Cord –“
“John, please.”
“Well, John, thanks. My name is Odeeti and the least I can do is buy you lunch.”
I smiled and led him to a popular local restaurant.
As we waited for the waitress to seat us Agee whispered, “John, Murphy is tweaking. Apparently the accident rippled out. She is in the area.”
I nodded.
Odeeti said, “Pardon?”
“Nothing, I was thinking about the lunch.”
“Ahh –“
“You know, you don’t look Inuit,” I said. Odeeti sounded nothing remotely Eskimo – that I knew of, but I played along.
“Blame my parents.”
The waitress sat us at a nice table. Nice big picture window overlooking the traffic. Great!
“Mr – John, what do you do?” He took a sip of water from the glass placed in front of him by a busboy.
“I’m a sub-contractor. From construction to destruction. You got the money, I got the time –“
He nearly choked on his water.
I reached over and patted him on his back, “You okay?”
He coughed, “Yes, thank you. Good water.”
I laughed, “You have a sense of humor! What do you do?”
“I’m a teacher. I lecture on Chaos Theory.”
“In Canada?” I added.
He nodded.
“A harried and busy subject. I took that in college and passed with a C. You’re not here to gather lecture material?”
He laughed lightly, “As a matter of fact, I am. Now I can add my near fatal accidents to my notes. He pulled out a PAD.
Careless I thought. I casually said, “Nice scheduler you got there. Looks like something from the future.”
His face dropped and he said, “Oh – this – thing, a prototype from a manufacture in Canada.”
I nodded. “ Canada must be nice. With all the cool gadgets coming out.” I craned my neck. It was, I assumed, supposed to be a 1990s Newton. I wanted to reach over an choke him. Silly man. Do better research next time. “Looks expensive.”
He nodded, made some quick notes and put it away.
We studied the menu. I suggested Lobster Thermador.
A few minutes later our waitress came and took our order. An half an hour after that our lunch arrived.
Within that time I found Odeeti to be a curious man, almost likeable. As I sat there eating next to him I thought of my options. Doing him in myself was one.
“John, I have a question?”
“Yeah?”
“Suppose you could time travel, what would you do?”
I laughed and thought, ‘Drop you off a 30 story building watching your scrawny ass twist and twirl until it slapped hard into the pavement.’ I said, “I don’t know? Save people?”
***
MURPHY:
I heard Agee tell John to jump and hug his knees. My heart stopped as I saw the car screech to a stop and hit him. John got up an yelled something at the driver. Odeeti helped him up and over to the curb. Then the alarms went off. A scale five effect.
“Spoyl!”
“I am on it.”
“Splyit?”
“Getting vector information now. Agee?”
“Yes, Splyit?”
“Start the count please – ten second increments.”
Agee said, “Zero –“
Donaldson yelled out, “I got a pattern people! Second guy to the left, white robe, pointed ears – Well, I’ll be damned.”
I yelled out, “Donaldson, focus, wrong pattern!”
“Ten –“
We had to find the reason for the deviation. A scale five was not devastating, but it was bad enough to possibly reach well into the 27 th century. I checked the scope and followed John and Odeeti into a restaurant. Then I switched to a wide lens and noticed a high speed chase. “Agee?”
“Twenty – yes, Murphy?”
“Monitor and record what I’m seeing.”
“Working –“
“I got a feeling about this.”
Donaldson called out, “Twenty it pans out.”
Splyit said, “I will accept that bet and give you a –“
“Thirty –“
“-- two-three if you will concede that it is not intuitive but a subconscious calculative response to years of experience.”
“Wrongo, dude. Good ole human gut feeling. Murphy is an ESPer.”
“I agree, however, it is not ESP. I possess ESP, as you know, and I have not had a –“
Splyit stopped in mid-sentence. “I concede. I just got a hit.”
“Forty –“
Splyit said, “You may stop counting Agee. Thank you.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of folded paper. He handed it to me.
I held it up, broke the seal, and unfolded it. I read the number written on it. “40.”
“Damn!” Donaldson exclaimed.
Splyit said, “I believe this more than satisfies the bet. You now owe me 100. Would you like to roll the amount over or shall you prefer to pay up now?”
“I’ll pay now.”
Splyit smiled slightly. He rarely did. I’ve seen him smile most often when it involved taking Donaldson’s money. Donaldson was hopelessly addicted to gambling. There was an old saying that I tried to get Donaldson to understand. “Never bet against a Vulcan.” Each time he’d blink his eyes at me and say, “He’s gotta lose sometime, and big!” I’d shake my head and walk away. Splyit was a master at keeping Donaldson hooked. He’d let him win just enough to think he had a chance. He didn’t and I was tired of trying to explain that the word ‘sucker’ was deeply entrenched in his forehead.
“Agee?”
“Yes, Murphy?”
“Start a skip. Let’s go back thirty minutes and half phase us.”
“Starting skip – in ten seconds.”
The Chaos Theory shook briefly.
“Okay, minus thirty minutes.”
And during those thirty minutes we tracked the scale five effects. It was a bank robbery that got foiled. The car that hit John was supposed to stop and back up traffic. It hadn’t. In fact it kept going and traffic never slowed. The bank robbers got to their getaway car but by that time the cops, whizzing through a traffic free path got to the robbers before their car pulled away from the curb. We calculated that we could move this down to a scale one effect if I could somehow either slow traffic or help the robbers get away. We decided to do both. Spoyl would beam down and cause a distraction. I would fulfill destiny and do what I could to help play this out. Donaldson had discovered the video-clip of the bank heist. In the upper left corner of the film a woman stopped outside the bank doors and looked in. She stood there for a good five seconds – I thought ‘Dear Lord, I have to act stupid and in front of a camera!’
The clip had been broadcasted over a period of weeks. Apparently, the woman was never identified and the robber never told what happened to her. I was looking at the clip when I got a sudden chill. I was hit with Déjà vu and broke out in a cold sweat. I told the others that I think I may have solved my accident. I asked Agee to run a Quantum time signature. It came back as inconclusive, which is odd as all things can be time stamped. She was able to narrow it down between 1986 and 1989. I swallowed hard and realized what I had to do.
Several hours later I was on the ground on a bus headed to the bank. About several blocks from the bank a strangely dressed group of people fumbled on. I looked up and recognized him. I’ll be damn I thought. The chances of stumbling into Kirk, on Earth, were nearly a million to one and I had to be working! I would have asked Agee to record but I don’t carry comm equipment on a tweak nor do I have one embedded in my head like John. I find that to be a bit invasive. Knowing Agee is able to watch my every move on the Chaos Theory is sometimes unnerving, but John doesn’t seem to mind, in fact, I think he likes the idea that Agee watches him do – absolutely everything. I once called him a Perv. He laughed and asked did I have a point. Anyway I heard the commotion in the back. I saw John and Odeeti enter the bus and I knew he would recognize Kirk and company and I was doubly sure he would have Agee record. So, I made sure I didn’t do anything to embarrass myself. I looked straight and maintained my tweak face. Didn’t talk to anyone, didn’t do anything that would inadvertently change time – “Don’t pick the flowers!” Was the first rule of Time Travel. And for good reason.
JOHN:
We finished eating lunch and headed out to the Aquarium. Odeeti had time to kill and so did I, figuratively. It was interesting to follow his train of thought. The man was actually brilliant with Chaos Theory. He himself contributed to a branch of the theory called, “Ergonical Compensation.” He explained that the nature order of the universe in a flux state. His version on the Grand Unification Theory stated that everything needed to stabilize. Without this stabilization everything remind active. His particular spin was that by causing certain aspects of an item to exceed a threshold it would cause a ripple effect that would hastened stabilization. Almost like putting a cup of hot water in the freezer. The cup of hot water will actually freeze faster than a cup of cold water. I nodded in all the right places and gave him a few “Interesting” and “That is fascinating.” Then I’d ask questions he could answer but didn’t ask the really obtuse ones like, “What is an atom, again?” Odeeti was in his element. He seemed like a man that few people listened to and he desperately needed someone to just sit and nod ever once in a while. I wondered what happened that triggered him into madness. Was it a failed love affair, the death of a favorite pet or the lose of face in front of someone important? He talked like he had lost someone close to him but was reluctant to open up completely, which of course was understandably. I saved his life twice, but that was no reason to spill his guts or pour his heart out like liquid in a low pressurized room. When we finally reached the Aquarium, I saw The Kirk. He walked out, passed us and never knew who I was – which is the way it should be, but I swear to you, one day I’m gonna find a way to talk to the man – damn the timeline.
Agee whispered, “You just watch Odeeti’s back, I’ll keep a recorder on Kirk --when I can.”
I nodded.
Odeeti said, “That’s actually what I thought. You are a very perceptive man and I appreciate you listening. So now my question is, What do you think?”
I said, “Hmm, let me think about that. I really do want to go over all the information in my head first.”
He seemed disappointed, but said, “I understand.”
Agee laughed, laughed!, in my ear. “Caught. You hadn’t been paying attention.”
I said, “Odeeti, I really have been paying attention and your theories are exceptional. I’m sure if I had you as a college professor I’d have something to do with Time Travel –“
He smiled.
“—and I want to recall everything to told me –“ I paused and waited for Agee.
She laughed in my ear again and whistled an old animation tune. The scene was with a Buzzard lazily flying home with a bee in its clenches singing, “I’m bringing home a bubblebee – a bubblebee for mama and me.”
I said with a little more conviction, “Seriously, give me a second –“
Odeeti waited.
“—please –“
Agee finally answered, “He asked you if it was possible to hasten the future with causing random acts of chaotic instability. And if you had the opportunity to do so would you. There!”
I smiled, “You theory does pose an idea notion. However, I can’t time travel, so therefore causing chaotic instability on a grand scale would be impossible.”
He eyed me and a smile slowly formed on his face. “You are an interesting one, John.”
He looked at his watch and smiled. Visibly, he relaxed and it seemed like he no longer was carrying a burden. He shrugged off his Atlas shell. The true Odeeti finally, genuinely smiled. “John, I feel like a drink. Let me buy you a drink.”
I nodded and we walked outside. We caught a taxi. I told the driver to take us to a nice bar. He turned and asked, “You two want romance or thrill?”
Odeeti gave him a strange look.
I said, “He thinks we are a couple –“
The scary part was that Odeeti didn’t react. He almost imperceptivity moved closer.
I quickly told the cabbie, “Thrill, we’re two business men looking for Het action.”
He nodded, “Sure buddy, sure. Sit back and enjoy the ride.”
As the taxi pulled away it almost hit a white pickup truck. Behind the wheel was a young blond. She never noticed. I looked over to the right and saw a cop car pull someone over. The car looked awfully familiar as well as the two cops. I could swear the lead cop looked Vulcan. I smiled. Prepliek had been found.
We sat in silence the entire trip. Half way there Agee clued me into to a reason why Odeeti suddenly was happy.
“John,” Agee said, “An explosion. Three died. Odeeti accomplished his mission.”
I almost swung on him. The sadistic bastard.
Then she said, “Prepliek is in custody. You may leave Odeeti anytime you wish.”
Stress is a condition, which occurs when the mind must overcome the almost overpowering urge of the body to choke the life out of the person next to you. Odeeti was lucky I handled stress well.
MURPHY:
I got off the bus before John and Odeeti and took a short cut through one of the alleys. The bank was just off to the right in the middle of the block. If I timed it right the bank heist would be finishing now and the robbers would be making their move to exit the building. I sprinted the distance and stopped just outside the door. They came out as I was “walking” in. One of them yelled out, “Whoa there lady. You ain’t Rambo!”
I said, “Huh?”
The robbers stopped and I heard a gunshot. I looked and the Guard was holding his arm. The sleeve was now blood soaked.
“Grab her,” one of them said.
“What for?”
“She’s too close for my comfort. A witness.”
Two of them grabbed me and muscled me into their getaway car. I let them and played my part as a terrified woman. One of them suggested rape. The other two, bless their cold blooded thievery hearts shut him down. While in the car they removed their masks – I knew I wasn’t supposed to walk away from this alive. Acting scared wasn’t really that hard. Putting all the pieces together added up to me suffering, suffocating, mummifying and later unceremoniously being discovered was rather sobering. So, here I was in the back seat of a car with bank robbers headed toward my doom. What do you do in a situation like that?
“May I go to the restroom, please?”
One of them looked at me and said, “You’re kidding, right?”
I shook my head. I really needed to go and badly.
He said out loud, “How much further?”
“Another thirty minutes,” replied the driver.
“You can hold it that long?” He almost sounded like he cared.
“I don’t have a choice do I?”
He shook his head. “Not really. But if you have to go –“
I understood what he meant. Piss on myself. ‘Hell no!’ I thought. I’d would rather die then piss on myself. Then I had the giggles.
He looked at me as if I had lost my mind.
“Lady, this is serious. What’s with the giggles?”
“Nothing,” I said and sat back.
And I suddenly got a headache. My heart sank because I only get headaches near radioactive material. John called me a living Geiger-Nuttal counter. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. They should still be able to find me. They’ve been tracking me optically as well. Then we entered the Caldecott Tunnel and dread started seeping into my heart. The driver looked at his watch and slowed the car down. Another car pulled up close and the driver of that car nodded. One piece of bad luck after another. Both cars suddenly stopped squeezed up to the side. I was hustled out and everyone switched cars. As soon as we emerged from the tunnel the driver took the first exit. The other car continued. A few minutes later we pulled into a junkyard. The car stopped and I was forced out.
“Take your piss now, lady.”
“Here? In front of you?”
One of them laughed.
“I’m good, “ I said.
He shrugged and walked to the back of the trunk.
The third one backed off and trained his gun on me. I thought about running but didn’t want a bullet in the back of my head. I’d take my chances with the trunk, which is exactly where he put me. I ran my hand along the bump underneath my skin and hoped the signal was strong enough for Agee to pick up. When he closed the lid my heart raced. ‘Dear Lord, our father art in heaven –‘ I recited to help calm my nerves. Then I felt the car move. It felt like I was in an elevator. Slight acceleration up with an abrupt stop then free fall for a second. With a sudden sound of crash I bumped my head, hard, against the inner trunk lid. I got dizzy and had a hard time breathing. The air turned warm and the smell of dirt, oil, and rust filled the air. I remembered that Polux said I would try to claw my way out. I seriously resisted the urge to go into a blind panic and eat my way out the trunk. I took shallow breathes and tried to slow my heart down. I thought, if you guys are going to rescue me, now would be a great time to do it.. After I thought an hour had passed I started to feel desperate. “What if –“ kept coming into my mind. They have to find me. It couldn’t be that hard. Come on guys. I’m right here. I yelled out. “Hey! Were are you?!” More minutes went by. Nothing. I tried to lift the lid up but it wouldn’t budge. I called out again. I started pounding on the inner lid when I became dizzy and sleepy. The temperature felt like it jumped up 10 additional degrees. A few minutes later, I think it was minutes, my legs started to cramp up on me and my back hurt. There was no way for me to stretch my legs out so I pounded harder on the lid. And I yelled out. Then I got a sharp pain in my chest and I tried to inhale deeply. I got a lung full of stale air and my eyes crossed and my vision blurred. I was determined to not struggle. Keep calm Murphy, help is one the way. It had to be on the way. It would be cruel and unfair if it wasn’t. I’m a good guy and I’m not supposed to die. Not like this –
***
JOHN:
It took us four hours to find Murphy. Her signal was weak, but we succeeded. Once we dug her out we placed a clone of her in the trunk and reburied the car. It was a slick and risky operation but we did it. Polux had duplicated the forensic evidence. He synthesized sexual material from my DNA and removed several of the clone’s fingernails. He laughed to himself as he worked. Twice he looked up and asked Agee for a specific test. She complied and gave him the results. He would laugh and put on a few more touches to the clone. Then he announced “Voila!” The Doc takes his work too seriously.
Polux said she’ll be fine in a few more hours. I sat and reflected on this particular mission. A bunch of things bothered me. I had stayed with Odeeti several more hours. We drank, he got drunk, then passed out. After I got back to the Chaos Theory I thought about what he had been saying to me. “To hasten the future with random events of increased chaotic instability.” Then it hit me. My God the implications. “Agee, get me the Boss.”
“I’m on it, John.”
Ten minutes later I was talking to the Boss on Flat-t. “Yes, John, and by the way good work.”
I nodded, “I got a question for you?”
“Odeeti was right. He hastened the future of this particular time?”
The Boss just stared.
“That’s why I was never allowed to stop him all those times –“
He continued to stare.
“—Odeeti helped usher in our timeline and you finally allowed me to stop him.”
He blinked. “John, what do you want me to say?”
I thought about it. “I guess nothing really. I just needed to know if my train of thought was correct.”
He slowly nodded, then said, “Good job, John, good job to your entire staff. Are you up for another mission – so soon?”
“Yeah, we are.”
He smiled. “Data being sent to you now.”
I looked at the second display. The picture of Leonardo Da Vinci appeared.”
He said, “Good luck.” And ended the connection.
End of Episode III
