The Confrontation
“Janet, what on earth are you doing way out here?” Paul said, noticing for the first time since they had met that Janet was actually attractive.
“I wanted to talk to you so I followed your chip transmissions here. What are you doing out here in the middle of nowhere all alone, Paul?”
“You followed my chip? How is that possible? I know we all have one, but following someone’s signal just to chat? It really doesn’t seem right!” spat Paul. “And what’s with the fancy clothes? You look like you’re going dancing or something.”
Janet, having just been crushed by Paul’s reaction, didn’t know how to respond at first. But as she stood there, she got angrier and angrier. She came all the way out here to save him from whatever perils he had gotten himself into in this junkyard and he had the nerve to be angry with her! What had she been thinking? Obviously, he was just a miserable man and she would have been better off staying home this evening.
Finally, she said “You shouldn’t be out here all by yourself, Paul. It certainly seems dangerous and as such, possibly illegal. How’d you get here anyway? I see no vehicles nearby and I can’t imagine anyone walking all this way. I think you should just get in the car and allow me to take you back. Do try to keep out of trouble in the future.” Not being one to normally question authority, Paul reluctantly got into Janet’s hoverlimo.
As he climbed in, he couldn’t help but notice the opulence of the massive limo. He thought “Boy, she sure does know how to travel in style. This car is amazing!” This was the nicest vehicle he had ever seen, let alone actually ridden in. She didn’t even have to drive it, it actually drove itself!
He was still wondering why she came all the way out here to see him, dressed as if she were going to a party, of all things. Granted, she looked great, but why? And why come all this way and go to this trouble just to sit and look mad? He was beginning to wonder if she had some mental issues he should know about.
Janet, on the other hand most certainly was mad. She couldn’t understand Paul’s behavior at all. Couldn’t he see that she was trying to help him? After all, she was a government representative! It was her job to help civilians. And besides, he certainly should have known that she dressed up so nice for him. She couldn’t have been more obvious if she tried! He actually had the nerve to sound offended. “Maybe he has some mental issues I should know about” she thought.
Janet had no way to know what Paul was thinking because they grew up in such different worlds. Government people and civilian people simply did not mix company. She knew this, but also knew that it was not illegal, so she was in her right to pursue Paul’s attention. It never occurred to her that Paul was unaware of this.
In Janet’s world, civilization had progressed to the point that relationships were nearly extinct. There were still a few people that preferred to only date one person, but the idea of marriage was foreign. The vast majority of people simply did whatever felt right.
But, when it came to actual relationships, tradition dictated that the man wait for the advances of the woman. It had been this way for centuries. It came about to avoid the issue of sexual harassment and was universal in acceptance.
Paul had similar ideas about relationships as Janet, but their lifestyles were too different for each other to fully understand what the other thought. In Janet’s world, she should be out at a party tonight and now she had wasted half of the evening traipsing all over the place looking for someone who apparently had no desire to see her. But in Paul’s world, it was quite different. Parties happened, but only on rare occasions. People had fun and went out on the town, but often times they stayed home. In Janet’s world, people thought there was something wrong with you if you just stayed home.
As she sat there brooding. Janet was trying to think of a way to salvage her evening. Paul obviously was breaking some law; she was simply unaware of which one. However, if she were to have any enjoyment tonight, she had better just let him go his own way with a stern warning. “Paul, I’m not sure which laws you have broken today, but I am willing to overlook them if you promise to restrain yourself from these crazy ideas you’ve been having lately. I’ve wasted enough time today and just want to relax.” Paul very wisely decided to take a page out of Jack’s book and just say nothing.
Janet had the limo detour to Paul’s address in order to drop him off. When they entered his apartment complex, she noticed for the first time ever that civilians lived much differently than she did. For all she knew, she was the only government representative who had ever taken notice of this. However, before she could say anything, the car stopped and Paul got out very quickly, as if he didn’t want to be seen with her. Instantly mad again, she had the car drive off.
~***~
Back at Freedom Base, Jack and Suzie were discussing what just happened. Jack was greatly disturbed by the government coming to collect Paul. He had Suzie searching the web for any information about him. Assuming he had been arrested despite the fancy clothes Janet was wearing, he feared the worse. Contemplating what to do, he was greatly surprised to hear Suzie say “Jack, Paul is calling.”
“Paul! What just happened? I’ve been worried sick thinking you were just arrested!”
“It was the weirdest thing” said Paul. He then proceeded to fill Jack in on what was said during the ride home. When he got to the end of his story, Jack began laughing. He laughed so hard he actually fell out of his chair! Paul naturally had no idea what was so funny and in an indignant voice said “I fail to see the humor in this situation.”
This just made Jack laugh that much harder. Finally, he said “Paul, you may not believe me, but I think Janet likes you.”
“She likes me? She makes my life miserable! She’s always butting in and doing things for ‘my own good’. I wish she would just leave me alone!”
Still trying to gain control of his mirth, Jack said “Maybe that’s just her way of trying to tell you she is interested.”
“But she’s a government worker, I’m a civilian. The two never mix. You must be wrong” said Paul. “However, some good news did come out of all this. She said she followed my signal and that I was out here all alone. Obviously, she had no way of detecting you.”
“That is what I’ve been trying to tell you. I am not from this time. I was born more than a thousand years ago!”
“As crazy as it sounds, I’m beginning to believe you.”
“But it also throws another ‘wrench’ into the gears, so to speak. If she can follow you that closely, how will we ever get to the dig site again?” Neither man had an answer for that and decided to sleep on it and get back together in the morning. Maybe something will present itself by then.
~***~
The next morning brought them no closer to an answer. However, Suzie had been busy all night researching the law regarding where you could and could not go as well as the rules about government officials following you and forcibly returning you to your home.
What she discovered was that the freedom to move about the countryside unmolested by the government still remained a ‘right’, but you needed to have a form filled out and stamped, much like a passport in Jack’s day. She obtained the forms, downloaded them and waited for Jack to awaken. As usual, Jack was grumpy until he had his coffee. However, once properly caffeinated, he was ready to face the day.
Suzie knew him well enough to remain ‘gone’ until he was ready. But once he was midway through his third cup of his morning elixir, she presented him with the research she had performed. Pointing to an old fashioned monitor which had the forms displayed, she said “Jack, I think all we need to do is have these forms filled out and signed by a government official and we will be free to undertake our journey.”
Jack reviewed the forms and eventually said “It doesn’t look like a particular destination is needed, just a specific time frame. That is good news, indeed. Fill them out, if you will, and I’ll talk to Paul.”
“No problem, Jack! I live to serve and obey” she said with a sly grin. She and Jack played these mind games all the time and she thoroughly enjoyed them. As they waited for Paul to answer, the printer began spitting out pages of official looking documents.
“Paul, good morning!” said Jack.
“I don’t know what’s so good about it” replied Paul.
“Suzie may have found an answer to our little dilemma. Apparently, there are a bunch of forms that you can get signed that will allow us to roam freely with no questions. Now, if we encounter someone while on our mission, we will have everything in place.”
“That is great news, Jack” said Paul. “Our next official expedition isn’t scheduled for a while and I have a bunch of personal hours built up, so we can slip away for a few weeks, if we have to.”
“I’ll come by with the forms in a bit and we’ll see what happens.”
“Okay, see you then” Paul said with a feeling of adventure. He hadn’t felt this good about a pending mission in some time. Still, they would have to be careful, especially if they encountered Janet again.
Paul made his way to the gate and by the time he meandered through the day’s foot traffic, Jack was just arriving. Jack parked his hovercraft in his usual hiding place about a half kilometer from the gate, well hidden from casual view and entered the gate on foot. He showed the forms to Paul and asked “Do you have any idea which particular government representative we need to sign these forms for us?
“Not really, but I’m sure it won’t be the first one we encounter. Probably not the second one either. It could very well be a long day.” However, for a nice change, Paul was wrong about the difficulties they would have. They arrived at the nearest government facility and found a low level flunky that seemed very full of himself indeed, to the point that he could not bear the thought of passing them to someone else. He merely signed each document where indicated, stamped them all, signed, then initialed each stamp, before finally issuing each man a card that they were to keep with them at all times when outside the gate.
Jack noted when inspecting his that it actually said nothing, but took many words to achieve that feat. Smiling as he looked around, he said “I suggest we return to my place and get ourselves ready. The sooner we go, the better, if you ask me.”
“For once I agree completely.”