Waiting while the Sojourn's monitor displayed the ever-decreasing stability of the universe was agonizing for Jen. It was four days since the cats disappeared, and she now found herself keeping busy pulling a long-handled net across the surface of the already spotless pool as Wigwag checked the pool's filters.
Higgs rang the bar's bell; the signal the end of the exponential decay of the Sojourn neared and most likely, the universe was ending.
Everyone gathered around the monitor, now next to the Machine on the bar.
"There's currently some erratic behavior in what remains of the Sojourns strength," Higgs announced. "There are probably just minutes left," he added gravely.
Sam drew Sara Close. The Khargs had their offspring between them.
Most others held the hand of the person next to them.
Jen squeezed Jenny's hand and felt her squeeze back.
The Sojourns monitor let off a loud, shrill alarm. Jen shut her eyes as she hugged Jenny, then silence. Seconds evaporated slowly.
"I think nothing happened," Jenny whispered into Jen's ear.
"The Sojourn has dissipated," Higgs said slowly. "It's gone."
"Da universe is still here," Benny said, "how 'bout a round on tha house Sam!"
Cheers and applause filled the bar as Sam, Sara and Wigwag immediately began pulling pints of beer.
The parrot, which had been unusually quiet the last four days, shrieked as armed men in full battle armor appeared on the shower platform next to the Breeze's sauna.
"Fuck," Jen said to Jenny as she recognized a set of TRs behind the soldiers, but panic gave way to relief as she recognized Cale Timberin.
"Master Guns!" Jenny added recognizing the second soldier.
The two men dropped their weapon's barrels at the sight of their friends.
The parrot shrieked again as Mick, Clare, Prime Higgs and Ces appeared next to the barbeque pit.
"Thank Agrona!" Clare said looking over the crowd.
"Seems you guys are just fine, by the looks of things," Mick said surveying the group and making a subtle nod to Cale and Dutch.
"Thanks for the heads up and help," Timberin told him.
"What happen?" Sam asked.
"We don't know. We've been stranded at Trua Outpost for four days," Ces said hugging her folks. "A dark-energy flux in Minus was building to an erasure event, but we were helpless to do anything about it."
Ces counted heads in the group and said, "We've still got MIA."
"Prophet has remained at Trua Outpost waiting communication with the Calma leaders. Prime John Mackinac and Tye are currently unaccounted for," Luca reported.
Jenny put her arm around Jen just as Dotty and Angstrom bounded in front of them followed closely by Tye with John's arm around her shoulder.
Seeing John, Jen felt joy despite his purple and yellow bruises and copious bandaged cuts. She ran to his side, put his other arm over her shoulder, and then helped Tye get him into a nearby Adirondack chair.
"I'm okay," he managed to say as Jenny kissed his forehead. "You should see the other universe," he joked with a wince.
Sam handed John a Guinness.
"Thanks," John said taking the ale while Jen held a firm grip on his other arm.
Mick and Clare both gave Tye a hug.
"Good work," Mick told John.
"She deserves a medal," John said with a nod toward Tye.
"Don't be ridiculous," she said stoically, "Family does not do metals."
She recounted their mission under Minus' Mountain to a hushed crowd ending with an update on Jennifer at the Trua Outpost medical facility where Dr. Fanau expected her to make a nearly full recovery.
Tye's informal debrief over, the Millennium party was heading towards full rejuvenation. John was just about to finish his stout when Angstrom jumped into his lap with a loud purr, begging attention.
John massaged the cat behind the ears. "And you know," he said to Jen, "back under the Mountain in Minus it was weird—"
Jen pressed her finger to his lips. "Not now. Relax."
And despite all the soreness, an overwhelming sense of relief washed over him. Tears welling in his eyes, John sighed and gave Jen another much-needed hug, though a weak one. He could feel the beginnings of a descent with her into blissful relaxation, but there was something nagging him.
He could not push the large pyrite specimen on Seren's desk out of his head. He shuddered, wondering how he had somehow managed to become a tyrant somewhere across fractime.
"You realize," he said looking into Jen's eyes, "that I'm finally off the hook."
Jen frowned and let go of his arm.
"No, not that hook." He laughed again through his painful ribs. "My fractime double, Seren, from who-the-fuck-knows-where fulfilled the damned legend. I'm betting he was a geologist, too."
The aroma from the Breeze's coffee machine nudged John from a blissful sleep. With Ces home, Trudy insisted Jen and he use her sleeper
sofa and as John squinted against a beam of morning light, he reached for Jen but found only her pillow. Sounds of distant conversation, including Jen eased any worries as he rolled over on his back for a proper stretch.
Movement in his peripheral vision brought him closer to full awareness.
"Coffee, professor?" Wigwag asked from the open doorway of the cottage. He was carrying a hardbound book as well as a mug of steaming coffee.
John could see Jen and Sara at the bar behind Wigwag, coffee mugs in their hands.
Somehow, Wigwag had escaped Tye and her sisters' intentions to cure the Jit of their subservient ways but John suspected their hardwired culture was permanent, thanks to the Leadership.
It turned out Wigwag had modified human as well as selective higher primate DNA giving him brains, strength and agility in a small, cheap-to-run package. Reflecting on Wigwag's circumstances cleared the last sleepy cobweb.
"What are you reading?" John asked.
"Sara's copy of Confucius' Analects," he replied.
"I'll have that coffee in a minute, thanks," he told him shaking his head in wonder at the O'jit's choice of reading material. An overly healthy erection indicated a full bladder and a nearly full recovery thanks to Dr.
Fanau.
Wigwag sat the mug on a partially opened cardboard box next to the door then left.
Jen and John were planning to head to Trua Outpost for a full debriefing concerning Seren. Carl had returned to Plus and Jenny had left for Prime the night before but not prior to giving him his discharge orders and a box of personal items from his university bungalow.
On route to the toilet, he plucked from the box the picture of Helen and Steph that had not been off the bungalow's mantle for more than a decade. Helen had been a research psychologist at the University of
Michigan delving into the social and physiological effects of late twentieth-century media. He had always figured it was her way of justifying her passions for music as well as science fiction. He smiled remembering sitting with Helen and Steph happily watching countless hours of science fiction classics for her research. He wondered what Helen would make of recent events.
His bladder relieved, he placed the picture carefully back in the box and picked up his mug to join Sara and Jen at the bar.
"Good morning sleepyhead," Sara said.
"It's nearly ten o'clock," Jen informed him with a smile. "How are you?"
"I'm feeling great," he said and then took his first sip of coffee. "Dr.
Fanau's nanos must be working overtime," he added with an obvious scan from top to bottom of Jen in her minuscule swimsuit resulting in a rare blush from her.
"Professor!"
John recognized the Calma's voice immediately.
"We must depart this fractime," Prophet shouted from poolside.
John saw a man appear next the Calma, as a large transit envelope collapsed into a small object behind him. The man picked up the unusual TR then put it in a pocket of what looked to be an expensive gray, pinstriped suit complete with waistcoat and spit-shined shoes. The suit matched the gray at his temples perfectly. John guessed him to be in his sixties.
"Are you up to travel? I assume you're MacMinic" the man asked John dismissing any social formalities.
"It's Mack-in-awe," John replied slowly while scrutinizing the stranger.
"What's going on Prophet?" Jen injected as Wigwag began to pour coffee for the guests. "And who are you?" she asked the tall, well-dressed man.
"There is no danger," Prophet said. "Professor Mackinac and General Jen Scott, meet Mister Flint, Elder Brother of the Family and distant cousin of Tye's."
"Not distant enough sometimes," he whispered taking a mug of coffee from Wigwag. A subtle grin came over his face as he took his first sip. It was a typical reaction to the creation from Sam and Sara's machine.
Flint explained, "I sought out Prophet on Mick's suggestion before communications completely ceased from the outpost. The Reference Plane's similarity has significantly changed."
John noted Flint used Mick’s cover name rather than his family name. "And as Minus is so dissimilar to Prime, how can you tell?" John asked.
"The RefPlane's state is recorded at specific intervals and kept here in what you call Prime, among other universes, to guard against any Time Accord breaches," Flint said.
"The Reference Plane's similarity has changed as compared with itself," Prophet said with a touch of exasperation.
"The rip?" Jen asked.
"As good a guess as any," Flint said. "But the result in the RefPlane has been significant and has changed the Family's past as well as its future."
John flexed his previously sore right elbow. "Shit, we didn't destroy the rip soon enough." he said with disbelief. "But you are here and where is everyone else?" he asked looking at Flint and then around the courtyard for the first time.
"It's just us," Jen said. "Everyone left last night."
"And Sam and Ces are at city hall dueling with a bureaucrat over a pool fence," Sara added.
"Dick heads!" Barney screamed from atop a nearby palm.
Angstrom, curled up on a nearby barstool lifted his head to eye the bird but tucked it under a paw as if to shut out any further screeches.
"We're protected outside the RefPlane- for now," Flint told John with a worried look to Prophet while ignoring the parrot.
"The temporal error in the Family's destiny now computes as far back as an ancient Library ship," Prophet said and then turned to John.
"We must journey to the Lár and back in time over a billion Sol years."
"But how can we help in all this?" John asked seeing the profound concern in Jen's face. "It's obviously deep Family history," he said.
"The Navis and Seren are clearly connected," Flint explained, "and it appears Prophet uncovered a historical link between the Navis and this Library ship's destruction near the Lár."
"So that makes you and Seren, linked to the Library ship." Prophet added quickly.
"Kinda thin." John said.
"So, when do we leave?" Jen asked looking directly at John.
"Not so fast, general," Flint said flatly tugging his gray waistcoat downward and taught.
"There's more," Prophet added.
"Seems after all the action recently," Flint said, "the Trua Outpost's med-tech AIs eventually uncovered some interesting relationships between you and—"
"—Mac," Prophet injected sorrowfully.
Flint ignored him. "Seems you're not fractime twins after all but rather true clones."
"And from the RefPlane," Prophet added.
Jen straightened her posture, and John recognized her danger-close body language.
"That means you are in jeopardy," she said looking into his eyes.
"That's pretty quick for the military, general," Flint scoffed.
"Explains why I was fostered," John told them. "I never knew my parents. I never even had any." He felt dizzy.
"And you, Mac and the former RefPlane Professor Mackinac all have different birthdays," Prophet said, "as well as several highly improbable coincidences in your three lives."
"So, when do we leave?" Jen asked again.
"There is a problem," Flint said.
John sighed and looked at Jen.
"We are cut off from the RefPlane and rest of the Family as well as Amhrán and Turas Luath," Flint explained. "My hybrid TR will not break the first Time Accord with such a translation even if it were possible."
John hoped Flint would elaborate further on those restrictions, but he did not.
"Seems we will need to acquire another time machine," Prophet said as he rubbed the ends of several limbs together in a very human-like gesture.
Flint gave him a quizzical look.
"And I believe Sara and Ces may be able to help," Prophet said.
Sara slumped in her chair and set her mug down. "How's that?" she asked cautiously.
"I have had an academic interest in humanity's most improbable events," Prophet said. "One of the most unusual is the origins of the Confederation's Time Corps in the late twenty-second century.
Fortunately, my status as 8th Prophet of Possibility of the Calma allowed me to access many years ago otherwise forgotten classified Time Corps archives. From these, I have recalled the most improbable of defense satellite images." He pulled a thin, transparent pad from a pocket in his vest and initiated its 3D projector. A swarm of satellites buzzed around a slowly rotating Earth over the pool.
"Master?" Sam said to Flint while opening the courtyard's gate for Ces.
"I'm guessing that's a satellite view of the space vehicles and junk swarming around the planet in 1984," Sara said as Sam and Ces joined her.
Flint nodded and then raised his mug to Sam and Ces with a wink but quickly turned back to the projection.
"1984. Interesting year," Sam said closing the gate behind him with a worried look to Ces.
"Seems there's an issue with Minus and Prophet was just about, hopefully, to explain a high improbability," John said.
"Cool," Ces said.
"It seems almost four years ago," Prophet continued, "a Prime defense satellite acquired several images that triggered a covert Confederation investigation over a hundred years later. That investigation can be traced to the origins of the Time Corps in the Reference Plane."
Prophet initiated a zoom of the image to an apparently empty point in space.
After several seconds, they saw Sara's image instantly appear, filling the space over the Machine.
John looked away from her face, contorted in absolute terror, to her left hand where she clutched a silver pocket watch that shimmered just before Ces appeared next to her. After quickly unfastening the watch, Ces and Sara vanished; only the timepiece remained until it floated slowly out of view and Prophet stopped the projection.
"It was such a stupid idea," Sara said, tears welling in her eyes.
"Mom. It's okay," Ces said comforting her mother.
"Meeting Sara and Ces here a few days ago," Prophet said,
"eventually prompted my memory of these images. I sought out Mister Flint to confirm my suspicions and again recover the archives.
Fortunately, he was in distant universe on other business with the Time Corps."
"Enough said on that subject old friend," Flint cautioned him as Prophet's appendages turned pinkish for a moment.
"Perhaps somebody can explain?" Flint asked.
Sam straightened his posture as Wigwag handed him a coffee. "The Traveler," he said softly with quick glance at John. "It was his watch. Ces got in a bit of trouble and Sara, fearing for Ces’ life, used it, resulting in the dire consequences as you just saw."
John observed Flint studying Ces.
"Ces thought the watch was best left lost in space," Sam said.
"Only to be rediscovered somehow later by the RefPlane's Confederation. How improbable!" Prophet exclaimed, trembling slightly.
"Any idea how that happened?" Jen asked.
"Unknown," Flint replied. "Many of the archives were lost after the war in the RefPlane, probably thanks to Seren. This Traveler's pocket watch must contain a temporal vacuity, like a piece of null space. The creation of such a state is still a mystery, but it's the basis for the TC's entire time-travel tech."
"So how does this help us get to the Library ship?" John asked.
"I believe Ces can help us," Flint said.
Sam sat his mug on the bar with a clunk.
"It's okay Dad," Ces said. "Obviously, Mister Flint knows I can translate as well as time jump."
"I apologize for the privacy intrusion as your family's missions and Trua Outpost's medical records are always highly confidential," Flint told Sam uncomfortably. "I assume your temporal delta limit is too small to reach the Lár during the time necessary," he said to Ces.
"Yes," she confirmed. "My talent is a wonderful gift with very few limitations." She touched her mother's arm tenderly.
"But you can recover this Traveler's watch?" Jen asked.
"I don't see why not," she replied.
"What about your TR?" Jen asked Flint. "Can't that be used to recover the watch?"
"And I can assure you that Ces will not have the safeguards that would restrict my TR from performing such a request given the TC
history surrounding the Traveler's device," Flint replied.
"Seems we need a detailed plan," John said looking at the Calma prophet, "and fast."