The Sands of Time Ch. 65

 

"We all  know Yvette is out of control."

Yvette raised her eyebrows at Joon. Alt Joon. 

He returned her gaze. 

"What on earth would make you think this might be a good idea?"

Alt Joon shrugged. "You've got people playing hunter in the Cretaceous. You're not running a tight ship. Too many time travelers, too much freelancing."

"I'm working on curbing those things. You know there are free spirits out there. There are a lot of pieces in play."

"A remarkably laissez- faire rationale for tampering with the fabric of reality."

That annoyed her. 

"Well, now that he's here, I'll need to meet with him. Does he know Maia is here?"

"Not yet."

"Did Jack know about your little stunt?"

"No."

"So what did you hope to accomplish by bringing him here? How do you plan on reining me in?"

"He deserves to know. He'll get sucked in, anyway. Stella's already sending him all over God's creation. Maybe... Maia can be saved."

"So that's what this is about."

*******

"Are we free to go?" asked Joon. 

"Well, it's complicated," replied Jack. "Yvette would say no."

"And you?"

"I don't know what I would say," Jack replied frankly. "You did come to us."

"At your invitation. Or alt Joon's."

"Yes. No one made you come, however." 

Joon acknowledged that with silence. 

"Speaking of," Jack added, "what is this mystery device you had on you?" He held up the teleportation device. 

"I'd prefer not to say," replied Joon. 

"It's dangerous?"

"It could be."

"Your friend," he said, nodding towards Hillier. "She scans... differently. Is she human?"

"She is," Joon lied. 

Jack grunted. 

"What are you going to do with us?"

"Well, that's up to Yvette. I would like you to join us." 

"Hunting down errant time travelers?"

"If you like. I would call it fulfilling your role- doing the same thing you do for Stella, only for the right team." 

"How do I know you're right?"

"We're trying to fix time- not just rape it."

"But one could say there's a fine line, no?"

"You sound like alt Joon."

"Now why ever would I sound like me?"

Jack's reply was interrupted by a klaxon. 

"Excuse me," he apologized and began issuing orders. Hillier came up to see what the problem was. 

Jack returned a few moments later. 

"Mutant attack." 

*******

"Mutant attack?"

"They happen somewhat frequently," she replied. They were at dinner. A semi- private dining area. Their guard was a discreet distance away. He didn't know where Hillier was. 

The food was good. The company, better. It was, however, weird having dinner with Maia. This was Maia- 25, by the way. 

The only Maia here. That he knew of. It felt like a betrayal, though, eating here with this Maia while his Maia was back there. 

"What is she like? Your Maia."

Joon wasn't sure how to answer. He toyed with his food. It was like pasta, somewhat. Delicious. But what did they eat here? 

"She's a lot like you," he finally admitted. "The resemblance is amazing."

"It would be," she pointed out drily, lifting her wine glass. "And you're just as I remember my... Joon."

There was an awkward silence. 

"What... happened?"

She sighed, lowering the glass. 

"It always comes to that, doesn't it? What happened. What didn't happen? We got sucked in, as we always do. Only things didn't go well. My Joon... died. Betrayed by someone in the program. I came here for refuge, Jack took me in, protects me. I don't have anything left where I was."

Joon could see tears in her eyes. 

"I'm sorry." 

"Thank you. It was a shock seeing you here. Hearing you were here. Other than Joon- 352 I haven't met any other... you's." She smiled.

She was beautiful. His heart lurched. 

"Are there really that many of us?"

"I guess. Jack says there are so many timelines that implode, that are stillborn. There aren't really that many of us- that survive, I guess." 

"How do they keep track of us? Joon-352, really?"

"They have tech. The funny thing is, the reason you get so much respect, is... that you discovered the tech. Or how to implement it. Joon- 352. In the Triassic."

"I... did?"

"Well, he did. You. Same thing."

He gaped. 

She smiled. "The ship."

"What?"

"It was on the ship. In the Triassic. You were there and discovered the Rosetta stone, as it were, on the ship."

*******

Alt Joon lit another cigarette, watching his counterpart and and Maia- 25 having a nice meal. 

Well, isn't this cozy?

Joon had been getting kind of comfortable with Jack, as well. Feeling jealous, old boy? he asked himself. Well, he'd brought him here. His own fault. And it was him, after all. No need to be jealous of oneself. 

He did deserve to know about Maia. 

*******

Stella blew on her coffee. She had taken to liking the solitude, the evening hours. Her down time with the tadpole. Mallory had joined her this time. 

"He's been gone several days. What do we do if he doesn't... come back?"

"I'm not sure," admitted Stella. 

They sat for a bit. The Gate had been giving off a lot of energy, so much that she'd had several Gaxians deployed to siphon some off. The creatures, like Howie, fed on energy. They didn't seem to affect the Gate, though. She wondered idly what Howie thought of his... fellow creatures... pressed back into service. They had rounded up the roving Gaxian pod again. 

"I heard about Denver."

Denver. 

A hole had opened in the sky and tentacles had descended, causing destruction. Casualties. Military deployed, many witnesses rounded up and disappeared. Smartphones and social media though made it hard to keep the lid on. Apparently the sasquatches were still running riot in the countryside. 

"Maia?"

Stella sighed. Maia.