The Fractime Saga by Steve Hertig - HTML preview

Chapter 1-

RefPlane +1, 17 June 1984

Mick wearing Turas Luath took a deep breath just before starting to dispense steaming coffees from The Machine for Drac, Lars, Miri, Tye and Sam. Ces had wanted hot chocolate and Mick had served her first.

"I knew having another bar as a base of operations was a good thing," he said with a chuckle and wink at Sam.

"Not what I heard," Ces said coyly sitting on the Breeze's bar next to Mick and setting her empty mug down next to the Timestone on the bar.

Sam recalled Mick had argued against the idea, but the queen had insisted claiming Ces needed a real home in which to grow up.

"Now," Mick said, "Any idea's on getting Sara back?"

"Maybe Lars could change our timeline with his TD," Tye said.

"Seems there's too, much at stake to meddle with now, I'm afraid,"

Mick said giving Sam a sympathetic gaze.

"I can do it," Ces said flatly. "Dad, I was trying to tell you before that I can jump."

"What?" Mick said

"Is that even possible?" Lars asked skeptically.

"Choice," Miri said.

"I knew you had undeveloped talents," Drac said proudly.

"With a TD, right?" Tye asked Ces.

"Hold on," Sam told everybody suddenly feeling sick that Ces could be experiencing an early symptom of the Laith change. "Ces, explain."

Ces looked around at everyone then said, "I was making tiny jumps before he took me for several months. Just translations of a few seconds and centimeters. But, in the oubliette I couldn't really practice and I didn’t jump into the future at home. I promise," Ces said. "Sorry, Dad but I wanted to get better before I told you and Mom."

"It's okay," Sam told as he wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"Sara could be anywhere within several hundred kilometers, even within the earth itself," Lars said solemnly.

"I would know if Mom was forever dead," Ces said bluntly. "We're back in this fractime's timeline just after my abduct—

"Just over four hours," Lars injected studying the display on his TD.

"So, after some meditation," Ces continued with closed eyes, "I can now feel everyone's recent translations. Like seeing smoke trails of subtly different colors or smells. I can still feel Mom's but it's faint and it's leading up there," she added pointing up into the sky past Barney sleeping on her perch.

"Too risky," Sam said seeing tears well up in Tye's eyes and Drac subtly shake his head.

"Sam," Mick said, "if she gets into trouble, I and the Turas Luath can probably step in."

"Probably?" Sam asked.

"It will not disrupt a Family timeline," Tye said with a quizzical look at Mick.

"Dad?" Ces persisted.

Sam shook his head as he looked at his daughter. Even at four, she was more like twenty. Now at thirteen, he had no idea how advanced her mental age was much less the extent of her abilities.

"If I have to," Lars said, "I'll come back to this instant and tell you it doesn’t work."

Everyone held their breath for several seconds as Barney woke then squawked above them at a local cat testing the seaward boundary of the bird's territory.

"I'm not sure that proves anything," Drac said. "We've been through all those paradox scenarios countless times."

"Okay," Sam relented with his eyes closed.

"I'll be right back," Ces said quickly, kissed her dad on the forehead, and then vanished. She reappeared a moment later hovering just above the pool. "Just narrowing down the temporal aspect," she said then translated again.

She reappeared several hundred meters above the Breeze, "Closer,"

she yelled down to them. "Mom's in vacuum," she added before her next translation.

Sam waited. Each second seemed an eternity until he heard the familiar pop as air expanded instantaneously following a nearby translation. Ces was cradling Sara just above the pool then both fell into the shallow end, drenching Drac.

Sam jumped in after them.

Sam pulled Ces and her mother from beneath the water.

"Mom, are you okay?" Ces said cradling her mother head.

Sara coughed and put her arm around Sam and her daughter for support as they climbed the steps out of the pool.

"What happened?" she asked. "I couldn’t breathe and you're so much older," she added while hugging Ces and then bursting into tears.

"Seems our little Ces is full of surprises," Mick said proudly.

Sara looked at Mick and then backed into Sam, horrified.

"It's okay," Sam said while reassuring her. "Seems the older Mick you saw was hopefully an evil twin."

"It's so warm," Sara rubbing her arms and still looking cautiously at Mick but then rushed to give him a long embrace. "I'm so relieved it wasn't you," she said hugging him.

"Me, too, Darlin'," he said giving her a jovial squeeze.

"Have a coffee," Tye said handing her a steaming mug.

"Thanks, Sis," Sara said gratefully.

"What happened?" Miri asked.

Sara took a long sip of coffee then said, "I saw him appear behind Ces doing her homework. I could actually feel his malevolence to her. He

had a temporal cloak. It was black. The smell was awful, much worse than the standard Laith stink. I tried to stop him but he just laughed then translated with her. Sam and Lars were gone when I got back out to the bar. There was just the TD Lars left behind. I grabbed it and pressed the button marked follow. I guess there was some kind of security code access."

Lars nodded.

"I left it in orbit," Ces said to Lars.

"Better lost for good. It obviously needed an upgrade," he told her kindly and Mick nodded agreement.

"I'll make sure both TarTarus and TarTuras are quarantined for the indefinite future," Drac said, "and both Mandorla sanctuaries are sealed at least until after the war for future study and research."

"Well that was an adventure," Mick said finishing his coffee and then began to pull a pint of Irish red. "Can’t wait to read the mission report," he added. "Anyone else want a beer?"

"Apparently it was a profitable adventure," Tye said shaking her head looking to Lars then Sam.

"Not only did Ces get Sara back," Lars said with a nod, "but you guys have a new space station."

"Now how did you manage that?" Mick asked.

"Poker winnings," Sam said sheepishly, "along with the missing pieces of the Timestone."

Mick picked up the green sphere, turning it to look closely at its intricate surface details. "Who would have thought," he said reflectively.

"But how can we be sure my evil twin is in your trap?" he asked.

Mick ignored the silence around him and then burst out in laughter slapping Sam on the back. "I can’t believe you won a station!"

"It's located deep within the Cannon Nebula in the year 2509," Drac said. "It should suit the Family very well as the necessity of a future outpost to consolidate pre-war relations with the Time Corps has been

discussed in council numerous times. It's currently undergoing refurbishment all paid for in advance by Eligos. Apparently he was planning on turning it into the intergalactic sin city of casinos."

"Eligos? A nasty piece of ego that one," Mick said. "I think we should check it out!" Mick added with a big grin to Ces while picking up the Timestone from the bar.

"Now?" Ces asked with a giggle while grabbing a sleeve of the Turas Luath causing it to shimmer softly under her hand.

"I have the coordinates," Sam said putting his arm around Sara who was already holding Drac's hand.

"Miri and I will follow you," Lars said.

RefPlane/Trua Outpost: Stardate 189835.0

They all arrived in the uppermost level observation deck. Workers busy with the outpost's refurbishment ignored the newcomers.

"The gravity generators have been recently overhauled, too," Drac commented looking around the dusty construction site. "All in all pretty sound. There's room for a medical bay, library, admin and the Family's disarmed weapons-of-mass destruction, to coin a phrase. But I'm not sure of a purpose of this space," he added looking around again."

"Wow," Ces said, "look at that!"

They all followed her stare leading above them to a transparent overhead showing the brilliant gas and dust clouds of the nebula.

"Interesting," Miri said commenting on the two isosceles triangles joined at their apex making up the overhead's viewport.

"It's like an hourglass," Ces said. "See the swirling, red stellar gas? It looks like sand running up and backwards through the neck."

"Sounds like we've got a name for our new bar!" Mick said still staring at the celestial tapestry.

Drac cleared his throat.

"Yes ambassador Draconous?" Mick said still looking upward.

"The Timestone," Drac said. "I don’t feel comfortable with it here."

Mick looked at Drac then Sam. "I agree, but first there's something that's been long past due that needs doing."

Sara nudged Ces to pay attention to Mick as he cleared his throat.

"Seems Sam has been adrift for a while now; the new job and all,"

Mick said with a wink to Ces and Sara. "By the spirit of family and by the authority gifted by our mother and first queen, Zuinall, I hereby grant the Family name of Greenstone to Sam for continuous service rendered above and beyond space and time."

Sam was speechless as everyone clapped, even the workers around them.

Planet Trua

The last time Mick invited Sam to his private stash of artifacts from across fractime was when Sam was a small boy. Most of the room contained neatly stacked crates and chests but many artifacts lay neatly in transparent cases lining the rest of the space that family called Mick's museum. Most of the items surrounding Sam were just too dangerous to allow back in circulation.

"There," Mick said gently placing the Timestone on an intricately carved stand on a pedestal near the center of the museum.

Sam immediately recognized the aboriginal dreamtime, Mimi spirits finely carved into the stand. They held the Timestone above their heads with stick-like arms and he wondered what, if any, connection existed between the two very different objects.

"Safe and sound," Mick added with a sigh.

"Mesmerizing," Sam said while focusing his gaze on the Timestone, that Mick had universally illuminated to reveal its true exquisiteness in its new home. Its emerald surface glistened like a deep, shadowy green jade

melded to a rare kelly-green labradorite. In addition, covering the sphere's surface were delicate sutures that held the finest fractal patterns, which on Sam's scrutiny shrank quickly beneath the limit of his enhanced vision.

"Indeed, brother," Mick agreed. "And the three segments now seem joined permanently," he added.

"The inscribed pattern appears the same whatever magnification,"

Sam said in awe.

"I've got that contact regarding that big crystal," Mick said.

"I know where it is. Eligos has it," Sam said still squinting at the emerald orb.

"Interesting," Mick muttered making a small adjustment to the Timestone's orientation on its stand. "You know getting rid of Abaddon,"

he said not breaking the Timestone's spell on Sam, "will help us in the coming war. We've only one front now even if it is going to be a real bitch."

"Assuming we ever find out who we're really fighting," Sam said and then shivered as he continued to study the artifact. He hoped a good explanation as to the origin of Mick's wicked twin would surface soon.

"Miri will be a great asset to the citadels R&D efforts but it's too bad Lars turned us down," Sam added rubbing his arms, still feeling the cold of the Mandorla.

"Yup," Mick said putting his arm around Sam. "Maybe you should get a sauna. Fight that chill before it takes hold."

"In south Texas?" Sam asked then laughed.

"And for some reason," Mick said soberly while gazing into the Timestone and ignoring Sam, "I think we've probably seen the last of our brilliant scientist and watch maker until the war draws closer. I believe he will be a critical asset to help defeat the enemy at some point. And let's hope his timepiece that Sara used stays lost."

"Its resurfacing would definitely be alarming," Sam quipped.

"And really wind up the TC so we'll certainly have to watch that space!" Mick added as he cracked up into a full belly laugh.

Sam pushed a set of keys into Mick's big right hand, smiled at his mentor's infallible sense of punny humor, and then said, "Maybe this can help with the war effort. A single-seat, temporal fighter," he added while squinting closely at the Timestone in hopes of revealing yet another fractal level on the green sphere. "It needs picking up sometime from dock six at the House and I'm not volunteering."

"A hell of a prize," Mick said chuckling, obviously pleased with Sam's poker winnings. "I've got a few favors to call in with the TC so we should be able to properly register the temporal drive. It'll be good security for our new outpost in the Cannon Nebula," he added while trying unsuccessfully to stifle further laughter.

"Hold it," Sam said, turning to look at Mick, after remembering Family lore telling of an earth scientist that would end the Universal War.

"You weren't referring to Lars and that old legend, were you?" Sam asked.

Mick just laughed more, a lot more.

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