Chapter 6.

I thought I was prepared to meet Shanna's friend…what I didn't realize was that the friend she was staying with was an extremely familiar looking man with a huge head and a nasal-sounding voice. I think I expected him to stop stirring the ingredients in the frying pan and look at me with recognition. Instead he just glanced at Shanna for an explanation.

"This is," she paused and looked back at me with curiosity in her green eyes.

"Lydia," I croaked.

"Lydia," she repeated and took off her coat, "Is it ok if she stays with us for a bit? She's been having some trouble with you know who."

Medulla looked up from the pan again, first at Shanna and then at me, "Sure, the more the merrier," he added a smile that I could tell was meant only for Shanna.

My face must have looked confused. She was a teenager after all and he was probably in his late twenties. If I hadn't been so distraught, I might have laughed at his obvious infatuation. The thought sobered me even further. If history had gone without interference, Shanna would have never come home to him. It was one more detail of this twisted affair to mull over. Unfortunately, I was not in the mind to mull…I just wanted to go to sleep and hope that tomorrow I'd wake up from this strange dream. With that thought I slumped into a nearby kitchen chair and leaned my head on the cool table.

Medulla and Shanna talked quietly. I tried not to listen. My head shot up as a plate was set down in front of me.

"Stir-fry," Medulla smiled, "My special recipe."

"Um, thanks," I said quietly and began moving the fried vegetables around with the fork given to me.

Meanwhile, Shanna related all that had happened that night. Medulla seemed to take special interest in every little detail. It was obvious that he was very angry about the whole thing. If I hadn't thought he held some kind of special affection for her before, it was now very obvious. He had begun to stab at his food with passionate outrage.

"So," he suddenly turned on me, "Time-traveler?"

I choked on a piece of chicken. My nose stung as I took a big gulp of water and tried to recover. "How'd you know?"

Medulla leaned back in his chair with a smug look that must have been an imitation of Sherlock Holmes. I almost expected him to say, "Now my dear Watson." But instead he just smiled and waited a few dramatic seconds.

"Well your clothes are an obvious giveaway. Strange style for this year. Also, according to the story, your companion disappeared and furthermore you were not surprised in the least by Shanna's micro-phone. A special invention of mine, but I deduce not an uncommon sight in your natural time."

The phone, I thought, feeling like an idiot. Of course I hadn't thought it odd that she had a cellphone. But they hadn't been invented yet. "So you designed the phone?"

Shanna rolled her eyes at me, but there was a secret grin there as well when Medulla began explaining again.

"Of course. It is made especially for Shanna's unique circumstances. The push of a certain button would alert me to any misfortune."

"Too bad it broke then," I answered, trying to hold back a triumphant chuckle.

"Yes, well…it is just a prototype. There is always room for improvement. Anyway, we are not here to talk about phones. What about you? We must have the full story if I'm to believe you are not a spy."

I tried to explain, as best I could, what had brought me to this place. Of course I had to leave some parts out. But the keen gaze of Medulla seemed to say that he hadn't missed my omissions. I wondered suddenly why he hadn't pursued a career as an interrogator.

"So I'm stuck here," I finished with a quiet voice. "And the Ministry still exists here as well as in the future."

"Well, we cannot know that for certain. By preventing Shanna's murder you allowed her to presumably provide testimony in court."

"When is the trial?" I asked hopefully.

"A week from tomorrow," Shanna answered, "I haven't been able to see my sister since the incident," she sounded regretful, "I would have liked to help her. Especially now…"

Medulla put a hand over hers and they shared a smile.

"Why especially now?" I asked.

"Well, the Ministry man…the one that," she cleared her throat, "My sister got pregnant. She didn't want to get rid of it. Said it wasn't fair to punish the child. I just can't imagine having that daily reminder of what happened."

"I think," I began carefully, "That you'd never forget something like that anyway."

"She told me, last time she saw me that she was going to name the baby Anna if it was a girl and-"

"Anna?" I interrupted suddenly, my tired eyes widening with surprise.

She looked miffed at the interruption, "Yes Anna if it's a girl and Aaron if it's a boy. Why? Is that important?"

I shook my head, but felt Medulla's steady gaze on my face, "No reason…don't worry about it." I feigned a yawn, "Do you mind if I get some sleep? It's been a long day."

"Of course," Shanna rose from the table and motioned for me to follow. Medulla's eyes bored into my back until we turned into the hallway.

"You can take the bed," she pointed to a single mattress in the small room, "I'll probably be up for a while anyway," Shanna ran a hand through her hair, "Kinda hard to sleep when you've almost been killed."

I nodded and watched her leave. Then I lay down on the bed, fully dressed and tried to find a position in which the buttons on my jeans pockets were not pushing into my backside, or my waist. Despite Shanna's assertion about troubled sleep, I found myself drifting off in a few moments. I desperately pushed away all thoughts about what had happened and hoped that they wouldn't haunt my dreams.

I woke suddenly and completely a few hours later. It took a few blinks before I remembered where exactly I was. But I was still clueless as to why I'd woken up in the middle of the night. Then I saw the shadowed figure leaning over my bed. My heartbeat thudded in my chest and shook my insides with frenzied force.

"Lydia," the nasal voice caused a wave of relief to spread over me. It was just Medulla. I sighed before he spoke again. "Shanna is dead."

I sat up and swung my legs over the side of the bed, "What?"

"Shanna is dead," he repeated slowly. "A gunshot to the head. He must have come in through the window. The silent alarm went off, but I didn't get there in time."

"Where was she?"

"The living room. Talking to her sister."

I took in a shaky breath of air, "My fault," I whispered, "It's all my fault. I should have known they'd follow us and find out where she was staying."

Medulla sat down next to me and in the darkness I could not see his face. Was he sad? Had he cried? Did his hand have blood on it from where he'd undoubtedly embraced her still form.

"It was not your fault," his voice was determined, "You did not pull the trigger, You did not start this whole affair. But, you must do something about it Lydia."

"Me?" I asked incredulously, "Medulla, I've already said I can't time-travel."

"I never told you my name," he said suddenly. "How did you know it?"

"Well," I fumbled, "I've met you, in the future…"

"Well Lydia, I still don't believe you are a spy. By all my calculations your story is true. So, you have prevented Shanna's death once and caused a great deal of trouble. We cannot stop it again…I am not an expert in the field of chronokinesis, but I theorize that such events have a way of pulling back into the right form. If she hadn't died tonight, I do not doubt that she would have been killed another day."

I couldn't believe how coldly he was speaking about all of this. He might of have been giving a lecture in class for all the emotion he put into the little speech.

"I still don't see how I can help."

"You can help by going back to your time, with incriminating evidence against the Ministry. It is the only way," he rose and went to the door. I could see his figure now, illuminated by the light in the hallway.

"Aren't you," I choked on the tears that suddenly came, "Aren't you upset about all of this?"

I barely glimpsed the tightening of his hand on the doorframe, "Shanna was a wonderful person and I-" he stopped on the edge of the sentence and shook his head. "I cared for her as I've never for anyone else. But tears aren't going to help. She deserves justice. The only way to bring down the Ministry is for you to bring a case against them in the future."

"But how? What evidence can we bring?"

"A written and signed testimony from her sister should help. And we can get the materials needed from her for some kind of DNA test. I'm sure, in your time there has been enough scientific advancement to allow doctors to determine the father."

"Yes," I nodded, "There is, but we'd have to have some idea of whom to test-"

"Shanna's sister can help you with that."

"This is all well and good, but I should probably remind you once again that I can't time-travel."

"You don't think you can, but I can perform tests that show whether you have some latent capability for it."

I wondered if I should save Medulla some time and tell him that I already knew from the Hero Haven system that I did have the potential for that power. "I have the potential, I've taken a test before that told me that."

"Well then," he sounded extremely pleased, "We have work to do. Oh and Lydia…stay in here until after the police leave," he paused and his voice was slightly huskier, "I do not want you to have to see her."

He was gone the next moment before I had time to acquiesce or refuse the wish. It was still late enough to afford me a few hours of sleep, but my mind was buzzing with so many different facts and emotions. I wanted to feel sad for Shanna, to grieve for her properly but somehow I felt myself adopting Medulla's view. I could do nothing for her now and I didn't have the expertise to mold time to prevent the necessity of her death. All I could do was try my hardest to follow Medulla's plan. Still, I knew somehow inside that I wouldn't ever have the ability to time-travel. I knew that secretly I didn't even want it. I'd seen and caused enough trouble without that responsibility.

You don't have a choice, I told myself. Not really. You have to do whatever you can to help sort out this mess.

My thoughts turned to Fintan who could be hurt or dead at this moment. I had to do this for him too. I'd already let him down once and I wasn't about to do it again.

AN: I am so sorry for the length of time between updates on this story. Circumstances in real life had forced me to temporarily abandon it. I am happy to say that updates should be quicker now. Thank you for your patience and all the wonderful reviews!