Needs Must

"What do you mean, 'two years' worth of memories'?"

Level VI Time Agent Hexley started to answer, but Level V Time Agent Jax didn't let him.

"I've done nothing to warrant it. Nothing! My assessments have always been excellent, so why the fuck am I being punished?"

Hexley sighed. "The order has come from high on, Jax. I haven't been given a reason for it, and none of my protests have had any effect."

"High on? How high on?" Jax asked, suspicion thick in his voice.

"The Captain himself."

That stunned Jax. "I wouldn't have thought he even knew of me." The mysterious, nameless Captain, who had headed the Time Agency ever since its foundation fourteen centuries earlier — if you believed the tales. Jax wasn't so gullible. His pet theory was that the man was as mortal as they come, and the title was just handed down once the bearer became too old. Or maybe he didn't even exist. After all, nobody Jax knew had ever seen him.

"I wouldn't either, but here you are. And between you and me, I'm not sure it's a punishment. You aren't to be demoted or jailed or anything."

"Why two years? It's not like I've had access to anything top secret recently. Well, not more top secret than usual at least."

"Jax, I don't know." His words sounded final and Jax swallowed his automatic protest. "Stop asking. I've told you all I know, and it isn't much, but there's nothing I can do about that. Now, you're going to report to Medical Bay 2F4 tomorrow at 0800. And Jax?" Hexley fixed him with his best glare. "You better be there."

Jax saluted sullenly. "Yessir."

At precisely eight o'clock, Jax let himself into the medical bay. There was already a man there looking out of the window, though instead of a doctor's coat he was wearing an almost floor-length blue-grey coat that Jax's expert eye placed as early 20th-late 23rd century fashion; not unusual among Time Agents. Jax adjusted his own bomber flight jacket self-consciously.

"Level V Time Agent Jax, reporting."

"Close the door, Agent."

"Yes, Doctor." As he moved to obey, Jax nearly missed the man's next words.

"I'm not any kind of doctor. I'm the Captain."

The man turned then, and Jax, for once in his life, found himself speechless. A buzzing noise grew until it filled his mind and his knees went weak; the only reason why he remained upright was the back of the chair he managed to catch.

"I'd offer you a hand, but somehow I don't think it would be such a good idea."

Blinovitch Limitation Effect. Of course. Holy fuck, the Captain was him! He was the Captain, or would be. This blew his mind.

"How?"

The Captain chuckled, but there was no joy in it. "You've been a Time Agent far too long to get to ask those kinds of questions about your personal future."

Jax nodded, his mind still racing. "But why this? Why take my memories?"

"Because it's already happened. Your memories have to be taken now, because that will set you on the path of becoming who I am." The Captain snorted softly. "Do you know, for years I tortured myself trying to remember what I'd done to deserve that. I nearly destroyed the world to get my memories back. And now I know there was nothing special about those two years. It had to happen because it had already happened."

"Isn't that the stuff of paradoxes?" He hadn't been the best student when it came to theory, but this was basic. B couldn't be the cause of A if A was the cause of B.

"Full points in Time Theory for you. Well! Time Theory as it is understood by humans." There was an irritating smirk on the Captain's face, as if he knew something Jax didn't. Which he probably did, but there was no need to rub it in.

"So?"

"I'm a special case."

As much as he liked to believe in his own uniqueness, that sounded quite dodgy to Jax, which must have shown on his face.

"And I've also got a hell of a lot more experience handling these kinds of situations, so trust me on that one."

Jax looked into his older counterpart's eyes and shivered. Maybe there was something to the immortal theory after all. He nodded and the Captain smiled sadly.

"The doctor will be along soon. Good luck, Jax of Boeshane. We won't meet again."

The Captain inclined his head and let himself out. Jax let out a long breath, unsure whether he should be relieved or afraid of that glimpse into his future.

END