The Journeyman Project 3: Legacy of Time

Gage Blackwood has discovered that Michelle Visard, the rogue Agent 3, is still alive and hiding in the time stream. But with TSA shutting down, he had no way of going back in time to get her, that is until William Daughton showed him the Chameleon Jumpsuit, capable of capturing the image of any person native to a time zone.

Reunited with Arthur, his artificial intelligence companion, Gage investigated an uncharted island that turned out to be a target for a Cyrollan ship! Now Gage and Arthur have three mysteries: where's Agent 3, why were the Cyrollans attacking Earth, and what was Dr. Sinclair doing in the year 1262 B.C.? The only way they could find out is by discovering the other two pieces to Michelle's time code.


Date: January 29, 524 A.D.
Place: Andes Mountains, Peru

Gage materialized in a hole. Actually it was a well, an empty well.

"Either Agent 3 sent us to languish in a deep well or we shrank into your turtleneck," Arthur cracked.

"I think it is a well," Gage said looking up at the opening.

"Well if it is, then one of my wishes is to be in a bigger well."

"We need to find some way to get out of here." Gage tried climbing up but he couldn't get a grip. "Well that idea's shot."

"Why don't you just use your boot jets?" Arthur suggested.

"I don't have any boot jets."

"Well then fire a grappling hook."

"Don't have one of those either."

"Metal spikes in your gloves?"

"Sorry."

"Don't you at least have a white flag you could wave around to announce to someone that we're here?"

"Nope."

"Jeez, what kind of high-tech battle suit is this?"

"A prototype research suit."

"Ah, well, that explains it."

Gage looked around at the bottom of the well. The well's diameter was barely big enough to fit him. A barrel lay in between his feet and under it a drain could be seen. Gage could hear the faint sound of water on the other side of the well.

"Gage, see that stone lever against the wall? Well when you pull it, the slab should cover the drain allowing water to rush through and fill the well… or with our luck, it will unleash the well-dwelling piranhas." Gage tried pulling on the lever but it wouldn't move. "There is a rock blocking the slab from covering the drain," Arthur announced. "Remove it and ye shall be king… wait a minute, I'm Arthur. Remove it, and it won't block the drain any more." Gage moved the rock and placed it on the side. "Gage, a small piece of advice: don't pull the lever with your mouth open." Gage pulled the lever again. The slab opened and fell over the drain. Water began gushing out and the well began filling up. Gage grabbed on to the bucket and rode it to the top of the well. "Next time we vacation in the past, I'll bring my swim trunks," Arthur cracked. "So what's next, bungee jumping off the pyramids, bull leaping in Crete?"

"Look on the bright side," Gage said as he climbed out, "Better floating than drowning."

Looking around, Gage discovered that he was on a mountain plateau which was scorched. Smoke could be seen erupting from the valley. Blast fire could be heard as well.

"Did you hear that?" Arthur asked.

"Yeah, sounds like there's some sort of commotion going on in the distance. Let's check it out."

"Be careful, I don't think sixth century South Americans would be all that thrilled to see a guy in green."

Gage walked up a path. At a fork, he veered left and went up a hill. "Arthur, tell me what you think of this." They came to a destroyed farmhouse.

"From what I can tell of the remains, the former culture was very advanced and judging from the shape of this plateau, they mastered terrace farming techniques… though they probably should've put more time into the fire department."

"Hmmm… a Mediterranean and Pre-Columbian culture, both with technology that's way before their time, both destroyed, possibly by an alien race."

"Gage, I've come to two conclusions," Arthur said. "One: Diet Dr. Pepper does taste like regular Dr. Pepper, and two: we're not dealing with your garden variety ancient cultures, we might be dealing with mythic civilizations. According to some ancient texts, the fabled city of El Dorado was said to be somewhere in South America. This might be it."

"If that's true, then the one we visited before might be Atlantis."

"Just something else we can squeeze from Agent 3's… uh… head when we find her."

Gage went back down the hill and took the other path, coming out onto a landing. Two balloons could be seen. One had no basket and the crank that was used to pull the balloon to the landing was missing. The other had a basket but the entire wench mechanism was damaged beyond repair.

"For once, I'm at a lost for words," Arthur said. "I can't think of a reason why those piñatas are here."

"Arthur," Gage said warily.

"Sorry. Seriously, though, Pre-Columbian South American cultures were never really known to be avid balloonists… then again, according to my knowledge of this time period, there is no record for this civilization."

"Agent 3 said that two of the codes would be at high vantage points," Gage said more to himself than to Arthur. "My guess is she probably hid it in one of those balloons."

"So how are we going to get up there, genius? If we're going ballooning, I don't want to hang off of it like some deranged Bond villain."

"I have an idea," Gage said. Gage went back to the farmhouse and found a sturdy basket. He put that in his Jumpsuit's temporal pocket. He then went to the well and removed the bucket crank. Placing that in his temporal pocket as well, Gage returned to the balloon landing. He connected the bucket crank to the mechanism and used it to pull the lower balloon down to his level. He then attached the basket to the balloon.

"Definitely not the prettiest of balloons," Arthur critiqued. "But it definitely… maybe… should fly (who am I kidding, this baby's going down). Uh… why don't you go up first, Gage, and I'll… go find a shovel and dig your early grave."

"Very funny, wise guy, but we both go and nobody goes." Gage took a pebble and climbed into the balloon. He then flicked the pebble which knocked the bucket crank off the mechanism. Immediately, the balloon was raised back to its original level.

"You know, Gage, being about a hundred feet up in a hastily constructed, barely navigable flying balloon, and knowing you ever had a flying lesson, really puts things in perspective, Gage."

"It does?"

"Yeah, I found that being hundreds of feet in the air make me… twice as frightened!"

Gage rolled his eyes and looked around. He didn't see anything that looked like a time code. Gage looked across at the other balloon. Did Agent 3 expect him to reach the next balloon? Gage looked over the side and saw a rope with a hook dangling off the side. He pulled it up and threw it to the other balloon. Gage was able to drag the two balloons until they were about twelve feet from each other. From there, he decided to take a leap of faith… literally. He jumped from one balloon to the other. He fell short of the required length and would've fallen to his doom had he not held on to the gondola of the balloon he was jumping towards. Summoning up all his strength, Gage pulled himself into the balloon.

After getting his breath back, he looked around and spotted the time code written on the inside of the gondola. "Computer, zoom-in and record time code." The Jumpsuit complied with Gage's commands. "There, just one more to…"

Suddenly the balloon Gage rode up on was destroyed by an energy blast. Gage activated his scanners and looked around. He spotted two ships exchanging laser fire over the pyramid-like structure. "Computer, analyze and identify." The computer identified one of the ships as a Cyrollan ship but came up blank on the other one. One of the strange ships fired an energy blast straight towards Gage.

Once again, Gage was thrown into a null time pocket.

"There were two different alien groups fighting over that city," Gage commented.

"Yeah, I recognized the Cyrollans' ship but I have no idea who those other vessels belonged to."

"Maybe Agent 3 can explain some more when we find her," Gage said. "Arthur, analyze the time code."

You betcha, lets see… looks like she's pretty far. How can I put it into terms you would understand? You know how long it takes to find humor in a Gallagher show?"

"So?"

"Well in time-space terms, she's 1,000 Gallagher shows away. That third piece is essential to the coordinates; we need it if we're going to have any chance to find her."

Once again, Agent 3's face appeared on Gage's view screen. "Excellent, by now you're beginning to understand the importance of my discovery. Go to the last environment the final piece will lead you right to my position." Gage ordered a time jump to the final location.


Date: April 15, 1219 A.D.
Place: Himalayan Mountains; Central Asia

Gage materialized outside a building that was torn open by an avalanche. A large ravine was right in front of him with a large Asian building half-buried in snow.

Arthur shivered, "Did we just land on Agent 3's shoulder?"

"Arthur, don't you get tired of putting down Agent 3 like that?"

"No."

Gage looked around, "From the look of things, we just missed the avalanche that tore through this building."

"Would it be improper for an artificial intelligence to go sledding?" Arthur asked.

"Yes."

"Just one hill, Gage, come on, it's the Himalayas!"

"Precisely why you can't."

"You know, if we invent the toboggan centuries before its time, we can sell them to local Tibetans and be gazillionares in the future."

"Arthur, that's abusing time travel."

"Oh I suppose you want to save the world. What about my needs?"

Gage decided to drop this subject and went to the edge. Agent 3 said that two of the codes would be at high vantage points and one would be at a low vantage point. And as Arthur so eloquently put it, "You don't get lower than that ravine unless you start worshiping Michael Jackson as a cult god." A bridge was dangling off the side of the ravine. Gage began climbing down. "Good thinking, Gage, we'll just climb down into the ravine, then maybe find a nice hotel, and eat a light dinner and… WHOA, WHOA, YIIII!" Suddenly Gage found himself dangling off the bridge. He quickly climbed back up. "Whew, Gage, give me a warning next time you try to kill your self."

"Sorry." Gage went back up the snow drift.

"You see the bridge dangling off the side of the cliff?"

"I do now."

"Before the avalanche, this place must've been used to extend the bridge to the other side of the ravine. Why can't we go to a time period where something works? I mean the stairs in the windmill, the balloon, and now the bridge. I tell you, Gage, this is getting ridiculous." Gage returned to the spot where he first appeared. This time, he went down a hill on the side of the former gatehouse. He tripped and fell over a wheel control.

"This thing must've controlled something in the gatehouse before this place was smashed," Gage said. He picked up the wheel and placed it inside his temporal pocket.

His heel touched something fleshy. Gage looked down to see that he was right in front of a dead man. "My God, he's dead!"

"Looks like the destruction caused by this avalanche is completed," Arthur said solemnly. "I doubt they were any survivors." Gage saw a staff lying next to the dead man. He picked it up and placed that in his inventory as well.

"Arthur, give me some options on how to get down there."

"Okay, option one: you can swan-dive off this cliff and fall at an accelerated rate of 9.8 meters per second square, or option two: we can figure out a way to extend the bridge to reach the ravine floor."

"I'll take the second option," Gage said going back inside the gatehouse. He searched the upper levels until he found a set of gears standing on the side. Gage attached the wheel to the gears and turned the wheel until he could turn it no more. After making sure the bridge was low enough, he started to climb down. He ran out of bridge about ten feet from the bottom so he decided to jump the rest of the way.

"Ow," Arthur winced. "I think I was sitting on my keys."

"Arthur, what do you make of this building?" Gage asked.

"From its remains, I can tell that it was once a Tibetan Monastery. Obviously, it's been knocked into the ravine by the avalanche."

"What a terrible loss to humanity," Gage mourned. "All this culture and architecture… destroyed, and by our own allies no less."

"Yup, we definitely got the short end of the stick," Arthur agreed. Gage went up to the monastery and looked around for a door. When that failed, he sought out a window. "Your old hard life of crime just might pay now. We could get into this building if we break through the window. The beauty of my plan is that breaking and entering isn't even illegal yet."

Gage went up to a window and tried to push it open but it wouldn't budge. "It must be frozen shut." Gage removed the dead man's staff from his temporal pocket and used it to pry the window open.

The inside of the monastery was no better than the outside. A Buddha statue was half-buried in snow. Columns were toppled over, banners barely hanging on their hinges.

"Arthur, if this is a mythic civilization too, which one would it be?" Gage asked.

"Well if we were in the Magic Kingdom, this would be Tragedy Land," Arthur replied. "But considering we're not… a lot of ancient literature classified Shangri-La in the Himalayans. And going on our past record, it isn't hard to deduce who might've had a hand in destroying it." Gage was silent. "Here's a hint, Gage: it wasn't Mike Nelson."

Gage did a quick scan of the room. "The time code must be around here somewhere."

"Agent 3 must've written it in something that would be erasable so that nobody besides you would find it. She probably wrote it in the snow." Gage explored the room before going up to the huge Buddha statue. "I never thought I would ever see a head bigger than mine, but there it is. Climb up on Buddha's huge cranium so we can see what's on the other side."

Gage climbed up onto the Buddha's shoulders then used the frame of the wall to bring himself onto the Buddha's head. Looking around, he spotted the time code written, as he suspected, in the snow. Gage had the Jumpsuit's computers zoom in and recorded it before he erased it ensuring the sanctity of the time line.

Suddenly an alarm went off. The telescanners were detecting life forms nearby. "Intruders," Gage realized. "Computer, locate position and identify intruders." The telescanners zoomed in on a temple that was also devastated. Two figures came into view. Even before the Jumpsuit identified them, Gage knew who, or rather what, they were.

"Uh-oh, Cyrollans," Arthus said hushed. "They look like they mean business."

"They look like they're searching for something," Gage said. "But what are they searching for, and why here?" One of the Cyrollans pointed in Gage's direction. "They've seen us." The other Cyrollan fired an electrified orb. Gage read about those weapons once, they were designed to stun and mind-wipe the target so they would have no recollection of seeing extraterrestrials.

"Gage, if we don't get out of here, they'll finish us off in a split second," Arthur said. Gage leapt down from the Buddha and ran across the hall but the orb was following his Jumpsuit's heat trail.

"Time Jump!" Gage cried. Just as the orb was about to strike, Gage time jumped out.

Once again, Gage was inside a null time pocket. It was touch and go, but they finally got all pieces of Michelle's time code.

"Computing her position now," Arthur said. "We've got her! According to these coordinates, Agent 3 is hiding approximately fourteen days before your present time on a different planet, possibly Jupiter or Saturn."

"But Jupiter and Saturn have no habitable atmosphere, unless she's hiding near them, like on Titan."

"The Vega Thalon Prison Colony!"

"Right, Arthur, set the coordinates and let's go get her!"

As Arthur set up the coordinates, Agent 3's face appeared once again. "Now you know that aliens destroyed Atlantis, Shangri-La and El Dorado, imagine how history would've been different if those cities were spared. The TSA must know of our discovery! With the final piece, you should have the coordinates for my position, I will be waiting."

"I have her position now, prepare for anything, Gage." As Gage left the null time pocket, he pondered the overall situation. Three mythical civilizations were destroyed by the same extraterrestrial race who claimed they came in the name of peace. But who were the Cyrollans fighting? Why were they fighting? Was that really Dr. Sinclair leaving the ruins of Atlantis? Gage thought he better deal with one mystery at a time, starting with what would he find when he arrives at Agent 3's location?


Date: October 28, 2329
Place: Vega Thalon Prison Colony, Titan

As the Chameleon Jumpsuit materialized in the hospital wing, Agent 3 was a little shocked. She expected the large bulky silver Jumpsuits of the Temporal Protectorate, not this strange, almost dwarfish, green Jumpsuit; she also didn't expect to see the logo on the shoulder. The Deep Time Unit, why would the TSA send someone from there? The back panels on the helmet were raised enabling Gage to remove the helmet. Agent 3 almost jumped out of her clothes. "Gage, I didn't think the TSA would send you." Gage started to walk purposefully to her. Agent 3 fearfully took a step back. "How could you ignore what I've shown you, think of your duty to history," she pleaded.

"What would you know about duty?" Gage retorted grabbing her wrist. "Agent 3, you're coming with me now."

"Wait," Michelle said shrugging off his vice grip. "Before you arrest me, there's someone here who may convince you further." Michelle turned to one of the beds. Gage followed her glance and saw Dr. Elliott Sinclair.

Dr. Sinclair opened his eyes and saw Gage. "It's you! Why do you plague me… in my final moments," he said bitterly. "You… took away my lab… my life!"

"Dr. Sinclair, I saw you in the past, fleeing the destruction of Atlantis, what were you doing there?"

"Atlantis, you saw its destruction?" Gage nodded. "Then you know that… the most beautiful city in history was destroyed by… our benevolent protectors."

"Yes, I saw it all, Elliott, but why would the Cyrollans attack, they're our allies!"

"They were… unrelenting," Elliott stammered. "They spared nothing… nobody… when they returned ten years ago, I tried to warn Earth… but nobody would listen… and I was imprisoned… by you… for my foresight."

"I need to know more," Gage pleaded. "Who were the Cyrollans fighting?"

Sinclair was lost in his delusional state. "Long ago, I believed in higher powers… I took it as my purpose to heal and shepherd the world… but the world turned its back on me. And this is my reward for a lifetime of faith." He looked at Gage sternly, but weakly. "Goodbye, Agent Blackwood." He pressed a call button.

"Elliott!" But if the scientist heard him, he didn't responded. Michelle looked at Gage with a look that said that they needed to get out of there fast. Even she didn't want a temporal ripple so close to the present. Gage spotted her look and re-donned his helmet. Then with Agent 3 in tow, jumped back to the present just as a nurse walked in, unaware that they had even been there.


Date: November 11, 2329
Place: TSA; Appalachian Mountains, Earth

"CAN'T ANYONE AROUND HERE FOLLOW ORDERS?" Commissioner Baldwin ranted. "William, the Chameleon Prototype was top secret! You're in this just as deep as Gage is!"

Will nodded, it wasn't easy being the brunt of the Commissioner's rage, and he was more than a little outraged when he discovered what Gage… and William himself did. And being yelled at by your boss in front of a party of Cyrollans certainly didn't help matters.

The doors to the Command Room opened and Gage and Michelle walked in. The assembled humans and Cyrollans turned to look at them. Commissioner Baldwin walked up to Michelle and scowled.

"So you are alive," he said seething. "You can't imagine the trouble you've caused us. Lock her up!" A guard standing by the door took hold of Agent 3 and started to lead her away. Baldwin then turned to Gage, "I should throw you in with Agent 3 for insubordination but the truth is I need you. We're in the middle of a crisis, the Brega Quadrant was attacked only hours ago!"

Gage gasped. "There hasn't been an attack on the Symbiotry in decades, do we know who?"

Baldwin turned to the main view screen which showed a map of Symbiotry space with a red line moving towards Earth. On the right was an image of the unknown ship.

Except that Gage recognized it.

"We haven't been able to identify them," Baldwin explained. "They smashed through our frontier outposts; they're on an intercept course for Earth. The Cyrollans have cautioned us to ready our planetary defenses and are here to offer their support and council."

A tall, purple, female Cyrollan walked up to them. "Gage Blackwood, I am Jhessela, the Cyrollan Ambassador to Earth," she greeted. "In this time of crisis, we have come to ask you for…"

"Those same ships have been on Earth before; they were fighting your people, Ambassador!" Michelle had squirmed away from the guard and was now pointing to the ship. "Gage, tell them what you saw!" She called to Gage.

"What the hell is she still doing here? Get her out of my sight now!" Baldwin snapped. The guard grabbed her again and all but dragged her out of the room.

"Agent 3 is right," Gage acknowledged. "While I was in the past, I saw a craft similar to that battling Cyrollan ships." He turned to the Ambassador. "I was at Atlantis, Ambassador. I know what your race did."

Baldwin's breath stopped, now even his best agent was turning on the Cyrollans. "What the hell are you talking about, Gage?"

"Be calm, Commissioner Baldwin," Jhessela intervened. "My government has never permitted me to admit this, but considering the circumstances… in your distant past, we defended your planet against a savage race, the Qou'Thalas. When my race was young, an elder race called the Sosiqui had already past. They left only whispered legends of their Legacy, a relic containing their vast knowledge.

"A trail of legends led us to Earth and it was at Atlantis that we met the Qou'Thalas. Peace failed. We both fought with a frightening passion for our birthright. When one of the Qou'Thalas ships landed near the temple of the city you call Atlantis, we had no choice but to destroy the city. We still believed that action saved your world, and many others."

"Your quest for the Legacy has resulted in the destruction of three civilizations from our history," Gage accused.

"The Qou'Thalas were butchers!" One of Jhessela's aides snapped. "We saved your Earth from eternal enslavement!" Jhessela turned to the aide and said something in the Cyrollans' native language. The aide almost looked shocked and embarrassed. He took a step back.

Jhessela continued her story, "After the destruction of Atlantis, we battled the Qou'Thalas for centuries. Twice more in your history, the Legacy's influence surfaced in the form of two highly-advanced human cultures. Sadly, each of the cities was destroyed in brutal battle.

"After the third city, we managed to chase the Qou'Thalas into the outer regions of space. We thought they were gone forever."

"Commissioner, I'm receiving a message from deep space," William called. Gage, Baldwin, and Jhessela turned to the view screen. An image of a large, brutish-looking alien with multiple legs and scaly hides appeared.

"Earth," they said in a deep voice. "You will turn over the Legacy and time travel technology, the birthright of the Qou'Thalas. If you do not, there will be dire consequences!" The transmission ended.

"As you can see, the situation is grim," Jhessela pointed out. "The Symbiotry Defense Fleet is scattered and the Qou'Thalas are more powerful than the Nu'Karis or the Krynn. That is why we came here. With the Legacy, we might be able to crush the Qou'Thalas once and for all. If not, the Symbiotry might not be able to protect Earth this time."

"You need us for our time travel technology," Baldwin realized. "You want us to go back in time before the destruction to search for this Legacy."

Gage couldn't believe what he was hearing. The TSA had three main directives: never leave anything in a time zone that came from another time zone, never take anything of historical significance, and most importantly, never converse with anyone from that time period. But the Cyrollans wanted them to break those directives if they wanted to save Earth. Well, I'm already in deep, might as well go all the way. "Let me go back, Commissioner. I've been to the cities, I know their layouts. I can search for the Legacy. At the very least, it will give the Earth a bargaining chip with the Qou'Thalas."

"Doesn't look like we have much of a choice," Baldwin said. He turned to the Ambassador. "But this will happen our way, Ambassador; this will be an Earth investigation only. The Earth government will be made aware of everything you have disclosed."

"My government should not have kept this from you for so long," Jhessela said remorseful. "I hope this will not hurt the kinship between Cyrol and Earth."

"Very well, Gage, I'm sending you on a mission to search for this Legacy." From the tone of his voice, it looked like Gage would have full reign over this investigation.

Gage turned to Daughton and handed the boy his helmet. "William, program three jump coordinates to each of the three time zones approximately one day before they'll be destroyed."

"They should be uploaded into your suit in a moment," William replied.

"How will I know the Legacy when I see it?" Gage asked Jhessela.

"All of the Cyrollan legends describing the Legacy are vague at best." Jhessela held up a mini holographic projector. On it, a pyramid object with a unique symbol appeared. The symbol looked like three sets of claws all grasping for the same triangle. "This pendant is an ancient Sosiqui relic that our archaeologists found on another planet. We believe the symbol is a Sosiqui marking that represents their Legacy. The true Legacy might also bare this mark. Good fortune, Agent Blackwood."

"Thank you, Ambassador."

"Gage," Will called as Gage was getting ready to leave. "I also fine-tuned the Chameleon Jumpsuit's disguise technology. Now you should be able to capture a native's disguise."

"Thanks, Will," Gage said. He left the command room and donned his helmet.

"All right, Gage, our mission is to find the Sosiqui Legacy," Arthur said. "The new jump coordinates are in your menu. Choose one and we'll be on our way."

"Right, Arthur. Computer, set coordinates for Atlantis, October 5th, 1262 B.C. Initiate Time Jump!"

And so, Gage departed on the most vital mission of his life.


Main Cast

Gage Blackwood, Agent 5: Jerry Rector

Michelle Visard, Agent 3: Michele Scarabelli

Arthur: Matt Weinhold

Elliott Sinclair: Graham Jarvis

William Daughton: David Fenner

Comm. Jack Baldwin: Daniel Mann

Jhessela: Connie Terwillinger

Qou'Thalas/TSA Guard: Eric Dallaire

Cyrollan Attendant: Phil Saunders

Nurse: Susan Sattler