The Great Altruist (14 page)

           
“Did it prevent the war at all?”

           
“A couple of weeks. But with Hitler angrier than before, the war was actually more violent. I guess we actually made it worse!”

           
“That’s a disappointment. I thought for sure I had gotten to him.”

           
“I’m sure you did, especially on a primitive level. But the man is evidently more complex than most of the history books give him credit for.”

           
“What happened with Mussolini?” Jadzia asked.

           
Genesis shrugged her shoulders. “Probably just a poor link between your mind and his. He’s probably just as poisoned as the Nazis.”

           
“Something tells me changing that one man’s words wasn’t going to affect that much anyway. As for Hitler,” she said as she began pacing across the clearing, “we need to start earlier...” She continued her pacing for several minutes, her mind deep in thought.

           
“Jadzia!” Genesis called.

           
She stopped and faced Genesis.

           
“There’s not much we can probably do once Hitler comes to power. If we go back further than that, it may be before your conception.”

           
“I understand,” Jadzia said. “It isn’t about me anymore - it’s not even about my parents. I know what they would have me do. They gave up their lives honorably. Why should I do less?”

           
“Because you still have a life to live. They didn’t have that choice.”

           
“We’ve been over this!” she said. “There is no life for me in a world where this war existed.”

           
Genesis flew into the air and hovered within a few feet of Jadzia, who stopped pacing once Genesis approached. “You have nothing to prove to me,” she
said
.
“
And there’s no need to be a martyr either. There are small corners of the world that never know of what happened in your homeland. I can bring you there, you can start a new life with the native peoples, and you wouldn’t even have to wear clothes!” she laughed.

           
Jadzia smiled at the suggestion. “That is tempting,” she said as she stepped forward and brought Genesis closer to her with her hands. “How could I leave all those innocent people to die and go off and live in the middle of nowhere?”

           
“You already live in the middle of nowhere.”

           
“Only until we stop the war. Then I want to return and rebuild my life before the war. But I have the power to go back and make a better world for everyone.”

           
“You’re wrong,” Genesis said. “
I
have the power. And what would you do if I didn’t want to continue, if I just left you here all alone. You don’t even know what year it is, do you?”

           
Jadzia suddenly realized the truth of her words. She always assumed the year was 1945, but there was no reason to conclude that she wasn’t somewhere in earth’s distant past or future. “You wouldn’t do that. You’re here for the same reason I am: you have a desire to help people.”

           
“I know,” Genesis said. “I just wanted you to realize that we’re in this together. And if something happens to you, it won’t just be you who is affected.”

           
Jadzia fell the ground and bowed her head in shame. She crossed her legs and buried her face in her hands. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t realize I meant that much to you.”

           
Genesis swooped down from the sky and stood on her knee. She reached out and touched Jadzia’s cheek, now soaked in tears. “You’re my best friend. Without you, I’m all alone in this world.”

           
Jadzia wiped the tears from her face. “I’m not trying to be selfish, but I feel like I was freed from that awful place of torture to do something grand. And returning to Poland only to have a family of my own seems selfish somehow.”

           
“But that’s what every other survivor is doing,” Genesis said. “They’re getting on with their lives. I came to you, not to sacrifice your life to a greater cause, but to reward your courage. I can’t do that if you don’t exist.”

           
“What should I do, then?”

           
“I can’t tell you that. You need to decide which path to choose, whether you want the life of a survivor or the life of a martyr.”

           
Jadzia lied back on the ground and just shook her head as she felt overwhelmed by the divergent choices, both opposed to each other.

           
“On a positive note,” Genesis said, “you’re in no rush. As I said before, I’m in no rush to leave you. If you want to stay in this clearing for the next twenty years and sort out the direction of your life, you can. The war will always be there waiting for you to fix, as will your life after the war.”

           
“When I go home, to what time will you send me?”

           
“I won’t be able to take you to the point you left - if you stay five years, you’ll return to 1950. Anything else will cause a paradox.”

           
“That’s what I figured,” she said. “Don’t worry; I’ll decide quickly.”

           
“No rush,” Genesis said. She flew over to a nearby tree and began gathering fruit.
“
But since it looks like we
may
be here through the night, you
’
ll need something to eat.
”
She tossed a piece to Jadzia, who promptly ate and went to sleep as the sun set. Genesis ate as well and sat at the top of the tree and watched the moonrise as day turned to night. She occasionally looked down to check on her friend, and as the night grew colder, she moved Jadzia to a more comfortable and warmer place in the clearing. Genesis later dozed to sleep herself on a tree-limb and wondered how long Jadzia would wait to decide her future. As her thoughts turned to dreams, the knot in her stomach returned. And until they two girls left the clearing, it never went away.

Chapter 7

           
The next morning, Genesis and Jadzia awoke and began their day as they had since they first arrived in the clearing. They never spoke of their conversation the day before, nor did Genesis try to coax her friend to make a hasty decision. Rather, she prepared a fish that Jadzia caught from the creek (her newfound vegetarianism had given way to hunger) and they feasted on the last of the fruit from the surrounding trees and enjoyed their breakfast.

           
After their meal, both of them bathed in the creek which was getting colder now that autumn approached, but Genesis did her best to warm the water using her powers. Jadzia dried in the sun and decided to go exploring in the surrounding woods, with Genesis as an escort and protector. Few of the animals in the forest were of any danger and the ones that were seemed to avoid Genesis as she approached, as if aware of what she could do. Much of the forest was dull and impassible, the brush too dense, thickets too cumbersome to traverse around or over (especially considering Jadzia’s state of undress), and the areas that could be penetrated were encased by a river that was too cold and too rapid for Genesis to warm effectively. Upon their return to the clearing, the women relaxed and laughed on the banks of the brook. Jadzia shared stories from her childhood and Genesis regaled her friend of trips through time and space. Night approached quickly, and the fire Genesis started amidst a pile of dry limbs and leaves helped cook another fish and keep the clearing well-lit as their conversation lasted long into the night, their gentle laughter and giggles filling the air.

           
As time passed, and Jadzia had still failed to decide a course of action, the two women fashioned a comfortable life in the forest clearing. Days turned into weeks, and as winter approached, Jadzia began to feel the effects of her nudity. She attempted to make a covering out of leaves but it made her skin itch. The animal skin she found in the forest and cleaned in the creek proved uncomfortable as well. Genesis offered to move them to a warmer climate, but Jadzia refused, claiming that this was her new home and she would never leave her home again as she was once forced to.

           
Snow soon fell and the shelter Jadzia made from branches, vines, and leaves that did so well against the rain was useless against the weight of the snow. That was when Genesis stepped in and used her power to create an energy bubble, a shield that swallowed a significant part of the clearing and creek into its realm. Inside the bubble, the air, ground, and water were warm and so Jadzia never experienced the darkest, coldest parts of the Canadian winter. Several times a day, Genesis left the comfort of the bubble to fly high into the sky and channel the sun’s warmth into the shield. Jadzia never spent more than a few seconds alone.
When asked if she ever wanted solitude, Jadzia told Genesis that the isolation she spent in the death camps was all she needed for a lifetime. Spring arrived, followed by summer, autumn, and again winter, but Jadzia kept silent as to her future ambitions. Their conversations would often last days, and rarely did they argue about anything substantial. Quickly, their friendship grew stronger and soon, they came to view one another as sisters. And as the years passed, Jadzia and Genesis grew closer still. Both of them eventually forgot what it was like to not have one another in their lives. Genesis shared everything with Jadzia, the knowledge she gained from within the stream and from her travels before they met. On a few occasions, they would choose a topic to learn about and Genesis would gather all the information she could from the past, present, and future and shared it with her closest friend. This gave them an endless variety of things to talk about.

           
Unexpectedly, as time went by, Jadzia’s memory lapsed. Many of the details from her past she now forgot - even the names of her parents on a few occasions. Genesis never worried that something might be wrong, nor did Jadzia. However, the condition soon worsened and she started forgetting where she was. Genesis refrained from sharing any more knowledge, suddenly fearful that Jadzia’s mind might be damaged by her powers.

           
Genesis never aged a day in all their years together but still looked as youthful, vibrant, and voluptuous as ever. Jadzia, at thirty years of age, and nearly ten years to the day since their last conversation about preventing World War II, finally decided her own fate. She climbed from the tree shelter Genesis helped her build a few years earlier and found her swimming in the creek. Jadzia sat on the banks and dipped her toes in the water, her expression sullen for the first time in years.

           
“Is something wrong?” Genesis asked as she waded to the edge of the water and climbed out.

           
“No,” Jadzia said, “but I’ve come to a decision about my future.”

           
Genesis did not need to be reminded of their last discussion. Even though she loved every moment of her time with Jadzia, she had secretly wished that each day in this clearing would be their last. Several times, the knot in her stomach was so painful that she thought of broaching the subject, but in accord with her promise all those years ago, she kept silent. “What brought this on all of the sudden?” she asked.