Until Time Stands Still (2 page)

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Mykel woke up to the annoying sounds of beeping. Someone was standing over him. His eyes snapped open, alarmed at the presence of someone he didn’t know that close to him.

A young woman was staring down at him. “You’re awake.”

“Where am I?” He croaked. His throat felt like sand paper. “Water.”

She handed him paper cup. “I’ll get the doctor.” She said.

Mykel looked around the room and cringed. He hated hospitals. He threw back the covers and stood up, holding the stupid gown closed in the back. He was a little woozy from the blood loss. Who had saved him anyway?

“Sit down.” A male voice came from behind him. He turned, a little too quickly. The room spun sideways. There was a doctor standing there with a clipboard, but what shocked him more was the dark haired soldier standing tall behind the doctor. He had a long knife wound down one side of his face. Mykel knew the wound well. Someone had slashed at the man with a sword. He had several similar scars on his chest and back and legs from all the skirmishes he had been forced into over the years.

“Who are you?” Mykel demanded.

“My name is Capitan Graham Winters. You’re at a military base.”

“Obviously. Where?”

“Outside the city.” The man said. “Sit, before you fall down.”

Mykel sat. He was dizzy, and didn’t want to face plant in front of the soldier.

“We’ve been watching you for a while Mykel.” The man said. The doctor went over to some machines and pushed some buttons, and readjusted some wires hooked up to Mykel, who ignored the man and studied the soldier standing in front of him. He was obviously a leader. His very presence was authoritative. He was used to having his orders followed.

“Why?” Mykel frowned, “I’m nobody. I haven’t done anything illegal.”

“You know why.” Graham snorted. “You’re a natural time shifter.”

Mykel gaped at the man. “A what?”

“Don’t play dumb. I don’t have time for it.” Graham said. “Did you seriously think you were the only one?” He turned to the doctor and gestured. The man quickly left. “What the General wants to know is, how you can do it without the nanites.”

“Huh?”

“We can’t go through time without the injections. People have died trying. We scanned you. You’ve never had them. How can you do it without the side effects?”

“There’s a way to go through time without the backlash?” Mykel breathed, excited. “Give me the damn nano thing. Now.” He held out his arm.

Graham chuckled. “You really have no idea what you’re getting into, do you?”

“I don’t care.” Mykel said. “I’m sick of the fucking headaches and nosebleeds.”

“You will.” The man left the room, laughing.

An hour later, they were scanning his brain in a big machine and took dozens of vials of blood. They injected him with the nano things in the back of his neck. It gave him a wicked headache and he spent the next day taking more tests. Eventually they took him to a small room with a cot and a tiny bathroom in it. There was a desk with folder sitting on it. The small shelf above the desk held a big thick binder. Someone had placed military fatigues at the foot of his bed, along with boots. He spent the morning in ancient China, and by dinnertime, he was in the military. His life was seriously screwed up.

He sat at the desk and began to read the folder. It was all about him. His early life on the farm, his parents’ deaths, and his uncle and aunt, his transcripts from high school, even the names of girlfriends he had long forgotten. They knew everything about him. Including more than half of the places he had been in the past. How did they know?

There was a sharp rap on the door before it opened. A stocky, huge man stepped through the door. Immediately, Mykel knew it was someone important. He recognized authority when he saw it.

“Mykel. Good to meet you. I’m General Alexander Palmer. Mind if I sit?” The man’s voice was raspy. Gruff.

“I can’t really stop you.” He said, moving to the bed and letting the large man sink into the metal chair. It creaked under his weight.

“This must all seem very odd to you, being here.”

“Why have you been watching me?” Mykel asked. “I want a straight answer, General, or I walk out of here right now.”

“You messed up one of our operations in England. The second time it happened, in Spain, we realized that you had to be a time shifter.”

“What operations?” Mykel frowned.

“We observe history, most of the time. To find out what really happened. The things the history books never recorded, because no one was there to see it happen, or there was never any documents found. We try not to be noticed. ”

“You do more than that.” Mykel snorted. “I’m not a stupid man, General. I’m smart enough to know that the government doesn’t do anything without some kind of profit. Especially now.”

“True enough.” The General admitted. “I won’t lie to you boy. We do collect artifacts from history. We take gold, gems, paintings, weapons, clothing, and jewelry. Coins mostly. It’s what keeps us funded. Anything we can use. Anything we can trade.”

Mykel nodded. “I believe that.” After the fourth World War, the world’s economy suffered to the point that it crippled every country. Between the bombings, diseases and starvation, well over half the world’s population had died off. Chaos ruled, until the government declared Martial Law. They had gone almost exclusively back to the barter system after the economic collapse. Every boarder between countries was closed to civilians. No one traveled or did business; except for sanctioned trades through government channels. “What exactly do you want with me?”

“We need you.” The General said, simply. “There are very, very few people whose genetic structure allows them to handle doing what you can do. We recently lost an entire team, on a mission that went sideways in Africa. So, in essence, I want to recruit you. To do what you have always done, without side effects, and serve your country.”

“I’m not a solider.” Mykel said.

“We can train you.” The General said. “You just need to go through Basics really, at least for now. We can give you the specialized training in between missions. You’d be paid very well. You will own a home, fully furnished, here on base. You won’t have to live in that dinky rat hole of an apartment. Free food rations, water. Even coffee. Real medical and dental expenses all paid for. You won’t get a better offer anywhere else.”

“To what end?” Mykel asked. “I don’t want to die in some shit hole place in history that no one has ever heard of. I’m a simple man. I want a family. Kids. You know, grow old with someone. I never wanted to be a solider.”

“Well, son…if you want those things, my program is your best shot.” The General said grimly. “I really shouldn’t be telling you this, so keep your trap shut about it until the rest of the boys know.” The man eyed Mykel.

“I won’t say anything.” Mykel said firmly.

“If you do, I’ll shoot you myself.” General Palmer said.

“Just tell me.” Mykel sighed. He hated the posturing macho crap.

The General studied the man for a moment. Mykel had dark hair, and blue eyes that showed him to be far wiser than his years. Maybe he was an old soul, or perhaps he had just seen too much. Like so many others had. Finally, he made a choice and nodded, more to himself than to Mykel.

“According to our last government census, over half the women who got pregnant last year, had spontaneous miscarriages. My own wife included a few months back. Several more who made it to full term had stillborn births. One of the doctors at the CDC said something about residual radiation sickness and the genetic code being fucked. No woman can produce healthy offspring anymore. At least until we figure out how to fix it. Honestly, I don’t really understand the medical mumbo jumbo. All I know is, at this rate, the human race could die out within the next generation, maybe two, if we don’t do something about it now.”

“What do you plan to do about it?” Mykel asked, frowning. “And what does it have to do with me?”

“Almost all of the women of our time are sick. Most of the younger women, teenagers, don’t have a clue they can’t have children yet. To keep the human race alive, we have to go back to before the Third War, and bring women here, and produce healthy children.”

“Wait…a breeding program? You want me to be a part of a breeding program?” Mykel sat stunned. “You can’t just…do that.  It’s wrong.”

“We can do it with the Time Jumper Program. And we will. I have orders to follow, same as my men do. It’s out of my hands. We need your help. People are dying too quickly for the population to survive.”

Mykel shook his head. “People die all the time. You can’t just steal women from other time periods and force them to have children. That’s barbaric and I won’t be a part of it.”

“I know it is! But we have no choice. If you don’t help us, the entire human race could be at stake! You’ll condemn us to death!”

“What, do I have super sperm or something? I can’t change that. Find someone else.”

“It’s been determined by what is left of our government; that the human race surviving is more important than individual free will at this point. The women will be between the ages of eighteen and twenty five. Every single military man will be required to marry one of the woman and produce at least one boy and two girls, healthy enough to produce children when they get older. Whether you agree with it or not, this is happening.”

Mykel just stared at the General. “I don’t have a choice either, do I? You’re going to force me to join your rag tag little time jumping team aren’t you?”

“I’ve been authorized to do whatever is necessary. We need time jumpers. You specifically. Most men can’t do what you can do, especially without the nanites, and the few that can don’t have the discipline or mental capacity to follow orders.” He admitted. “I don’t want to have to be an asshole about it, but we really do need your help. Graham’s team is all we have left. We need you. For the foreseeable future, you will all be responsible for bringing women from the past here. Hopefully willingly.”

“So essentially, we are government sanctioned kidnappers.” Mykel snorted.

“The women will be very well taken care of. Over time, they will learn to be happy here.” General Palmer said firmly.

Mykel’s laughter could be heard through the whole floor.

Isabelle Carter sat stiffly at the dining table, sitting in silence across the table from her husband, who ignored her behind the newspaper. She picked at her fruit and muffin.