Lens of Time (8 page)

“That’s not entirely true. We do want to believe you, but you’ve done nothing to convince us you’re any different from the thousands of others that came before you. It is also necessary that we kill you.”

The Operator said, “May I ask this being a question?”

The Leader looked at him and everyone saw him frown. “Go ahead.”

Jeff turned to RV and said, “I noticed you have feelings for another when I first met you. What is your biggest fear at this moment?”

RV thought about Cyanna and saw her face in his mind. He saw her coming out of the waves on their honeymoon and the feeling of her next to him on the beach chair. He thought about her smile and he was heartbroken that he was not coming back to her. He knew what it was going to do to her and he wished to his soul that he could spare her the misery he knew she was going to have. His misery would end quickly but she was going to have to live with her sorrow.

The Operator watched the Council listen to the thoughts of the Human and said, “I only have one more question.” The Council Leader looked at him and nodded. “Where have you seen an emotion like this being is now having about losing the one he cherishes more than life?”

The Operator stepped back and lowered his head.

The Council was silent. RV waited for his execution and after ten minutes he looked at the council. He said, “There is nothing I can say that others haven’t said to you in the past. I am sorry that I am inadequate to make you know we would never break our promise.” RV lowered his head and waited.

The Council Leader looked at the other councilors. Nothing was said. He turned and said, “We accept your promise and we will ally our people with yours.”

RV looked up confused as the Leader looked at the Operator, “You will join us on the Council. Your wisdom throughout this event has been extraordinary and you have allowed us to see what we would have missed. We thank you.” The Operator nodded and turned to RV.

RV said, “What just happened?”

“Of the thousands that came here to make their promises, everyone was frightened for their welfare. You are frightened for others ahead of yourself. That emotion cannot be taught or learned. Either a species has it or they don’t. If you have it, you are capable of placing another’s welfare ahead of your own. You’ve demonstrated that you are worthy of trust.”

RV looked at the leaders and they saw his determination. “We will never desert you in an hour of need.” RV reached in his pocket and said, “This will deactivate the sensor buoy and bring it into normal space. It is yours to copy and use as you deem best. It is untraceable and encrypted.”

The Leader of the Council said, “We will send a representative to work out how we want to move forward with this alliance.”

RV bowed and said, “Thank you.” The Leader smiled and looked at the Operator.

The Operator turned to RV and said, “You may go back to the one you love. I’m going to do the same after you leave. Your thoughts have reminded me how much she means to me.”

RV stuck out his hand and after a moment, Jeff shook it. Every member of the Council felt the bond between the two very different beings. They all wanted to go home to their mates. Like Jeff remembered, sometimes the ones that are the most important are forgotten.

• • •

RV jumped back to the Havana and found Cyanna waiting on him. She rushed through the shuttle’s opening port and jumped into his arms. She tried hard not to cry but her tears would not be denied. “Shhhh, it’s alright.”

“Please tell me you weren’t in any danger.”

RV stroked her hair and held her close. He softly said, “You were there with me and that made all the difference.”

Later when RV gave George his report on what happened, she felt her heart skip a beat when he related that they knew the location of their new worlds. George said, “Are you sure we can trust them?”

RV slowly nodded and said, “It’s a remarkable thing that the civilizations that are telepathic are the ones that can be trusted the most. Deception is just not part of their society. I honestly feel we should share our technology with them.”

“Aren’t they already ahead of us in most areas?”

“They are, especially in force field development, but they don’t have beams as powerful as the ultra. We need to give it to them.”

“RV, this is a critical decision. If they have it, they will be able to defeat any of our ships.”

“They can do that now. I’m more concerned about the other advanced civilizations among the Majors and the other sector. We need to assist them.”

George ran his hand through his hair and said, “Do what you need to do.”

• • •

RV opened the frequency and said, “Is the being named Jeff available for a conversation?”

“Stand by.”

After six minutes RV heard, “Hello my friend. What prompts this contact?”

“I have discussed our new agreement with my leaders and we’ve decided to share our beam weapon with you.”

“Our beams are quite powerful and are adequate.”

“We’ve measured the power of your beams and they are not as strong as the one we have on our ships.”

Jeff stared at RV and said, “Just how much more power does your beam have compared to ours?”

“Ours are ten times more powerful.”

Jeff stared at RV on the display and finally said, “I find that difficult to believe.”

“I’m going to give you some coordinates. If you will bring a ship I will be more than happy to demonstrate the difference. If you could bring a target with you, it would make the demonstration more effective.”

“Give me a moment.” Jeff disappeared from the display and twenty minutes later reappeared, “I will be coming with two ships. One of them will be the target. May I also bring the Leader of the Council?”

“By all means.”

• • •

Two hours later the Havana saw two large orange ships break into normal space. One of them was a new model that had not appeared in the previous chase of the attack craft. RV saw Jeff appear on his display, “We’ve brought our newest battleship. We’ve kept this ship a secret as it has our most powerful force field.”

“I really don’t want to damage your ship, Jeff.”

“We honestly don’t think you can. We’re willing to risk that damage to demonstrate the superiority of our technology.”

RV smiled and Jeff saw something in his expression, “You really think you can penetrate the force field?”

RV said, “Let’s do it this way. Move the ship fifty miles away and we’ll start the beam at seventy percent and gradually increase the power. We’ll target a section of the force field above the ship so that we don’t hit the ship.”

The Leader of the Council appeared on the display beside Jeff and said, “Are you capable of targeting that small an area from that range?”

“You could actually move it to a hundred miles but I feel safer doing it this way.”

RV saw them look at each other showing doubt but the new battle ship moved away and took station fifty miles away. Jeff said, “You may begin the demonstration.”

RV said, “Dolly, are you ready?”

“I am. I’m going to hit the force field out on the edge in front of the bow.”

“You may fire when ready.”

• • •

Jeff and the Council Leader had the scanners running and suddenly were blinded by the bright red beam that shot out from the white ship and hit the force field of their new Beta Battleship. It blew through the force field as if it didn’t exist.

RV appeared on their display and said, “We didn’t need to increase the power from seventy percent.”

Jeff stared at the scanner’s readings and said, “That was seventy percent!?!”

“It was. We’ve determined that we could have penetrated it at sixty percent.”

Jeff looked at the Leader and the Leader said, “And you’re going to give us this technology?”

“We are.”

“Why?”

“Because you are better able to use it against those that would attack you if they determine you have become one of our allies. They will fear you and may combine against you. This beam will help you survive their attack.”

“But you could just keep it and come to our defense.”

“We don’t have a force field as powerful as yours, so your ships would be more effective than ours. Your current beam will penetrate our ship’s defenses. I know there are other advanced civilizations in your galaxy that match up with your ships. With this beam, you should be able to defend yourself against them.”

The Council Leader started at RV on the display and said, “Some of us started second guessing our decision to ally ourselves with you. Now I see that we were right in our decision. We will leave the older ship with you. You may use it to duplicate our force field.”

“If you will send a ship to the coordinates I’m sending, we’ll have a team of scientists to provide you with a working model of the beam and answer any questions you might have.”

Jeff looked at RV on his display and said, “Your attack on our civilization may be the best thing that’s ever happened. Good fortune, my friend.”

“And to you as well.”

The display went dark and the Leader said, “You were right.”

“When there’s doubt, it’s the heart that always tells the truth.”

The Leader smiled and nodded.

Chapter Six

C
hris, Jillian, and Captain Phillips sat onboard the Ninja drinking a bottle of wine. They had already disposed of two bottles and the third was going fast. Chris raised his glass and said, “This one’s for the Harmony Federation, bless their building souls.”

Jillian said, “To Harmony.”

Phil raised his glass and said, “To Harm, Harm, Harm oh me.”

They took a drink and Jillian said, “This one’s to RV.”

Chris said, “To RV.”

Phil said, “To TV.”

Chris and Jillian looked at Phil and waited. After a moment Chris said, “It’s your turn, Phil.”

Phil raised his glass and said, “This one’s to, to, to Dolly.” They watched as Phil’s eyes crossed and his head hit the table. Jillian took the glass from his hand before he crashed and said, “These youngsters are lightweights.”

Chris finished Phil’s glass and said, “They just can’t hang.” He paused and said, “This one’s for Dolly.”

Jillian raised her glass and she slowly shook her head, “Wherever you are; we miss you Dolly.”

They tossed the drink back and Chris said, “I do miss her so much.” Jillian reached over and hugged his neck.

Suddenly Phil sat up in his chair and said, “Well if you miss her so much, go back and get her.” Phil stared straight ahead, his eyes crossed, and then his head crashed back down to the table.

Chris said, “Shouldn’t we be catching his head?”

“Nope, the bruises will be a mark of courage.”

Chris looked at Jillian and she saw his expression. He lowered his head and raised his eyebrows and Jillian said, “There’s no way we can do that?”

“How do you know?”

““You know the effect it would have on the future if we changed that event?”

“How do you know?”

“Everyone saw her die.”

“Did they?”

“Hey Socrates, how about doing something other than asking questions.”

“What did they see, Jillian?”

“They saw Jeff embrace her and then the screen went to static.”

“So you’re assuming that is when the blast hit.”

“Isn’t that what happens after a nuclear blast?” Chris stared at her and didn’t say anything. Jillian tried to think and then said, “That’s what happens after the electromagnetic pulse of a nuclear blast.”

Chris nodded. “Do we know how far away the first blast in Sydney happened?”

Jillian stared at him, “No. No one has gone back to see. The pain would be too much to bear.”

“We do know that one of the blasts was about thirty miles from the Command center and the second was right on top of it. What if the first blast was the one further away?”

Jillian was doing her best not to get excited. She said, “Calm, I must remain calm.” She took several deep breaths and said, “Let’s for the sake of just blue skiing this exercise assume the first one hit thirty miles away. How long would it take for the shock wave to arrive at the command center?”

Chris sat back and said, “There would be an initial pulling of air into the explosion but then the shockwave would rush out, stabilizing at the speed of sound.” Chris paused and thought, “Ummmm that means it would take a hundred and fifty seconds to hit the command center.”

“That’s two and a half minutes.”

“Yes but you couldn’t go before the blast happens.”

Jillian furrowed her brow, “Why not?”

“There are several reasons, but the most important is that if you’re there before it happens, the electromagnetic pulse will destroy any circuitry in your vehicle.”

“Not if the vehicle is shielded?”

“That leads to the second reason.”

“What is that?”

“Did Dolly’s death have an impact on what has taken place since?”

“You know it has. Even our capital is named after her and Jeff.”

“So if you go back and take her before she’s seen dying…”

“It will cause a parallel universe and this one will remain unchanged.”

“And whoever goes to get her will be trapped in the new universe with heaven knows what the impact might be.”

Jillian thought about the possible paradox and sighed, “Is it even safe to try?”

“I think that as long as no events are changed by taking her, it’s safe to do it.”

“I’m not sure what you mean, Chris?”

“What was the last thing Dolly did?”

“She died.”

“So if the event that was recorded isn’t changed, we can take her after that moment.”

Jillian thought about it and said, “How do we determine if we can do it?”

Phil sat up again and with glazed eyes said, “Go and see which bomb hit first.” His head started to fall again and Jillian caught it. Chris looked at her and she said, “Two bruises are enough. Besides, that was a good suggestion.”

Chris looked at Jillian and said, “We will not discuss this with anyone. You got that Phil?”

They heard a muffled voice from the surface of the table, “I’d nod but I don’t think I can raise my head again.”