They were gone when Scott woke. Disappeared as quickly as they’d come. Scott looked at his watch. 11:05.

“Damn!” Scott cursed.

“I’m right here,” Yula’s voice came from outside. Her bright face peeked in the door of the cabin. She smiled and Scott smiled back.

“I thought you’d gone,” Scott admitted.

“We’re still here,” Yula told him. “Tenner and Xavier went to the woods. I stayed behind to speak to you.”

Scott creaked to his feet. Coffee. Strong, black coffee. He filled a pan with water and stuck it on what was left of the fire. Scott found two cups. He held one up to Yula.

“Yes,” she said. “I’d like to try it.”

Scott poured freeze-dried coffee into each cup.

“Sugar?” he asked.

“Yes, I’d like to try it,” Yula repeated.

“I don’t have any milk,” Scott admitted.

“Neither do I,” Yula said.

Scott laughed and looked at the girl. She hadn’t meant it as a joke. No sense of humor. Watch yourself. That was Lorraine’s problem, remember?

Scott poured water into the cups. It wasn’t hot enough, but Scott couldn’t wait. He’d often had it this way. He hoped Yula wouldn’t mind.

She made a face when the liquid reached the back of her throat.

“Thank you,” she said.

Scott laughed again. Still, she wasn’t joking. Maybe she’s just a good actress. Maybe she recites her lines straight.

“So what are you doing here?” Scott asked.

“I told you. We come from the future.”

“Yeah, I remember.”

“But you don’t believe me,” Yula said.

“No.”

“It’s true. In the future men and women don’t talk so openly. It’s a breech of etiquette. One must talk through a man. But Xavier thought this was best. He says you don’t trust him.”

“Tell me about it,” Scott said sarcastically.

“I did tell you,” Yula said.

“I was being sarcastic,” Scott explained. Is she that dense?

“I don’t understand,” Yula said.

“Never mind. Go on. You were going to explain what you’re doing here.”

“We come from the future to collect plants and animals. Ones that are extinct. We need two of everything. We collect them and try to breed them. It’s our last hope to survive.”

She said it sincerely, convincingly. Quite an actress. Why is she telling you all this? A simple “no comment” would do.

“I thought you should know the truth,” Yula said. “Xavier wasn’t sure and Tenner thought you deserved nothing. But I convinced them. It would be easy to say nothing, but I think we need your help.”

“What for?”

“We’re stuck here. We can’t go back.”

“Why not?” Scott asked. He couldn’t believe he was having this conversation. She’s nuts–that’s all there is to it. She believes it. She’s not acting–she believes. They’re from some institution. Or some kind of cult. They’ve been out here so long they believe their own stuff. Watch out. Could be dangerous.

“We won’t hurt you,” Yula told him. “We’re as afraid of you as you are of us.”

“You’re afraid of me?” Scott asked.

Yula laughed. It was a big, happy laugh, full of light in her eyes. Her teeth glistened and her mouth grew toward her ears. Scott wanted to see it again. She does have a sense of humor.

“I’m pretty scary, I gotta admit,” Scott said.

She laughed again, a bit forced this time.

Take it easy. Henny Youngman you’re not.

“I’m not afraid of you,” Yula said. “But Xavier and Tenner are. They’re men. They don’t trust their instincts. Besides, you shot Xavier with your gun.”

“I tried,” Scott said, remembering Xavier’s disintegration.

“He returned to the future,” Yula explained.

“When I shot him.”

“Yes.”

Scott finished his coffee. The water in the pan boiled on the fire. Scott used a dirty shirt as a pot-holder and made himself another cup. He looked at Yula’s cup–it was still full.

“None for you, I guess,” Scott said.

“No, thank you,” Yula replied and tried to take another sip.

Scott nursed his new cup. The liquid burned his lips but he didn’t mind. It was something real, something he understood.

Scott envisioned himself caught in their web, believing their religion, falling for the girl Yula. That would be easy. You’ve done it already. He’d be one of them, stalking the woods for plants and animals. Scott looked at Yula. Yes, she would be worth it.

Yula blushed.

“What?” Scott asked.

“What you were thinking,” Yula giggled.

Scott loved her giggle as much as her laugh. It was a little-girl giggle, unrelated to her age. How old is she? Twenty? Twenty-two? Scott wasn’t sure.

“I’m thirty-two,” Yula told him.

“You’re kidding.”

She shook her head. That’s a lie. Why is she doing this? Scott had never heard of a woman upwardly lying about her age. Unless she’s under eighteen…

“Where were you when Kennedy was shot?” Scott quizzed.

“I wasn’t born,” she came back quickly.

“So you’re not thirty-two.”

“Yes, I am.”

“When were you born?”

“August 29, 2216.”

“What year is it now?” Scott asked.

“2249.”

“That would make you thirty-three,” Scott shot back.

“On August 29,” she said.

Man, she’s good.

“Really?”

Yula nodded.

“Xavier asked me to bring you when you were ready,” Yula said, changing the subject.

“To the future?” Scott ribbed. Yula didn’t laugh.

“No, we’re stuck here,” she repeated. “Xavier’s agreed to show you what we’re doing. To convince you.”

Scott watched her. Don’t want to be convinced. Don’t care. Whatever she wants to do. Live and let live. But let me kiss her lips. And everything else. That’s all I want.

Yula blushed again.

Are you that obvious? Can she see it written all over your face? What the hell–we’re adults. Of course she’s desirable. So what if she knows it?

Scott thought back to the girl in the motel–the environmentalist. Kerry. Did she know too? Are you such an obvious dirty old man? Lorraine thought so. It was a thing between them, part of the reason they separated.

“We need your help,” Yula repeated. “Are you ready?”

Scott finished his coffee and stood.

“Ready as I’ll ever be.”

Xavier fiddled with a contraption the size of a small air-conditioner. It was crammed with wires, diodes and an array of circuit boards. Xavier hit a switch. Lightning sparked inside, shot up a tree and zipped across the wire

Scott had spotted earlier.

“Yow!” Scott exclaimed. “What is that?!”

“You wouldn’t understand,” Xavier said.

“Try me,” Scott challenged.

“It doesn’t work anymore,” Xavier told him.

“Why not?”

“You shorted it out.”

“That was the idea,” Scott said.

Tenner stood a little ways off, balling up his fists, glaring angrily at Scott. Yula pressed a hand to Tenner’s chest to calm him.

“Ignorance,” Xavier said, “will destroy us all.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Scott replied sarcastically.

Scott gazed over at Tenner. What’s with him anyway? He’s a hothead. Keep an eye on him. Wants to kill somebody. You.

While Xavier tinkered with the device, Scott tried to make conversation.

“Can you fix it?” Scott asked.

Xavier thought about it for a long moment. He was a strong man, hardened with age, but with thinning skin and dwindling patience.

“I can. But power is a problem. I need many watts of a special type,” Xavier sighed.

“Too bad,” Scott said.

Humor them. You don’t know what the hell they’re up to.

“Maybe it’s the alternator,” Scott joked. Xavier didn’t laugh.

“Why do we need him!?” Tenner screamed.

“One should learn discretion!” Yula hissed.

“He is nothing but an ignorant twentieth-century man!”

Tenner shouted.

“I hope we’ll be excused,” Yula said politely before she took Tenner’s hand and led him away.

They’re lovers all right. The end of it though. Tenner sees it, Yula sees it, and you see it. But nobody wants to say so.

Yula and Tenner talked apart from Xavier and Scott. Xavier went back to his machine. Scott stood awkwardly, afraid to speak, more afraid to run. When Yula and Tenner had come to an understanding, they returned.

“We’ll go collect specimens,” Tenner told Xavier. Xavier nodded. “Come with us,” Tenner invited Scott.

Scott shrugged. He didn’t like the look in Tenner’s eye. He’ll get you out in the woods and kill you.

“Please,” Yula pleaded. Tenner gave her a look.

You’d go anywhere with her. She knows that. Even to your death.

“Okay,” Scott said.

Scott followed, recognizing their footprints on the ground. When they were well into the wilderness, a place Scott had never been before, Tenner produced a tiny calculator from his pocket.

“Let’s start on animals,” Yula suggested. “We can’t transport plants and trees anyway.”

“Humph,” Tenner grunted and gave Scott another look.

He loves Yula. And he knows you do too.

Tenner and Scott sized each other up, reading each others’ thoughts.

“Start with ‘A’,” Yula told Tenner, hoping to avoid the fight that was surely coming. Tenner entered something into his computer.

“Aardvark,” he said.

Scott laughed.

“What’s so funny?” Tenner challenged.

“You don’t know?”

“You tell me.”

“You’d have to go to Africa for that,” Scott told him.

“Okay, then.” Tenner hit another button. “Aardwolf,” he announced.

Scott laughed again. Yula gave him a look. Scott tried to control himself.

“How about we just start looking,” Scott suggested.

“Whatever we catch, we catch.”

Yula and Tenner stared. Not the way they do things.

“You need everything, right? And you already got ants–I saw that. We’ll just capture critters, whatever they are. It’s the quickest way.”

Tenner shook his head at the foolishness of the idea. He went back to his tiny computer.

“Abalone,” he said.

“In the ocean,” Scott told him.

“Acorn,” Tenner shot back.

“Now you’re talking!” Scott said enthusiastically.

“Seeds!”

Scott looked down. They were everywhere, the beginnings of life: acorns, pine cones, nuts and berries. They filled their pockets. Scott scraped a beetle from a tree.

“Beetle something,” he announced.

“This isn’t scientific,” Tenner pouted.

“Forget science. Nature is knowledge. All that is nature you need, right? Worry about the balance later.”

They spent the rest of the day like that, running around the woods, collecting whatever they could find. Scott ran back for a couple of cardboard boxes. Soon they had filled them with crawling insects, tree seeds and worms.

Yula rarely spoke directly to Scott–it seemed it wasn’t allowed. Instead, she spoke through Tenner, as if she needed a translator. Still, it was crazy fun and Scott enjoyed every minute. Scott’s sarcasm left him. Whatever they were about, it was a harmless game, a project in the woods. Maybe there was something behind it, maybe not, but what did it matter, Scott reasoned. Kathy would love this. Wish she were here. Invite her up when I get settled. After these crazy people are gone.

When the sun descended below the horizon, they realized they were tired. And happy, Tenner included. Gone were their own cares and jealousies, replaced by the joys of discovery.

“Abcedif won’t like this,” Xavier told them as he looked at the boxes of teeming life they’d brought back. “He had a plan.”

“Who’s Abcedif?” Scott asked.

“Scientific coordinator,” Tenner explained. “He designed the gathering of samples.”

“Well, where is he?”

“In the future,” Tenner told him.

“Oh, right, that again,” Scott said, the sarcasm returning to his voice.

Why don’t they just drop that? Can’t they see it’s not working?

“So how’s the time machine going?” Scott dug further.

“I may be able to make it work,” Xavier replied.

“Well, don’t let me stop you,” Scott said. “Zap those puppies into the future.”

Scott pointed at the boxes of plants and insects.

“I can’t do that,” Xavier said.

Didn’t think so.

“There are some things I need,” Xavier told Scott.

It was a short list Xavier handed to Scott: a multitester, several DC batteries, a couple of transistors and insulated wire.

“Then I find out where we are,” Xavier said.

“The beginning of the twenty-first century,” Scott joked.

“Can you get them?” Xavier asked.

Scott looked at his watch. 5:15.

“Not until tomorrow.”

Xavier shrugged away his disappointment.

“Okay, tomorrow.”

copyright 2007 Brenda H all rights reserved

[tags]Brenda H, thriller, sci-fi, novel, science fiction, [/tags]