An Angel's Mission
Chapter 48
XLVIII
Max, Michael, Isabel, and even Maria were looking at Liz as though she had just lost all grip on reality. In fact, that was pretty much the essence of what Michael said when he finally spoke…
"Did I hear you right, Liz? Viet Nam… in the '60's? There was a war going on then! Even I know that! Going back to be in that war would not be my idea of a good time!"
Liz shook her head. "Maybe we won't have to fight. I'm not suggesting we stay there for any length of time or that we change history or anything… for the most part."
"Okay, Liz," Maria said cautiously, "When you say 'for the most part,' that just makes me think that you do intend to do something like changing history or something. You can't go back and change a war, Liz. It would be… It would be… well, I don't know what, but it just shouldn't be done."
"I'm not going to change anything… much. Just one little bitty thing."
Everyone stared at Liz, waiting for an explanation. Liz swallowed and nodded.
"You remember Vera… my nurse… and what happened to…"
Max understood immediately. "My God, Liz… You want to find her fiancé?"
"Why not, Max? We can do it! We can go back there and warn him right before he got killed. We know where he was and when and how it happened. All we have to do is stop it. We can bring him back here to Vera."
"But won't that cause problems," Kyle asked. "I mean… Vera will be… what… fifty something and her fiancé will be like nineteen or whatever. There's kind of a generation gap there."
Liz deflated for a moment with a groan, but her mind had an answer almost before the air was out of her lungs.
"It's not a problem, Kyle. We'll just SAVE him. He can return to Vera in their time. They'll both be the same age then. They can get married… have a family… and live happily ever after."
"And she'll never be your nurse," Kyle said, thinking about all the possible consequences.
"That's right," Alex agreed. "Vera may have been responsible for you surviving while you were in a coma. If your dad had got someone else to be your nurse… maybe someone who was secretly on the FBI's payroll… or just someone who didn't care as much as Vera did… you might not be here now. You could cease to exist, Liz. I'm not saying you WILL, but you could."
Liz closed her eyes for a moment and nodded. "Vera's not the only reason I'm still alive… but she's certainly a very big reason. And you're right. If I break ANY of the links in the chain…"
"You could die," Kyle said somewhat bluntly, but Liz understood… Kyle, like Alex, was only being concerned for her safety. It was a major conundrum. If Vera married her fiancé in their time, she would never become Liz's nurse. That was almost a given. And that might mean disaster for Liz. On the other hand, bringing Vera's fiancé to her in the present time would, as Kyle pointed out, be awkward because of the age differences. She would be old enough to be his mother at the very least. Liz sighed deeply, frustrated but not defeated. She refused to be defeated. This was simply too important to her, and she was not going to let it go so easily.
"It's possible there may be another way," the Liz from Antar said, turning to her Max. "Max, you remember in our dimension when you and Michael went back to earth and back in time to rescue Maria, Isabel, and me and you met your younger doubles in the past? You wound up merging together with your doubles after you left earth. It happened to you and Michael… and later to Kyle… Maybe Vera would, too…"
"Yeah, I know what you're saying," Max agreed, "but it might not work the way you're thinking. Her younger self would probably merge with her older self and she would just be the older Vera that we know now."
"But she might be younger after they merged," Liz insisted. "I think you were."
Max smiled. He always thought that he had felt younger after the merge with his younger self, but the difference in age between the younger Max and himself then had not been very great. He was actually somewhat surprised to learn now that Liz thought he had seemed younger afterwards… even if it could only have been by a few years.
Max shook his head, then he looked at Varec.
"Don't ask me," Varec said quickly. "I don't have any idea. My guess would be that if the Vera from this time and the Vera from that time got together in the same timeline they would become one in the older Vera's body… but that might not happen until their timelines crossed. In other words, there might be two Veras for thirty years or more… until time returned to the present year. Then they would become one. That is what happened to you, Max… and to Michael and Kyle. You became one after your timelines crossed… when you were returning to your own time in the New Granolith."
"This is so confusing," the younger Liz groaned. "Why can't it be simple? I just want to give something back to Vera after all she's done for me."
The younger Max put both arms around Liz and hugged her, gently wiping a tear off of Liz's cheek with his thumb and kissing her. "We understand, Liz. We'll figure something out." Max's Antarian double nodded in agreement.
Liz steeled her resolve and looked around her at everyone there. "We'll take Vera back with us to the past. Then we'll find her younger double in that time. We can figure out how to get them together later. We go save Andrew first."
Kyle raised his eyebrows and smiled ever so slightly. "Are they going to share him, Liz… or will one be his mother and the other one his wife?"
"I've made up my mind, Kyle. You can't change it."
"What if Vera doesn't want to do it?"
Liz stopped for a moment in her tracks. "I… I never thought of that. Of course she'll want to do it. She loved him."
"But does she still love him… that much," Kyle asked.
Liz nodded. "Vera doesn't know that I know it, but sometimes when she's napping, she has dreams… about him… about back then." Tears started to flow down Liz's cheeks. "She never married, you know."
Kyle nodded. "I'm… I'm sorry, Liz. I didn't mean to…"
"It's okay," Liz said, wiping the tears away. "We're going to fix it."
In the cave, there was only silence. No one was going to disagree.
Liz took the sphere of the portal out of the box and held it up in front of her.
"Does anyone here not want to go along?"
"What? And be left here on this little moon?" Alex asked with a smile and a twinkle in his eye. "I'm volunteering for service, Liz." The others all nodded. "Me, too," Kyle agreed. "I'm with you."
"We're all with you," Maria said. "Let's go save Andy's cute butt."
There was a bit of laughter, then Liz raised the sphere. "Take us to the ship's bridge, please." Instantaneously, the friends found themselves back on the bridge of the New Granolith.
"Now can you take our ship and all of us back to earth?" Liz asked, holding the sphere up again.
"It is done," the sphere answered. Everyone turned and looked out the window to find that the ship was sitting directly over Roswell.
"Holy…" Michael muttered. "That was fast!"
Liz held the sphere up again, but Michael interrupted…
"Uh, Liz… just a note of caution here… from personal experience. Use the sphere of visions first to see where she is and what she's doing. Popping in on people suddenly and unexpectedly can be… well… surprising. I know. I did a lot of travel recently using our Liz's spheres. And another thing… be very specific about where you want to go. Generalities sometimes lead to some unpleasant surprises. The sphere can't read your mind. And I think that one sphere, the portal one, has kind of a warped sense of humor. At least ours does."
Liz nodded and picked up the sphere of visions. "Show me Vera, please."
In the mist, Liz saw Vera cleaning the counter in her kitchen. Liz put the sphere of visions back in the box and took the sphere of the portal out again. "Take me to Vera… please."
A smooth, mirror-like apparition appeared in front of Liz. She stepped into it and disappeared, leaving momentary ripples in the air before the apparition disappeared, too, behind her.
Vera turned around to pick up a brush just in time to see Liz step out of thin air. In her surprise, she dropped the brush. Liz picked it up and handed it back to her.
"Oh, my goodness! Where did you come from, Liz? You weren't there just a minute ago."
Liz smiled. "I'm sorry, Vera. I didn't mean to startle you. It's a little bit of a long story. We were on our way to Max's planet… you know, Antar… when we found these spheres that can take me instantly anywhere I want to go."
"Something from your husband's planet?" Vera asked. "I could use one of those."
"I don't think they came from his planet. But you can use mine, Vera. There's something I really wanted to ask you, though. I mean… I know the answer, but… well, I need to ask you. It's kind of… unusual."
Vera smiled. "With you, Liz, almost everything has been unusual. I've learned to expect it. What is it you want to ask me?"
"If you could… if you could go back in time… and change something in your past…"
Vera gasped, and her eyes began to well up with tears.
"You're… you're not thinking what I think you're thinking, are you, Liz?"
"If you're thinking that what I'm thinking about is changing what happened on August 18, 1966… Yeah."
Vera opened her mouth but nothing came out.
"I'll give you time to think about it," Liz said.
Vera shook her head. "I don't need to think about it, Liz. I'm just… too stunned to know what to say. Of course I would do it. I would march into hell to get Andrew back… even just for one day."
Liz closed her eyes for a moment. "We may be marching into hell… in a very real way, Vera. I've kind of read some things about Long Tan since I met you… the battle, the rubber tree plantation and all. It WAS a kind of hell."
Vera nodded. "What do I need to do, Liz? I'm ready."
Liz held up the sphere, and it floated from her hand, glowing with a pure white glow. "Take us to the ship, please," Liz asked politely. Then, remembering Michael's admonition, she added, "…to the bridge… on the New Granolith."
The mirror-like wall of smooth, watery ether appeared. Liz took Vera by the hand and they stepped through it together.
The other Liz's sphere in the other dimension had never caused Liz any trouble whatsoever, but for unknown reasons, it seemed to take a perverse delight in playing games with Michael. It never did anything that would harm him, but it did teach him very quickly the benefits of being specific… very specific. Michael had once asked to be taken to someone, and that person happened to be in a boat on a river. He didn't specify that he wanted to be in the boat with this person, and he wound up in the river. He had always imagined that the sphere was laughing silently as he climbed into the boat, soaking wet, but he knew that it could just as well have been totally innocent. After all, the sphere could not have known that he wanted to be IN the boat. And it did take him to the person he requested. There had been other incidents, too. But it had never done anything like that to Liz. And as far as Michael knew, it had never done anything like that to Diane either, and she had used the sphere extensively, with Liz's blessing, to travel back and forth from Antar to earth with her husband, Dan Klein. Still, Michael felt that it was only fair to warn the younger Liz. It might prevent some embarrassing or awkward moments for her. During Michael's travels, another Liz had once used the sphere to find Michael and had wound up popping in on him when he was standing in the men's room of a restaurant on earth; but again, the embarrassed party then had been mostly him. Liz had taken it totally in stride. He always wondered how the sphere knew and just what it had against him.
On the bridge of the New Granolith, the portal opened and Liz and Vera stepped out. Vera looked around at her new surroundings. She recognized them. She had been on the bridge before, including the day of Liz's wedding.
"Where are we… your ship, I mean? Did we go to Antar?"
Liz laughed. "No. But I guess we could have. The ship is back over Roswell right now."
"That was incredible, Liz! We just walked into that… whatever it was and came out in a whole different place. You think I could get one of these things?"
"I don't think there are any more, Vera. I don't know. But you can use mine anytime you want."
"You're sweet, Liz. But I was only joking. If I popped into a store or some other public place out of thin air I'd have more explaining to do than I could handle."
"It CAN be hard to explain," Michael agreed.
"Okay, let's make a plan," Liz said, determined and anxious to get down to the task at hand. "I think Max and Michael and I should go through the portal, find Andrew, and bring him back here to the ship."
"It might be better to let the portal take the new Granolith there," Max of Antar said. "Our Michael and I can then go down and find Andrew."
"Not without me," Liz said. Max knew better than anyone not to argue with the younger Liz. She was, after all, his wife's double.
"This is something that our group needs to do," Liz said to Max of Antar. "Why don't you and your group stay on the ship and protect us from up here. You know the ship and its systems better than we do."
Max nodded. "I don't like letting you walk into danger like that, though, Liz."
"I'll have the sphere of protection… and you up here protecting me."
Max couldn't argue with that, but he still felt uneasy about Liz going into danger with only the younger Max and Michael with her… and the sphere. Then again… with the sphere in their possession, they might have better protection than the ones left on the ship. Max wasn't really worried about the ship, though. It had plenty of stealth systems and protective devices. It wouldn't even be seen by anyone on the ground.
"Alright. The three of you can go… with the sphere of protection. We'll watch from the ship."
Liz smiled and raised the sphere of the portal in her hand. "Take this ship and everyone in it to Long Tan in Vietnam, please… and back in time to August 18, 1966… about 5 o'clock PM. Leave the ship in the sky above the area where the battle is going on. It's a rubber plantation."
There was a short pause of about six seconds before the sphere spoke. "It is done."
Silence came over the bridge, as everyone looked out the huge anterior window. There was a flash of lightning, then another. Rain was falling in torrents all around them. It was impossible to see the ground… or anything else for that matter… through the window. The clouds were dark and hung low in the sky.
"We came out in the middle of a friggin' hurricane," Michael exclaimed.
"It's not a hurricane," Liz said. "It's just a bad thunderstorm. We're going to need some raingear."
Max of Antar hurried to get some protective, waterproof gear from the New Granolith's supply room for the younger Max, Michael, and Liz. Each of them put it on. Then Liz held up the sphere of the portal. She paused, then put it down and picked up the sphere of visions. It floated from her hand, glowing with a greenish glow.
"Show me Andrew McClane please," Liz said.
A mist appeared, and in it they saw a young man crouched behind a small rise with some others. He was soaked from the rain, and his hair hung down over his forehead. He was wearing a military outfit and carrying a rifle, but he had no specific raingear.
Vera reached out as though to touch him, but it was only a vision.
"Is that him," Isabel asked. "He looks a lot like Michael."
"I was just thinking the same thing," Alex said.
"He doesn't look like Michael to me," Maria said. "Well… maybe just a little bit, but Michael has kind of a… I don't know what… a different… something."
Vera smiled at Maria and nodded. "I was thinking the same thing about Andrew."
"Well, he could be Michael's brother easily," Angie Lee said. "I see a lot of resemblance. And he's cute."
"Now that I'll agree with," Vera said, smiling.
Liz held the sphere of protection up, and it floated from her hand, glowing with an amber glow.
"Please provide protection for Max, Michael, and me while we rescue Andrew." Then she held up the sphere of the portal. "Please take Max, Michael, and me to Andrew."
The mirror-like wall appeared, and Liz stepped through it, followed quickly by Max and Michael. As she stepped out, a tremendous thunderclap exploded and a bright flash momentarily blinded her. Then something hit her hard. Liz tumbled to the ground, rolling from the force of the hit. She came to rest on her back, looking into a face that did look eerily, though not exactly, like Michael's.
"By jingoes, girl! You could 'ave got yer'self killed out there! Where in the name of God did you come from? You don't belong 'ere! It's London to a brick that no digger that didn't 'ave kangaroos loose in the top paddock would be waltzin' Matilda out there in the rain with mortars bein' shot at 'im… or her… as the case may be." He looked Liz over. "Are you with the nurses unit? 'ow did you get out 'ere anyway?"
Liz stared into the young man's face, too stunned to speak.
"I 'ad t' grab you kinda hard t' pull you t' safety. Sorry 'bout that 'n' all. I 'ope yer not hurt."
Liz shook her head. At that moment, two more people jumped into the pit behind the small rise. It was Max and Michael.
"Are you alright, Liz," Max asked, breathless and clearly worried.
"Yeah… I'm fine. I wasn't hurt. I'll be okay. It just… surprised me. That's all."
Andrew nodded. "No worries. She'll be apples. Where did you blokes come from? You're no' with D Company."
"Why are you talking like that crocodile guy," Michael asked, ignoring Andrew's question.
"W'at crocodile bloke, mate?" Andrew asked.
"Oh wait, forget that." Michael shook his head. "He probably hasn't been born yet… or he's still a baby or a little kid."
Andrew stared at Michael for a moment then nodded. "Shell shock. You've gone drongo. It 'appens, mate. We can get you fixed up when we get back to the base at Nui Dat… if we get back."
"Well, that's kind of why we're here," Liz said. "You won't be going back to the base, Andrew."
"'ow do you know my name? What do you mean, I wo' be goin' back?"
Liz took a deep breath. "This is going to sound crazy, I know, but we're not exactly from around here."
"Well, I Know yer no' from our regiment. You talk funny."
"You're the one who talks funny," Michael said. "Are you Australian or what?"
"Aussie, mate… from Oz… fair dinkum! We all are," Andrew replied. "Down Under… The Lucky Country… Don't you know that?"
Michael
shook his head. "I didn't know any Australians fought in Viet Nam. Or was Viet
Nam an Australian thing in this dimension?"
"Yer worse shocked than I thought," Andrew said. "Or did you get yer 'ead clocked, too? Here, le' me see."
Michael pulled back. "There's nothing wrong with my head. The Viet Nam war was between the United States and the Viet Cong and some other Vietnamese."
Andrew nodded. "Charlie's out there. "Who do you think's lobbing those mortars at us?"
"Charlie?"
"The VC… Viet Cong. Don't you remember anything, mate?"
"Oh… yeah."
Liz nodded. "Michael, this is D Company, 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment. They were here, too. They're our allies."
"No joke? I never knew… I mean, I knew you were our allies, but… I never knew you fought in Viet Nam."
"Fight!" Andrew said. "Present tense, mate! We're in the figh' right now! 'ow do you think yer 'ead got hurt?"
"My head didn't get hurt," Michael insisted. "I'm just from the future."
Andrew smiled. "It's okay, mate. I've been there."
"To the future?"
"No. 'ad me 'ead clocked."
"My head is just fine!" Michael insisted emphatically.
"Good onya, mate! Keep sayin' that. It'll 'elp you get well in a tic."
"Andrew," Liz said, interrupting him, as she ducked down to stay under the merciless barrage of automatic weapons fire and mortar shells coming from the trees not far away. D Company seemed to be surrounded. Andrew took the occasion to fire off several shots in the direction the mortars had come from then settled back behind his bluff to reload.
"Andrew, we came to get you," Liz said. "We're taking you out of here… to Vera."
Andrew turned and looked at Liz with a shocked look. "You know Vera?"
Liz nodded.
"Well… I… I don't know how you know Vera, but I'm no' leavin' 'ere. I've got me mates to think of. I've got me country to think of. Sixteen of me mates 'ave carked it already today. They need me righ' now more than ever. I canno' just abandon them."
"I know," Liz said, touching Andrew on the shoulder. "But you can't stay, Andrew. You're going to… you're going to… get killed."
"'ow would you know that?"
"Michael told you… we're from the future. We know everything that happened here… everything that's going to happen here."
Andrew looked at Liz, and a look of concern came over his face.
"How many of me mates will die today, then… if you really know these things?"
"Seventeen from D Company die… and one from the 1st APC Squadron… before B Company comes to your aid and together you finish off the enemy out there."
"Ah, well, you see then! One more of me mates is still going to cark it. 'e'll need me. 'ow can I leave now even if you are what you say you are?"
A thunderous explosion suddenly came from a stand of rubber trees in the distance, and Andrew glimpsed a flash of light heading in their direction. He shoved Liz down hard to protect her and leapt from his knoll, his rifle blazing, knowing that they were directly in the path of the oncoming mortar shell. But there was no time to escape. Perhaps he hoped against all odds to shoot it out of the air, as impossible as that would have been; but whatever motivated him, time suddenly just stopped. The mortar shell, which had been screaming toward him, suddenly hovered still and silent in the air only six feet away. Andrew looked around. None of his mates were moving. Time just seemed to have come to a standstill… but not, it would seem, for everyone.
Liz stood up, then Max and Michael stood up with her, and they walked to where Andrew stood. Andrew turned and looked at the mortar shell hanging in the air. He reached out and touched it. It made him shiver. He tried to pull it out of the air, but it wouldn't budge. It was locked in time. Andrew turned and looked at Liz again…
"I've… I've touched death. Who are you? Did you do this?"
Liz nodded. "Seventeen, Andrew. Seventeen die here today from your company. Sixteen have died already…"
It began to dawn on Andrew what Liz was saying. "You mean… I'm the one." Andrew touched the mortar shell again. "It's coming for me, isn't it?"
Liz nodded.
"I'm number seventeen."
Liz nodded.
"My God… What should I do?"
"You've already given your country and your mates all that you have to give, Andrew… all but one thing."
"My life?"
Liz nodded again. "There is nothing more that you have to give them… nothing more that you CAN give them. But you can live. You and Vera can live… together. Do you love her?"
"What kind of question is that? Of course I love her! I would die a thousand deaths for her!
"Then will you live for her?"
Andrew looked at the mortar shell suspended in time again then back at his mates. The mortar shell was heading directly where he had been crouched behind his small ridge. Sixteen of his company had died already today. If he did not die, sixteen would be the final tally… at least, the real final tally. Who could tell what the records would say if he should disappear. But if he refused to go, the real final tally would be seventeen of his company killed there that day. Andrew nodded.
"I'll go with you."
Liz smiled and raised her hand. She opened her fingers, and the sphere of the portal floated up, glowing with a pure white glow in the falling rain that was frozen in time around them like everything else.
"Please take Max, Michael, Andrew, and me to the bridge of the New Granolith."
A shimmering, mirror-like essence appeared in front of them. Liz held out her hand to Andrew, and he took it, then she stepped into the portal. Andrew stepped through after her, still holding onto her hand. Max and Michael followed them through immediately, as behind them, time suddenly resumed. One second later, a huge explosion blew a twenty-foot wide crater in the ground behind the ridge that Andrew had been using for protection. When the others searched for him later, there was nothing to be found. That day, the records recorded seventeen deaths from D Company at Long Tan.
On the bridge of the New Granolith, it was another story. Life was being celebrated… the life of one Andrew McClane, a 19-year-old Aussie "digger" whose time had finally NOT come.
Standing nearby, Vera smiled from ear to ear, but she knew that it was not the time yet. No one knew when the right time would be, but that didn't much matter right now. Andrew was alive! Andrew looked around at the smiling faces on the bridge. He looked at the instruments, the huge anterior window, and all the strange things that were almost unimaginable to his mind. And he looked at Vera.
"You look like someone I know."
Vera smiled. "Who would that be?"
Andrew shook his head. "I… I'm no' sure. You look quite a bit like… my Vera… only older. Beg yours, an' I 'ope you don't mind me sayin' so, but for someone… you know… older 'n' all… you're somethin' of a spunk. I guess it's 'cause you look like my Vera."
Vera grinned. "It's probably coincidence. A lot of people tell me I look like someone they know."
Vera knew that her younger double was alive in this timeline. Andrew would… indeed should… go to her. Vera wasn't sure where this would leave her, but she felt in her heart that it was the right thing. She was old enough to be his mother… almost old enough to be his grandmother. It would have to be enough, hard as it was for her heart, to just know, for now, that he was alive and safe.
Andrew yawned. "I didn't realize how nackered I am. Do you think I could push up some zeds… just for a few tics?"
Liz looked at Vera.
"He'd like to take a short nap. He's exhausted," Vera said.
Liz smiled. Max answered for them. "I'll show you to a room. Will you be interested in eating with us later?"
"Reckon, mate! I don't require much sleep. An hour or two will be sufficient. I am a bit hungry. All I've 'ad today was a dingo's breakfast."
"What's a dingo's breakfast," Alex asked.
Andrew smiled wearily. "A yawn, a leak, and a lookaround… nothin' t' eat… no brekkie. Like a dingo wakin' up, you know."
Alex laughed.
Max led Andrew to the ascension chamber then to a room on the 3rd level, where the living chambers were.
"I'll have someone give you a holler when it's time for dinner, Andrew. We eat in about three hours."
Andrew nodded wearily and smiled then thanked Max and closed the door. Meanwhile, on the bridge, Liz was laying plans to get the younger Vera from this timeline onboard with her future self and Andrew.
"Liz, what happened down there," Michael asked. "I saw you get knocked down on the ground when you stepped out of the portal. I thought the sphere of protection was supposed to protect you."
Liz nodded. "I guess it did. Andrew wasn't trying to hurt me; he was trying to save me. He didn't know that I had the sphere to protect me. I expect the sphere knew that he wasn't a danger to me. Anyway, I wasn't hurt. And when that mortar shell was fired, the sphere stopped time so that we could escape. It did its job, I'd say."
"Yeah… I guess it did at that," Michael agreed. "You never told me that Vera's fiancé was Australian. How did she ever meet him?"
"Vera grew up in Australia, Michael."
"She doesn't talk like him. She talks like us."
"She's lived in Roswell for more than thirty years… since shortly after Andrew was killed. She learned to talk the way we do. She was born in Roswell, though. Her parents moved to Australia when she was four."
"Oh."
"Michael, tell Max when he comes back that I've gone to get Vera… the one from this timeline."
Without waiting for any argument or opposition, Liz held up the sphere of the portal. "Please take me to wherever Vera Simpson is… the one from this timeline."
The portal appeared, and Liz immediately stepped through it. She stepped out on a beach on the Australian coast. Not far away, a young woman about Liz's own age lay on the sand under the shade of a small bluff. Liz approached her and looked at her. She was quite pretty… and young. Liz knew in her heart that this was Vera. Noticing someone standing there, the young woman looked up…
"Hi!"
Liz smiled. "Hi! I'm Liz."
"I'm Vera. Glad t' know ya."
"Can I sit down?"
"Sure. Help yourself. Are you American? You don't sound like an Aussie."
"Yeah," Liz replied with a smile.
"Me, too. But I've lived here all my life almost… since I was four. Where you from? What state?"
"New Mexico."
"Yeah? Me, too! My parents were from New Mexico. I was born there, but now I'm a fair dinkum Ozzie… that's Aussie to you," Vera laughed. "A dinky-di. That means the genuine item here in the Down Under… The Down Under, that's Australia, the Lucky Country, Oz… You know, Ozzie… Oz. We have a lot of groovy slang in Oz."
"Don't I know it," Liz agreed, nodding.
"Are you new here, Liz?"
"Yeah."
"Well, you'll learn to understand Strine… that's Australian… if you're here long. It grows on ya."
Liz nodded. "I know. I'm getting quite an education already, believe me."
Vera laughed.
"Why did you come Down Under, Liz? Are you on vaca… you know, vacation… holiday?"
"No, not really. I sort of have some business here."
"Ooh! Business! You look a little young to be a bizzo! What do you do?"
"Ummmm… you wouldn't believe me, Vera."
"Try me."
"Okay. I'm going to be the new queen… on my husband's planet. He's the king there."
Vera giggled. "You're right. I don't believe you. But you've got a nice fantasy life! Why are you really here?"
Liz looked Vera straight in the eyes… "for Andrew."
Vera was quiet for several seconds, then she rolled over to face Liz directly.
"What do you know about Andrew? Andrew's my fiancé. I think you should know that. He's not interested in other girls, Liz. He loves me… and I love him. When he finishes his time in Vietnam we're getting married."
"Oh, I didn't mean… don't get me wrong, Vera… I don't want to take Andrew away from you."
Vera seemed to relax, then she smiled. "It's okay, Liz. I'm sorry. I'm just a worrier these days with Andrew away in war 'n' all. I know he'll come back to me, but… I worry about him all the time. You know?"
Liz nodded. "I know."
Vera looked at Liz again, and a serious expression came over her face. "Tell me again how it is you know Andrew, Liz. Did you meet him somewhere? It must have been before he went to war, of course."
Liz took a deep breath. "Vera, I've been trying to figure out how to tell you that ever since I got here… and I still don't know how. I think the best thing would be if I just show you."
Liz took out the sphere of the portal. Vera sat up and looked at it curiously. "What is that?"
"You'll see," Liz replied. The sphere began to glow with a pure white glow and floated out of Liz's hand. Vera gasped in surprise.
"Please take Vera and me to the bridge of the New Granolith," Liz said softly. Almost instantaneously, the portal appeared. Vera jumped up and backed away reflexively but then edged cautiously toward the apparition to have a look at the mirror-like, ethereal surface hanging almost invisibly in the air. She touched it with one finger and it rippled.
"Liz?"
"Come on. I'll explain it to you, Vera… on the other side." Liz held out her hand, and Vera, eyes wide, took it hesitantly and stepped through the portal with Liz. She wasn't sure why she did it. It might have been pure curiosity. It might have been because, for some reason that she didn't yet understand, she trusted Liz. It might have been because Liz invoked Andrew's name. But whatever it was, Vera knew immediately that she had taken a fateful step. When they stepped out of the portal, they were no longer on the beach. In fact, Vera was pretty sure that they were no longer even in Australia. She looked around, in a state of something between awe and shock. She looked at the control panels, the window… the town below.
"Where ARE we, Liz? That's not Oz down there."
Liz smiled. "No, it's not, Dorothy."
"Huh? Oh, right!"
Liz laughed. "And that's not Kansas down there, either, Vera. We're in a spaceship. Right now we're over Roswell, New Mexico."
Vera nodded. "That'd be right! So those stories are all true then… about Roswell, I mean?"
"Well… actually… kinda… yeah," Liz admitted.
Vera stared out the window at the town below. "So you really are… going to be a queen on your husband's planet?"
Liz nodded. "If everything goes right."
"You married an alien?"
Liz smiled. "I guess so. But he hides his antennas under a hat, and he keeps his third eye closed whenever he's around me so I won't feel weird… especially when we're making love."
"Crikey!"
Liz giggled. "I'm teasing. He looks just like us. Actually, he's part human… and VERY cute. You'll meet him… as soon as he gets back to the bridge."
"Oh, well… who cares if he's an alien, I reckon… so long as he's a spunk," Vera said with a wink.
"That's right," Liz nodded emphatically. "And he's definitely a spunk. That does mean he's a cute guy, right?"
"Too Right. A guy… or a girl, either one. A good looker."
"That's what I thought."
As they spoke, Michael, Max, and the older Vera came into the room. Seeing Michael, the younger Vera gasped. Then she immediately relaxed again.
"Oh, you're no'… Just for a tic, I thought you were…"
"Andrew?" Liz asked softly.
"'ow did you know? Oh, right! You knew Andrew."
"I've been told… by some people… that there's a resemblance," Liz said.
"Well… now that I look at 'im, not so much," Vera insisted. "Maybe… in the hair… and the eyes… and the build… generally speaking. But he isn't Andrew."
"That's what I told them," Maria said, walking in on the conversation and taking Michael by the arm. "This is Michael. He's my husband. I'm Maria. I take it you must be Vera?"
"Glad to meet ya," Vera said, smiling.
"And this is my husband, Max," Liz said, indicating Max, who was standing beside her now.
"Oh! The three-eyed bunyip," Vera said with a grin. "Glad to meet ya, too. So you're His Nibs, huh?"
"Bunyip?" Max asked.
"Yeah, that's a sort of mythological monster that inhabits the billabongs," Vera said.
Max looked at Liz, and Liz smiled.
"What does 'His Nibs' mean," Max asked.
"The boss. The big bloke at the top. You know," Vera replied.
Michael chuckled. "Yep! That's His Nibs alright!"
Max gave Michael a stern look, and Michael chuckled to himself, obviously enjoying it very much.
"Actually," Vera said, "Liz was quite right!"
"I'm a three-eyed… what-is-it… bunyip?" Max asked.
"No. You're a spunk."
"I can't wait to find out what that is," Max said.
"It's a good looker. A real cute bloke… or girl."
Max smiled. "For a three-eyed billabong monster, you mean?"
Liz giggled and kissed Max. "For the guy I married and love more than anything in the world or the whole universe! The three-eyed monster thing was a joke. But as for the spunk part, I'm sticking to that."
Max smiled. He knew Liz had been teasing. And he would have loved her even if he had been a three-eyed bunyip. Fortunately for everyone, he wasn't.
Vera walked over to her older double. "I don't believe I met you yet. I'm Vera. You remind me a bit of me mum… She's… well…"
"I know," the older Vera said, "Both of your parents… when you were fifteen. You've lived with an aunt since they died in the boat accident."
"You know a lot about me!" Vera said, unsure how to take it and feeling just a bit offended.
"The older Vera smiled and nodded. "I know about your aunt, too."
The younger Vera stared at her older double. " 'ow could you know that? What do you know?"
"She's… well, I don't like to say it, because she did give you a place to live and food to eat, even if it was the leftovers… but she isn't the nicest person in the Lucky Country."
"No… she isn't," the younger Vera agreed. "But like you said, she gave me a roof and tea. Not very willingly, I guess, but she was me dad's sister. Then again, she wasn't his real sister, though. She was adopted, so she wasn't related, you know, by blood."
"But your grandparents gave her a good home and love and everything they gave their other children," the older Vera said. "She should have given you that much."
"It's no' important," the younger Vera said. "I can make it on me own. Besides, when Andrew returns, 'e's taking me away. We're goin' t' be married."
The older Vera nodded understandingly. "I thought that once… But then my fiancé died in the war and didn't come back… and I left my aunt's house one night in the middle of the night and went to America. You know, she never even looked for me. I could have been dead. I think she was just happy that I was gone."
"Sounds like my aunt," the younger Vera said, beginning to show a great affection and affinity for the older woman. "We share so much in common." She put one arm around the older woman to comfort her and smiled through misty eyes. "I'm so sorry about your fiancé! I feel like… I know you somehow. We're both so very much alike the two of us."
"Yes… we are… and maybe you do," the older Vera said, "…better than you think."
"How do you mean?"
"I mean that… I am you, Vera… only about thirty-eight years in the future. I came back in time to find you… and Andrew."
For several moments, the younger Vera stood motionless and silent, staring at the older woman. In some way, she knew that what the older woman had said was true. Then her mind shifted to Andrew.
"Oh, God! Andrew! What you're sayin' then… Andrew never… never came home from the war? No! Don't tell me that! Tell me he's okay! Tell me he's alive! Please!"
"I'm okay."
The words came from the entrance to the bridge room. The young Vera spun around quickly, recognizing the voice. In less time than it took to blink once, she was in his arms.
"Oh, God, Andrew! I was afraid you mi' not come back to me."
Andrew held Vera tightly and soothed her, running his hands up and down her back and arms, kissing her, hugging her, caressing her.
"You know what the hardest thing was bein' away at war, Vera? Not bein' able to ge' a good pash from me fiancée, that's what."
Vera nodded and took his face in both of her hands lovingly. "I'll make up for it, Andy." Then she kissed him… long and passionately.
"That's a pash," the older Vera said, smiling. Liz smiled back and raised her eyebrows. Angie Lee was fanning her face with her hand. Maria was just grinning.
But Liz realized that, for one person present, at least, the present situation might be unexpectedly torturous, despite the happy face that was being put on. Certainly, the older Vera… the very one Liz had hoped to help in the first place… could not possibly NOT be conflicted, at the very least, as she watched her younger double kiss her former fiancé, unable to touch him herself… unable to tell him that she loved him… unable to rejoice with him at his being alive. It was a situation that Liz hoped to correct as soon as possible. But how to do it was still uncertain, and even more uncertain was the question of whether or not any actions they took now would have the desired effect.
Liz looked at the woman who had been a nurse and a friend to her and suddenly felt a deep feeling of sympathy for her. Vera recognized it immediately.
"Oh, Liz… Don't be sorry. I knew from the start that this wasn't going to be easy. But it's okay. The important thing is we got Andrew back alive and safe. Even if I never get to hold him… just that he's alive… and happy… that by itself makes it all worthwhile to me."
"But you deserve to get him back, Vera. He's your fiancé!"
"He's HER fiancé, Liz. Look at them. It's the right thing for them."
"But… but, Vera…"
"No, now don't give me any 'buts,' Liz! Besides, remember that she is me… and I am her thirty-eight years from now. You see, Liz, I figure that in thirty-eight years her memories will be my memories, too. If I have to wait that long, well… I've waited that long already. I guess I can wait another thirty-eight years."
"No." Liz shook her head emphatically. "No, that's not the way it's going to be, Vera. It's just not…"
While they were talking, Liz hadn't noticed that Andrew had walked over to her and the older Vera. He was still holding the younger Vera by the hand. The older Vera smiled at them, and Andrew returned the smile…
"I heard you talking when I was coming in. I don't completely understand what I heard, but I know now why you looked so familiar to me… and… well… why I felt… attracted to you… in spite of our ages. I don't know how all this happened, but I do know who you are. Did you think I would never figure it out, Vera? How could I not? You're a beautiful woman. You're beautiful young… and you're still beautiful older. You'll be beautiful fifty years from now to me… if we're both still alive then. It's not just because of your looks that I love you, Vera… it's because… it's because you're you."
Vera's eyes misted up, and she choked for a moment.
"Oh, Andrew… I love you, too. You know that. And I always will, till the day I die… and longer if that's possible. But you were meant to be with someone young… like you. It's only right. You can't be with both of us…" Vera laughed at the thought, but it was a sad laugh. "It would be hard to explain… and besides, she wouldn't want to share you. I know. She's me." Vera put one hand on Andrew's cheek and kissed him on the other cheek lovingly. Andrew closed his eyes.
"Well, you're right about one thing, Vera. I do want both of you… but not separated like this. I want ONE Vera… and I want ALL of her. You see, there is only ONE of you for me. You can't go on living in two times at once, Vera."
"But if there's nothing that can be done about it, Andy… we will have to accept that reality."
"Maybe not," Liz said. "Our theory is that if we return to the future that we came from with Andrew and both of you with us, At some point in time, as we're going back, the two of you, Vera, will become one."
"But the question is, which one," the older Vera added sadly. "That's a risk that you cannot take, Andrew. You could wind up with an old woman for a bride."
Andrew looked at the younger Vera holding onto his hand. She was beautiful, young, and vibrant. He looked at the other Vera. She was still beautiful… and vibrant… but not so young anymore.
Vera nodded. "You see, Andrew. Time takes its due. You could go with us back to the future, but you… and your fiancée… would be taking a terrible risk. Or you can stay here in this time and have the certainty that the two of you can be together for the rest of your lives… and you won't be risking having to be married to an old woman."
"And what will happen to you then," Andrew asked. "If I stay here and marry Vera, will I no' be changing your future, too, Vera?"
"It may be for the better, Andrew… if you're in it."
"That is one possibility," admitted Varec, who had come into the room moments before. "But it is also possible that there will always be two separate Veras if the two of you go separate ways in different timelines. Your timelines will never cross, because you will always be thirty-eight years ahead of them in time. As they get closer to our present, you will be getting further away from it… further into the future."
"Then I'll stay in this timeline," Vera said. "If I stay here, in thirty-eight years there will be only one of me… right?"
Varec nodded. "That is probably true… but you will be ninety-six years old. If you were a Nogi-K'ya… or even a Xarian… I would say that would not be a problem. But you are human."
"Thank you, Varec. I never thought of that as a handicap before," Vera sighed dejectedly.
"Well, has anyone thought of this," Andrew asked. "I 'ave officially gone walkabout from me unit. Now that I am back in Oz and no' with official leave papers, I will either be cactus or AWOL. I could try telling the army that I was taken by a spaceship that came from the future, of course. Maybe they will believe me. But I do no' think so. If I am discovered, it's London to a brick what my fate will be. I may ge' out of prison in time for your ninetieth birthday, Vera. How can I offer you a life under these conditions?"
"I… I didn't think of that," the older Vera said apologetically. "Andrew, I'm so sorry."
"No, do no' apologize, Vera. If you had not come, I would be cactus, bloody oath, so I consider the alternative quite reasonable, and I am grateful to all of you for saving me, but I must be realistic. I canno' live in Oz now that I am gone walkabout from me unit."
"What will you do," Maria asked.
Andrew sighed deeply and looked at the young Vera, who was still holding onto his hand. Vera nodded understandingly and smiled…
"I think what Andrew is saying is that we will be going with you… to the future."
Andrew smiled at Vera and kissed her. "Will you be okay… if we go?" he asked.
Vera nodded. "She'll be apples, Andy. We'll be together you and I… no matter what. It's the ONLY thing that's important."
"But what if you become… older, Vera?"
Vera looked into Andrew's eyes. "Would you still love me… if I did?"
"Too right! Do you even need to ask?"
Vera shook her head and smiled. "No… not at all. That's why I'm ready to go with you… even if it's back of Bourke and beyond the black stump."
Liz smiled and looked at the older Vera. She was smiling, too. Clearly, Liz's nurse and friend was happier about this turn of events than she was willing to admit. She would never have agreed to let Andrew risk his happiness to go to the future with them for her sake, but now that had all changed. Andrew was right. If he stayed in Australia, and was discovered, he would be considered a deserter and would almost certainly go to prison. No amount of trying to explain what had happened would be believed. It might allow him to spend his sentence in an insane asylum, but it certainly wouldn't permit him to have the life that he and the younger Vera both longed for. Their only real hope for happiness was to go.
Liz held the sphere of the portal up in her hand and opened her fingers. The sphere floated from her hand, glowing with a pure white glow.
"Please take this ship and everyone in it back to Roswell in the time that we came from," Liz said.
There was, as before, a brief pause, but it was slightly longer than the six seconds that the sphere had taken to send the New Granolith back to the past. This time, the pause was closer to fifteen seconds. It was long enough for Liz to briefly begin to wonder if something had gone wrong.
"It is done," the sphere answered. Liz exhaled with relief and looked at Andrew. He was still holding the young Vera by the hand. Liz turned around but didn't see the other Vera, her former nurse, anywhere. She looked back at Andrew and his fiancée. They were embraced in a kiss. Liz smiled and shook her head… "Now that's a pash." After several long moments, the two separated, and Andrew's fiancée smiled at Liz. It was a smile that Liz recognized. Liz smiled, too, and arched her eyebrows.
"I'm afraid to look in a mirror, Liz. Tell me the truth. Am I… you know…"
"Beautiful," Liz said. "You're totally beautiful, Vera."
"She was always that," Andrew said, beaming.
Liz nodded in agreement. "She was, wasn't she. Can you handle being nineteen again, Vera?"
Vera grinned. "A part of me never stopped being nineteen, Liz. But I admit, some part of me feels a bit odd."
"Must be the pash," Liz replied with a grin.
Vera looked at Andrew and smiled broadly. "That could be it, Liz. I'll need to test that theory for a while. Andy and I may need a lot of time in private…"
"For the benefit of science," Andrew said, finishing the thought for her.
"For the benefit of science," Liz nodded with a wink. "Come on everyone. Let's not get in the way of science."
Maria smiled in agreement, then everyone left the room, leaving Andrew and Vera on the bridge alone with an incredible view of Roswell visible from the bridge's huge anterior window. But at the moment, neither of them was paying any attention to anything outside.
----------
"Take good care of Vera," Max said, extending his hand to Andrew. Andrew took it and shook it, then he turned to Liz and hugged her. "I will. No worries, your majesty."
Max smiled. "We can lose the 'majesty' stuff, Andrew. I'm just Max here."
Andrew nodded, as Vera hugged Liz and kissed her warmly.
"Liz, how can I ever, ever, ever thank you…?"
Liz beamed. "You just did, Vera. I just wanted your happiness. That's all I ever needed."
"Well, you succeeded beyond your wildest imagination. I want you to know that. You'll always be special to me, Liz… to both of us."
"Awww… you'll always be special to me, too, Vera… both of you will. If you hadn't been my nurse when I was in a coma, I probably would have died. So I really do owe you everything."
"That's right," Max added. "And I want you to know that you have my eternal gratitude, too, Vera."
"It was nothing… It's just who I am. Besides, Liz was a big inspiration to me. She's special, Max. Take real good care of her."
Max nodded and smiled. "You know it."
Andrew nodded, too. "Well, I'm certainly glad you have such good connections here, Max. Your president was able to give us a complete identity… and using our real names. We're citizens… with a history and everything. We can live freely here in this country, and I can give Vera all the things I always dreamed of giving her. We'll raise a family, and if we have a girl, I promise, we'll name her Liz; if it's a boy, we'll name him Maxwell."
"I'm honored," Max said in total sincerity. "After thirty-eight years, no one is going to think that a nineteen-year-old was in Vietnam in 1966… even if he has the same name… so we felt that it would be okay to keep your real name. Vera had an identity here already, but we had to invent an explanation for the age difference. That's why we said that she's the other Vera's niece and was named after her, and that the other Vera moved to another state and left her niece in charge of her affairs here."
"I appreciate that, too," Andrew said. "I am very happy to be able to keep my real name. You and your president… and your friends on the ship… have all been so very wonderful to us. Will we ever see you again?"
Max smiled and nodded. "I think you can count on it. Now that we have the spheres, we'll be able to return often, and I'm sure that Liz, especially, will be using them a lot.
"I hope so," Andrew said. Vera nodded… "I do, too."
Liz hugged Vera and Andrew one final time then asked the sphere to take her and Max back to the ship. Once on the ship, Liz raised the sphere and made one more request…
"Please take this ship and everyone in it to Antar and place it in orbit around the planet."
"It is done," the sphere said after only four seconds. Liz, Max, Maria, Michael, Angie Lee, Kyle, Alex, Isabel, Varec, Rahn, Jim, Amy, Tess and the other Antarian doubles, and Diane Casey all looked out the New Granolith's huge bridge window. And below them, they saw a planet… with a golden sea.
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--- To be continued - ---
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