The Time War Ch 43

Chapter 43: The Death of Meat and Red Blooded Men

The Temporal Social Justice Warriors:

Craig Fuller and Dana Slotkin were having sex again in the storeroom.

Dana felt her orgasm overwhelming her as Craig's shaft rubbed against her clitoris. "Ah," she cried. "Ahhhh... Ahhhhh....."

"Aahhhhhh!" they both heard in mock imitation, from the other side of the room.

Immediately, both of them stiffened.

Maria casually walked around a box of supplies, followed by a grim faced Red Bull and Elijah Ellison.

"Well well well, what do we have here? Taking inventory again, Dana? Don't tell me we're still low on butter," Maria asked mildly, with a smile on his lips. But his eyes weren't smiling now.

Dana quickly pushed Craig off of her, as if that would help. "Maria! This... this isn't what it looks like!" she grabbed for her blouse to cover at least part of her nudity.

"Really?" said Maria, in a very calm voice. He sat down on a box next to Dana. He gently pulled the shirt away, so she was once again totally nude. Maria started to fondle one of her titties, which was shamefully erect. "And tell me, Dana, what exactly does this look like?

"I... I...." Dana was at a loss for words.

"I think the word you're looking for is 'we', Dana, not 'I'," said Maria, as he caressed her stiff nipple. He put his head down and sucked on it for a quick moment. Dana gasped, even as Maria pulled his head back, and her nipple came out with a loud pop.

Maria smiled at her. "Dana, I let Craig into the Community after you vouched for him. You vouched for the fact that he was a white, male inanimasexual. But as I sit here now, Craig looks very much like a white, male heterosexual, don't you, Craig?"

Craig felt a chill of fear go down his spine. He didn't know what to say.

"We were just... experimenting," said Dana. "Craig... was curious."

"He was curious," said Maria, rubbing a hand between Dana's leg. She shivered. "Were you curious too, Dana?"

"It was just a one time thing!" said Craig. "Maria, it will never happen again, I promise!"

Maria just stared at him.

"Please don't kill him," said Dana, shivering as she felt Maria's finger expertly rub her clitoris, the most sensitive part that was sticking out of her clitoral hood. "Please," she said, her voice a sensual whisper.

"It will never happen again?" Maria asked, turning to Craig.

"I promise!" said Craig.

"You promise," said Maria, thinking about it. Then he abruptly stood up. "All right, Craig. I won't kill you."

"Thank you, thank you Maria!" Craig cried.

"In fact, I'll even help you keep your promise." Maria made a small gesture with his hand. Craig's face fell as Red Bull and Elijah Ellison came forward, and grabbed him by the arms.

********

Maria was having trouble with everyone lately. The women complained he wasn't doing enough for women's causes, and the men of color complained he wasn't doing enough for black folk.

And then there was Ahmed Ahmad. After the abortive attempt to spread the teachings of Laquinta across the world, Ahmed wanted to try again immediately. Maria refused, and after that Ahmed had given him hard stares. Maria should have paid more attention, because some days later he barely stopped Ahmed from blowing up the Time Shaft.

The first clue that Maria had that something was wrong when he heard the base wide alarm, the alarm that meant something was very wrong with the Time Shaft. It was a safety feature, an automatic alert that Marsha had installed at his urging to warn them if there was some instability in the Time Shaft. Maria had raced to the control room to find Marsha slumped over her chair and Ahmed wildly manipulating the controls. The Time Shaft wasn't just humming, it wasn't just roaring, it was

thundering

, with wild blue rings of energy coursing up the shaft at incredible intensities and speeds Maria had never seen before.

When Ahmed saw Maria, he yelled, "You're too late! You are all going to die! For the Greater Glory of Laquinta!" he cried, as he charged Maria.

Maria drew a mini compression pistol out of his jacket pocket, the compression pistol he kept in his jacket just for occasions such as this, and he calmly blew Ahmed's head off. The pistol had been adjusted to setting eight, on the theory that if Maria needed to use it in a hurry, he really would need maximum power.

Ahmed's body strutted around like a chicken with its head cut off for a few seconds, this way and that, before collapsing on the ground. And then Maria calmly went over to the Time Shaft and deactivated it. He reached down and put a finger on Marsha's neck to feel for a pulse. Good.

********

One would think that Marsha would have been grateful to still be alive. She wasn't. She gave Maria hostile stares after that, even as she rubbed her sore neck. When Maria made love to Marsha, the smile was there, but her eyes were hard even as Maria worked his very feminine penis in and out of Marsha's tight body. He had converted Marsha to lesbianism shortly after she had joined the Community, and she quickly learned to enjoy her experiences with Maria, but lately her reactions seemed more and more... artificial.

And then whenever Maria would enter the control room, Marsha would always stop what she was doing, and work on something different. It had reached a point where Maria had tasked Keith Ashanti or one of the other men to supervise her at all time. When he reminded her about the explosive circlet around her neck, or threatened her with the closet, Marsha no longer showed fear. She no longer showed reaction of any kind.

********

After giving it some thought, Maria figured out how to restore morale in the Community. What the Community needed was a good, successful mission, and he had just the plan. He held a Community wide meeting the day after he discovered Dana and Craig together. He smiled as he watched Craig enter the conference room, wincing as he took every step. Maria frowned. There was no real reason for Craig to feel pain down there; it wasn't like Maria had left him with anything to feel pain with.

He smiled inwardly as he saw Dana enter the room. She and Craig didn't even make eye contact now. Whether their emotional split was real or feigned didn't really matter. Maria had made sure that Craig would stay celibate until the end of time.

********

Maria smiled at the assembled faces of the Community. "My friends, it is time we took a bold move! For centuries, men have oppressed women. Why? Part of it was rooted in biology. I know this only too well, having spent the first part of my life as unrepentant male."

He stared at them keenly. "But it is more than that. The inherent male aggression doesn't simply originate in the testicles. It also comes from the diet. Meat! Meat gives males their aggressive instincts, the instinct to oppress women, to spread their legs wide on public transportation, and to overly explain things to their female counterparts. Meat is the narcotic of males. And I propose to eliminate it entirely from the food chain."

********

John Calle was shopping for food at his local supermarket when he noticed something... odd. All the men around him looked very thin. Emaciated, as a matter of fact. They had their heads down, and their shoulders slumped.

Calle watched as one man slowly pushed an air cart full of food. His wife was nagging him, telling him to go faster. "I'm doing the best I can, dear," he said, in a weak voice, as he pushed the cart with obviously limp wrists.

And then in the next aisle Calle saw a woman leading a man on a leash. He walked on two legs, but had a leash around his neck. When the man stopped to look at a box of cereal, his wife said, "Come on, Herbert," and pulled on his leash, and he followed her obediently.

There had obviously been a change in the timeline. From the looks of it, something big. The smart thing to do would be to get back to the Continuity Service Headquarters immediately. Calle didn't fear disappearing; he had taken the standard anti-time dusting before leaving the base, as he always did. But in times like this he should be at CS Headquarters.

But he really was very hungry. It had been such a busy day that he hadn't eaten much of anything. So he went to the meat aisle, and was shocked to see how small it was. What's more, the names of the food had... changed.

There was no chicken, but there was "Chikken". There was no bacon, but there was something similar called "Bake-on." There was something that looked like chopped beef, but it was labeled "Hambergger Meatt."

Calle sighed and bought a half pound of "Steakk". He went to the checkout counter to pay for it.

"My, what a strong man you are," said the lady clerk, as Calle hefted his half pound of meat. "Does your lady friend normally let you buy that?"

Calle responded non-committally and paid as quickly as possible.

When he got home, he quickly cooked the Steakk. It gave off an odd smell, like canola oil. But at least it looked like meat. When he bit into it, however, the taste was so vile that he spat it out; the next day he found the ejaculated piece of Steakk stuck to one of his walls.

Calle realized immediately what had happened. There was no beef to be had, anywhere on the planet Earth. He put on his jacket and made his way to CS Headquarters, driving as fast as he could.

********

"Men seemed to have been erased from every major role in history," said Naomi, staring at the holoscreens. That used to be Sarah's job.

Sarah.

Calle still had dreams about their last night together. How much of it had been real and how much had been drug induced? Perhaps he would never know. But he did know he missed her.

"Nearly all political and military leaders in history seem to be... women," said Naomi.

"How is that possible?" said Strayker irritably, watching Ayesha's firm buttocks as she bent over the atomic coffee synthesizer.

"I don't know, sir," said Naomi.

"Sarah would have had the answer ten minutes ago. Figure it out," he said, glaring at her.

"Yes, sir," said Naomi.

Calle put a sympathetic hand on Naomi's shoulder. She gave him a grateful smile. Naomi was a thin, short brunette. While her breasts weren't very large, they stood out on her small frame.

********

Several hours later, Naomi had figured it out. "Cows, pigs, and chickens were all wiped out at the same time, about 400 years ago, in the early 21st century." said Naomi.

"How?" Strayker asked.

"It was some kind of virus. It spread incredibly rapidly. By the time scientists figured out what it was, it had already decimated the animal population."

"Ingenious," Strayker fumed. "Someone has managed to dethrone men from their natural role in society by eliminating beef. Without beef, men became docile and limp wristed, and now women rule the world."

"Is that really so bad, sir?" Mercy Kildaire asked.

Strayker glared at her. "It's not the way it was, Mercy. Remember our motto? We leave things as we found them."

Unless we don't like what we found

, Calle thought. He still didn't know whether to believe John Locke, when he had told Calle that Strayker was manipulating the timeline for his own end. And what Sarah had told him was equally astonishing. There were two Earths, and apparently, two John Calles? If John Collier had been the previous version of himself, what had happened to him? Unfortunately, at the moment all he had was questions... but few answers.

"There is no technology in the 21st century to engineer such a virus, at least not one that spreads so quickly," said Naomi. "It's a designer virus. Only a handful of people in our era could have created it."

"Do you have a list of suspects?" Strayker asked.

"Yes," said Naomi. "I created a list of 217 scientists who might have the ability to create such a virus. 28 of those have special expertise in livestock illnesses."

"28 is still a significant number," said Strayker.

"I know, sir. Then I crossed referenced their posts on the global data network for political content. Nine of the 28 might qualify as having sympathy for the Temporal Social Justice Warrior agenda."

"Nine, eh?" said Strayker. He nodded grudgingly. "Not bad, Naomi." He turned to Major Castleman. "Assemble your team."

********

Unfortunately, there was no way to definitively prove which scientist created the virus. That was where John Calle came in. Once again they were relying on his Special Talent expertise to find their suspect.

The situation only made Calle more aware of how much the Continuity Service relied on him. But should he be working for them? What if Locke had been right? What if he was being manipulated, to create a different version of the timeline? And yet most of the missions he had gone on had been worthy in their own right. Calle had no doubt that if this version of the timeline were not reversed, men would become limp-wristed and equally limp-penised subservient slaves for women, a fate for an entire gender that he couldn't allow to stand.

********

They had met with two scientists, and Calle had talked to both and hadn't gotten the sense that either was part of the key focal point in history he was looking for.

And then he and his team went to meet Doctor Audra Kornstein.

Audra Kornstein was a virologist at the University of Berkeley. She was also a senior member of the Concerned Women for Concerned Women Support Crisis Coalition, the Female Cat Loving Tight Leotard Hot Spin Cycle Yoga Group, and the Vegan Women Without Color Common Sense Coalition. It was her membership in the lattermost group which had attracted Naomi's attention.

Calle was about to meet her at her office in Dildo Lerner Hall, when something caught his eye.

Across the street from him.

It was Marion.

********

It wasn't a dream. It wasn't a vision in the Binochi Corridor. It was Marion Thomas, his fiancée, standing fifty feet away from him, diagonally across the street.

At first she didn't seem to notice him. But then, as time slowed down to a crawl, her head slowly turned, as if she were looking for something. When she saw him, she broke out into a small smile.

"Marion!" Calle cried. He was about to cross the street when an air van sped between them. When the van passed....

Marion was gone.

Calle blinked, looking left and right. How could she be gone? Could he have imagined it?

No. It was Marion. He had seen her!

Calle remembered his experience from the island. He remembered the woman who had molecular facial surgery to look like Marion. But this Marion was

real

. All his senses told him that.

He bit his lip and shifted his weight anxiously back on one foot and then another. Finally he sighed and entered Dildo Lerner Hall.

********

Professor Audra Kornstein was a short haired woman with dark curly hair. As Calle talked idly to her, he didn't really listen to what she was saying. Part of his mind was still thinking about Marion. Had that really been her? What had she been doing here?

Professor Kornstein could sense his lack of interest. "Really, Mr. Callenberger, I have work to do. If there's nothing more-"

"Just one thing more," said Calle.

"And what is that?"

Calle drew his compression pistol from his pocket and aimed it at her.

********

"You were right," said Commander Strayker admiringly. "It was her."

It only took two surges from the Time Lash to get Audra Kornstein to confess to creating the designer virus. The fragile looking thin woman was not designed to resist interrogation.

Or was she?

While Kornstein freely admitted to creating the virus which killed all the cows, pigs and chickens in the world, one thing she was not being so free with was the exact date and time she had met with her contact who she had provided the virus to. If they had that information, not only could they prevent the virus from being disseminated, but they could nab a member of the Temporal Social Justice Warriors who could possibly reveal the location of their base of operations.

But Audra Kornstein resisted. She screamed hysterically as she was hit again and again by the Time Lash. But she still wouldn't answer their questions.

"Why?" said Doctor Vladek. "Why do you resist?"

Audra gasped. Her pain-wracked body felt fragile, like putty, from all that had been done to it. "Men have cruelly dominated the world since the beginning of time. I am striking a blow for oppressed women everywhere! I... I am willing to sacrifice myself for my cause," she said, lifting her chin and feeling every bit the martyr.

Strayker and Calle were watching from a few feet away. "What a typical virtue whore," said Strayker. "She's so convinced that she's right, she almost enjoys being tortured. It makes her feel all the more virtuous."

"I'm inclined to agree," said Calle, for once finding himself in complete agreement with the Commander. "So what are you going to do?"

Strayker sighed, putting a hand under his chin. "Well we could wipe her from the face of existence. Prevent her from ever being born. I'm loath to make such heavy handed changes to the timeline, though. History will be changed, as she won't be present to interact with and influence other people. We will also lose a possible chance to get a lead on the Temporal Social Justice Warriors."

You are a racist. You are a racist you are a racist you are a racist

. Suddenly, the programming which had been inflicted on John Calle on the tiny island returned in full force. He blinked, shaking his head.

And then, just as suddenly, he had an idea. "No, sir, don't do it. At least... not yet. Let me try something first."

********

Audra Kornstein was still strapped to the Time Shaft, even though the Time Lash had been deactivated. She groaned softly from the accumulated torture she had gone through.

"It hurts, doesn't it?" said Calle softly. "But at the same time, doesn't it feel good, too?"

Audra opened one eye, and then another, and saw Calle smiling sympathetically at her. She said nothing.

"I mean, to give your life for such an important cause. You must feel so proud," said Calle.

Audra coughed, and her throat, which was sore from screaming in pain, slowly came to life again. "I... have no desire to die," she said, coughing again. "But if that's what's necessary for the cause, so be it."

Calle nodded appreciatively. She liked that. But then Calle said, "I never understood how someone like you could be so dedicated. Tell me, what is it that makes racists so fanatical?"

"Racists?" Audra's eyebrows shot up, and she felt her pulse started to quicken. "What do you mean?"

"Well...." said Calle slowly, drawing it out. He hid his satisfied feeling that he had captured her attention. "I mean, you're doing this because you hate brown skinned people, right?"

"WHAT?" Audra screamed. "No! I'm doing this for the women! All for the women!"

"Well, then you've really confused me here," said Calle. "Because you designed the virus which killed the pigs, and the chickens, but especially the cows. And the cows are the most sacred deity of the Hindu religion. In one move, you've eliminated them all. You've committed Godicide."

"Oh my God," said Audra. She had never considered that. "No, it wasn't meant for that purpose!"

"I notice you didn't wipe out any of the Gods worshipped by white people... white like you and me," said Calle, winking conspiratorially as he gave Audra's arm a knowing nudge. "Only the god of brown people."

"No! I didn't mean that!" Audra looked hysterical.

"Of course you didn't," said Calle, winking broadly at her a second time. "You know, I just realized, that Indian people aren't just brown skinned. Some are dark, really dark. Black skinned, actually. And there are over two billion of them. How do you feel about liquidating the God of over two billion brown and black skinned people, Doctor Kornstein?" He smiled as he saw her gasp. "Does it feel good, causing such a grievous harm to brown and black skinned people, Doctor Kornstein?"