Disclaimer: Please see Chapter 1 for the usual statements.

Time to Consider
Chapter 33

By Callisto

Sydney's residence
Blue Cove, DE

Despite the early hour when they got ready to leave, Sydney was already up to greet them. The sun was still creeping upwards giving the world its first taste of the new day. Without much conversation, the couple and the psychiatrist drank coffee together and exchanged pleasantries. It was after Parker stood up to wash out her mug, when the men both knew they had run out of time. A focused glare came over her eyes as she stared directly into a sharp blade of sunlight filtering in through the kitchen curtains. There was only one message Jarod could imagine she was getting from the predictive voices in her mind. The hairs on the back of his neck, his own personal warning system that served to keep him free from the Centre's reach, were tingling unpleasantly.

Sydney couldn't help but stare at Parker while she listened to the inherited gift she shared with her pretender half-sibling, Ethan. Her expression eased to a softened concentration. In her youth, she was simply beautiful. Age, anger, disappointment, betrayal and heartache had yet to mar or render incongruously poignant her even features. He couldn't help but get the feeling of a second chance looming just within the edges of her grasp.

Jarod read his mentor's expression and easing out of his chair, walked over to the front room to peer out into the street. There was something of regret and loss in Sydney's face that told Jarod his mentor would miss his former colleague. There was so much to think about and each day he seemed less able to mentally multi-task or more accurately, there were too many things going on in his mind that he found it hard to concentrate on any one thing. For refuge, he chose to focus on a particularly difficult mathematical formula in order to calm his overactive brain.

"Miss Parker? Are you alright?" Sydney asked gently once it seemed as though she had returned to herself.

"Yes, but we must leave now, Sydney," she replied firmly, oblivious to the sorrow in the older man's voice and demeanor. Instead of looking in Sydney's face, she continued at the sink rushing to rinse out Jarod's mug.

"Parker, before you leave there is something I wanted to say," he began quietly.

Surprised by the emotion in Freud's voice, Parker finally turned to look at him. Nonplussed by the raw sentiment brewing in the psychiatrist's face, she paused and became very quiet; wondering what was eating at him.

Forcefully controlling his feelings, Sydney looked at Parker and said in a perfectly modulated voice, "You've been given a rare gift—a chance. To make things right for yourself. To live your life the way you've always been prevented by circumstances, lies and interference from your father. Please, use it to the fullest."

A smart retort to remind the geezer that returning to her original timeline 20 years younger wasn't really much of a chance, quickly evaporated on her lips as a bit of empathy asserted itself. Instead, she nodded silently.

"Parker, I want you to know that I always had your best interest at heart. Many times over the years, I was sorely tempted to violate the trust placed in me by your mother and reveal some of the details you eventually uncovered on your own."

"It's alright, Sydney."

"No. It's not really but there's precious little I can do to change the past now. If you make it back to the other reality, you'll have—both of you—the chance to make the life-changing decisions everyone else snatched from you and the maturity to appreciate them," he said hopefully. He seemed to identify with the chance they had been given, feeling if they succeeded then somehow he would too.

Parker listened to Sydney and was about to reply when the voices began speaking more stridently. Hurriedly looking over at Jarod, who was approaching, she nodded impatiently to him and patting Sydney gently on the arm gave him a gentle smile goodbye and rushed towards the back door.

Jarod paused and embraced his mentor. He would've preferred to stay and broach the subject of what was going on in his head with the psychiatrist, but he agreed with Parker that they had overstayed their welcome—beyond safety measures. "Sydney, I don't know when I'll have the chance to speak with you again…" Jarod began with a small catch in his voice.

"Phone me anytime you wish to talk. Be careful, Jarod. I don't know much about quantum mechanics or the theorems involved in time travel but I can't imagine that you would be able to return to this timeframe while retaining the physical changes from the other. Not without repercussions. If you need anything, please don't hesitate to call me."

"Thank you, Sydney. You've helped us so much already. Take care of yourself."

"I will, Jarod. Bon chance," he replied firmly.

Sitting down at the table once they were gone, Sydney looked over to see that Parker had displayed another uncharacteristic behavior. She had washed out hers and Jarod's mug and instead of placing them on the counter to dry; she returned them to the cupboard. 'Curious,' he thought silently just as a loud, insistent pounding started on his front door.

Parker rushed through the back yard and vaulting over a cinderblock fence with an alacrity that Jarod could only attribute to her Centre training, he followed her effortlessly using a few of his own acquired skills. Halfway preoccupied with surprise over the ease with which he solved a decades old mathematical problem, he was about to rush across the yard when Parker caught his arm and pulled him against the fence along with her. Seconds later the sounds of a car's tires crunching on the gravel behind Sydney's house greeted them as it slowly made its way down the alley. Footsteps were following as well and paused while the person peered through the locked gate. Had she allowed him to sprint the distance to the house, chances were good that he would've been spotted.

Sounds of fists pounding on a nearby door told both that they had barely escaped being caught inside Sydney's house. Once the Town Car and sweeper moved on, Parker pulled a glassy-eyed Jarod by the arm and ran through the yard and out into the adjacent street only to cross between a group of houses and repeat the process. They were 3 streets from Sydney's when she finally began to relax.

"I don't like leaving him like that."

"We didn't have a lot of choices in the matter. With everything that's going on, they won't do anything to him."

"You still have a completely unrealistic view of the Centre. After everything we've been through. Everything they've put you through and still you persist in this idealized view of them," he said with growing disgust. His impatience with Parker's obliviousness stemmed not from her attitude but from the turmoil going on in his mind.

"I can't believe this!" she yelled back. Then looking self-consciously around she lowered her voice. "Sydney's lasted longer than either of us in that place. He's survived purges that claimed my mother, his brother, ruined your family, robbed him of his own family and countless others. He'll survive this as well. That old coot has it all over you when it comes to craftiness."

"He's not the same. I never thought of him getting older but he is. You realize what he was trying to tell you back there? You probably didn't even take a moment to listen to him."

"I heard everything he said. Would you prefer we stayed and got all fat, dumb and maudlin while the Centre hauled the three of us to the Renewal Wing and turn us into walking zombies?" She bit back caustically. "I've seen it happen, it's not a pretty sight."

"Of course not. He was trying to tell you, he was going to miss you. He cares about you."

Parker turned to glare at him incredulously. The distractedly grave look on Jarod's face convinced her that he was serious. Haltingly, she replied, "He was feeling emotional about your leaving and some of that might have splashed onto me. He'll probably shake his head and not give me another thought. One less Centre suit to worry about and get in his way." Then dismissing the entire scene from her mind, she concentrated on the details the voices provided. "We need to go this way. No sweepers."

Jarod stared after her grimly, as she crossed the road. The timeline was already having its effects on her, and with his growing inability to concentrate on one particular thought at a time, it was all he could do to minimize the effects on himself as well. He quickly followed her lead towards the woods and a path that would eventually lead them to an artery of the main highway.

Highway 18
Blue Cove, DE

They had been sitting in an uneasy silence for over 20 minutes before the major opened the truck door and got out. Ethan, surprised by his father's impatience, followed his example.

"I don't know how much longer I can stand sitting around waiting for something to happen. Do you realize that we were in such a rush to get out here that we don't even have a scanner?"

"Sorry. The urge to be near them, to be on hand to help overwhelmed me. If you want, you can take the truck and buy some supplies, I'll wait here for them to show up," Ethan offered lamely.

"You mean you're so certain that they're going to pass this way that you'll wait here while I go shopping for equipment?" the major asked incredulously. "Son, with that kind of faith, I think I'll just have to wait with you."

"Then you would've placed your faith in the right person."

Both men turned and looked in the direction of the woods where the unexpected voice came from. Then, slowly a very slim, darkly handsome young man emerged from the bushes at the edge of the forest. His hair was cut very short in a sort of non-style. His eyes were a deep, expressive brown that was emphasized by the dark shirt and tight jeans. His entire outfit was reminiscent of the early '80's. If his twin-like resemblance to Daniel weren't enough, then his unique use of that trademark grin told the two men that their hopes had finally been realized.

Major Charles stared at the young man; almost convincing himself that somehow Daniel had beat them to this spot and was playing some sort of weird joke. Uncertainty clouded his features, while he stared in silence. Ethan was fairly much in the same shape. This was the place where the voices told him to find Jarod and his sister.

"Daniel? What are you doing here?" he asked haltingly.

The young man closed his eyes for a brief moment and sighed deeply. "You have no idea how tired I am of everyone assuming that I'm my own clone. It's me, Jarod."

As if to punctuate his statement and lend credence to it, another figure emerged from the safety of the forest and stood next to Jarod. She glanced uncertainly from the major and allowed her eyes to settle on her younger brother who now looked like he was at least 10 years older than she. Ethan's eyes met the girl's and his mouth slowly opened in astonishment. She was dressed in similar retro-style clothing as the Daniel look-alike. Wearing tight, dark Chemin de Fer pants and matching oversized shirt. The contrasting dark colors complemented her fair complexion and long, waist-length dark hair.

Without saying a word, she walked up to Ethan, tilted her head to one side and with impressive speed, slapped Ethan across the face with some force. The three men were all shocked by what she had done. Unfortunately, she wasn't done with Ethan. She hit him twice again before Jarod snapped out of his own astonishment and pulled her away. All poor Ethan could do was stare at her as the left side of his face turned a deep red. A heavy lump grew in his throat as it became abundantly clear to him who the beautiful young girl was.

Jarod pulled her further away and then stood in front of her holding up his hands. Parker's concentration wasn't to be deterred. "Damn it, Ethan. What the hell did you think you were doing? Who told you we wanted to come back? How about asking us instead of kidnapping us? You had no right!"

"Maritza, I'm so sorry. I wasn't thinking clearly. All I could concentrate on was retrieving you from the predicament you stumbled into. You and Jarod rescued me from Mr. Raines' influence; I wanted to do the same--to help. Please," Ethan begged ineffectively.

"My God, Jarod? What the hell has happened?"

"This is going to take some time but from what Parker's been telling me, we need to get on the road now before we start attracting unwanted attention."

"Yes, of course," the major replied in relieved confusion. So these were the changes that they went through. This was going to be some story. Opening the passenger-side door, he beckoned them to climb in as the major ran around the front end and got into the driver's seat, immediately starting the engine.

Jarod moved closer to Parker and placing what he meant to be a calming hand at the middle of her back, it turned out to be more possessive but effectively guided her to the truck. Her face was still pale from anger as she stalked past her still shocked younger brother and into the truck. Jarod followed and sat alongside Parker in the extended back portion of the cab while Ethan brought up the rear and silently slammed the door shut.

The Centre
Chairman Raines' Office
Blue Cove, DE

Trying to get through the routine paperwork, concerns and issues that confronted him on a daily basis was impossible. He had been the lead scientist in charge of research and development for the past 25 years at the Centre. It was hard to believe that someone had hidden a breakthrough as significant as this from him. Another thing that was hard to believe was that Miss Parker had been the subject of any experiments. Not that she wasn't a viable subject—actually she was an excellent specimen. The problem with Miss Parker was her unshakeable morality. Regardless of her father's corrosively neglectful behavior, strenuous programming disguised as Centre training and constant contact with some of the Centre's most corruptively influential executives, this trait seemed more intractable than her ever-present anger. She also had the most irritating habit of mixing her strange brand of morality with her quick mind and sharper wit. Some insisted that morality was a learned behavior that was extremely limiting, he was one of those proponents but on the other hand the very characteristics that made Jarod such an exceptional pretender were his morality issues. Without them, he would be a similar mess to his irretrievably twisted brother Kyle.

Long ago when Miss Parker was still a toddler, he and Mr. Parker enjoyed a heated intellectual debate about morality. As an example, Leith used his daughter. He felt his daughter had an inborn morality that prompted her to call out to him when she spotted the broken ladder rung. With a grim smile, Raines countered the argument stating that Catherine's influence on the girl was the cause. If little Miss Parker had the benefit of his influence, she would've watched solemnly as her father plunged to his death.

Despite his arguments, he too felt that Miss Parker was one of the few people he met that did seem to have an innate, inbred morality. Then why would anyone in their right mind want to clone her? Raines was interrupted in his musings by his secretary who entered with a list of names.

"All these employees were brought to sublevel 15 on your orders, sir," she said obsequiously.

Raines took the list and noticed immediately that while Sydney's name was near the top, Broots' name wasn't on the list at all. Not looking up he said to her, "There has been an omission. Mr. Broots isn't on this list, why?"

Sudden nervousness crept invasively over the woman as she quickly covered and taking a deep breath, replied. "Everyone who had missing time, left early, called in sick, was on vacation or holiday has been either brought back or their movements accounted for all of yesterday. Mr. Broots hasn't any missing time. If memory serves, Mr. Broots took his hour lunch and returned 15 minutes late but he made up for the discrepancy by staying an hour beyond his usual time."

"Have him brought to sublevel 15 when he arrives. Next time, follow my instructions to the letter or I'll have you replaced permanently," the Chairman replied, as he impatiently wheeled his bottled oxygen out of the room.