No Rest For The Weary (The Last Time Traveler Book 2) Read online

  “I can see how that might appeal to you,” the traveler admitted. “Still, control yourself. I'd hate to have to break your legs or anything.”

  “Oh, absolutely.”

  The pair had no sooner made their plans than they each set out to put them into action. Robert went to work on removing the power cell from the photon saber and Morgan was trying to find a way to get Azure all alone. Roughly twenty-four hours later, the young man was standing just outside the magnetic bubble chamber where the traveler was working away at a nearby table.

  “Can I come in?” Morgan asked with a sigh.

  “Absolutely,” Robert replied with a smile. “How's kissing Azure been treating you?”

  “Not great,” he sighed again, dropping into a nearby chair.

  “So, you’re already back to not being able to kiss her, then?” the traveler chuckled.

  “Looks that way… Well, kinda. She says we’re on the RC Diet.”

  “RC Diet?”

  “Yeah,” the young man nodded. “Apparently I can only kiss her if you and Cleo are around. She says it will keep things from going too far.”

  “She said that?” Robert asked, glancing up at the young man.

  “Well, she said you.”

  “Me?”

  “No,” Morgan corrected. “What she said was: it will keep you from going too far.”

  “Yeah, that makes sense,” the traveler replied. “Still, I'm almost at a stopping point. I can take a break, we can go find the girls, and then...”

  “Oh, no!” Morgan interrupted, a slightly bitter tone in his voice. “We also have to be on a date. And, even then I only get one kiss.”

  “Azure's got a good head on her shoulders,” Robert observed.

  “It seems to me, that with all the effort I've gone to, I should be allowed to go too far.”

  “You see, Morgan,” the traveler replied, shaking his head. “That’s why you’re still not ready for a girlfriend.”

  “Oh, I'm more than ready!”

  “There ya go,” Robert laughed. “More evidence to support my case.”

  “Either way, we need to get this job wrapped up quick. We're almost up to date night and I don't plan to miss it.”

  “No,” the traveler agreed, snapping the modified power cell into the modified time probe. “Neither do I. And, that's that.”

  “Already done?”

  “Nope. Just done with this. Me and Vox should have it finished by tomorrow. Just entertain yourself in whatever way you see fit until then.”

  “I can't,” the young man sighed a third time. “I'm not allowed.”

  “Oh, right. Well then, take the girls and Doc down to the gun range. In fact, take Celeste if she wants to go. I doubt she's enjoyed the trip much so far.”

  “She hasn't,” Morgan asserted. “Vox's bed isn't big enough for both of them, so he has to sleep on the floor.”

  “I should have thought of that,” Robert acknowledged.

  “Plus, for the last day-and-a-half he's been working every waking hour.”

  “Also a valid point.”

  “And, she hates the MREs.”

  “I like 'em.”

  “You ain't the only one on this ship, bro,” the young man pointed out.

  “Very true,” the traveler agreed. “We'll pick up a wider variety once we get back to the island.”

  “We need to do more than that,” Morgan replied. “We need to get some real food.”

  “Uhhh... Alright. You can pick up some stuff to cook as well. Just don't go crazy.”

  “I won't,” the young man assured him with a smile.

  “Good,” Robert nodded. “Now, I'm gonna go see how Vox is doing. You get everyone down to the range and do your best to make sure Celeste has something to keep her mind occupied.”

  “Done.”

  The pair once again parted company, each taking up the task that suited them best. Robert and Vox made a great deal of progress over what was left of the day and Morgan helped keep the rest of the team busy. Celeste had never fired a weapon in her life and, very much to her own surprise, she really enjoyed it. Which is actually really easy to understand since it’s a whole lot of fun and a great stress reliever.

  Early the next morning - whatever that would be in our time - the entire party stood on the bridge waiting for Vox to launch the immunization probe.

  “Vox,” Robert said, very much expectedly. “Launch the immunization probe.”

  “Done,” Vox replied with a nod, after having pressed a few of just the right buttons.

  “Give us a visual please, Cleo.”

  “Yes, sir,” she replied, immediately pressing buttons of her own.

  Moments later, an image from the probe filled one of the monitors. They watched as the small, cloaked, device quickly descended through the atmosphere toward the foliage covered planet. In just minutes it had made its way to a small home on the outskirts of a small city. It maneuvered its way into an open window and began to search the little house. It soon found its target, the bird-loving George Fullmer.

  “He's a dwarf,” Morgan exclaimed, gazing at the image of the short, squat, and long bearded man.

  “No,” the traveler replied. “He's an Aligotian.”

  “Aligot is like french mashed potatoes,” Morgan pointed out.

  “Yes...” Robert said slowly. “Yes, it is.”

  “Yeah. That ain't gonna work no more, bro. I've been studying up on French cuisine.”

  “Good for you! Either way, he's not a dwarf.”

  “Then, what is he?”

  “It doesn't matter.”

  “Just tell him, Rob,” Cleo sighed. “It'll save time in the long run.”

  “Fine... He's a Schnitzelian.”

  “Thank you!” Morgan replied. “So, I take it the planet name is Schnitzel.”

  “Indeed it is,” the traveler chuckled. “Now, let's get out of here.”

  The traveler sent his ship, once again, plunging into the depths of non-space. Roughly nine-hours (and seven hot-ham MREs) later, they dropped back into real-space on the very edge of Never Never Land. In the distance ahead, an island floated in space surrounded by a sea hanging in the void which was lighted by a small, unmoving sun. Above this scene drifted a massive spaceship while a number of smaller craft traveled constantly between it and the island.

  “Welcome to Never Never Land,” Robert said, smiling at Celeste.

  “Is this the real Never Never Land?” she asked.

  “It's the only Never Never Land,” Morgan asserted.

  “Alright,” she replied, turning her gaze from the traveler to her husband. “Over the last couple of days I've come to the realization that this isn't all just part of some joke...”

  “No, it's not,” Vox replied.

  “And, you and Rob really are doing something...”

  “We are.”

  “So, why did we come here? You could have immunized Mr. Fullmer hours ago and you didn't.”

  “It's all because of paradoxes,” Robert explained. “You see, Celeste, if we had immunized him then and there he wouldn't have caught extinct bird flu and...”

  “If he didn't catch it, you wouldn't have had to immunize him,” she said, finishing his thought. “And, if you didn't have to, you wouldn't have, so you'd have had to.”

  “Basically.”

  “That, I get,” she nodded. “But how does being here change that?”

  “We're in a different time-stream,” Morgan pointed out. “Never Never Land is no place, in no time. Time-generators on the island create a bubble of fluid time that allows time to move even though there's no time here.”

  “I see,” she nodded. “So, if we're here when you immunize him we'll still remember that we have to, so we'll do it no matter what.”

  “Basically,” the traveler replied.

  “Well done, dear,” Vox said with a smile. “It took me a little longer to work it out for myself.”

  “It's really more complicated than t
hat,” Robert replied. “But we can go into all that another time. Cleo, my dear, please immunize Mr. Fullmer for us.”

  “Done,” she said, having activated the probe.

  “How'd we do?”

  “Let's see,” she said, pushing buttons on the console. “Something's wrong.... Something's bad wrong!”

  “What is it?”

  “We just lost five minutes!”

  “What do you mean?” the traveler asked, clearly attempting to stay calm.

  “I mean we just lost five minutes!” she replied, a touch of panic in her voice.

  “That's not possible!”

  As soon as the traveler said this, the comm panel lit up. Cleo immediately activated it, bringing up an image of a gray skinned man with large black eyes.

  “Robert,” the man said as soon as the channel was open. “What just happened? We're showing a loss of five minutes.”

  “Nothing, Brother,” he replied excitedly. “We just immunized George Fullmer, which was the mission objective!”

  “Did anything unexpected happen?”

  “Nothing!”

  “Give me a few minutes,” Brother replied. “I'll let you know something as soon as I do. Until then, don't do anything else.”

  “That ain't gonna be a problem,” the traveler replied, shaking his head.

  “What going on?” Celeste asked the moment Brother was off the comm. “Lost five minutes doing what? Five minutes doesn't seem like all that big of a deal to me. I've been on this ship close to three days already.”

  “Five minutes of the future, baby,” Vox explained.

  “Five minutes of the past,” Robert corrected.

  “It depends on when you are at the moment.”

  “True. Either way, explain it to her.”

  “It's like we've been telling ya, Celeste,” Vox began. “Rob's a time traveler.”

  “I'm the last time traveler,” Robert pointed out.

  “Yeah. Anyway, the previous time travelers broke the future...”

  “Why would they do that?” she interrupted.

  “They didn't mean to, of course,” Doc replied. “It's just that many people don't consider all of the possible outcomes of their actions.”

  “Or their lies,” Morgan added.

  “Right,” Vox nodded. “Over the course of history, the travelers created a number of paradoxes that finally broke time. Rob's been sent to fix things.”

  “We've been sent,” the traveler corrected.

  “So, when you say you lost five minutes...”

  “We mean that the universe has five fewer minutes of active time than it did before we immunized Mr. Fullmer.”

  “What could have caused that?”

  “No idea,” Robert admitted. “But we should know something soon. You can be sure the history department is scouring the databases for any changes.”

  Most of the next hour was filled with Robert pacing around the bridge waiting to hear something from Brother. Finally, the comm flashed to life.

  “We've found it,” Brother said, rubbing his forehead as he spoke. “It seems that, because Mr. Fullmer never caught that flu he was more adventurous with his experiments. Getting sick gave him pause and caused him to consider the ramifications of what he was doing. As a result, he stopped a few trips to the past later.”

  “But, we cured him,” the traveler sighed.

  “We did,” Brother nodded. “Because of that, he did a good bit more traveling and was followed up by a number of other new time travelers as well.”

  “Just great...”

  “One of these new travelers saw the potential danger of time travel, however, and he only made one trip.”

  “Hit me with it,” Robert said, shaking his head. “I already know it's bad.”

  “Frank Brown traveled back in time to stop George Fullmer from ever conducting his experiments.”

  “And, he succeeded, of course!”

  “He did,” Brother nodded.

  “Perfect,” the traveler said between clenched teeth. “Just perfect.”

  “We're working on a fix.”

  “We'll start as well, Brother. Thanks for the information.”

  “Not a problem. And, no worries, we'll get it. I'll be in touch.”

  “It seems simple enough to me,” Morgan said as soon as the comm was clear.

  “It does?” Robert asked, sinking slowly into his seat. “That's great news. I could use a laugh. Go ahead, bro.”

  “Well first, we just go back and stop Brown...”

  “That's a good suggestion,” the traveler replied, pinching the bridge of his nose. “But we can't.”

  “Why not?” Azure asked.

  “Brown is currently trapped in a state of Paradoxical Flux,” he explained. “You see, because he succeeded in stopping Fullmer he doesn't have a time machine to go back and stop him with, meaning that he fails, so he succeeds. You follow me?”

  “I do,” she replied.

  “Shouldn't the random elements have fixed this?” Morgan asked.

  “Yes, Morgan,” the traveler sighed. “Of course they should have. But they didn't; which is why all of this is going on. Please don't ask me any shouldn't have type questions for a few days. I have a lot on my mind right now.”

  “I'll try.”

  “Random elements?” Celeste asked.

  “In any point in time,” Morgan explained, “there are events that are truly and completely random. So, under normal circumstances, when the universe encounters a paradox the random elements eventually fix it. For instance, Fullmer might never invent a time machine, or Brown might have decided not to go back in time. In either case, the current paradox would be repaired.”

  “I think I understand,” she replied.

  “Okay, Rob,” Morgan said thoughtfully. “Let's just do what we did before.”

  “And, what was that?”

  “Undo it one step at a time.”

  “Go on.”

  “First, we go back and let Fullmer know that he has to ignore Brown and continue his work.”

  “I can see that,” the traveler nodded. “We can try a prerecorded message and see how that works.”

  “What would make him believe that we were telling the truth?” Doc asked.

  “He's immune to an extinct form of bird flu and they have the medical science needed to prove that. It would be hard to explain how he was - and how we knew about it - if we weren't telling the truth.”

  “That's a fair point.”

  “Right,” Morgan nodded. “And, once he continues, Brown will have his machine and be out of flux.”

  “So far, so good,” Robert admitted. “And really, once we've gotten that far, it's just a matter of stopping Brown and then stopping Fullmer at an earlier point in the time-line.”

  “That's what I'm saying,” Morgan smiled.

  “Well done!” the traveler nodded. “Doc, you need to check him again. He's got to be using more than five percent now.”

  “I will during his next checkup.”

  “Cleo, contact Brother for me.”

  Moments later, the traveler had an open channel with Brother.

  “I’ve got news,” Robert said.

  “As do I,” Brother replied. “But, you go first.”

  “Sure thing. We've got a plan that should take care of all this. And, really it's not as bad as it looks right now.”

  “That's good,” Brother nodded. “Because Doctor Sturm has convened an emergency meeting of the council to discuss this. The rumor is already going around that all of you are going to be called in to testify.”

  “Well, that's just great,” the traveler said with a sigh. “What is his problem?”

  “Same thing it's been for centuries. Either way, you're going to have to handle him. This went very wrong, Rob. You're just going to have to admit it and then patch it up as best you can.”

  “I will.”

  “At least the five lost minutes will work in your favor. The council's not
likely to put a stop to anything until after it's fixed.”

  “That's true,” Robert agreed. “And, either way, Doctor Sturm's easy to make look like a lunatic, because he is one.”

  “I agree,” Brother replied. “That's completely off the record, of course. Make sure your plan is rock solid before tomorrow morning.”

  “It will be,” the traveler said before closing the channel.

  “Doctor Sturm?” Morgan asked.

  “A philosopher,” Doc replied.

  “A crazy man,” Robert immediately added.

  “Maybe,” Doc replied. “But he's not alone in his beliefs.”

  “Oh no, I know that. His gibberish sounds intellectual enough to make some people feel like agreeing with him makes them look smart. Of course, they're simple minded morons, but they talk a good game.”

  “Not all of them are,” Doc disagreed. “And, we can't be sure he's wrong.”

  “Would one of you two please explain who this guy is?” Morgan asked.

  “Doctor Sturm is a member of the council. Which is kinda like the senate in the old United States of America from your day.”

  “The what?”

  “You're kidding...”

  “I am,” Morgan smiled.

  “Funny. Anyway, there are a great number of differences between our legal systems that I'm not about to go into. All you need to know is that they could make it illegal to do what we're doing.”

  “So, they could stop you?”

  “No,” Robert chuckled. “They could merely label me a criminal for doing it.”

  “We have to abide by their decision, Robert,” Doc replied. “We're not above the law.”

  “I know,” he sighed. “I was just being facetious.”

  “And, either way,” Doc continued. “You're on the council and they're not likely to oppose you in support of Doctor Sturm. They never have in the past.”

  “We hadn't just lost five minutes the last time this came up.”

  “No, we hadn't,” Doc agreed. “But it's hardly our fault; and the fix does seem simple enough.”

  “You're right. It's just that this is a waste of time and a serious aggravation. We'd be better off getting to work to repair the damage.”

  “At least we've got the time to spare.”

  “I guess that's true,” the traveler conceded.