ARC OF THE IMMORTALS Book 2
Time Rifts: 10 / Final Excursions [part 2]
Recap: Hivbrit continues his “talk” with Jac via telepathy. Touzdae returns from her excursion and sleeps. Awakened by a “Full Alert” she finds Jac in the act of blowing out the secondary airlock
Recap continued: doors and saves him. He appears to have been walking-in-his-sleep and dissociates. Jac is out of his body experiencing the station — split in half. About to descend through the chasm he is yanked back into his body.
Touzdae restrains him with a forcefield and with straps. She’s afraid he is going insane and forbids him to go out on excursions. She warns him they have 15 days left.
He escapes from the restraints. And goes out on an hour-long excursion to a familiar place and encounters Hannah. The trip; shortened.
When he returns his internal chronometer reads: 13 days, 20 hours, 17 minutes, and 1 second.
The story picks up exactly where it left off:
Hyperventilating Jac popped the two hatches and climbed out.
One hour had elapsed in the control room. He stretched out on the deck and let his breathing normalize.
Touzdae’s Hoppers’ remained in the rifts with three and a half hours left.
In an armored space suit, he walked through the decimated airlock and examined the damage. His helmet camera took a holo-vid as he walked. He examined the shorts in the panel and the fried explosive bolt cups. He rigged a pressurizing unit and two O-2 scrubbers with remote links to the controls on his suit. The inner blast doors opened with a power-pack assist. He gerry-rigged blast doors on the outside of the airlock and sealed it with a welding gun. He walked out of the two enclosures, closed the inner blast doors, and checked their seals.
After a careful assessment of the damages, he summoned a drone with a toolkit. He reloaded materials into the welding gun and started the repair work.
Two hours later Touzdae returned. She was furious that he had left the restraints but was not surprised. She was happy to see that he had begun repairs on the airlock.
They shared a small meal.
Touzdae: Did you think I wouldn’t notice that you got out?
Jac: I didn’t try to hide it. I have one more trip to make and then that’s it.”
She sighed, exasperated.
Touzdae (fierce with resolve): I hope you know what you’re doing. I’m worried about you, about us. Can you speak to this?
Jac: I’m not ready to talk about it right now. After this next excursion, I will have the answers I need. Then I will share.
Touzdae: Have you checked the countdown clock?
Jac (shook his head — “no”): But yesterday you told me we have 15 days left so now it should be 14.
Touzdae: We have little less than thirteen days left, but close enough. I expect you to be precise as time here is now numbered.
Jac: I’ll be ready. Are you planning to go out again?
Touzdae: Yes I have a ten-day trip planned, but it may go to eleven, but no more.
Jac: That’s cutting it close.
Touzdae (exasperated sighs): I am not happy with your behaviors and your excursions. I’ll be happy when we’re out of this space. [pause — sighs] Can you tell me — have you found the answers about The Fish you were seeking?
Jac: No. (reaches out and takes her hand / continues): It feels like you’re saying goodbye to me. Are you?
She pulls her hand away.
Touzdae: No, but it feels like you’re saying goodbye to me.
He leans over and goes to kiss on the lips. She turns away and he kisses her cheek.
Jac: Do you feel my love?
Touzdae (whispers): Yes. (in an elevated tone/continues): You haven’t answered my question.
Jac: I’m not leaving you, I’m not saying goodbye. I’m here to stay.
They slept together. She woke before he did and began her log for the last excursion.
When he woke she was out. He checked her logs and was relieved to see she brought food and water with her. He began work on the airlock and finished in the wee hours of the next day. He blocked out the time left and fell asleep for several hours slumped in the chair at the conference table.
“You can be a free agent in time, Jac.” It was Tau, Entu Monk standing next to him.
Jac looked up at him quizzically.
“I don’t know what that means,” Jac said.
“You can be without time as a factor in your existence,” Tau responded.
Jac ignored Tau.
He woke from his “dream” and saw a whisper of an image disappear aft.
He logged his excursion for 60 hours or 2.5 days. He asked his Hivbrit to join him. Out in the Hopper, he gathered the time streams. He waited for input from his Hivbrit. When his Hivbrit gave the word he inserted himself in the envelope.
Jac’s observation bubble separated. It floated inside Nez’s escape vehicle free of the rest of the Fish. He felt Nez’s presence within the vehicle, but out of reach. There and not there. He wept. Crying, his body convulsed with tears. The escape vehicle intersected the metal sphere where he had been in the last excursion.
He tuned in on his Hivbrit: Is this the future or the past?
Near future, the answer came. Nez Fish is neither alive nor dead. Trapped in the vehicle you see, and now see no more, Hivbrit relayed.
The observation bubble left the Space Fish’s escape vehicle. It entered the metal sphere lined with catwalks. A lionª jumped from the catwalk through the observation bubble. The bubble stayed intact for little more than a minute. It burst and Jac found himself inside his Hopper. Both Hoppers returned to the station.
He stayed in his Hopper — heart beating fast. As he climbed out he said out loud:
“She’s in trouble.”
It was the end of the 10th day and she had yet to return. He tried to contact her Hopper, but nothing. No telepathy, no heart contact.
He checked her bio-signs. There was no data.
“Comsa, do you have Touzdae’s bio-sign data?”
“I do not. Disconnected on departure.”
“By Touzdae?” Jac asked.
“Not enough data. Nothing even to make an extrapolation.”
He trained the telescope into the rift. Her Hoppers were at the farthest end of the rift, barely visible even with the telescope powered up.
“Comsa, how long would it take to reach Touzdae’s Hopper and dock with it?” Jac asked.
“Based on the weather in the rift, twelve to eighteen hours one way.”
“Is there any way I can send a drone?”
“Not advisable. There is a strong probability that both Hoppers would be lost.”
“Are my Hoppers fueled up?”
“Refueling in progress. Will finish in ten minutes.”
“Long enough to record a message,” he mumbled to himself. “Comsa, record message to Geordae Phorae…”
Previous Chapter:
ªIn reference to a lion (male) see (Book One) Pursuit of The Arc of the Immortals Chapters 17 & 18:
Thank you for joining me in the adventures that span lifetimes and worlds. Blessings, Passion, and Grace on your journey. May whatever your looking for — find you.
(If you do NOT wish to be tagged, let me know, and I’ll tag you not):
Rebecca Romanelli | Joseph Lieungh | Julia Medium | Ravyne Hawke | Dr Mehmet Yildiz | Kris Bedenian | Alberto García 🚀🚀🚀 | Blaine Coleman | DL Nemeril | Rip Parker | Annelise Lords | Alison Hollingsead
