A Voyager in need
Chapter 1: Meet Lilly Morgan
"Can anyone tell me what a paradox is…Jeanie?"
The attractive, blonde student flipped her hair with an assured smile at her handsome professor. "A paradox is caused by a modification of the natural order of events as defined by the basic laws of physics."
"Very good, Jeannie! You actually studied the chapters I assigned. Now who would like to reiterate the chaos theory?"
The professor scanned the auditorium and his gaze rested on Lilly Morgan. He sighed when he noticed her face down. Her body moved rhythmically in a pleasant nap. He walked up and tapped her arm. She stirred and raised her head with a weak attempt to look alert.
"The chaos theory means that however small a change made in the past, the change made will have a greater and greater effect, as you look further down the time line." She blurted out.
The professor looked at her amazed and went back to his desk. "That is correct, Lilly. They say that you can retain a lot of information through osmosis."
The entire class laughed and Lilly turned beet red. She sat up taller in her seat and moved her long hair from her eyes.
"I'm sorry Professor Boyle, I just had a long night studying."
The professor waved his hand. "There's no need to give me a life story, you got the correct answer this time. I would hardly call singing disco-era Blondie songs in the "Purple Pit" studying."
Lilly held back a retort. She wanted to say aloud that he really enjoyed the show. Professor Boyle was conceited. He criticized his students in front of the class, but they never had a chance to defend themselves.
He carried on with his lesson. "Danny, could you give me an example of the chaos theory?"
"Sure, um, stepping on a flower could have an effect, and this change could create a different future."
"Okay, how so?"
"Well, teach, the flower you stepped on could die and that affects the pollination of the actual garden. You had white and pink flowers in the original time zone, but when you got to the future they're yellow and red?"
Danny smugly twiddled his thumbs; confident he gave an appropriate response. Professor Boyle was also satisfied.
"Good example, a minuscule one, but important to keep in mind nonetheless. It's also referred to as the Butterfly effect. Now if you all just apply your brains to the material you've learned in the last few months, this final exam should be easy."
Lilly grabbed held her ears. The piercing, discordant sound of the last bell sent shivers to her teeth. They used this particular one at the Academy to prepare the students for sound-barrier breaking noises that could occur when flying through the cosmos. She questioned that one, imagining if it happened often enough, nearly all the Field Workers would be deaf.
The students in 'Temporal Anomalies Course-B' scattered out of the auditorium. Lilly picked up her books and groaned at the giant clock on the back wall. The day was not half-over and all her physical courses were after lunch.
"Hey, Lilly bean-pole, why don't you come eat with us?"
Lilly cringed and turned to see Danny Delvecchio, a short guy with slicked back hair and puppy dog eyes. Danny tried too hard to hang with the A-list rookies, specifically the ringleader, Jeannie Hornsby. Danny was always cracking jokes about making bases with her. He poked fun at Lilly because of her height. Being five feet ten, Lilly was more than aware that she towered over many other girls. She'd put up with the jokes since puberty.
"Sorry, Danny bean-sprout, I have other plans."
"Hey, no need to get nasty, I get ya! You looked great at the club last night with that sparkly purple top and black make-up. When you sang that place was cranked!" He moved in closer, more than she wanted him to.
"Thanks, I knew 'One way or another' would get them moving." She referred to the eighties hit song from Earth.
"I don't know the eighties or disco, no big deal. We should all have a little fun before graduation." Danny pulled out his comb and ran it through his greased head, a very trademark sign of his fifties background.
"Right, only one month away. So Danny, 'Rock around the clock' is more your speed? That's cool. I love fifties music too." Lilly checked her watch. If any girl gave Danny the time of day he automatically wanted to go steady and boasted he had a closet full of Lettermans to give away.
"Hey speed-o, I have to jet and grab a chicken salad. Last time I had a heavy meal before the A-G chamber it was a disaster."
"That was grody, don't remind me, you created your own multi-colored universe that time."
"Yeah, very bad idea to have Mexican before a flight test." She blushed.
"Jeannie's giving me the eye, I better step on it."
Lilly rolled her eyes. Jeannie was actually looking at Tim Dawson who was standing behind Danny. Lilly grabbed his arms excited. "You're right, Danny! You better run like the wind!"
Lilly chuckled as he bee-lined to Jeannie and her flirtatious smile turned sour. She wanted to flaunt it every chance she got. 'Well, she's going to have to take the good with the not so good.' Lilly thought as she strode to the cafeteria.
Lillia Morgan was "plucked out of time" from the year 2007 at the ripe age of twenty-one. She'd lived a simple life in the sparsely populated regions of North Dakota, but she had an alarming desire for a better one. Her father had died when she was in her early teens and her mother left her for greener pastures with a boyfriend when she was twenty. She woke up one morning to find a scribbled note and a few hundred dollars to help her "get by."
Lilly took on the responsibilities of the house, grateful that she was an only child. However, her mother's departure with her father's insurance meant giving up her college dreams of broadcasting. She'd worked two jobs to keep up with the mortgage.
She took a job waitressing some evenings at 'Harold's Bar & Burger' where she often sang a few numbers for extra cash. She was also a part-time cashier at the local supermarket. Her Voyager calling began on a particularly reckless night after a late shift at the bar. When her jalopy had finally broke down she took to walking on the roads. It was not a smart decision since they were very desolate with inadequate light. One of the local drunks had sped in her direction, wavering all over.
Just as he was about to slam into her, she was blinded by a white light and landed in a blue waiting room. Everything was explained to her within the next few days and then she had a vital injection to suppress memories. Since the small frontal lobe procedure a year ago, she hadn't cared to recall much of her previous life. And that was the new procedure starting with all potential field Voyagers from her graduating class.
After eating a hearty salad she made her way across the extensive campus to the Voyager Training Unit. The V.T.U. was a series of imposing buildings that housed revolutionary knick-knacks and training implements to make a Voyager physically equipped for their travels. Despite the Steampunk atmosphere, technology at Headquarters was cutting edge and improving more every day.
The gym was open for use any time, but Lilly wasn't one to be found pumping iron. She did her required athletics to the best of her ability and swam a little on weekends. Lilly didn't understand why every new male Voyager felt they had to look like Arnold Schwarzenegger. She preferred Ferrigno. And the females were getting a little too bulky for her tastes as well. She'd heard about the steroid, Omega, being passed around campus, but she never touched the stuff.
The head of the gymnasium once told her that a Voyager shouldn't be soft; they needed to be firm bodied for those tough landings. If that was any sort of hint, Lilly took it with a grain of salt. She had a very healthy frame for a girl her size and the clinicians at one point told her gain a few pounds. However, she wasn't thrilled with her apple cheeks. Any weight she gained traveled warp speed to her thighs first. She'd also developed a self-deprecating humor about her size-eleven feet.
The latest rumor going around was that VHQ were discontinuing the older model omnis with their limited tracking range. The landings were unstable and many Voyagers had to be rushed to the infirmary with broken limbs. The newer omnis would still be brass and silver, but the OCC had perfected the science behind materializing human molecules. This was music to her ears. As tall as she was, Lilly was deathly afraid of heights. However, Voyager Academy still required that all students learn the art of "Cosmos flying."
~O~
Lilly came to the entrance of the Anti-Gravity chamber and splayed her hand on the activation pad. Her name and registration lit up on the screen along with a sleepy-eyed mug shot. A door buzzed open and revealed a white room. She put her bag down and went to her assigned spot. The course instructor was a Voyager named Olivia Dunn. She was a practical woman with years of experience under her belt. Lilly could tell she was an over-achiever with an aggressive spirit that moved her way ahead of her peers. However, Voyager Dunn had a listening ear for her students and was very knowledgeable about the whole occupation. More than once Lilly heard her shout at some students to quit it with their "stupid heroics." She'd imagined that Voyager Dunn was told the same and took it to heart.
"Okay rookies, this is it, the final month of aerospace training. You've made it past the hard stuff. You learned the science behind your cosmic voyages and you've even made a few test flights." She looked directly at Lilly with a dry smile. "Well, most of you have made it, but you can't give up. I guarantee, if you're actually doing your job, flying through the cosmos will become as common to you as eating and sleeping. It's a vital part of your career as a Voyager."
One of the students raised his hand. "Yes, Jim?"
"What about the new omnis they're working on in the OCC? Won't that eliminate the need for all these lessons?"
Olivia paced with her hands in her khaki pockets and laughed. "Well, as far as I know those omnis are still in a testing phase. We know how that goes. It is every Voyager's duty to accept this part of the job. Even if the new omnis come equipped with a materializing feature, there's always a chance of a malfunction. Even the earlier models went through a testy period after their upgrades. If the materializing button failed, your omni would still take you the old fashioned way. Through space in a near blink of an eye. Some of you have also expressed concerns. You will not be bodily harmed should one occur. Your pre-set functions will kick in and transport you through the cosmos the way us 'old-timers' have always done it. In most cases the omni will lock the materialization function from activation if it detects a problem."
Olivia grinned and blew a whistle. "So on that note, everybody up. You're each going to take a turn with the practice omni."
The practice omni was pre-set to take you forward through time within one-minute and pre-calculated to land you on the soft mats at the opposite end of the gym. However, the cosmic trip itself was no different than if you'd traveled between centuries. Lilly shuddered. She dreaded this day. All of her friends loved it. They said you barely realized that you were flying. It was like getting an extreme rush and then you landed. After the fright wore off it felt like being on a roller coaster. Lilly confessed she'd never done that.
For the next half-hour Lilly casually made excuses to shift to the back of the line. She did not go unnoticed by Olivia. She was finally called on after Missy Duncan landed with her new curly perm in disarray like tumbleweed.
"That was like, totally awesome! I can so like, do that again and again! It was like, so tubular!" Missy squealed in her Valley girl lingo.
Lilly cringed and stepped up to what they called the launching pad. Olivia made it quite clear that a Voyager never knows when or where they would have to "omni out" of a situation. Lilly felt like the chicken from her salad grew wings in her stomach and her heart fluttered. Olivia handed her the omni.
"Okay, Lilly, just take a few deep breaths and it will be over before you know it. Remember, your best bet is to fly with arms out at your sides, so you have a better chance of using them to soften the landing."
Lilly looked at her teacher with fear in her hazel-green eyes. Olivia and the rest of the class waited patiently while she toyed with the activator button to control her shaking hands. The little sing-song mantra she made up for herself played in her head.
"I'm ready to be extraordinary!"
Lilly pushed the button and the universe burst around her. She propelled faster than the speed of light. She knew she screamed the whole time, but she couldn't hear the sounds coming out of her mouth. For a few seconds, she was enraptured as the cosmos flashed by her in a whirl of vivid colors and dazzling lights. She vaguely heard the sound mimicked by the school bell grow louder and louder until she materialized through the ceiling of the A-G room. The noise died down to a whistle and she landed in a daze on the blue mat. She rolled over and kept herself face down, trying to control her quaking limbs. Everyone in class cheered.
"Lilly! You made it!" Olivia exclaimed, helping her to her feet. "Now you'll travel like a pro. It will only get easier."
"And you didn't lose your lunch!" A guy yelled from the crowd. This incited everyone to laughter.
For the remainder of the month, Lilly's response to flights eased and she passed all of her final exams. When graduation day came, she proudly held her new omni high with the rest of her classmates. She really did feel extraordinary.
