Wedding Itch
Chapter 23
XXIII
As Michael sat on his bed, thinking about what Kryys had said, he had another unexpected visitor… one who entered his room through the portal…
"Shag! What are you doing here?"
"I've been working on your problem, Michael. I've made some inquiries and found out a few things."
"There's something you didn't know, Shag? …After 12,337 years," Michael asked with a tiny bit of sarcasm.
"I'm still learning new things, Michael. Anyway, here's what I found out. In the twenty-ninth galaxy, in sector 3Y, there is a small group of beings that are capable of altering the course of time. They can go backward or forward in time at will and alter time in pretty much any way they wish. Fortunately for all of us, these beings have the strictest laws regarding the use of their powers, and none of them has ever gone against their laws… until recently."
"What do you mean, 'until recently?'"
"Well, recently to me… not to you, I guess. …Historically recently… like in the last seventy years. Does that ring any bells for you, Michael?"
"Seventy years… right about the time I left the past and things went out of whack…"
"Right. I don't have any proof, so far, that the Nogi-Ky'a –That's the beings I was talking about- have actually had any part in your personal situation, but the circumstantial evidence is mounting."
"What circumstantial evidence?"
"Six of the Nogi-Ky'a decided to go against the laws of their people seventy years ago and use their power to alter time in order to… sort of 'uncreate' a planet."
"Whoa!"
"Yeah. Well, you see, the Nogi-Ky'a are rather unremarkable except for their power to alter time or travel in time. And their planet has been plagued for almost ten thousand years by this other planet…"
"The one that no longer exists?"
"Exactly. The planet was called Roshix. Anyway, the Roshixians were sort of like the Ghors were here, I guess, only worse…"
"There's something worse that a Ghor?"
Shaqor ignored the comment and continued. "The Roshixians were larger, stronger, and considerably more inclined to violence than the Nogi-Ky'a; and for ten thousand years, they pretty much had their way with the Nogi-Ky'a, showing up whenever they wished and taking Nogi-Ky'a as slaves, killing them for no reason at all, or stealing everything they had."
"I'd be pretty pissed, too," Michael said.
"They were 'pissed,' as you say, Michael, but they knew that using their power unwisely was potentially even worse than the unbearable situation they had to tolerate."
"How could it be worse than that?"
"On Xarius, there is a … riddle, I think you would call it. They ask someone if they could choose between a job that paid a million Unsits for a month's work or one that paid…"
"I've heard this," Michael said. "We had the same 'riddle' on Earth. If someone offered you a million dollars for a month's work or one penny the first day, two pennies the second day, four pennies the third day and kept on doubling it each day for a month, which offer would you take?"
"Right. Same idea."
"Yeah, the multiplication factor makes the penny the better deal."
"Exactly. Well, it's the same thing with changing time. Every action has multiple reactions, and each one of those reactions creates multiple new reactions. Eventually, it is impossible to track down all the reactions in order to contain them or change them back if you need to. So the Nogi-Ky'a can only use their power after an extensive review by the ruling board to determine every possible reaction and make allowances for it. The problem is, the board had consistently refused to allow the planet Roshix to be destroyed –uncreated, I guess, is a better description- because the reactions were determined to be too great to contain or predict. For everyone in the universe, it would be like standing in a lightning storm. Anyone might be hit by a reaction. I think that's what happened to you, Michael. You were hit."
"Interesting," Michael said. "So you're saying that I didn't do anything to cause it myself?"
"I didn't say that," Shaqor said. "What you did was, lets say, you stood outside flying a Jishkee on a string in the storm… and you got hit. You didn't create the lightning, but you made yourself a great target for it. You know what I mean?"
"Yeah, I get your point, Shag. So what do we do about it?"
"That's the big question, Michael."
"If these Nogi-Ky'a have the power to change time, couldn't they just change everything back?"
"I'm sure they would change it all back if they could track all the reactions down, Michael."
"Couldn't we just go to them and tell them that this was a reaction, and ask them to change it?"
"It might not do you much
good, Michael. They'd have to study your claim for about 300 years then
determine all the reactions that would occur if they changed that one reaction
without changing the ones that led up to it in the order in which they
occurred."
"So what you're saying is I'm screwed."
"I didn't say that exactly."
"Okay, 99.99 percent screwed."
"Something like that."
"That's what I thought. Kryys told me that as long as I still have my own memories, there's still hope of changing the aberration in time."
"Kryys?"
"Yeah, my son, Kryys."
"When did he tell you this?"
"Today… a little while ago… He was just here."
"How?"
"Oh, yeah, you don't remember him. Well Kryys is… sort of unique. He can change his physical body into streams of billions of molecules and join the river of time. He said that's the reason he's still around… because he's aware of himself and the others aren't."
"Makes sense," Shaqor said.
"I'm glad it does to you, Shag. It took me a really long time to understand all this time stuff."
"So you still have all your memories, therefore there's still hope…"
"Right… according to Kryys… and the Drax-ta-Kiya."
"I've heard of him… from Jeroglasst."
"Right."
"Tell me again, what were the names of the people you were looking for, Michael?"
"My wife, Maria… and my children, Zorel, Kryys, and Jayyd."
Shaqor wrote it down. "Who else?"
Max… and his wife, Elis- uh… Elisha, and his children………… I… I can't think of their names."
"How many children did he have?"
"Three… No, four… I think… or maybe five…"
Shaqor looked at Michael. "Michael, you told me before that Max's wife's name was Liz."
"Liz! That's right… Elizabeth! That's what I was thinking of."
"You're forgetting, Michael."
Michael shook his head at first but then nodded and winced slightly. "Shag… I think I need to refresh my memory… I can't let myself forget them."
"Do you remember their faces?"
Michael thought about it. "Maria's, yeah… and Kryys'… He was just here… and Jayyd's… I think."
"You must try to remember, Michael."
"Shag, I've gotta go."
"Where?"
"To find Li- Liz. I can create new pictures in my mind… in case the old ones fail me. I have to have something I can hold on to and remember them by."
Michael called for the portal then stepped through.
"Good luck, Michael," Shaqor said.
**********
As he stepped out of the portal, Michael found himself in a garden where a wedding was about to start.
"Great," he thought to himself, as he looked around then took a seat. Leaning over to a young lady beside him, Michael asked, hoping to find out who was getting married…
"Are you a friend of the bride or the groom?"
"Both," the lady replied. "James Quigley was my professor of Physical Sciences, and Elizabeth Parker was my professor of Molecular Biology several years ago. I promised her if she ever got married, I would come, and she sent me an invitation." The young lady smiled. "She really is a great professor. Now she's head of molecular biology research."
"So I heard," Michael said, a bit stunned. "Why'd she decide to get married now?"
The young lady smiled. "Who knows? Maybe she loves him."
"Maybe?" Michael asked.
"That's him coming out now with his best man," the young lady said.
"Which one is Quigley?"
"The shorter one. Haven't you ever met Quigley?"
"No. I'm a friend of Liz's."
"Liz? You know Elizabeth pretty well, huh?"
"Yeah," Michael said. "What does she see in Quigley?"
"He's just one of the biggest molecular biologists ever. He won a Nobel last year for something he was working on with Elizabeth."
"Didn't she win it, too,
then?"
The young lady shrugged. "I guess not. He published it in his name. Her name wasn't on it."
"Well, that sucks," Michael said.
"Shhh!" several people from the row in front of him said at once. Michael noticed that an usher had just finished seating the mother of the bride, Nancy Parker, in the front, and the groomsmen were taking their places next to the groom and his best man.
In a few moments, the bridesmaids appeared, followed by the maid of honor, a ring bearer, and a flower girl. These last two appeared to be about five years old. As "Here Comes the Bride" began to play, Liz appeared on her father's arm. She was beautiful. She walked slowly down the aisle, wearing a traditional long white wedding gown, as the flower girl threw rose petals in front of her. Liz was radiant.
The bridesmaids, flower girl, and bride took their places on the right side of the preacher, which was to the left of the audience. The groom, his best man, and the ring bearer stood on the preacher's left.
Michael couldn't stop staring at Quigley. He appeared to be perhaps a few years older than Liz. His exact age was hard to determine. But what bothered Michael was that Quigley kept looking at his watch, he never once smiled, and most disturbing of all, he never looked at Liz. Michael wondered what in this man's life could be so important to him that he couldn't wait to get back to it… on his wedding day.
[i]We've come here today…[/i] the preacher was saying.
"Quigley doesn't look like he's happy to be here," Michael whispered to the young lady beside him.
"Well, it's not like it's his first time. I imagine he's happy, though. He begged Elizabeth to marry him forever before she accepted."
"Not the first…? He was married before?"
"Three times," the young lady said quietly, holding up three fingers. "This'll be number four. It's the first for Elizabeth, though."
[i]Do you take this woman to be…[/i]
"Something's not right here," Michael said. "I don't know what it is, but something's just wrong with this."
[i]in sickness and in health, in joy and in sadness…[/i]
"Elizabeth has been working on something that'll probably get her her own Nobel," the young lady said.
Michael looked at the young woman. "Not if Quigley takes all the credit."
"I hear she hasn't let anyone see her research on this one… even him. It's supposed to be big."
A chill of foreboding ran up Michael's spine.
[i]If anyone knows any reason why this…[/i]
"What kind of research?"
"Well, the rumor has it that she's working on proof that alien life exists. But she's keeping her research tightly guarded."
[i] let them speak now…[/i]
"So Quigley would really love to see that research."
The young lady nodded. "I'd say he'd give up ten years of his life to see it."
[i]…or forever hold their peace.[/i]
"THEY CAN'T GET MARRIED," someone shouted from the back of the audience.
Every face turned to look at Michael. The preacher stood in stunned silence, his mouth open as though time had just caught him in mid sentence. Liz looked like she might faint, and Quigley looked like he'd like to commit a murder. For a moment no one spoke, then Michael said,
"James Quigley is already married… to my… sister."
There was a collective gasp in the audience, and the preacher looked as though he might also faint. Liz put her hands over her face and started to sob then ran down the aisle and out of the garden.
"I'm sorry, Liz," Michael whispered under his breath. Then he turned and walked briskly from the garden in the direction Liz had gone. He hadn't gone far before Jeff Parker caught up with him.
"You'd better start explaining yourself right now," he said to Michael. "And if I find out what you just said back there isn't true, there's not going to be any hole anywhere deep enough for you to hide in!"
"Liz was making a mistake," Michael said quietly to Jeff Parker.
"Then it was her mistake to make!" Jeff said. "For God's sake, I know Quigley's not a shining trophy, but my daughter is thirty-five, and she's never looked at another man before. The only thing that's ever interested her was her work. Let her get married!"
"She was supposed to fall in love and marry for true love… not marry some guy that just wants to use her… steal her life's work."
Jeff seemed slightly taken aback. "I… I don't know that he has the wrong motives. He says he loves her."
"She's not supposed to love him. She's supposed to love… someone else."
"Oh," Jeff said, nodding. "And that, I suppose, would just happen to be you, right?"
"No! No! …No way! Not me! …Max!"
"Max? Who's Max?"
Michael sighed and looked around. So far no one else had found them.
"Max is someone she met in high school. He's, uh… an alien."
"An illegal Mexican?"
"No. Further away." Michael pointed up at the sky. Jeff huffed. "Is that what this is all about? You're one of those UFO freaks? Can't you leave us alone? I thought we got away from you guys when we left Roswell."
"When you sold Brody Davis the CrashDown?" Michael asked.
"How'd you know about that?"
"I lived there, too. You see, I'm also… one of them."
"You're going to tell me you're an alien?"
"Yeah."
"Oh, sweet mother of God! What did I ever do wrong in my life to deserve this," Jeff said with resigned desperation, throwing his hands in the air. Michael reached over and passed his hand over Jeff's tuxedo top, turning it into chain mail. The extra weight of the metal almost dragged Jeff down, but he managed to regain his balance.
"How the heck did you just do that?"
"Like this," Michael said, touching Jeff's pants and turning them into chain mail, too.
Jeff looked at his metal tuxedo, and his eyes grew noticeably larger. "You… you'd better change this back before someone finds us and sees this… Besides, I can't move my legs or arms!"
"You're not going to hit me are you?"
"I'm thinking about it! I'm really thinking about it!" Jeff looked at his tux again and tried to move one leg. "Alright, I won't hit you. Change it back."
Michael passed his hand swiftly over Jeff's tux, changing the top and the pants back to their original fabric.
"Mister Parker, I know you don't understand why I just did what I did, stopping this wedding back there and all, but there really was a good reason. It's just… very hard to explain."
"Try."
Michael nodded. "Time got screwed up somehow. I'm not sure myself exactly how it happened… I may have been partly to blame. All I know is, in the correct time, Liz married Max, and they were very, very, very happy together and had four children, and if I am to ever have any chance at all of getting Max and Maria and my children back, somehow I've got to make everything right again." As Michael pleaded, he realized that he was remembering things that he had forgotten. It was all coming back to him.
Jeff looked at Michael's face, and he saw real desperation.
"They were really, really really in love, huh?"
"More than you could ever imagine. In our time, Liz and Max practically lived for each other. I've never seen a greater love! …Except mine and Maria's.
"Did Liz continue to study and make something out of herself?"
Michael nodded.
"Was she head of molecular biology research at Harvard?"
Michael shook his head. Jeff nodded.
"You don't seem upset," Michael said.
"Not really. I'm very proud of Liz. Don't get me wrong. What she's accomplished has been a miracle. But what she's given up for it… her life, her family, marriage, children…"
"I remember in Roswell you used to run Max off when he'd come to see Liz sometimes."
"A man always wants the best for his daughter," Jeff said… "And there is one inalienable fact in life: No guy is ever good enough for another man's daughter."
"You seemed all too ready to accept Quigley."
Jeff cringed slightly. "Just between you and me, whoever you are…"
"Michael."
"Well, just between you and me, Michael, I never really liked Quigley. He's a pompous ass, and he doesn't know how to treat a woman."
"Why'd you let him marry Liz, then?"
"She's thirty-five, Michael! She doesn't need my permission anymore. Don't think I haven't let my feelings be known. Look, we need to find Liz. She's upset. She's gonna need me. I hope Nancy's with her."
Jeff turned and walked toward a nearby building, and Michael followed. Jeff found Liz in the church's social hall and hugged her tightly, trying to comfort her. Michael felt terrible as he watched Liz sob with her face buried against Jeff's chest. Then Liz noticed Michael.
"What are you doing here? Did you come to rub it in?"
"Rub it in? No! I didn't want to hurt you… Believe me! Please!"
Liz turned her face back against Jeff's chest and sobbed again.
"He wasn't good for you, Lizzie," Jeff said. "You know that as well as I do."
"Dad!" Liz exclaimed. Then she settled down unexpectedly. "Maybe you're right, but I've never met anyone I was interested in before. And James was special… He knows more than I do about molecular biology."
"You know, somehow I doubt that, Lizzie," Jeff said.
Liz smiled slightly. "Aw, Dad… You know… I… I don't think I ever really loved James. All my life, I've never loved any man… well, except you, of course! That's the problem, Dad. I've always felt like the right guy was out there somewhere… just waiting to find me. But he never showed up. I knew that I'd know him when I saw him… But I never saw him. I'm thirty-five, and I've never even looked at another guy… well, except for Kyle when we were in high school, but Kyle was just a fun guy to be with. I didn't 'love' him. You know what I mean?"
Jeff nodded. "I think I do."
"Is it wrong to feel like that special someone you've waited for all your life is just lost somewhere, and you really want him to find you, but he's just lost in some other dimension or something?"
Jeff looked at Michael, and Michael nodded.
At that moment, Quigley walked in, but he did not seem inclined to talk. He grabbed Michael and pummeled him in the jaw. Michael barely moved.
"Well… Rath you're not," Michael said sarcastically. "But you've got my attention."
"How dare you stop my wedding," Quigley raged. "I have a very busy day ahead, and my morning's just been wasted!"
"What's so important that you can't wait to get back to it on your wedding day," Michael asked.
"That's none of your business! Elizabeth, are we doing this or not? I don't have all day. Either let's get out there, and you tell them this guy was some lunatic and we get married, or I'm out of here."
"Bye," Liz said simply.
"Oh, no… No! No! No! You are not getting out of this that easy!" Quigley raged on… "You agreed to get married. You can't just back out just like that."
Jeff stepped in front of Liz. "She can back out any time she wishes. You heard her. Leave her alone." Without warning or reason, Quigley swung, catching Jeff in the jaw. Jeff went down. Michael ran to his side to help him, and Liz cracked a vase over Quigley's head.
"Is that answer good enough for you, James? Get out!" Liz bent down to check her Dad. He seemed to be alright and was already getting back up.
Quigley pointed at Michael. "I promise you this! I'm getting someone here arrested before this day is out! Count on it!"
"Quigley," Michael said, walking up to him from the side and brushing his arm with both hands, "You've got some lint on you." After brushing Quigley's arm quickly, Michael let his hands drop, "accidentally" letting one hand brush lightly across the front of Quigley's pants and the other across the back of his pants. Quigley's eyes opened wide.
"Perv! Geez, Elizabeth, is this who you listen to? When you get your senses back, look me up. Maybe I'll forgive you and we can set a new date. Don't expect a fancy wedding this time, though."
"Out!" Jeff yelled, pointing at the door. Quigley turned and left.
"I'm sorry, Dad," Liz said.
"You don't have anything to be sorry about, Lizzie," Jeff said. "Nothing at all."
Hearing a commotion outside, Jeff and Liz walked to the door and looked out. Quigley was running around outside with both hands down inside the front of his pants, scratching vigorously. People were starting to gather to watch, and many of them were laughing. After a few moments, a police car drove up, and two officers got out.
"Come on, buddy… Get your hands out of your pants! You can't act like that in public!"
"It itches!" Quigley exclaimed, removing one of his hands and sticking it down the back of his pants while the other hand stayed down the front.
"I don't care if it itches! Get your hands out! People are watching. Kids are watching!"
Quigley pulled his pants off, dropped down to the ground, and started to scootch across the grass on his butt. A good number of the guests were laughing now. Others were just standing with their mouths open.
"Mommy," a little boy asked… "Why is that man acting like a dog?"
"Don't look, Billy. He's a pervert," she said, turning the boy away from the scene.
"Alright, guy, we gave you a warning," the first officer said. He motioned to the other officer, and they picked Quigley up by each arm and stuck him in the squad car, still scratching vigorously.
Michael noticed that Liz was smiling now. He smiled, too. "Well, Quigley was truthful about one thing," Michael said. "He did get someone arrested today."
tbc