****
"You told us that the problems with the portals in China had been resolved."
Hava looked down the long table at Thomas Jefferson who was glaring at the masked man sitting at the other end with fire in his eyes. Her mind was reeling. She felt like she was standing still and that everything was happening around her so fast she couldn't get control of it.
"We thought they had."
"If you are going to sit with us and have a civilized conversation, the least you could do is remove your war mask."
"War is coming."
"It's not here now."
There was a moment of tense silence and then Makhahr lifted his hands and released the ties on the back of the mask. He eased it away from his face and Hava was stunned at how incredibly beautiful he was. His eyes met hers and she saw something in them that told her he was not human.
"The portals in China were destroyed, but the warriors who were still weaponized have gone rogue. They plan to use the knowledge of the universe and all of history to destroy Earth and all of its inhabitants so that they can claim the planet and rebuild it."
Hava noticed that even as he spoke to the other men at the table, among them Sam Adams and George Washington, he didn't turn his eyes away from her.
"How is this happening?" she asked, "How are any of you here?"
"Our kind and yours have cooperated for centuries," an older man sitting near Benjamin said, "We mastered technology long ago that allows us to break through the barriers of time. This has enabled us to help structure the world as it should be. Now these rogue warriors seek to destroy that by changing the patterns of time so that key moments do not happen. If they succeed, it will set off a ripple effect that will destroy all of history as you know it."
"What are they trying to change?"
"They have already destroyed the ancient Egyptian civilization and brought about the fall of Rome."
"But those things already happened. They are part of history."
"Part of history as you know it. To you, what they have done already happened long ago. You do not have the capacity to comprehend the breadth of time. What they have done, has always been done, what they intend to do is still yet to happen."
"What do they intend to do?"
"They plan to kill the Founding Fathers before they have developed the Declaration of Independence."
"I don't understand."
"The days leading up to the Declaration were the most vulnerable time for the nation," Makhahr said, his voice sending a shiver down her spine, "They know that, and they intend to take advantage of it. They know that if they can prevent the Declaration from coming into existence, they will send the entire course of history into turmoil. That moment in time established patterns that developed the world as it exists today. Without it, a ripple effect will leave the planet completely destroyed by now."
"But those things have already happened," Hava insisted again, "You said they destroyed Egypt and Rome. Those civilizations fell thousands of years ago, and it had nothing to do with an alien race."
"Come with me," Makhahr said, standing.
Hava moved to follow him. Jake and Josh stood, but Makhahr held a hand up to stop them. They lowered back into their chairs and as Hava followed the gorgeous man out of the room, she could hear a heated debate building around the table.
Hava and Makhahr walked in silence through the large home where they had been meeting until he led her outside. She felt him step up close beside her and the heat emanating from his body made her stomach shiver. His hand touched hers between them and he pressed his palm to hers, intertwining their fingers.
"What do you see?" he asked, looking up into the sky.
She followed his gaze and saw a sky that looked just like what she knew, though she realized now that she was on a planet far from Earth.
"Stars."
"No," he said, shaking his head, "You see the memories of stars. The actual stars were there long ago. Things are not always as they seem, and what you see is not always is truly there at that moment. Sometimes you experience moments that should not have happened, and miss moments that should have. Sometimes you think you are experiencing something, when you are truly caught in a memory."
"The destruction of those civilizations…"
"Has at once just occurred and been history for millennia. It is because it was, and it was because it has always been. That is how these creatures operate. They utilize their knowledge of time in its entirety to both travel through and manipulate it."
"If they want the planet, why don't they just attack now? Why bother going through the hassle of setting up some complicated destruction?"
"Knowledge, is all they have. They are not strong enough to fight now, and even if they were, the warfare would put them at risk. This way, they are able to allow mankind to destroy itself while they are able to remain at a safe distance."
"Why does the timing of killing the Founding Fathers matter though? If you already know these men found the country and create the Declaration, why can't they just do it earlier than history says?"
"There are some moments that cannot be changed. The Declaration is one of these moments. That singular action changed the course of humankind. The warriors have already arrived in that time. They can only change the patterns once. If we can hold them off until the Declaration is written and distributed, they will never be able to change it and it will destroy them."
"Can this moment be changed?" she asked softly.
Makhahr turned to her and she felt his hand cup her face. She let him guide her around so that she looked into his eyes and her body brushed his.
"No," he whispered, "You were meant to be here. That is why the portal opened for you. This moment is and will always be."