~ Nick ~
Intent on earning his Trident, Nicholas Blake jerked slightly in the water, realizing that he was starting to feel lightheaded. Flicking the small gauge attached to his scuba suit, he watched the needle slowly bottom out. It was an unfortunate fact of life that sometimes gauges got stuck, even the ones on high tech military issued equipment. Tamping down his annoyance, he ignored his quickly depleting oxygen supply and doubled down on the mission.
Grasping onto his underwater dive propeller, Nick toggled the speed higher and kicked his webbed feet, putting on a burst of speed. The slight jerk of the nylon reinforced composite handles pulled him forward sharply as the unit vibrated in his hands.
His target was a gigantic dark form, drifting ever closer. The wealthy arms dealer luxuriating on the forty foot yacht overhead had no idea what lay in store for him tonight. The man might think he was a big deal, but to the US military, he was one of many small fish destined to share their innermost secrets regarding local arms trafficking in the region.
The moonlight danced eerily across the water’s surface casting odd shadows, fit to make a lesser man pause. However, Nick was a Navy Seal, and they never broke formation or strayed off course. He cut the engine on his sea scooter, before quietly breaking the surface. Switching on his body cam, he hauled ass up a ladder through some unnaturally thick fog. The shit seemed to have a mind of its own. Rather than dissipating when he moved through it, the mist circled lazily around his limbs infusing his clothing. Since fog didn’t behave that way, he pushed forward. It must be his mind playing tricks on him, brought on by his brush with oxygen deprivation while submerged. Landing noiselessly on the deck near the rear of the luxury craft, he was pleased to find no one around.
Quietly ditching his gear, he crept forward. The gun in his hand didn’t feel right. Then again tranquilizer guns never did feel quite right in a soldier’s hand. However, that’s how it had to be because command wanted him alive and zero collateral damage on this one. Military intelligence had already verified that Jax Santiago was on board with five support staff following a meeting with a Russian wholesaler interested in purchasing grenade launchers.
Nick moved silently through the small yacht until he’d neutralized the entire crew, most while they slept. Moving towards the master suite, his ears began to ring. Shaking it off, he eased the door open. Raising his gun, he pulled off a clean shot and watched the man drop to the ground with a satisfying thud.
Blinking once and then again, Nick tried to make sense scene before his eyes. A nearly naked person was tied with their arms to the ceiling. Though her form would strongly suggest she was female, her light blue skin, pointed ears, and black hair were singing a different tune altogether. Her eyes shone like obsidian orbs and were about four times larger than human eyes. Those beautiful dark eyes held a note of panic at the moment.
Since what he was seeing was not remotely possible, he pulled out his radio and called in his mission.
“Eagle Eye, this is Seal One. Do you copy?”
His radio blew up with a bunch of static interference. Looking down at the fog swirling around his legs, he gave his head one hard shake as if to clear his thoughts before trying to raise his command again. “Eagle Eye, this is Seal One. The package is secure. Calling for pick-up. Over.”
“Jesus, it’s really you?”
“What the fuck. Use appropriate…”
“It is you. God, I never thought I’d be the one.”
“This is a secure line. I don’t know who you are, but you’re interfering in…”
“A military mission to arrest Jax Santiago. And you’re Nicholas Blake…The Nicholas Blake. Everybody knows about the two of. Jesus, you’re both fucking legends. I can’t believe I’m talking to you.”
Looking at the criminal on the floor, Nick stammered. “This is all FUBAR. The fog, the woman, you…nothing is what it should be.”
Suddenly, the young man’s voice got serious. “It's because you aren’t in 2017 anymore, sir. It’s the year 3039. Your present is my history. You always talked about how hard this moment in time was for you, and I’ve honestly tried to imagine it a million times. The frightened woman in front of you is Miss. Acacia and she is going to become very important to you. In fact, you named her that yourself, ‘cause you never could pronounce her name in her tongue.”
Nick watched the slender female jerking in her bonds. “My oxygen malfunctioned. I’m hallucinating.”
“Dude, you’re not hallucinating. Pay attention. We don’t have much time, and I have a message for you.”
“You have a message from my navy commander?”
“Look dude there’s no Gods damn command. The US Navy was integrated with the Earth Gov military almost a thousand years ago. The message is from the future you.”
“How did you get a message from me if you never met me?”
Sighing, the man spoke calmly as if he were explaining something to a child. “You’re the reason Earth survived when no other world did. Every kid memorizes your letter in first grade along with the Earth Gov Unification Pledge. Jesus dude, they make story books about you and Jax. Just let me tell you the message, and then we can talk until they arrive. I’m going to read it directly from the data stream, so I don’t miss anything.”
“Go ahead.”
“Nick, you stupid son-of-a-bitch, get with the program.”
“Wait. They taught you to curse in first grade?”
“Dude those aren’t even curses anymore.”
“Fine, get on with the message.”
“In a few minutes some really ugly aliens are going step through that door to shoot you with a stun gun, and you’re going let them. The only thing standing between the Taron battle fleet and Earth’s total annihilation is you and the clueless dude lying on the floor. Jax will turn out to be the one person you can count on to have your back, so take good care of the stupid fucker until you figure that shit out. It’s critically important that you get taken to the mother ship because they keep a large number of slaves that decide to join forces with Earth when the battle starts. Without their assistance, every man, woman, and child on Earth will be killed or forced into slavery. I remember thinking that I must be hallucinating, but this is real, and you have got to kick start your brain right damn now soldier. I struggled with how to end this message so you would believe me, and one thing came to mind. I remember going to the cemetery every year when I was really little to put flowers on dad’s grave. I thought it was disrespectful that the spiders keep on growing right on top his grave like it didn’t matter that he’d died. That’s all I got. Do the right thing. Save our people.”
There was a brief pause, and the young man asked quietly. “Did that mean anything to you, sir?”
Finally snapping out his shocked trance, Nick took a deep cleansing breath. “Yeah, the fucking message sounds just like me and that cemetery part is aces. So as weird as it sounds, it looks like I’m doling out missions to myself now. Does this ship ever get back to my timeline?”
“No, sir. It’s listed as lost at sea.”
“Well, in that case, there’s no need to try to write a message to my commanders. Answer me something else. Who are the Taron?”
“I’m not supposed to tell you anything that might change the natural order historical events. We were told just to give the message.”
“I can’t believe Earth is still using primitive communication lines?”
Laughing the youngster replied. “We’re not. I belong to the Order of the Guard. We’re what you would think of a cross between gamers and hackers. Since we spend most of our time submerged in the data stream, we use special programs to scan for old Earth radio waves, each of us hoping that we’ll be the one to make contact with you. Even now thousands are gathering in the stream to hear our interaction.”
“What’s your name kid?”
“I don’t think it would be a good idea to say. If I told you and you let it slip, it might change history, and I wouldn’t want to chance it.”
“Fine, tell me about the Taron.”
The young man replied hesitantly. “They’re a race of aliens who target innocent worlds based on the natural resources locked beneath the surface of their planets. During your time people thought Earth was about mined out, but the Taron could see things humans couldn’t, using their advanced alien technology. The ship in orbit right now is just a scout ship, but when word gets back to their fleet about Earth, they will make their way here. It takes them another fifteen years or so, but they do come for us, sir.”
“Any other information you can share about my new mission?”
“The historical records show that you talked a lot about wanting to stop the scout ship from giving the Taron mother ship Earth’s coordinates. I’m begging you not to do that, sir. Earth will be the first world ever to turn back a Taron invasion, and our success leads to the formation of trade and military ties with other worlds that enable Earth to survive when our ozone layer finally goes belly up. Kalian scientists help us design a shield to protect our world. In fact, other worlds are so grateful for our help, they share all kinds of technology with us. It ushers in a new golden age for our people.”
“So I’m going to be spending fifteen years on a slave ship with a beautiful blue woman and arms dealer. I’m supposed to survive, rally the other slaves to revolt, and somehow warn Earth of a pending invasion when the time is nigh. All based on a conversation with a faceless guy who won’t even give me his name. What the hell is with this fog? It feels like it’s trying to get into my clothes and molest me.”
The other man laughed. “It is because the scout ship has you in the outer regions of its force field. The fog facilitates electromagnetic pulses that assist with the time jump. According to the historical record, something went wrong, and they jumped time instead of space.”
“Any idea what brought them to our world?”
“They came for the woman, but unfortunately for them, they got you and Jax in the bargain.”
Just then the door slammed open. Nick backed up slightly, placing himself between the very ugly blue aliens and the woman. He had only a moment to take in their large bobble heads and long spindly arms before one of them pulled a weapon. It took every ounce of self-control he could dredge up not to react. The creatures were slow, and when they spoke, it sounded like a cross between a screech and a tiny dog barking.