The Last Time Traveler Read online

  The green maiden glared at him, daggers in her eyes, her breathing quick and shallow.

  “I’m sorry…” he said softly. “Please continue.”

  “He’s a human male,” she replied. “I knew what my body could do to his. And for two years I did everything I could to get him trapped with me in hot enclosed spaces. I tried my very best to get him to kiss me. I just knew that if he did that, I would have him. He would love me. He would have to. I would become his perfect mate and he would finally surrender, he would finally be mine. But, in spite of all I could do he never would…”

  “But you said…” he began.

  “He went to kiss me on the cheek!” she screamed. “As if I was his niece or his little sister! But I stopped him! I turned my mouth to his and caught him in the trap I had worked two years to lay. I had no idea I would be the one it actually caught… Whoever digs a pit will fall into it; if someone rolls a stone, it will roll back on them.”

  “Where’s that from?”

  “The Bible, Morgan…” she replied, shaking her head and rolling her eyes once more. “I’ve spent a great deal of time reflecting on those words…”

  “Well…” the young man said slowly. “He's never kissed anyone else.”

  “Of course not,” she laughed. “Things like that are beneath him. He plays with love the same way a child does with a ball. It entertains him, but it doesn’t mean anything to him. The only reason he doesn’t kiss every woman that ever lived is because he doesn’t want to do to them what he accidentally did to me…”

  “But Cleo, he told me he loves you…” Morgan assured her.

  “And what does that mean?” she scoffed. “Liar is Rob’s quintessential descriptor. Sure, he’s a man, he’s a human…”

  “He’s five-foot six…”

  “Right, Morgan…” she sighed. “But my point is that liar is the most important one in the list. He’s more a liar than he is a human. The truth, lies, love, lust, all of them are just more tools in his box. He’s above them!”

  “No one’s above those…” Morgan asserted.

  “Why don’t you tell him that?” she asked, honeysuckle tears streaming down her face.

  “Well what about that moonlight walk down the beach?” he asked.

  “For Rob that was like giving a sugar cube to a horse or a treat to a dog that’s done some cute trick,” she replied. “It was my reward for being a good girl!”

  “Ouch…” Morgan said, gazing down at her, sincere sympathy in his eyes.

  “Yeah, Morgan…” she replied, nodding slowly. “Ouch… Anyway, he doesn’t even know what love is. Not like we do. Look at you! What you’re doing is at least sort of like love. You’re trying to win the girl you… well... lust after, but at least it’s a start! All Rob has ever done is push me away. Oh, there are times I manage to forget, times I manage to deceive myself into believing he cares. I even make plans, Morgan! How sad is that? I’ve picked out wedding dresses and thought about what I want to name our children! But then something like this happens… Rob gets busy and it reminds me of my place: I can only ever be near him when I’m useful, when I’m part of the mission. He’s not even capable of feeling what we do Morgan. And he never will be…”

  “Cleo,” the young man sighed. “I’m going to go grab some space ice-cream. You want some?”

  “Please,” she replied, wiping the tears from her eyes.

  In less than an hour five of the ship's six crew members were sitting in Morgan's room listing to 80's music and feasting on space ice-cream. Cleo's mood lightened noticeably as they sat talking and laughing about the many insane things Robert had done over the years.

  “What's going on?” the traveler asked, sticking his head in the doorway.

  “Just having an improve celebration,” Vox said with a smile. “Small-girl's been teaching Morgan to dress himself and so far the results ain't too bad.”

  “Well that's great,” he smiled, “but we got work to do. Everybody ready?”

  They were. Just minutes later all six were seated around the conference table.

  “So,” the traveler began, “you may or may not have noticed that I've been a little busy over the past few days...”

  “We've noticed,” Cleo interrupted.

  “Right,” he nodded. “Well, the reason for that was the lock on the holy vault.”

  “But Cleo already broke into that,” Morgan pointed out.

  “Yeah... I know that, Morgan,” Robert replied. “But the point is that I didn't let Cleo get ready for it. I was confident that she could handle such an old system and I was right. It was still sloppy of me, however, and I should have done better. So, the last few days I've been working on doing better. I think I've got all the details we'll need for the rest of this job in my head now. We shouldn't have any more unpleasant surprises.”

  “Good to hear, boss,” Vox replied.

  “One thing before we go on,” the traveler said, turning his gaze to Azure. “How's your training going?”

  “Well...” she said, a look of confusion on her face.

  “We felt she should have a little time to adjust, Rob,” Doc pointed out. “All this is a lot to take in.”

  “Of course,” he smiled. “However, as soon as you feel up to it I want you weapons trained.”

  “I'm not sure about using weapons,” she replied.

  “You'll be great at it!” he replied. “In fact, you were.”

  “I just don't like the idea...”

  “Here's the great thing about our work Azure,” he interrupted, “even if we do have to shoot anyone, which we basically never do, we get to un-shoot them at the end of the job. So, it's really not a big deal. Besides, you don't want any of us to get killed, right?”

  “Of course not!” she exclaimed.

  “Great!” he nodded. “Then you'll need to learn to shoot soon. Morgan, you've been practicing, right?”

  “Every day.”

  “Awesome,” the traveler replied. “Do you think you could teach Azure?”

  “Oh! My! Goodness!” he exclaimed. “Yes, Rob! Yes, I can!”

  “Great!” Robert replied. “Now, on to business. This next mission is a little odd because it involves a person. The idiot Delmont...”

  “Who Azure thought was very unattractive,” Morgan interjected.

  “What?” Azure asked.

  “Oh,” Morgan replied. “You saw him in that future that never happened. You said he made you want to puke...”

  “Morgan,” the traveler said gazing at the young man in disbelief, “may I continue?”

  “Please do.”

  “Right... Anyways, Delmont kidnapped Calvin Rex, who was one of the most skilled bio-engineers in history. Rex was unappreciated in his own day, but his son Theodore Rex invented the cure for the common cold, which then brought his father's name into the historic limelight as it were.”

  “And what changes did his kidnapping cause?” Doc asked.

  “Well,” Robert began, “like most of, if not all, of Delmont's idiotic thefts, it caused a number of different ramifications. First off, Rex never had a son and so the cure for the cold had to wait thirty more years. This caused literately billions of lost man hours due to a sickness that should have been cured already. This alone actually created a number of paradoxes. However, the moron then sold Rex to a private weapons development company that worked outside the laws of any individual government. Using techniques we won't go into they persuaded Rex to develop one of the most powerful biological weapons ever created. The result: billions of lost lives, including a number of time travelers. And, of course, even more paradoxes.”

  “So what do we do?” Azure asked.

  “A few things,” the traveler replied, his eyes filled with excitement. “Step one: we go back in time and get a DNA sample and brain scan from Rex. Step two: we grow a fully functional clone and program it to pretend to be Rex. Step three: We break into a classified secret military weapons research facility with the clone i
n tow. We then swap the clone for Rex, bring Rex back here for a bit of regeneration and a little memory wipe before dropping him off at home five minutes after he's kidnapped. Step four: we disable Delmont's machine again and defeat the doofus for a second time!”

  “Why is it so convoluted?” Azure asked.

  “It always is,” Morgan replied. “I mean, I think it always is...”

  “The reason, Azure,” Robert explained, “is because of the way the time-lines are laid out. We have to undo the damage of the cold not being cured before we undo the damage of the weapon. So, we have to put Rex back before we un-kidnap him.”

  “Okay,” Morgan nodded. “But in that case, why don't we just drop the clone off at his house?”

  “What?” Cleo asked.

  “Well, I mean, we wouldn't have to break into that base if we just let the clone have the kid and...”

  “What?!?!” both Cleo and Azure exclaimed.

  “Morgan, what is wrong with...” Cleo said, a look of disgust on her face. “Rob, I want a lock put on the cloning tank!”

  “What did I say?” Morgan asked, gazing at the girls. “I'm just trying to keep us all safe.”

  “Well,” the traveler replied, a wide grin on his face, “you've accidentally hit a bit of a taboo subject there. Clones aren't people, Morgan.”

  “What's the difference?”

  “There are a number of differences,” Robert asserted. “But the big one is that they don't have souls. At least, if you believe in souls... But whether or not you do, trying to have children with them is very taboo. Do you follow me, Morgan?”

  “I'm not sure...”

  “Mmmm,” the traveler nodded, squinting at the young man. “Trying, Morgan. Trying... You see? To have children. Trying to have children. With me? It's taboo. It's like being a baaad boy in your time. You see what I did? Baaad. Like baaa, baaa... You see what I'm saying?”

  “I'm not...” Morgan said thoughtfully before it struck him. “That's just nasty, Rob! What is wrong with you, man?!?!”

  “You see, Cleo,” Robert said smiling at her. “He's not a pervert, he just didn't know.”

  “I suppose,” she replied rolling her eyes.

  “Either way,” the traveler replied shaking his head, “we replace the man, not the clone.”

  “Right!” Morgan wholeheartedly agreed.

  “The first part of this mission,” Robert explained, “me and Morgan can handle. Vox, I want you and Cleo to go over all the schematics I've put together on that base. I want to be able to just walk in and walk out without them ever knowing.”

  “You got it, boss,” Vox replied with a smile.

  “Doc,” the traveler continued, “you can start teaching Azure some of the basics of field medicine. The more she knows, the better.”

  “Agreed,” Doc nodded.

  “And that's it,” Robert said. “We'll be in position in just a few minutes. Me and Morgan shouldn't be gone long.”

  “Awesome,” Vox replied. “Come on, small-girl, we got work to do.”

  “Sure thing,” she smiled.

  In less than an hour the ship was settled down in an area of farmland a few miles from Calvin Rex's country home.

  “So,” Morgan mused as they strolled along a long country lane in the moonlight. “How many planets have moons?”

  “A lot of 'em.”

  “Are they all romantic?”

  “A lot of 'em.”

  “Do you think we should go for another moonlight stroll?”

  “We're already on one,” the traveler pointed out.

  “I meant with the girls,” Morgan explained.

  “No,” Robert replied. “I can't take any more right now. In fact, I had a couple of close calls the other night.”

  “You did fine!” the young man said encouragingly. “I'm sure you can handle it! And besides, it may give me a chance to get somewhere with Azure...”

  “It's going to take a lot more than moonlight to do that, Hos.”

  “Oh,” Morgan sighed. “Do we have any wine on board?”

  “Be quiet, Morgan,” the traveler replied. “We're almost there and I need to concentrate. Try not to speak until I've given Rex a little night-night gas.”

  “What's that?”

  “Try to figure it out from the context, man!”

  “Right...”

  A short distance from the house both young men switched on their stealth generators, vanishing completely from sight, as they approached the door.

  “Get off me, Morgan,” the traveler whispered.

  “Sorry,” the young man replied. “I didn't expect you to stop so suddenly.”

  “What did you expect me to do? Walk through the door?”

  “No, I just...”

  “Never mind!” the traveler said, slowly turning the handle. “Crap... It's locked.”

  “Use the sonic screwdriver,” Morgan suggested.

  “I don't have one,” Robert explained. “This is still just the future, not a television show.”

  “So how do we get in then?”

  “I pick the lock,” the traveler explained.

  “You can do that?”

  “Are you kidding me,” Robert replied, sliding a set of picks into the lock.

  “Rob,” Morgan whispered. “Sometimes you are really cool, man.”

  “Sometimes?” the traveler replied, before slowly opening the door.

  The two made their way quickly into the house. Morgan immediately knocked over a table with a rather elegant lamp on it, but Robert managed to catch one with his hand and the other with his foot before they hit the ground.

  “Morgan,” he said softly, a hint of annoyance in his voice. “Why do I bring you with me on things like this?”

  “I was actually wondering about that myself...”

  “Well,” the traveler sighed, “the truth is I just like hanging out with you... But don't tell anybody.”

  “I won't!”

  The pair moved quickly across the room and made their way to Rex's bedroom. There he lie, very much asleep, his sheets and pillows in a complete mess, and drool pouring from his mouth. The traveler pulled something from his pocket and sprayed it a short distance from Rex's open mouth.

  “Done,” he said, switching off his stealth generator. “Now we just take what we need.”

  “Do I look that bad in my sleep?” Morgan asked.

  “At least once.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I mean, I've only ever seen you asleep once,” Robert explained, pulling a scanner from his pocket and pushing buttons on it. “And that was enough. You looked at least this bad. And you were wearing those goofy X-Men pajamas.”

  “You've seen those?”

  “They're nothing to write home about Mr. Wolverine. Anyway, we're done!”

  “We're done?” the young man asked in surprise. “That was fast!”

  “What did you expect?” the traveler chuckled. “It's been a long time since we had to take people's brains out of their heads to scan them.”

  “You had to...”

  “No, Morgan,” Robert replied. “It was a joke. Let's get out here.”

  The two made their way quickly back to the ship. Just minutes later they were back in non-space with a perfect clone bud blossoming in the clone tank.

  “Alright,” the traveler said with a contented sigh. “That's that for a few days. Morgan, I've got to dive back into work for the moment...”

  “I thought you said you were done,” the young man interrupted.

  “I lied,” he admitted. “But not by much! There are just a few more burs to knock off. We've got to seriously not mess up, you know?”

  “I do.”

  “So,” Robert said with a knowing grin, “maybe you'll want to take Azure down to the range for the next few days.”

  “Oh! My! Goodness!” he exclaimed. “Do I?!?!”

  “Well then, you're in luck,” the traveler replied. “Because those are orders. Now get to it so
ldier!”

  “Yes, sir!” Morgan replied, snapping a salute before flying from the medi-bay in search of Azure.

  Minutes later the young man and lady were all alone on the gun range... which was still on the ship... with a number of weapons spread out before them.

  “That's not very good is it?” Azure asked, staring at her unscathed target.

  “Well,” he sighed, pretending very hard to seriously consider the question. “I think you're holding the gun wrong.”

  “How should I hold it?”

  “More like this,” he replied, taking her hands in his and correcting her grip.

  “Thanks!” she replied, before staring at him out of the corner of her eyes for several seconds. “I think I got it now, Morgan...”

  “Shhh...” he replied. “Don't rush it... You need to be one with the gun...”

  “I'm one enough,” she replied jerking her hands away.

  “You're probably right,” he said with a nod. “Try again.”

  She did somewhat better, but still needed a lot of work. Morgan was patient. He knew this was only ever going to happen once. Taking his time would pay off, he just couldn't rush it...

  “I don't feel like I'm making much progress,” she sighed after about a half an hour.

  She was right. Of course, part of the reason for that was because Morgan had set the target as far down the range as he could. You see? He wasn't always an idiot!

  “Well... I suppose I could...” he said thoughtfully. “No. No, never mind. You're just not quite ready for that yet...”

  “Ready for what?” she asked.

  “Some advanced training techniques I know,” he replied with complete confidence. “But you're just not ready for 'em.”

  “Alright,” she sighed, “If I'm not ready...”

  “Hold on!” he exclaimed. “Just hold on for a second now. I admit I see a lot of potential in ya. But you would have to do exactly what I tell you. I don't want either of us getting hurt.”

  “Okay,” she smiled. “I'm willing to give it a try if you are.”

  “Oh...” he said slowly. “I'm willing...”

  “Then let's get started.”

  “Yes. Yes, let's,” he replied. “Now, remember I'm kind of like a doctor in this situation. This is all just like clinical training, so try not to get too excited.”