The Continuing Adventures of
Justin Nicholas Thyme and Infinity Staires
The Author
Chronomenae -Sequel to Chronopolis
Justin Thyme is a Special Agent with the United Nations Multi-National Chronology Task Force. Employed by a private consortium of wealthy do-gooders, his mission is to create and maintain a better future by changing key events in the past. Along with his protégé’, Infinity Staires and the rest of the Alternity crew, he is doing just that, as documented in the ongoing book series by Joseph John Racano.
Cast of Characters:
Justin Nicholas Thyme
Infinity Staires
Special Agent John Terco
Special Agent Robert ‘Photon’ Fulton
Special Agent Nikki Nightbird (Infinity’s best friend)
Senator Morgan Stilwell
Colonel Jaspar
The Professor
Dr. Richard Ridgemont, Stonybrook University, Brookhaven Labs
Ms. Charlie Fontana, PhD, Brookhaven Labs
Dr. Benjamin Binder (Infinity’s father)
Maria Binder (Infinity’s mother, and former Byzantine Princess Maria Kantakouzene)
Lieutenant Junior Grade Baxter
Detective John Raskins
Franz Graber, Swiss watch maker and turncoat Alternity scientist
General Robert Studemier
Zaban'ya~ (Takaino Indian girl and Infinity’s lover)
Extras:
B-52 Pilot
Riff, Alternity Group AD3000
The Aliens (as themselves)
Leung Dao, aka ‘The Woman in white’ on Space Station Armstrong and Justin’s lady friend, AD4500
Animals:
Owdy, the hand-reared Woolly Mammoth
Nandi, Saber Tooth Tiger
The Insectoids of Dark Planet
Table of Contents:
01. Episode One
02. She the Mammoth
03. Intro
04. Nandi the Tigress…
05. Coney Island chrona
06. Night of Nandi
07. Brookhaven Beak-in
08. The Mother Ship
09. The Good Life
10. Fast Times with Richard Ridgemont
11. Star Power
12. Piercing the Veil
13. Future Shock
14. High Society
15. Advances
16. Abduction
17. Rendezvous 3000
18. Spinning Wheel
19. The Harpy
20. The Amazons of Armstrong
21. The Sky People
22. City in the Sky
23. Here to Infinity
24. Absconsion
25. Time of Night
26. Pushing Forward
27. A Past Future
28. Home for a Holiday
29. Fantastic Dimensions
END BOOK II
Justin Thyme is a Special Agent with the United Nations Multi-National Chronology Task Force. Employed by a private consortium of wealthy do-gooders, his mission is to create and maintain a better future by changing key events in the past. Along with his protégé’, Infinity Staires and the rest of the Alternity crew, he is doing just that, as documented in the ongoing book series by Joseph John Racano.
Cast of Characters:
Justin Nicholas Thyme
Infinity Staires
Special Agent John Terco
Special Agent Robert ‘Photon’ Fulton
Special Agent Nikki Nightbird (Infinity’s best friend)
Senator Morgan Stilwell
Colonel Jaspar
The Professor
Dr. Richard Ridgemont, Stonybrook University, Brookhaven Labs
Ms. Charlie Fontana, PhD, Brookhaven Labs
Dr. Benjamin Binder (Infinity’s father)
Maria Binder (Infinity’s mother, and former Byzantine Princess Maria Kantakouzene)
Lieutenant Junior Grade Baxter
Detective John Raskins
Franz Graber, Swiss watch maker and turncoat Alternity scientist
General Robert Studemier
Zaban'ya~ (Takaino Indian girl and Infinity’s lover)
Extras:
B-52 Pilot
Riff, Alternity Group AD3000
The Aliens (as themselves)
Leung Dao, aka ‘The Woman in white’ on Space Station Armstrong and Justin’s lady friend, AD4500
Animals:
Owdy, the hand-reared Woolly Mammoth
Nandi, Saber Tooth Tiger
The Insectoids of Dark Planet
Table of Contents:
01. Episode One
02. She the Mammoth
03. Intro
04. Nandi the Tigress…
05. Coney Island chrona
06. Night of Nandi
07. Brookhaven Beak-in
08. The Mother Ship
09. The Good Life
10. Fast Times with Richard Ridgemont
11. Star Power
12. Piercing the Veil
13. Future Shock
14. High Society
15. Advances
16. Abduction
17. Rendezvous 3000
18. Spinning Wheel
19. The Harpy
20. The Amazons of Armstrong
21. The Sky People
22. City in the Sky
23. Here to Infinity
24. Absconsion
25. Time of Night
26. Pushing Forward
27. A Past Future
28. Home for a Holiday
29. Fantastic Dimensions
END BOOK II
Chronomenae -Sequel to Chronopolis
episode one
One hundred agents, workers and scientists sat in stunned silence, as the Chrona slowly wound down around them. The man in charge was Special Agent Justin Nicholas Thyme. He checked his wrist and counted down the last seconds before the group could safely disembark. His protégé -the beautiful and somewhat invincible Infinity Staires- looked to him for more.
Justin answered the question they all had on their mind, “Six Million, four hundred thousand, two hundred twelve B.C,” he answered aloud. They were told to stand fast inside the portal of the Chrona until the agents had the immediate area outside secured. Infinity was first out of the huge machine, wearing a uniform specially designed to protect against ‘freeze,’ which was a dangerous and corrosive effect time travel had on the human body. Armed with two polasers, she stood guard as one agent after another exited the portal and entered a primordial grassy landscape.
When ten agents had set up a heavily armed perimeter, backs to the center, Justin gave the ok to disembark. The first order of business was to set up an atomically charged fence to keep the locals at bay while a small area around the chrona was cleared, flattened and terraformed into a base for scientific operations. Within four hours, all gear was fully operational, and their temporary housing was being tested by rain and gale force winds.
Infinity asked Justin if he thought anybody had survived the atomic blast left behind during their hasty retreat from the advancing Chronopolis military, who were closing in on them, intent on using the time-tech for military purposes. Just explained he had left time beacons every 50 yards as he sprinted down the hallways of the now destroyed headquarters of Alternity Group, toward the chrona. Once again, he checked a hologram on his wrist and relayed the info.
“Anybody within three thousand feet of the Chrona was vaporized,” he said. That included a lot of foot soldiers following orders, but also much of the brass at the top-heavy outfit. “Hopefully, they built it back with a little more emphasis on social justice.”
By nightfall, they were treated to clear skies and a completely unfamiliar arrangement of stars, shining brightly against the dark background of the late Miocene or early Pliocene. And what a show it was! The beeping and whirring of electronics contrasted with the soundtrack of a primordial evening unfolding all around them. “What’s that?” asked Infinity, curious of a ‘whooping’ emanating from the brush.
“That’s us,” he answered. “We are just about to leave the trees and walk upright.”
“So, just a hop, skip and a jump until we…”
Justin cut her off. “Enjoy it, ‘Fin. There’ll be time enough tomorrow.” He covered her with his silver freezeguard blanket. “Get some rest.”
Art: All Rights to artist, Paulo C. Duarte
episode one
One hundred agents, workers and scientists sat in stunned silence, as the Chrona slowly wound down around them. The man in charge was Special Agent Justin Nicholas Thyme. He checked his wrist and counted down the last seconds before the group could safely disembark. His protégé -the beautiful and somewhat invincible Infinity Staires- looked to him for more.
Justin answered the question they all had on their mind, “Six Million, four hundred thousand, two hundred twelve B.C,” he answered aloud. They were told to stand fast inside the portal of the Chrona until the agents had the immediate area outside secured. Infinity was first out of the huge machine, wearing a uniform specially designed to protect against ‘freeze,’ which was a dangerous and corrosive effect time travel had on the human body. Armed with two polasers, she stood guard as one agent after another exited the portal and entered a primordial grassy landscape.
When ten agents had set up a heavily armed perimeter, backs to the center, Justin gave the ok to disembark. The first order of business was to set up an atomically charged fence to keep the locals at bay while a small area around the chrona was cleared, flattened and terraformed into a base for scientific operations. Within four hours, all gear was fully operational, and their temporary housing was being tested by rain and gale force winds.
Infinity asked Justin if he thought anybody had survived the atomic blast left behind during their hasty retreat from the advancing Chronopolis military, who were closing in on them, intent on using the time-tech for military purposes. Just explained he had left time beacons every 50 yards as he sprinted down the hallways of the now destroyed headquarters of Alternity Group, toward the chrona. Once again, he checked a hologram on his wrist and relayed the info.
“Anybody within three thousand feet of the Chrona was vaporized,” he said. That included a lot of foot soldiers following orders, but also much of the brass at the top-heavy outfit. “Hopefully, they built it back with a little more emphasis on social justice.”
By nightfall, they were treated to clear skies and a completely unfamiliar arrangement of stars, shining brightly against the dark background of the late Miocene or early Pliocene. And what a show it was! The beeping and whirring of electronics contrasted with the soundtrack of a primordial evening unfolding all around them. “What’s that?” asked Infinity, curious of a ‘whooping’ emanating from the brush.
“That’s us,” he answered. “We are just about to leave the trees and walk upright.”
“So, just a hop, skip and a jump until we…”
Justin cut her off. “Enjoy it, ‘Fin. There’ll be time enough tomorrow.” He covered her with his silver freezeguard blanket. “Get some rest.”
Art: All Rights to artist, Paulo C. Duarte
Chronomenae, the sequel to Chronopolis
Chapter Two, She the Mammoth
Morning brought soft light, and the smell of hot coffee. Infinity sat forward, reached her arms over her head and stretched. Justin was there handing her a cup before the first yawn ended. She took the cup, smiled and said, “First yawn, and first dawn.”
Justin stood at the screens, reading data with a group of scientists and Infinity soon joined him. Justin had a look of concern prompting her to ask what was on his mind. “The Chrona wasn’t designed for such travel,” he answered. “Along with that, some components were destroyed in the Alternity blast.”
“What can we do?” asked Infinity.
“Some can be repaired, some will have to be rebuilt- but I have an idea,” said Justin. He put an arm around her shoulders and pointed away into a steep and distant valley, where a stand of tall trees were thriving. “If we can get some of those trees over here, we can build something more substantial for shelter and then we can do some light excavation for minerals and resources.”
“We don’t have that kind of manpower, unless you can get the ‘whoopers’ to cooperate,” she laughed. Her ‘whoopers,’ as she referred to them, were the Miocene hominids barely evolved away from bonobos and chimps.
“No, I was thinking something more like those guys over there,” he retorted. They were looking down slope at a group of large Mammoth splashing in swift rushing water at the end of an escarpment. She saw the look in Justin’s eye and knew she was in for something, and not sure she was going to like it.
By noon, the whole crew was gathered around a flat-top boulder, studying a drafting sheet being presented by Justin.
"Here’s where we can build a stronger and more weatherproof perimeter, and here we can build living quarters. Infinity, your abilities with primitive weapons makes you the logical choice for Mammoth rider. "
“Mammoth what?” she bleated.
“You’re going to remain here at base camp, make inroads with the locals, and teach one or two of them to work with us. The gear is already being loaded back into the Chrona, which has one good ride left in it. We’re going to move this operation five years into the future. That’s how much time you’ll have to get your Mammoth crew ready, and the most time I still trust this burned-out Chrona to navigate. Knowing you, you’ll have them turned into a big hairy pack of overgrown puppy dogs when we return.”
“You’re going to return?” she asked.
“Well, no. More like, we’re going to set right back down here on this exact spot, five years into the future,” he said.
“So, I will age?” she asked, incredulously.
“You will age naturally. Five years. That’ll make you twenty-six. Not exactly over the hill.”
Infinity was livid. But she was an agent, and were it not for the fire in her eyes, you wouldn’t have known it.
“Even if we do this Justin, how are you going to charge the Chrona for the jump?”
“There’s still a residual charge in her already. All the Colonel has to do is close the connection between these posts and it’s off to the races. Is that right, Colonel?”
Colonel Jaspar nodded in agreement. “The Chrona works on a similar principle as a surfer on a wave. The star power is still available for use in the distortion of a small field of space-time. The Chrona can ride it. Think of skipping a rock across a lake.”
“And we’ll be back here with you and your flea circus before you know it, to start the work on building us a new and much improved Chrona,” Justin told her.
“When that’s done, you will be sent on our first real mission,” said Colonel Jaspar.
“And what will that be?” asked Infinity.
“To reconnoiter the far future,” answered Justin Nicholas Thyme.
Art: Daniel Eskridge
Chapter Two, She the Mammoth
Morning brought soft light, and the smell of hot coffee. Infinity sat forward, reached her arms over her head and stretched. Justin was there handing her a cup before the first yawn ended. She took the cup, smiled and said, “First yawn, and first dawn.”
Justin stood at the screens, reading data with a group of scientists and Infinity soon joined him. Justin had a look of concern prompting her to ask what was on his mind. “The Chrona wasn’t designed for such travel,” he answered. “Along with that, some components were destroyed in the Alternity blast.”
“What can we do?” asked Infinity.
“Some can be repaired, some will have to be rebuilt- but I have an idea,” said Justin. He put an arm around her shoulders and pointed away into a steep and distant valley, where a stand of tall trees were thriving. “If we can get some of those trees over here, we can build something more substantial for shelter and then we can do some light excavation for minerals and resources.”
“We don’t have that kind of manpower, unless you can get the ‘whoopers’ to cooperate,” she laughed. Her ‘whoopers,’ as she referred to them, were the Miocene hominids barely evolved away from bonobos and chimps.
“No, I was thinking something more like those guys over there,” he retorted. They were looking down slope at a group of large Mammoth splashing in swift rushing water at the end of an escarpment. She saw the look in Justin’s eye and knew she was in for something, and not sure she was going to like it.
By noon, the whole crew was gathered around a flat-top boulder, studying a drafting sheet being presented by Justin.
"Here’s where we can build a stronger and more weatherproof perimeter, and here we can build living quarters. Infinity, your abilities with primitive weapons makes you the logical choice for Mammoth rider. "
“Mammoth what?” she bleated.
“You’re going to remain here at base camp, make inroads with the locals, and teach one or two of them to work with us. The gear is already being loaded back into the Chrona, which has one good ride left in it. We’re going to move this operation five years into the future. That’s how much time you’ll have to get your Mammoth crew ready, and the most time I still trust this burned-out Chrona to navigate. Knowing you, you’ll have them turned into a big hairy pack of overgrown puppy dogs when we return.”
“You’re going to return?” she asked.
“Well, no. More like, we’re going to set right back down here on this exact spot, five years into the future,” he said.
“So, I will age?” she asked, incredulously.
“You will age naturally. Five years. That’ll make you twenty-six. Not exactly over the hill.”
Infinity was livid. But she was an agent, and were it not for the fire in her eyes, you wouldn’t have known it.
“Even if we do this Justin, how are you going to charge the Chrona for the jump?”
“There’s still a residual charge in her already. All the Colonel has to do is close the connection between these posts and it’s off to the races. Is that right, Colonel?”
Colonel Jaspar nodded in agreement. “The Chrona works on a similar principle as a surfer on a wave. The star power is still available for use in the distortion of a small field of space-time. The Chrona can ride it. Think of skipping a rock across a lake.”
“And we’ll be back here with you and your flea circus before you know it, to start the work on building us a new and much improved Chrona,” Justin told her.
“When that’s done, you will be sent on our first real mission,” said Colonel Jaspar.
“And what will that be?” asked Infinity.
“To reconnoiter the far future,” answered Justin Nicholas Thyme.
Art: Daniel Eskridge
Chronomenae, Sequel to Chronopolis
Chapter Three
Intro
The whir of the Chrona began randomly, then escalated into a mad crescendo. The violently rotating machine first disappeared- and then reappeared, in a split-second. But a lot happened in between.
The Kings of Time Valley
The only trace of the Chrona was a whirling dirt-devil spinning in the dust. The two Time agents stood at a safe minimum distance, suddenly alone in a strange world. They had two backpacks between them, and two sleepers. That was all. Justin had pleaded with Infinity for a polaser to be brought along, or at least a carbide spear-tip, anything to gain an advantage against the ravages of the late Miocene. But she would have none of it. They stood motionless a long moment, allowing the enormity of the landscape to sink in. Here, the sun could blot out of the sky, an atomic bomb could explode, and there would be no one to notice. No one, that is, except the whoopers, now peeking out of the nooks between the boulders, and more watching from the distant tree line. Infinity grasped Justin’s paw of a hand in hers. Even she was intimidated by such vastness and void. “What a place!” she whispered excitedly.
The sun was languishing in the Western sky, and soon it would vanish below granite mountains that would never have a name. Justin got busy collecting firewood off the savannah, and fashioning it in an artistic circle with lots of room for air between the sticks. Infinity was searching nearby for the longest, straightest pole she could find. She came upon two stones, and stopped to smash one against the other. The third time she did it, one rock gave way to the other, resulting in a nice sharp hand tool. She looked up toward Justin and realized how far she was from the atomic fencing. Perhaps it was her lack of weapons, or her female form, but she was presented with a long, sturdy tree branch, tossed over a rock. It had to be the whoopers! She picked it up and scurried back to Justin with it.
She asked Justin to hold off on lighting the fire, telling him what had just happened. Justin thought it might have been her nervous imagination, but Infinity was already hard at it, working her spear into a fine and sharp point. Excited chatter became audible from behind a formation of stone and bush. The whoopers liked her, and the chattering continued until well after dark, when it suddenly stopped abruptly. Moments later, a sound like a wood-saw in an echo chamber filled the whoopers with panic, and their squealing ended with a single high-pitched scream. That scream faded off into the night as one life ended to prolong another.
“Smilodon,” whispered Justin. “Saber-tooth Tiger.”
Infinity lit the fire herself.
By morning, the whoopers had moved off, and were back amongst the distant trees. They were just as afraid of the fire as of the predatory creatures with whom they shared a symbiotic relationship. The time agents broke camp and headed out onto the savannah to find and recruit a Mammoth. As strange as it may sound, they were able to locate and approach a large herd without too much trouble. They searched for a young specimen and found one. The rest of their day was spent fashioning an old Indian travois. By now, Infinity had a full array of tools for doing custom work. Justin was amazed at her skill. She had been trained at a young age by her mother, who was herself a fierce warrior and a Byzantine royal. Night was too dangerous for them out in the grasses, so they slept back at the once and future site of the Chrona.
The following morning, they returned to claim their prize- a 400-pound recently orphaned baby Mammoth with luxurious golden fur. They rolled him onto the travois and dragged him home. The following morning, he awoke to Infinity stroking his hair, feeding him savannah grass and removing his parasites. She called him, ‘Aurea Puer’ (owe-dee-ya poo-eh) which translates from latin as, ‘Golden Child.’
Chapter Three
Intro
The whir of the Chrona began randomly, then escalated into a mad crescendo. The violently rotating machine first disappeared- and then reappeared, in a split-second. But a lot happened in between.
The Kings of Time Valley
The only trace of the Chrona was a whirling dirt-devil spinning in the dust. The two Time agents stood at a safe minimum distance, suddenly alone in a strange world. They had two backpacks between them, and two sleepers. That was all. Justin had pleaded with Infinity for a polaser to be brought along, or at least a carbide spear-tip, anything to gain an advantage against the ravages of the late Miocene. But she would have none of it. They stood motionless a long moment, allowing the enormity of the landscape to sink in. Here, the sun could blot out of the sky, an atomic bomb could explode, and there would be no one to notice. No one, that is, except the whoopers, now peeking out of the nooks between the boulders, and more watching from the distant tree line. Infinity grasped Justin’s paw of a hand in hers. Even she was intimidated by such vastness and void. “What a place!” she whispered excitedly.
The sun was languishing in the Western sky, and soon it would vanish below granite mountains that would never have a name. Justin got busy collecting firewood off the savannah, and fashioning it in an artistic circle with lots of room for air between the sticks. Infinity was searching nearby for the longest, straightest pole she could find. She came upon two stones, and stopped to smash one against the other. The third time she did it, one rock gave way to the other, resulting in a nice sharp hand tool. She looked up toward Justin and realized how far she was from the atomic fencing. Perhaps it was her lack of weapons, or her female form, but she was presented with a long, sturdy tree branch, tossed over a rock. It had to be the whoopers! She picked it up and scurried back to Justin with it.
She asked Justin to hold off on lighting the fire, telling him what had just happened. Justin thought it might have been her nervous imagination, but Infinity was already hard at it, working her spear into a fine and sharp point. Excited chatter became audible from behind a formation of stone and bush. The whoopers liked her, and the chattering continued until well after dark, when it suddenly stopped abruptly. Moments later, a sound like a wood-saw in an echo chamber filled the whoopers with panic, and their squealing ended with a single high-pitched scream. That scream faded off into the night as one life ended to prolong another.
“Smilodon,” whispered Justin. “Saber-tooth Tiger.”
Infinity lit the fire herself.
By morning, the whoopers had moved off, and were back amongst the distant trees. They were just as afraid of the fire as of the predatory creatures with whom they shared a symbiotic relationship. The time agents broke camp and headed out onto the savannah to find and recruit a Mammoth. As strange as it may sound, they were able to locate and approach a large herd without too much trouble. They searched for a young specimen and found one. The rest of their day was spent fashioning an old Indian travois. By now, Infinity had a full array of tools for doing custom work. Justin was amazed at her skill. She had been trained at a young age by her mother, who was herself a fierce warrior and a Byzantine royal. Night was too dangerous for them out in the grasses, so they slept back at the once and future site of the Chrona.
The following morning, they returned to claim their prize- a 400-pound recently orphaned baby Mammoth with luxurious golden fur. They rolled him onto the travois and dragged him home. The following morning, he awoke to Infinity stroking his hair, feeding him savannah grass and removing his parasites. She called him, ‘Aurea Puer’ (owe-dee-ya poo-eh) which translates from latin as, ‘Golden Child.’
Chronomenae, Sequel to Chronopolis
Chapter Four, Nandi the Tigress
Already weaned, milk nourishment was not a problem for the young animal. Justin had no idea how they could have pulled that one off. As it was, Infinity had her hands full acclimating ‘Owdy’ to sauntering at the end of a braided grass leash. In no time at all, he was grazing on his own and growing at an amazing pace. Infinity learned quickly not to let him step on her feet, spending two weeks flat on her back with Justin doing all the chores. They grew close in no time, with Justin referring to Owdy as ‘Mammoth-dog.’
At four months, the larger mammoths began to show curiosity, perhaps calmed by the good care the orphan was receiving. Infinity liked having them around when she walked Owdy down to the river for his daily bathing ritual. The Miocene was simply not a safe place for her to be walking around on her own. She was often trailed -at some distance- by her adoring fans, the whoopers. She liked to hold her spear aloft to them in a show of appreciation, as well as her abilities as a skilled weapon-maker and huntress.
But the real huntress was Nandi, a large, and fearsome Smilodon who lived and hunted in the shadow of the granite mountains. Named for the feline mount of the Hindu Goddess Shiva, Nandi could come and go like the sundowner desert wind. Her presence was never known until she wanted it to be, her strike both swift and terrible. Her cunning knew no bounds. She ate what was available as dictated by cervidae migration patterns, but her diet of choice was always Griphopithecus, or as Infinity called them- whoopers.
The most likely ancestor to the early hominins, whoopers at this time juncture of the late Miocene - early Pliocene, were spending less and less time in the trees and more and more time on the ground. This made the poor beasts increasingly vulnerable to Nandi’s predations. But such pressures also caused their brains to evolve more quickly as they were forced to consider the dangers inherent in their daily activities- and especially their nightly activities.
Within the first year, construction had begun in earnest on a strong log quarters just inside the perimeter of the still functioning atomic fence. Infinity selected carefully chosen logs for her design, and Justin and Owdy did the rest. By Summer of their sophomore year, the only work left was indoors. That precluded Owdy, who was now living separately in his own barn, designed by Infinity and constructed by Justin, replete with a 17-foot high doorway. Owdy was now a strapping adolescent Mammoth weighing in at over twelve-thousand pounds as estimated by Justin. Walking with him required an abundance of caution.
With more interactions between the whoopers and themselves, it got harder and harder to make peace with the almost nightly predations of Nandi the she-tigress. But such is nature, Justin often reminded a weepy Infinity. The whoopers benefit from Nandi, as a flock of birds benefits from the culling of a hawk. She knew he was right, of course, but such knowledge never made it any easier. Eventually, Infinity began sitting out in the open during the dusk hours, after having collected kindling under the watchful eyes of the whoopers. Then, she would light a small fire for them, started girl-scout style. Justin was at first furious, but then he resigned himself to her wishes. It was more peaceful that way. She appreciated his understanding, and asked him, “Who’s to say this isn’t how man discovers fire?”
Art: Johanna Tarkala
Chapter Four, Nandi the Tigress
Already weaned, milk nourishment was not a problem for the young animal. Justin had no idea how they could have pulled that one off. As it was, Infinity had her hands full acclimating ‘Owdy’ to sauntering at the end of a braided grass leash. In no time at all, he was grazing on his own and growing at an amazing pace. Infinity learned quickly not to let him step on her feet, spending two weeks flat on her back with Justin doing all the chores. They grew close in no time, with Justin referring to Owdy as ‘Mammoth-dog.’
At four months, the larger mammoths began to show curiosity, perhaps calmed by the good care the orphan was receiving. Infinity liked having them around when she walked Owdy down to the river for his daily bathing ritual. The Miocene was simply not a safe place for her to be walking around on her own. She was often trailed -at some distance- by her adoring fans, the whoopers. She liked to hold her spear aloft to them in a show of appreciation, as well as her abilities as a skilled weapon-maker and huntress.
But the real huntress was Nandi, a large, and fearsome Smilodon who lived and hunted in the shadow of the granite mountains. Named for the feline mount of the Hindu Goddess Shiva, Nandi could come and go like the sundowner desert wind. Her presence was never known until she wanted it to be, her strike both swift and terrible. Her cunning knew no bounds. She ate what was available as dictated by cervidae migration patterns, but her diet of choice was always Griphopithecus, or as Infinity called them- whoopers.
The most likely ancestor to the early hominins, whoopers at this time juncture of the late Miocene - early Pliocene, were spending less and less time in the trees and more and more time on the ground. This made the poor beasts increasingly vulnerable to Nandi’s predations. But such pressures also caused their brains to evolve more quickly as they were forced to consider the dangers inherent in their daily activities- and especially their nightly activities.
Within the first year, construction had begun in earnest on a strong log quarters just inside the perimeter of the still functioning atomic fence. Infinity selected carefully chosen logs for her design, and Justin and Owdy did the rest. By Summer of their sophomore year, the only work left was indoors. That precluded Owdy, who was now living separately in his own barn, designed by Infinity and constructed by Justin, replete with a 17-foot high doorway. Owdy was now a strapping adolescent Mammoth weighing in at over twelve-thousand pounds as estimated by Justin. Walking with him required an abundance of caution.
With more interactions between the whoopers and themselves, it got harder and harder to make peace with the almost nightly predations of Nandi the she-tigress. But such is nature, Justin often reminded a weepy Infinity. The whoopers benefit from Nandi, as a flock of birds benefits from the culling of a hawk. She knew he was right, of course, but such knowledge never made it any easier. Eventually, Infinity began sitting out in the open during the dusk hours, after having collected kindling under the watchful eyes of the whoopers. Then, she would light a small fire for them, started girl-scout style. Justin was at first furious, but then he resigned himself to her wishes. It was more peaceful that way. She appreciated his understanding, and asked him, “Who’s to say this isn’t how man discovers fire?”
Art: Johanna Tarkala
Chronomenae -Sequel to Chronopolis
Chapter V, Coney Island Chrona
In the same time parallel, Justin and Infinity stood watching a dust devil swirl in the wake of a vanished Chrona, and Colonel Jaspar and Senator Stilwell sat strapped into seats in the Chrona’s portal, their loosed atoms whirling through space and hurtling forward in time. As the Chrona was being throttled down to reconfigure five years into the Miocene future, a distinct lurch was felt throughout the portal area.
“What’s that?” asked the Senator, his face pale and ghostly.
“We’re out of fuel,” answered the Colonel. They both glared imploringly at the young couple working at the timeboards. “Can we make it?”
Special Agent Robert Terco looked over at his partner and gestured confidently toward him. “You’re the brains of the outfit, what do you have for us?”
Special Agent Fulton, his counterpart, answered quickly.
“It’s not that we’re out of fuel and can’t go anywhere. It’s that we can’t stop anywhere,” he said. With the Chrona still lurching in fits and starts, it meant there was still enough fuel to make a strategic move. Agent Fulton suggested a strategy of allowing the machine to continue in the time flow to a point in the nuclear age, where they might procure fissionable material.
“OK Terc, as I see it, we need a place to reconfigure where we can hide, and refuel.”
“Any suggestions?” asked the Professor.
Terco turned back to the timeboards and pressed on a red flasher. “Right here,” he said. This is twentieth century New York City, and that is where we can have both.”
Soon, the plan was laid out for all to study and everybody knew their role. Special Agent Fulton maneuvered the machine to the shore of a large bay, tilted sideways on an oblique angle, and shut down the power. The whine of the Chrona wound slowly down in a decrescendo, as a gathering crowd stood craning their necks upward, many gasping in disbelief. “Not to worry,” said Terco, as he flipped a toggle switch and lit the entire machine in a soothing blue, calming the reptilian brain of these primitive people. On the hull superstructure outside, an LED sign was changed from ‘Alternity,’ to ‘Opening Soon.’
“Brilliant!” said the Senator.
Special Agent Fulton gathered what gear he would need to lead a small strike team outside into the fracas of 20th-century America. They exited the Chrona one by one, disappearing into the throngs of wildly dressed and costumed musicians, youths and performers. They quickly commandeered a transit bus, hopped on the Long Island Expressway and headed to Brookhaven Laboratory in Eastern Long Island.
Outside the Chrona, minions of excited ride-goers snapped photos, ate cotton candy and stood in an ever-growing line, awaiting the grand opening of the gigantic blue Ferris wheel.
Chapter V, Coney Island Chrona
In the same time parallel, Justin and Infinity stood watching a dust devil swirl in the wake of a vanished Chrona, and Colonel Jaspar and Senator Stilwell sat strapped into seats in the Chrona’s portal, their loosed atoms whirling through space and hurtling forward in time. As the Chrona was being throttled down to reconfigure five years into the Miocene future, a distinct lurch was felt throughout the portal area.
“What’s that?” asked the Senator, his face pale and ghostly.
“We’re out of fuel,” answered the Colonel. They both glared imploringly at the young couple working at the timeboards. “Can we make it?”
Special Agent Robert Terco looked over at his partner and gestured confidently toward him. “You’re the brains of the outfit, what do you have for us?”
Special Agent Fulton, his counterpart, answered quickly.
“It’s not that we’re out of fuel and can’t go anywhere. It’s that we can’t stop anywhere,” he said. With the Chrona still lurching in fits and starts, it meant there was still enough fuel to make a strategic move. Agent Fulton suggested a strategy of allowing the machine to continue in the time flow to a point in the nuclear age, where they might procure fissionable material.
“OK Terc, as I see it, we need a place to reconfigure where we can hide, and refuel.”
“Any suggestions?” asked the Professor.
Terco turned back to the timeboards and pressed on a red flasher. “Right here,” he said. This is twentieth century New York City, and that is where we can have both.”
Soon, the plan was laid out for all to study and everybody knew their role. Special Agent Fulton maneuvered the machine to the shore of a large bay, tilted sideways on an oblique angle, and shut down the power. The whine of the Chrona wound slowly down in a decrescendo, as a gathering crowd stood craning their necks upward, many gasping in disbelief. “Not to worry,” said Terco, as he flipped a toggle switch and lit the entire machine in a soothing blue, calming the reptilian brain of these primitive people. On the hull superstructure outside, an LED sign was changed from ‘Alternity,’ to ‘Opening Soon.’
“Brilliant!” said the Senator.
Special Agent Fulton gathered what gear he would need to lead a small strike team outside into the fracas of 20th-century America. They exited the Chrona one by one, disappearing into the throngs of wildly dressed and costumed musicians, youths and performers. They quickly commandeered a transit bus, hopped on the Long Island Expressway and headed to Brookhaven Laboratory in Eastern Long Island.
Outside the Chrona, minions of excited ride-goers snapped photos, ate cotton candy and stood in an ever-growing line, awaiting the grand opening of the gigantic blue Ferris wheel.
Chronomenae -Sequel to Chronopolis
Chapter VI, Night of Nandi
Days came and went like the flickering of a strobe, one melding into the next, with severe nights in between. Daylight brought the buzzing of insects as large as game birds, few of which were harmful. One morning, Justin was awoken when his ‘pillow’ turned out to be of a giant beetle species, newly awakened itself and walked off. Infinity laughed until her stomach hurt, handed him a cup and laughed some more. But dusk brought less carefree times. The whoopers had now come to associate the agents -and their fire- with safety, and began gathering closely around the atomic fence as darkness fell. Out in the darkness beyond the flickering firelight dwelt always the growling, the menacing, the awe of Nandi.
On one rare occasion, Infinity was treated to a good look at the cat in the middle of the day. A hive of giant honeybees had decided to swarm at the base of a thin tree sprouting between the same boulders beneath which Nandi had dug out a den. There was a growl, a loud yelp, and then the magnificent sight of a giant and dazzlingly camouflaged saber tooth tiger appearing as if by magic, atop a boulder. For a moment, their eyes met and the hair on both their necks stood on end.
Nandi was master of her world, and Infinity, though a formidable time agent, was glad to be behind the atomic fence, which Nandi seemed to sense was a danger by the low hum of constantly flowing energy. As quickly as it started, Nandi was gone and not seen again until the following week when she came calling for the whoopers.
Justin was backing Owdy into his barn after a long bath at the river, and Infinity had giant mushroom steaks cooking on the face of a heated stone. The stars began popping into existence one constellation at a time, and the azure sky morphed quickly to darkness. All around the clearing came the whoopers, settling in for the night, reveling in the sense of security they got from close proximity to the fire. The fire crackled all night long as Justin tossed in one branch of kindling after another.
Infinity listened as Justin talked quietly about the different animals they encountered at the river that day. Woolly Rhinoceros, Sloth, and other huge, furry nameless giants. “Everything is so clean,” he said wistfully. Then came the nervous rattling of wood spears from the thicket. It reminded Justin of the soft whistles of a bird flock when a hawk was making a target of them. And just like that, Nandi exploded from the bush like a surfacing submarine. Her powerful jaws were clenched in a death grip around the base of a now deceased whoopers skull, and she dragged it off like a Jaguar would someday carry a gazelle.
All fell quiet.
Nandi stopped a brief moment and glared at the agents, the firelight flickering in her eyes, which were burning far more brightly. She seemed to at once be declaring her supremacy and warning off any attempts at stealing her prize. The agents had no intention of trying that. Then, she was gone.
Chapter VI, Night of Nandi
Days came and went like the flickering of a strobe, one melding into the next, with severe nights in between. Daylight brought the buzzing of insects as large as game birds, few of which were harmful. One morning, Justin was awoken when his ‘pillow’ turned out to be of a giant beetle species, newly awakened itself and walked off. Infinity laughed until her stomach hurt, handed him a cup and laughed some more. But dusk brought less carefree times. The whoopers had now come to associate the agents -and their fire- with safety, and began gathering closely around the atomic fence as darkness fell. Out in the darkness beyond the flickering firelight dwelt always the growling, the menacing, the awe of Nandi.
On one rare occasion, Infinity was treated to a good look at the cat in the middle of the day. A hive of giant honeybees had decided to swarm at the base of a thin tree sprouting between the same boulders beneath which Nandi had dug out a den. There was a growl, a loud yelp, and then the magnificent sight of a giant and dazzlingly camouflaged saber tooth tiger appearing as if by magic, atop a boulder. For a moment, their eyes met and the hair on both their necks stood on end.
Nandi was master of her world, and Infinity, though a formidable time agent, was glad to be behind the atomic fence, which Nandi seemed to sense was a danger by the low hum of constantly flowing energy. As quickly as it started, Nandi was gone and not seen again until the following week when she came calling for the whoopers.
Justin was backing Owdy into his barn after a long bath at the river, and Infinity had giant mushroom steaks cooking on the face of a heated stone. The stars began popping into existence one constellation at a time, and the azure sky morphed quickly to darkness. All around the clearing came the whoopers, settling in for the night, reveling in the sense of security they got from close proximity to the fire. The fire crackled all night long as Justin tossed in one branch of kindling after another.
Infinity listened as Justin talked quietly about the different animals they encountered at the river that day. Woolly Rhinoceros, Sloth, and other huge, furry nameless giants. “Everything is so clean,” he said wistfully. Then came the nervous rattling of wood spears from the thicket. It reminded Justin of the soft whistles of a bird flock when a hawk was making a target of them. And just like that, Nandi exploded from the bush like a surfacing submarine. Her powerful jaws were clenched in a death grip around the base of a now deceased whoopers skull, and she dragged it off like a Jaguar would someday carry a gazelle.
All fell quiet.
Nandi stopped a brief moment and glared at the agents, the firelight flickering in her eyes, which were burning far more brightly. She seemed to at once be declaring her supremacy and warning off any attempts at stealing her prize. The agents had no intention of trying that. Then, she was gone.
Chronomenae, Sequel to Chronopolis
Chapter VII, Brookhaven Break-in
The transit bus weaved in and out of the car pool lane, racing East on the Long Island Expressway. Special Agent Fulton had never driven a vehicle in his life, but had worked one on a simulator back at the academy. It was like going from a jet fighter to a Model ‘T’. By the time they reached the Suffolk County line, they had an entourage of police cruisers hanging loosely back, pretending they were just there on happenstance. The bus driver had gone immediately to the authorities, telling them he had been car-jacked by spacemen. The police weren’t sure what they were following, but spacemen were way down low on the list of probabilities.
However, there was always an outside chance the bus had been commandeered by foreign nationals or a domestic terror cell bent on attaining Brookhaven heavy water. When they crossed the county line, the Nassau County Police dropped out like fighter jets breaking off from an escort, and the Suffolk Police took over. They tended to be more aggressive. After all, they did have a nuclear weapons research facility in their jurisdiction. The lead car pulled up even with the passenger side of the transit bus, and motioned the passenger to open the window.
Getting no compliance, he produced a bullhorn and said, “Open your window!” He continued, “This is the Suffolk County Sheriffs Department, ordering you to open your window right now, or you will be arrested.”
The crew member was a young academy graduate herself, and she was fascinated by the 20th-century Police Man, or whatever he was, and she could hardly tell what he was saying, or what the words and terminology meant. “Pull over to the right shoulder and stop your vehicle, or you may be fired upon!” he continued. “Right now!”
She looked over to Agent Fulton, who was aware of the danger an armed officer could present. He instructed her to continue mouthing words, in order to keep the policeman busy. It bought them a few precious minutes. As they reached an exit, Fulton pulled the bus off the highway and was followed by a string of about 30 police vehicles. He reached a cross street and waited as a large semi-truck passed through the intersection. With a flick of a button on his wrist holograph unit, he was able to release an Electromagnetic Pulse, which killed all electricity in a large surrounding area. The semi-truck stalled right in the intersection, and Fulton drove the transit bus around it. He restarted the bus and headed right back onto the expressway, and jammed his foot to the floor. By the time the electricity came back on, the bus had arrived at the front gates of Brookhaven Labs.
Challenged by guards at the gate, Fulton decided it was best to park the bus and walk in on foot. The guards wanted paperwork, none of which the strike team had of course. Agent Fulton produced a note from the pocket of his freeze suit, and read off the name of a top scientist at the facility to the guard.
“Dr. Richard Ridgemont please.”
“And who exactly are you?” he asked as he dialed a phone on the kiosk wall.
“Justin Nicholas Thyme,” answered Fulton. “It’s urgent.”
Chapter VII, Brookhaven Break-in
The transit bus weaved in and out of the car pool lane, racing East on the Long Island Expressway. Special Agent Fulton had never driven a vehicle in his life, but had worked one on a simulator back at the academy. It was like going from a jet fighter to a Model ‘T’. By the time they reached the Suffolk County line, they had an entourage of police cruisers hanging loosely back, pretending they were just there on happenstance. The bus driver had gone immediately to the authorities, telling them he had been car-jacked by spacemen. The police weren’t sure what they were following, but spacemen were way down low on the list of probabilities.
However, there was always an outside chance the bus had been commandeered by foreign nationals or a domestic terror cell bent on attaining Brookhaven heavy water. When they crossed the county line, the Nassau County Police dropped out like fighter jets breaking off from an escort, and the Suffolk Police took over. They tended to be more aggressive. After all, they did have a nuclear weapons research facility in their jurisdiction. The lead car pulled up even with the passenger side of the transit bus, and motioned the passenger to open the window.
Getting no compliance, he produced a bullhorn and said, “Open your window!” He continued, “This is the Suffolk County Sheriffs Department, ordering you to open your window right now, or you will be arrested.”
The crew member was a young academy graduate herself, and she was fascinated by the 20th-century Police Man, or whatever he was, and she could hardly tell what he was saying, or what the words and terminology meant. “Pull over to the right shoulder and stop your vehicle, or you may be fired upon!” he continued. “Right now!”
She looked over to Agent Fulton, who was aware of the danger an armed officer could present. He instructed her to continue mouthing words, in order to keep the policeman busy. It bought them a few precious minutes. As they reached an exit, Fulton pulled the bus off the highway and was followed by a string of about 30 police vehicles. He reached a cross street and waited as a large semi-truck passed through the intersection. With a flick of a button on his wrist holograph unit, he was able to release an Electromagnetic Pulse, which killed all electricity in a large surrounding area. The semi-truck stalled right in the intersection, and Fulton drove the transit bus around it. He restarted the bus and headed right back onto the expressway, and jammed his foot to the floor. By the time the electricity came back on, the bus had arrived at the front gates of Brookhaven Labs.
Challenged by guards at the gate, Fulton decided it was best to park the bus and walk in on foot. The guards wanted paperwork, none of which the strike team had of course. Agent Fulton produced a note from the pocket of his freeze suit, and read off the name of a top scientist at the facility to the guard.
“Dr. Richard Ridgemont please.”
“And who exactly are you?” he asked as he dialed a phone on the kiosk wall.
“Justin Nicholas Thyme,” answered Fulton. “It’s urgent.”
Chronomenae -Sequel to Chronopolis
Chapter VIII, The Mother Ship
With two teams spread out over six million years of evolution, inside the Chrona sat the crew charged with holding it all together. At the timeboards sat Special Agent John ‘Terc’ Terco, now second in command. As Executive Officer, he was immediately subordinate only to fellow Special Agent Nikki Nightbird. Nikki was the current acting Commanding Officer of Chrona Operations, and would remain so for the duration. She was also the best friend of Infinity Stairs.
She and Terco were directing operations now unfolding out at Brookhaven Laboratories in Stonybrook, New York, where a strike team was in the process of fuel procurement- by any means necessary. Justin Thyme had checked all systems before deciding to join Infinity on a five-year staging operation back in the Miocene, and made plans for every contingency. Fuel was his main concern, and he allowed for a Plan ‘B’ as it were, should the Chrona be unable to span a five-year jump. He left instructions with Agent Nightbird to skip forward to between 1980 and 1985, the years a distant ancestral uncle held tenure at Stonybrook University, and was also in charge of nuclear enrichment at Brookhaven.
His name was Dr. Richard Ridgemont, and Justin had gone back to visit him once, after seeing his gravestone as a child. Having a scientific mind, the good doctor was able to quickly rebound from the shock and disbelief of time travel, and was now about to prove himself indispensable as a resource in Alternity’s time of need. Nikki instructed the information be sent along in a message stowed in the freeze suit of Agent ‘Photon’ Fulton, in charge of procurement ops. It was now coming in handy. The rest of the crew were kept busy monitoring many screens, representing sensors splayed throughout all time epochs, millennia and centuries in which Alternity time agents had visited or undertaken operations. A smaller squad addressed more immediate and practical concerns, such as maintaining facilities for hygiene and nutrition. Nikki and Terco also quietly discussed their concerns about the Chrona’s next mission, which would take agents farther into the future than Alternity had ever yet traveled. “It’s not just just how distant our destination will be,” said Nikki. “It’s also a consideration that the timeline could branch off, depending on how often causality had been breached in the past, and not just by us.”
“You mean other civilizations who independently discovered time travel like we did?” asked Terco.
“Yes. And, we may be sending agents down diverging paths, exploring in different directions, if we run into fractures in the timeline.”
“Captain, scanners show a squadron of fighter jets making a close pass overhead,” reported the officer on deck. “Looks like they’ve found us.”
“Very well,” she replied.
“The natives are restless,” said Terco.
“Terco, can you check the upstream scanners and tell me how long these guys will hang around, if we were to up and vanish?”
“Aye sir.”
Terco grasped a small red handle, a joy-stick of sorts, and wound it around to a green monitor light. “It shows they vacate the area after fifteen minutes.”
“Very well,” said Nikki. “Fire up the exo-membrane for…. say, sixteen minutes.”
“Aye, Captain,” came the reply. “OK, they’re gone.”
“Very well,” she repeated. “Cut power. That’ll buy us time.”
Terco smiled at her, his face bathed in monitor light.
She returned the smile and pointed him back to the timeboards.
Chapter VIII, The Mother Ship
With two teams spread out over six million years of evolution, inside the Chrona sat the crew charged with holding it all together. At the timeboards sat Special Agent John ‘Terc’ Terco, now second in command. As Executive Officer, he was immediately subordinate only to fellow Special Agent Nikki Nightbird. Nikki was the current acting Commanding Officer of Chrona Operations, and would remain so for the duration. She was also the best friend of Infinity Stairs.
She and Terco were directing operations now unfolding out at Brookhaven Laboratories in Stonybrook, New York, where a strike team was in the process of fuel procurement- by any means necessary. Justin Thyme had checked all systems before deciding to join Infinity on a five-year staging operation back in the Miocene, and made plans for every contingency. Fuel was his main concern, and he allowed for a Plan ‘B’ as it were, should the Chrona be unable to span a five-year jump. He left instructions with Agent Nightbird to skip forward to between 1980 and 1985, the years a distant ancestral uncle held tenure at Stonybrook University, and was also in charge of nuclear enrichment at Brookhaven.
His name was Dr. Richard Ridgemont, and Justin had gone back to visit him once, after seeing his gravestone as a child. Having a scientific mind, the good doctor was able to quickly rebound from the shock and disbelief of time travel, and was now about to prove himself indispensable as a resource in Alternity’s time of need. Nikki instructed the information be sent along in a message stowed in the freeze suit of Agent ‘Photon’ Fulton, in charge of procurement ops. It was now coming in handy. The rest of the crew were kept busy monitoring many screens, representing sensors splayed throughout all time epochs, millennia and centuries in which Alternity time agents had visited or undertaken operations. A smaller squad addressed more immediate and practical concerns, such as maintaining facilities for hygiene and nutrition. Nikki and Terco also quietly discussed their concerns about the Chrona’s next mission, which would take agents farther into the future than Alternity had ever yet traveled. “It’s not just just how distant our destination will be,” said Nikki. “It’s also a consideration that the timeline could branch off, depending on how often causality had been breached in the past, and not just by us.”
“You mean other civilizations who independently discovered time travel like we did?” asked Terco.
“Yes. And, we may be sending agents down diverging paths, exploring in different directions, if we run into fractures in the timeline.”
“Captain, scanners show a squadron of fighter jets making a close pass overhead,” reported the officer on deck. “Looks like they’ve found us.”
“Very well,” she replied.
“The natives are restless,” said Terco.
“Terco, can you check the upstream scanners and tell me how long these guys will hang around, if we were to up and vanish?”
“Aye sir.”
Terco grasped a small red handle, a joy-stick of sorts, and wound it around to a green monitor light. “It shows they vacate the area after fifteen minutes.”
“Very well,” said Nikki. “Fire up the exo-membrane for…. say, sixteen minutes.”
“Aye, Captain,” came the reply. “OK, they’re gone.”
“Very well,” she repeated. “Cut power. That’ll buy us time.”
Terco smiled at her, his face bathed in monitor light.
She returned the smile and pointed him back to the timeboards.
Chronomenae -Sequel to Chronopolis
Chapter IX, The Good Life
For all the terror and torment, viciousness and violence, the late Miocene-early Pliocene was not a bad way to go. Infinity could see a perfect reflection in crystal-clear water when the wind was still, that gave commentary on the good life. With no pollution, her complexion looked like it belonged on a magazine cover. With no impurities, Justin never tired, and could just run and swim seemingly forever. Among the whoopers, unencumbered by suspicious paranoia that would come much later with more complex thought processes, the agents were respected as neighbors. Infinity often lay on her back watching the birds fly over, remembering back in Chronopolis, when a flock of a half-dozen or so large birds was cause for excitement. Now she had a window on the distant past without the shifted baselines of a sparse and austere future. When a half-dozen large birds flew over, they came followed by innumerable others, oft blotting out the sun for six to eight hours as they passed on migration.
It was easy to see how mankind would think it would always be so, much as the native ancestors of her friend Nikki Nightbird thought nobody could ever wipe out all the buffalo. When Justin and the now gigantic young mammoth named Owdy returned from the river, Infinity sat strumming a beautifully crafted guitar she had worked on for months. Her ability as a guitarist matched her prowess as a luthier, and her voice was angelic and pure. Justin broke into a broad smile listening to it, and even the crickets of the evening seemed to keep perfect cadence. The whoopers, too, lay quietly soothed into silence. Infinity sang a song by 20th-century artist Joni Mitchell, and it went, “they cut all the trees, and put ‘em in a tree museum…”
Looking around the verdant and grassy Miocene landscape, that was hard to imagine. Two candles sat, flames flickering on a cut-wood table, their shadows dancing up and down the cabin walls. Outside, the hoot of some of the world’s first owls bounced around the canyonlands. As a fiery sunset faded into darkness, the mournful howl of a Dire Wolf wafted aloft, carried by stratus clouds to settle on the river.
Infinity played quietly into the night, and her music was eventually joined by the soft snoring of Justin Nicholas Thyme.
Art: Jim Svanberg
Chapter IX, The Good Life
For all the terror and torment, viciousness and violence, the late Miocene-early Pliocene was not a bad way to go. Infinity could see a perfect reflection in crystal-clear water when the wind was still, that gave commentary on the good life. With no pollution, her complexion looked like it belonged on a magazine cover. With no impurities, Justin never tired, and could just run and swim seemingly forever. Among the whoopers, unencumbered by suspicious paranoia that would come much later with more complex thought processes, the agents were respected as neighbors. Infinity often lay on her back watching the birds fly over, remembering back in Chronopolis, when a flock of a half-dozen or so large birds was cause for excitement. Now she had a window on the distant past without the shifted baselines of a sparse and austere future. When a half-dozen large birds flew over, they came followed by innumerable others, oft blotting out the sun for six to eight hours as they passed on migration.
It was easy to see how mankind would think it would always be so, much as the native ancestors of her friend Nikki Nightbird thought nobody could ever wipe out all the buffalo. When Justin and the now gigantic young mammoth named Owdy returned from the river, Infinity sat strumming a beautifully crafted guitar she had worked on for months. Her ability as a guitarist matched her prowess as a luthier, and her voice was angelic and pure. Justin broke into a broad smile listening to it, and even the crickets of the evening seemed to keep perfect cadence. The whoopers, too, lay quietly soothed into silence. Infinity sang a song by 20th-century artist Joni Mitchell, and it went, “they cut all the trees, and put ‘em in a tree museum…”
Looking around the verdant and grassy Miocene landscape, that was hard to imagine. Two candles sat, flames flickering on a cut-wood table, their shadows dancing up and down the cabin walls. Outside, the hoot of some of the world’s first owls bounced around the canyonlands. As a fiery sunset faded into darkness, the mournful howl of a Dire Wolf wafted aloft, carried by stratus clouds to settle on the river.
Infinity played quietly into the night, and her music was eventually joined by the soft snoring of Justin Nicholas Thyme.
Art: Jim Svanberg
Chronomenae -Sequel to Chronopolis
Chapter X, Fast Times with Richard Ridgemont
Dr. Richard Ridgemont sat at his desk, buried in the work of the day. His growling stomach had gotten so loud it was annoying his fellow researcher, Ms. Charlie Fontana, PhD. Charlie liked to pace the floor of the lab as she worked and she now shot him a glance with every pass. This prompted Dr. Ridgemont to give in to a day-old sandwich laying on the desk, crunching through stale bread. “M-m-m-m.” he remarked sarcastically.
A red light flashed on and off in the office outside the lab, prompting Charlie to slip a card through a slot and open the door. She took a call with clipboard in one hand, pencil in the other, and telephone between head and shoulder. She pressed an intercom button on the wall, and a speaker inside the lab squawked, “For you, Richard.”
Dr. Ridgemont wiped the crumbs from the corner of his mouth and used the back of his knees to push out his chair. He glanced up at the laboratory’s TV monitor, shaking his head at what appeared to be yet another dangerous and unnecessary car chase on the ‘L.I.E.’
“What in the world is the matter with these people,” he asked himself, rhetorically.
Charlie held the door for him as they switched rooms, and Dr. Ridgemont sat down and picked up the phone. Charlie, interested in who might be calling the lab, watched for long seconds as Dr. Ridgemont’s eye’s widened and his jaw drooped toward the desktop. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought he was going into shock. When Charlie paced the floor and returned, he was still sitting there wearing the same exact expression. 'Oh my,' she thought.
It had to be his mum, so old and frail the last time Charlie had seen her. She tapped the window. Nothing. She had to tap the window several times before he finally looked up at her, his mouth wide agape.
He stood leaning with one hand at the doorway, and said, “Yes, I know him, I’ll be right up.” Charlie caught his eye briefly, but he looked right back down at the floor. Her eyes implored him, but he would never know what to tell her, without risking his career.
“There are some things that can never be adequately explained,” he told her. “This is one.”
Flummoxed, she went back to her work. She paced the floor marking in pencil on a clipboard chart, as Richard stepped into an entryway lobby. It had been a long time since he met the very famous Justin Thyme, and then only once, briefly. Then, there was always the question of which version of him it was he was meeting! As for now, two strangers stood before him, a man and a young woman, and he recognized neither of them. “Dr. Richard Ridgemont?” asked the man.
“The one and only,” he answered. “And you are…Justin?” He whispered, “We can’t talk here.”
“I can take care of that,” said Photon. He flipped up his wrist holograph, initiated a short electromagnetic pulse, and they enjoyed privacy. He continued. “No, Dr., I am Agent Fulton, and this is my assistant. Your name was provided by our boss, Justin Nicholas Thyme. He said we could rely on your full cooperation.”
“Well, that depends….” said the befuddled scientist.
“Doctor, we are in the process of special planning, a mapping of sorts. We are out of fuel for…”
“A time machine?” asked the doctor, wide-eyed, and horrified. He was not about to get involved with stealing fissionable material from the lab. The Department of Energy kept close tabs on every gram of the stuff. At that moment, a third person seemingly appeared out of nowhere, carrying a large and heavy satchel over his shoulder. “Got it, sir.”
“Good work, stand down,” said Fulton.
Doc, on behalf of Alternity Group, we would like to thank you. Here- this is from Justin- our way of saying thank you. Guard it with your life and in the utmost secrecy.”
“But what… “the doctor stuttered, looking down at his wrist and a decidedly futuristic communications device.
“We wouldn’t let anything happen to you, Dr. Ridgemont. Don’t worry, nobody will remember any of this except you and your fellow researcher there. Until we meet again!”
The agents exited the facility and were not challenged.
Chapter X, Fast Times with Richard Ridgemont
Dr. Richard Ridgemont sat at his desk, buried in the work of the day. His growling stomach had gotten so loud it was annoying his fellow researcher, Ms. Charlie Fontana, PhD. Charlie liked to pace the floor of the lab as she worked and she now shot him a glance with every pass. This prompted Dr. Ridgemont to give in to a day-old sandwich laying on the desk, crunching through stale bread. “M-m-m-m.” he remarked sarcastically.
A red light flashed on and off in the office outside the lab, prompting Charlie to slip a card through a slot and open the door. She took a call with clipboard in one hand, pencil in the other, and telephone between head and shoulder. She pressed an intercom button on the wall, and a speaker inside the lab squawked, “For you, Richard.”
Dr. Ridgemont wiped the crumbs from the corner of his mouth and used the back of his knees to push out his chair. He glanced up at the laboratory’s TV monitor, shaking his head at what appeared to be yet another dangerous and unnecessary car chase on the ‘L.I.E.’
“What in the world is the matter with these people,” he asked himself, rhetorically.
Charlie held the door for him as they switched rooms, and Dr. Ridgemont sat down and picked up the phone. Charlie, interested in who might be calling the lab, watched for long seconds as Dr. Ridgemont’s eye’s widened and his jaw drooped toward the desktop. If she didn’t know better, she would have thought he was going into shock. When Charlie paced the floor and returned, he was still sitting there wearing the same exact expression. 'Oh my,' she thought.
It had to be his mum, so old and frail the last time Charlie had seen her. She tapped the window. Nothing. She had to tap the window several times before he finally looked up at her, his mouth wide agape.
He stood leaning with one hand at the doorway, and said, “Yes, I know him, I’ll be right up.” Charlie caught his eye briefly, but he looked right back down at the floor. Her eyes implored him, but he would never know what to tell her, without risking his career.
“There are some things that can never be adequately explained,” he told her. “This is one.”
Flummoxed, she went back to her work. She paced the floor marking in pencil on a clipboard chart, as Richard stepped into an entryway lobby. It had been a long time since he met the very famous Justin Thyme, and then only once, briefly. Then, there was always the question of which version of him it was he was meeting! As for now, two strangers stood before him, a man and a young woman, and he recognized neither of them. “Dr. Richard Ridgemont?” asked the man.
“The one and only,” he answered. “And you are…Justin?” He whispered, “We can’t talk here.”
“I can take care of that,” said Photon. He flipped up his wrist holograph, initiated a short electromagnetic pulse, and they enjoyed privacy. He continued. “No, Dr., I am Agent Fulton, and this is my assistant. Your name was provided by our boss, Justin Nicholas Thyme. He said we could rely on your full cooperation.”
“Well, that depends….” said the befuddled scientist.
“Doctor, we are in the process of special planning, a mapping of sorts. We are out of fuel for…”
“A time machine?” asked the doctor, wide-eyed, and horrified. He was not about to get involved with stealing fissionable material from the lab. The Department of Energy kept close tabs on every gram of the stuff. At that moment, a third person seemingly appeared out of nowhere, carrying a large and heavy satchel over his shoulder. “Got it, sir.”
“Good work, stand down,” said Fulton.
Doc, on behalf of Alternity Group, we would like to thank you. Here- this is from Justin- our way of saying thank you. Guard it with your life and in the utmost secrecy.”
“But what… “the doctor stuttered, looking down at his wrist and a decidedly futuristic communications device.
“We wouldn’t let anything happen to you, Dr. Ridgemont. Don’t worry, nobody will remember any of this except you and your fellow researcher there. Until we meet again!”
The agents exited the facility and were not challenged.
Chronomenae- Sequel to Chronopolis
Chapter XI, Star Power
The team easily hot-wired and boarded a wildly-painted older model Volkswagon bus they found in the parking lot a few spaces over from the now incendiary transit bus in which they had arrived. They putt-putted out onto the street, and away they went, watching over their shoulders all the while. The last thing they saw of Brookhaven, was a large commotion at the guard kiosk at the front gate entrance. The Suffolk County Sheriffs were trying to get a look at the log book, while the guards resisted, adamant about not having any knowledge of an incident.
Because the place was a nuclear weapons research and development facility, the sheriff had no jurisdiction there, and were soon called back by their superiors to the main courthouse complex in Central Islip for debriefing. On their way, they passed an old V.W. bus, which followed them all the way to court. “Wasn’t that hippie bus on the road with us all the way from Yaphank?” asked one deputy.
“How could you miss it,” answered the other. “Probably on their way to court.”
“For drugs!” they said in unison, and guffawed all the way to the station.
The bus pulled in after the sheriffs had exited their vehicle, and the team parked right beside them after the sheriffs entered the courthouse. Popping the locks was child’s play and the team arrived back at Coney Island to a huge crowd. The yellow crime scene tape was lifted up for them, allowing their newly procured sheriff’s sport utility vehicle through without delay. They vacated the vehicle and boarded the Chrona.
Soon thereafter, they were themselves, debriefed. All fissionable material they had procured was placed in a matter-antimatter containment chamber, held in place by magnets. In 2 hours, the material had quadrupled in size and weight, looking for all the world like a floating Rubik’s Cube.
“Great work, folks!” said Captain Nightbird. “Terc, begin fuel enrichment, and let me know when we can get underway.”
“Aye sir,” came the reply. “You’re looking at one hundred minutes out.”
Meanwhile the jets were back and this time they meant business. As usual, they were more interested in stealing technology for use in military applications than in determining any threat we might pose. It made Nikki wonder aloud, “How the hell do any civilizations ever make it far enough to earn their timewings?”
“That was us not too long ago,” said Agent Fulton.
“Speak for yourself, Photon,” she said sourly.
The jets raced across the sky in a criss-cross pattern, looking like the Blue Angels at a patriotic air show. After several passes, each closer than the next, they turned and vacated the area. Then came the humming of helicopters, all with blaring loudspeakers, warning the massive crowd they were in danger of unknown and deadly germs. At the same time, older model crop-duster type planes flew in and started dropping leaflets on the crowd, saying basically the same thing. After a few minutes of sheer pandemonium, the choppers left and so did the planes. The only thing now in the area was a giant blue Ferris-wheel, amid a sea of cement. That’s when Agent Terco, acting as Quartermaster, saw a huge bomber plane approaching the scene. It wasn’t hard to figure out what was coming next. “Fulton, stand by to energize the Chrona portal,” said the Commanding Officer.
“Aye sir.”
“Terco, what have we got?”
“Ten seconds, Captain. And here comes your friendly Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, loaded and fully armed with bad intentions.”
“T minus 3-2-1-…”
With the power of a familiar yellow dwarf star in its main sequence, the Chrona energized. The portal began rotating- slowly at first, like the RPM's of a big-bloc internal combustion engine of the era. Then, with all aboard strapped into their stations, the large machine once again pierced the veil of time itself, backward into oblivion. The lights went out, rendering the portal walls black as the inky eternal night from which we all come, and eventually return.
Large constellations shone on the rapidly rotating walls, broken up by intermittent scenes from past, present and future. Here in the portal of an energized Chrona, all of time coalesces into singularity, all colors meld, all sounds blend into a harmony borne of dissonance. The images had all eyes glued to the Chrona wall. The first atomic bomb. The greatest speech of Martin Luther King, jr., the senseless slaying of the last Tiger, the melting of the final ice berg.
And then there was silence.
Chapter XI, Star Power
The team easily hot-wired and boarded a wildly-painted older model Volkswagon bus they found in the parking lot a few spaces over from the now incendiary transit bus in which they had arrived. They putt-putted out onto the street, and away they went, watching over their shoulders all the while. The last thing they saw of Brookhaven, was a large commotion at the guard kiosk at the front gate entrance. The Suffolk County Sheriffs were trying to get a look at the log book, while the guards resisted, adamant about not having any knowledge of an incident.
Because the place was a nuclear weapons research and development facility, the sheriff had no jurisdiction there, and were soon called back by their superiors to the main courthouse complex in Central Islip for debriefing. On their way, they passed an old V.W. bus, which followed them all the way to court. “Wasn’t that hippie bus on the road with us all the way from Yaphank?” asked one deputy.
“How could you miss it,” answered the other. “Probably on their way to court.”
“For drugs!” they said in unison, and guffawed all the way to the station.
The bus pulled in after the sheriffs had exited their vehicle, and the team parked right beside them after the sheriffs entered the courthouse. Popping the locks was child’s play and the team arrived back at Coney Island to a huge crowd. The yellow crime scene tape was lifted up for them, allowing their newly procured sheriff’s sport utility vehicle through without delay. They vacated the vehicle and boarded the Chrona.
Soon thereafter, they were themselves, debriefed. All fissionable material they had procured was placed in a matter-antimatter containment chamber, held in place by magnets. In 2 hours, the material had quadrupled in size and weight, looking for all the world like a floating Rubik’s Cube.
“Great work, folks!” said Captain Nightbird. “Terc, begin fuel enrichment, and let me know when we can get underway.”
“Aye sir,” came the reply. “You’re looking at one hundred minutes out.”
Meanwhile the jets were back and this time they meant business. As usual, they were more interested in stealing technology for use in military applications than in determining any threat we might pose. It made Nikki wonder aloud, “How the hell do any civilizations ever make it far enough to earn their timewings?”
“That was us not too long ago,” said Agent Fulton.
“Speak for yourself, Photon,” she said sourly.
The jets raced across the sky in a criss-cross pattern, looking like the Blue Angels at a patriotic air show. After several passes, each closer than the next, they turned and vacated the area. Then came the humming of helicopters, all with blaring loudspeakers, warning the massive crowd they were in danger of unknown and deadly germs. At the same time, older model crop-duster type planes flew in and started dropping leaflets on the crowd, saying basically the same thing. After a few minutes of sheer pandemonium, the choppers left and so did the planes. The only thing now in the area was a giant blue Ferris-wheel, amid a sea of cement. That’s when Agent Terco, acting as Quartermaster, saw a huge bomber plane approaching the scene. It wasn’t hard to figure out what was coming next. “Fulton, stand by to energize the Chrona portal,” said the Commanding Officer.
“Aye sir.”
“Terco, what have we got?”
“Ten seconds, Captain. And here comes your friendly Boeing B-52 Stratofortress, loaded and fully armed with bad intentions.”
“T minus 3-2-1-…”
With the power of a familiar yellow dwarf star in its main sequence, the Chrona energized. The portal began rotating- slowly at first, like the RPM's of a big-bloc internal combustion engine of the era. Then, with all aboard strapped into their stations, the large machine once again pierced the veil of time itself, backward into oblivion. The lights went out, rendering the portal walls black as the inky eternal night from which we all come, and eventually return.
Large constellations shone on the rapidly rotating walls, broken up by intermittent scenes from past, present and future. Here in the portal of an energized Chrona, all of time coalesces into singularity, all colors meld, all sounds blend into a harmony borne of dissonance. The images had all eyes glued to the Chrona wall. The first atomic bomb. The greatest speech of Martin Luther King, jr., the senseless slaying of the last Tiger, the melting of the final ice berg.
And then there was silence.
Chronomenae -Sequel to Chronopolis
Chapter XII, Piercing the Veil
Lost in the clouds of what appeared to be a huge explosion, the pilot radioed a distress call back to the Air Force Research Laboratory, his home base located in Rome, New York.
“Can’t see a thing, with or without instruments,” he reported.
“Roger that, Fort Knight, keep looking,” came the garbled reply.
There was a lot of static interference. Radar had shown a large object mere moments ago, and the B-52 Stratofortress was the only eyes the Air Force had on scene.
“Base, do you have any signal returns? We sure don’t. Please advise.”
Back at Rome base, operations were at the highest level of alert, and the Officer On Deck was convinced a limited nuclear explosion had occurred. “Negative that, Fort Knight, radar showing no returns in or around your area. Return to base, let the fighters take over.”
Silence.
“Fort Knight, do you copy? Please acknowledge.” Long minutes dragged by with no response. “I repeat, Fort Knight come in please.” Rome base was now very nervous, believing their bomber may have perished in their own explosion. Fighter jets were once again criss-crossing the area to no avail. The jets darted in and out of smoke, with the squadron leader reporting the bad news back.
“Rome base, this is Flash leader, we are seeing no bomber jet, no bogie, over.”
“Copy that, leader, what are you observing?”
“We are seeing a lot of smoke and some kind of mist or foam. You might call it angel hair or something. Never seen anything like it- but no jet, no bogie, nothing else.” After fifteen minutes in the area, the jets were called to return to base, and ground forces were sent in to secure the area.
“Flash leader, return to base for debriefing." Far below, gathering crowds demanding refunds, and press were being dispersed as quickly as they arrived. The event was entered into the log books as one of the greatest mysteries in Air Force history.
Back inside the Chrona, the lights were still off but the colored flashers and buttons had snapped back to life. Outside the portal, soft light poured in like warm syrup. It felt good on Nikki’s arms. According to the Quartermaster, they had arrived at destination and perfectly on target. “Set us down, Terc,” ordered Commander Nightbird.
Justin and Infinity stood holding hands, watching from the rocks as the sky opened up and swallowed a chunk of the sunny afternoon. Wind kicked up and swirled in all directions. As the Chrona materialized and settled on the grasses, there was a mass exodus of fauna, including the whoopers, who were, of course, nearly frightened to death. Infinity wished there was something she could have said or done for all of them, but she just looked to Justin, who told her, “It will pass.”
As the crew finished going down their shutdown checklist, Justin released Owdy from the barn and let him run free. Incredibly, he stayed close by, munching on the tall savannah grass. One by one, the crew members disembarked, standing in a close bunch as they took in the enormity of the pristine landscape. No one uttered a sound. Within moments, the idyllic scene was shattered by the drone of powerful airplane engines, now sputtering and out of sorts. Nikki Nightbird knew what it was immediately, and filled Justin in. “That’s a B-52 carrying nukes, and it must have been too close to our vortex!”
“Why is it sputtering?” asked Infinity.
“It’s the engine carburetors,” said Justin. “They’re not adjusted to this air-fuel mixture- everybody take cover!” The plane sputtered pathetically, and entered a death spiral. Infinity was horrified, not so much by the thought of imminent death, but at the idea of this innocent and pristine Shangri-la being wiped from the face of the Earth for 3 miles around. As the large plane spun downward in a whirlwind of doom, a small explosion catapulted a pilot out of the cockpit, and the agents watched from behind huge rocks as his parachute floated gently down. “Nikki, hand me your polaser!” barked Infinity.
But Justin stayed her hand. He understood the weaponry of that era and he was sure the crash wouldn’t detonate the bombs. As the pilot settled gently onto the rocks just a few yards away, they watched with white knuckles as the war machine from another era slammed into the side of the far away granite mountains.
Chapter XII, Piercing the Veil
Lost in the clouds of what appeared to be a huge explosion, the pilot radioed a distress call back to the Air Force Research Laboratory, his home base located in Rome, New York.
“Can’t see a thing, with or without instruments,” he reported.
“Roger that, Fort Knight, keep looking,” came the garbled reply.
There was a lot of static interference. Radar had shown a large object mere moments ago, and the B-52 Stratofortress was the only eyes the Air Force had on scene.
“Base, do you have any signal returns? We sure don’t. Please advise.”
Back at Rome base, operations were at the highest level of alert, and the Officer On Deck was convinced a limited nuclear explosion had occurred. “Negative that, Fort Knight, radar showing no returns in or around your area. Return to base, let the fighters take over.”
Silence.
“Fort Knight, do you copy? Please acknowledge.” Long minutes dragged by with no response. “I repeat, Fort Knight come in please.” Rome base was now very nervous, believing their bomber may have perished in their own explosion. Fighter jets were once again criss-crossing the area to no avail. The jets darted in and out of smoke, with the squadron leader reporting the bad news back.
“Rome base, this is Flash leader, we are seeing no bomber jet, no bogie, over.”
“Copy that, leader, what are you observing?”
“We are seeing a lot of smoke and some kind of mist or foam. You might call it angel hair or something. Never seen anything like it- but no jet, no bogie, nothing else.” After fifteen minutes in the area, the jets were called to return to base, and ground forces were sent in to secure the area.
“Flash leader, return to base for debriefing." Far below, gathering crowds demanding refunds, and press were being dispersed as quickly as they arrived. The event was entered into the log books as one of the greatest mysteries in Air Force history.
Back inside the Chrona, the lights were still off but the colored flashers and buttons had snapped back to life. Outside the portal, soft light poured in like warm syrup. It felt good on Nikki’s arms. According to the Quartermaster, they had arrived at destination and perfectly on target. “Set us down, Terc,” ordered Commander Nightbird.
Justin and Infinity stood holding hands, watching from the rocks as the sky opened up and swallowed a chunk of the sunny afternoon. Wind kicked up and swirled in all directions. As the Chrona materialized and settled on the grasses, there was a mass exodus of fauna, including the whoopers, who were, of course, nearly frightened to death. Infinity wished there was something she could have said or done for all of them, but she just looked to Justin, who told her, “It will pass.”
As the crew finished going down their shutdown checklist, Justin released Owdy from the barn and let him run free. Incredibly, he stayed close by, munching on the tall savannah grass. One by one, the crew members disembarked, standing in a close bunch as they took in the enormity of the pristine landscape. No one uttered a sound. Within moments, the idyllic scene was shattered by the drone of powerful airplane engines, now sputtering and out of sorts. Nikki Nightbird knew what it was immediately, and filled Justin in. “That’s a B-52 carrying nukes, and it must have been too close to our vortex!”
“Why is it sputtering?” asked Infinity.
“It’s the engine carburetors,” said Justin. “They’re not adjusted to this air-fuel mixture- everybody take cover!” The plane sputtered pathetically, and entered a death spiral. Infinity was horrified, not so much by the thought of imminent death, but at the idea of this innocent and pristine Shangri-la being wiped from the face of the Earth for 3 miles around. As the large plane spun downward in a whirlwind of doom, a small explosion catapulted a pilot out of the cockpit, and the agents watched from behind huge rocks as his parachute floated gently down. “Nikki, hand me your polaser!” barked Infinity.
But Justin stayed her hand. He understood the weaponry of that era and he was sure the crash wouldn’t detonate the bombs. As the pilot settled gently onto the rocks just a few yards away, they watched with white knuckles as the war machine from another era slammed into the side of the far away granite mountains.
Chronomenae -Sequel to Chronopolis
Chapter XIII, Future Shock
As the wreckage of the B-52 slid backward down the slope of the granite mountains, all held their collective breath. The Cave Elk stampeded, the Mammoth herded themselves into tight groups, and the whoopers fell to their knees in worship. When the bomber jet finally slid to the valley’s open floor, it lit the grass on fire, which burned all the way to the river.
Smoke rose straight up until it reached the mountain summit, where it caught the jet stream and turned at a right angle. At this point, all eyes turned to the man in the parachute, standing atop a large boulder and now training an M-16 long rifle toward the agents. “Everybody put your hands on your heads!” he yelled. “Now, we’re gonna play twenty questions.”
“Welcome to the Miocene,” quipped Justin.
“The what? What’s that supposed to mean, prisoner?”
But Justin never got to answer, and the pilot never got to ask his other nineteen questions, because as he detached from his parachute, Nandi leapt on him from behind, smothering him with the great weight of a Saber Tooth Tiger. In his dying moments, he understood what Miocene meant. He never got to understand anything else. Nandi used her sabers to grab him by the base of the neck, administering a not-so-typical tiger’s kill-bite. Then, carrying him effortlessly in her powerful maw, she leapt down to the escarpment some twenty or thirty feet below, where she landed like a ballerina, then shot off into the bush. The agents watched her disappear like the phantom she was.
‘A whooper was spared this night,’ thought Infinity. There was still the question of disarming those nukes aboard the B-52, but for now it would have to wait. The time craft was unloaded, the camp was populated, and the star-drive was enriched. Infinity was due in briefing, and the Chrona would soon energize. Ten agents sat around a long rectangular table of cut wood as Infinity spent her last minutes next door in the barn. She took off her sweatshirt, and left it on his (Owdy's) bed of hay. He would miss his mommy. Justin waited outside the seventeen-foot-high barn door, and was there to wipe her tears. “You don’t want the kids to see that,” he smiled. Infinity was defacto Justin’s daughter, and his encouragement always meant the world to her. She was ready.
“OK, so the crew will be Infinity Stairs, Commanding Officer, Photon Fulton, Executive Officer, and Special Agent Terco, Quartermaster,” Justin told them. “There will be no exploration of fractured timelines without permission, is that clear?”
“Aye sir,” came the reply.
“Terco, set the target coordinates at 40.7128 N latitude, 74.0060 W longitude.”
“New York City,” said Terco.
“And set the chronology for the year AD 2500.”
“Nice round number,” came Terco’s reply.
“Let’s have a look around. Infinity?”
“Aye sir.”
“You have the deck and the con. Godspeed.”
“Watch your ass ‘Fin,” Nikki told her best friend.
With all vacated except the crew, the brave trio strapped into their stations, checked their freeze suits, and energized the Chrona. Once again, the machine began to turn, slowly at first, then wound up like a centrifuge until the darkness and light blended into a pallet of gray tones. Eventually, an eternal night fell upon the Chrona portal, and the tell-tale images and visions began playing on the bulkheads. The Chrona spun at a fast enough clip to seem motionless, and the galaxies outside surrounding them in every direction could be seen pin-wheeling through space in real time.
Stars went supernova, others dimmed to a dull red. And then the whirling spirals began to slow back down, and eventually ground to a halt. The portal de-energized and Infinity took a first look outside. The coordinates were precise. This was the former site of New York City, which by now was surely a long-faded memory. A mere legend of antiquity. “Open the portal,” ordered Infinity. They gasped together.
“New York City,” said Terco, sounding like a train conductor.
Chapter XIII, Future Shock
As the wreckage of the B-52 slid backward down the slope of the granite mountains, all held their collective breath. The Cave Elk stampeded, the Mammoth herded themselves into tight groups, and the whoopers fell to their knees in worship. When the bomber jet finally slid to the valley’s open floor, it lit the grass on fire, which burned all the way to the river.
Smoke rose straight up until it reached the mountain summit, where it caught the jet stream and turned at a right angle. At this point, all eyes turned to the man in the parachute, standing atop a large boulder and now training an M-16 long rifle toward the agents. “Everybody put your hands on your heads!” he yelled. “Now, we’re gonna play twenty questions.”
“Welcome to the Miocene,” quipped Justin.
“The what? What’s that supposed to mean, prisoner?”
But Justin never got to answer, and the pilot never got to ask his other nineteen questions, because as he detached from his parachute, Nandi leapt on him from behind, smothering him with the great weight of a Saber Tooth Tiger. In his dying moments, he understood what Miocene meant. He never got to understand anything else. Nandi used her sabers to grab him by the base of the neck, administering a not-so-typical tiger’s kill-bite. Then, carrying him effortlessly in her powerful maw, she leapt down to the escarpment some twenty or thirty feet below, where she landed like a ballerina, then shot off into the bush. The agents watched her disappear like the phantom she was.
‘A whooper was spared this night,’ thought Infinity. There was still the question of disarming those nukes aboard the B-52, but for now it would have to wait. The time craft was unloaded, the camp was populated, and the star-drive was enriched. Infinity was due in briefing, and the Chrona would soon energize. Ten agents sat around a long rectangular table of cut wood as Infinity spent her last minutes next door in the barn. She took off her sweatshirt, and left it on his (Owdy's) bed of hay. He would miss his mommy. Justin waited outside the seventeen-foot-high barn door, and was there to wipe her tears. “You don’t want the kids to see that,” he smiled. Infinity was defacto Justin’s daughter, and his encouragement always meant the world to her. She was ready.
“OK, so the crew will be Infinity Stairs, Commanding Officer, Photon Fulton, Executive Officer, and Special Agent Terco, Quartermaster,” Justin told them. “There will be no exploration of fractured timelines without permission, is that clear?”
“Aye sir,” came the reply.
“Terco, set the target coordinates at 40.7128 N latitude, 74.0060 W longitude.”
“New York City,” said Terco.
“And set the chronology for the year AD 2500.”
“Nice round number,” came Terco’s reply.
“Let’s have a look around. Infinity?”
“Aye sir.”
“You have the deck and the con. Godspeed.”
“Watch your ass ‘Fin,” Nikki told her best friend.
With all vacated except the crew, the brave trio strapped into their stations, checked their freeze suits, and energized the Chrona. Once again, the machine began to turn, slowly at first, then wound up like a centrifuge until the darkness and light blended into a pallet of gray tones. Eventually, an eternal night fell upon the Chrona portal, and the tell-tale images and visions began playing on the bulkheads. The Chrona spun at a fast enough clip to seem motionless, and the galaxies outside surrounding them in every direction could be seen pin-wheeling through space in real time.
Stars went supernova, others dimmed to a dull red. And then the whirling spirals began to slow back down, and eventually ground to a halt. The portal de-energized and Infinity took a first look outside. The coordinates were precise. This was the former site of New York City, which by now was surely a long-faded memory. A mere legend of antiquity. “Open the portal,” ordered Infinity. They gasped together.
“New York City,” said Terco, sounding like a train conductor.
Chronomenae -Sequel to Chronopolis
Chapter XIV, High Society
The crew stood at the portal looking down on the same area two of them had visited during the Brookhaven caper, but they were now 515 years further in the future. The cityscape was a riot of advertisement, commerce gone mad. Every square inch of the place was dedicated to sales, business and ads aimed at generating yet more sales and business. Products were many and varied, and their images shown virtually atop every available space and from every available window, in every conceivable way. Judging from the look of the actual streets far below this cacophony, there were few able to make the purchase. Infinity couldn’t tell if there were simply very few people down there, or too little currency available to them. But something was wrong, she was sure.
“Photon, run an atmosphere diagnostic.”
“Aye sir,” came the reply.
“Terco, drop a drone down there and grab some DNA from somebody. Then bring it home to quarantine.”
Special Agent Terco acknowledged the order, deploying a surgical drone while singing a 500-year-old jingle, “Break me off a piece of that Kit-Kat Bar.” Infinity shook her head, the irony not lost on her. A police cruiser came levitating by, having not only noticed their field of disruption, but taken an active interest in it. The vehicle made one pass after another, trying all kinds of surveillance equipment on this anomaly created by the Chrona. Infinity knew it was only a matter of time before they became alarmed.
“Alright gentlemen, I’m going to need you to bring those diagnostics and DNA on board as quickly as possible. I smell trouble brewing with these guys. They’ve got some pretty high tech, and they’re dangerous.”
“Atmospheric samples aboard, we’re running them now,” reported Agent Fulton.
“Very well,” the Commander acknowledged.
“Drone just procured DNA sample, on its’ return trip as we speak,” said Terco.
“Very well,” answered Infinity. “Prepare to energize.”
“Aye sir,” said Agent Fulton. “Preparing to energize in T-minus ten…” he started a countdown.
“Drone aboard Commander,” said Terco.
“Very well,” said Infinity.
The police hovercraft had just made its’ closest pass yet and was in the process of turning for another when the Chrona was charged, allowing it to become momentarily visible. Although this civilization was about as tech-savvy as Alternity, their resources were always poured into commerce. Alternity Group was unencumbered by such selfish pursuits and so had made huge advances- such as mastering time field disruption. The police cruiser visibly rocked back and forth like boy scouts on their first canoe trip as the Chrona suddenly appeared before them.
A yellow strobe alarm began flashing inside the Chrona portal, indicating to the crew they were being targeted by weapons, and it turned to red when those weapons became armed. Terco and Photon looked up from their stations at Infinity, the lights flashing off their now moist foreheads.
“Energize,” came the order. And in a flash of mist, foam, and fire, they were gone. “Set the same coordinates,” she instructed. “Let’s take a real jump this time. Set the chronology for AD4500.”
“Aye sir,” said the Quartermaster.
Infinity nodded her head and said, “OK, now let’s have those readouts.”
Chapter XIV, High Society
The crew stood at the portal looking down on the same area two of them had visited during the Brookhaven caper, but they were now 515 years further in the future. The cityscape was a riot of advertisement, commerce gone mad. Every square inch of the place was dedicated to sales, business and ads aimed at generating yet more sales and business. Products were many and varied, and their images shown virtually atop every available space and from every available window, in every conceivable way. Judging from the look of the actual streets far below this cacophony, there were few able to make the purchase. Infinity couldn’t tell if there were simply very few people down there, or too little currency available to them. But something was wrong, she was sure.
“Photon, run an atmosphere diagnostic.”
“Aye sir,” came the reply.
“Terco, drop a drone down there and grab some DNA from somebody. Then bring it home to quarantine.”
Special Agent Terco acknowledged the order, deploying a surgical drone while singing a 500-year-old jingle, “Break me off a piece of that Kit-Kat Bar.” Infinity shook her head, the irony not lost on her. A police cruiser came levitating by, having not only noticed their field of disruption, but taken an active interest in it. The vehicle made one pass after another, trying all kinds of surveillance equipment on this anomaly created by the Chrona. Infinity knew it was only a matter of time before they became alarmed.
“Alright gentlemen, I’m going to need you to bring those diagnostics and DNA on board as quickly as possible. I smell trouble brewing with these guys. They’ve got some pretty high tech, and they’re dangerous.”
“Atmospheric samples aboard, we’re running them now,” reported Agent Fulton.
“Very well,” the Commander acknowledged.
“Drone just procured DNA sample, on its’ return trip as we speak,” said Terco.
“Very well,” answered Infinity. “Prepare to energize.”
“Aye sir,” said Agent Fulton. “Preparing to energize in T-minus ten…” he started a countdown.
“Drone aboard Commander,” said Terco.
“Very well,” said Infinity.
The police hovercraft had just made its’ closest pass yet and was in the process of turning for another when the Chrona was charged, allowing it to become momentarily visible. Although this civilization was about as tech-savvy as Alternity, their resources were always poured into commerce. Alternity Group was unencumbered by such selfish pursuits and so had made huge advances- such as mastering time field disruption. The police cruiser visibly rocked back and forth like boy scouts on their first canoe trip as the Chrona suddenly appeared before them.
A yellow strobe alarm began flashing inside the Chrona portal, indicating to the crew they were being targeted by weapons, and it turned to red when those weapons became armed. Terco and Photon looked up from their stations at Infinity, the lights flashing off their now moist foreheads.
“Energize,” came the order. And in a flash of mist, foam, and fire, they were gone. “Set the same coordinates,” she instructed. “Let’s take a real jump this time. Set the chronology for AD4500.”
“Aye sir,” said the Quartermaster.
Infinity nodded her head and said, “OK, now let’s have those readouts.”
Chronomenae -Sequel to Chronopolis
Chapter XV, Advances
Infinity rode subway style, standing with her hands in short, looped straps hung from the low portal ceiling above. After all, this was New York City. The result was a ride with the turbulence of a passenger liner taking off into a Dallas-Fort Worth cloudburst. The others were strapped into station. The lights dimmed as always, and Infinity liked that. She always spent such moments watching the images on the Chrona wall, looking for some clues as to the meaning of it all. If there were answers to such questions, here is where they would most likely be found.
This trip, they were toppling end over end, rather than spinning wagon-wheel fashion. It tended to place emphasis on paradox, dichotomy and polar-opposites. Light, then dark, warmth, then chill, peace, then unease. Infinity never really had a childhood, and so never attended a fair or carnival where all the fun rides were. ‘This must be like that,’ she thought. The trip seemed to take forever, and indeed it was taking some time. Even though they had rushed forward nearly seven million years from Miocene to the late 20th century, that trip went faster.
The reason for the current slow progress was that timeline airways from the 19th century forward were filled with telecommunications, especially when advancements allowed electromagnetic waves to carry signals over the communication path. This ‘robbed the Chrona of some 'wherewithal,’ is the best Infinity could understand it. She left that stuff to Terco, her being more a fighter than nerd. Eventually, the Chrona stopped its’ flipping, and the decrescendo sounded like the whining shutdown of an old helicopter warbird.
“And, touchdown!” said Special Agent and acting Quartermaster John Terco. He tossed his headset and began flipping an army of switches, an action the crew referred to as the ‘march of the wooden soldiers.’ Conversely, Agent Fulton kept his headset glued to his skull, paying full attention to his ears. Infinity watched him listen, as he concentrated on any sounds outside the craft.
“All quiet,” he said. “Nothing to report.”
“Very well,” answered Infinity.
They were safely cloaked in a field disruption of their own creation. Terco had them perched atop the highest structure on a still easy-to-recognize Manhattan Island. Manhattan Island was metamorphic rock, created along with Pangaea, so it had staying power. These buildings now on top of it, they were something else entirely. If Manhattan itself predated the dinosaurs, the AD4500 skyline spoke of smooth fluidity. A stunning advancement in our grasp of geo-engineering, and a hopeful sign of the maturation of humanity.
“Open the portal,” ordered Infinity.
“Captain Staires, we’ve got company,” reported Fulton. Just as the portal opened for viewing, Infinity was face to face with unusual phenomena. “Not sure what to make of it, sir.”
“Scan it, Photon.”
“It seems to be organic on the outside, looks metallic on the inside. Scanners show life forms within. Maybe these people are more advanced….“ Terco fell silent as the craft, bug, or whatever it was, shot up vertically into space without even a second elapsed.
Infinity stared up after them and remarked, “They’re not from here.”
Art: Robert D. Brown
Chapter XV, Advances
Infinity rode subway style, standing with her hands in short, looped straps hung from the low portal ceiling above. After all, this was New York City. The result was a ride with the turbulence of a passenger liner taking off into a Dallas-Fort Worth cloudburst. The others were strapped into station. The lights dimmed as always, and Infinity liked that. She always spent such moments watching the images on the Chrona wall, looking for some clues as to the meaning of it all. If there were answers to such questions, here is where they would most likely be found.
This trip, they were toppling end over end, rather than spinning wagon-wheel fashion. It tended to place emphasis on paradox, dichotomy and polar-opposites. Light, then dark, warmth, then chill, peace, then unease. Infinity never really had a childhood, and so never attended a fair or carnival where all the fun rides were. ‘This must be like that,’ she thought. The trip seemed to take forever, and indeed it was taking some time. Even though they had rushed forward nearly seven million years from Miocene to the late 20th century, that trip went faster.
The reason for the current slow progress was that timeline airways from the 19th century forward were filled with telecommunications, especially when advancements allowed electromagnetic waves to carry signals over the communication path. This ‘robbed the Chrona of some 'wherewithal,’ is the best Infinity could understand it. She left that stuff to Terco, her being more a fighter than nerd. Eventually, the Chrona stopped its’ flipping, and the decrescendo sounded like the whining shutdown of an old helicopter warbird.
“And, touchdown!” said Special Agent and acting Quartermaster John Terco. He tossed his headset and began flipping an army of switches, an action the crew referred to as the ‘march of the wooden soldiers.’ Conversely, Agent Fulton kept his headset glued to his skull, paying full attention to his ears. Infinity watched him listen, as he concentrated on any sounds outside the craft.
“All quiet,” he said. “Nothing to report.”
“Very well,” answered Infinity.
They were safely cloaked in a field disruption of their own creation. Terco had them perched atop the highest structure on a still easy-to-recognize Manhattan Island. Manhattan Island was metamorphic rock, created along with Pangaea, so it had staying power. These buildings now on top of it, they were something else entirely. If Manhattan itself predated the dinosaurs, the AD4500 skyline spoke of smooth fluidity. A stunning advancement in our grasp of geo-engineering, and a hopeful sign of the maturation of humanity.
“Open the portal,” ordered Infinity.
“Captain Staires, we’ve got company,” reported Fulton. Just as the portal opened for viewing, Infinity was face to face with unusual phenomena. “Not sure what to make of it, sir.”
“Scan it, Photon.”
“It seems to be organic on the outside, looks metallic on the inside. Scanners show life forms within. Maybe these people are more advanced….“ Terco fell silent as the craft, bug, or whatever it was, shot up vertically into space without even a second elapsed.
Infinity stared up after them and remarked, “They’re not from here.”
Art: Robert D. Brown
Chronomenae -Sequel to Chronopolis
Chapter XVI, Abduction
Terco had just labeled the sample from the diagnostic they had run on the atmosphere back in New York City, circa AD 2500, as ‘NYCAD2500.’ “Analysis complete Captain, and it wasn’t pretty,” he reported. “Concentrations of CO2, methane, and other greenhouse gasses (were) off the charts.” As his report was being given, Agent Fulton was running a similar diagnostic on the current atmosphere, labeling it, ‘NYCAD4500.’ The air seemed much clearer, and with lots more moisture content than before. This was likely a result of the cessation of burning fossil fuel for energy. Other tests however, showed the seas were still inundating coastlines worldwide, indicating long-term damage from the dubious practice.
“Captain, we’ve got more company outside,” said Terco.
But Infinity, who was already outside the observation portal, was silent. “What is it, Terc?” asked Agent Fulton, now unstrapped from his station and heading toward the portal.
“Same as last time,” came the reply. “I’m reading organic on the outside, metallic interior, and life forms within.”
Fulton was now hanging out of the portal by his torso, craning his neck to look straight up. Hovering directly above the Chrona was the mysterious craft, looking like a translucent vitamin E capsule. Now both had their heads out of the portal chamber, and to their horror, they could see Infinity’s limp body being floated up into the craft through an opening in the membrane.
“Captain!” they yelled, but got no response. The alien capsule sealed itself, and rose upward at what must have been close to light speed.
With no way to follow, Photon took command of the time machine, and ordered Agent Terco to attempt contact with Miocene Base. It took several moments to raise Justin, and apprise him of their situation. Terco was surprised at the speed with which he had contacted Miocene Base, and through more careful analysis, he came to the conclusion Justin wasn’t back in the Miocene era at all. He was much closer in the timeline.
Meanwhile, the gelatinous capsule was now in geosynchronous orbit with AD4500Earth, at over 27,000 Kilometers per hour. Inside the capsule, Infinity looked lifeless, laying on her back on a surgical table, surrounded by a team of small gray humanoid figures. The table sat at the center of a rounded chamber room. It looked to be antiseptic white, trimmed in a metallic silver. All the hardware in the room seemed to be tempered with an organic component, as though it were all alive. This was the result of a thousand millennia of melding organic beings with machines, Extraterrestrial Biological Entities that were now half organic and half artificial (EBEAI).
One creature seemed different from the others, a bit taller, with longer arms and fingers like our own, only much longer. The rest seemed to have machine-like grippers, almost like a vice. Scans were being performed above the body, while tiny insect-like probes invaded every orifice. The creature in charge gave orders without speaking, using only his eyes. The rest obeyed.
Back in the Chrona, the team was now preparing to energize, and were strapped into the portal. Bright light beams were trained on them from the windows of every tall building. Soon, these people too, would likely pose a threat. Terco followed Justin’s instructions, and set the chronology for AD3000, at these same coordinates. He would meet them there.
“Energize!” came the order from Captain Photon Fulton.
“Aye, sir,” replied acting Quartermaster John Terco.
And they vanished in a blue, gummy haze.
Chapter XVI, Abduction
Terco had just labeled the sample from the diagnostic they had run on the atmosphere back in New York City, circa AD 2500, as ‘NYCAD2500.’ “Analysis complete Captain, and it wasn’t pretty,” he reported. “Concentrations of CO2, methane, and other greenhouse gasses (were) off the charts.” As his report was being given, Agent Fulton was running a similar diagnostic on the current atmosphere, labeling it, ‘NYCAD4500.’ The air seemed much clearer, and with lots more moisture content than before. This was likely a result of the cessation of burning fossil fuel for energy. Other tests however, showed the seas were still inundating coastlines worldwide, indicating long-term damage from the dubious practice.
“Captain, we’ve got more company outside,” said Terco.
But Infinity, who was already outside the observation portal, was silent. “What is it, Terc?” asked Agent Fulton, now unstrapped from his station and heading toward the portal.
“Same as last time,” came the reply. “I’m reading organic on the outside, metallic interior, and life forms within.”
Fulton was now hanging out of the portal by his torso, craning his neck to look straight up. Hovering directly above the Chrona was the mysterious craft, looking like a translucent vitamin E capsule. Now both had their heads out of the portal chamber, and to their horror, they could see Infinity’s limp body being floated up into the craft through an opening in the membrane.
“Captain!” they yelled, but got no response. The alien capsule sealed itself, and rose upward at what must have been close to light speed.
With no way to follow, Photon took command of the time machine, and ordered Agent Terco to attempt contact with Miocene Base. It took several moments to raise Justin, and apprise him of their situation. Terco was surprised at the speed with which he had contacted Miocene Base, and through more careful analysis, he came to the conclusion Justin wasn’t back in the Miocene era at all. He was much closer in the timeline.
Meanwhile, the gelatinous capsule was now in geosynchronous orbit with AD4500Earth, at over 27,000 Kilometers per hour. Inside the capsule, Infinity looked lifeless, laying on her back on a surgical table, surrounded by a team of small gray humanoid figures. The table sat at the center of a rounded chamber room. It looked to be antiseptic white, trimmed in a metallic silver. All the hardware in the room seemed to be tempered with an organic component, as though it were all alive. This was the result of a thousand millennia of melding organic beings with machines, Extraterrestrial Biological Entities that were now half organic and half artificial (EBEAI).
One creature seemed different from the others, a bit taller, with longer arms and fingers like our own, only much longer. The rest seemed to have machine-like grippers, almost like a vice. Scans were being performed above the body, while tiny insect-like probes invaded every orifice. The creature in charge gave orders without speaking, using only his eyes. The rest obeyed.
Back in the Chrona, the team was now preparing to energize, and were strapped into the portal. Bright light beams were trained on them from the windows of every tall building. Soon, these people too, would likely pose a threat. Terco followed Justin’s instructions, and set the chronology for AD3000, at these same coordinates. He would meet them there.
“Energize!” came the order from Captain Photon Fulton.
“Aye, sir,” replied acting Quartermaster John Terco.
And they vanished in a blue, gummy haze.
Chronomenae -Sequel to Chronopolis
Chapter XVII, Rendezvous 3000
During their long stay together at Miocene Base, Justin instructed Infinity on a need-to-know contingency plan he had crafted. When she charted her course to the future, her first stop would be AD2500. There, the crew was to take samples of the air and water, and procure a DNA sample from the fauna. All these having been accomplished admirably, Infinity took her crew even further into the future. She informed them they would take a week’s vacation over the Christmas holiday, 2999, celebrating at a set of coordinates given to her by Justin. Nobody asked questions and all enjoyed the brief respite.
After a week of leisure and low-key exploration, they readied the Chrona to be energized. The last thing Infinity did before she boarded the portal, was to hide a manila envelope wrapped in a plastic safety-bag at precise coordinates. That occurred at zero hour, AD3000. They continued forward to AD4500, where they ran into trouble, and a close encounter of the fourth kind.
As the Chrona disappeared into the plasmatic field of disturbance, two gigantic and identical ships came to occupy the same space the Chrona had occupied mere seconds before. One was headed back in time, the other just arriving to set down. For a brief instant, the two pilots exchanged looks and spoke pleasantries.
“Alternity two, this is Justin Nicholas Thyme, is that you, over?”
“It’s me, sir, and this is quite an honor, Agent Thyme.”
“Copy that, and right back atcha son. I didn’t catch your name though,” said Justin.
“Yessir, my name is Riff.”
“That’s it, just ‘Riff’? asked Justin, clearly wanting to honor this man.
“That’s right, sir. I’ve been instructed that the less you know, the better off we all are.”
The two agents from different timelines each snapped a stiff salute, and both disappeared into the time reservoir.
Back at the Miocene Ranch, Justin was not completely surprised at the arrival of the great machine although never having laid eyes on it in his life. It’s pilot spent all of 30 seconds looking around with his head on a 360 degree swivel. Mammoths, Tigers, apes, mountains, birds. It was fantastic. Justin left Nikki Nightbird in charge, and left in the machine with a man identified only as ‘Riff.’
Riff fired up the giant craft called, ‘Alternity Two,’ and they leaped exactly six million, three thousand years into the future. The craft was a true marvel, and nothing was familiar to Justin, who was scanning every square inch of the cockpit. Switches, buttons, flashers, knobs, sliders, faders- and a small photo of the pilot’s family. When Riff saw this, he held up a hand to cover Justin’s eyes. “Sorry sir, you’re gonna have to put this on.” Riff handed Justin a blindfold and Justin reluctantly wore it.
When they landed, Justin stepped out of the craft and was handed a manila envelope. Then, he stepped back inside, and was whisked off to another time, 500 years prior, where Alternity scientists would use the plans to develop the machine he just landed in.
At the exact same moment (within a small allowable time window), Justin Nicholas Thyme fired up a gigantic blue machine called, ‘Alternity Three,’ and headed back to the Miocene to pick up Special Agent Nikki Nightbird. Then together, they streaked into the future to save Infinity- his daughter, and her best friend.
Chapter XVII, Rendezvous 3000
During their long stay together at Miocene Base, Justin instructed Infinity on a need-to-know contingency plan he had crafted. When she charted her course to the future, her first stop would be AD2500. There, the crew was to take samples of the air and water, and procure a DNA sample from the fauna. All these having been accomplished admirably, Infinity took her crew even further into the future. She informed them they would take a week’s vacation over the Christmas holiday, 2999, celebrating at a set of coordinates given to her by Justin. Nobody asked questions and all enjoyed the brief respite.
After a week of leisure and low-key exploration, they readied the Chrona to be energized. The last thing Infinity did before she boarded the portal, was to hide a manila envelope wrapped in a plastic safety-bag at precise coordinates. That occurred at zero hour, AD3000. They continued forward to AD4500, where they ran into trouble, and a close encounter of the fourth kind.
As the Chrona disappeared into the plasmatic field of disturbance, two gigantic and identical ships came to occupy the same space the Chrona had occupied mere seconds before. One was headed back in time, the other just arriving to set down. For a brief instant, the two pilots exchanged looks and spoke pleasantries.
“Alternity two, this is Justin Nicholas Thyme, is that you, over?”
“It’s me, sir, and this is quite an honor, Agent Thyme.”
“Copy that, and right back atcha son. I didn’t catch your name though,” said Justin.
“Yessir, my name is Riff.”
“That’s it, just ‘Riff’? asked Justin, clearly wanting to honor this man.
“That’s right, sir. I’ve been instructed that the less you know, the better off we all are.”
The two agents from different timelines each snapped a stiff salute, and both disappeared into the time reservoir.
Back at the Miocene Ranch, Justin was not completely surprised at the arrival of the great machine although never having laid eyes on it in his life. It’s pilot spent all of 30 seconds looking around with his head on a 360 degree swivel. Mammoths, Tigers, apes, mountains, birds. It was fantastic. Justin left Nikki Nightbird in charge, and left in the machine with a man identified only as ‘Riff.’
Riff fired up the giant craft called, ‘Alternity Two,’ and they leaped exactly six million, three thousand years into the future. The craft was a true marvel, and nothing was familiar to Justin, who was scanning every square inch of the cockpit. Switches, buttons, flashers, knobs, sliders, faders- and a small photo of the pilot’s family. When Riff saw this, he held up a hand to cover Justin’s eyes. “Sorry sir, you’re gonna have to put this on.” Riff handed Justin a blindfold and Justin reluctantly wore it.
When they landed, Justin stepped out of the craft and was handed a manila envelope. Then, he stepped back inside, and was whisked off to another time, 500 years prior, where Alternity scientists would use the plans to develop the machine he just landed in.
At the exact same moment (within a small allowable time window), Justin Nicholas Thyme fired up a gigantic blue machine called, ‘Alternity Three,’ and headed back to the Miocene to pick up Special Agent Nikki Nightbird. Then together, they streaked into the future to save Infinity- his daughter, and her best friend.
Chronomenae -Sequel to Chronopolis
Chapter XVIII, Spinning Wheel
Justin brought the Alternity Three to a hover some distance from the Ranch. The still-glowing sky was alive with bats and bugs, and the darkness offered a sweeping view of the Milky Way. As Justin sat waiting for Nikki Nightbird, he resisted the urge to see Owdy, though he wanted badly to do so. But there was no use in waking him up just to leave him. If it were daytime, Justin would have taken this opportunity to release him for good, sending him off to live with the Mammoth herd at the river. This was not your ordinary mission and Justin understood it might be his last. He knew that with both he and Infinity gone, Owdy would rather stay with other Mammoths than these people who were strangers to him.
Nikki finally left the cabin and stood admiring the giant craft, which was resplendent in a halo of blue lights. From tail to tip, Alternity Three measured just under half a kilometer and was many times larger than the cabin complex. Justin laughed out loud thinking it could easily accommodate a Woolly Mammoth. Nikki climbed in and looked out over the river one last time. The moon and stars reflected clearly on the surface. Nikki stowed her gear and strapped into her new station.
Justin engaged the drive mechanism and lifted the huge vessel aloft until they were clear of the granite summits nearby. Then with a pull backward on a futuristic version of a Lee Helm, they lurched forward into a rapidly spinning anomaly forming at the nose of the craft. On the outside was madness, a whirling centrifuge of star matter, colors oscillating from black to violet, indigo to heliotrope and back to violet. Inside was calm, with red glowing light illuminating the various and sundry objects rising in weightlessness, having not been properly secured.
Then, with a forward thrust of the helm, Justin propelled he and Nikki into the timestream, where a confluence of universal forces conspired to deliver them into the future. Although no longer necessary, Alternity scientists had the engineers retain the image-conjuring properties of the Chrona portal. The next-generation time travel facilitator kept the mojo intact. In less than the blink of an eye, they were leaving the field of disruption and hovering above Central Park in the year AD3000. The Chrona was already there waiting for them, Special Agents Terco and Fulton standing outside the portal at full attention.
“Attention on deck!” shouted Fulton. The men snapped their heels.
“As you were, gentlemen,” said Justin. “As you were.” Nikki handed them each a folder containing their briefing and orders for the mission. The Chrona would remain here, where it would be flown by Agent Riff to Alternity AD3000 headquarters for repairs and substantial upgrades. They could pick it up upon safe return of one or more of the crew now standing here together.
“Lady and gentlemen, we are off to AD4500, where we will rendezvous once again, aboard Space Station Armstrong. Thanks to some sleuthing by Terco, we have reason to believe that is where we might find someone who can help us,” explained Justin, “and we’re going to run with it.” The agents hopped on board, gave some ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ over the new craft, and strapped themselves into station. The old Chrona was left behind, invisible amid its own field of disruption, and floating twenty or so feet off the ground. It would be fine, awaiting recovery.
After a short time in limbo, the Alternity Three was sitting on a skyscraper precipice in AD4500 in what was known thousands of years in the past as New York City. There was no telling what they were calling it now, as the local language hadn’t yet been studied. Judging from the writing on some of the structures, it seemed to be a derivative of Chinese. It was some of this writing that led to the discovery of Space Station Armstrong. Thank goodness that although languages come and go, what remains of them are names of places. Like in Long Island, a suburb nearby here. The names of the towns are all Indian. But the languages are extinct.
Now they had a fix on the space station, in a very distant orbit around the planet. They lifted off and switched Alternity Three’s mode from time travel to linear travel. In minutes, they were sharing the same orbit as SS Armstrong, far enough to remain independent, but close enough to reconnoiter.
Chapter XVIII, Spinning Wheel
Justin brought the Alternity Three to a hover some distance from the Ranch. The still-glowing sky was alive with bats and bugs, and the darkness offered a sweeping view of the Milky Way. As Justin sat waiting for Nikki Nightbird, he resisted the urge to see Owdy, though he wanted badly to do so. But there was no use in waking him up just to leave him. If it were daytime, Justin would have taken this opportunity to release him for good, sending him off to live with the Mammoth herd at the river. This was not your ordinary mission and Justin understood it might be his last. He knew that with both he and Infinity gone, Owdy would rather stay with other Mammoths than these people who were strangers to him.
Nikki finally left the cabin and stood admiring the giant craft, which was resplendent in a halo of blue lights. From tail to tip, Alternity Three measured just under half a kilometer and was many times larger than the cabin complex. Justin laughed out loud thinking it could easily accommodate a Woolly Mammoth. Nikki climbed in and looked out over the river one last time. The moon and stars reflected clearly on the surface. Nikki stowed her gear and strapped into her new station.
Justin engaged the drive mechanism and lifted the huge vessel aloft until they were clear of the granite summits nearby. Then with a pull backward on a futuristic version of a Lee Helm, they lurched forward into a rapidly spinning anomaly forming at the nose of the craft. On the outside was madness, a whirling centrifuge of star matter, colors oscillating from black to violet, indigo to heliotrope and back to violet. Inside was calm, with red glowing light illuminating the various and sundry objects rising in weightlessness, having not been properly secured.
Then, with a forward thrust of the helm, Justin propelled he and Nikki into the timestream, where a confluence of universal forces conspired to deliver them into the future. Although no longer necessary, Alternity scientists had the engineers retain the image-conjuring properties of the Chrona portal. The next-generation time travel facilitator kept the mojo intact. In less than the blink of an eye, they were leaving the field of disruption and hovering above Central Park in the year AD3000. The Chrona was already there waiting for them, Special Agents Terco and Fulton standing outside the portal at full attention.
“Attention on deck!” shouted Fulton. The men snapped their heels.
“As you were, gentlemen,” said Justin. “As you were.” Nikki handed them each a folder containing their briefing and orders for the mission. The Chrona would remain here, where it would be flown by Agent Riff to Alternity AD3000 headquarters for repairs and substantial upgrades. They could pick it up upon safe return of one or more of the crew now standing here together.
“Lady and gentlemen, we are off to AD4500, where we will rendezvous once again, aboard Space Station Armstrong. Thanks to some sleuthing by Terco, we have reason to believe that is where we might find someone who can help us,” explained Justin, “and we’re going to run with it.” The agents hopped on board, gave some ‘oohs’ and ‘ahhs’ over the new craft, and strapped themselves into station. The old Chrona was left behind, invisible amid its own field of disruption, and floating twenty or so feet off the ground. It would be fine, awaiting recovery.
After a short time in limbo, the Alternity Three was sitting on a skyscraper precipice in AD4500 in what was known thousands of years in the past as New York City. There was no telling what they were calling it now, as the local language hadn’t yet been studied. Judging from the writing on some of the structures, it seemed to be a derivative of Chinese. It was some of this writing that led to the discovery of Space Station Armstrong. Thank goodness that although languages come and go, what remains of them are names of places. Like in Long Island, a suburb nearby here. The names of the towns are all Indian. But the languages are extinct.
Now they had a fix on the space station, in a very distant orbit around the planet. They lifted off and switched Alternity Three’s mode from time travel to linear travel. In minutes, they were sharing the same orbit as SS Armstrong, far enough to remain independent, but close enough to reconnoiter.
Chronomenae -Sequel to Chronopolis
Chapter XIX, The Harpy
Not long after Justin locked the Alternity Three onto the space station’s orbital path, somebody sent out a probe to investigate. Quartermaster Terco followed a small spherical unit approaching from relative WSW. It was about 30 feet in diameter, a dull featureless ball that looked like a giant B-B. It became stationary just off the starboard flank of the time machine, and flashed boarding lights, in a request to initiate contact. Justin dimmed the ship’s large blue corona in response and waited.
“Photon, bring up audio,” ordered Justin.
“Aye,” came the reply, and the scratchy soundtrack of the small probe reverberated throughout the bridge inside Alternity Three. “Sounds like Chinese, sir.”
“Very well,” said Justin. “See if you can dial up a match on the translator. It may work even if we can get something close.” Fulton rolled the dial from one language to another, eventually coming across a dialect of ancient Mandarin that was somewhat compatible.
“Please identify yourself and state your business,” came the translated message.
Photon pressed a button directly below that dialect’s point on the dial. “Sir?”
“This is Special Agent Justin Thyme of the Alternity Group, we request to meet with someone who can give us information on alien races visiting New York City AD4500.” As Justin spoke, Agent Fulton held the translator button, and the Captain continued,” We come in peace and we do not need any other resources except for the information stated.”
“What is your point of origin, Mr. Thyme?” asked the voice from the sphere.
“AD2200 Chronopolis.”
“The chemical signature of residuals on your craft’s exterior indicates point of origin to be much more remote than AD2200. Can you tell us why that is?”
Fulton released the broadcast button and whispered, “These guys don’t miss anything!”
Justin put a finger to his lips and said, “Shhh!” Justin pointed back to the button, which Photon again depressed. “That is where we have just come from, but it was not our point of origin.”
“Does this craft have time or interdimensional capabilities?”
“That is classified information, unrelated to our business with you,” said Justin, standing his ground. A long while elapsed in silence. That silence was broken when the probe spoke again.
“Your request for a meeting is granted, we will send a probe for your shuttle to follow when appropriate. Good day, Mr. Thyme.” The probe broke off from its position at the starboard flank and soon disappeared into the maze of industrial superstructure aboard the space station.
“Nikki, get your bird ready to fly,” said Thyme. Terco, set up a comm-link for her. I want Nikki to have full translation of every word. If there is so much as a dog barking, I want to know what it says.”
“Aye sir,” came the reply. Nikki headed down to the shuttle bay to ready ‘her bird’ as Justin called it. And what a bird it was! This was an Alternity Special, equipped with 29th-century tech, full time travel capability, as well as trans-linear mode. In linear, it could eclipse a tachyon, outside the atmosphere, or in. She named it the ‘Harpy,’ and soon, the Harpy would fly. If Infinity was within a parsec, Nikki swore she would find her.
Chapter XIX, The Harpy
Not long after Justin locked the Alternity Three onto the space station’s orbital path, somebody sent out a probe to investigate. Quartermaster Terco followed a small spherical unit approaching from relative WSW. It was about 30 feet in diameter, a dull featureless ball that looked like a giant B-B. It became stationary just off the starboard flank of the time machine, and flashed boarding lights, in a request to initiate contact. Justin dimmed the ship’s large blue corona in response and waited.
“Photon, bring up audio,” ordered Justin.
“Aye,” came the reply, and the scratchy soundtrack of the small probe reverberated throughout the bridge inside Alternity Three. “Sounds like Chinese, sir.”
“Very well,” said Justin. “See if you can dial up a match on the translator. It may work even if we can get something close.” Fulton rolled the dial from one language to another, eventually coming across a dialect of ancient Mandarin that was somewhat compatible.
“Please identify yourself and state your business,” came the translated message.
Photon pressed a button directly below that dialect’s point on the dial. “Sir?”
“This is Special Agent Justin Thyme of the Alternity Group, we request to meet with someone who can give us information on alien races visiting New York City AD4500.” As Justin spoke, Agent Fulton held the translator button, and the Captain continued,” We come in peace and we do not need any other resources except for the information stated.”
“What is your point of origin, Mr. Thyme?” asked the voice from the sphere.
“AD2200 Chronopolis.”
“The chemical signature of residuals on your craft’s exterior indicates point of origin to be much more remote than AD2200. Can you tell us why that is?”
Fulton released the broadcast button and whispered, “These guys don’t miss anything!”
Justin put a finger to his lips and said, “Shhh!” Justin pointed back to the button, which Photon again depressed. “That is where we have just come from, but it was not our point of origin.”
“Does this craft have time or interdimensional capabilities?”
“That is classified information, unrelated to our business with you,” said Justin, standing his ground. A long while elapsed in silence. That silence was broken when the probe spoke again.
“Your request for a meeting is granted, we will send a probe for your shuttle to follow when appropriate. Good day, Mr. Thyme.” The probe broke off from its position at the starboard flank and soon disappeared into the maze of industrial superstructure aboard the space station.
“Nikki, get your bird ready to fly,” said Thyme. Terco, set up a comm-link for her. I want Nikki to have full translation of every word. If there is so much as a dog barking, I want to know what it says.”
“Aye sir,” came the reply. Nikki headed down to the shuttle bay to ready ‘her bird’ as Justin called it. And what a bird it was! This was an Alternity Special, equipped with 29th-century tech, full time travel capability, as well as trans-linear mode. In linear, it could eclipse a tachyon, outside the atmosphere, or in. She named it the ‘Harpy,’ and soon, the Harpy would fly. If Infinity was within a parsec, Nikki swore she would find her.
Chronomenae -Sequel to Chronopolis
Chapter XX, The Amazons of Armstrong
In the absence of Infinity Staires, Special Agent Nikki Nightbird was acting Executive Officer (second in command) of the Alternity Three, but she commanded the Harpy. Now strapped in, she listened as Terco gave running commentary on the round object now approaching, again from WSW. This time the object didn’t stop but instead continued past and around, flashing a light signal for Nikki to follow. And follow she did, energizing the shuttle Harpy and locking on, careful not to give away the vessel’s true capability.
Justin spent his time in communication with the Alternity Group brass back at Miocene HQ, while Terco manned the Quarterdeck, keeping close tabs on Nikki. In minutes, the sphere pulled close to the pier, and flashed the signal where Nikki was to dock the Harpy. The spinning of the giant wheel created its own gravity, allowing it to generate its own atmosphere. As soon as Nikki opened her canopy, the light inside her helmet changed red to green, and she knew it was safe to breathe the air outside.
The spherical object stopped beside her and opened a hatch at its North pole. Out popped the head of a man, quite small in stature, who spoke to her in a dialect similar to ancient Mandarin. She inquired into her helmet when Photon would be activating the translation device. “Sorry!” came the reply, and the small man in the sphere suddenly began speaking virtual English.
“You are expected, Agent Nightbird. Right down through there,” he said.
Aren’t you joining me?” asked Nikki. The man shook his head in the negative, revealing that no men were allowed on the space station. This came as a surprise to Nikki, and to everyone monitoring the conversation back on board the Alternity Three. It was also hot, unpleasantly so, and Nikki was having a hard time wearing her cumbersome freeze suit. She tucked her helmet beneath her arm and entered the station’s superstructure via a woman-size hatchway. She was met there by an android of some sophistication who clutched her arm -albeit gently- in a hand like a monkey wrench.
In the absence of men, droids were used to lead visitors and dignitaries to and from meetings and quarters below decks. The droid led Nikki to a set of elevator doors, which slid open for her. She entered, but the droid stayed behind. The elevator descended for what seemed like forever, and Nikki stood sweating from the heat as well as anticipation. She watched a long while as the elevator lights kept moving up-up-up, as she went down-down-down. And then it lurched to a stop, the doors sprung open, and she had arrived.
She immediately felt over-dressed, as the meeting room was full of beautiful women all scantily clad in the same highly-stylized uniform. The dress, or lack thereof, actually made good sense in the oppressive heat. If it wasn’t 99 degrees down here, it was 100. The women were all officers of some futuristic industrial paramilitary, and with their looks, it seemed to Nikki they didn’t need any other weapons. How they kept men off the station was a mystery. However, it didn’t stay a mystery for very long.
The leader was blonde, with striking features. And although she wasn’t wearing much, what she was wearing, was white. She confronted Nikki in a bold manner, becoming of a leader. Nikki was quick to activate her translation facilitator with one tap of a mic she wore beneath her suit. Terco heard the noise and the woman switched from Mandarin to English.
“Identify yourself,” said the woman in white.
“Special Agent Nikki Nightbird, Alternity Group, acting Executive Officer of the Alternity Three. I am here-“
“We know why you are here. We have prepared a map for you, it has been laid out on the table before you. The aliens you seek are the remnants of a once-vast contingent of explorers from beyond the observable universe. They often target visitors in order to replenish their own faded DNA. We believe this is what happened to your friend, Infinity Staires. Though a dying race, the aliens are very advanced and live in their own city-in-the-sky. We trust this map will help you find them- and her.”
At that moment, an alarm sounded, and the leader raised her arms, telling all to stay still. They looked up at a surface monitor, and saw a small group of men jumping aboard the space station. Their reason for boarding was no mystery to these beautiful women officers. Instantly, the alarm was responded to by a group of androids, each in pursuit of a different male trespasser. Nikki stood with the women as they watched the unfolding events and was taken aback by its violent conclusion. The men never had a chance.
By now, Nikki was incredibly overheated and wanted to get out as quickly as possible. She made a move to roll up the map, when the women on either side of her stopped her cold. “In return for our help, we must insist on having yours as well,” said the leader cryptically.
“Oh, and what can I do for you? Asked Nikki.
All the women laughed. “Not you,” she answered.
At that moment, the elevator doors opened for Nikki. To her surprise, out stepped Justin, Photon and Terco. Justin held the door for Nikki, and said, “When needed, an agent always answers the call.”
As it turned out, the aliens weren’t the only race down on their DNA.
Nikki stood in the elevator with the rolled map in her hands, a droid on either side, and a look of sheer incredulity on her face as the doors slid closed.
Chapter XX, The Amazons of Armstrong
In the absence of Infinity Staires, Special Agent Nikki Nightbird was acting Executive Officer (second in command) of the Alternity Three, but she commanded the Harpy. Now strapped in, she listened as Terco gave running commentary on the round object now approaching, again from WSW. This time the object didn’t stop but instead continued past and around, flashing a light signal for Nikki to follow. And follow she did, energizing the shuttle Harpy and locking on, careful not to give away the vessel’s true capability.
Justin spent his time in communication with the Alternity Group brass back at Miocene HQ, while Terco manned the Quarterdeck, keeping close tabs on Nikki. In minutes, the sphere pulled close to the pier, and flashed the signal where Nikki was to dock the Harpy. The spinning of the giant wheel created its own gravity, allowing it to generate its own atmosphere. As soon as Nikki opened her canopy, the light inside her helmet changed red to green, and she knew it was safe to breathe the air outside.
The spherical object stopped beside her and opened a hatch at its North pole. Out popped the head of a man, quite small in stature, who spoke to her in a dialect similar to ancient Mandarin. She inquired into her helmet when Photon would be activating the translation device. “Sorry!” came the reply, and the small man in the sphere suddenly began speaking virtual English.
“You are expected, Agent Nightbird. Right down through there,” he said.
Aren’t you joining me?” asked Nikki. The man shook his head in the negative, revealing that no men were allowed on the space station. This came as a surprise to Nikki, and to everyone monitoring the conversation back on board the Alternity Three. It was also hot, unpleasantly so, and Nikki was having a hard time wearing her cumbersome freeze suit. She tucked her helmet beneath her arm and entered the station’s superstructure via a woman-size hatchway. She was met there by an android of some sophistication who clutched her arm -albeit gently- in a hand like a monkey wrench.
In the absence of men, droids were used to lead visitors and dignitaries to and from meetings and quarters below decks. The droid led Nikki to a set of elevator doors, which slid open for her. She entered, but the droid stayed behind. The elevator descended for what seemed like forever, and Nikki stood sweating from the heat as well as anticipation. She watched a long while as the elevator lights kept moving up-up-up, as she went down-down-down. And then it lurched to a stop, the doors sprung open, and she had arrived.
She immediately felt over-dressed, as the meeting room was full of beautiful women all scantily clad in the same highly-stylized uniform. The dress, or lack thereof, actually made good sense in the oppressive heat. If it wasn’t 99 degrees down here, it was 100. The women were all officers of some futuristic industrial paramilitary, and with their looks, it seemed to Nikki they didn’t need any other weapons. How they kept men off the station was a mystery. However, it didn’t stay a mystery for very long.
The leader was blonde, with striking features. And although she wasn’t wearing much, what she was wearing, was white. She confronted Nikki in a bold manner, becoming of a leader. Nikki was quick to activate her translation facilitator with one tap of a mic she wore beneath her suit. Terco heard the noise and the woman switched from Mandarin to English.
“Identify yourself,” said the woman in white.
“Special Agent Nikki Nightbird, Alternity Group, acting Executive Officer of the Alternity Three. I am here-“
“We know why you are here. We have prepared a map for you, it has been laid out on the table before you. The aliens you seek are the remnants of a once-vast contingent of explorers from beyond the observable universe. They often target visitors in order to replenish their own faded DNA. We believe this is what happened to your friend, Infinity Staires. Though a dying race, the aliens are very advanced and live in their own city-in-the-sky. We trust this map will help you find them- and her.”
At that moment, an alarm sounded, and the leader raised her arms, telling all to stay still. They looked up at a surface monitor, and saw a small group of men jumping aboard the space station. Their reason for boarding was no mystery to these beautiful women officers. Instantly, the alarm was responded to by a group of androids, each in pursuit of a different male trespasser. Nikki stood with the women as they watched the unfolding events and was taken aback by its violent conclusion. The men never had a chance.
By now, Nikki was incredibly overheated and wanted to get out as quickly as possible. She made a move to roll up the map, when the women on either side of her stopped her cold. “In return for our help, we must insist on having yours as well,” said the leader cryptically.
“Oh, and what can I do for you? Asked Nikki.
All the women laughed. “Not you,” she answered.
At that moment, the elevator doors opened for Nikki. To her surprise, out stepped Justin, Photon and Terco. Justin held the door for Nikki, and said, “When needed, an agent always answers the call.”
As it turned out, the aliens weren’t the only race down on their DNA.
Nikki stood in the elevator with the rolled map in her hands, a droid on either side, and a look of sheer incredulity on her face as the doors slid closed.
Chronomenae -Sequel to Chronopolis
Chapter XXI, The Sky People
Nikki remotely opened the shuttle bay doors as the returning Harpy approached the mother ship. She swung the fantail around 180 degrees and slid one craft inside the other. Once inside, she left a trail of boots, jacket, utility belt, and uniform on the floor at her six, as she made her way to the shower. She knew it was about to get real, and so she no longer dragged a sense of helplessness and frustration around with her.
She let the hot water wash over her just long enough to get her wet, then turned it off. Her favorite pumice soap from Vulcan was almost gone, so she scrubbed herself everywhere until she was lathered up good. When she was rinsed, toweled dry, and in her bunk, she put in her ear phones and fell asleep to Motley Crue.
Far away, Infinity awoke inside some kind of a bee hive. She could see a thousand other cells like the one she was trapped in, and none of them were empty. She tried to call out to anyone who might hear, but her tongue was limp and her mouth was numb. She had a powerful thirst and wheezed in and out with every breath. She was momentarily able to lock eyes with another prisoner, another fly trapped in this web, but when she did, she realized the other prisoner really did look more fly than human. The more of the others she was able to get a look at, the more she realized they were all quite insect-like.
Of course, their being different from her didn’t change the fact they were all prisoners together, but it was frightening, even for an agent of Infinity’s caliber. She collapsed backward in sheer exhaustion, sitting up to her waist in some type of fluid. Her mind drifted back to the Miocene ranch, stroking Owdy’s head on her lap as he dozed quietly off to the soft crackle of a campfire. Then she cried herself to sleep.
Back at Alternity Three, Justin and the two young agents had arrived back on aboard. Having done their carnal duty, they were shuttled home in a spherical probe, by small men, with undesirable DNA. Justin looked for Nikki and found her sleeping soundly in her pod. In the shower, he marveled at the new cyber-tattoo on his forearm from Leung Dao, leader of the lovely women running the station. According to the translator, Leung Dao meant just that-‘Leader’ in Mandarin. She was the woman in white, and Justin’s ‘date.’
Apparently smitten, she administered the tattoo as a symbol of her affection and gratitude. Before his departure from Space Station Armstrong, Justin was tutored on the advantages of having a tattoo designed with AD4500 technology. One advantage was, it kept an open portal of communication between them that could be used whenever the time machines were energized. This, she hoped, would encourage future visits.
The crew each wolfed down an ‘MRE’ before hitting the sack. Tomorrow they would make a rescue plan.
A few hours later, the two young agents awoke somewhat refreshed.
“Daylight comes early in Earth orbit,” said Terco.
“Like it never left,” answered his friend Photon Fulton. The two stumbled into the mess deck to brew some coffee and nearly tripped over Nikki and Justin, already up and reading the large map in the middle of the floor.
“Now it seems to me,” Justin began, “so far these guys have only seen the Chrona. That means they shouldn’t associate it with the Alternity Three. Therefore, if we can bring the mother ship right up to the front door, we can still have an advantage by sending the Harpy in from another angle.”
Terco nodded. “And they won’t know we’re here for Infinity.”
“Let’s hope we’re not here for infinity,” said Photon.
“So, right here,” Justin pointed to a spot on the map, “Right here, Nikki deploys the Harpy and she comes in through the back door, so-to-speak. Meanwhile, we draw their attention by parking the mother ship front and center. From then on, it’s going to be up to you, Agent Nightbird.”
All eyes shifted to the young agent, who rolled up the map and was off in a split second. The men took their stations and energized the giant craft, while Nikki climbed into the cockpit of the Harpy. When it came time to deploy, she and her super-ship would be ready!
©@JosephJohnRacano/08/01/2020
Art: MA Robb
Chapter XXI, The Sky People
Nikki remotely opened the shuttle bay doors as the returning Harpy approached the mother ship. She swung the fantail around 180 degrees and slid one craft inside the other. Once inside, she left a trail of boots, jacket, utility belt, and uniform on the floor at her six, as she made her way to the shower. She knew it was about to get real, and so she no longer dragged a sense of helplessness and frustration around with her.
She let the hot water wash over her just long enough to get her wet, then turned it off. Her favorite pumice soap from Vulcan was almost gone, so she scrubbed herself everywhere until she was lathered up good. When she was rinsed, toweled dry, and in her bunk, she put in her ear phones and fell asleep to Motley Crue.
Far away, Infinity awoke inside some kind of a bee hive. She could see a thousand other cells like the one she was trapped in, and none of them were empty. She tried to call out to anyone who might hear, but her tongue was limp and her mouth was numb. She had a powerful thirst and wheezed in and out with every breath. She was momentarily able to lock eyes with another prisoner, another fly trapped in this web, but when she did, she realized the other prisoner really did look more fly than human. The more of the others she was able to get a look at, the more she realized they were all quite insect-like.
Of course, their being different from her didn’t change the fact they were all prisoners together, but it was frightening, even for an agent of Infinity’s caliber. She collapsed backward in sheer exhaustion, sitting up to her waist in some type of fluid. Her mind drifted back to the Miocene ranch, stroking Owdy’s head on her lap as he dozed quietly off to the soft crackle of a campfire. Then she cried herself to sleep.
Back at Alternity Three, Justin and the two young agents had arrived back on aboard. Having done their carnal duty, they were shuttled home in a spherical probe, by small men, with undesirable DNA. Justin looked for Nikki and found her sleeping soundly in her pod. In the shower, he marveled at the new cyber-tattoo on his forearm from Leung Dao, leader of the lovely women running the station. According to the translator, Leung Dao meant just that-‘Leader’ in Mandarin. She was the woman in white, and Justin’s ‘date.’
Apparently smitten, she administered the tattoo as a symbol of her affection and gratitude. Before his departure from Space Station Armstrong, Justin was tutored on the advantages of having a tattoo designed with AD4500 technology. One advantage was, it kept an open portal of communication between them that could be used whenever the time machines were energized. This, she hoped, would encourage future visits.
The crew each wolfed down an ‘MRE’ before hitting the sack. Tomorrow they would make a rescue plan.
A few hours later, the two young agents awoke somewhat refreshed.
“Daylight comes early in Earth orbit,” said Terco.
“Like it never left,” answered his friend Photon Fulton. The two stumbled into the mess deck to brew some coffee and nearly tripped over Nikki and Justin, already up and reading the large map in the middle of the floor.
“Now it seems to me,” Justin began, “so far these guys have only seen the Chrona. That means they shouldn’t associate it with the Alternity Three. Therefore, if we can bring the mother ship right up to the front door, we can still have an advantage by sending the Harpy in from another angle.”
Terco nodded. “And they won’t know we’re here for Infinity.”
“Let’s hope we’re not here for infinity,” said Photon.
“So, right here,” Justin pointed to a spot on the map, “Right here, Nikki deploys the Harpy and she comes in through the back door, so-to-speak. Meanwhile, we draw their attention by parking the mother ship front and center. From then on, it’s going to be up to you, Agent Nightbird.”
All eyes shifted to the young agent, who rolled up the map and was off in a split second. The men took their stations and energized the giant craft, while Nikki climbed into the cockpit of the Harpy. When it came time to deploy, she and her super-ship would be ready!
©@JosephJohnRacano/08/01/2020
Art: MA Robb
Chronomenae -Sequel to Chronopolis
Chapter XXII, City in the Sky
Justin gave the order to energize and acting Quartermaster John Terco pushed the Lee helm to its forward position. The craft yanked out of synchronized orbit, executed a precision roll-off, and attained minimum safe distance from the space station. With enough room to stretch, Terco engaged linear mode, and set it for flank speed. “All ahead flank,” he reported across the bridge to a very serious and intense looking Commodore Justin Nicholas Thyme.
“Very well,” Justin answered in acknowledgement. “Mr. Fulton, you have the deck and the conn.” He left the bridge to go aft.
“Roger that, I have the deck and the conn,” proclaimed Special Agent Photon Fulton, as he nodded to Terco, the only one left on the bridge. Justin marched aft to the shuttle bay where Nikki sat waiting in her cockpit, poring over the map.
“Nikki, chart me a course,” said Justin, having to shout through the thick and nearly impenetrable sandglass cockpit. Nikki ‘popped the pit’, and handed over what looked like a detailed treasure map. She had been working on it since dawn. “This is great,” Justin roared in approval as he walked briskly back forward. Upon arriving at the bridge, he slapped the chart down on the quartermasters table and circled the destination with a wax-glow pen. Photon began studying it as Terco immediately entered their route into the ships data banks.
Acting as Officer of the Deck, Photon ordered a countdown to be set when they reached the coordinates for the Harpy’s deployment. With no planetary landmarks to set a course by, it was done by stellar parallax. “Steady as she goes,” said the OOD.
From the multi-chambered observation windows on the bridge, the future Earth turned slowly at a three-quarter angle, her continents riding the vast oceans like rodeo cowboys. She was still a most beautiful sight, with whirling clouded atmosphere set against a backdrop of black velvet, sprinkled with a starry glitter. If eternity ever sought a home, it might likely find it here, where interstellar nebulae paint a mist between the cosmos.
Jovian planets, as colorful as they are enormous, partner with the ruby red of Mars, to form a solar blockade protecting Earth’s magnetosphere. Where else in the cosmic expanses do other heavenly bodies bond in such symbiotic camaraderie?
“Look at that!”
Justin pointed to a speeding asteroid heading out to space. Where indeed.
“OK people, look alive! Beginning countdown at T-minus 60 seconds ‘till deploy,” agent Fulton broadcast across the bridge. Nikki Nightbird strapped herself in tight, making her last-minute adjustments.
“Harpy to bridge, do you have a lock on Infinity’s beacon yet?”
“Wait one,” came Terco’s response. “Negative, Nikki.” Justin pointed to a section of space just outside the orbit of Neptune.
“Try focusing here,” said the Commodore. And there it was! A weak dot, blinking white to red, white to green, white to yellow. Too regular to be natural. It was certainly Infinity, her power very low. And there before them, out of the nebulous haze, they saw the city- a city in space!
Chapter XXII, City in the Sky
Justin gave the order to energize and acting Quartermaster John Terco pushed the Lee helm to its forward position. The craft yanked out of synchronized orbit, executed a precision roll-off, and attained minimum safe distance from the space station. With enough room to stretch, Terco engaged linear mode, and set it for flank speed. “All ahead flank,” he reported across the bridge to a very serious and intense looking Commodore Justin Nicholas Thyme.
“Very well,” Justin answered in acknowledgement. “Mr. Fulton, you have the deck and the conn.” He left the bridge to go aft.
“Roger that, I have the deck and the conn,” proclaimed Special Agent Photon Fulton, as he nodded to Terco, the only one left on the bridge. Justin marched aft to the shuttle bay where Nikki sat waiting in her cockpit, poring over the map.
“Nikki, chart me a course,” said Justin, having to shout through the thick and nearly impenetrable sandglass cockpit. Nikki ‘popped the pit’, and handed over what looked like a detailed treasure map. She had been working on it since dawn. “This is great,” Justin roared in approval as he walked briskly back forward. Upon arriving at the bridge, he slapped the chart down on the quartermasters table and circled the destination with a wax-glow pen. Photon began studying it as Terco immediately entered their route into the ships data banks.
Acting as Officer of the Deck, Photon ordered a countdown to be set when they reached the coordinates for the Harpy’s deployment. With no planetary landmarks to set a course by, it was done by stellar parallax. “Steady as she goes,” said the OOD.
From the multi-chambered observation windows on the bridge, the future Earth turned slowly at a three-quarter angle, her continents riding the vast oceans like rodeo cowboys. She was still a most beautiful sight, with whirling clouded atmosphere set against a backdrop of black velvet, sprinkled with a starry glitter. If eternity ever sought a home, it might likely find it here, where interstellar nebulae paint a mist between the cosmos.
Jovian planets, as colorful as they are enormous, partner with the ruby red of Mars, to form a solar blockade protecting Earth’s magnetosphere. Where else in the cosmic expanses do other heavenly bodies bond in such symbiotic camaraderie?
“Look at that!”
Justin pointed to a speeding asteroid heading out to space. Where indeed.
“OK people, look alive! Beginning countdown at T-minus 60 seconds ‘till deploy,” agent Fulton broadcast across the bridge. Nikki Nightbird strapped herself in tight, making her last-minute adjustments.
“Harpy to bridge, do you have a lock on Infinity’s beacon yet?”
“Wait one,” came Terco’s response. “Negative, Nikki.” Justin pointed to a section of space just outside the orbit of Neptune.
“Try focusing here,” said the Commodore. And there it was! A weak dot, blinking white to red, white to green, white to yellow. Too regular to be natural. It was certainly Infinity, her power very low. And there before them, out of the nebulous haze, they saw the city- a city in space!
Chronomenae -Sequel to Chronopolis
Chapter XXIII, Here to Infinity
Like an old-time radio show, the Alternity brass sat gathered around a portal transmission receiver, listening to a play-by-play that wouldn’t happen for another six million, four thousand, five hundred years. The storage hanger that would house Alternity Three was now complete, and the group had made sure to build it in complete harmony with surrounding flora and fauna. Painted in colors computer generated to exactly match the landscape, it was very hard to see, despite its large size.
In the absence of any time machine, it made a good place to run Owdy, who liked it better than his barn. The Senator and the Professor were busy hanging on every word coming from the bridge of Alternity Three and from Nikki in the Harpy. She would soon be off to save her best friend Infinity, who some consider the best agent Alternity Group ever had. Even Justin felt that way, and made no secret of being her biggest cheerleader. He also felt a father’s love for the girl. And it was no small mercy that he couldn’t see her now, strapped down to a dissection table in an alien laboratory, floating in a city in the far reaches of the solar system.
There were no graylings involved with the impending vivisection, as EBEAI (Extraterrestrial Biological Entities with Artificial Intelligence) were capable of performing the whole operation. Several of them floated around the table wielding medical instruments with pseudo-organic components in hands that looked more like the tools of a plumber. All of this was lost on Infinity, drugged and asleep, flat on her back.
The bleating of a lamb was soothing music to Infinity’s ears, as she lay counting the white, puffy cumulus clouds bouncing off a bright blue sky. They seemed to be bouncing in rhythm to that music, which was written in classical connotation on the staff of a fallen rainbow. She loved the contrast of black notes against the primary colors, and she was sure, if eaten, they would taste delicious. Far away and down by Mammoth River, she could hear the whine of a giant mosquito as it grew closer, ever closer to her temple. The moist river air was charged with static electricity causing her mild shocks in different parts of her body.
She was relieved to see her mother walk in, and sit by her side. Mother Maria took Infinity’s hand in hers and brought it up to her lips, kissing it gently. Infinity bawled to her mother, complaining about the terrible lizards putting their claws all over her, often where they should not be touching. “Mama, can’t you do something to help me?” she pleaded.
“My dearest child, it’s only a dream,” she told her. “Dreams don’t last.”
At this, Infinity awoke from slumber to see an alien droid holding a tool next to her abdomen, whirling tip making an awful buzzing sound as it pierced her skin. She was given a puff of gas and her screaming subsided.
Back on the mother ship, Terco’s countdown wound down to zero, and Nikki was given the green-for-go signal. She twisted a T valve on the dash of the sleek super-ship and opened the shuttle bay doors. The Harpy rolled out into space and launched.
“Look alive boys, we’re coming in the front gate,” said Photon.
Justin and Terco looked more than alive- they looked ready for action!
©@JosephJohnRacano
Artwork: Daniel, Remo Art
Chapter XXIII, Here to Infinity
Like an old-time radio show, the Alternity brass sat gathered around a portal transmission receiver, listening to a play-by-play that wouldn’t happen for another six million, four thousand, five hundred years. The storage hanger that would house Alternity Three was now complete, and the group had made sure to build it in complete harmony with surrounding flora and fauna. Painted in colors computer generated to exactly match the landscape, it was very hard to see, despite its large size.
In the absence of any time machine, it made a good place to run Owdy, who liked it better than his barn. The Senator and the Professor were busy hanging on every word coming from the bridge of Alternity Three and from Nikki in the Harpy. She would soon be off to save her best friend Infinity, who some consider the best agent Alternity Group ever had. Even Justin felt that way, and made no secret of being her biggest cheerleader. He also felt a father’s love for the girl. And it was no small mercy that he couldn’t see her now, strapped down to a dissection table in an alien laboratory, floating in a city in the far reaches of the solar system.
There were no graylings involved with the impending vivisection, as EBEAI (Extraterrestrial Biological Entities with Artificial Intelligence) were capable of performing the whole operation. Several of them floated around the table wielding medical instruments with pseudo-organic components in hands that looked more like the tools of a plumber. All of this was lost on Infinity, drugged and asleep, flat on her back.
The bleating of a lamb was soothing music to Infinity’s ears, as she lay counting the white, puffy cumulus clouds bouncing off a bright blue sky. They seemed to be bouncing in rhythm to that music, which was written in classical connotation on the staff of a fallen rainbow. She loved the contrast of black notes against the primary colors, and she was sure, if eaten, they would taste delicious. Far away and down by Mammoth River, she could hear the whine of a giant mosquito as it grew closer, ever closer to her temple. The moist river air was charged with static electricity causing her mild shocks in different parts of her body.
She was relieved to see her mother walk in, and sit by her side. Mother Maria took Infinity’s hand in hers and brought it up to her lips, kissing it gently. Infinity bawled to her mother, complaining about the terrible lizards putting their claws all over her, often where they should not be touching. “Mama, can’t you do something to help me?” she pleaded.
“My dearest child, it’s only a dream,” she told her. “Dreams don’t last.”
At this, Infinity awoke from slumber to see an alien droid holding a tool next to her abdomen, whirling tip making an awful buzzing sound as it pierced her skin. She was given a puff of gas and her screaming subsided.
Back on the mother ship, Terco’s countdown wound down to zero, and Nikki was given the green-for-go signal. She twisted a T valve on the dash of the sleek super-ship and opened the shuttle bay doors. The Harpy rolled out into space and launched.
“Look alive boys, we’re coming in the front gate,” said Photon.
Justin and Terco looked more than alive- they looked ready for action!
©@JosephJohnRacano
Artwork: Daniel, Remo Art
Chronomenae -Sequel to Chronopolis
Chapter XXIV, Absconsion
Nikki Nightbird maneuvered the Harpy on a course that would take her a long way around, with designs on plunging the bird at a 45-degree angle downward into the heart of the hive structure. With a precise lock on Infinity’s position, everything else would have to go just right. Justin had the Alternity Three lit up like a holiday in Havana, with all kinds of alarms, bells, horns and sirens blaring. Not to mention the loudest rock music from bands spanning over two millennia. Operation ‘notice me’ was underway.
The alien reactions were many, varied, and impossible to decipher. It was just so hard to imagine what would be going on inside the mind of a hominid thousands of years ahead. But they were still animals, just like the rest of us, and so had certain hard-wired instincts for survival they could never shake. If they did, they wouldn’t survive. As such, Justin was counting on a defensive reaction to his bluster.
As the mother ship slowed to a stop out in front of the city, Photon ordered all lights off except red, which caused an area of some disturbance to begin forming at the entryway mouth. Justin saw Photon’s uneasiness at the situation, and ordered he be relieved of the deck and the con. “I relieve you,” said the Commodore. Photon was happy to relinquish the post. Justin immediately grabbed the joy stick in order to switch from linear to time-travel mode, in case they needed to make a quick getaway, but it was too late.
The very advanced aliens, although not time-travelers themselves, had far superior firepower and linear capabilities. They sent a cigar-shaped weapon out from the anomalous maw, and an automatic scan by the mother ship sensors clearly showed it had the power of an H bomb many thousands of times over. Justin and his tight crew gave each other a nod of respect and the weapon exploded. But the explosion barely registered on board. Then what looked to be a speeding asteroid zoomed by the bow, and Justin saw the smiling face of Leung Dao, Leader of the Space Station Amazons. She flashed him a hearty ‘thumbs up,’ and cut away fast.
Justin used the reprieve to switch modes and cut away himself, causing the Alternity Three to reappear 1500 years in the past, where they headed to the headquarters of Alternity AD3000.
With the aliens attention drawn to the front, Nikki plunged the Harpy downward from the flank, like a coupe-de-grace, and headed straight for the beacon. There were several creatures attending to Infinity, fellow prisoners from adjacent hexagonal cells in the honeycomb. They helped Nikki get Infinity on board, and Nikki decided she couldn’t very well leave them behind.
Using spindly insect digits and appendages to climb aboard, they all crammed in only to realize the ship was stuck fast. “Don’t worry, ‘Fin, I’m gonna get you out of here,” said Nikki. She switched mode to time-travel and the super-ship lurched ahead a thousand years to AD5500. They sat bubbling in the throes of a field of distortion, and emerged from it into open, starry space. By now, Infinity was wide awake, and began hugging the friendly insects around her.
Nikki, meanwhile, had a sworn duty to take a look around and especially at the home planet, in AD5500.
Chapter XXIV, Absconsion
Nikki Nightbird maneuvered the Harpy on a course that would take her a long way around, with designs on plunging the bird at a 45-degree angle downward into the heart of the hive structure. With a precise lock on Infinity’s position, everything else would have to go just right. Justin had the Alternity Three lit up like a holiday in Havana, with all kinds of alarms, bells, horns and sirens blaring. Not to mention the loudest rock music from bands spanning over two millennia. Operation ‘notice me’ was underway.
The alien reactions were many, varied, and impossible to decipher. It was just so hard to imagine what would be going on inside the mind of a hominid thousands of years ahead. But they were still animals, just like the rest of us, and so had certain hard-wired instincts for survival they could never shake. If they did, they wouldn’t survive. As such, Justin was counting on a defensive reaction to his bluster.
As the mother ship slowed to a stop out in front of the city, Photon ordered all lights off except red, which caused an area of some disturbance to begin forming at the entryway mouth. Justin saw Photon’s uneasiness at the situation, and ordered he be relieved of the deck and the con. “I relieve you,” said the Commodore. Photon was happy to relinquish the post. Justin immediately grabbed the joy stick in order to switch from linear to time-travel mode, in case they needed to make a quick getaway, but it was too late.
The very advanced aliens, although not time-travelers themselves, had far superior firepower and linear capabilities. They sent a cigar-shaped weapon out from the anomalous maw, and an automatic scan by the mother ship sensors clearly showed it had the power of an H bomb many thousands of times over. Justin and his tight crew gave each other a nod of respect and the weapon exploded. But the explosion barely registered on board. Then what looked to be a speeding asteroid zoomed by the bow, and Justin saw the smiling face of Leung Dao, Leader of the Space Station Amazons. She flashed him a hearty ‘thumbs up,’ and cut away fast.
Justin used the reprieve to switch modes and cut away himself, causing the Alternity Three to reappear 1500 years in the past, where they headed to the headquarters of Alternity AD3000.
With the aliens attention drawn to the front, Nikki plunged the Harpy downward from the flank, like a coupe-de-grace, and headed straight for the beacon. There were several creatures attending to Infinity, fellow prisoners from adjacent hexagonal cells in the honeycomb. They helped Nikki get Infinity on board, and Nikki decided she couldn’t very well leave them behind.
Using spindly insect digits and appendages to climb aboard, they all crammed in only to realize the ship was stuck fast. “Don’t worry, ‘Fin, I’m gonna get you out of here,” said Nikki. She switched mode to time-travel and the super-ship lurched ahead a thousand years to AD5500. They sat bubbling in the throes of a field of distortion, and emerged from it into open, starry space. By now, Infinity was wide awake, and began hugging the friendly insects around her.
Nikki, meanwhile, had a sworn duty to take a look around and especially at the home planet, in AD5500.
Chronomenae -Sequel to Chronopolis
Chapter XXV, Time of Night
Infinity was quite apprehensive as her insectoid nurses and friends administered electrolytes for her dehydration. They would have to be given orally, as she would allow no more bodily intrusions. Her body responded well enough that she was soon sitting upright and enjoying the ride in the super-ship Harpy.
“How do you like it, ‘Fin?” Nikki asked with a broad grin.
“Awesome! Where’d you get it?”
“Justin was busy while you were gone. He had plans, and he had help, too.”
Nikki took the ship down into Earth orbit, then into the atmosphere. The ship’s own built-in mechanisms were already busy taking samples automatically, and a neon readout on the dash labelled them, ‘AD5500.’ This was the furthest ahead Alternity Group had yet explored, and Nikki was making the most of it. Flying by instrumentation, she eased back on the Lee helm, allowing the ships belly to break through the cloud cover. Once below the cumulostratus membrane, a whole world opened up in the forward sandglass windshield. It was a world of perpetual night, and a giant city lay spread before them. No ordinary city, this metropolis had evolved in harmony with the star-spangled void above, and was thriving beneath.
Mother nature waxed nocturnal and ran wild in the hills. She flew dauntless through the skies. The call of the screech owl was a familiar sound to city workers taking breaks on balcony’s and terraces many stories above the ground. Far below, pebble sidewalks meandered through meadow-friendly fields, where jack rabbits bounded pell mell under the watchful amber of predatory eyes. A paradise of darkness, a perfect melding of industrious light and inky utopia. All Nikki’s readouts pointed to an atmosphere where emissions and mining had been neutralized long ago, resulting in a world of balance, purity, and lasting homeostasis. Infinity informed Nikki the insectoids were in dire need of nutrition, and were telling her so. Apparently, they were contacting her telepathically.
“They’ve been inside my head the entire trip,” she said. “They need sugar, we have to do something for them.”
Nikki pressed a scanner on the dash of the Harpy and typed in ‘sugar’. In no time at all, she had a readout showing exactly where there were stores of a reasonable substitute, and how much of the sticky stuff was available. “We don’t need much,” Infinity repeated them as saying. Nikki dove through the darkness like a rapturous owl, bringing the Harpy down next to a small storage bin on the outskirts of the city, and the insects did the rest. As they sat munching their nectar in the darkness, they communicated with Infinity one last time. They placed their antennae softly on her shoulders and said goodbye, then scrambled off into the darkness of the verdant hillside.
“They want to stay, Nik.” Infinity looked at her best friend with water welling up in her dark brown eyes, and she cried. Nikki took her head on her shoulder, and stroked her hair, knowing full well these were tears of joy.
Chapter XXV, Time of Night
Infinity was quite apprehensive as her insectoid nurses and friends administered electrolytes for her dehydration. They would have to be given orally, as she would allow no more bodily intrusions. Her body responded well enough that she was soon sitting upright and enjoying the ride in the super-ship Harpy.
“How do you like it, ‘Fin?” Nikki asked with a broad grin.
“Awesome! Where’d you get it?”
“Justin was busy while you were gone. He had plans, and he had help, too.”
Nikki took the ship down into Earth orbit, then into the atmosphere. The ship’s own built-in mechanisms were already busy taking samples automatically, and a neon readout on the dash labelled them, ‘AD5500.’ This was the furthest ahead Alternity Group had yet explored, and Nikki was making the most of it. Flying by instrumentation, she eased back on the Lee helm, allowing the ships belly to break through the cloud cover. Once below the cumulostratus membrane, a whole world opened up in the forward sandglass windshield. It was a world of perpetual night, and a giant city lay spread before them. No ordinary city, this metropolis had evolved in harmony with the star-spangled void above, and was thriving beneath.
Mother nature waxed nocturnal and ran wild in the hills. She flew dauntless through the skies. The call of the screech owl was a familiar sound to city workers taking breaks on balcony’s and terraces many stories above the ground. Far below, pebble sidewalks meandered through meadow-friendly fields, where jack rabbits bounded pell mell under the watchful amber of predatory eyes. A paradise of darkness, a perfect melding of industrious light and inky utopia. All Nikki’s readouts pointed to an atmosphere where emissions and mining had been neutralized long ago, resulting in a world of balance, purity, and lasting homeostasis. Infinity informed Nikki the insectoids were in dire need of nutrition, and were telling her so. Apparently, they were contacting her telepathically.
“They’ve been inside my head the entire trip,” she said. “They need sugar, we have to do something for them.”
Nikki pressed a scanner on the dash of the Harpy and typed in ‘sugar’. In no time at all, she had a readout showing exactly where there were stores of a reasonable substitute, and how much of the sticky stuff was available. “We don’t need much,” Infinity repeated them as saying. Nikki dove through the darkness like a rapturous owl, bringing the Harpy down next to a small storage bin on the outskirts of the city, and the insects did the rest. As they sat munching their nectar in the darkness, they communicated with Infinity one last time. They placed their antennae softly on her shoulders and said goodbye, then scrambled off into the darkness of the verdant hillside.
“They want to stay, Nik.” Infinity looked at her best friend with water welling up in her dark brown eyes, and she cried. Nikki took her head on her shoulder, and stroked her hair, knowing full well these were tears of joy.
Chronomenae -Sequel to Chronopolis
Chapter XXVI, Pushing Forward
Nikki Nightbird wanted to take Infinity back to meet with the Commodore in AD3000, but she wouldn’t hear of it. “We’re all the way in AD5500, why go back instead of ahead? We’re supposed to be explorers- let’s explore,” she insisted. Nikki knew Infinity needed a rest but she also knew this wasn’t an argument she had any chance of winning. They pushed on.
“Strap in, ‘Fin. How far ya wanna go?” She set the mode for time-travel and they lurched forward. The stars all around them took a circular path until the whole of space looked like a time lapse photograph. Infinity put a straw to her lips and sucked down a sweet drink from a rapidly collapsing box of juice. The dashboard readout showed tumbling numbers, rolling higher and higher, taking the two daring young agents farther and farther from the source.
“OK ‘Fin, how does AD6500 sound?” asked Nikki.
Infinity looked her in the eye and answered by gurgling the juice box long after it was all gone. Nikki pushed the dial forward until the numbers landed on AD9000. Then she backed off. History would someday show the Harpy made timebreak in the year AD9204, when the women of Alternity Group skidded on top of the troposphere, eventually sinking through. From the ground they looked like a meteor seeking a crash site. The atmosphere had the super-ship’s exoskeleton glowing red hot.
They leveled off at the rooftop level of what they later described as ‘extreme skyscrapers’, and went zooming by other craft of the time. These craft immediately took up pursuit, and Nikki was happy to oblige, knowing the atmospheric diagnostics were running automatically. The city seemed to go on forever, with an untold number of structures piercing the air, creating a skyline of colossal sewing needles. At some point, one of the aircraft broke off pursuit, possibly to fuel. The other stayed locked on the Harpy.
A flasher alarm warned Nikki the craft behind had armed whatever weapon it had, and a strike was imminent. “Nine millennia and we’re still playing Star Wars,” Infinity commented.
Nikki pushed the throttle up to max and started putting good distance between them and the aggressor, who responded in kind with a burst of acceleration of its own.
“Watch this,” Nikki instructed Infinity. As the craft closed on her tail, Nikki aimed straight for a large structure and switched mode from linear to time travel.
In AD9204, the Harpy vanished, switched modes back, and reappeared several milliseconds earlier -and directly behind the pursuing craft. Nikki pulled up hard as the other craft slammed into the structure. Unfortunately, their Hollywood entrance precluded any further exploration, but they had the readouts, and with a switch to time travel mode, they brought the Harpy upward to stand on its tail and it began falling backward, swirling into a disturbance of their own creation.
Again, the dashboard numbers glowed neon in the dark of an endless night, the women watching them tumble like the digital readout of a Dutch-style auction. And when the numbers reached AD3000, they raised their hands, signaling to the cosmic auctioneer. The field of disruption became stationary above the same open field where Justin left the Chrona in AD3000, which now seemed so very long ago. Nikki rolled the Harpy out and stuck the landing. Riff was there to greet them, and to meet the famous Infinity Staires.
“Take us to your leader,” Nikki said to him.
Chapter XXVI, Pushing Forward
Nikki Nightbird wanted to take Infinity back to meet with the Commodore in AD3000, but she wouldn’t hear of it. “We’re all the way in AD5500, why go back instead of ahead? We’re supposed to be explorers- let’s explore,” she insisted. Nikki knew Infinity needed a rest but she also knew this wasn’t an argument she had any chance of winning. They pushed on.
“Strap in, ‘Fin. How far ya wanna go?” She set the mode for time-travel and they lurched forward. The stars all around them took a circular path until the whole of space looked like a time lapse photograph. Infinity put a straw to her lips and sucked down a sweet drink from a rapidly collapsing box of juice. The dashboard readout showed tumbling numbers, rolling higher and higher, taking the two daring young agents farther and farther from the source.
“OK ‘Fin, how does AD6500 sound?” asked Nikki.
Infinity looked her in the eye and answered by gurgling the juice box long after it was all gone. Nikki pushed the dial forward until the numbers landed on AD9000. Then she backed off. History would someday show the Harpy made timebreak in the year AD9204, when the women of Alternity Group skidded on top of the troposphere, eventually sinking through. From the ground they looked like a meteor seeking a crash site. The atmosphere had the super-ship’s exoskeleton glowing red hot.
They leveled off at the rooftop level of what they later described as ‘extreme skyscrapers’, and went zooming by other craft of the time. These craft immediately took up pursuit, and Nikki was happy to oblige, knowing the atmospheric diagnostics were running automatically. The city seemed to go on forever, with an untold number of structures piercing the air, creating a skyline of colossal sewing needles. At some point, one of the aircraft broke off pursuit, possibly to fuel. The other stayed locked on the Harpy.
A flasher alarm warned Nikki the craft behind had armed whatever weapon it had, and a strike was imminent. “Nine millennia and we’re still playing Star Wars,” Infinity commented.
Nikki pushed the throttle up to max and started putting good distance between them and the aggressor, who responded in kind with a burst of acceleration of its own.
“Watch this,” Nikki instructed Infinity. As the craft closed on her tail, Nikki aimed straight for a large structure and switched mode from linear to time travel.
In AD9204, the Harpy vanished, switched modes back, and reappeared several milliseconds earlier -and directly behind the pursuing craft. Nikki pulled up hard as the other craft slammed into the structure. Unfortunately, their Hollywood entrance precluded any further exploration, but they had the readouts, and with a switch to time travel mode, they brought the Harpy upward to stand on its tail and it began falling backward, swirling into a disturbance of their own creation.
Again, the dashboard numbers glowed neon in the dark of an endless night, the women watching them tumble like the digital readout of a Dutch-style auction. And when the numbers reached AD3000, they raised their hands, signaling to the cosmic auctioneer. The field of disruption became stationary above the same open field where Justin left the Chrona in AD3000, which now seemed so very long ago. Nikki rolled the Harpy out and stuck the landing. Riff was there to greet them, and to meet the famous Infinity Staires.
“Take us to your leader,” Nikki said to him.
Chronomenae -Sequel to Chronopolis
Chapter XXVII, A Past Future
Riff was a fellow special agent, but for a future version of the group, called Alternity AD3000. Because this was 800 years in the future, but still the same timeline as their own, Nikki and Infinity were instructed not to speak in specifics or make too much conversation. The less information that went back and forth, the better. Pleasantries and small talk were the order of the day. Riff was there to lead them to Justin, who was a special guest at Alternity AD3000 headquarters, where they were making upgrades to the Chrona. When the work was completed, the Chrona would regress back to the Miocene Ranch HQ, the new home of Alternity AD2200. All future missions would originate from there.
The three agents boarded a rather ordinary space bus that shuttled them over a wide expanse of blood-red desert. The sands below were sparsely populated by indigenous tribes living much as they had in pre-Columbian times. Infinity watched as they flew over a large pow-wow, enjoying the dancing and circumstance. There were occasionally small lakes, where animal herds of different species gathered to drink and socialize. The ladies had seen much recently, and were happy to sit back and sight see.
One sight was Riff himself, operating the space bus. He was a young and handsome man, a fact not lost on Nikki and her newly-rescued best friend. They shot each other knowing glances and giggled like high schoolers. Riff himself was no longer sure why his heart was beating so quickly. Was he being star-struck over Infinity Staires, or by the beauty of both women? In any case, he remained a good soldier and a perfect gentleman. Soon, the bus navigated through an enormous portal and crossed into the headquarters of Alternity AD3000.
A large contingent stood assembled on the reception flats, many soldiers, a band, and a small group of dignitaries. Among them was Justin Nicholas Thyme, perhaps the most famous agent in all the fractures of the timestream. And anyone who knew Justin, probably too, knew the exploits of his protégé’, Infinity Staires. Riff set the shuttle down with great expertise, and was helping the lady agents disembark with the well-practiced finesse of a chivalrous gentleman. This too, was not lost on the girls. Infinity stepped out of the bus into a shower of confetti and Nikki enjoyed accolades as well. Riff disappeared quickly, making sure not to have too much meaningful interaction.
The ladies were led into a long, many-windowed structure where they would be quarantined for the 30 days required of deep-space interdimensional travelers. Riff would have to join them in an adjacent -but interlinked- structure nearby. The girls wondered what the three might do for an entire month to stay occupied. One thing they could all look forward too after meeting quarantine requirements, would be the unveiling of the new, improved Chrona. Justin left Infinity with a large canvass bag of supplies, filled with everything from soap to vitamins, to apples. Later, while digging through the bag for a razor, she called to Nikki.
“Look,” she said, holding out a handful of condoms. They laughed.
Chapter XXVII, A Past Future
Riff was a fellow special agent, but for a future version of the group, called Alternity AD3000. Because this was 800 years in the future, but still the same timeline as their own, Nikki and Infinity were instructed not to speak in specifics or make too much conversation. The less information that went back and forth, the better. Pleasantries and small talk were the order of the day. Riff was there to lead them to Justin, who was a special guest at Alternity AD3000 headquarters, where they were making upgrades to the Chrona. When the work was completed, the Chrona would regress back to the Miocene Ranch HQ, the new home of Alternity AD2200. All future missions would originate from there.
The three agents boarded a rather ordinary space bus that shuttled them over a wide expanse of blood-red desert. The sands below were sparsely populated by indigenous tribes living much as they had in pre-Columbian times. Infinity watched as they flew over a large pow-wow, enjoying the dancing and circumstance. There were occasionally small lakes, where animal herds of different species gathered to drink and socialize. The ladies had seen much recently, and were happy to sit back and sight see.
One sight was Riff himself, operating the space bus. He was a young and handsome man, a fact not lost on Nikki and her newly-rescued best friend. They shot each other knowing glances and giggled like high schoolers. Riff himself was no longer sure why his heart was beating so quickly. Was he being star-struck over Infinity Staires, or by the beauty of both women? In any case, he remained a good soldier and a perfect gentleman. Soon, the bus navigated through an enormous portal and crossed into the headquarters of Alternity AD3000.
A large contingent stood assembled on the reception flats, many soldiers, a band, and a small group of dignitaries. Among them was Justin Nicholas Thyme, perhaps the most famous agent in all the fractures of the timestream. And anyone who knew Justin, probably too, knew the exploits of his protégé’, Infinity Staires. Riff set the shuttle down with great expertise, and was helping the lady agents disembark with the well-practiced finesse of a chivalrous gentleman. This too, was not lost on the girls. Infinity stepped out of the bus into a shower of confetti and Nikki enjoyed accolades as well. Riff disappeared quickly, making sure not to have too much meaningful interaction.
The ladies were led into a long, many-windowed structure where they would be quarantined for the 30 days required of deep-space interdimensional travelers. Riff would have to join them in an adjacent -but interlinked- structure nearby. The girls wondered what the three might do for an entire month to stay occupied. One thing they could all look forward too after meeting quarantine requirements, would be the unveiling of the new, improved Chrona. Justin left Infinity with a large canvass bag of supplies, filled with everything from soap to vitamins, to apples. Later, while digging through the bag for a razor, she called to Nikki.
“Look,” she said, holding out a handful of condoms. They laughed.
Chronomenae -Sequel to Chronopolis
Chapter XXVIII, Home for a Holiday
The forces assembled at the Red Sand Flatlands launch facility, all dressed in their full freeze suits and gear. The Alternity Three would stay behind with the Harpy hibernating safely within. The agents had said their goodbyes the previous evening and although much was left unsaid, little was left undone. Alternity Groups AD2200 and AD3000 would remain interconnected and bonded forever. The groups would meet again soon enough.
Flying off into prehistory, Justin, Infinity, Nikki, Terco and Photon boarded the powerful, new and very impressive Chrona (here-to-fore demarcated by a capital ‘C’), and strapped into station. Riff, resplendent in full dress uniform, stood on the flats at safe minimum distance, and raised a hand. Agents Nightbird and Staires raised their hands right back to him, and Justin gave the order to energize the Chrona.
With the force of a thousand Cretaceous-Tertiary comets, the portal began to spin. One of the improvements AD3000 had made was the use of Iridium lining the portal wall, allowing for independent movement and free interchange among all outer-shell electrons. This resulted in less interdimensional drag, and a more concentrated field of time distortion, as the Chrona sat in a field of disruption only atoms larger than its own footprint in the continuum.
All faded to black as the crew rotated independently of their surrounding machine, and much of the portal featured a litany of current, past and future events against a backdrop of darkness that rivaled a total absence of light. The Valley of the Kings, the sinking Titanic, the explosion at Tunguska, UFO’s over Mount Rainier, the Yankee stadium scoreboard after Don Larson’s perfect game, Dorothy skipping through a field of poppies toward the Emerald City. Then- all fell silent, as the whine of the Chrona came to a halt. Light poured into the portal, and there were the sounds of jubilation coming from outside. The distortion field normalized and the hiss of angel steam rose up around the Chrona. This was a combination of a cotton candy-like substance often reported at UFO encounters, and actual steam. It was one of the peculiarities of the new Chrona.
As the crew untethered from their seating, they were helped out of the Chrona portal by the boots on the ground. Senator Stillwell was very anxious to have a look inside the new time machine, and the Professor was interested in debriefing the agents after so much unprecedented exploration and extradimensional interaction. In the case of Infinity and Nikki, even with extraterrestrials! This Alternity thing was beginning to pay research dividends. Colonal Jaspar called everyone into the house for a toast over dinner, but Infinity had already left with Justin down to the river.
By the time they arrived, Nikki had caught up with them, and they all stood in awe as the sun began to set over the idyllic scene. And there in the deep stood Owdy, up to his elbows in clear rushing water. His size took them all aback, standing elbow deep yet still a full twenty feet above water level at the snout. Infinity stayed quiet, silently watching and adoring as did Justin. They had rescued the mammoth as an orphan and raised him as their own. Now Owdy got their scent as the wind began to swirl, changing direction sporadically. The leviathan’s beer-brown eyes visibly widened and he plodded ashore, collapsing dangerously close to their feet, like a ten-thousand-pound puppy.
Infinity was not in the least bit afraid, sprawling across the animal’s behemoth flank, holding tight to his fur. He arose, and bowed his gigantic head to her, offering a chance to mount him. She climbed up top and rode him across the river where he went back to grazing with other giant mammoths, who paid no attention whatsoever. It was that same lack of fear, Justin thought, that would cause their eventual extinction.
Justin and Nikki marveled at them from the far bank. Infinity was blissful and more than that, she was home. Justin commented, “A girl and her dog.”
The two headed back to the Ranch for debriefing, knowing Infinity was safe. Later, she rode Owdy all the way home, walked him into his barn with the 17-foot-high doors, and fed him savannah grasses while brushing his thick golden-brown hair.
Chapter XXVIII, Home for a Holiday
The forces assembled at the Red Sand Flatlands launch facility, all dressed in their full freeze suits and gear. The Alternity Three would stay behind with the Harpy hibernating safely within. The agents had said their goodbyes the previous evening and although much was left unsaid, little was left undone. Alternity Groups AD2200 and AD3000 would remain interconnected and bonded forever. The groups would meet again soon enough.
Flying off into prehistory, Justin, Infinity, Nikki, Terco and Photon boarded the powerful, new and very impressive Chrona (here-to-fore demarcated by a capital ‘C’), and strapped into station. Riff, resplendent in full dress uniform, stood on the flats at safe minimum distance, and raised a hand. Agents Nightbird and Staires raised their hands right back to him, and Justin gave the order to energize the Chrona.
With the force of a thousand Cretaceous-Tertiary comets, the portal began to spin. One of the improvements AD3000 had made was the use of Iridium lining the portal wall, allowing for independent movement and free interchange among all outer-shell electrons. This resulted in less interdimensional drag, and a more concentrated field of time distortion, as the Chrona sat in a field of disruption only atoms larger than its own footprint in the continuum.
All faded to black as the crew rotated independently of their surrounding machine, and much of the portal featured a litany of current, past and future events against a backdrop of darkness that rivaled a total absence of light. The Valley of the Kings, the sinking Titanic, the explosion at Tunguska, UFO’s over Mount Rainier, the Yankee stadium scoreboard after Don Larson’s perfect game, Dorothy skipping through a field of poppies toward the Emerald City. Then- all fell silent, as the whine of the Chrona came to a halt. Light poured into the portal, and there were the sounds of jubilation coming from outside. The distortion field normalized and the hiss of angel steam rose up around the Chrona. This was a combination of a cotton candy-like substance often reported at UFO encounters, and actual steam. It was one of the peculiarities of the new Chrona.
As the crew untethered from their seating, they were helped out of the Chrona portal by the boots on the ground. Senator Stillwell was very anxious to have a look inside the new time machine, and the Professor was interested in debriefing the agents after so much unprecedented exploration and extradimensional interaction. In the case of Infinity and Nikki, even with extraterrestrials! This Alternity thing was beginning to pay research dividends. Colonal Jaspar called everyone into the house for a toast over dinner, but Infinity had already left with Justin down to the river.
By the time they arrived, Nikki had caught up with them, and they all stood in awe as the sun began to set over the idyllic scene. And there in the deep stood Owdy, up to his elbows in clear rushing water. His size took them all aback, standing elbow deep yet still a full twenty feet above water level at the snout. Infinity stayed quiet, silently watching and adoring as did Justin. They had rescued the mammoth as an orphan and raised him as their own. Now Owdy got their scent as the wind began to swirl, changing direction sporadically. The leviathan’s beer-brown eyes visibly widened and he plodded ashore, collapsing dangerously close to their feet, like a ten-thousand-pound puppy.
Infinity was not in the least bit afraid, sprawling across the animal’s behemoth flank, holding tight to his fur. He arose, and bowed his gigantic head to her, offering a chance to mount him. She climbed up top and rode him across the river where he went back to grazing with other giant mammoths, who paid no attention whatsoever. It was that same lack of fear, Justin thought, that would cause their eventual extinction.
Justin and Nikki marveled at them from the far bank. Infinity was blissful and more than that, she was home. Justin commented, “A girl and her dog.”
The two headed back to the Ranch for debriefing, knowing Infinity was safe. Later, she rode Owdy all the way home, walked him into his barn with the 17-foot-high doors, and fed him savannah grasses while brushing his thick golden-brown hair.
Chronomenae -Sequel to Chronopolis
Chapter XXIX, Fantastic Dimensions
While the Chrona was energized and transporting the crew of Alternity back to the Miocene, Justin took the opportunity to send a message ahead to his lady friend of the future. Taking advantage of the Chrona’s massive new capabilities, he programmed 1,000 drones to illuminate a ‘peace’ symbol across what had once been the continent of North America. The drones were set to light up at the same time as Leung Dao returned to Space Station Armstrong after saving the Alternity Three and its crew from an alien missile.
The message read, “WITH MUCH LOVE AND GRATITUDE FOR LADY LEUNG -JUSTIN.”
Lady Leung, aka ‘the Woman in White,’ was delighted to help. She had never met a man like Justin, and she considered it a miracle that she finally ever did. Her heart and body longed for his return. She hoped to someday visit the beautiful, primitive world he spoke about with such passion. They simply didn’t make places -or men- like that anymore. When Leung made it back to the station, one of the first things she did was begin the process of choosing a successor.
Back in AD3000, Riff was decorated for going above and beyond the call, and was rewarded with his own command, in charge of all interdimensional and time-travel. He knew the ladies would have to return for their spacecraft, and he hoped to see them again when they did.
The Insectoids by now had set themselves up in a lovely subterranean farm on the AD5500 hillside of the dark planet, reproducing quickly. Their large family now stretched in an always bustling unbroken line leading from the farm to the sugar storage bin and back again. They too, hoped to someday see Infinity again.
Far ahead in the world of AD9204, the airborne security forces remained vigilant, having been compromised once by time-traveling yahoos from some vulgar past. They were still smarting from the loss of an advanced aircraft, with the Grand Chancellor Brother placing the cost of a single incident up at around a quasi-trillion. But for coverage it could have been as high as google plex! If those gals ever returned, they’d be ready for them.
Meanwhile, back in the days when the sweet-scented late Miocene bled into the early Pliocene, the agents were readying the powerful, new and improved Chrona. It was time to send the celebrated agents of Alternity Group back out to explore the primordial past, distant future, and discover new and fractured fantastic dimensions.
The End
Joseph John Racano
©@JosephJohnRacano/08/05/2020
Chapter XXIX, Fantastic Dimensions
While the Chrona was energized and transporting the crew of Alternity back to the Miocene, Justin took the opportunity to send a message ahead to his lady friend of the future. Taking advantage of the Chrona’s massive new capabilities, he programmed 1,000 drones to illuminate a ‘peace’ symbol across what had once been the continent of North America. The drones were set to light up at the same time as Leung Dao returned to Space Station Armstrong after saving the Alternity Three and its crew from an alien missile.
The message read, “WITH MUCH LOVE AND GRATITUDE FOR LADY LEUNG -JUSTIN.”
Lady Leung, aka ‘the Woman in White,’ was delighted to help. She had never met a man like Justin, and she considered it a miracle that she finally ever did. Her heart and body longed for his return. She hoped to someday visit the beautiful, primitive world he spoke about with such passion. They simply didn’t make places -or men- like that anymore. When Leung made it back to the station, one of the first things she did was begin the process of choosing a successor.
Back in AD3000, Riff was decorated for going above and beyond the call, and was rewarded with his own command, in charge of all interdimensional and time-travel. He knew the ladies would have to return for their spacecraft, and he hoped to see them again when they did.
The Insectoids by now had set themselves up in a lovely subterranean farm on the AD5500 hillside of the dark planet, reproducing quickly. Their large family now stretched in an always bustling unbroken line leading from the farm to the sugar storage bin and back again. They too, hoped to someday see Infinity again.
Far ahead in the world of AD9204, the airborne security forces remained vigilant, having been compromised once by time-traveling yahoos from some vulgar past. They were still smarting from the loss of an advanced aircraft, with the Grand Chancellor Brother placing the cost of a single incident up at around a quasi-trillion. But for coverage it could have been as high as google plex! If those gals ever returned, they’d be ready for them.
Meanwhile, back in the days when the sweet-scented late Miocene bled into the early Pliocene, the agents were readying the powerful, new and improved Chrona. It was time to send the celebrated agents of Alternity Group back out to explore the primordial past, distant future, and discover new and fractured fantastic dimensions.
The End
Joseph John Racano
©@JosephJohnRacano/08/05/2020
