The Time War Ch. 35

Chapter 35: Space: 2099

Goodlife:

They were having fun in the Binochi Corridor again while rock music with a powerful beat blared through the swirling mists.

"Aaaaah," said Alina Sestacovika 1. She smiled as she grazed the side of her arm against a bright, hot temporal vortex, deep in the mists, blazing like a small sun. The pain she felt was exquisite.

Oliver Wayfairer 2 gave off a loud scream as he burned his hand against the side of another vortex.

"Careful," Mercury Jones chuckled. "You know what they say about moths who stray too close to the flame, right?"

Everyone laughed.

For Goodlife, pain was good. The pain distracted them from all the voices, all the visions, all the possibilities of realities racing through their heads. Their minds were constantly in a blur as they were repeatedly assaulted by the multiverse. They had lost the ability to sense, to feel. So even the experience of pain became a joyous occasion, to feel something genuine, real, now, of the self, and not bits and pieces from countless billions of others living their daily lives.

Mercury danced himself to exhaustion with Alina Sestacovika 3, feeling the strong techno beat of the music flowing through his enormously strained and tense body. And then they made their way back to the control room, where they found the others, exhausted, lounging on the couches.

Mercury lay on his back and stared up at the nightlight he had specially installed. He wanted to see the moon. Or rather, he didn't want to see the moon. To be more precise, he wanted to see that he couldn't see the moon. So many thoughts, so many experiences, so many possibilities!

"We need more recruits," said Oliver Wayfairer 2, nursing his burned hand.

"I have a lead on someone named Angie Moore," said Oliver Wayfairer 3.

"Angie, Angie, Angie. It would be nice to have someone named Angie," said Mercury, laughing. "But there is someone else on my mind. Someone else in my thoughts. Someone I see visions of in the Corridor, too much, too many times, too frequently!" He put his hands to his aching head.

"Who?" Nigel Roman 1 asked.

"His name is John Calle," said Mercury. "He should join us."

"Then let's go get him!" said Nigel Roman 1, jumping off the couch.

Mercury shook his head. "It is not so easy. John Calle 1 and John Calle 2 are... not available."

Andrew Wyatt 2 tried to puzzle this out. "If John Calle 1 and John Calle 2 are not available that leaves... that leaves...."

"John Calle 3!" Alina Sestacovika 2 yelled, bursting out with laughter.

"No, not John Calle 3," said Mercury. "At first, I thought he was a 3, but I realize he's a 4, a 4 pretending to be a 3."

"He doesn't disappear?" Andrew Wyatt 2 asked.

"No," said Mercury. "He's like a 2, but he's really a 4."

"Amazing!" said Nigel Roman 1. "Let's get him!"

"It is not so easy," said Mercury, shaking his head. "John Calle 4 lives in the realm of the threes. He is a member of the Continuity Service. He is well protected. We must do something to draw him out... to get his attention." His head tilted upwards, to see the full moon. Why was the moon still there?

"And how will we do that?" Nigel Roman 1 asked.

"Simple," said Mercury. "We'll blow up the Moon, and send it crashing into the Earth. That's sure to get his attention!"

And everyone laughed hysterically.

********

The earthquake took everyone by surprise. Equipment rattled, dust leaked from the ceiling, and people were thrown to the ground.

Even as Continuity Service operatives were slowly getting to their feet, Colonel Strayker strode into the control room, puffing madly on a nuclear cigar. "Sarah, what was that?"

"An earthquake, sir," said Sarah, sitting back down in her chair.

"I know what it was," said Strayker. "But why are we experiencing an earthquake in Central Florida?"

"I don't know, sir," said Sarah.

"Well, find out!" Strayker demanded, his arms akimbo.

Sarah rapidly checked her holomonitors while Strayker impatiently tapped the floor behind her. Ayesha came up with a cup of atomic coffee. Strayker took one and thanked her and then watched her large, firm Indian buttocks as she returned to her post, at the coffeemaker.

"I think I may have found the cause, sir," Sarah announced.

"Well, let's see it," said Strayker, stepping forward.

Sarah pointed to a holomonitor. It showed a giant crescent shape, sticking out of the Pacific Ocean.

"What... what is that, Sarah?"

"I believe, sir, that it's the Moon," said Sarah.

********

"As most of you undoubtedly know, the side of the Moon which faces the Earth consists of trees and forests and arable land, with a remarkably Earth-type atmosphere," said Strayker.

"And shopping malls and nuclear golf courses, don't forget those," said Daniel.

Strayker shot him a dirty glance. "The far side of the Moon, however, is very different. It's a barren, rocky wasteland. It was deemed to be the perfect place to dump all of Earth's excess nuclear waste, before nuclear fusion was perfected. Moonbase Luna was created to supervise the waste dumps. That is our history, as it was supposed to be." He paused. "But then something new happened. In the year 2099, the nuclear waste dumps detonated. There was a tremendous thermonuclear explosion. The moon was split into two. One part went floating harmlessly into space; the other crashed into the Pacific Ocean less than 70 miles off the West Coast. The resulting tidal wave decimated California, and the resulting earthquakes and rising sea levels killed millions."

Everyone ooohed as they saw a holoimage of a crescent piece of the moon bobbing in the Pacific Ocean.

Strayker turned to Calle. "Captain, you and Lieutenant Kildaire will look into this, find the cause, and stop it."

********

Calle didn't know Lieutenant Mercy Kildaire all that well. He first really noticed her during the incident with the parasites. She and Lieutenant Ron Cardassian had been among the first infected. They in turn had spread the parasites throughout the base through sexual contact. But Calle had no idea if Mercy was a sexually active woman when she wasn't being controlled by a rider.

She was short, about five feet tall, she had curly blonde hair, and she had a cute smile. She reminded Calle a little of Erica Green, except that Mercy seemed... friendlier.

They stood at the ramp, waiting for Sarah to open the Binochi Corridor. They were wearing period clothing of Moonbase personnel; mostly single color, off white uniforms with bell bottom pants, a wide belt made of transparent plastic, and a single colored left sleeve.

"This is so odd, to have color on only one sleeve," said Mercy. "And why do we have a zipper on the sleeve? It seems like you could put on and take off the shirt without it."

"Perhaps Daniel could tell you," said Calle, feeling equally strange in this outfit. "He's the historian."

"And you're the Special Talent." She gave Calle a flirtatious grin.

Sarah coughed.

Calle looked at her.

She gave him a petulant stare. "Are you ready, Captain?"

"Yes," said Calle. Why is she angry with me?

The Binochi Corridor came alive with light and energy.

********

It wasn't so bad when they saw how other people were dressed on Moonbase Luna. They were all wearing the same ridiculous uniforms, complete with bell bottoms and high heels.

"At least no one is laughing at us," said Mercy, leaning against Calle slightly. "What's the plan?"

"We have to commandeer one of their short ranged spaceships, called Egrets," said Calle. "We'll use one to fly over the nuclear waste dumps and attempt to locate the saboteur."

"Are you joking?" said Mercy, putting her hands on her hips. "The nuclear waste dumps are 400 square miles. How do you expect to find anything from a low orbit?" She paused, and gave him a sly look. "You're going to use your Special Talent, aren't you?"

"Hopefully," said Calle, studying a map of the base on the wall. Then he started walking.

"How do you activate your talent?" Mercy asked.

Those glowing orange eyes.

"I don't. It either comes, or it doesn't," said Calle.

They walked to a travel tube, where two black men with purple sleeves stopped them. "Identity card, please."

Identity card? They hadn't known they needed those. Calle and Mercy pretended to search nonexistent pockets. "I guess I left mine in my quarters."

"Me too," Mercy smiled.

"We'll get them and be right back," said Calle, turning away.

"Hold it," said one of the black purple sleeved men. He drew something that looked like brass knuckles, but obviously was some kind of stunner.

********

An hour later, Calle and Mercy found themselves in Commander John Karnig's office. All his senior staff was there: his science advisor, Victor Berman, his chief medical officer, Doctor Helena Jack, his computer expert, Kayno Neboya, and his chief pilot, Alan Cartaret.

"You expect us to believe you're from the future?" Karnig said.

Mercy had implored Calle not to tell them. She was worried about contaminating the timeline. Calle had pointed out that a big chunk of the moon was sticking out of the Pacific Ocean, which seemed like pretty substantial timeline contamination already.

"Yes, Commander," said Calle.

"This weapon looks fairly similar to a compression pistol," said Karnig, holding up Calle's weapon. Then he held up a recall device. "But this object is totally unfamiliar."

"It's a recall device," said Calle. "It will return us to our own time."

"So you say," growled Alan Cartaret, the pilot. "Commander, I say we ship this lot back to Earth. Let the authorities deal with them."

"You can't," said Calle. "The nuclear waste dumps are due to explode in less than two hours."

"How?"

"We don't know," said Calle. "We think there is a saboteur who may have planted bombs there."

"They'd have to be pretty powerful bombs to ignite the nuclear waste," said Karnig. "Why would anyone want to do such a thing?"

"They call themselves Goodlife, Commander," said Calle. "They have temporal psychosis. They're insane."

"Temporal psychosis. Travelling through time. It all sounds so... improbable," said Karnig. "Victor?"

"Well, John, I would tend to agree with you. The Science Directorate doesn't believe that time travel is even possible," said Victor, scratching his bald head. "On the one hand, these people could be telling the truth. But... on the other hand, they could also be lying. I would tend to think it's one, or the other." He nodded sagely.

"Kayno, what does computer think?" Karnig asked.

"Computar thinks that the chance of successful time travel is less than one in a billion," said Kayno, in a heavily African accent.

Karnig stared at Calle intently. Finally, he said, "I'm inclined to believe them."

"As am I," said Doctor Helena Jack quickly, knowing her bedroom privileges could be revoked in an instant for disloyalty of any kind.

Kayno slammed a black hand on the conference room table, making them all jump. "You always do that!"

"Do what?" Karnig asked.

"You ask my opinion, and then do the exact opposite!"

"No I don't," said Karnig.

"Why am I even here?" Kayno asked. "Commander, please tell me that."

But that was one thing Karnig couldn't tell Kayno. The World Government had done a diversity audit of Moonbase Luna and the results had been devastating. As a result, Kayno had been added to the command staff even though Karnig needed a computer programmer at the command table only slightly more than he needed a barber.

"It's that World Government diversity audit, isn't it?" said Kayno.

"No, Kayno, of course not!"

"Kayno, I'm almost two percent black, I'm with you, brother," said Victor.

"No you're not!" said Kayno.

"I'm twelve percent Aborigine," said Alan. "That's almost like being black, isn't it?"

"No, it's not!" Kayno cried. He raised his voice. "I knew it! I knew I was just a token! Don't think I haven't noticed that I'm the only black man on Moonbase Luna, besides the security guards. I'm gonna sue-"

"Kayno!" Karnig barked. And then, in a calmer voice. "Kayno. I want you to have Computer conduct a full level one diversity audit of Moonbase Luna. Every department, every section. Find out where all the racial and sexual minorities are, and find out if they're geographically dispersed."

Kayno nodded his approval. That was more like it. "At once, Commander."

After he was gone, Karnig said, "Well, that should take him a while." He turned to Calle and Mercy. "And now, what do we do about you?"

********

They were flying above the moon in a short range Egret rocket shuttle.

"We're holding steady at 2000 feet, Commander," said Alan Cartaret.

"Good, Alan," said Karnig.

Mercy and Calle were in the passenger section, along with Commander Karnig and a pair of black skinned purple sleeved security guards. Commander Karnig had Calle's compression pistol tucked into his belt. Calle had asked for it back, but Karnig had refused.

They were hovering over the nuclear waste domes. Professor Berman pointed them out on an internal monitor. "It's a huge area. How do you expect to find what you're looking for?"

Calle shook his head. He wasn't even looking at the monitor. "Tell your pilot to fly an outward spiral search pattern from the center of the dump."

Cartaret looked at Karnig. "Do it," said Karnig.

The Egret spaceship started to fly over the waste dump in larger and larger circles. Calle sat in his passenger chair, his eyes closed, trying to sense the right spot.

Mercy felt so useless. She reached out and held Calle's hand. Calle didn't open his eyes, but he did smile.

Those glowing orange eyes.

No, nothing.

They flew in larger and larger circles for more than 20 minutes. Commander Karnig got more and more visibly impatient. Finally Cartaret said, "That's it, Commander. We've flown over the whole area-"

"That's it," said Calle, sitting up suddenly.

"Where?" Karnig asked.

"Right below us." He looked at the monitor. "There, a little to the right."

"Alan, set us down next to waste disposal dome 194," Karnig said promptly.

"Yes, sir."

The Egret landed and they exited in the shadow of a large nuclear waste dome. "Is it safe to walk here?" Mercy asked.

Victor checked his scanners. "As long as we don't linger too long."

"What exactly are we looking for?" Karnig asked.

"WHY, YOU'RE LOOKING FOR ME, COMMANDER!" a man shouted at the top of his lungs, as he barreled into the security guards, knocking them over like bowling pins.

Karnig tried to draw his stunner, but Nigel Roman 1 was quicker, grabbing Karnig by the throat, and lifting him up in the air.

"It's going to be spectacular, Commander, I promise you!" said Nigel Roman 1. "When the Moon explodes, so many voices will be silenced!"

Karnig attempted to answer but he found he had trouble breathing. Suddenly Nigel's body was bathed in a yellow light. One of the fallen security guards had fired his stunner weapon.

"AH HAHAHAHAHA!" Nigel Roman 1 yelled.

The guard fired again. "THAT FEELS SO GOOD! AGAIN! MORE, I MUST HAVE MORE!" Nigel Roman 1 cried. He threw Commander Karnig away like a rag doll, just in time to engage the security guard who charged him. Nigel Roman 1 tossed the black-skinned purple sleeved guard away as if he were a fly.

And then Nigel Roman 1 staggered as John Calle punched him in the face.

"I know you!" said Nigel Roman 1.

Calle punched him in the face again. His nose opened up, but Nigel Roman 1 barely flinched.

"You're John Calle!"

Calle punched Nigel Roman in the stomach.

"Thank you for that!" Nigel Roman 1 cried, lifting Calle up by the neck. "I have so wanted to meet you, John Calle. All this, the destruction of this pitiful moon, has been done solely for your benefit! Don't you feel supremely flattered? I would!"

Calle couldn't breathe. He felt himself choking.

And Nigel Roman 1 was enjoying every minute of it.

"AH HAHAHAHAHAHA!" he cried, his face a portrait of sheer insanity.

And then a compression pistol rang out, the compression pistol which had fallen from Commander Karnig's belt, which was being held by Mercy Kildaire.

"AH HAHAHA!" Nigel Roman 1 cried.

Mercy bit her tongue and changed the setting on the compression pistol from 3 to 6, and fired again, hitting him squarely in the chest.

"THANK YOU! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!" Nigel Roman 1 cried, as he absorbed the impact. Above him, Calle was quickly choking to death.

Mercy adjusted the compression pistol to setting eight, the highest setting, and aimed lower.

Nigel Roman 1 gave a piercing scream and dropped Calle to the lunar surface as his right foot was blown clean off.

********

"Congratulations," said Sarah, as Doctor Vladek examined the black and blue marks on Calle's neck.

"There will be no congratulations for him!" Colonel Strayker barked, entering the medical bay in a severe looking brown suit with tall collars. "How is he, Doctor?"

"Well," said Vladek. "Captain Calle has some severe bruising to the ligaments of his neck-"

"Will he live?"

"Of course," said Vladek.

"What did you mean, no congratulations?" said Calle. His throat was sore, and throbbed with pain, which was understandable.

Colonel Strayker glared at him. "What I mean, Captain, is that a big chunk of the moon is still floating off the coast of what used to be San Francisco, but is now a giant water park filled with syringes and human bodies."

"But... we stopped him before he detonated the explosives."

"Apparently, there was more than one bomb," said Strayker.

********

"It was a homemade nova bomb," said Doctor Vladek, holding up the small black box. "Quite crude, actually. I'm surprised it worked."

"All too well, apparently," said Strayker. "Doctor, is the captive well enough to interrogate?"

"Except for lacking a right foot, he's completely unharmed," Vladek assured him.

*********

"Where did you set the other bomb?" Strayker yelled.

"AH HAHAHA!" said Nigel Roman 1. He was strapped to the Time Shaft. The stump of his right foot was heavily bandaged, and red with blood.

Strayker nodded to Vladek, who pressed a button on the control panel.

A clear "wave" shifted through Nigel Roman 1's body, from top to bottom. Nigel Roman 1 screamed.

"That was only setting 2 on the Time Lash," said Colonel Strayker. "The pain you felt was from part of your body being out of temporal synch with the rest of your body. Some organs in your body moved faster in time than others, causing certain... discontinuities. As I said, that was only setting 2. Would you like to see setting 3?"

"Oh, yes, please!" said Nigel Roman 1, laughing in his face.

Strayker and Vladek exchanged glances.

********

It was a long and unproductive interrogation session. Each time Nigel Roman 1 felt the Time Lash, he would scream in agony. But then he would thank them profusely, ask for more, or inquire how his home base could get a Time Lash so all his friends could try it too.

"Just where is your home base?" Strayker asked. "Tell us, and we'll deliver it to them personally."

"Oh, Commander, it's not going to be that easy," said Nigel Roman 1.

"Let's start with something simple, then," said Strayker. "Where is the other bomb?"

"The other bomb, Commander?" said Nigel Roman 1. "Which one? There are so many."

Strayker stiffened. Nigel Roman 1 laughed again. "Let me see letmeseeletmesee.... 12345678... there are eight bombs in all, Commander."

"You're lying," said Strayker.

Nigel Roman 1 laughed again.

Strayker looked over at the control panel. They were using force level 12 now. "Take it up to 14."

"14 will kill him, Commander," said Vladek.

"We have to find out where those bombs are, Doctor!" said Strayker, slapping his fist into his palm.

And then John Calle entered the control room. Nigel Roman 1 immediately took notice.

"John! So good to see you!" said Nigel Roman 1. For once he wasn't screaming.

Calle and Strayker exchanged glances.

"Do I know you?" said Calle.

"We met, ever so briefly, on the Moon. Don't you remember?" said Nigel Roman 1. "But we know each other quite well. Sometimes we do. Sometimes we're best of friends. Sometimes we're the worst of enemies. It all depends, you know?"

Calle looked over at Strayker.

"It's temporal psychosis," said Strayker quietly.

"If only! Ifonlyifonlyifonlyifonly I had temporal psychosis," said Nigel Roman 1. "Life would be so grand!"

Calle stared at Nigel Roman 1. He was looking insanity squarely in the face and it unnerved him. "Why are you doing this?" he said quietly.

"John! You of all people should know!" said Nigel Roman 1. "The play! The play's the thing!" His voice dropped to a stage whisper, as if he were pretending that Strayker and Vladek could not hear him. "It is the Great One. It is what he desires."

"The Great One."

"You know the Great One, John, don't you?" said Nigel Roman 1 knowingly.

Those glowing orange eyes.

"Those glowing orange eyes," Calle whispered.

"Yes! Yes! YESSSSSSSSS!" Nigel Roman 1 screamed at the top of his lungs, and struggled so violently against his bonds for a moment that Calle involuntarily took a step back. "Yes John, that's it exactly! We are doing the Great One's work! We are silencing all the voices, John! All the voices, all the possibilities, all the time! We yearn for the quiet of the graveyard, the peace of the vacuum. Join us, John. You know you have to do it. You know you will BE DOING THE EXACT SAME THING AS US OH SO VERY SOON! I HAVE SEEN IT, JOHN! I HAVE SEEN IT, OVER AND OVER!" He yelled at the top of his lungs.

Calle followed Commander Strayker outside of the control room. Calle realized he was trembling. "He's mad, Commander."

"Yes, he is," said Strayker. "But he's our only lead to the location of the other bombs. I have a difficult decision to make. I want your advice."

My advice? Calle was stunned. He had never seen Strayker look so vulnerable, so uncertain before.

"He's been unresponsive. Our final alternative is to try Level 14 on the Time Lash. But... it may kill him." He looked up at Calle expectantly.

Calle looked through the window set in the door of the control room, at Nigel Roman 1 still raving away like a madman. A plan started to form in his mind.

"No, Commander," said Calle. "Not just yet. Let me try something first."

********

Two hours later, John Calle entered the control room. Colonel Strayker, Doctor Vladek, Sarah and a few other CS personnel where there. Nigel Roman 1 was still strapped to the pillar. His voice was raw from screaming, but his morale couldn't have been better.

"John! You've come back! I knew you would. I mean, sometimes you do, and sometimes you don't, but I figured that this would be one of those times that you did!" Nigel Roman babbled.

"Yes, I wanted to talk to... talk to...." Calle's head bent forward, and he started to falter.

"What's wrong, John? So little to say, and so much time to say it in?" said Nigel, grinning from ear to ear. "You know, I have a cure for that-"

Suddenly, Calle raised both arms over his head, and clasped his hands together. His arms and legs immediately started to thicken. His entire body started to glow a bright orange color.

His clothes and skin became transparent. His glowing muscles and organs shone brightly. Suddenly, his eyes were covered in thick goggles which glowed orange, and he had a mask over his mouth.

The only thing missing was the sensation of being in water. Also, no one else seemed to be frozen in place.

But the Bioman had arrived. Nigel Roman 1's eyes were wide with horror.

The Bioman stepped forward, until he was face to face with Nigel Roman 1.

Nigel Roman's smirk was wiped off his face. He was trembling now.

"G-g-great One," he stammered. "I did not expect you!"

The Bioman simply stared at Nigel Roman 1 with those glowing orange eyes. The more he stared, the more unnerved Nigel Roman became.

"What do you want, Great One? Speak, and it shall be done!" said Nigel Roman, his eyes wide.

"He wants to know where you have placed the bombs," said Doctor Vladek.

"There... there were so many," said Nigel Roman 1.

"Where did you place the first one?" Doctor Vladek asked.

"I... I..."

"Think, man, think!" said Vladek.

"I...." Suddenly Nigel Roman 1 spoke in a deep, mature voice. "Nuclear Waste Silo 94."

"Are you sure?" Vladek asked.

"Yes," said Nigel.

"And where is your home base?" Vladek asked.

Suddenly, Nigel started to tremble again. He seemed intensely fearful of something.

"What is your point of origin?" Vladek asked.

Nigel Roman 1 was trembling violently now. "Great One... no....."

"Tell him!" Vladek yelled. "Tell him now!"

Nigel Roman 1 yelled, "Stop staring at me! All of you! All over the world! STOPPPPP!!!!!!" he screamed... and then he went limp.

Doctor Vladek calmly put two fingers on his throat. Then he looked at Colonel Strayker, and shook his head.

And then the Bioman shimmered, and faded, and John Calle stood in his place, with a portable holographic generator on his waist.

"Let's hope he gave us the correct location," said Strayker. "If we stop him before he plants the first bomb, the rest won't matter."

"Won't we loop ourselves if we go back there?" Calle asked.

Strayker shook his head. "It's a very big waste disposal area. You'll go back a few hours early. You shouldn't have any trouble."

********

The Colonel was right. When Calle and Major Reynolds and two other operatives arrived on the face of the Moon, they were relieved not to see any black lines in the air around them. They quickly made their way to Silo number 94 and waited.

Nigel Roman 1 showed up less than an hour later, whistling as he reached into a silver satchel.

Two CS operatives tackled and cuffed him. He didn't put up any resistance.

As they dragged him to his feet, Calle had to remind himself that they had just unintentionally saved this man's life. By preventing him from carrying out his mission, he no longer died in the lab back at CS Headquarters. They could interrogate this younger version of Nigel Roman 1 again, and this time perhaps work the location of his own home base from him.

The agents helped Nigel Roman 1 to his feet. He smiled disturbingly as he saw Calle.

"John Calle, as I live and breathe standing on the face of the Moon!" said Nigel Roman 1, as if this were a momentous occasion. "I have so looked forward to meeting you!"

"I know," said Calle. "We've already met."

"Don't I know it!" Nigel Roman 1 laughed. "We've met once before, or many times before. We've been best friends, or enemies. Sometimes I've killed you and sometimes you've murdered me. I've seen it all, John Calle! You are my best friend and enemy throughout time, ah hahahahaha!" he said, giving Calle a weird and disturbing smile.

Major Reynolds activated his recall device. The gateway formed. He nodded to his men, and stepped into it. Nigel Roman was next, escorted by two guards, and Calle brought up the rear.

Calle watched as CS agents silently pushed Nigel Roman up the Binochi Corridor ahead of him. And then, suddenly, in the swirling mists, he saw a vision.

He saw a vision of Nigel Roman 1 breaking free of his guards, and charging him.

And then, at that moment, Nigel Roman 1 snapped the bonds of his electrocuffs as if they were made of cotton candy. He pushed his two escorts effortlessly to the ground with one arm each. He turned and faced Calle, with a maniacal smile on his face. Calle could see Major Reynolds, behind him, just beginning to take stock of the situation, and reach for his-

Nigel Roman 1 roared and charged Calle. Calle moved to draw his compression pistol, but compared to Nigel Roman 1, he was simply moving in slow motion. Nigel Roman 1 knocked Calle to the ground before he could draw his weapon, and then they were struggling with each other, rolling together...

Off the path.

Calle didn't know how long he rolled and struggled with Nigel Roman 1. Perhaps he had rolled ten feet off the path. Perhaps twenty. In any event the path was now gone, he had gotten disoriented, and all he could see around him was mist.

Calle finally struggled free of Nigel Roman 1 and got to his feet. Nigel Roman 1, grinning wildly, did the same.

"You're coming with me, John Calle," said Nigel Roman 1, holding his hand out.

"I don't think so," said Calle. He drew his compression pistol, set it to maximum, and fired at Nigel Roman 1.

The beam of power came out of the barrel of his gun... and fell straight to the ground.

"Ah, hahahahaha!" Nigel Roman 1 cackled. He even did a little dance. "I see you never finished reading the book on temporal physics, John Calle! If you did, you would have gotten to the chapter on physics inside an unstable temporal vortex! Ah, hahahaha!" He smiled at Calle's obvious discomfort. "We're in a state of temporal suppression here, John Calle. The laws of physics, as you know them, are no more relevant here than the rules inside a kindergarten! Come with me, John Calle. Come with me, and join me."

"Never," said Calle, looking at his apparently useless pistol.

"But you will! I have seen it. We all have," said Nigel Roman 1. "Once you touch the Time Shaft, you will see it too!"

"Touch the Time Shaft?" said Calle. Suddenly, it became clear. "You touched the Time Shaft?"

"Of course! We all did!"

"No wonder you're mad!" Calle cried.

Nigel Roman 1 smiled madly. "And you will be too. Once you touch it, you will hear all the voices clearly, and see all the possibilities! Then you too will know the tremendous need for silence!" He held out his hand again. "Surely you know you're destined for it, John. You were completely silent as a baby, weren't you? We all were. And the laughing, do you still have the laugh, John? And the orange eyes, you still dream about them, don't you? That's the Great One, John. It's the Great One, and he has the most amazing plans for you. Come with me, John, come with me now. Join us, John Calle."

"Never!" Calle said again.

"You are coming with me, whether you like it or not," said Nigel Roman 1, taking a step towards him.

Calle lunged forward and punched Nigel Roman 1 in the face.

Nigel Roman 1 laughed. "Come on, you can do better than that, John Calle!"

Calle punched him again, but Nigel was still laughing.

And then Nigel Roman 1 punched Calle in the stomach, and Calle went down, writhing in pain.

"Now THAT'S how you punch a man, John Calle. I hope you were taking notes, heh heh," said Nigel Roman 1. "Now, are you going to come, or do I have to drag you?"

Calle painfully struggled to his feet. "I'll come," said Calle.

"Good," said Roman, looking upwards as he spread his arms out. "I am tremendous! I am invulnerable! I AM INVINCIBLE!"

Calle lunged forward, and launched the mightiest kick he could, kicking Nigel Roman 1 right in the testicles.

Nigel Roman 1 went down screaming.

John Calle looked down at him. Suddenly, he felt an urge, bubbling up.

"Heh heh, heh heh heh heh,"

He started to walk away.

"Wait!" he heard Nigel Roman 1 gasp. "If you leave me, you will never find your way back. You'll be lost forever!"

"It sounds better than being with you," said Calle.

Ten feet. Maybe Twenty. He shouldn't be that far off the path. Calle started walking in an outwards spiral search pattern, first in a five foot radius. Then ten feet. Then 15, then 20. Then 30.

There was still no path.

He looked around. Nigel Roman 1 had disappeared. There was only himself... and the swirling mists.

********

Calle walked around for hours. He had hoped his special ability, whatever it was, would guide him back to the path. It hadn't. Nigel Roman 1 had implied that he was like them. It was disturbing to know that these insane people also had the same childhood background that Calle did, the same catatonia, the same odd laughter that Calle had outgrown but Nigel Roman 1 evidently hadn't.

Did that mean that at some point he would become insane, like them? Was it a sign that he was more vulnerable to temporal psychosis? That was the least of his worries, as his legs got increasingly weary.

Finally he just sat down, in the middle of nowhere, and rested.

Suddenly, a vision appeared before him. It was Sarah, riding up and down on his penis. Calle saw himself on his back. His eyes were wide open like saucers and his mouth was open as well. His other self looked hypnotized. Sarah had an unusually smug smile on her face. She was repeating something, over and over, but Calle couldn't hear the words.

And then the vision morphed and changed. Now Calle saw himself on a tropical island, or perhaps an atoll would be the word. The island was only about forty feet long with only a handful of coconut trees. Other-Calle looked hungry, and tired, and sunburned, and he was wearing an odd metal contraption on his waist.

And then Marion appeared on the tiny island.

Marion!

Suddenly Marion was naked, and so was Calle, and he was on top of her, making love to her. But Marion looked... different. Her breasts were shaped differently. And as Other-Calle made love to her, she had a mocking, sarcastic look on her face, one Calle had never seen before.

He cried out as the image faded.

"Well, I guess you're just going to sit there and feel sorry for yourself, aren't you?"

Calle turned and saw Colonel Strayker. His eyes widened.

Colonel Strayker was wearing a severe brown suit with high collars. But the most notable thing about him at the moment is that he wasn't wearing any pants.

Ayesha, the Indian woman with the large buttocks, had her pants down too and was leaning forward, grabbing a countertop, while Strayker entered her from behind. Each time the Commander pounded into her, her ass cheeks rippled something fierce.

"Can't get the job done, can you, Captain?" Strayker said, glaring at him even as he pounded furiously into Ayesha from behind.

"I'm lost in the mists, sir," said Calle.

"I'm lost in the mists, sir," said Strayker, in a high pitched voice, rolling his eyes. "And here I am making love to a woman with the IQ of a coffee bean, and yet you don't hear me whining about it."

"I'd gladly trade places, sir," said Calle, watching Ayesha's wonderful breasts sway beneath her.

"I'm sure you would," Strayker grinned, as he continued to insert himself into his junior assistant. "But life isn't like that. In life, we take what we are given. We either work with it, or we fail."

"And how am I supposed to work with this?" Calle asked, waving his hands around.

"Get up and start walking, Captain."

"That's an order, soldier!" Strayker roared, and suddenly froze. "Ah... ah... ahhhhhh......" he said, giving an uncharacteristic smile as his body visibly relaxed. Then he turned to Calle and frowned again. "Why are you still here?"

Calle got to his feet immediately. His legs felt sore, but he started walking again.

Walking... walking... walking.... Go left. A certain sense told him to go left. Or did it?

Calle walked left. Go right. That same sense was telling him to go right. He went right. More mists.

Calle walked for a few minutes more, and then he stopped. He sensed something. Something tangible.

He walked in a circle.

Then he did a second circumference walk. He started to smile.

Then a third, then a fourth, then a fifth. His smile grew broader.

Then he turned around, and took one step in the direction he had just walked-

And found himself entering the control room.

"John!" said Sarah, throwing herself into his arms. "We thought we'd lost you!" She hugged him tightly, and then kissed him.

Calle looked around, and saw other CS operatives looking at him with wonder. "How... how long was I gone?"

"Nearly five minutes. We were about to close the gateway."

Five minutes?

And then Commander Strayker appeared out of nowhere, wearing a severe looking brown suit with high collars, and clapped him on the back. "Congratulations, Captain."

"Thank you, sir," said Calle.

"John, how did you find your way back?" Daniel Acton asked.

"Quite simply," said Strayker, answering for him. "Perseverance." He smiled at Calle, who shifted uncomfortably.