The Time War Ch. 46

Chapter 46: Marion

Colonel Strayker was standing in the control room, flanked by armed men. He looked younger, much younger than Calle had seen him.

"There's going to be a change of regime, Doctor," said Strayker grimly.

"I will never accept that, William," Doctor Voidovich declared.

"Your acceptance is not required, Doctor," said Strayker calmly. The blonde man was smiling, but his blue eyes were hard.

Voidovich rapidly started to activate the controls. One of Strayker's men moved forward but Strayker waved him back. He waited patiently until Voidovich activated the Binochi Corridor.

Voidovich ran to it. "You'll never have my technology, never!" And then he ran into the Corridor, and vanished.

Ted Strayker casually went over to the controls, and started manipulating them.

"No!" Ken Larson cried. "If you turn off the Corridor while he's still inside-"

********

Awareness came back to John Calle with a jolt.

He was in a bed. A most comfortable bed.

He sat upright. He was in a stately old hotel room, with faded wallpaper, a four post bed, and a fireplace right in front of him.

He recognized this place.

He was at Mohonk.

"You're awake."

Calle turned his head and saw the most beautiful thing in the world. Marion, wearing a bright sun dress with yellow flowers, was sitting there, staring at him.

"What happened?" he said, rubbing his head.

"I'm sorry I had to do that, John. But we had to get you out of there quickly and quietly."

"We?" said Calle.

"Come. I'll explain everything over four o'clock tea and cookies."

Four o'clock tea and cookies.

Mohonk, which had been utterly destroyed by Laquintan fanatics, razed, and turned into a mosque, somehow, once again... existed.

********

Four o'clock tea. Somehow, every time Calle had been with Marion, the original Marion, four o'clock tea had a major significance to him. It was always the time he did the internal self-assessment, figuring out the state of his relationship with her, watching her lovingly as she nibbled on cookies and drank off of fine china.

That hadn't changed. He felt a stab in his chest every time Marion, this Marion, smiled at him while nibbling and drinking. "You're not eating your gazebo cookies," she said, with a concern that was so Marion-like that it touched his heart.

"Marion..." Calle didn't know where to begin. "Where am I?"

"I told you. Mohonk," she said brightly, as if that should explain everything.

"Who are you?" Calle asked.

Marion put down her saucer. "My name is Marion Thomas."

And now for the big question. "Are you the Marion I knew?"

Marion sighed and looked away, as if steeling herself. Then she looked back at him. "No."

Calle's heart fell. She saw that and immediately put her hand over his.

"Then who are you?" Calle asked again, in a softer, almost pleading tone.

"I am Marion Thomas. In nearly every way, I am identical to your fiancée, your Marion Thomas," said Marion. She looked around, to make sure no one was listening nearby. "What I'm about to tell you may shock you, John. But it's the truth. I will always tell you the truth, John, please remember that." She took a deep breath. "John... there are two Earths. Two realities."

Two Earths. Two realities.

It was exactly as Sarah had told him.

"You don't look surprised," said Marion.

"I'm not," said Calle. "Go on."

Marion wet her lips and drew a deep breath. "In your reality, the one you know, your fiancée Marion Thomas died in a car cash right before your wedding, correct?"

Calle gave a painful nod.

"And all this," she waved her arms around her, "was destroyed by suicide bombers, correct?"

Calle nodded again.

"That was in one reality, one version of Earth," said Marion. "But in this reality, things played out differently. I never died in a car crash. Mohonk was never destroyed. Laquintans were never resettled by the thousands in New Paltz."

"But the World Government-"

"There is no World Government," said Marion.

No World Government. Calle's jaw dropped in shock.

"There isn't a World Government. There never was. There never was supposed to be," said Marion.

The revelation hit him like a hammer.

"The World Government, as you call it, was strictly an invention of the group you worked for."

"The... Continuity Service," said Calle.

Marion smiled. "Yes, the Continuity Service. But its job was only to keep the timeline continuous as far as thwarting changes made by the other factions. John, the Continuity Service also made changes to the timeline. A lot of them."

Calle was shocked, but not too surprised. John Locke had told him as much. Maybe he had been telling the truth.

He looked around the lounge, at the people eating gazebo cookies and drinking tea on fine china. "But despite these changes... Mohonk is here, again. You are here, again."

Marion leaned forward and whispered in his ear. "That's because we're no longer in your reality."

Calle's jaw dropped. He was in the other reality, right now?

But his eyes would not be denied. Mohonk was here, and so was Marion.

His eyes narrowed. "In this reality, are you and I... together?"

Marion got a pained look on her face. "It's complicated, John." She looked at her chrono, and for a panicked moment Calle thought she was going to leave him. But she only looked up and said, "Would you like to have dinner? I don't know about you, but travelling across universes makes me hungry."

Calle nodded dumbly. He would have accepted an invitation to a pit of acid if it would have earned him another minute with her.

********

It was her.

As he stared at her over dinner, Calle was even more convinced of it. She had the same thick hair, the same brilliant smile, the same green eyes, the same high cheekbones, the same luscious curves. He felt certain of it. This was no imposter. This was Marion.

Or at least, a Marion.

"You're not eating your food, John," she said.

"I... I just can't get over the fact that you're still alive."

"Oh, that's so sweet," she said, putting a hand over his. His heart thumped.

"How... how did we get to this other universe?" Calle asked.

"Through the Binochi Corridor," said Marion. "I don't know exactly how it's done, but I'm told the Corridor can just as easily be programmed to traverse to a certain time and place in one universe as it can in the other."

Calle's mind started racing. All those missions he did... which universe did he do them in?

"I'm sure it sounds confusing," Marion said apologetically. "Let me try to give you a frame of reference. For your sake, let's call where you started from Universe 1, and call where we are now Universe 2. Of course, from my frame of reference it's all reversed, but let's not make things more complicated than it needs to be, shall we?"

Calle couldn't believe it. His former fiancée, an agronomist, was explaining the nature of parallel universes to him. He nodded for her to continue.

"All right then," she said. "You are in Universe 1. What you know as the Continuity Service is also in Universe 1. As far as I've been told, all the warring in the timeline has been in your Universe 1."

"Not in this universe?" Calle said sharply.

"No," said Marion.

"And why is that?"

"I... I don't know, exactly," said Marion. "I'm new to all this myself, John. But I'll get to that later. For now, take my word for it, all the time wars you've been fighting are in your Universe, Universe 1. There have been a lot of grotesque changes to the timeline of your Universe."

"I know," said Calle grimly, thinking of the black plague and thermonuclear war.

"I know you do. Now let's introduce the organization I work for. They're based in Universe 2. None of this is a threat to them, at least, not yet, but they're horrified to see a parallel Earth, a next door neighbor, so to speak, having terrible things done to them. So they're pitching in and helping out."

"What is the name of this organization you work for?"

"They're called the Continuity Corps."

Calle gave a bitter laugh.

"No, John," said Marion earnestly. "They're the real thing, not like your group. They're trying to preserve the timeline, not change it."

"And I suppose your leader is a man named Strayker," said Calle.

"No," said Marion. "His name is Tom Stoyer."

********

"Tom Stoyer is dead," said Calle. "We wiped out his organization over a month ago."

"No, you didn't," said Marion.

"Tom Stoyer was the head of a group of Luddites who wanted to eliminate technology from the planet," said Calle.

"That Tom Stoyer, perhaps."

"That Tom Stoyer?"

"Remember, John, there are two Earths. Two Earths... and two Tom Stoyers," said Marion. "This Tom Stoyer only wants to restore the timeline to the way it was. He doesn't want to change anything."

Calle looked at her skeptically.

"I don't know you well, John, but I sense you have difficulty accepting that," said Marion.

"That's right, you don't know me," said Calle. "Where am I, in this time period? Why aren't you and I together?"

Marion bit her lip and looked away.

"Marion?"

She took a deep breath and faced him again. "We haven't met. I don't think we ever do."

Calle sat back in his chair, and then it was his turn to take a big breath of air.

"What do you mean?" Calle asked.

"I never worked in Mohonk, like your financee," said Marion. "I never met you. My reality was a little different from yours."

"Did you... are you married to someone else?"

Marion shook her head. "No. I'm fresh out of college, I just turned 23."

"On June 4th."

"Yes," Marion smiled. "The Continuity Corps recruited me early before I... before I formed attachments."

"So you are going to meet and marry someone else?" said Calle.

"Perhaps," said Marion, shifting uncomfortably in her seat.

"And we'll never meet."

"We're meeting now," said Marion.

And then, suddenly Calle realized the truth of it: The Marion in front of him was a complete and total stranger. It was as if someone had taken his Marion, erased two years of her life, and sat her right in front of him.

"So... why am I here now? Why are you?" Calle asked.

Again, Marion looked uncomfortable. Each time she looked uneasy, Calle became more and more convinced that this was the real Marion. A real Marion.

"The Continuity Corps wants you to join them."

"And you?"

"I...." She had trouble forming the words. "I was brought on board to try to... persuade you," she said, with difficulty. She took a deep breath as he saw the reluctance in her face. "At the very least, we could get to know each other a little better." She spoke quickly, nervously, like Marion always did when she got flustered. "Would you like that, John? Would you?"

There was no way John Calle could say no to that.

*********

John Calle had the worst night's sleep imaginable. Marion was alive, and with him. He should have been overjoyed. But it was a Marion, not the Marion. His mind was still trying to process this. This woman, this woman he had never met before, was so much like his Marion. She was just like Marion, without all the experiences they had shared together. If Calle had bonded with the other Marion, he could certainly do the same with this one, so he hoped.

But this Marion had another agenda. She was here to recruit him for a group who seemed at least as questionable as the one he worked for. Could another version of Tom Stoyer really be working to maintain the continuity of the timeline? It was extremely unlikely... but it was possible. Calle knew that Tom Stoyer, a Tom Stoyer, had died on a raid on his hideout. If there was another Tom Stoyer, there was a chance he could be different. It reminded him of the time that he had found himself in a version of the Continuity Service where the Colonel had red hair, Sarah had tits, and their organization was dedicated to spreading the English language around the world. In retrospect he realized now that he had been to another Earth, a very different Earth.

But Marion had said there were only two realities.

There were a number of things about her explanation which troubled him. Why would this "time war" only take place in the second universe, and not the first one? Were they really telling the truth about the Continuity Service? And what role did the Bioman play in all of this... if any?

He was red-eyed at breakfast, but eager to get to know this Marion. This new Marion.

She smiled alluringly at him.

"Good morning John Calle," she said. "Did you sleep well?"

"About as well as can be expected," said Calle.

Marion patted his hand. "I know this is all a lot for you to absorb. Let's just spend the day relaxing and getting to know each other, shall we?"

"I'd like that very much," said Calle.

********

They were sitting in the second story of the two story gazebo, above the gardens. It was the month of May, and beautiful flowers were in bloom.

It was exactly like the vision Calle had had so long ago in the Binochi Corridor. At the time it had puzzled him, because he and Marion had never sat in this particular Gazebo. But now he and this Marion were.

She smiled shyly at him. She did that a lot, smiling at him and leaning towards him. He learned something about her background.

This Marion, like his Marion, grew up in Westchester County, just north of New York City, but from there their futures had changed. This Marion never attended SUNY New Paltz, never worked as a waitress in Mohonk, and never went on to graduate school to get a degree in agronomy. Instead she went to SUNY Syracuse to get a degree in business. Calle told her what his Marion had done instead.

"That's really interesting," said Marion. "When I was in high school, I thought about visiting SUNY New Paltz, but my father said they had a terrible business program. He persuaded me to apply to Syracuse instead. If only I had visited New Paltz... I might have gone there, and worked as a waitress in Mohonk...." Her voice trailed off, and she looked at Calle with a hint of longing in her eyes.

"And you might have met me," said Calle.

"Yes," she said, her tongue and lips thick with emotion.

*********

"How long have you been with... the Continuity Corps?" Calle asked.

"Only about six weeks," said Marion promptly. "All training actually," she said, giving a nervous smile. "I haven't even been out on a mission, not until...." Her voice trailed off again.

"Me," said Calle. "I'm your first mission, aren't I?"

The tension in the air was palpable.

Marion reddened and reached out and squeezed his hand. "Please don't think that way, John! You have to understand what they told me! I was a small town girl with limited ambitions, and all of a sudden I get scooped out of my dorm room and brought to a place with fantastic machinery. I'm told there's an organization which can travel through time and works to keep the timeline safe. That's a lot for any normal person to absorb, don't you agree?"

Calle nodded.

"But then they give me a fantastic head-trip. They say there is one man out there, one man with fantastic abilities, one man who can save the timeline from being irrevocably changed forever... and only one woman who can persuade him to join them. Me," she said, putting a dainty hand to her supple breasts. "Can you imagine the pressure I felt, John Calle? The weight of the responsibility? Well, after they convinced me what they were saying was true, I felt... I felt like I had no choice. I feel like I'm in over my head, way over my head but... if they're right... I have to try. I had to try, John Calle."

At that moment Calle felt incredible sympathy for her. He took her in his arms and she immediately hugged him tightly. The hug seemed to go on and on. In a way, it was their first hug. The first time he had hugged this Marion.

More than ever he believed she was real. This was no imposter. The thought excited him. His Marion was gone, but perhaps he would have a chance with this one, this woman who was so similar to his own lost love.

When Calle pulled back, he asked, "Feeling better?"

"Yes," she said, sniffling just a bit. She gave a smile. "You know, you're the one who's supposed to be in shock. I'm the one who's supposed to be consoling you."

He smiled back at her, and they held hands as the sun came out of the clouds and shone on them. Then Calle had another thought. "Marion, you say this is... the other universe. If this is the other universe, then where is... the other me?"

Marion looked apprehensive. "We don't know, John."

"You don't know?"

"You disappeared several years ago. We hypothesize that you were seized by one of the factions."

One of the factions.

Calle remembered Sarah, bouncing up and down on his penis, speaking without moving her lips. "You are John Collier. John Collier was you."

Suddenly, Calle understood. John Collier was himself, the version of himself from this reality. The Continuity Service had recruited him, and then, somehow, they had a falling out.

He learned too much.

"Curiosity killed him," Sarah had said.

Suddenly it all became clear, and Calle realized, in this at least, that Marion was telling the truth.

********

Marion found Mohonk to be amazing. She had never been there before. They walked around the gardens, and Calle smiled as she oooed and aaaahhed at all the exotic flowers. He took her on a walk, showing her some of the gazebos along the trail, and realized their roles were now reversed. When he had met Marion, she had been one to show him all the gazebos, all the special views, all the amazing places. And now he was with Marion again, but a different Marion, and he was the one showing these places to her. And yet he found it extremely pleasurable. As Marion experienced these amazing places for the first time, so did Calle, seeing it from her eyes, feeling the sense of wonder all over again.

Marion marveled at the view from the top of the Albert K. Smiley Tower; she cooed over the cute gazebos along the edge of the cliff face, and she looked at adorable swans plying their ways along the edge of Lake Mohonk.

"John, these cliffs, this lake, this Mountain House... it's all so incredible!" Marion cried. "You and... you and her must have found it very, very... pretty." She meant to use another word, a different word, but Calle knew, and she knew that he knew. Marion turned away and blushed, and he suddenly realized he was in danger of falling in love with her. She was so much like his Marion.

And yet, also, not alike. There were little things about her, things that were different. Marion was shy, yes, but also bold in some ways, even flirtatious. As they walked together, Marion would pretend to bump against him, more than once. Every time she did she looked away, but gave a little smile as she "accidently" rubbed against him, leg to leg, or arm to arm.

And then there were the times she did look at him. She smiled almost constantly, giving that little Marion smile out of the corner of her mouth that Calle found so endearing. She looked at him with that sexy sideways look, out of the corner of her eyes, and when she did that and smiled at him, Calle felt like melting.

More than once Marion would yawn, and pretend to stretch, but when she stretched she would rub a hand all over her body, starting from her breasts down to her thighs. But when her hands ran over her breasts, she would give him a little subversive look, as if to let him know that maybe she wasn't really yawning.

Marion, somehow, had become an incredible flirt.

That was not the Marion he knew. But Calle found it all irresistible; he found her irresistible.

They had dinner that night, and Marion was wearing an incredible dress that showed off cleavage, the inner sides of her marvelous, teardrop shaped breasts. That's something else that his Marion would never do. She had been incredibly shy about her breasts. Calle suddenly wondered if this Marion, like his Marion, was a virgin. He wondered if-

"What are you thinking, John Calle?" she asked slyly.

John Calle. She called him by his first and last name, exactly as his Marion did. Calle found it incredibly arousing.

Calle tried not to look at her breasts, which were so prominently on display. In a way the sight disturbed him, because it underscored the fact that this wasn't his Marion; and yet, she also was, and she was there for the taking.... Calle knew what wearing that dress meant. He could see it in her eyes. Marion was making an offer.

But that night at dinner he not only saw the carrot, but felt the stick. Suddenly he remembered that she had just asked him a question.

"I... I was just thinking how nice it is that we're having dinner, together," said Calle, smiling at her. She was so beautiful!

"I imagine after thinking I was dead for three years, you're still getting used to the idea of seeing me again," said Marion.

Seeing you, not her.

"Yes," said Calle.

"You can see me all the time. Any time you want, John Calle," she said, reaching out with her hand to squeeze his. "All you have to do is agree to join the Continuity Corps."

And there it was. All out in the open.

"And... what happens if I don't join?" Calle asked.

Marion bit her lip and sharply turned her head away. "Then... then....."

"Just say it, Marion," he said, squeezing her hand.

"Then you'll never see me again," She said, pulling her hand away. She looked about to cry.

********

Marion's mood recovered a moment later, and she was once again smiling and overly flirtatious, as if a storm cloud had briefly passed in front of the sun, but quickly sailed away. As dinner reached an inevitable end, Calle became more and more excited.

And then they found themselves walking back to their rooms. Marion had taken a room right next to his. She opened the door to hers, so very slowly, her head down. "Well... this is my room, John Calle," she said nervously, looking up at him.

Marion looked frightened. Calle felt incredible sympathy for her. She was inviting him in, she felt she had to invite him in, but she was clearly afraid to. He saw it written all over her face.

"Well, I guess this is goodnight, then. Will I see you tomorrow?" Calle asked.

Marion's face suddenly lit up, a curious mix of disappointment and relief. "Yes, yes of course!" she practically sang. She reached up and kissed him on the cheek. "Goodnight, John Calle," she said, looking firmly into his eyes.

"Good night, Marion Thomas," he said, fighting back the urge to kiss her on the lips.

And then they parted.

********

There were seven women, no, actually eight women in all. All heavily pregnant. All completely nude. All lying at a 45 degree angle, just hanging in the air, in some kind of laboratory. Their legs were all spread, their knees were bent.

The Bioman suddenly appeared. He turned to face whoever was looking at this scene, as if to make him aware that he knew there was an outside observer. The Bioman's face was as blank as ever. Then the Bioman turned and picked up something off a tray. A glowing orange rod. The Bioman went to the first woman, a redhead, got between her legs, and slowly inserted the orange rod into her vagina.

The redhead started to moan. The Bioman worked the glowing orange rod in and out of her vagina. The redhead started to perspire and moan more loudly. Her belly started to glow. It glowed orange, and became transparent. Inside the Bioman could see her fetus, her fetus which was now in a state of agitation. He worked the rod in and out of her several more times, before moving on to the next woman.

He inserted the rod into the second woman, a blonde, and it was her turn to begin to moan. She didn't seem to be in pain; if anything, it seemed to be moans of pleasure. There was a pasted smile on her face, as if she were drugged or hypnotized.

And then the Bioman moved from woman to woman, and when he got to the last one, Calle received a shock.

It was his mother.

He watched helplessly as the Bioman inserted the rod inside his mother's vagina. His mother bit her lip and started to moan. Her nipples became erect. Her belly glowed orange and became transparent, and Calle saw the fetus gestating inside of her,

Him.

When he was done, the Bioman stood up, and faced whoever was observing this scene, and wordlessly held up the glowing rod, and simply stared out at him.

********

"How did you sleep, John Calle?" Marion asked pleasantly, as she buttered her bread.

"Well enough," said Calle. He was tired, but he would never admit that to Marion. He relished every minute he could spend with her. He knew how this was going to end if he didn't join the Continuity Corps.

He asked a question that was foremost on his mind, a question he hated to ask but had to be asked. "How... how long do we have together?"

Marion stopped buttering her bread in mid-buttering. "Until tomorrow morning," she said, looking up at him with solemn green eyes.

Calle nodded.

"That doesn't mean we can't enjoy the day together, right?" said Marion, trying to be positive about it.

"Of course," said Calle, giving a convincing smile.

********

Calle noticed two things about Marion, this Marion.

The first was that while Marion found Mohonk to be beautiful, she didn't have naturegasms the way his Marion did. He showed her beautiful views, and trees, and flowers, and Marion liked them. She really did.

But her breasts didn't heave the way Marion's did when she was having a naturegasm, she didn't close her eyes and smile and go "aaaaaahhhh" the way Marion did when she was surrounded by beautiful scenery.

Calle missed that.

But at the same time, he noticed that this Marion was more flirtatious than his Marion was. He had first noticed it yesterday, but really noticed it even more today.

The first time she kissed him was when they were walking on a path along an impressive giant rock face. Marion stopped to admire the tall rock wall, which went perhaps two hundred feet above them. She hugged a protruding rock face. "Oh, it feels so good!"

"You think hugging rocks feels good?" Calle asked.

"Are you being flirtatious with me, John Calle?" she said, and suddenly she wasn't hugging the rock wall, she was hugging him. Her arms were wrapped tightly around his back, as if she would never let go, as if she never wanted to.

"This is such a romantic place, isn't it?" She asked him looking into his eyes.

Calle nodded. He felt it too.

Marion looked into his eyes, and liked what she saw, and her lips moved closer to his, closer, closer... and then they made contact.

It was Marion. It felt exactly like Marion. Her lips were lush and full. At first she was the one taking from him, but they quickly reversed roles, and soon it was him grinding hungrily against hers, rubbing her back, caressing her thick dark hair, feeling her body pressed against his. Calle felt her warm soft melons pressing against his chest. Marion lifted her left leg off the ground so she could press her pelvis against his, to feel him more tightly against her. They kissed some more, and it felt like seasons passed.

Finally, Marion pulled back. "Well! That was really... something, John Calle."

Their first kiss. And what a kiss it was!

"Yes, it was... special," said Calle, unable to find better words for it. He was eager for more. If she was willing, he would kiss her all afternoon.

Marion smiled as she saw the power she had over him.

After that, the dam was broken. Marion rubbed against him like a cat as they walked, snuggled against him, and kissed him for any reason she could think of. Soon they were walking like old lovers, hand in hand. They were old lovers, in a sense. This Marion was so, so close to the Marion that Calle knew and loved so well.

But whenever they kissed, Marion was in control. She always initiated it, and she always ended it. She always made sure to leave him wanting, wanting for more. She was teasing him, arousing him, exciting his body.

Calle knew what she was building up to. Every time she looked at him out of the corner of her eyes and smiled slyly at him, every time she purposely stood in profile and thrust out her gorgeous breasts, tightly wrapped in a yellow blouse that looked like balloons about to burst, every time she bent over in her tight white pants for some excuse of a reason to show him her firm ass cheeks, or spread her legs to create crease lines in her crotch in front, he knew exactly what she was doing. What she was preparing him for. And maybe, just maybe, what she was also preparing herself for. Even as she smiled at him, he detected an undercurrent of nervousness. She knew what she was planning to do, but even she didn't seem entirely sure if she could go through with it or not.

And that was the state of affairs as they ate their cookies and drank their four o'clock tea while sitting on genuine wooden rocking chairs, overlooking the lake. Just like old times. Just like Calle used to do with his Marion. He had to take deep breaths to prevent himself from tearing up.

As they ate sugar cookie gazebos, Marion watched the amber colored wooden rowboats slowly plying along the lake. The water, in the late afternoon sun, sparkled like gems. Across the way, the boulders of the Labyrinth looked like giant's playthings.

But Calle didn't have eyes for any of that. Only Marion. He stared at her as he nibbled on the roof of a gazebo.

For a while Marion just gave a hint of a smile out of the corner of her mouth, pretending to look away, until she finally turned and smiled broadly at him. "Are you having fun?" She asked.

"Yes," said Calle. "Marion, my Marion, and I used to sit here. It was so nice, so... peaceful." His voice started to crack.

"Hey," said Marion, grabbing his hand as she sensed his emotional turmoil. "Hey, hey, hey. John... I... I could be your Marion... if... if you'd let me."

There. It was all out in the open, now.

Calle felt it was getting harder to breathe. His chest felt tight. He didn't trust his voice, but he felt compelled to speak. "I'd... I'd like that," he somehow managed to say, in an even voice.

Marion smiled, and put her hand in his, as her chair slowly started to rock. "So would I."

*********

At dinner, Marion was wearing the same black sexy dress she had worn the night before, the dress which practically screamed "fuck me". Only this evening she was even more flirtatious. She looked into his eyes much more often, and giggled with him, and smiled very suggestively, not only with her mouth, but with her eyes as well. They were hypnotic, those brilliant green eyes, full of promise, full of excitement... and full of lust. Calle found himself falling more and more under her spell, and she knew it.

"Isn't this reality nice, John?" she said, after dessert had been served.

"Yes," said Calle slowly.

"You can have Mohonk... and you can have me," she said. She looked him in the eye. Calle saw attraction in hers, and anticipation, but also... something else. Something she didn't want him to see.

A hint of fear?

*********

Calle's heart thudded in his chest as he and Marion walked back to their rooms. Once again they were climbing up the brightly colored carpeted staircase. The crunch crunch crunch of the wooden stairs reminded Calle of the time... of the time he had climbed those very same stairs to take Marion's virginity....

When they got to their rooms, Marion smiled at him broadly, as if there was a secret the two of them were sharing. And then she unlocked and opened the door to her room, and looked at Calle. "Why don't you come inside?" she said lightly.

Even as Calle started to nod, Marion gently pulled him inside. The door closed behind them with a resounding thud.

Marion turned around and looked at him. In that revealing black dress, she looked so sexy. Her breasts looked so large, so firm, so squeezable. She saw his gaze and blushed, but also smiled shyly. Then she took a deep breath and walked over to him. She gave him a firm kiss.

Calle kissed her back.

They kissed like that for some time. Marion let her hands roam all over his body, and Calle did the same. He felt Marion pulling him down to the bed, and he didn't resist.

As she ground her lips against his, she started to open his shirt.

This was it.

Calle reciprocated, lowering the straps of her dress. He started to move his hands lower, to her breasts, but as he reached out to squeeze them, Marion drew back abruptly.

"I can't do this!" she cried.

Calle looked up at her, completely stunned.

"I'm sorry, but I can't do this!" Marion cried again.

"Marion... I didn't ask you to," Calle said defensively.

"I... I know, John," said Marion. "They did."

Calle bit his lip. "They wanted you to sleep with me...."

"So you would join the Continuity Corps, yes," said Marion. She seemed close to tears. "I... I've never done anything like this before in my life, you understand? But they told me how important it was. How the lives of billions of people were on the line. So I agreed to do it. And... I lied to you, John. I deceived you!"

"How?" Calle asked.

"I... I'm not single. Not exactly," said Marion. "I have a boyfriend, from college. We were dating when I was... taken. I think they took me now because in a year or two we might... we might have gotten married."

Calle felt a pain in his gut. "What's his name, Marion?"

"His name is... Paul."

"Paul Weatherly," said Calle bitterly.

"WHAT?" said Marion. "How did you know that?"

"When I was seeing... my Marion, at one point she had to decide between me and a man named Paul Weatherly, a man she knew from college," said Calle.

"And... she chose you," said Marion.

Calle nodded.

She rubbed her palms together nervously. "They... they told me it was temporary, John. That I would have to sleep with you a few times, until you became an enthusiastic member of the Corps. Then they promised to take me home, back to... back to Paul." She had tears welling in her eyes now. "I was going to deceive you, and then be-betray you."

This was the real Marion! Although Calle felt tremendous anguish, in a certain way, he felt tremendous awe, to be in the presence of his former lover. This wasn't his lover, perhaps, but at this moment he was absolutely certain that this was a real Marion.

"But... I can't do it!" Marion cried. "Even though the fate of an entire planet hangs on it, I... I just can't do it!" She was sniffling and crying now.

"Hey," said Calle. "Come here."

"I'm... I'm so sorry, John."

"Come here!" Calle barked.

Marion slowly came forward. She instinctively wrapped her hands around him, and he hugged her gently. As she cried, Calle said, "Hey... hey... it's going to be all right. Really, it is."

"I'm just not made for this, John," said Marion, sobbing softly.

"It's all right," said Calle, rocking back and forth with Marion in his arms.

"It's not all right!" said Marion. "Now you'll refuse. I'll have failed my mission. My first m-mission."

Calle looked down at her. "You're not going to fail."

"I'm not?" said Marion.

"I'll... I'll give it a try," said Calle.

"Really?" said Marion.

"I'm not making any long term promises!" said Calle. "If this Continuity Corps turns out to be a sham, or something else completely-"

"Oh, it isn't, John, it really isn't!" said Marion. She hugged him tightly, and then kissed him frantically. "Thank you thank you thank you!" she cried.

Calle gently pushed her away. He didn't like being kissed out of gratitude.

Marion looked up at Calle. "You know... since you agreed... if... if you still want me... you... you can... have me." She looked into his eyes. "I know how much your wife meant to you. I know how much this would mean to you. I know-"

Calle cut her words off with a kiss. He was pleased when Marion hugged him and kissed him back, passionately, not because she was thanking him, but because she enjoyed it. He could tell.

When he finally pulled back, Calle said softly, "You don't have to sleep with me, Marion."

"Then... why...."

"Because... I love you," said Calle.

There.

He had said it.

Even if Marion loved another man. He just couldn't help it. The chance to be with her, for another week, another day, another hour, another minute... he just couldn't say no. No matter whatever price he'd have to pay. He loved her that much.

[The original version of this story had color photos]