Day Nineteen ∞ Tuesday night
DANNY'S MIND REELED, then blanked with the single sentence echoing, Cannot stay here forever... ever... ever...
He should have seen it coming. No... he had seen it coming but refused to acknowledge it. Everything that happened since Friday: the acceptance of the crowning, the fact that she was a queen. Even Atlas had warned him. He was virtually a nobody next to her.
Stop deluding yourself, Danny, he reprimanded himself. How could he be so stupid to even believe that anything could possibly remain the same after she regained her memory? She'd had a life before him, and now she had a life to go back to—after him.
"That means that she'll be leaving soon," Gina had said. That felt like eons ago.
He'd known it from the beginning: he'd just been lending a helping hand to a girl in need. Like the good Samaritan he was. Nothing more—nothing less.
No, it's so much more...
He may have been a nobody, but now he was her Shield. She was his everything—his soulmate, that piece of him he'd never known was missing until she stumbled into his life.
He knew what his sister would say. "If you truly love her, let her go. Wish her the best, no matter what happens. If she comes back to you, she's yours; if she doesn't, she never was." Those were her exact words when Marilyn left him for the big life in the big city.
He remembered loving Marilyn. But he'd never felt for her like how he felt for Mickmi. This was true love—letting go wasn't an option.
—Then I'm coming with you, was his firm response.
Mickmi rested her hand on his. —I can not ask that of you. You have family.
—I'm your Shield!
—And I will relieve you of the duty... I shall not be the one to force you to follow me.
—You're not... His eyes widened as he stared at her. She was trying to do exactly what he couldn't do: let him go.
"We must be prepared to return to my world should we at any point locate a means to do so," she continued, addressing Mr. Gray.
—How would you be returning? I thought you said your world is beyond reach. He looked from one to the other. Selina?
—Patience. Selina dipped her head at him.
Gray cleared his throat delicately. "I'm sure, given enough time, enough volunteers can be found. What timeframe are we talking about? And how many people?"
Mickmi turned to Selina and Artemae in silent conferral for three seconds before she replied, "We expect to be ready in perhaps two months. We will need 200 young men and women."
Danny's jaw went slack. —But that's like a small army...
"Is there anything else you need? Surely you need materials, machinery, or even fuel?"
"Nay, that is all we shall need. Every thing else we can produce on our own, given enough time." Mickmi looked around the table before continuing. "Now, about your conditions. Speak."
Gray felt tempted to say he didn't have conditions, that he would provide anything needed freely. But the powerful people behind him would never go for it. He needed leverage to grease the cogs. "Well, there is something we desperately need. We'll be happy to assist in anything you need. In return, my employers would only request your help with knowledge and technology."
Mickmi's nod was barely noticeable. "Doctor Kruger, what is your opinion of the holoprojector I used for my presentation?"
"It's a wonderful device." Kruger's eyes shone. "Very ingenious and useful."
"Consider you it more advanced than your own devices?"
"Without a doubt. It's at least twenty generations beyond anything we can do right now."
Mickmi returned to Gray. "There is your answer. We can provide you with technology advanced enough to give your country a... considerable competitive edge over other nations."
That was exactly the kind of thing The Board wanted to hear. Gray paused in mid-nod at Mickmi's intense stare.
"As long as it is – not – something," she measured her words, "you can convert to mass-destruction weapons, or a technology too far in advance of your own timeline... we can provide."
"Of course." Gray wasn't concerned about those minor details.
"Excuse me, Miroshka," Bogdanov said, "but isn't the holoprojector too advanced already?"
"Nay, it is something you will be able to create within seventy years. For us, it is very old. A bulky, slow, archaic device."
Bogdanov and Kruger exchanged eager glances.
"Can you answer a few questions of a scientific nature?" Kruger asked and checked Gray who shrugged his shoulders.
She smiled. "Of course. As long as I can."
"Have your people mastered interstellar travel?"
"We have not abandoned the Sol System yet. We are not allowed."
Gray caught her meaningful glance as he sipped from his mug of black coffee. He knew exactly what she meant. Few people would be in the position to know that.
"Why... how..." Bogdanov hummed in bewilderment. "Sorry, I mean, who doesn't allow you out of the Solar System?"
"Our Galactic Confederation. We are not considered stable enough, peaceful enough, consciously elevated enough, to be welcomed. Not yet. We are close... but not there yet."
This declaration brought a dense silence over them. Nobody was willing to speak for a long while. Finally, Mickmi spoke again.
"I would like to prevent your civilization from making the same mistakes we did. Unfortunately, I see you already started on the same path we did... so long ago."
"Be that as it might be," Bogdanov's expression was sorrowful, "there's not much we can do to change our society's course—regretfully."
"Oh, but there is. Just by elevating your individual level of consciousness, you help those nearby, and by extension, you help the whole planet."
Bogdanov brightened. "Are you talking about the Maharishi Effect?"
"Indeed, the Maharishi Effect is a good way to express the same idea."
Kruger placed his knife and fork together on his plate and leaned forward. "I thought your people were peaceful and lived in harmony. Why aren't you allowed to visit other stars?"
Gray sat back, his gaze fixed on the young queen. He was convinced now of the conclusion he'd arrived at after observing her for the past thirty-odd hours: she was a living, breathing, walking encyclopedia. There was so much to learn from her.
"Oh, we can visit nearby Stars that are close enough... like Proxima Centauri. But the time it would take make the journey is undesirable. Doctor Bogdanov, surely you are acquainted with the Russian and other Slavic peoples' folklore?"
After his silent nod, she continued, "There are ancient tales about men who fell in love with a goddess or a charming princess from a far-away land. They left their kingdoms to be with their loves. After some time passed, they missed their families, so they wanted to return to visit. But when their wish was granted, they faced a great shock. While they had been away only for a few months or a couple of years, in their former kingdoms centuries had passed."
She turned her gaze to Danny. "Different versions of the same phenomena can be found in many cultures around the world. Japanese, Chinese, Finnish, Germans... and many others... They all tell the same tales. Time courses not at the same speed in different worlds. So when they finally returned home, everybody they knew was gone. Family, friends, children, every body. They were lonely foreigners in a foreign land." She returned to Kruger. "Understand you now?"
Thoughtfully, Kruger nodded. "I see. You are talking about Albert Einstein's 'Twin Paradox', also known as the 'Clock Paradox'."
"Aye. According to General Relativity, any object under the effects of acceleration is subjected to a slower speed of time."
Danny stared at her as she finished her salad. Centuries? Would traveling to her world take centuries?
"There is another criterion we have yet to meet," she said after a sip of her orange juice. "The ratio of empathy and compassion—love for each other—as against the number of people we could kill with our technology... is still disproportionate. Our capability to kill each other still surpasses our empathy and compassion by a significant margin. Although we are close, very close. At least... we were."
"That means our Earth is even farther down that scale than I thought, isn't it?" Bogdanov asked.
"That is the case, and it is important that you be aware of that."
Bogdanov chewed his lip thoughtfully, then asked, "Is there no better way? Legends tell us about magic portals, which take us into magic kingdoms."
"They usually refer to gates between parallel dimensions. In general, they are not useful in exploring other Stars. They lead into places similar to our own, where we are not always welcomed—uninvited, that is."
"You were brought here by a wormhole," Kruger said, his expression speculative. "Surely it is possible to use it as a way to shorten the distance and time required?"
"It is." For the first time, Mickmi's tone was tinged with bitterness. "We still have not determined how to control them. We had been busy otherwise."
She targeted the three men with a hard expression. "We were busy nearly driving ourselves into extinction. First, we overheated the planet, causing the glacial icecaps to melt. Then, we were busy trying to cram the population into the shrinking landmasses... while they were occupied with killing each other for the most basic of needs.
"We were also busy when we received warning of killing asteroids, with plenty of time to evacuate and prevent global destruction. We were otherwise occupied when gigantic floods and tsunamis turned half of our world in barren wastelands because huge nuclear reactors spread their toxic material."
She paused for a few breaths. "All of these disasters could have been avoided. Our ancestors' greed and unconcern for us, their descendants, caused the giant scars our precious planet still bear, after so long. We, the far descendants of the people who started on that self-destructive path, now are burdened with the task of healing our planet.
"We had made great strides on that path. But... then tragedy struck again, which is why we, my companions and I, are here. We still are unsure of what caused this last one, but... we intend to find out and find out whether there are survivors. I am the last Queen of my Earth—I can not abandon my people."
"I understand," Gray said. "You need to help your people. Won't it be too late, though? After all, you have been here a considerable time."
"That is precisely why we can not use one of your naturally-occurring portals to parallel dimensions. We need to create a new, temporary one, a transitional-temporal portal capable of taking us not only into our own dimension but to our own time. Or as close to that date as possible."
"I guess that takes care of my next question," Kruger said slowly, "which was if you can time-travel. Let me ask you then, what sources of energy do you use on your Earth?"
Danny watched Mickmi, barely hearing her answer. I'll follow you to the ends of the Earth and back. Hell, he'd even follow her to Hell and back. But he hadn't realized it might be a one-way trip. He was willing to leave his life behind, but was he willing to leave his world behind for good too? Frowning, he stared at his half-empty plate.
Two months. She'd be leaving in two months. That's how long he had to get prepared, to say goodbye to his sister and mother. He'd never see Gina again. Sis will understand. But Mom won't. She'd just have to get used to it. Just like he'd have to get used to the idea of the likelihood of never seeing this world again.
He swallowed and looked up to glance around the table. Those three men had their eyes glued to Mickmi—all in fascination. But who knew what was behind Mr. Gray's sharp gaze? What ulterior motives did he have up his sleeve? And Artemae had all but cleared the pile on her plate, using her last piece of sandwich to wipe it clean.
Food... Somehow, Danny couldn't see himself taking a second helping anymore. He wasn't sure if he could finish what he had in front of him—his stomach had given up on convincing him that he was starving.
He met Selina's gaze. She must have been observing him all this time, reading all the thoughts running through his mind. Maybe she regretted choosing him to be the Queen's Shield. He couldn't blame her. His defense skills were practically useless.
He'd have to do something about that.
"—everybody fairly, right?"
Danny looked from Kruger to Mickmi. What was the doctor talking about?
"Oh nay. Nobody is charged for fulfilling basic needs. Pure air, water, food, garments, shelter, are all basic needs. In our time, education, wholistic and medical care, recreational activities and communications, as well as safe transportation are also considered basic needs."
"Then," Bogdanov hesitated before continuing, "it's the same system our leaders in the Soviet Union are trying to implement, isn't it?"
Mickmi watched him for a moment before replying, "There are many similitudes in some aspects, I am sure. Just as there are similarities to the system in use here. Except your leaders are not interested in implementing such a society. Not really. They use promises and demagogy to keep your people content without giving up their power.
"Are you aware of what occurs in your country right now? Know you about the 'gulags'... the ethnic 'cleansings' and other practices happening there?"
Bogdanov became grim. "Yes, I'm well aware of our government's injustices and genocidal actions. That's precisely why I came here. Because I didn't want the same fate!"
"Be that as it may," Gray said, not caring for the political discussion, "what we're mostly interested in is making our aircraft faster, undetectable, and better armored and armed than those of our present and potential enemies. Can you assist us?"
Mickmi's face hardened. "We can assist you in making your aircraft faster and more difficult to detect. We can help make them more efficient, so they can fly longer and higher. We can also improve their maneuvering capabilities." She enunciated her words carefully and precisely. "Regarding armoring, we can give you formulae to create lighter and stronger alloys. Regarding weapons, we will – not – provide any. We are a peaceful people—we carry no weapons, not even on our vessels. We will – not – help – you destroy yourselves."
"I can assure you, we're only interested in defending our democracy against our enemies. We won't use our weapons in any unjust wars."
"Unjust wars? And what call you the Viet Nam War? Just? You have no enemies other than yourselves!" Her eyes were more yellow than green. "You fought against Germans, Italians, Japanese and Russians. From our point of view, that is solely people fighting against themselves. Nationalities, languages, religions, or skin color or height... For us, none of these are reasons for conflict. In fact, for us, there is no reason worthy of war.
"The truth is, you only fight for greed and envy. You have no moral or just reasons to fight each other, you only fight for power and resources when the resources on 'your' planet are for everyone. None of you own any of it!"
Danny stared at Mickmi, surprised at her outburst. It was the closest he'd ever seen her to losing her temper. But the yellow quickly receded to a few streaks in her irises.
"Miss Wamba," Kruger leaned forward, "I'm sure it wasn't Mister Gray's intention to anger—"
"Send us specialists," she interjected as Gray opened his mouth to speak. "In metallurgy, communications, aircraft design, and engine design. We will examine their knowledge and seed their minds with advanced knowledge to enhance their capabilities." She watched Gray thoughtfully. "How soon can we expect the first volunteers to be available? We need to launch the mission as soon as possible."
Gray nodded as he thought for a moment. "Time is of the essence, in this case. We have here about twenty test pilots who've had experience in high-altitude flying prototypes. You can select whomever you want from them. All of them are willing."
"Blanc Aave shall be in charge of the final selection process. When can we see them?"
"Most of them have been doing tests today. Right now, they're in their rest period. So I hope it can wait till morning. They need their rest so they can be ready and alert for their new mission."
Mickmi nodded. "That is reasonable. We need rest also. So we shall see them in the morning. As soon as my sister arrives, we will board our vessels and fly to intercept the plant. After that problem is addressed, can we land somewhere nearby?"
Gray threw a cautious glance at Kruger and Bogdanov. "Can you communicate with us using our radio frequencies?"
"Aye, we can receive your signals. Any time you need to talk to us, you can use your radio. We shall receive it, no matter the distance."
"Good. Then I'll send you coordinates as soon as I get clearance."
Mickmi exchanged glances with Selina and nodded. "Then that is decided. If you require nothing else from us, we would like to retire for the night."
"Doctor Kruger, would you be so kind as to show our guests to their rooms?" Gray picked up his Fedora and rose, turning to Mickmi. "I've taken the liberty of arranging proper habitations for you in the Officers Wing, so you can enjoy total privacy." Looking at Kruger, he added, "Officers Wing, this level, suites 305, 307 and 309 are prepared to receive them."
Tipping his hat, he nodded, then left the room, presumably to resume his duties. Danny watched the door close, forcing himself to chew and swallow his last mouthful. That was all he could manage.
∞
Lora paused at the intersection and smiled when Jagg put his arm across her shoulders. This place was doing its best to distract her from her purpose. Its streets bustled with excited people, dazzling neon lights and signs declaring "Casino", and promising the best in all sorts of entertainment, accommodation, food, and souvenirs.
"We'll stay here tonight," Jagg said close to her ear. "You've still got time, right?"
She nodded. Although she had not received further contact from her sister since they left Georgia yesterday, the urgency of the calling remained set for the next afternoon. What troubled her more was that she had not been able to communicate with Paulux. She suspected Wamba had blocked her access to the vessel. Probably in punishment for her deeds.
"Plaza Hotel?" Pace said as he halted beside them with his shoulder pack, craning his neck to stare at the high-rise before them. "Where's the Landmark? I wanna see if it's true... that it's got a flying saucer on top."
"Go do whatever you want tomorrow," Jagg said. "Go tour. Win some dough. Don't lose all of it."
Sleek slapped a hand on Pace's shoulder. "This is the place to be downtown. Didn't you see the signs? It's the world's largest fucking casino. Probably still is."
Lora glanced at them and met Sleek's gaze before Jagg urged her forward to cross the street.
"Hold on, Jagg." TJ stopped them as they reached under the martini-shaped marquee in front of the hotel entrance. "I don't think you should go in like that. We don't really know how they think here. We might attract trouble." He pointed his chin at Lora. "Never mind what you think of other people's opinions."
The corner of Jagg's mouth lifted. "Do as the Vegans do, huh? Okay... Just until we get to our rooms." He massaged Lora's nape. "Go with him. Act like you're his girl."
Act? Lora threw Jagg a mischievous glance. Acting had become an interesting diversion lately. She stepped to TJ's side, wrapped her arm around his, and rested her head on his shoulder as Toni would do. Suspicious, TJ leaned away in an attempt to put some distance between them, but she hung onto him.
Jagg cut her a humored eye, shaking his head. "Mind she takes liberties with you."
"Like I can do anything about that," TJ countered.
Pace laughed, but Sleek looked thoughtful.
"Here." TJ tossed his bag to Jagg. "I believe that's your job."
"Yeah... Right... Mind you're taking liberties with me."
Lora sensed none of Jagg's usual temper in his response as he pulled a wad of bills from the bag. Perhaps the Las Vegas atmosphere was getting to him too.
"Take that. Get us four rooms—on the same floor if possible. Two of 'em beside each other."
"There's five of us," Pace said.
"Yeah. You and Sleek can share a double."
"Me and Sleek? I though you and—"
"Tomorrow night you can pick and choose 'cause I'll be on the road with my woman." Jagg turned to TJ. "Book 'em for three nights. For now."
Lora pulled the sunshades down from her forehead as they stepped inside the lobby. A doorman directed them to the third floor. Jagg, Sleek, and Pace hung back as TJ and Lora strolled to the counter. Lora smiled broadly at the hotel clerk, and rubbed TJ's chest, causing him to choke on a cough.
"Would you please not do that," he muttered under his breath.
"Welcome to the Plaza Hotel," said the clerk. "Have you booked a room with us for tonight?"
"Um... No, we just arrived. Have you got four rooms available? Preferably on the same floor... with two beside each other?" TJ handed him the bills. "For three nights."
"With a view," Lora added and peeked over her shades at the man.
"Let me check. Two adjoining?"
"Uh... Sure." TJ peered at Lora. "Wait till we're alone, sugar."
She giggled like Toni, and TJ lifted a suspicious eyebrow at her. She knew he could not wait to get her off him.
"Well, we have three available on the tenth floor and one on eleven. That's the best I can do."
"Okay, we'll take 'em."
"Very well. Please sign here."
TJ pulled his arm out of her grip to grab the pen.
"Here are your keys. The elevator is to your right. Swimming pool out front on the second floor. Restaurants on the ground floor—or you can order room service. Will you be needing assistance with luggage?"
"Oh no, we can manage, thank you." Lora grabbed the keys and waved over her shoulder. "Come, boys."
"Bodyguard," TJ said and winked, squeezing her shoulder. "Can never be too careful."
"Of course." The clerk lifted a brow as he looked past them at Jagg, Sleek and Pace in their black leathers and wrinkled white shirts.
TJ disengaged himself from Lora as soon as they found the first room. Excited, Pace entered first and whistled.
"Hey, guys, check this out!"
Sleek stopped Lora from following the others, pulling her away from the door. "I hope you're using protection," he said close to her ear.
She stared at him, not sure what he was talking about. "For what?"
"So you don't get pregnant. You don't really wanna get pregnant, do you?"
Her lips curled. "It is not possible." She doubted she would ever feel the urge to 'unlock' her womb. Clearly, such control was relegated to more primitive means in this world.
"Not possible? You're my sister and you're fu— completely doing it with him. I'm just looking out for you."
Amused, she patted him on the chest, still in Toni-mode. "There is nothing to worry about, Sleeky. But I appreciate your concern."
— ∞ —
©2019 by kemorgan65