Past, Present, and Future Read online

  *

  In another week a second time jump happened, occurring while Melanie had been in the middle of her normal morning jog through the park.

  This time, she wasn’t on some smoky street in the distant past, but rather in a long hallway that looked like a set on a high-budget sci-fi show. For a moment, she thought she’d been transported to some lab or disease control center on Earth, before that theory was crushed as she moved a few steps forward and was treated to a beautiful view of the planet Earth, circling low below her, the vastness of outer space reaching above.

  Placing a hand on her chest in shock, Melanie stumbled backwards until her back bumped up against the wall. It was cold and hummed with power.

  “Who are you?” a young black man, whom she immediately noticed was rather attractive, blurted as he rounded the corner. It seemed as though she’d startled him just as much as he’d startled her.

  “I… I shouldn’t be here,” Melanie said, her voice hitching, and to her immense embarrassment she began crying. The pounding stress in her chest reached a breaking point and she could no longer hold it in.

  The young man looked thoroughly confused and afraid of what he’d walked into – a teenage girl he’d never seen before appearing seemingly out of nowhere and then breaking down in tears when questioned. He stood there for a moment, completely bamboozled, until realization dawned on his face, chasing away the shadows of doubt. “Oh my God, you’re one of them!”

  “W-What?” Melanie managed to sniff out, wondering how much worse this could get.

  Not responding to her immediately, the man pulled a small handheld device from his belt in a flash and spoke into it. “Ma’am? Come down to the life support ring immediately. I have a situation.”

  Turning back to Melanie, he said, “Hey, it’s clear. Sorry to scare you. You just kind of caught me in the ringer.”

  His words caused her brow to furrow in confusion. “Ringer?”

  “You surprised me,” he said, his eyes widening, as if her inability to understand was some kind of proof he’d been searching for. If he’d held any doubts before about who or what she was, he didn’t seem to be harboring them now.

  The hissing sound of an automatic door opening came from the opposite end of the hallway, and Melanie jumped and looked over her shoulder, not wanting to be caught unaware. Footsteps echoed loudly throughout the hall as four people, most certainly human, came into view. A tall woman, also black, wearing a black jacket and pants with a pink and white floral top peeking through was at the lead. She was flanked by three people who looked very much like soldiers, and Melanie would know, as her brother was a Marine. Two were men and the last was a woman, all with hair cut short and futuristic-looking guns at their hips.

  “Forgive me, but I must have you searched, to ensure you pose us no threat,” the woman said, matter-of-factly but not unkindly.

  Not having much choice, Melanie nodded, her palms sweaty and her arms trembling. With a nod from the woman who appeared to be in charge, one of the men stepped forward. When he reached out to put his hands on Melanie, she flinched away, and he stopped, confused.

  Realization dawned on the woman’s face. “My apologies.” It was as if Melanie’s reaction had proven what she’d already expected. “Neela, would you mind?”

  “Of course not,” the soldier-woman said. Melanie was surprised and a bit confused as to why they had sent a man to pat her down in the first place. She was even a little more surprised that people in the future, if she was indeed in the future, seemed not to care about gender issues that had been sensitive in her own time. The man stepped back and Neela came forward, raising her hands in a permissive gesture. Melanie nodded her approval and Neela gave her a quick pat down, paying special attention to the baggy cargo pants.

  “All clear,” Neela said, backing away.

  “I’m sure you have a lot of questions,” the woman in charge said gently.

  “I’m just hoping you have some answers,” Melanie answered honestly.

  The woman nodded her understanding. “Jerah, please take her to the third meeting room. I will be there shortly.”

  The young man she’d encountered first bowed his head, flashed a hopeful bright smile, and said, “Follow me?”

  In spite of the situation and how much fear and confusion she felt, Melanie found herself trusting this young man, this Jerah. “Lead the way.”

  She followed him down corridor after corridor, her eyes drawn to every new and strange thing they came across. They passed what appeared to be a lunch room of some kind, with humans of all shapes, sizes, and ethnic groups (no aliens, she noted) gathered around tables, some sitting quietly while others chatted excitedly. Next they proceeded by a reading room that seemed to be adjacent to some kind of library. Several young men and women were hunched over various books, an adult man, who may have been a teacher, watching over them. A final room appeared to be some sort of gym, with all kinds of workout equipment carefully placed throughout. There were buff men lifting weights and old women who probably couldn’t have walked on their own strapped into machines to keep them active.

  Finally, they came to a locked room at the end of the hall, with an intricate floral design adorning the door. Jerah inserted an interesting combination of a card and small key thats blade was a chip into a small hole in the door. A green light flashed and the door slid open. Inside was a small meeting room, a medium-sized wooden table with a shiny top in the center. The walls were the same bright white as the rest of the… she guessed it was a space station, and a few bookshelves decorated the back wall, all adorned with books that appeared to be antiques or older.

  “Tanya will be here in just a moment,” Jerah said. “So make yourself comfortable.”

  Melanie sat, suddenly besieged by the worry that she would vanish before this Tanya could arrive and provide her with some answers. “Please tell her to hurry,” she said as Jerah was about to shut the door.

  “Why?” he asked quizzically, hand pausing in midair.

  “I don’t know… how much longer I’ll… be here,” she finished lamely.

  Jerah’s eyes widened, as if he hadn’t thought of that. “Right. I’ll tell her to hurry down.”

  Ten tense minutes passed as Melanie went from tapping her fingers on the table to striking out a beat against the floor with her foot. By the end of her wait, her whole leg was moving in an undulating motion.

  She had been just about to get up and leaf through the books, hoping to discover something about the world she’d found herself in, when the door opened again and Tanya stepped into the room, carrying a paper folder. Without saying a word, she sat down across from Melanie and regarded the newcomer with a warm expression. “I suppose I should welcome you. To the future.”

  At that point, Melanie wasn’t even surprised. If she had gone back to the Victorian Era last time, then it made perfect sense she could also jump into the future as well. But she had to know more, and, hopefully, Tanya could help shed some light on what was happening to her.

  “It’s… amazing. A lot better than it could have been,” Melanie said, glancing at the impressive space station around them.

  Tanya’s face fell a little. “It’s actually not as good as you might think.” At Melanie’s confused look, she continued. “Earth experienced environmental catastrophe ninety...” she paused, thinking, “ninety-six years ago. Only those who believed it was coming were able to get onto the space stations in time.”

  “Oh,” Melanie said, her enthusiasm brutally murdered.

  “With any luck, there will be time for a history lesson later,” Tanya said. “Honestly, I don’t even know how much I should tell you, but I suppose there isn’t much anyone can do about that, because you have been given a gift. An extraordinary gift.”

  “This… power?”

  Tanya’s smile was warm, motherly. “Yes. We’ve been studying it for many years, ever since the first Jumper (Melanie thought that term was a little… unfortunate) came to the att
ention of our scientists.” She paused to open and leaf through the folder. “Sorry,” she apologized, “I wanted to go get this in case you had any questions I couldn’t answer or I forgot something important.”

  “So, what do you know about this power? How does it work?”

  “Based on the individuals we’ve interviewed – and all were tested, I should add, for indications of lying – it appears each Jumper has three “anchor times” that, when they Jump, they always return to. One, of course, is their present. The other two can be any time, any place.”

  “So my two would be Victorian London and here,” Melanie said, understanding.

  “Victorian London? That’s a new one,” Tanya said, sounding genuinely intrigued. “There are a couple of historians and one huge Charles Dickens fan who are going to want to talk to you.”

  “So how can I control it?”

  “The power can be controlled, but only to an extent,” Tanya said, now looking at the notes. She paused to read, and then summarized, “Essentially, when you feel the temporal pull coming on, you have to resist it. Once it passes, you will remain in that time period until the next, wave, I guess we’ll call it, comes.”

  That was a relief. This power was starting to sound better and better. A past and a future to explore, a future she might even be able to avert if the right people were told.

  “Here’s the downside,” Tanya said. “While you can learn to control it somewhat, there are only so many Jumps you can take.”

  That caused Melanie’s blood to feel transformed into water in a frosty lake. “How many?”

  “That, unfortunately, we’re not sure of. None of the Jumpers who have appeared in the recorded past ended up here on their last Jump. Most, as you’d expect, chose their home time. The most recent Jumper we know of was actually from Station Four, and she only Jumped four times before choosing to remain here until her death almost twenty years ago, when I was still in training. One Jumper chose to remain in Renaissance Italy, because he met a girl there he couldn’t bear to part with. As for a number, based on what we’ve observed and been told, our current best guesses are nine to thirteen.”

  “That’s a pretty wide range,” Melanie commented.

  “I agree, but it’s all we’ve got.”

  Melanie released a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding as her mind raced, going through all of her options and as many potential outcomes as she could come up with. “So, I’ve Jumped… three times now. So that means I have six to ten left.”

  “With any luck, you’ll just… know when a Jump is going to be your last,” Tanya said. “The pull to shift will feel stronger, more final.”

  “Does that mean… there will be one of the three times I won’t be able to choose at all?”

  “Only if you leave your decision until the last Jump, yes,” Tanya said. “But until then, you have the right to do whatever you want with your power. There isn’t really anyone who can stop you, but I suggest you choose wisely.”

  “Is there a… possibility of changing the past, and therefore, the future?”

  “I don’t think so,” Tanya said. “None of the others caused any grand changes at all, even though I know for sure someone succeeded in saving his mother from dying. But when we looked up the family records, the mother was still dead. Perhaps you create new timelines every time you Jump. We have no real way of knowing for sure.”

  At that moment, the full realization of what was happening hit Melanie like an out-of-control freight train and she had to fight to hold back tears. When waking up that morning, she hadn’t expected to make such a decision. Her time in Victorian London had been odd to say the least, but a part of her had been convinced it was a dream, or at the very least an odd occurrence that would have no real impact on her life. Now, she knew what she was facing, and she wasn’t sure she could handle it.

  “I know it’s a lot to take in,” Tanya said, her voice coated in sympathy. “I can only imagine how I’d feel if I were in your place. And no matter how much time you have on Station Three, I want you to know that I wish you the best.”

  It was all Melanie could do to keep from breaking down. Her own mother had never been that kind to her, not even once. And she hardly knew this woman.

  After a long silence, Tanya spoke again, softly. “Do you have any other questions?”

  “I’m sure I’ll think of more once I’m gone,” Melanie said with a forced smile.

  “Whatever your final choice, you may spend as much time on Station Three as you wish,” Tanya said. “I’ve assigned Jerah to act as your guide. If you disappear and then come back, just ask for him and he’ll come right away, night or day.”

  “Thank you,” Melanie said. “Do you know where Jerah is now? I’d like to speak with him.”

  “He should be on his usual patrol now,” Tanya said. At Melanie’s confused look, she elaborated, “His job is to patrol Station Three at regular intervals to make sure nothing appears out of the ordinary.”

  “Is there any reason I wouldn’t be safe wandering the station alone?” asked Melanie, figuring that, since she had no idea how long she would have on Station Three before being tossed back in time, she might as well have a look around.

  “No, I can assure you, no harm will come to you,” Tanya said. She looked Melanie over. “Though I think your fashion might stick out a little.”

  “What should I say if I’m confronted?” asked Melanie, her enthusiasm for exploring the station starting to wane as the potential problems started revealing themselves to her. “Do other people know about… people like me?”

  “No, it’s not common knowledge,” Tanya admitted. “I sincerely doubt you’ll be confronted by a civilian, but here’s an extra card, in case.” She handed Melanie a plastic card similar to the one Jerah had used to open the room. “It will give you access to just about everything normal citizens have access to, and if you have it, no one will question that you’re supposed to be here.” Melanie glanced down and looked the card over carefully. It looked like just about any credit card, only thicker, and there was about an inch-long notch on one side.

  “What if I disappear in front of a bunch of people?” Melanie said, starting to border on hysterics. She knew it wasn’t logical, that she had no control over what happened, but she couldn’t help herself.

  “Then I’ll have to make a public announcement,” Tanya said, her voice adopting a soothing tone. “I promise you, you will not be harmed on this station under my care.” She then looked sad, that sorrow and sympathy oddly directed at Melanie. “Humanity has come a long way since your time. It just took losing our home and most of our population before we realized it.”

  Melanie looked at the card for several more seconds, lost in thought. Finally, she stood. “All right. I’m going to poke around. Is there a way for me to call you if I need anything?”

  Tanya pointed to a small speaker on the wall that had two buttons above it. “These are located in every room and throughout the halls. All you have to do is press the green button and ask to speak to me. Give your name and you’ll be put right through.”

  Melanie nodded, unable to think of any other questions at the moment. “In that case, I think I’ll be going. Thanks.” Not wanting to waste any more time, she went ahead and left. Taking a deep breath, she looked left and right down the hallway, mentally flipping a coin to see which direction she should take. After a few seconds of deliberation and tracing the map of the station she was drawing in her head, she opted to go left, as she was pretty sure she’d come from the right.

  She met Jerah at a small lounge a little ways down the hall, a small enclave off to the side with a few chairs and a couple of tables.

  “Hey!” he said enthusiastically, looking up as she approached. Melanie wore a happy expression of recognition, glad to see a familiar face. “Did Tanya fill you in on everything? I bet it’s pretty overwhelming.”

  “I’m just surprised how easily you’re taking this,” she responded. “I’d
think you saw time travelers every day.”

  “Well, not every day,” Jerah said with a smile. “We just know it to be possible, and so we recognize Jumpers when they appear.”

  “So is this power a kind of magic, or…?” she wondered aloud.

  “Now that I don’t know. I bet Tanya could explain the science of how we think it works, though. She was top of her class in the sciences at Station Three University.”

  “It’s… kind of hard to wrap my head around all of this,” she admitted. An awkward silence followed as Melanie’s gaze wandered out the window, where it always tended to go when she had no idea how to continue a conversation. “So, you can’t go back to Earth again?” she asked sadly as she looked at the once-magnificent planet below. There was a sickly brownish green color to it, even on the oceans.

  “Possibly not for another 100,000 years, according to our scientists.”

  “That’s so sad. In my time, I mean, it’s not perfect, but there are still a lot of untouched, amazing places on Earth. I don’t know if I could live in space like this.” She shivered a little bit. “It’s cold, and the air pressure is weird, and it feels so claustrophobic.”

  “I’m sure you’ll get used to it,” Jerah said, clearly trying to reassure her. “I’d like to go there someday, but I’m comfortable here. I can’t miss a place I’ve never been, right?”

  “I guess you’re right,” Melanie said, recognizing the logic but finding it difficult to truly understand. How could anyone not long to go back?

  After a brief moment of silence Jerah decided to speak again. “Can I show you around?”

  “I’d like that,” Melanie said with a genuine smile that quickly faded as she realized the world was fading away from her as it had three times before.