The Time War Ch 26

Chapter 26: The Total Nuclear Annihilation of the Human Race

Goodlife:

His name was Mercury Jones, and when he was born, no one thought he would survive to the age of three.

As a baby he was practically catatonic, almost unresponsive. He would eat when fed, and go to the bathroom at random times, but in all other ways... little Mercury seemed to be in another world, his eyes dreamy and hazy. Little Mercury would see many things in the younger years of his life, but one vision was repeated over and over and over.

Those glowing orange eyes.

When Mercury reached the tender age of three, he snapped out of his catatonia as if it had never happened, and acted like a normal baby. Almost.

Except for the laugh. Mercury started laughing at odd times, even when no one said anything funny, even when no one said anything at all. It was as if Mercury saw funny things about the world that no one else could.

And so that funny laugh stayed with Mercury all his life. People thought he was odd, and they were right about that. But odd or not, Mercury was also brilliant, and he got a Ph.D. in Galactic Physics.

Then he got a job as an assistant to a brilliant scientist named Carl Voidovich, who accidently created the Time Shaft. Mercury was there when William Bright took over, and when Doctor Voidovich ran down the Binochi Corridor, and William Bright shut it all down, erasing Doctor Voidovich from existence... or trapping him forever in the swirling mists? No one was really quite sure.

All four of Doctor Voidovich's assistants pledged their loyalty to William Bright and his circle of armed guards: Mercury Jones and Richard Smith and Marsha Kalinsky and Ken Larson. Ken Larson was Mercury's closest friend in the lab. They were both outcasts; as an eccentric, Mercury stood out as one in a million, and as a black Galactic Physicist, Ken Larson often felt the same.

So one day Mercury was talking to Ken and the others in the cafeteria in a low voice. "We can't let William do this," he said. Then he chuckled. The others ignored his laughter; they knew by now that he laughed at random times. "No one man should have such power," he said, in a deadly serious voice, despite his laughter of just seconds earlier.

"I think we're all in agreement on that," said Ken, in a very soft voice looking around at the other faces as he spoke. Richard and Marsha both nodded, ever so slightly.

"But what can we do?" Marsha hissed.

"Tell him we won't stand for it," said Mercury. "Tell him we have to decide things as a group, or not at all."

"But he has the men with guns," said Marsha.

"But we have the brainpower, ha ha!" said Mercury. But his face was deadly serious. "He needs us. He can't run the Time Shaft without us."

Slowly, they nodded in agreement.

And so, after lunch, they went to the control room as a group. William Bright was there, working on the Time Shaft. He had the Binochi Corridor open, though it wasn't focused on an earlier period of time; no, it was set to the present, to allow Bright to test the strength of the holomonitors which peered through it.

When William Bright turned to face them, they could see that for the first time he was dressed differently. He was wearing a severe dark suit with tall collars. His blue eyes looked questioningly at each of them, softened a bit by the blonde hair combed over his forehead.

"Is someone holding a party?" he said, staring at them.

No one spoke for a long moment. Then Ken Larson cleared his throat and said, "William, we want to talk to you."

"Of course," said Bright, casting a glance at the Binochi Corridor, which was still open. It consumed a lot of energy, but he suspected that this conversation wouldn't last very long.

Ken looked around, but the others were still not speaking. "We... we think there should be a change in the decision making process."

"Oh?" said William. He got up and walked over to them, until he was face to face with them. "And what kind of change did you have in mind?"

"We want to be involved in the decision-making," said Mercury Jones. Finally someone else had the nerve to speak.

That seemed to loosen everyone's inhibitions.

"Yes," said Marsha. "William, we just want to make decisions together, as a group, you understand."

Bright's hard blue eyes flicked over Marsha's wavering facial expression. "I understand."

"This isn't directed at you, William," said Richard Smith. "We don't want there to be any antagonism."

"No antagonism, of course," said Bright. He bit his lip and paced back and forth a bit. Then he said, "Tell me, whose idea was this?"

"It was all of ours," said Ken Larson.

"No, let me guess," said Bright, as if Ken hadn't even spoken. He put a finger to his lips and paced a bit more. "Not you, Marsha. Forgive me for saying this, but you're way too timid." He marched back and forth in front of them, like an officer inspecting disobedient soldiers.

"Nor you, Richard," said Bright. "Leadership is not your style." He paused. "That leaves Ken or Mercury. Ken has leadership ability, though all of you may not recognize it. But I don't think he has the drive to confront me." He stared into Ken Larson's eyes. "No, definitely not."

"It was me, William," said Mercury, stepping forward.

Bright nodded, as if he had always known.

"We aren't going to work for you. But we will work with you."

Bright nodded again. He stood in front of Mercury and stared into his eyes. "Is that your final word, Mercury?"

"Yes," said Mercury. "Hahaha."

And then, oddly enough, in that moment of extreme tension, William Bright laughed too. He laughed even as he was snapping his fingers.

Guards armed with compression pistols appeared out of nowhere. They must have been waiting somewhere nearby.

"Bring him," said Bright brusquely. Two guards grabbed Mercury by the arms and dragged him forward, while two more covered the other scientists with compression pistols.

Bright went to the controls for the Time Shaft and started pressing buttons.

"William, what are you doing?" Marsha asked. Suddenly she noticed the faint glow around the Time Shaft had faded. "William, no, you've turned off the protective force field!"

Bright turned and looked at Mercury, whose face was filled with horror as he realized what was about to happen. Bright gave him a small smile, and then hooked his thumb with a tiny jerk.

The two men holding Mercury's arms threw him forward, into the Time Shaft. A blue glow enveloped Mercury's body and he screamed, before falling to the ground.

William turned to Marsha, Ken, and Richard. "Does anyone else want to oppose me?" But because he was turned away, he missed what happened next.

William Bright heard a soft laugh. He turned around and saw Mercury Jones standing behind him. But there was a wild light in his eyes. Mercury Jones, never quite sane to begin with, had gone completely mad.

"Stop him!" Bright yelled as Mercury slammed him to the ground and started to run. One of the guards got in Mercury's way and Mercury tossed him aside like a small sack of potatoes. Mercury was screaming at the top of his lungs, even as he ran into the Binochi Corridor, where his voice was abruptly cut off.

William Bright quickly got to his feet and lurched to the controls.

"William, no!" Marsha cried.

Bright gave her a hard look, and then pressed the button.

The Binochi Corridor shut down.

Mercury Jones had only been in the Binochi Corridor for 4.2 seconds. They all knew he never could have reached the other side in time. He was gone.

William Bright dusted his suit jacket off, and turned to the remaining three scientists. "And what shall we do with you?" he asked. He saw Marsha trembling; Ken was worried while working hard not to appear worried; and Richard Smith was staring at the floor.

"This idea of group decision making... are you still wedded to it, like Mercury?" William inquired. None of them would make eye contact with him. That was an encouraging sign.

William lifted Marsha's chin. "Marsha?"

"Maybe we were mistaken," said Marsha.

"Maybe you were mistaken," said William slowly, in a way that gave her the chills.

"Whatever you say is fine," said Marsha quickly.

William nodded. "Richard?"

"Yes, that's fine with me also."

William turned to Ken Larson. "Ken?"

Ken nodded.

"What does that mean, Ken?" William asked, putting a hand to his ear.

"You win," said Ken.

"Good," said William. "Very good. I don't think I need to say what will happen to you if we have any more... labor disputes, do I?"

They all shook their heads.

"Good," William gave them a thin smile.

And so Ken, Richard, and Marsha worked for William. They waited a few weeks until William wasn't watching them as closely as he might have, and made their escape through the Binochi Corridor.

But the fate of Mercury Jones was always unknown to them. Most thought he was dead. In theory, once the Binochi Corridor was dispersed, everything inside of it should disappear. At least, that's what Galactic Physics

predicted

should happen.

But Mercury Jones was most definitely

not

dead. In the 4.2 seconds he was inside the Binochi Corridor, Mercury Jones moved in accelerated time, and got to the other side in 3.3 seconds, with nearly a whole second to spare. He found himself in present day Pittsburgh in a city park.

But before he could decide what to do next, he had to cope

with the incredibly heavy burden of the true nature of existence!!!!

Mercury felt the universe screaming inside of his head. A woman was buying milk in a Chicago grocery store. Or she wasn't buying milk. A man caught an air bus in San Diego. Or he just missed it. A woman kissed her husband. Or she kissed her secret lover instead.

Now multiply that times 22 billion people, and

millions

of possibilities. All that going on inside Mercury Jones's head.

He screamed, but heard no sounds in his ears. He ran and ran and ran.

Eventually his brain started to develop defenses. It had to, in order to survive. Mercury blinked and found himself on the ground in a deserted street alley... somewhere. There was a tremendous pounding in his head. And then suddenly, he had that vision again.

Those glowing orange eyes.

It seems to calm him down. The pain in his head started to ease. But more than that, those glowing eyes seemed to talk to him. They seemed to be saying something.

Quiet.

Those glowing orange eyes.

Quiet.

Those glowing orange eyes.

Quiet.

It was as if those eyes were turning down the volume in his head. The visions weren't gone, but they were pushed back enough so he could at least think clearly, or at

least think he could think clearly

. And it was then, at that moment, that Mercury Jones realized the true nature of the universe, and his role in it.

Quiet

. His role was to bring quiet to the universe, to still the voices in his head. That is what the Great One was trying to tell him.

********

And so, for four years, Mercury worked day and night to build his own Time Shaft. No one knows how he did it. Perhaps he found a wealthy industrialist who financed him, as the other Time Factions did. Perhaps not. In any event, nearly four years later he was ready, with his own Time Shaft. Now all he needed was followers, to help him carry out the holy work of the Great One.

But not just any followers.

He needed the

right

followers.

Mercury reached out with the Time Shaft; with the Binochi Corridor; and above all with his own senses. Often he would sit crosslegged in front of the activated Corridor, feeling its warmth and light bathe him, thinking, feeling, until he stretched his mind far enough that he could find what he was looking for... no,

who

he was looking for.

And so he found them, one by one. Actually, to be precise, three by three.

The first was Andrew Wyatt 1. Andrew Wyatt 1 didn't understand, not at first. None of them did. But after Andrew Wyatt 1 touched the Time Shaft, he understood. They all did.

After Andrew Wyatt 1 came Andrew Wyatt 2, and of course after Andrew Wyatt 2 came Andrew Wyatt 3. Next came Alina Sestacovika 1, 2, and 3. After that was Nigel Roman 1, 2, and 3. And lastly was Oliver Wayfairer 1, 2 and 3. The three's were the least reliable. They were the ones who would disappear whenever there were ripples in the timeline. The ones and twos were more reliable. But even the threes reappeared, usually, after the timeline was restored, usually by the Continuity Service.

But there was only one Mercury.

Always, only one.

They all had the same background. Catatonic childhoods. Laughing at odd times. Visions of the Great One, of those glowing orange eyes. They were all meant to be here, united for their holy purpose.

Mercury looked at the smiling faces around him, and knew he was ready to begin. And how better to begin, he figured, than with the near total destruction of the human race?

********

"Thank you, Ayesha," said Sarah, as an Indian woman with long black hair and well rounded buttocks handed her a Pad. Ayesha smiled, and, wiggled her hips at Calle as she walked away.

"She likes you," said Sarah.

"I've never even spoken to her," said Calle.

"That's probably why," said Sarah, giving him a look.

"So what can you tell me about this Bioman?" Calle asked, as Sarah returned to her monitors.

"Nothing," said Sarah.

"Why not?"

"Maybe because... he doesn't exist?" said Sarah. She frowned, pressed some buttons, and her holomonitors displayed new information.

"I've heard people talking about a big orange creature with glowing eyes that lives in the Corridor," said Calle.

"Yes, I've heard people talking about that too," said Sarah. "But whenever you ask where they heard about this creature, they refer you to someone else. And that someone else refers you to yet another person. In the end, no one has actually seen it." Sarah's frown grew deeper, and she pressed some more keys, even more rapidly than before.

"Then why are people talking about it?"

"People talk about many things. That doesn't make them real," said Sarah. She bit her lip tightly, and new images appeared on her holoscreen. Her pulse quickened.

"But Sarah-"

Sarah hit her comm button. "Commander Strayker to the control room immediately. Urgent!" Her voice had a panicky tone that Calle had never heard before.

"Sarah, what is it?" Calle asked.

"Look for yourself," said Sarah, pointing to her holoscreen.

Calle stared at the images. "All I see are big craters."

"Exactly," said Sarah. She looked up at him with deep dark eyes. "All life on the planet Earth has been made extinct."

********

For once, Sarah was guilty of hyperbole. All life on the planet Earth hadn't been wiped out; there were still a few thousand people living in parts of South America and Australia. Sarah conservatively estimated that the population of the planet Earth had been reduced to twenty thousand people. Or perhaps thirty thousand.

They had to see it for themselves. Even Sarah.

They took the lift up to the surface. The two story building housing the upper levels of the Continuity Service was completely intact. But around them was... total devastation. Enormous craters filled with black earth. There was no life, not even trees or plants.

To see their building standing there, in the midst of all this devastation, reminded them how alone they were, how the Continuity Service was the only thing standing between them and the destruction of the human race. If not for the Time Suppressor protecting the environment around the building, if not for the anti-time particle dusting they received every time they left, they too would be wiped from the face of existence.

"Hold me," Sarah whispered, staring at the devastation. Calle hugged her. "Tighter," she said.

********

"How did this happen?" Strayker asked.

"I have Naomi tracing it now," said Sarah. "It started in the 20th century, shortly after nuclear weapons were developed-"

Naomi's holoimage appeared above the conference room table. "Sir, I have a preliminary report. I haven't double checked all the datasets, but it appears-"

"Just tell us what happened, Naomi!" Strayker snapped.

"There was a massive nuclear war in 1962 between what was then known as the Soviet Union and the United States of America," said Naomi. "It evolved over some kind of territorial dispute over an island which used to be called Cuba. Apparently, the United States launched a massive nuclear strike, and Russia responded."

"Why would America do that?" Daniel asked. "They knew they would be destroyed by the Russian counterstrike."

"That's what you have to find out," said Strayker.

********

"Would you like to procreate with me and have offspring?" Sarah asked.

Only Sarah Chambers would use a word like "procreate" to describe having children, and only Sarah Chambers would ask such a question while bouncing up and down on John Calle's penis.

Sarah no longer needed to be on top to achieve an orgasm, but her orgasms were still stronger this way, and after what she had seen earlier in the day, she needed as much release as she could get. So did Calle. The horror of knowing that nearly all life had been wiped out on the planet was still fresh in their minds. And they both knew that if they hadn't joined the Continuity Service, the same thing would have happened to them.

"So?" Sarah asked, as she continued to ride Calle's male sex organ. "Shall we engage in reproduction?"

"I though that's what we were doing right now," Calle gasped, as he felt himself getting closer to orgasm.

"This is purely recreational," said Sarah dismissively. "I am stimulating nerve endings on the tip of your penis to enable your brain to release nerve relaxing chemicals, and you are stimulating nerve endings in my clitoris to achieve the same end."

"And that's all it is to you?" Calle asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Of course," said Sarah.

"Then why have you stopped sleeping with other men, who could provide you with an identical experience?"

Sarah looked away, even as she continued to bounce up and down. "You are more... convenient."

"Thanks," said Calle. "That's the most romantic proposition to have children I have ever heard."

And then Sarah unexpectedly burst out laughing, and so did Calle, and as they smiled knowingly at each other, continuing the reproductive ritual, Calle felt the familiar tingling building up in the head of his organ.

Sarah was so sexy with her long, straight blonde hair. Farther down her flat chest still looked disconcertingly like a young boy's, though the elongation of her nipples gave the slightest hint of her truly feminine nature, and excited Calle in a way he never thought possible. And then when Calle looked down, at his thick organ disappearing all the way inside of her as she went up and down on him, he felt that familiar tingling spreading from the head of his organ to the shaft and testicles.

"Come on, John," she said, her dark eyes staring into his. "Put a baby into me. Fill me with your creamy goodness."

"Ah!" Calle cried out, with a pained expression on his face, as he exploded inside of her. He knew he would be making no babies today, as he had swallowed two testicle blockers before he had come to Sarah's apartment, every time he came to Sarah's apartment, but the thought still excited him.

Sarah's moment came shortly thereafter and she cried out, ran her hands up and down her perfectly flat chest, and smiled knowingly at him.

As they lay together afterwards, with her head on his chest, Sarah said, "Think about it, John. We could be the last human beings on the planet Earth."