Other Possibilities Arise: TimeSaga B4 (All 6 Chapters)

Other Possibilities Arise
TimeSaga:  The Advance Story Four
Chapter One

Shell Oil was owned by interests in Europe.  While I knew it as an American company, I quickly realized that it was not.  I stepped off the Kayla to find myself in the Netherlands to meet corporate leaders of Shell Oil along with lawyers from Zychi and the Solomon Foundation.

I did not understand the reason for the lawyers.  I expected reporters, or at least parties interested in facts of the situation near the other planet.  Actually being proud of what was managed, I had no reservations to speak to people.  However, I found my statement to be put on hold as another set of lawyers of showed up.

"Queen Debra, please reframe from saying anything!"  That got everyone's attention, including mine, so the lawyer found himself able to explain.  "You are not an entity of RayWeight or any other public company.  You were hired by Dr. Leanna Beyonce, and receive your paychecks from her.  Is that not true?"

I had to answer, "Yes."

"Gentlemen," he clearly referred to the other lawyers even though not all were males, "you are going to have to respect the privacy of Queen Debra.  Let me also state that FER-RON is a product of Queen Debra's group, so a private possession of a private citizen.  Mary also has rights as a private individual.  Let me also say that the Solomon Foundation gave up any claim to Barney Douglas, although I would argue that he is a private citizen as well even if such were not the facts."

One of the Zychi lawyers gained the strength to say, "How do those facts grant you any access?"

"I was hired by Dr. Leanna Beyonce to represent Queen Debra.  Let it also be known that there are other interests, local private citizens, which are backing the interests of Dr. Beyonce."  He then stepped up to me to say, "Queen Debra, I have a means of transport for you, FER-RON, and Mary.  Barney, you and your fellow mercenaries are welcome to join us as well."

Mary asked, "How about the Annapolis units?"

"They are presently considered products, as what humanity they have is extremely minor.  I have to leave their fates to the courts, although the India Space Agency is working to assure that they are treated well."

One of the Shell Oil executives said, "Yes, we have been contacted by the India Space Agency, and have arrangements for both Fifty-three, Twenty-two, and the security personnel that arrived."

The lawyer next to me stated, "This meeting is over."

I replied, "I feel that some facts of what we went through should be made public."

"That is not the purpose of this forum, Queen Debra.  Please, come with me.  After certain issues have been dealt with, we can discuss interviews with the media."

I turned to the Shell Oil executives and said, "There are others in need of being rescued.  Please get the Kayla back out."

The one that spoke before replied, "It is being checked and serviced right now.  Once we get an all-clear, it will be sent back out."

As I began moving with the lawyer supposedly representing my employer, I heard Sandstorm say, "I'm not hanging around lawyers.  Also, all the good-looking women are going that way, so I am going that way as well."

I heard the heavy footsteps of Perry before he said, "Queen Debra, tell your lawyer not to call me Barney."

The lawyer looked to me, but it was Mary that said, "He is called Perry."

The legal representative replied, "We need to keep things official presently.  Legally, the name of the cyborg is Barney Douglas."  He then looked to Perry to say, "I can cut you a discount to add a legal name change to the other legalities that will surely erupt."

Perry answered, "We can talk about that later."

Coming to the parking lot beyond the airport hangers was a large bus, and as the lawyer directed us to it he explained, "It was purchased by a now has-been rock star.  I rented it to assure that everyone would be comfortable."

I asked, "Where are you taking us?"

"Honestly?"  He handed me a cell phone while providing an answer that I did not expect.  "You tell me."

I did know Dr. Beyonce's number, and punched those digits.  I was pleased to hear her answer.  After a quick explanation of my situation, she provided some information.

"There is a lot of misinformation concerning the attack.  Further, as I suspect you knew, there are a lot of agencies wanting to get their hands on my technology.  Tell Mary that she falls into that category, even though I recognize that she should be treated as my daughter."

The pink-haired girl almost whimpered as she said, "Mommy?"

I handed the phone to her.  As mechanical as she might have been, I saw tears in her eyes as she spoke with Dr. Beyonce.  I heard enough to verify that the lawyer had indeed been hired by my employer.  I also understood that things were presently in flux as to what would happen with us.  I thus wondered what I could be told when the phone was handed back to me.

Dr. Beyonce said, "Debra, there is a Clyde Fellington on way to you.  He is a major stockholder in RayWeight.  Problem is that right now it is probably best if you keep your distance from RayWeight.  Still, Clyde is a wonderful married man, and someone you can trust.  I have made arrangements for you and those with you to stay at a hotel there in the Netherlands.  Expect him to contact you there, but have the lawyer present when he arrives.  Between the two, you should be able to sort things out."

I replied, "I need to check FER-RON.  She has managed wonderfully, but it is the first real operation for her."

"As I said, between the lawyer and Clyde things can be worked out.  Any problems with FER-RON?"

"No, other than some of her fuels were used up.  Right now that is not a concern."

"How about the others of your team?"

I expected her to be concerned with my robot, but appreciated that she did mention the other people who helped me work on her.  "They should be all right waiting for their rescue.  I feel that I should talk to the media about what happened, if only to support that not everyone was killed."

"Talk to the lawyer, Debra.  He should easily set up things for an interview, but right now I think you should take some time to assure that you are truly all right.  Take a bath, get something to eat, do what you can to check FER-RON and Mary, then something more public can be arranged."

When I handed the phone back to the lawyer, he checked it and punched a button I guess to connect with someone that tried to call while I was talking.  After speaking to someone, he mentioned the hotel where we would be taken.  We then got on the bus.  As we talked about the nice accommodations, the lawyer assured that the driver knew where to take us.

Those at the hotel acted very pleased to see us.  In realizing that I did have my wallet with my IDs in it, I thought to find an opportunity to purchase some clothes and necessities.  I came out of my own thoughts as the hotel manager attempted to hand a keycard to FER-RON.

I said, "She is just a robot."

"A robot?  No robot looks like that."

"Not until now.  I assure you however that she is completely mechanical."

The lawyer accompanied us to the room.  He then went through it as if to assure that it was safe.  Not wanting to emphasize the danger of FER-RON, I acted pleased with what the lawyer did.  Hearing him state a need to check on the men as well, I happily closed the door after he left the room.

I looked to Mary and said, "Well, I cannot do much without my equipment.  Do you want to watch TV?"

She shook her head while saying, "I can detect those signals.  I don't need a TV to watch TV."

"Well, I can't, so will probably turn on the news."

"They are mostly arguing whether we need to go into space.  They are talking about how dangerous this other planet is, and the potential danger of the Rothman Tube technology."

I was actually impressed with her statements, and wondered about the technology that had created her as I instructed, "Let me know if they start talking about how dangerous FER-RON is, or you or Perry for that matter."

"Am I a product?  Is Perry a product?  They do speak of us that way."

Accepting that while the girl had a lot of information she did not really have facts, I answered, "The Iran government passed a law that enabled them to gain his body, so he was originally considered a product.  The law however has been ruled immoral, and Perry has been recognized as never having actually died.  He is thus legally fully human.  You were a project of your father, and he did consider you a prototype for others, such as the Annapolis series.  I am certain that those that had you considered you a project.  Dr. Beyonce always thought of you as a daughter, and I can say that she spoke of you in such a manner in my conversations with her.  In spending time with you, I can assure you that you are not a product.  Compared to FER-RON, you are definitely human."

She smiled and moved up to my robot while saying, "No, I am not like FER-RON.  It was however nice working with her.  I like her.  She feels human to me, because she is not a flood of information like other things are in this room.  To me she is not all there, and I like the mystery she presents to me."

"Well, you can talk to her.  That is what I plan on doing.  Conversation is a good way to test her logic."

While I said that, I again checked the closet in the room, and this time recognized some fabric hanging there, causing me to ask, "Do you want to take a bath?  I don't know about clothes, but there are some robes.  It might help to get some feeling of clean, even if we have to put our clothes back on."

Mary had her own question.  "Will you wash FER-RON?"

"No.  Well, not now.  I will be interested in what her body picked up, so will not clean her until I am able to do so in a laboratory.  I however am not willing to wait, and not really interested in what type of dirt is on me."

The girl looked me, then said, "I could tell you some of the things."

"I told you that I did not want to know.  Now, are you going to take your bath now, or wait for me to take mine?"

TimeSaga:  The Development, the first 12 stories edited, is now available on Kindle.

Other Possibilities Arise
TimeSaga: The Advance Story Four
Chapter Two

When the phone rang, it was a woman who said, "I figure that you should be getting hungry by now."

I replied, "Well, I really do not have any clothes, so I was thinking of ordering out."

"Don't you worry, Queen Debra. Clyde and I are bringing you some clothes. You are on RayWeight's medical plan, so I could pull up some basic data on you. Might not fit you the best, but should be good enough to be seen in public."

Suddenly, I knew who I was speaking to. It was the Fellingtons. Dr. Beyonce had told me they were coming. I thus became less cautious about what I said, so asked a question that did bother me.

"Oh, okay. What about Perry?"

"The mercenaries are going to have to order out. I hope this is good news, but we have scheduled you to meet some reporters. After that, a fine dinner."

"I will let Mary know." I saw the pink-haired girl smile, so suspected she was listening to the conversation, which had me ask another question. "How soon will you get here?"

"We are pulling into the hotel parking lot now."

We worked on our hair and whatever else we could before there was a knock on our door. The Fellingtons were not that old. His black hair had have a little gray in it, but the way they moved and spoke stated they still considered themselves to have some youth. Clyde stood at the door while his wife presented our clothes, but then stepped up to present something else.

"Do not take this wrong, but it is just something I will do for the special women in my life. I did it for Dr. Beyonce. Now, both of you, please take these necklaces as a sign of my appreciation of having you in my life."

Mary had a simple chain with a diamond studded cross. Mine was a little more elaborate set of various colored sapphires set in star patterns. I thanked the man, although was surprised by what Mary said as she lifted her necklace.

"It has a identification chip."

Clyde Fellington said, "Yes, a sign of the times that we live. The gems are real, so to insure them they are now putting such chips in them. They should not bother you."

"No, but – well, I just tend to recognize things like that."

"You are a wonderful young lady, Miss Mary Worsheim. I am glad to have you in my life. The same is true for you, Queen Debra. Once you have finished your tests of FER-RON, who I am more than glad to finally see for myself, we need to speak about future plans. Right now, if you ladies will excuse me, I am going to speak to the mercenaries. I will however leave you in the care of my wife."

Susan Fellington spoke on the reasons for her choice of things. The dresses were simple elegant garments that she felt would not present any problems with our bodies. Mary had been given a charm just to let her know that she was a part of something bigger, whether she actually believed in the Christian God or not. My stars of course spoke of where I planned for my research to help men go. I listened to Susan feeling glad to have such a lady supporting the company to which I was connected.

The meeting with reporters actually occurred in a large conference room right there in the hotel. Clyde had FER-RON accompany us for this meeting. The reporters found it amazing that she would respond when a question was directed at her. It had been in my instructions that she would need to face the public, so I had programmed her to handle question and answer sessions. I found myself thinking of the logic routines I had written as I listened to the reporters relate to my robot.

It caught my attention when one reporter asked, "So, FER-RON, what you are saying is that the only cause for the destruction of the Rhinemaiden was the korlocks."

"Yes."

I had to admit with Dr. Morgans that too much complexity in responses just took up too much space in code. I thus had worked to keep FER-RON's replies to simple answers. The reporter did not seem too pleased with what the robot said, so spoke to try and get her to say more.

"We have heard reports that there were religious outbreaks. As you know, the Rhinemaiden was a vessel built by the India Space Program, while the Iliad was an American vessel."

"The Iliad was not around in the combat with the korlocks. It did not arrive until days later."

As if still not pleased with the response, the reporter turned to me. "Queen Debra, of what faith are you?"

"Not really anything," I replied.

"Still, not Islam or Hindu?" I only shook my head, so the reporter asked another. "Did you sense any resistance to your beliefs, or lack of them, with those of the Rhinemaiden?"

"No. I felt agitation that I was taking time to assure things with FER-RON. I even had a situation with Commander Stapleton where he spoke of possibly being able to save the Rhinemaiden had I activated FER-RON sooner. Matters of personal religion were not brought up."

"FER-RON, what do you feel about your capabilities to have saved the Rhinemaiden?"

My robot understood that she was supposed to answer, so did. "I activated rather soon after the initial attack. I believe the problem with the Rhinemaiden was in how it was constructed. The Iliad also suffered from the korlocks, but remained functional."

Another reporter asked, "FER-RON, what do you think of the construction of the Kayla?"

"I noticed no problem in its operation."

I then heard comments about where the Kayla had been built. That caused some pleasant comments from the reporters. The interview ended with some basic questions about how we had been enjoying our stay and plans. I gave what answers I could, then heard Clyde work to have the reporters move on.

As they shut down their equipment, I came away from the podium with one reporter asking if he could touch FER-RON. I told her to allow him to feel an arm. He did, then asked about her face. I authorized FER-RON to let him do it. I saw a number of the other reporters direct their cameras at him as he did the actions.

He stepped back saying, "She really is not real."

"No," I answered, "but only a robot."

"How about Mary?"

Wanting to assure the weight of my response, I said, "I have seen the notes of Dr. Worsheim, as Dr. Beyonce gained her husband's belongings after his death. Whoever took Mary did take a lot of the research material, but he had backups that his wife knew about. Mary is a lot more mechanical than I think is ethical in the growth of a baby, but she is human as well."

"Would Mary feel the same if I touched her?"

I expected a desire to touch the girl as well, so had answered as I did in order to provide my conclusion without any opening to actually bother Mary. "There is actual muscle tissue and flesh, so I would say definitely that she would not feel the same as my robot."

"Thank you, Queen Debra."

"You're welcome. Now, if you don't mind, I would like to get something to eat."

As Clyde escorted us out of the conference room, he said, "Wow. I want to have FER-RON go with us to eat, but she really is not one to simply converse."

I replied, "No. I did program her to handle conversations, but she is not a chatty robot."

Susan said, "I liked the way she responded. You have done well with her. Can that programming be transferred to another type of robot?"

I expected that question, so had an answer ready. "Most of it. The problems will be if they want a different attitude for the other robot. I don't believe that the personality I developed for FER-RON would be desired for a sexbot."

"Queen Debra, I believe those wanting sexbots are not at all concerned about her personality. However, as a maid or butler what you have could be sufficient."

We took FER-RON back to the hotel room. I then told her recharge and go through a thorough self-analysis. She had been programmed to go dormant in periods where there was not a need, so accepted my commands and I left her in the hotel room feeling no need to worry about her.

During the meal I gained the impression that in seeing FER-RON handle the interview that Clyde had gained what information he sought from me. He and Susan mostly spoke with Mary. I had to admit that I had things I wanted to verify about her, so did listen with interest. Mary did not handle the conversation as well as FER-RON, because the girl had trouble simplifying her answers. She could pull so much information that to a general question there would be a lot for her to try and relate. I gained the impression that Mary became frustrated in attempting to speak to the Fellingtons.

She looked to me and asked, "Are you going to take FER-RON to Mommy?"

Clyde took out his phone and handed it to me while saying, "Call Dr. Beyonce and ask her how things are advancing."

I did, and again found the call quickly answered. "Debra, you should be getting called pretty soon. Rudy was in Turkey. He has grabbed some things from our company there, and waited for Roy. I believe that he should be underway soon enough, and was going to call you to give an ETA."

I replied, "Okay, good. Listen, I don't have my phone on me, but I do have my wallet. All the security on board the Rhinemaiden had me keep it with me. I was planning on using the company credit card to buy Mary and me some clothes and stuff to replace the things we lost."

"Not a problem. It will take Rudy over a day to reach you anyway, so have fun on the town. Hopefully in the meantime the rest of your staff will be rescued, and you should feel free to purchase things for them. Once Rudy gets there it would be best to have a plan in place for what you can do to check over FER-RON."

I saw Mary looking at me, so asked, "Any suggestions for Mary?"

"She's my daughter, so effectively your eventual boss. If she will, have her stay with you and learn what she can. It can only help her."

Her hands reached out to grab the phone. "I will, Mommy. I like Debra and FER-RON, so will stay with them."

Mary then released the phone, but I set it against my ear knowing that she would be listening. "Sounds like a plan. Listen, I am in Australia. They are about to send their own ship into space. I won't be on it, but I am advising everyone here. Trust Rudy however, as that guy has worked magic for me from early on. The loss of the Rhinemaiden was a setback, but one everyone is determined to overcome. Don't lose hope. Also, FER-RON is proving herself, so don't think that your job is over, Debra."

I chuckled to assure that everyone knew I was joking. "I don't believe we have discussed combat pay."

"You have Clyde right there. You might not work directly for RayWeight, but close enough that you should feel free to discuss any additional company benefits you think you should gain."

TimeSaga: The Development, the first 12 stories edited, is now available on Kindle.

Other Possibilities Arise
TimeSaga: The Advance Story Four
Chapter Three

"DEBRA!"

I did not recognize the voice, but I found it strange to know the surroundings. Before me was the hospital where my mother had died. In the flower bed a girl worked. She did not look like me however. Her loose hair was a much lighter shade of brown. I want to say that she also was smaller than I had been. I looked around to find a very strange set of buildings across the street and in the distance past the parking lot. Wondering who had called me, I moved around to look at the face of the little girl.

"Did you call?"

She rose to an erect position. She looked human. Her blue eyes were a little large, but not strangely so. She wore a simple orange and white dress, although the style appeared to have been put on as a robe as there were buttons to one side with the split in the cloth continuing down through the skirt. A gold chain held a strange icon set with a yellow gem. She did not bow or make any motion, but simply held her position as she spoke.

"You answered. I wanted to speak to someone, but it seems that you are the only to answer."

I asked, "Who are you?"

"Shame."

Her mouth did not match the simple word. I however gained the impression that the meaning associated with the word applied. While what she said might not have been the word, 'shame,' it was what it would be if she spoke my language.

I replied. "How did you know my name?"

"Because others know it. I sought to contact others, but could not. However, they let me know your name."

"What do you want?"

"To make contact. Your people are attempting. That is good, but what will answer is not. I needed to warn you."

Attempting to assure a proper understanding, as Shame's lips did not match her words, I sought to remember the information that I had. "You are speaking about Urnaquay?"

"Fascination. He will not be good for your people, because he wants what he cannot have. Our people doomed themselves for wanting what they could not have. There are more threats than him facing you."

"The korlocks are your people?"

"Some of them, but most of them are not. My people developed the technology, but we were not as wise as you. Go to Sapprello, Debra. It is there that real answers can be found, but also the real horrors. Until you get to Sapprello you will only learn of the corruptions of what happened with our technology. Stay wise, Debra. Stay wise."

I suddenly gasped, then sat up in my bed feeling very scared. It did not help seeing red eyes very near. I however heard the voice of Mary and realized that the one close to me was my own robot.

"Debra, are you all right?"

While regaining proper breathing, I broke to ask a question of my own. "What did you detect, Mary?"

"It felt like a korlock, but different. FER-RON wanted me to direct her, so she could attack. I told her that I could not."

Knowing that I had another source of information, I asked, "What did you detect, FER-RON?"

"It was a time-stream disturbance similar to those active when korlocks move. It had a tighter field. I felt that the signal would easily manage to have me target it, but I could not lock on for some reason. Also, you would have been in the way."

Not having my own phone, I had to use the one in the room. That also required me to go through certain channels. Eventually I gained Dr. Beyonce. I explained what I had just experienced in as much detail as possible. Not having my own computer, I made certain that she was recording the call to assure that what I said would go on record.

Once I finished, she said, "It does not sound at all like what I hear from Roy. This entity definitely seemed to be providing information. I am not going to tell you to trust it, but I will say that I prefer a source that provides methods of checking what facts are given to us."

I said, "It did not seem like a dream at all."

"No. Listen, get some paper and try to draw some of the other buildings you saw. Even if your artwork is poor, it could help you either explain facts or remember other little details." She paused, then I sensed she would be worried about what I heard next. "I am planning on sending you back out, Debra."

"I know. I have to watch over FER-RON."

"Yes. If anyone can relate to her as she deals with all the people, it is you. Also, it seems that you are making friends with Mary. I believe she needs a friend right now more than a mother."

I heard the girl say, "No, Mommy."

Surely understanding that her daughter was listening in, Dr. Beyonce said, "I am busy right now, Mary. One thing Sally had to deal with was being left alone for hours. You're not alone, Mary. Also, being with Debra will put you with me eventually. I started this technology, so I am sure that I will be brought into things. Learn what I am doing, Mary. You are my daughter, so the one that will need to take up my projects. If you really want to spend time with me, it would help that you know what I spend my time doing."

Speaking loud enough to assure that her mother could hear, Mary replied, "Okay, Mommy."

"And Debra, get back to sleep. Nothing really for you to do until Rudy gets there. He is on his way, but recognized that you would probably be sleeping."

She gave me Rudy's number. I had it on my phone, but just had not called him as much as I called Dr. Beyonce. I thus did not have his number memorized.

I was then told, "I will review what you told me, Debra. I will then probably pass the information along to those who could possibly use it. If it happens again, you do exactly what you did this time."

Attempting to make sense of things, I asked, "You said Roy B2 was coming?"

"Yes."

"Why wasn't he the one contacted?"

"I don't know, but possibly because he had been contacted by Urnaquay. Still, you should be more than willing to share this experience with him. Since he does manage extra-sensory perception, he can at the least give you some advice about how to manage the psychic experience. Honestly, though, what he has talked about is far different than what you have. Still, only by sharing information can we truly learn anything. You did good, Debra, now go back to bed."

After I hung up the phone, Mary asked, "Shame was a girl? My age?"

"No. Her body had not yet started to mature. Your body is at the point where it would mature, if it could. Shame was at the age I was when my mother died."

I suddenly started crying. I took me a while to understand why. When I did, I felt a need to explain things to help Mary deal with my display of emotions.

"I was at the age and place when I first met Jimmy. Those memories hurt. Not just because I lost my mother, but I also have lost Jimmy."

FER-RON said, "I am sorry, Debra."

I found myself amazed that my robot made the connection, but I did not want her to think she still was the robot she had been. "It is all right, FER-RON. I understand. I am also glad to know that you tried to help me. Now, back against the wall. Hopefully, I can return to sleep."

Mary said, "I don't know if I can go back to sleep."

"Don't want you going to sleep while we're shopping."

Those words helped both of our moods. We spoke of the dresses the Fellingtons had brought to us, then of what we normally wore. After some time giggling about what we saw others wearing about town, we finally felt that we could get back to sleep.

I was awakened again by Mary, who told me that someone was trying to call me. Just then the phone rang. I answered it, and quickly got out of bed anxious to speak to the one on the other end.

Linda Palmer said, "I know we woke you, Queen Debra, but we wanted you to know that we are all right."

"This is fantastic," I replied. "I was worried about you."

"Well, we had to leave everything behind. We kept the beacon activated in the room. Chu and I hooked it to a time-loop source, so it should stay active until we can get to it."

I did plan on doing that, but presently I knew to worry about other things. "Are Lenny and Li with you?"

"We are all here."

Hearing a group say, 'Hi,' I went on to the next problem. "Do you have clothes or anything?"

"No. Nothing. I so want a bath. All we could do was sleep, so we are not tired."

I looked at the clock, then said, "Listen, it is still early. Still, Mary and I were planning on going shopping for clothes and stuff. Go get a bath and do what you can to your clothes. I will let you know when we will be leaving."

"Captain Burbank spoke of you having FER-RON with you. Did you find any problems?"

"No, but I want to check her out. Rudy is coming, and he should let us know what our options are."

"Okay, Queen Debra. Let me say that is so good to be out of that room. On board the Rhinemaiden was a wonderful place to work, but our workroom sucked as an escape pod. I am going to get a bath and watch some television. Let me know when you are ready to go."

I hung up the phone, but lifted the receiver again to call the front desk. Hearing them say that there was no problem with finding them a room, and that they had no problems handling any payments later, eased my conscious. As I hung up the phone this time, I spoke to Mary.

"Just a busy night. Still, nothing else that we can do. I am going to try and get some more sleep."

She replied, "The Kayla came home loaded with people. Mommy however had this hotel reserve a couple of rooms for your other people." She then softly said, "The one that called is named Linda?"

I had Mary sit down on the bed with me, then I spoke of the people who had worked on FER-RON with me. I then spoke of Rudy and his importance in the development of Dr. Beyonce's technology. Mary did indicate that she knew a lot of what I told her, but she asked questions to have me speak of my perspectives on the basic data. I then heard her speak of the people who had imprisoned her, and a number of the things they either did, or tried to do, to her. I believe that we both wanted to speak of my memories, but I felt it best for the girl to have her relate some of things in the back of her mind. Finally, we both agreed that a few more hours of sleep would help us, so went back to bed.

TimeSaga: The Development, the first 12 stories edited, is now available on Kindle.

Other Possibilities Arise
TimeSaga: The Advance Story Four
Chapter Four

It took me by surprise to have Mary tap me on the arm. Again I found myself informed that she had noticed a phone call for me. This time however I was enjoying breakfast with my team. They all went quiet as one of the hotel workers brought a phone to me. It did not surprise me to hear the voice of Rudy.

"Hello, Queen Debra. I am on my way, but will not be there until tomorrow. I have crossed most of the Mediterranean by now, but still need to go out into the ocean and up the coast. Are you all right?"

"I am with my team right now. They all seem to be okay. I am taking us shopping for clothes in a little while."

"Sounds like fun. Listen, buy what you need, but don't overdo it. All of you are going back out. Basically, I am coming to assure that FER-RON is not having trouble. With my okay, a charter plane will take all of you, the mercenaries that were with you, and Roy back to India."

I could not say how happy I was to hear that, but to assure that my group heard a certain plan with the right attitude I tried a joke. "Well, this time the captain of the ship should not be harassing me to get FER-RON into operation."

Rudy did sound like he chuckled, but he quickly put things back on business. "Listen, this time you need to be making notes about a production model of FER-RON. We need you and your team to be evaluating what about FER-RON is necessary and what functions can be left out."

"I will let them know."

"All right. Well, enjoy the day. This evening I will hopefully have an ETA for you. Never can trust the weather."

After setting the phone on the table, I told the group about what I had heard. There were mixed opinions about returning to space, but all spoke of wanting time to actually see FER-RON in action. As the waiter came for the phone, Mary softly asked a question.

"Debra, can I go?"

"Rudy might have other plans for you, but I believe you mother told you to stay with me."

She beamed a smile while saying that was enjoying being with me. As the others spoke of having her in our company, we turned hearing some heavy clanks, and waved as the mercenaries showed up to eat. They mentioned receiving a call from a Dr. Floyd Kuliak about going back out into space. I spoke of my own phone call with Rudy, and the mercenaries sat down with us as we speculated what we would be involved in this time.

I ended up basically just buying my team jeans and tee shirts. Everyone had their own idea of fashion, but I did not want to get involved in authorizing a lot of customized purchases. I made certain that we all had a good pair of shoes, some comfortable underwear, basic toiletries, a limited amount of other personal products, then some standard comfortable clothing that would not be a problem in the limited comfort of space. Those that complained I informed that once dressed in clean clothes they could return to shopping in order to spend their own money.

Returning to the hotel, I was like the others in wanting to change into some of the new clothes. After another bath, I felt a lot better even though in just jeans and a tee shirt. As I spoke to FER-RON to check her personality routines, Mary took a bath speaking of never having worn jeans and a tee shirt. As she came out speaking of her new clothes, the phone rang.

After speaking a greeting, I heard a voice say, "Queen Debra, this is Charcoal. Are you busy at the moment?"

"Well, I am checking the personality routines of FER-RON. Actually, it would not hurt having something to talk about."

He seemed pleased with the implied invitation. "Good. Listen, Perry will be with me. He says that he gave one of my experimental weapons to Mary. Did she use it?"

"Yes. Cannot say it was the best weapon, but it did hurt the korlocks. Do you want to talk with Mary about it?"

"Yes, but do you mind if we come to your room? Hear you have a spacious suite. We have a nice room, but it is a little tight with a cot between two beds."

While I had felt that I implied such in my earlier invitation, I looked to Mary in case she had a problem with the men coming over. As I suspected, she indicated that she had been listening by nodding. I smiled, saw Mary smile, then answered Charcoal.

"Come on. Really do not have anything else to do until Rudy gets here."

When they showed up, Lenny was with them. Since he was a fellow programmer, I actually had no problems with him joining the informal meeting. For someone that proved his capabilities by battling robots, he had a rather shy and nervous personality. What I liked about him was that his code would work with the present tolerances of the situation and determine the best actions to take. Lenny could come out of his shell to present what his routines would have FER-RON do and why, and I found myself pleased to have him on my team.

He and Charcoal went into a lengthy debate over the capabilities of FER-RON. The mercenary leader had an extensive knowledge of Perry, who had proven himself in a multitude of situations. Lenny had debated things of FER-RON with me numerous times, so presented his views to Charcoal with confidence.

I suddenly felt my head spinning. I sought to push my hands down into the bed to try and support my body while I thought about what could be happening. Considering everything that had happened, I allowed that some stress was now revealing itself. I however knew that something strange had occurred when I suddenly fell to the floor.

It shocked me to not only see some strange architecture around me, but to hear an unexpected voice. "Whoa! What is this? A cyborg? Debra? Debra, is that you?"

My work with Dr. Beyonce had allowed me to meet Roy B2. Before I spoke to him, I however had to look around to see if anyone else was with me. The cyborg he had mentioned was Perry. I also saw Mary. Wondering about the situation, I felt it best to assure Roy of my identity.

"Yes, I am Debra. That is Perry, and that is Mary."

"Mary? Mary Worsheim? Oh, wow! You look a little like Sally."

The girl replied, "Sally? Oh, my dead sister. You must be Roy B2."

The boy went up to meet the girl as he introduced himself, "You can just call me Roy."

Perry interrupted the meeting to ask, "Can anyone tell me where we are and how we got here?"

I tried to answer, "Not how we got here. I would hope this is Sapprello."

I turned with the rest attempting to find the source of what sounded like giggling. A blue mist came around us, but it rose from the ground and did not move as if pouring from a specific location. I thus turned to assure that my companions were not being harmed.

"No, no, not Sapprello," the giggling voice said. "You're on your world. It might not seem like it, but it is. This is your world."

It was Perry that asked, "How did you bring us here?"

"How? How? This technology is fantastic. It really is. Now watch. There is a reason. There is a reason."

The voice faded with the final words. The mist also went away. The structures around us became more clear and substantial. The odd architecture did not make sense to me, but I tried to rationalize the facts I had heard from the voice along with what I saw.

Perry asked, "Could this be somewhere in the past?"

Mary answered, "No. This is Turkey. They have modern transmission lines. I can sense them. The RayWeight building is in that direction, and Daddy is there."

"What? He's dead, Mary."

She began moving while saying, "This must be in the past, or he might still be alive."

Roy replied, "I was at his funeral, Mary. I saw his body."

"I wish I could have been, but they would not let me."

I heard the sound of Perry's heavy footsteps as he said, "I guess that is as good of a destination as any. Wait!"

We stopped looking to the cyborg as if wondering what he had noticed. I believe it was Roy that picked up the sounds first. Hearing the sound of marching feet, I agreed with the others to get out of the middle of the road. We all watched as a group of uniformed korlocks came marching down the streets. They appeared as smaller versions of the more humanoid aliens wearing similar uniforms and carrying weapons. I however noticed that they did not appear as the slightly insubstantial forms I had seen them as, but as physical people. While their physiques were strange to me, I looked at their different builds and faces wondering what type of personalities they had.

While we tried to find places in the strange surroundings to hide, the marching korlocks did not act as if they noticed us or anything else. Thinking of Turkey, I tried to make correlations between what I saw and what I suspected the location on Earth to look like. I was about ask a question, but heard the voice of Mary speak of also finding the situation strange.

"There are supposed to be cars on the road, not a marching army."

Roy replied, "We were on the road, Mary. If there were cars, I did not see them."

Perry added, "Luckily, they did not physically strike us either." He then asked, "Could this be a dream?"

I said, "I believe I will be contacting each of you to ask that question." I then looked at who was with me, then asked, "Roy, what are you doing here? Perry and Mary were in the room with me."

"I don't know," he answered. "I was with Rudy going over the equipment to help you test FER-RON."

"Yes, and we had gathered to speak with each other, but also I wanted the conversation to help test FER-RON."

We stopped to look at each other. I believe we were all hoping that one of us could come up with some reason for us to be where we were. While there did seem to be some connection, an actual reason for our situation did not come to my mind.

Suddenly, the blue mist again started coming up from the ground and I heard the voice say, "Aren't you scared, scared, scared? You should be. There is not enough here to make you feel comfortable. Not comfortable at all. You should be scared."

Mary said, "Charcoal was going to check the weapon Perry gave me, so I have it."

Perry replied, "Yes, and just to assure the comparative strengths of weapons I had brought mine."

Roy pulled two pistols from holsters and twirled them on his fingers while saying, "I just like my guns."

I had to admit, "The weapon Linda made for me uses our time storage system, so it is held here with this wristband."

Perry concluded, "While I would suggest caution, I don't think we need to truly be afraid."

The voice ranted, "Oh, you fools. You fools, you fools, you fools. I did not bring you here to learn, but to be scared, scared, scared."

I replied, "I don't believe you know us humans too well. When backed into a corner without other options, we fight."

"Then let me give you something to fight against!"

TimeSaga: The Development, the first 12 stories edited, is now available on Kindle.

Other Possibilities Arise
TimeSaga: The Advance Story Four
Chapter Five

We paused to wait for whatever the voice would send upon us. After a few moments we just shrugged our shoulders, then decided to move on. We whispered concerns of getting into fights we could avoid, so advanced cautiously. Other groups of korlocks were seen standing at attention. We all paused while looking at the aliens, which in my case was to see some sign of humanity. I wanted to see heads come close together in a sign of them trading private comments, maybe jokes. There was a hope one would take out a cigarette and begin smoking it. While the forms did not stand rigid as if manikins, neither did they give any indication of being actual living people. I felt that killing them would only remove their presence from whatever simulation we were presently immersed in, but just in case they were actual professionals acting under orders, I felt it wise for us to continue to move in a fashion that would not have the korlock soldiers come upon us.

When Mary touched Perry and whispered for him to stop, we all came to a halt. Hearing her say something was coming only had us ask her what it was. She spoke of not knowing, but pointed to the korlock soldiers. I could tell that something was agitating them. I however felt more certain they were computer simulations, and not real people also immersed in this strange unreal setting, when the soldiers marched to the middle of the street then as a unit broke into a run. The actions just appeared too scripted and not what any real set of individuals would do. We whispered questions among ourselves about also fleeing, but we all stayed in our place probably thinking that if our location had not alerted the korlocks then whatever was coming would not notice us either.

The heavy footsteps caught our attention. I believe having the sound of something crushing the roof of a vehicle really put us on alert. Perry's mechanical body could be rather noisy as it moved. Whatever was coming had at least the weight of the cyborg, but not the mechanical composition. Wondering about what was coming, we kept lifting our heads from our secluded position even as we heard the heavy footsteps get very close.

What came into view at first appeared as a tyrannosaurus rex. The size along with massive sturdy legs and a great strong head definitely had me think of that animal from my planet's distant past. Seeing the flailing lengths of tentacles coming from its back however broke the association with the ancient dinosaur.

It rushed upon our position as if fully aware of our location. Perry stood to point his major weapon, I doubt that he truly bothered to aim at such a large target, before firing it. At the beast reacted to the pain from the blast, the rest of us scattered while preparing our own weapons. Roy firing his pistols appeared as effective as those in monster movies attempting to harm something big and bad with something small and personal. Mary's device clearly made a noise indicating that it was attacking with sound, but with this opponent not being the semi-solid form of the korlocks we had faced I doubted that it caused any harm. Wondering just how effective my device would be against this threat, I felt its weight upon my arm as I brought it into existence, charged it, then pushed the button to have it activate. The monster turned to me in a manner indicating that it was fully aware of me being able to inflict damage.

The creature turning to me gave Perry time to rearm his weapon. I honestly did not know how my device suddenly became so powerful, but I did not pause to question the matter. I simply had it begin to recharge. Before the creature could get to me, Perry again blasted it with his weapon at the same time I activated my own.

As it had been coming to me, I had to rush away as its momentum sent the body to the ground in my direction. Roy raced to me while holstering his pistols. I believe Mary continued to fire at it only to get a close view of whether the creature took damage from her sonic device. Perry could not come to me, but I heard him speak from the other side of the large body.

"All you all right?"

"Yes," I replied. "I am going to have to let Linda know that her device is proving itself."

"Your weapon did seem to hurt it more than mine."

"Hell, yes!" Roy said coming to my side. "That was cool! Was that RayWeight technology?"

"Not exactly," I answered, "as neither me nor my people actually work for RayWeight. We work for Dr. Beyonce, but not as employees of RayWeight."

Perry broke us out of cheerful chatter by commanding, "Come on, we need to move on."

None of us argued with him. I honestly had the hope something would cause me to wake from this dream, and I felt that finishing whatever was being shown to me would go ahead and reveal itself would allow me to return to the real world. I thus did not speak against Perry, but set myself to again heading in what seemed to be the proper direction.

The mist became very thick. I heard the others mentioning sensing things were changing. To me the mist and wavering surroundings just verified that I was in a dream. I however became concerned when Mary mentioned something she now detected.

"It's Daddy!"

I considered Mary and her father important to me. As I had said, I did not work for RayWeight, but directly for Dr. Beyonce. I thus knew about Mary, whose biological part was Dr. Beyonce's daughter, and Joseph Worsheim, who was Dr. Beyonce's husband. As a direct employee of her, we did speak. Considering she had knowledge of my relationship with Jimmy, Dr. Beyonce had also shared things about her own relationships. I thus knew what I considered intimate details of Mary and Joseph Worsheim, and considering them part of the family that assured my livelihood I felt it important to move ahead.

I had never been to Turkey, but I had seen pictures of the RayWeight building there. It was where Dr. Beyonce started her public work in changing people's chromosomes by affecting the moment just before conception. I knew that once she moved to Australia that it was left vacant, except for a medical clinic, until Dr. Beyonce's husband, Joseph Worsheim, began operating the facility. From the mist I now saw the RayWeight building in Turkey, and from the voice of Mary understood that her father was on the roof.

"AH, MARY! LISTEN TO ME! I'm your father, Mary! Focus on my voice. All that noise is not important, but there are things that are! Focus on those, Mary! Focus on those!"

Next to me, Mary screamed, "I'M LISTENING FATHER!" She then turned to us to say, "I did listen to him. That was how I learned to handle all the information." She then began to weep while saying, "I miss his voice."

In looking to her, I saw the figure of a man in a suit approach the building, then yell up to the one on the roof. "How is your little girl coming, Dr. Worsheim? Is she listening to you?"

Joseph looked down and replied to the man, "Albert, I believe she is. Why –"

He stopped speaking to suddenly look around him. Albert also began looking around. Although the surroundings were still very hazy, I saw movement that I recognized. Memories of that evening surfaced in my mind. That night I was worried about FER-RON, although became glad when she returned to her container with me then able to put her out of commission. Others had not been, and I learned of Sally being killed by Al, then of Joseph Worsheim being killed as well. With the thought of Mary seeing the death of her father, I looked around for some method of affecting what was happening.

When Mary shouted, "We have to go!" I could not help but respond with, "Where?"

She looked at me to say, "Inside the building!"

Just then the man called Albert stuck his head back out the door to command, "Take him out. There is no one to challenge us."

Mary screamed, "NO!" even before a shot rang out.

She grabbed one of Perry's legs and started crying even as the body of her father landed in front of us. I did what I could to memorize faces. It did not help me when the one called Albert started pulling his hat low on his face while saying something to another.

"Put on a mask or consider yourself expendable."

Roy moved with me to advance to the building, but suddenly it became just another cloud of mist. He cursed, but I found myself wondering what was happening. Perry still had Mary on his leg, so only looked around while asking a question about what had gone to mist.

"Did we just witness the actual death of Dr. Worsheim?"

Mary was still crying, but Roy said, "Yeah, I believe so."

The girl lifted her head to say, "Daddy warned me about this. He told me that I would learn things that needed to be told to others, but that I had no way to convince them."

I replied, "Maybe you do. Mary, I was working on checking FER-RON when this started. Can you detect her?" When I saw her begin to shake her head, I added, "She should have time associated technology, so I would suspect that she might register as a korlock."

She did pause, but as I again saw a side-to-side motion she suddenly gasped with surprise before saying, "YES! She is looking for us! She just switched to a weapon. I think she sees us."

That did not sound like a desired combination of sentences, but I looked at an object on one of my wrists as I said, "Keep informing me of what happens."

I activated my weapon trusting in the sensors of my robot. While I was making myself a threat, it was with a weapon FER-RON should know very well. It had been built using the same technology that enabled her to switch out parts of her body, and I tested her while using the weapon. I knew from experience that FER-RON could detect korlocks when their bodies changed phases due to something in the time-stream that was affected by the process. My device also made a change in the present reality, but I trusted my robot to recognize my device as something different than a korlock.

Mary said, "She is telling you to fire the weapon. Aim high."

Luckily she pointed. To assure that I would not hurt anyone, I did my best to match the direction while setting a low power level. When Mary nodded with where I pointed my device, I shot off a burst.

Suddenly, I saw a hand of my robot reach to me. I deactivated my device so I could reach back to the others with one hand while grabbing that of FER-RON with the other. I guess Perry and Roy were watching and knew to respond, because when I felt the pull from my robot I found a strong tug as my companions were pulled as well.

The sight of the hotel room would have been something special, except that a maniacal cackling laughter was heard for a time. Before I answered any questions from those around me, I however asked to use the phone in the room. Charcoal however handed me his phone, and I punched the numbers to speak to my boss. I had my robot and Mary to verify the presence cackling with laughter, so I put my attention on assuring some oversight to our activities.

TimeSaga: The Development, the first 12 stories edited, is now available on Kindle.

Other Possibilities Arise
TimeSaga: The Advance Story Four
Chapter Six

The voice of Dr. Beyonce over the phone said, "Debra, I hate to say it but the best people involved are right there. Roy is an acting agent of the Solomon Foundation. You are my representative with a highly advanced prototype built for these specific matters. The only major player not involved is Zychi, and that is probably for the best. Still, Rudy is to have you head back to India, so they might make their presence known as well."

I replied, "I can take care of FER-RON, but I am not aware of who might feel that I am stepping on peoples' toes."

"Listen, I already told you to treat Mary as if she is your superior. Honestly, you can do the same with Roy. He really is not your boss, but he will have authority over the next vessel you travel upon. Thank you for keeping me informed, but don't let yourself get bogged down waiting on me. You have enough authority, and are with people who can give you even more authority."

"It's just scary."

Dr. Beyonce laughed, then said, "Good. The technology we are playing with is scary. Think of that robot you are responsible for, then who those people are that are in the room with you. You are in the middle of a very scary situation, Debra. However, you have handled it from the start. From back when Jimmy was telling you what you would need to do to gain the position you have, you took to the challenge. Debra, I could not believe that FER-RON or Mary are in better hands."

I thanked Dr. Beyonce, then as I ended that phone call and began punching another set of numbers Mary whispered to me, "I agree with Mommy."

"Thanks," I replied before having another number dialed.

A voice that I did not recognize said, "We are in a situation here, please –"

"I am Queen Debra. Get Dr. Rudy on the phone – NOW!"

I heard some talk, then the voice I wanted to hear said, "Debra, we just had Roy disappear."

"He is with me. We had a situation. I however have Mary, who should be able to relate some things. I also have FER-RON who probably can verify things, but I need instruments for that."

"Hold it, Queen Debra. You said that Roy is with you?"

I figured that would be one piece of data that he would be highly interested in. "That's right."

"How about Al?"

I thought about the cackling, then dismissed it as it did not really sound like a young boy. "That is one trouble I cannot say that we have encountered. However, what we did was strange, and I would like to see if I can make some sense of it."

"The same here. Listen, get breakfast in the morning, then head down to a marina. Let me know which one, and I should be there within the hour. If the night goes well, I might have a message for you telling you which marina I am at." He then asked, "Enjoy some time shopping?"

The question had me pause, but then seeing what I was wearing I answered, "Good enough. I would hope that they recover my room from the Rhinemaiden, but since there are no people in it I suspect that it will not have any priority to those rushing to the remains of the ship. I guess that I will slowly repurchase a wardrobe."

"Talk to Roy about that. He will be in charge of your next space ship."

I looked at the lad while saying, "Dr. Beyonce mentioned that as well. I guess that I need to speak with him. Anyway, I have a robot that I need to check out, so need some equipment."

"I promise you, Queen Debra, that I am coming. Being the one that designed the mechanics behind Leanna’s technology, I can help you with FER-RON. Sounds like you are where things are happening, so doing my best to get there. Now, be ready for when I get here."

After returning the phone to Charcoal, I asked Roy about his space ship. He spoke of it as being really wonderful, although admitted that it was still being put together when he left with Rudy. We sat and spoke with the mercenaries about going back out on a larger and better designed vessel. Roy said that the name of his space ship would be the Roland, and would be a wonderful craft to promote the expansion of mankind to new worlds.

The next day I had my entire team at the docks along with the others involved with me. Rudy did indeed have the necessary equipment for working with FER-RON. Considering what had happened to us, there were a number of others who personally had a line patched to the yacht so they could be aware of the data stored. I managed the connection to where the files were stored in my robot. Some I simply moved to where I could review it later, but as interested as the others I went ahead and loaded certain video files for immediate viewing.

Rudy made notes in seeing the moments where we were absorbed into the alternate reality. He spoke with assurance that we had not passed through a Rothman Tube, but was uncertain about what had happened to us. Seeing how FER-RON had used the energy pattern of my weapon to reach in and retrieve us really intrigued Rudy as to what had happened to us.

He continued to write even as he said, "What you are describing is some type of alternate reality set up as a simulation."

I replied, "That was my impression as well. Mary, did you detect anything that could explain what was happening?"

She did her best to answer, "I really could not make anything out. I could detect things coming into existence, or being set up, outside what I could visualize. Exactly how they were being created, or sent upon us, I cannot say." She was quiet for a moment, then added, "Daddy said that I was just going to have to learn some things in order to describe things better."

Those final words had us change the subject to our witness of the supposed events of the death of Joseph Worsheim. Rudy was able to pull up videos from the RayWeight security cameras of that night that actually helped verify what we saw. When I mentioned the identification of Albert Kalosky, who I knew from the discussions with Dr. Beyonce about those that possibly had Mary, Rudy spoke of his own beliefs.

"He was always a suspect, as he was responsible for the Annapolis Series, which we all knew was based on Mary. This however still does not give us enough to convict him."

Roy said, "Well, those already on Mission have not spoken of anything like this."

Perry supported him by saying, "Yes. You would think they would be the ones contacted by the korlocks."

Rudy commented, "Well, we have yet to determine the status of Mission. For us it is the first planet with an environment like ours. For the korlocks it could be a distant outpost. There is a lot we have yet to learn."

With all of us gathered around along with things enabling us to set our minds at peace, we talked through our tales. Perry mentioned his rescue of Mary. Having FER-RON where I could access her data files, I spoke of my own activities checking my memories against the records of the events. We talked for a long time with the recordings we viewed helping to bring out further emotional comments and not just a period of dry information.

Linda just grinned hearing my report of how well the weapon worked. She gave credit to others for perfecting the technology, but only claimed to have put together the various components to make the toy she presented to me. I believe that was when my group separated from the others, because we started dissecting the workings of my weapon and how to improve it and possibly mass produce it.

It seemed that Rudy went with the mercenaries to give them advice on Perry. He really was not built with time-accessing technology, although certain components took advantage of the benefits supplied by that line of research. When I contacted Rudy about what we had concluded with my weapon, I found Charcoal to interject comments into the discussion.

We ended the day testing a number of weapon designs. Not only were improvements to my device tested, but Mary's wand and some arms built by Charcoal. Roy's pistols were considered antique technology compared to what we used, but some ideas were put forth to make his weapons adaptable to harming korlocks.

There was a chartered plane to take us back to India. When we finally finished playing with the weapons and spoke of returning to the hotel, Rudy told us that our luggage had been taken to the airport. Agreeing that we could sleep while in the air, we called for taxis to take us to our plane.

While the data files of FER-RON had been examined, I wanted time to go over the programming. While she operated wonderfully, I felt a need to go through certain routines and see just how close certain situations came to upsetting the smooth paths of logic. I however found my head slumping over, and while wiping my eyes realized just how active of a day I had. I however felt a need to just highlight things in the log file that I felt indicated places where FER-RON's performance might be improved.

"You did well, Debra. Instigator tried to upset you, but you supported each other in ways that most of our kind did not."

I wanted to lift myself up to determine what the others were doing. Having the young form of Shame present next to me I felt should be noticed. I however simply lifted the volume of my voice as I replied.

"I believe that they did upset us, but we knew it was not real. In coming out of the false reality, we were all determined to check our memories against what records we could find." Wondering how much Shame knew, I added, "What we could verify of our time in the false reality did check out. Are you able to send us back in time?"

"No, but that was the desire. We sought ways of going into the past and correcting events. Your technology only plays with moments, but you are doing wonderful things. You however are still following enough of our path to enable associations. Our path led to ruin, so I recommend that you continue to support each other and not fall prey to what tests are presented to you."

Thinking of my future of going back into space, I decided to ask, "Are we alone? Are all that remains of your people ghosts and monsters?"

"I hope not, but I do not know of them. Even if any do survive, they are of our past and know of our technology. You will need to have other answers to bring them into your future. That is why I am not fighting the others. You will need to face them. Only if they can be overcome can your people hope to have a future."

She appeared to fade, but I felt that I needed to ask one more question. "Wait! Shame, please, why don't you know of us? There was one of your devices on our world. You should have known of us."

"I cannot say. I feel that by the time we contacted your world, we were coming to realize just how corrupt we had become. We were probably hoping you had answers then, and closed the connection in learning that you did not. That is my hope now. I am hoping that your people have learned the lessons we should have. Maybe, just maybe, what little contact we had with your people was enough to change your history for something better."

TimeSaga: The Development, the first 12 stories edited, is now available on Kindle.