“I think he is regaining conscious,” my nightmare said.
Tom, can you hear me now? I recognized Monroe’s thoughts. He must be trying to reach me on a cell phone.
“Yes, I can hear you. What happened? Where am I?”
My head felt like someone was pounding on it with a hammer.
You are in the infirmary, recovering from the crash.
“Infirmary? Crash? Oh! My! God! My teeth!” I gasped, as I remembered what had presumably happened.
I put my hand to my mouth and relaxed when I felt that my teeth were still there.
You have suffered a concussion in the accident and have been unconscious for two days, said Monroe.
An accident? What accident?
Our craft malfunctioned as we were entering the dome and we crashed. We were smart to be wearing our seatbelts.
But I saw you shoot me, I replied, confused.
Why would I shoot you?
You mean I’m not dead and you’re not an alien?
An alien? No, Tom, you are not dead. Why on earth would you think me to be an alien? I have already explained all this? You must have had a hallucination in your coma.
I had an hallucination and was in a comma? You got to be kidding me. You mean to tell me the last chapter was nothing but an hallucination? You certainly had me fooled.
Wow, what a relief. Some hallucination, I thought.
Ha, another curve ball or was it a change-up. Bet you weren’t expecting me to throw those pitches, were you? Hallucinations, nightmares and dreams. Are we getting a wee bit confused? I bet you thought for sure I was history. I know I did.
My headache quickly passed, and the futuristic healthcare had me back on my feet before you could shake a stick.
Ok, it’s time to quit jacking around and find out why my future ancestors had cloned and brought me back to the future. We seemed to have gotten sidetracked somewhere. Hadn’t Monroe said something about my cloned brother requiring my assistance?
Monroe and I departed the infirmary and walked to another structure. Once inside, these futuristic facilities became translucent. You couldn’t see any walls that separate the rooms.
In the lobby, you will never guess who I saw. My two no-name NASA buddies heading out of the building. They were now wearing helmets too. Remember them? They were wearing the same one piece gray metallic cloth outfit that everyone wore (except the warriors) in this time frame. One need not worry about being in style in this day and age.
I wondered what they were doing here in the future. I had thought I had left them in the past.
“Hey guys, what’s up?”
Neither bothered to acknowledge my presence. I know they heard and saw me. Oh well, they had always been a little snobbish anyway. Who needed snobbish friends? Then it dawned on me. They must have been cloned too. Were they here for the same reason as I?
As we passed through the lobby, an opaque image in 3-D could be seen in the middle of the room. It was suspended in midair and looked to be similar to a hologram. A crowd had gathered and was cheering the announcement that the Metropolis Cardinals (formerly St. Louis) had just come from four runs behind, in the bottom of the ninth inning, to win the 2191 World Series. Someone named Freese V had hit a grand slam!
Hey, Monroe, that’s my favorite team. Go Cardinals! I shouted.
The announcer went on to say that this was their forty-third World Series championship, putting them one up on the Metropolis Yankees.
Seven of these championships had occurred during my lifetime. Well, I guess it was eight now.
1943 The year of my birth
1944 My first birthday
1964 USS Hancock entered the Vietnam War
1967 My first child was born (on the exact day).
1982 I became a born-again Christian.
2006 I retired
2011 I published my memoirs
2191 I met my cloned brother
As it turned out, Monroe was a Cubs fan, so he didn’t share my enthusiasm. It also turned out that the poor Cubs were still seeking their first World Series. Unbelievably! Hey, it was 2191 and the Cubbies still hadn’t won a World Series? It was hard to understand those Cubs fans, they had to be an unusual and complicated species. Still, you had to admire them for hanging in there all those years. I would imagine their tears over the years would form a pretty big lake.
As I surveyed the room, I noticed pictograms displayed. They would adjust in height to the person observing them. I walked over to them, noticed that they were commemoratives of human history that involved time travel.
The first one that caught my eye read:
“June 13, 1947. Roswell, New Mexico. In memory of three brave pioneer’s who died in the first attempt to conqueror time travel.”
Holy Cow! I thought. The Roswell story was true after all, except, at that time, they mistook the bodies to be aliens.
Also on display were numerous old style military uniforms that covered many decades of history. A plaque displayed under one uniform caught my eye. It read:
“In memory of USN Grumman TBF-1 Avenger Torpedo crewmen. Flight 19, Dec. 5, 1945. Bermuda Triangle.”
I remember reading about them, I told Monroe, as he joined me. It is one of the greatest mysteries of human history.
In the early days of time travel and abductions, unfortunately, some things went wrong, Monroe replied.
I sensed he didn’t want to continue the conversation.
Not to change the subject, but how about a round of golf? They do still play golf, don’t they? I asked.
Yes, we do, but at the present we have more important matters to attend to, he said, as he guided me toward the elevators.
What could be more important than golf? I thought, knowing full well he could hear me, as I saw him roll his big eyes.
I bet you’re afraid I’d whoop your ass.
That stopped him dead in his tracks. His glare and then his thought went far beyond my comprehension.
Okay, forget it, I said. No need to get all riled up. It was just messing with you.
We took an elevator to the fifth floor. I guess you would call it an elevator. It was nothing like I’d ever ridden and nothing I could possibly describe. It was like riding on air. There were no visible walls or floors. It messed with my equilibrium and I kept losing my balance. Monroe had to help steady me. It was kind of scary, cause I kept thinking I would fall through to the ground floor.
We departed the elevator and walked down a hallway. The hallway floor was also translucent, and I could see through all the way down to the bottom floor. Again, my equilibrium was thrown off. It was the weirdest sensation!
We finally settled in a small room. Once in the room, the walls, floor and ceiling became opaque, rather than translucent. The room contained a chair and a couch, with a small, low table wedged between them. A man, who looked to be my twin, jumped up from the chair to greet me as we entered.
“Hello, brother. I am so excited to meet you,” Tom-Tom said as he grabbed and shook my hand.
It reminded me of when my half-brother Mike had greeted me for the first time in the hallway in junior high, except for the fact that there had been no hand shake and he certainly didn’t look like my twin.
It was weird to be looking at myself without a mirror. I suppose identical twins would know the feeling. Tom-Tom’s handshake was firm, so I knew he was no hologram.
He wasn’t wearing a helmet, so I spoke out loud, “Hi, nice to meet you too.”
It was all I could think to say, as the cat seemed to have my tongue. It’s not every day one meet’s oneself.
D-Day had arrived. To say I was nervous and a little apprehensive would have been an understatement. The air became thick with suspense. You could have heard a pin drop, as I waited for Monroe to explain exactly what we were doing here.
We require the two of you to trade places, was the bombshell he dropped.
Tom, we need you to stay here in this time frame and have Tom-Tom take your place in your time frame. My grandson continued to say.
Trade places? You want me to trade places with my clone? I asked, as I could scarcely believe what I was hearing.
That is why he was created, Monroe added.
Monroe reminded me that human gene splicing and evolution had caused future human generations to become sterile. Humans could no longer reproduce. Cloning was supposed to have solved the problem. Unfortunately, the clones were sterile too. A program was adopted to have the clones trade places with their originals. The originals would come and stay in the future to help preserve the human race.
Are you getting this? That’s what all this had been about from the beginning? Starting with my abduction outside Clinton, to the abductions in Oklahoma and California. Stealing my sperm, enhancing my genes, cloning me, and all because the future human generation went sterile and couldn’t reproduce.
I can hear you saying it now, who is going to believe this shit?
Monroe further explained that abductees couldn’t just disappear from their time quantum. It would disrupt future events and cause a tear in the time line. That’s where the clones came in. The clones would continue with their human original’s life events and life span. This would keep the time line from erupting.
The originals selected for this switch were those known to have had no more children and to have lived a normal life span. This switch would not affect history. No one would suspect it had occurred, not even the clones, as they would be given a memory block.
Many clones and originals had already agreed to the switch and were in their places. My clone was ready and willing to take my place. He was anxiously awaiting my decision.
Wow! I think I will need a few minutes to absorb all this, let alone believe it, I said.
I understand, but you need to make a decision within the hour, Monroe said.
“What’s the hurry? You should have all the time in the world.”
It is too complicated for you to comprehend the vast details. Press this button on the wall when you have made your decision, he replied.
With that, he and Tom-Tom departed, leaving me to contemplate the situation. Do I really have a choice? What would they do if I refused?
Actually, I had already made up my mind. There was no way I could be dreaming all this up. I had finally become a bona fide believer.
This led me to wonder about something else that I had in the back of my mind. With all this time travel and technology, maybe Monroe could do me a little favor, in return for me helping save mankind from extinction. He hadn’t been gone for more than a few minutes when I pushed the button.
I would like a favor in return, I told him, when he returned.
What favor would that be? He asked.
Can you find out what happened to my second wife, Fiza? She disappeared a couple months ago.
I had no idea if he could achieve such a feat, but I was compelled to ask, considering all of the advanced technology he had at his disposal.
Give me her full name, date of birth, and the date, location, and approximate time she disappeared, he said.
I provided him the information.
I will return in a few minutes, he said.
That had to be the longest few minutes of my life.
Do I really want to know? I kept asking myself.
I am sorry to have sad news for you. Are you sure you want this information, Monroe said, upon his return.
Yes, I need to know.
She was taken back to Saudi Arabia by her stepbrothers and put into a Bedouin tribe.
I had suspected that.
She was sold into slavery and used to entertain visiting male tribe members. She committed suicide two weeks ago,(in your time frame) through the bite of a king cobra. Suicide was the only escape that would keep you and your children safe. I am so sorry, Tom. She basically sacrificed her life for your sake.
A river of emotions flowed through my heart and soul. I started bawling like a baby.
Why can’t you go back in time and abduct her just before she dies? I cried.
Unfortunately, Tom, it does not work that way, Monroe replied. Her disappearance would disrupt the time quantum.
Perhaps you could clone her and have the clone take her place, I pleaded.
We cannot ask a clone to take the place of someone who dies before their time. I am sorry, but you must face the fact that she is gone. If you wish, I can instill a memory block to erase her memory from your mind.
No, I said. I want to remember her, always.
I do not intend to rush you, but I require your decision soon. Perhaps there is someone else you should talk to, Monroe said, as he reached to open the door. She might be able to help you make up your mind.
Was Monroe throwing another monkey wrench into the equation? Now who could this person possibly be?
The door opened and in walked—You’ll never guess who? Golly! Surprise, surprise, surprise. Not even Gomer Pyle could have said it any better.
In walked... Claudia, my first wife, the one who went rogue and started this whole shebang in the first place. I bet the look on my face would have stopped my granddaddy’s clock.
I could perceive a major meltdown coming, with all the different emotions swarming through me. First I was shocked, and then came hurt, followed by anger, anxiety, and last but not least confusion.
You can have a few minutes alone to talk, Monroe said, as he departed the room.
“Hello Tom. I hope you now realize everything we went through wasn’t my fault,” were the first words out of Claudia’s mouth.
“I had already made my decision a long time ago. My clone, CJ, replaced me right after our son was born. It was she who discovered how to melt her mind block and became confused and divorced you, not me.”
“You don’t say,” was all I could muster. The cat had my tongue again. Everything seemed to be happening in s-l-o-w motion.
“Legally, we are still married, though in this future society there are no marriages. Still, we can have a friends-with-benefits relationship and help preserve the human race. That is our primary purpose now, to reproduce. I am currently three months with child. What say you?”
“Whatever.” What else was there to say?
This better not be another dream. I was about dreamed out. Bet you are too.
It was going to take a while to comprehend all this. The human mind was limited in capacity and this one was getting stretched to the limit.
“I realize you must be shocked to see me,” Claudia said.
“I have been there and know the feeling. But Monroe will need a decision soon,” she reminded me.
Needless to say, by this point I was a little perplexed. My intellectual capacity had been maxed out. I felt like I was either in the Twilight Zone or stumbled into the Outer Limits. The picture was getting fuzzy and out of alignment. Please standby. The Kid requires a quick adjustment.