Chapter 6

Julie awoke to find herself within a restricted tube-like structure. It was dark and she couldn't see. As she reached outwards, she could feel bars. Then the tube was lifted away. At first, she was blinded by the light as her eyes had to adjust to the ambient light levels. She immediately heard a male voice.

"Heads up, kiddo, we've got company" said the voice, belonging to an unfamiliar young man in a cage similar to the one she was in. In another cage was a young blonde girl, more familiar.

"Cally? Is that you Cally?" asked Julie. The girl was Carol, but not the one she had dined with earlier that week. This one was much younger. Carol turned to see Julie.

"Jools? You . . . you look older? What happened?" asked Carol. Julie felt confused. She rubbed her eyes, convinced she'd been dreaming.

"Me? What about you?" asked Julie. "You're a kid!"

"I'm sixteen!" protested Carol. "And I'm the same age as you – at least I should be."

"If you're sixteen," said the young man to Julie "you must have slept a few years."

"Oh, shut up Ginge, you're not helping!" said Carol. "How did you get here?"

"I was thrown into the swirls by Brian. I don't think you know him. I think Elizabeth called it hyper – something" said Julie.

"Hyperspace" said Carol.

"That's it. Hyperspace. Then the next thing I remember is waking up here" said Julie. She was aware of something on her head. She lifted her hand to touch it, but pulled it away when she received a shock. "Oww! What's this? You've got one too. But you haven't, er, Ginge is it?"

"That's me love. Don't need one, apparently" said Ginge.

"Ginge is a Sap" said Carol. "He's not telepathic."

"Telepathic? You mean you . . . not you as well. Liz said you weren't" said Julie.

"As well as who?" asked Carol.

"That boy Shaun, and your friend Elizabeth" said Julie.

"I don't know anybody called Elizabeth" said Carol.

"You know Elizabeth? John's friend. You know John and Helen?"

"John and Helen? I know a John" said Carol, trying to make sense of the situation. "We must still be in Hyperspace! We must have drifted into the future!"

"Now I know I am dreaming" said Julie.

"No honestly," said Carol "for me now, the year is 1973. I'm sure you must come from at least thirty years on from then."

"And then some more" said Ginge. Julie did not appreciate this comment.

"They must have made Peter take us into your time. But why?" said Carol.

"Who?" asked Julie. "Who's Peter?"

"Peter's a Time Guardian. Rabowski and Jedikiah must have forced him to use the Time Key to take us to your time." Said Carol.

"This is far too surreal" said Julie. "Only last week, we met up for the first time since we were . . . well, your age I suppose, and now . . ."

"So I must get off this ship eventually?" said Carol. "That's a comfort." Just then, a door slid open and in stepped a large metallic android carrying a small blond boy, a uniformed man with a moustache and a bearded man. Copin, the android, placed the boy, Peter, who appeared to be fatigued, on a platform, while the uniformed man, Rabowski, operated a switch on the wall, lowering a cage over the boy.

"I see our new guest is awake" said Jedikiah, referring to Julie.

"Let me go immediately, and get this thing off my head" protested Julie.

"What? And have you popping off into the ether? I don't think so" said Rabowski.

"Julie's not a telepath" said Carol.

"What?" asked Rabowski.

"Julie's not a telepath" repeated Carol. "So you can take that band off her head."

"That's right Napoleon" said Ginge. "One of us!"

"Is that so?" asked Rabowski. Julie nodded her head. "A proper human. Like me? Well that's encouraging. You know , I always dreamed of this. The rise of Homo sapiens. We could repopulate the world."

"Not with me, you wont!" said Julie. Rabowski laughed. "Now get this thing off my head!"

"Certainly, my dear" said Rabowski.

"No!" retorted Jedikiah. "Don't trust her. I know these Tomorrow People. They cannot be trusted."

"She's not a Tomorrow Person!" said Carol.

"You see how they lie?" said Jedikiah, grandstanding. "The silencer band stays! Copin, come!" The door slid open and Jedikiah stepped through, followed by Copin, reluctantly followed by Rabowski.

"I give the orders round here!" protested Rabowski. "This is still my ship!" The door closed behind them.

"So this is Peter, is it?" asked Julie.

"Yes" said Carol.

"Very young, isn't he" said Julie.

"He's a lot older than he looks" said Carol.

"I am here, you know!" protested Peter. "Something's not right here."

"What's that, Sunshine?" asked Ginge.

"I'm not sure. It's just a feeling" said Peter.

"Well, I have some encouraging news" said Carol. "Julie met up with me. In the future! You know what that means don't you? It means I get out of here. And if I get out, then you and Ginge probably do too!"

"Stop it!" shouted Peter.

"What?" said Carol.

"Stop it!" said Peter. "That's it! It's you" Peter said pointing at Julie.

"Me?" said Julie.

"Yes, you!" said Peter. "You shouldn't be here!"

"You won't get any argument from me on that subject" said Julie.

"No, I mean you shouldn't be here. It's wrong. It's an anomaly" said Peter.

"I can't see anything wrong" said Carol.

"You've not been trained like me" said Peter. "Your friend shouldn't be here. She was never meant to have been. The Laws of Time have been broken."

"Oh dear," said Carol, "what can we do?"

"What you know, you mustn't tell Carol" said Peter to Julie. "You haven't told Carol anything about your own time, have you?"

"Only that I met up with Carol and her friends last week" said Julie. "Was that wrong?"

"Your present or immediate past is the future to Carol. If you tell her about her future, even the most trivial of items, it may affect her future and your present" explained Peter.

"So what do we do now?" asked Ginge.

"You'll have to forget anything Julie tells you" said Peter.

"Julie mentioned my friend John" said Carol. "Do I have to forget him?"

"No," said Peter.

"And what about Elizabeth and Helen?" asked Carol. "I don't know them now, but Julie says we will be friends in the future."

"You will have to forget about them. You will get to know them in the future, but for now you must forget them" said Peter. He furrowed his brow. "Something's still not right. The time continuum is still disturbed. But why? What's going on?"

Shaun sat on the settee in the front room, watching the television. Rachel entered and sat next to him.

"What are you watching?" asked Rachel.

"Cricket" answered Shaun.

"Oh" replied Rachel. "I don't understand cricket. My dad likes it though. Who's playing?"

"England and Sri Lanka" replied Shaun.

"Oh" replied Rachel. "Which one's which?"

"Even you should know which one's which!" said Shaun.

Rachel paused for a moment before speaking. "So who's winning?"

"It's hard to say" said Shaun. Rachel casually swung her legs onto the settee and rested her feet on Shaun's lap, much to his amazement.

"You don't mind, do you? My legs are aching" said Rachel.

"No, not at all" said Shaun, nervously.

"It's nice to get away from Liz sometimes" said Rachel. "She can be a bit of a mother hen. I don't think she understands young people like us. You understand me , don't you Shaun?"

"Yeah" said Shaun, trying not to look at Rachel.

"You're quite handsome, aren't you" said Rachel. Shaun felt uncomfortable. After a pause, Rachel spoke again. "Have you got a girlfriend?"

"No" replied Shaun.

"I thought girls would be queuing up for you" said Rachel. "What about that American girl?"

"Chandra? She's far too old for me!" said Shaun, still not daring to look at Rachel.

"She's very pretty" said Rachel. "Don't you think she's pretty?"

"She's okay I suppose" said Shaun.

"Do you think I'm pretty?" asked Rachel.

"You're okay" replied Shaun.

"Just okay?" said Rachel. "Do you think I've got nice legs?"

"Rachel!" protested Shaun, embarrassed. "I'm trying to watch the cricket!"

"You're not even looking! Look at my legs!" said Rachel. Shaun uncomfortably glanced at Rachel's legs.

"Very nice" said Shaun.

"Who do you think is prettier? Me or Chandra?" asked Rachel.

"That's not for me to say" replied Shaun.

"Oh come on!" said Rachel, seductively, sitting up and positioning herself right next to Shaun. "I think you're very handsome." Shaun's face turned bright red. "I'm not too old for you, am I?"

"No, of course not" said Shaun, turning to look at Rachel for the first time.

"Is there anywhere we can go? I mean somewhere Elizabeth doesn't know about? I mean we wouldn't want her walking in on us. She wouldn't understand."

"Come with me" said Shaun, rising to his feet and taking Rachel's hand. He led her to a door at the back of a kitchen which led to a flight of stairs. Opening the door, he switched on the light before leading Rachel down the stairs. "Elizabeth would never think of looking down here."

"Looks like the new boy's coming round" said Ginge as Lyndon regained consciousness within his cage. "You okay sunshine?"

"Yes, I think so" said Lyndon, getting to his feet. Looking round, he saw Julie in her cage. "Are you okay Julie?"

"Yes" said Julie. "Reasonable under the circumstances. By the way, don't touch that band on your head"

Regaining his focus, Lyndon looked round and saw a youthful looking Carol. "Auntie Carol, is that you?"

"Sorry, I don't think I know you. What did you call me" said Carol, puzzled.

"Auntie Carol" said Lyndon. "You are Auntie Carol aren't you? You look so young."

"Janice's boy" explained Julie. Her comment only confused the situation.

"Julie, Janice is only five!" whispered Carol.

"You're missing the point" said Peter. "Janice is five in your time, but in Julie's time, she is his mother. We're not parked in 1973 anymore."

"So now I have a nephew who's nearly my age whose mother is my five year old sister?" said Carol, struggling to take it all in.

"This is not good" said Peter. "There are definitely some temporal anomalies here."

"What kind?" asked Carol.

"I don't know" said Peter, "but I'm sure we shouldn't all be here like this."

"Where's my AE suit?" asked Lyndon looking down at his attire. "And what have they dressed me in. It looks like I'm wearing pyjamas!"

"AE suit?" asked Carol. "You mean you're like me? A Tomorrow Person?" Lyndon nodded his head.

"Carol, you're making things worse" protested Peter, but Carol could not resist.

"What about Janice? What about your mum. Is she?" asked Carol. Peter shook his head in disgust.

"No, she's not" said Lyndon.

"But she's younger than me - a lot younger. Are you sure?"

"I'm sure Auntie Carol. She's more of a wannabe" said Lyndon.

"Carol, I must protest" said Peter.

"What's your name?" asked Carol.

"Lyndon" said Lyndon. "Lyndon Carl Parry. Am I on the space ship?"

"Yes. Rabowski's ship" said Carol. "Although it increasingly looks like Jedikiah's well and truly in charge."

"Jedikiah!" said Lyndon.

"Yes. He's a sort of . . . " said Carol

"I know all about Jedikiah" sad Lyndon. "Is Jedikiah on this ship?"

"Yes" said Carol. How do you know about him?"

"Don't answer that!" warned Peter, but it was too late.

"We've met him before" said Lyndon.

"So what is he up to?" asked Carol. "I'd lay odds that he's behind these time disturbances."

"Why not ask him" suggested Ginge. "The bad guys can't resist spilling the beans about their plans just before they . . ."

"Before they what?" asked Carol.

"Nothing" said Ginge. "Forget I said anything.

"Before they kill you" said Julie. Just then, the door slid open and Jedikiah walked in.

"Right on cue" said Ginge.

Jedikiah glided into the room and looked directly at Lyndon. "So good of you to join the party" he said. Lyndon looked at him but failed to recognise him. "I am Jedikiah." Lyndon seemed confused.

"Jedikiah is a shape shifter" said Carol, realising that Lyndon had not recognised Jedikiah.

"What are you up to, big fella?" asked Ginge.

"All that will become apparent before too long" said Jedikiah.

"Okay, but for all we know, you might be about to top us all" said Ginge. "How about letting us in on it?"

"Very well," said Jedikiak, pacing around the cell. "I recently received a trans-temporal message from my future self."

"That must be what caused the temporal disturbance" said Peter.

"A message from my future self detailing my future, and in particular details of the treatment metered out to me by the likes of the Galactic Federation and in particular, the Tomorrow People" said Jedikiah before turning to Peter. "With the tale of one particular act of treachery by you! Well, my dear Peter, this is your chance to make amends. With your help, once I have final clearance from my future self, I will take my place on Earth and continue my fight to rid the world of the scourge of the Tomorrow People."

"You haven't heard from your future self for a while, have you?" asked Lyndon.

"I will when the time is right" said Jedikiah.

"No, you won't" said Lyndon.

"I refuse to get into a pointless argument with you, child" said Jedikiah, raising his voice.

"He's dead!" said Lyndon.

"What!" yelled Jedikiah.

"He's dead" replied Lyndon. "And I killed him!"

"Impossible!" yelled Jedikiah.

"But before he died, he became one of us" said Lyndon. Jedikiah was transfixed by this comment. "Jedikiah died a Tomorrow Person!"

"Enough of this insolence!" yelled Jedikiah, appearing strained by this sudden burst of information.

To everyone's amazement, Lyndon jaunted from his position in his cage to find himself standing directly behind Jedikiah. He reached and lifted the silencer band off his head and, unseen by Jedikiah, placed it crown-like on Jedikiah's head. Jedikiah wobbled on his feet, apparently paralysed. Lyndon stepped out of his way in time before his giant frame collapsed, lifeless on the floor.

"You've killed him!" said Julie.

"I don't think so" said Peter. "Technically, he was never alive, so you haven't killed him. But as well as that, the temporal disturbance has calmed by quite a lot."

"Okay, kid, you can let us out now" said Ginge. "There's a control panel on the wall." Lyndon took a few steps towards the panel before being stopped.

"No!" yelled Peter. "Don't do it!"

"Peter! What are you saying?" said Carol. "This is our big chance to escape!"

"Things are still not right. The disturbance patterns are still bad, and are likely to get worse if Lyndon lets us out" said Peter.

"Come on!" said Lyndon. "What am I to do?"

"What harm would it do?" asked Julie. "We already know Carol gets released,"

"What about me? There's no evidence that I get out of here" said Peter.

"You probably do" said Carol.

"Probably isn't good enough" replied Peter.

"It'll do for me" said Ginge.

"What about Rabowski. And Jedikiah" said Peter. "What becomes of them?"

"Who cares?" said Ginge.

"I just know that the disturbances say that Carol, Ginge and I should remain. It's a fixed point" said Peter.

"What if you go?" asked Julie.

"Then we won't be around to have an influence on what happens to Rabowski and Jedikiah. And if something wrong should happen . . . well, they say you can't unring a bell" said Peter.

"Okay, I'll do as you say, but you better be right" said Lyndon as he took the silencer band from Jedikiah's head and turned to Julie. He put his free hand through the bars of her cage. "Take my hand" he said. Julie took his hand, and the two of them dematerialised.

"What do you make of that?" asked Ginge.

"I just don't know what to think" said Carol. "I just thought they might at least have let us go."

Jedikiah silently raised himself to his full height and walked through the sliding doors without noticing that there were two empty cages.

"I know what's happened" said Peter. "The temporal disturbances have nearly gone now. Everything is as it should be. Everything is as it was before Jedikiah was contacted by his future self. Just one last thing left to do." With that, Peter touched the ring on his left hand, which emitted a just audible hum. "I'm sorry, friends" he said as Carol and Ginge passed out, and their memories of the events caused by the temporal disturbance were erased.