It was the first good night's sleep he'd gotten since… since as far back as he could remember. He and Jen had traveled to the past, staying in the cheapest hotel they could find. The beds were as comfortable as rocks, and considering the amount of stress they were under; he was surprised he'd gotten any sleep at all. After being in the 21st century for a few days, they returned home only to find themselves with new problems.
Katie's evil counterpart had killed an innocent man and attempted to take over Time Force. She was eventually stopped, but they had the unfortunate task of proving that their Katie was innocent. It took a lot out of everyone, but in the end, Katie was proven innocent and was set free.
The last few days had been complicated to say the very least, so his bed was a welcome sight when he returned home. He didn't even bother taking off his uniform before he flopped down on the bed, going straight to sleep.
It didn't take him long to drift off, but as soon as he got comfortable, it happened. The alarm went off.
Tommy struggled to reach over to his nightstand, trying to knock the clock off the stand without having to get up. Finally, he was successful, and as soon as the clock hit the ground, he let out a sigh of relief.
As soon as he felt himself drifting to sleep again, the phone rang.
"Damn it," he mumbled as he reluctantly sat up, wiping his eyes and yawning as he reached for the phone. The phone itself sat on the nightstand, and as soon as it pressed the button, Jen appeared on the small viewscreen.
"Good morning sleepy head," she said cheerfully.
"Morning? I just got home," he moaned.
"Tommy, that was like 12 hours ago," she mentioned.
Tommy leaned over the bed, picking up the clock he'd knocked over a few minutes ago, confirming that it was 0800 hours. "Oh God," he sighed.
"Looks like someone got up on the wrong side of the bed," she said.
"I haven't even gotten up yet, how can it be the wrong side?" he asked, yawning again.
"Sorry Tom, but duty calls. Its back to work, and we were all hoping you could come in a little early so we could surprise Katie when came in. You know it's her first day back since…" she was cut short.
"I'll be there," he sighed.
"Great. See you soon," she said, disconnecting the link.
Tommy slithered out the bed, heading into the bathroom. It didn't take him long to get out of his uniform and shower, letting the warm watch splash against him. If he hadn't been so tired, it would have been soothing.
He quickly got out the shower and changed into a clean uniform, grabbing an orange off the table and headed out the front door.
(*)
Trip and Camille sat next to one another at the table, closely examining the morpher closely. They'd been at it for hours, neither of them saying a word to each other. Not that there was a lack of conversation, but both used the excuse of being "buried in their work" to avoid talking.
The truth was, Camille had been consumed with thoughts of Trip – the moment they almost kissed. She'd been waiting for him to make a move, but was beginning to think that maybe he wasn't very interested in her. Maybe their relationship, in his opinion, didn't go any farther than a working one. She hoped that he was interested in her, and yesterday she confirmed her suspicions. As happy as she was to know that he felt the same, she wished that they had been able to finish what they started. 'If I throw myself at him, he'll think I'm a slut,' she thought to herself, trying to figure out a way to tell him how she felt.
"Do you see that?" he asked, finally breaking the silence between them.
"See what?"
"How this quadrastronic capacitor is set so high," he pointed out.
"It suggests that it was designed to bend light, almost like a…"
"Cloaking device," Camille finished.
"And the sight to sight transporter functions remind me a lot of the time circuits on board the time ship," he said.
"Are you suggesting that it would allow you travel through time without the use of a time ship?" she asked.
"I'm suggesting it was designed to do that, but whoever designed it didn't take into account the ionic instability of a vortex," he said.
"Can you fix it?"
"Not only can I fix it, I can modify our morphers to do the same thing," Trip said.
"You're brilliant, you know that?"
"So I've been told," he said.
Just then, Jen and Captain Logan walked into the room, heading over to the table.
"You two are still at it?" the captain asked.
"Thanks for giving us a chance to examine the white Chrono morpher. It's given us a lot of ideas for our morphers," he said.
"Such as?"
"Jen, can I see your morpher?" he asked. Without question, Jen removed her morpher, handing it to him. "The white Chrono morpher was designed with it's own cloaking device, and I think we can adapt that concept to ours," he told them.
"Great, keep me updated," Jen said.
"It shouldn't take long at all, just a few minutes," Camille said, removing her morpher and setting it on the table next to Trip's.
"Tommy isn't here yet?" the Captain asked.
"No," Trip and Camille said in unison.
No sooner then they responded did the door to the science lab open and Tommy walked in wearing a pair of deeply tinted sunglasses.
"Going for the Alex look I take it," Jen noticed as he walked in.
"No, going for the 'I'm not quite awake yet' look," he corrected.
"It works for you,"
"Is Katie here yet?" he asked.
"No, she should be here any minute. I just want make her feel welcome on her first day back," Captain Logan said.
"I hope she brings doughnuts," Camille said.
Just then, the door opened and Katie walked in. "Morning all," she said cheerfully.
"Welcome back Katie," Jen said, walking over to her and wrapping her arms around her. Katie obliged her, wrapping her arms around Jen as well.
"Its good to be back," she said.
"Katie, give me your morpher," Trip said.
Without dispute, Katie took her morpher off, handing it to him. "What are you doing?" she asked.
"I'm working on some modifications. It should only take a few minutes," he said.
"Before you get started, you need to give us an update on the slipstream," Captain Logan said.
Trip and Camille finally backed away from the table, heading over to the slipstream controls. "As you already know, Trip did modifications to allow Tommy and Jen to travel back to the 21st century. As soon as they traveled through, there was an overload of some sort and the modifications were fused into the slipstream circuitry. They in essence combined," Camille explained.
"Can you give it to us in English?" Katie asked.
"In addition to allowing us to travel to other realities, we can use it for time travel as well," Trip said.
"Are you saying we won't need the time ships anymore?" the Captain asked.
"I wouldn't shut down the time ships just yet, there's a flaw," she said.
"What kind of flaw?"
"The portal will allow us to travel back and forth through time, but we can't control when and where we'll end up. Its just as unpredictable as the slipstream was," Trip said.
"You mean we could end up in the past in another reality?" Jen asked.
"That's just it. It could be another reality, it could be our reality. We won't know until we get there," he told her.
"Well this is going to be fun," Tommy sighed.
"Is it safe?" the Captain asked.
"I don't foresee any problems, but I did plan to run a diagnostic first," he said, heading over to the control panel. He pushed a button, and the panel began to hum.
"Is it supposed to do that?" Katie asked.
"No, it looks like it's about to…"
He was cut short as a wave of energy shot out the slipstream. There was a flash of light, and everyone covered their eyes to shield themselves.
(*)
The alarm clock went off.
Tommy sighed with frustration as he reached over to the nightstand, knocking it off the table and to the floor. No sooner did he lay back down, the phone rang.
"Damn it," he mumbled as he reluctantly sat up, wiping his eyes and yawning as he reached for the phone. The phone itself sat on the nightstand, and as soon as it pressed the button, Jen appeared on the small viewscreen.
"Good morning sleepy head," she said cheerfully.
It was then that it hit him, something was wrong. He sat up, wiping his eyes, trying to shake the disorientation.
"Morning? I just got home," he said.
"Tommy, that was like 12 hours ago," she mentioned.
He leaned over the bed, picking up his clock. 'Please don't say 0800 hours,' he thought to himself before he looked. "Oh God," he sighed, realizing that it did in fact say 0800.
"Looks like someone got up on the wrong side of the bed," she said.
"Something like that," he mumbled.
"Sorry Tom, but duty calls. Its back to work, and we were all hoping you could come in a little early so we could surprise Katie when came in. You know……" she was cut short.
"I know, it's her first day back. I'll be there," he sighed.
"Great. See you soon," she said, disconnecting the link.
Tommy stood up, staring around the room strangely. Something seemed odd to him, but he wasn't able to put his finger on it. He put the blame on traveling back and forth through time the last few days, not to mention he hadn't slept well the last few days.
"As this time travel stuff is going to drive me crazy," he sighed to himself.
He quickly slid out his clothes and into the shower, allowing the warm weather to hit him. Although it was soothing, there was also something very familiar about it. Again, he blamed it on lack of sleep as he got out the shower, quickly got dressed. As he walked by the table, he grabbed an orange, then headed for the front door.
~
He arrived at Time Force headquarters a few minutes later, making his way to the elevator. As soon as the elevator door slid open, Ensign Harris greeted him.
"Hey Tommy, long night?" he asked.
"You could say that," he sighed.
"Here, you might be able to use these," he said, handing him a pair of sunglasses as Tommy stepped onto the elevator.
"Thanks," he said, putting them on.
"They kinda make you look like Commander Collins," he pointed out.
Tommy remained silent until the elevator stopped on his floor. He politely nodded at Ensign Harris, and then stepped off the elevator, making his way to the science lab. He stopped in front of the door, placing his hand on a plate on the panel in the wall.
'Identity confirmed. Welcome Tommy,' the computer announced as the door opened.
As soon as he walked in, it was Jen who made her way towards him. "Going for the Alex look I take it," she noticed.
"No, going for the…" he paused in mid sentence. "That's weird," he said.
"What?"
"I've got the strangest feeling that…" he paused, shaking it off. "Nevermind," he sighed.
"Is Katie here yet?" he asked.
"No, she should be here any minute. I just want make her feel welcome on her first day back," Captain Logan said.
"I hope she brings doughnuts," Tommy said, and then glanced over at Camille, waiting for her to say it.
"Yeah, me too," Camille said.
Just then, the door opened and Katie walked in. "Morning all," she said cheerfully.
"Welcome back Katie," Jen said, walking over to her and wrapping her arms around her. Katie obliged her, wrapping her arms around Jen as well.
"Its good to be back," she said.
"Katie, give me your morpher," Trip said.
Without dispute, Katie took her morpher off, handing it to him. "What are you doing?" she asked.
"I'm working on some modifications. It should only take a few minutes," he said.
Tommy took a seat at the table where Trip and Camille had been working, trying to put his finger on the strange feeling of familiarly that washed over him. He tried to tell himself that he'd gotten use to coming to the science lab everyday, and he knew how the others would normally react. 'That has to be it,' he thought.
"Before you get started, you need to give us an update on the slipstream," Captain Logan said.
Trip and Camille finally backed away from the table, heading over to the slipstream controls. "As you already know, Trip did modifications to allow Tommy and Jen to travel back to the 21st century. As soon as they traveled through, there was an overload of some sort and the modifications were fused into the slipstream circuitry. They in essence combined," Camille explained.
"Can you give it to us in English?" Katie asked.
"He means it'll let us travel through time and to different dimensions as well," Tommy said, recalling Trip saying something about it to him before, but wasn't sure where.
"That's right," Trip said.
"Are you saying we won't need the time ships anymore?" the Captain asked.
"I wouldn't shut down the time ships just yet, there's a flaw," she said.
"What kind of flaw?"
"The portal will allow us to travel back and forth through time, but we can't control when and where we'll end up. Its just as unpredictable as the slipstream was," Trip said.
"You mean we could end up in the past in another reality?" Jen asked.
"That's just it. It could be another reality, it could be our reality. We won't know until we get there," he told her.
"Well this is going to be…," he paused. "fun," Tommy sighed.
"Is it safe?" the Captain asked.
"I don't foresee any problems, but I did plan to run a diagnostic first," he said, heading over to the control panel. He pushed a button, and the panel began to hum.
"Is it supposed to do that?" Katie asked.
It was at that moment that things began to clear up for him. By the time he realized something was going on, it was too late.
"No, it looks like it's about to…"
Trip was cut short as a wave of energy shot out the slipstream. There was a flash of light, and Tommy covered his eyes to shield himself.
(*)
The alarm clock went off.
This time, Tommy sat up in the bed quickly, not even bothering to knock the clock off the nightstand. He simply picked it up and turned it off as he checked the time.
"0800 hours," he mumbled to himself.
Just then, the phone rang. "What the hell is going on?" he mumbled as he reached for the phone. He pressed the button, Jen appeared on the small viewscreen.
"Good morning sleepy head," she said cheerfully.
"I know, today is Katie's first day back and you want me to come in a few minutes early, right?" he asked.
"Yeah, looks like someone got up on the right side of the bed," she said.
"Something like that. I'll be there," he sighed.
"Great. See you soon," she said, disconnecting the link.
This time Tommy got up, neglecting to shower or change clothes. He simply headed out the front door, hoping to make sense of the situation.
~
As soon as he got to Time Force headquarters, he stopped in front of the elevator. 'Either I'm crazy, or Ensign Harris is going to be there,' he thought. As soon as the elevator door slid open, sure enough, Ensign Harris greeted him.
"Hey Tommy, long night?" he asked.
Instead of answering, Tommy ran around the corner and headed for the steps. He ran all the way to the fourth floor, making his way to Alex's office. As soon as he got there, Alex was heading out the door.
"What's your rush Tommy?" he asked.
"I need to talk to you,"
Alex noticed the distress in his voice. "Come in my office, have a seat," the two of them walked back into the office, sitting down across from one another. "What's going on?"
"You've dealt with time travel before; have you ever felt like you were reliving the same day over and over?" he inquired.
"I get that feeling without time travel some time. It's just the routine you've gotten into, that's all," he told him.
"No, that's not it. I thought that at first, but this is the third time it's happened," Tommy pointed out.
He paused. "If what you're saying is really happening, it would mean you're caught in a causality loop," he said.
"What?"
"It's the technical definition for what you described,"
"But how did it happen?"
"There are several ways a causality loop could be formed. The most common way would be a surge of ionic energy, but if you were caught in a loop, you wouldn't have any knowledge of it," Alex pointed out.
"There has to be something that makes me different from everyone else," he thought outloud.
"Well, you're the oldest person in history," he mentioned.
"That couldn't be it, there has to be something that…" he was cut short.
"Do you hear that?" Alex asked.
"What?"
"Sounds like humming," he said.
Just then, there was a flash of light, and Tommy shielded his eyes to protect them from the light.
(*)
The alarm went off.
"This is getting ridiculous," Tommy snapped as he sat up in bed, knocking the clock off the nightstand. No sooner did the clock hit the phone did the phone rang.
Realizing it would be Jen, he opted not to answer it, simply putting on his shoes and headed for the front door.
~
'If I'm caught in a causality loop, there has to be something that triggers it,' he thought to himself as he walked to work. It didn't take him long to figure it out. 'It's the slipstream. Trip said it was unstable, and he wanted to run some tests before we used it. Somehow, the energy wave that came from the slipstream is caught me in this loop,' he thought. Unsure on how to proceed, he headed for the science lab, knowing that Trip would be able to help him.
He avoided the elevator when he got to work, taking the steps again, running all the way to the science lab. When he came to the science lab door, he placed his hand on the plate next to the door.
'Identity confirmed. Welcome Tommy,' the computer announced as the door's opened.
Tommy rushed in the lab, heading over to Trip. "How do you stop a causality loop?" he asked him.
"What?"
"In theory, if there was a causality loop, how would you stop it?" he repeated.
"If there was a loop in progress, you would have no knowledge of repeating the same day over and over," Camille added, injecting herself into the conversation.
"What could shield a person from being affected by the loop and allowing them to retain their memory, but still be caught in the loop itself?" he asked them.
"In theory, low levels of radiation would block the loop, trapping you inside but you would still have full knowledge of what was happening," she said.
"What do we have that gives off low level radiation?"
"The morphers," they said in unison.
"That can't be right. If it's the morphers, that would mean that the rest of you wouldn't be effected either," he said, more so talking to himself than Trip and Camille.
Just then, the door opened and Katie walked in. "Morning all," she said cheerfully.
"Welcome back Katie," Jen said, walking over to her and wrapping her arms around her. Katie obliged her, wrapping her arms around Jen as well.
"Its good to be back," she said.
"Katie, give me your morpher," Trip said.
Without dispute, Katie took her morpher off, handing it to him. "What are you doing?" she asked.
"I'm working on some modifications. It should only take a few minutes," he said.
"That's it," Tommy screamed.
"Whats what?" Camille asked.
"You and Trip are working on modifications for the morphers, but you never took mine. Before you had a chance to, Captain Logan asked you to tell him about the slipstream. You tell him that the modifications you made fused with the slipstream, making it unstable. Somehow, the slipstream will allow us to travel back and forth through time, but we can't control when or where we'll end up. Trip goes to run some tests and the panel started humming. There was a flash, then I wake up in my bed again," he explained.
Without a word, Trip walked over to the control panel, looking over some of the readings. "There is a buildup of ionic energy in the slipstream that I hadn't noticed before. If I had tried to run a test on the system, it would have overloaded and an ionic pulse would have filled the room," he mentioned.
"If you were wearing a morpher, you would have been shielded from the effects, but trapped in a causality loop until you figured out how to stop it," Camille added.
"Disengaging the slipstream," Trip said.
"That should do it," Captain Logan said.
"It'll take Camille and I at least another six hours to find out what went wrong and correct the ionic buildup. I guess you guys get another day off," he said.
"Good, I'm going home and going back to bed," Tommy sighed as he walked out the lab.
