☣
"So," Signor Raphael said when things had settled down a bit.
"Why don't you tell me the whole story."
Jamie and Chloe spilled the entire thing for him. When the story had been told,
they looked at Signor Raphael expectantly.
"What can we do to fix things?"
Chloe pleaded.
"Hmm..." Raphael sat a while in thought. "The way I see it, you
have a few options, both with positive and negative aspects."
The others leaned in earnestly.
"If you do nothing, the future may go exactly as you experienced. However,
the actual experience of seeing what happens will probably alter the way you
spend your life, so there is a strong chance that it will be different.
"Or you could go back in time as Chloe suggested and try to save everyone
and bring them back here. Obviously that would be complicated.
"The third choice is to go back to before Professor Westing died and bring
him back. His scientific mind might be able to think up an optimal solution.
But with that idea there is severe risk of a lethal paradox." Raphael
paused just long enough for Chloe to interrupt him.
"I like the plan to bring the Professor back. But couldn't we just do that
now? I mean, he is alive and really close."
"Yeah, but imagine if he didn't have time to pack and it altered
everything," Jamie cut in. They stared at each other, and Jamie could see
that this was confusing even to Chloe.
"I wasn't finished," Raphael interrupted. "You only thought so
because many people run out of ingenuity by three plans, while I always have a
spare in case none of the others work." He looked at the children with a
haughty, superior air. Chloe rolled her eyes, and the man's face broke into a
grin.
"All right. Plan number four is a little more complicated than the others,
and it is fraught with danger of a paradox." He looked a little
uncomfortable. "I endorse it mostly because it is the most likely to save
me from rotting to death. However, it might cause your friends in the future to
die - or maybe just cease to exist." Jamie glanced quickly at the other
Signor, who was just barely breathing in the hospital cot. "My final
plan," he continued, "is this: . . ."
☣
"Whoa..."
Jamie stared at Signor Raphael.
"That would almost certainly create a paradox!" Chloe broke in.
Raphael gave them a non-committal shrug. "Well, yes. But I gave you a lot
of ideas. Just use the one you think is best." He stood up. "I really
need to get going now," he said as he stretched, then calmly walked to the
tent flap. Almost as an afterthought he added, "Try to make it so I don't
die, if that would be possible." Then the time travelers were alone.
"What do you think?" Chloe asked Jamie after they had both thought
for a while. "The second plan, to go back and save everyone? I like that
one the best."
"Why don't we vote on it?" Jamie ventured. "If Shroud knows how
to vote we would have an odd number..." Shroud immediately held up four
fingers.
"Okay, I vote for plan two," Chloe decided.
They looked at Jamie expectantly. Oh man... Plan four or two? Eenie,
meenie...
"I guess plan four," he reported.
☣
Dragging Signor Raphael back to the time machine was excruciating,
especially since more people were close to the time machine site. But they made
it without being discovered. Hurriedly, Chloe tapped in the coordinates and
then they crawled stealthily into the past.
It was dark, and cool for a change. The little group was
lying in a clump of grass where the time machine would be resting in a few
short hours. From the camp they smelled the familiar scent of cooking beans and
the glow of a fire, but out here the only light was from the stars. Off to
their left they heard swishing sounds.
"It's us! We have clearance to be here!" Jamie
almost jumped up to his feet to face the speaker, but Chloe grabbed his arm.
"What?" someone questioned.
"Is that us?" Jamie asked in a whisper. "I
can hear you, but I don't really recognize the other voice."
"You never hear your voice the way it actually sounds when you talk
because the soundwaves vibrate through your skull." Chloe stared intently
into the night as their previous selves came into veiw. "Shroud, you guard
Raphael. We are going to follow them. Do not wander off." Chloe
punctuated with a stern look and Shroud nodded in agreement.
☣
For
once, Jamie was better at something than Chloe.
Sneaking through the tall grass was simple for him, but he was slowed down by
the girl. Apparently army-style crawling was not in her repertoire, and she was
impeding their progress.
Come on, Jamie thought in frustration as he had to wait for her. The
tension was wearing on his nerves. Suddenly Chloe gave a little shriek.
"What is it?" Jamie whispered as loudly as he could. Chloe didn't
answer.
Jamie debated a plan of action. If he turned back to help her, it would be too
late to carry out the mission. He decided that their past selves would probably
be too far away to hear if he was a little loud... "Shroud! Take care of
Chloe!" Abandoning caution, he stood up and headed toward the semi truck.
Halfway there, he collided with another person.
"Hey!"
someone yelled in a whisper. "What are you doing here?!"
Hmm... this is an interesting turn of events. "What are you
doing here, Petrovina?" Jamie stood facing her, ready to grab her if she
tried to run. It made him feel sick to think of all the lives she was
planning to take in the future.
"I just saw you go into that truck with Chloe..." Petrovina stared at
him and racked her brain. "Is this some sort of -" Understanding
flashed across her face, then she turned and dashed away.
Jamie sprinted after her. She was heading back to the camp, and her legs were a
lot longer than Jamie's. She is going to get away, he realized. Chloe
is going to be so mad at me!
By some miracle, Petrovina suddenly crashed to the ground.
Yes! Jamie caught up and grabbed her foot, then he discovered what the
antagonist had stumbled over. Chloe was lying on the ground in a pool of blood
- for a second, Jamie's stomach flipped and he nearly let go of Petrovina. Then
he noticed that Chloe looked relieved and the blood was not coming from her.
The girl recovered and caught a tight hold on the captive's arm, even though the
woman was clawing wildly.
"We have her!" Jamie cried
jubilantly.
As soon as Petrovina understood that she was firmly trapped, she glowered at
the kids. "And what do you plan on doing now, children? I have done
nothing wrong!"
"Maybe not yet," Chloe growled as she tied the villain's hands with
her belt, "but we have a pretty good idea of what you are planning!"
Hauling the woman to her feet, they hurried her toward the future site of the
time machine. On the way, Shroud joined them, pulling Raphael behind it by the
hair.
"Where has it been?" Jamie asked Chloe.
"Oh! Shroud saved me from one of the guards. It is so amazing... but I
feel sorry for the guard. He got pretty scratched up."
"How does it fight?" Jamie asked excitedly. He had been wondering
about it since the fight at the embassy.
"Look, we're here," Chloe replied evasively. Then she pulled out the
remote control and put in some numbers. The invisible machine went into action,
making a smudge of bright light on the desert ground. The four people and
Shroud made another journey to a different time.
☣
Jamie
was still on high alert as they stepped into the present - well, thirty minutes
ahead of the time they had originally left. This was the most uncertain part of
Raphael's Plan Number Four.
Standing around them were several scientists, including Professor Westing. He
stared at them in shock. "Didn't I just see you children back at
camp?" he stared at the man lying on the ground. "Is that the
Signor?"
Chloe slipped under the ropes and gave the archaeologist a hug. "I'm so
glad you are alive!"
But the Professor paid her little attention.
"And there is Petrovina! Where has she been?!"
"We need to discuss some things," Jamie told him. "Can we go
somewhere quieter?"
The Professor shooed away the workers around him. "We can go to the new
cafeteria tent," he informed them.
They were silent the whole way there, trying to think of a way to tell the
Professor everything, and also trying to puzzle out what had happened.
If Petrovina disappeared for what - two days? - then what would have changed? Jamie
thought. I wonder if we were able to save Emil from thirsting to death. What
has my other self been doing if we never had to deal with Petrovina?
His final question was answered as he collided with someone as they entered the
huge tent. "Sorry," someone gasped. "I have to get away from
Chl-" the person's voice was cut off, and even when Jamie looked around he
couldn't find the speaker. His questioning eyes met Chloe's.
"That was so weird..." Everyone was staring at him. "What did
you just do?" Chloe asked finally.
"What do you mean?" Jamie was terribly confused.
"One of you disappeared," Professor Westing gasped. His face was pale
and he looked frightened.
Suddenly Chloe's voice sounded from the other side of the tent. "Jamie!
Give that back! Right! Now!"
"I have a theory," the other Chloe, who was standing beside him,
declared. "Chloe! Come here!"
The other Chloe hurried toward her, then
stopped. "Oh my gosh. This is some kind of paradox thing, isn't it?"
"Yes. But I have a hypothesis. Come here!"
Chloe's clone obeyed, and when she got closer, strange things started to
happen. The room seemed to warp and shift around the two girls, then it got
harder and harder to tell them apart. When things evened out again, there was
only one Chloe.
"You're right," Jamie agreed. "That was really weird."
"I suppose it's my turn to try," said a quiet voice from behind
Jamie. He turned around, startled. Signor Raphael stood behind him, looking
perfectly healthy.
"Wait!" Chloe had been standing there dazedly. "If you merge with
your alternate self, you might get sick like him!"
"A chance I will have to take," Raphael replied flippantly. He sat
down beside the crumpled body on the floor. This time Jamie was able to watch
the process more thoroughly. It was hard to tell exactly what happened, but
when Signor Raphael looked up, he was the only one sitting there.
"Which one are you?" Jamie asked in a small, nervous voice. This was
getting too strange for him.
Raphael smiled and answered with a question. "Which one are you?"
Oh man... Jamie thought as he looked down at himself.
☣
Jamie tried to remember his past. It was a little slow in
coming, but after a second, he was able to think back. He could remember going
back in time, Professor Westing dying, and Signor Raphael’s deathly illness.
But he also remembered things that he didn't before: going to sleep instead of
helping Emil – without motivation from Petrovina, it had only been a childish
fantasy. He remembered Raphael teaching him to throw knives while Chloe worked
with Professor Westing on the time machine. Petrovina’s disappearance the first
night had been alarming, but eventually it was decided that she had simply
left. Without her, life in camp had been quite peaceful.
“I get it,” Chloe said slowly. “The paradox made this the
reality, but it didn't erase our memories.” She smiled. “Well, that’s
convenient.” She turned to Professor Westing, and her face became grave. “We
have to get rid of the time machine,” she reported.
Professor Westing started. “Why…!”
Jamie joined in. “She’s right, Professor. If it fell into
the wrong hands, humanity could be wiped out.”
“How about you tell me the whole story,” Professor
Westing sighed, sitting down on a cafeteria bench.
Jamie and Chloe complied, with Raphael filling in parts.
It was almost funny to see Petrovina as she listened to her alternative future:
her face was a mixture of greed and yearning, for now it was obvious to
everyone what an evil person she was, and nobody thought of turning her loose.
When the story was concluded, Professor Westing asked a
question that had been on everyone’s mind. “So what are you going to do with
Petrovina now? No court will believe your story – I hardly even do!”
"It will be easy for me to take care of,"
Raphael said easily. "I am wondering what should be done with
Shroud."
"If Shroud is a little kid, returning it to the
future could make it cease to exist," Chloe told him. "And even if it
existed, where would it find its parents?"
"True," Raphael agreed. "I couldn't do
that. Also," he said, looking at his watch, "I must return to Florence this very
afternoon - my boss will be expecting me."
"We are scheduled to leave tomorrow," Professor
Westing put in, "and your story has convinced me that the world is no
place for a time machine! We have a lot of work to do dismantling it, and I
want Jamie and Chloe to retell their story so I can write it down. We have a
lot of work to do!"
☣
Epilogue:
It was getting dark by the time everyone had accomplished their
tasks. The time travelers were dirty and exhausted, but pleased with their job.
The time machine was completely dismantled and all of the blueprints had been
burned. Chloe convinced them to have a picture taken before they parted ways,
and it shows a tired but happy group - well, except for Petrovina. Shroud had
taken a liking to her and especially liked petting her head, which annoyed her
greatly. They left shortly after the picture was taken.
Signor Raphael took care
of Shroud for a while, but the little creature left one day to begin a career
as a successful assassin. Signor was sad to see it leave, but turned his
attention to his own important work.
Chloe left for France, but she
and Jamie kept up an email correspondence and eventually he saved up enough
money to visit her. Jamie's experiences in Africa
got him interested in South African history. He wrote several books on the
subject and was able to support his mother while traveling around the world
researching for new books.
Petrovina went with Raphael and Shroud to Italy where she
spent many years in a dark, illegal prison. Eventually she was released for
good behavior and disappeared back to Moscow
soon afterwards... Nobody knows where she is now.
☣
The End.
No comments:
Post a Comment