Chapter 42
“It’s a goddamn spaceship,” Kane repeated. “What the fuck?”
Now it filled the sky, blacking out the sun, turning day to night. It was huge, maybe a mile in diameter, a trail of fire following in its wake.
Kaitlin stared at it, mesmerized.
The great ship was so close now; the heat from the fires warmed her skin.
Was this the end? Were they going to die? Squashed like bugs under a fucking great big alien spaceship.
Well, if you had to go...
But at the last second, the ship veered away, crashing to earth about a mile from where they stood. The force of the blast hurled her backward, sending her flying to the ground. Kane landed beside her.
Kaitlin lay there, staring up at the sky, which was clear once more.
Was that it?
She thought it unlikely, and every muscle locked up tight anticipating another blast, one signaling the cataclysm.
But nothing happened.
“Should we get up?” she murmured. “Or just stay here.”
“Staying here sounds like a good idea,” Kane replied. “On the other hand, I’ve never seen an alien spaceship close up.”
“And I suppose we should go say hi to Quinn.” She sighed. “Let’s go then. Besides, I have a strange idea that we might be getting visitors any moment now.”
This was clearly what the Tel Group had been after. But she still had no clue why.
She sat up and studied the huge burning ship. Heat washed over them in waves, but as she watched, the fires died down to nothing, leaving the ship almost unmarked.
Kane was already up, holding out his hand to her, and she allowed him to pull her to her feet.
It took her a moment to orient herself, and then she searched the hillside across from them for signs of Quinn.
Her gaze was constantly drawn to the ship.
She spotted them both, also on the ground, but now they, too, were getting to their feet.
Kaitlin and Kane were almost on them when she skidded to a halt. Kane almost slammed into her.
“What the hell?” he asked.
“Look.” She pointed past Quinn and Melody.
Off to their left, a hundred feet away, the air shimmered and rippled. Then the silver time machine appeared. There was a good chance Quinn would think this was them, and she didn’t want him going anywhere near the machine without knowing who and what was inside.
“Come on,” she said.
They hurried forward. “Quinn!”
Up ahead, he stopped and went still. Then he turned slowly and stared at her, a huge grin forming on his face. He opened his arms.
Kaitlin hurtled into them, burying her face in his neck. But time was of the essence here, and she pulled free and stepped back. “I didn’t think I’d ever see you again,” she said.
“Ditto.” He looked her up and down. “Last time I saw you, you had a broken leg.”
“That was over eighteen months ago.”
“Not for me. It’s only been a few days.”
“Wow.”
She glanced past him to the time machine. Nothing had moved. The door was still shut. What were they doing in there?
Maybe Quinn had some answers.
She turned to Kane. “I don’t think the two of you have met. Kane this is Quinn. Quinn this is Kane.”
Quinn eyed him suspiciously. No doubt he still saw Kane as the enemy.
“Somehow,” Quinn said, “I sort of expected you to be flying that thing.” He waved a hand toward the time machine.
“It was stolen a month or so ago,” Kaitlin said.
“You trust this guy?” Quinn asked.
He was still regarding the other man with suspicion, and she decided to get past that as quickly as possible. They had things to do. “I’m in love with Kane. So get over it.”
Quinn’s jaw dropped. “You’re in love with ‘that fucker Kane’.”
“Yup.”
Kane stepped forward and held out his hand. Quinn looked at it for a moment and then reached out and shook, albeit briefly. “I don’t know whether to congratulate or commiserate.”
“A little of both, I suggest. It’s not been easy.”
Quinn grinned. “No. I imagine not.” Kaitlin punched him on the arm. “Ouch.” He turned to the woman at his side. “This is Melody. Kaitlin, you’ve already met. Kane, I may have mentioned.”
Melody stretched out a hand. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”
They shook. Now to find out what the hell was going on. First, she needed to check in with Jake.
“Jake? Are you seeing this?”
“I am. Does Quinn have any idea what’s going on?”
“Just about to find out. I thought I’d check in first. There’s been no movement from the time machine so far.”
“Okay. We’re heading your way.”
She turned her attention back to Quinn. “Please tell me that you have some clue as to what’s going on here.” She waved at the huge spaceship.
“Some,” he said. “But not all. Melody can maybe tell it better.” He gestured for her to take the lead.
“This is what we think we know,” Melody said, taking over. “Some of it’s guesswork, but I think they’re pretty good guesses. That—” she said, pointing at the spaceship, “—is the Krellian mothership.”
“Krellian?”
“The Krellians are an alien race who lived in a distant system. They’ve been at war with another race—the Bhaxians—for longer than anyone can remember.
The Bhaxians were the ones who destroyed their planet.
The surviving Krellians escaped on a ship carrying the survivors but also a database of DNA which would allow them to reproduce the rest of the planet—people, animals, plant life. Everything.”
“And that’s it. So, what happened?”
“There is a lot I’m not sure of—this is history for me, something we were taught in school.
So, of course, what we learned was filtered.
Anyway, all I know is that the mothership vanished.
It was always believed that it was destroyed by the Bhaxians, but no one knew how or where.
Now, it’s starting to look like it will be destroyed here on Earth, and its destruction will result in the cataclysm. ”
“Let me guess,” Kaitlin added. “It was destroyed by a bomb sent back in time by the Tel Group.”
“Yes,” Melody said. “But it’s not quite that simple.”
“That’s simple?” Kaitlin said. “Wow, you must lead a complicated life.”
“Believe it,” Quinn muttered.
“We always believed that the cataclysm was the first true timeline,” Melody continued, “and as such, we were not allowed to interfere. That’s one of our most powerful laws.
Whole systems were destroyed when people tried to meddle with time.
That’s when my organization was started—the Federal Bureau of Time Management.
We police time, make sure no one messes with it and causes changes which could have catastrophic effects on the future. ”
“Cool,” Kaitlin said. “Where can I sign up?”
Melody grinned and continued, “But then, because of Quinn, we realized that the cataclysm was not the first timeline but only occurred because someone had already gone back in time and intervened.”
“The Krellians actually invented time travel,” Quinn said.
“We know now that was so they could come back in time, to this moment, and retrieve the DNA database and restore their people and their home. They planned to send a time machine with a team of scientists. Unfortunately, that time machine was stolen by Tel agents employed by the Bhaxians. They intended to take a bomb back and destroy the mothership.”
“Are you sure of all this?” Kane asked.
Quinn cast him a superior glance. “Totally sure. We went back in time to when the time machine was launched. We saw the ambush. Saw them load up the bomb.”
“Why the hell didn’t you stop it?” Kane asked.
“Hey, we did our best. And we did manage to change the time and place it was going.”
Kaitlin’s mind whirled as she thought that through. She glanced back at Kane; saw the stunned expression on his face. Here, finally, was the answer to where their ancestors had come from. Why they existed. “Oh my God,” Kaitlin said. “You sent the time machine back to Uganda ten thousand years ago.”
“Not on purpose,” Quinn replied. “We damaged the guidance system. But yes—I saw the timer on the control panel. Ten thousand years.”
She shook her head. “They were our ancestors. You’re the reason Kane exists. The reason all of us exist.”
“You can call me God,” Quinn murmured.
“Hah,” Kane replied. “Delusions of grandeur.”
Quinn raised an eyebrow at Kane. “Yeah, and you’re officially one of the bad guys,” he said with a grin.
“So are you,” Kane replied. “We all come from the same people.”
Kaitlin caught Melody’s gaze and rolled her eyes. Melody grinned.
“Anyway,” Melody said. “The cataclysm was clearly not the first timeline and was the result of someone interfering with the real time, which meant that we could come back and stop that from happening. Which was just as well, because Quinn was not happy with the idea of leaving you all to your fate. So here we are. To stop the cataclysm.” A look of sadness crossed her face.
“What’s wrong?” Kaitlin asked.
“If we change the cataclysm, my future will cease to exist.”
Kaitlin frowned at that. She remembered what Stella had said about how they were the result of accelerated evolution after the cataclysm. Did that mean they’d all cease to exist? “What about us?” she asked.
“I don’t think you’ll vanish,” Melody said. “Or me. At least, I hope we won’t.”
“Well, that would be a total bummer. To save the world and then just...go poof.”
Melody frowned. “I’m pretty sure it won’t happen...ninety-five percent sure anyway.”
“Thanks for that,” Kane said dryly.
Kaitlin had been focused on the time machine—nothing had changed—now she glanced back at Kane. How was he taking the news that his mission had been to blow up this ship…and cause the cataclysm.