Part III

As I stepped out of the vortex, I braced myself. What would this new time period bring? I desperately hoped that it wouldn't be as vicious as the Permian era. There was a part of me that hoped that it was going to be home, but as I looked around, I realised this was not to be.

"Greetings, traveller," a quiet voice said.

I looked and saw a tall slender woman standing there. She was wearing robes that seemed to be the same colour as the vortex behind me, all colours, yet no colours at the same time. Behind her, I noticed a veritable army of armed guards.

"Do not be alarmed," she told me, obviously mistaking my surprise for shock or fear. "You have travelled in time. I am Kaesia. I am one of the Guardians of the Anomaly. We ensure that everybody gets back to their correct time."

I managed to find my voice. It was apparent that I had somehow ended up in the future. "And those?" I said gruffly, indicating at the guards standing behind her.

The woman's voice hardened. "A necessary precaution. This anomaly leads to the Permian era, an era full of wild beasts that would wreak havoc on this city. They are here to prevent such a catastrophe." She gave me a smile that I supposed was meant to be friendly looking but looked rather like a shark looking at its prey.

My mind slowly caught up to what she was saying. "You know where this… anomaly leads?" I liked the sound of the word anomaly. It sounded better than my description of it as a vortex.

Her lips curved up into a superior smile. I felt a slight twinge of dislike for her. "Of course we do." She looked me up and down, taking in my dusty clothes and matted oily hair. "I presume you are not native of the Permian era. There were no Homo sapiens sapiens during that era."

"No," I said abruptly. I was starting to dislike her more and more.

"Hmm," she said slowly. "Backpack. Jeans. T-shirt." She took a swift step towards me, reached into my jacket pocket and found my mobile. "Telecommunications device. Late 20th century, early 21st century design."

"Maybe," I muttered, not liking how my voice had taken on a petulant edge. She reminded me of some of my primary school teachers. They had a similar way of making me feel ridiculous and young. Least they had an excuse. I was young back then.

She gestured towards the guards who came and encircled me. "You will be taken to temporary guest quarters until we can find an anomaly to take you back to your era. There will be a form to fill out within your quarters listing your native era and your location within your native era. If you fill out the form, we shall endeavour to find you an anomaly to send you back within a reasonable time."

The guards gestured at me with their weapons. It seemed as though I had no choice but to follow them.

-*

My quarters, although clean and well-maintained, were rather sparsely furnished. There was a stack of forms on the table and as I flipped through them, I noticed they were the same form in various different languages. There were some I recognised, but most were foreign to me. I pulled out the English one and grabbed a pen. Since I was here, I might as well fill out their form and follow their rules.

Most of the questions were fairly straightforward.

I wrinkled my nose at one of them. I couldn't see what my weight had to do with the anomalies. I left it blank. I also left the section "Disease History" blank. I wasn't going to tell them about every single cold and cyst I had ever gotten. It was certainly none of their business.

There was absolutely nothing I could do to protect myself from their diseases. I had already breathed in their air, talked to their people and I was hungry enough to eat their food that they had left out for me.

As for them, I shrugged. I presumed that they would have taken the necessary precautions to prevent them getting anything from me. If not, then it was really too bad for them, wasn't it?

I slid the form through the slot in the door when I was finished and then sat on the bed and examined the food they had left for me. It all looked rather foreign, but when I tasted a spherical lump it was something like chicken.

-*

About ten minutes after I had slid the papers under the door, I heard a thundering of feet outside. My door opened and a man in uniform entered. He was rather attractive so I smiled at him.

He stared at me, his face impassive.

"Please come with me, Ms Cutter," he said, and put his hand on his weapon.

With a sigh, I stood up and followed him out the door.

-*

I was led to a spacious, beautifully furnished – bizarrely in style of the Victorian era which was always one of my favourites – penthouse suite.

An older woman was standing there, dressed in the same style as the woman who had greeted me at the anomaly.

"Helen Cutter," the woman said as she walked towards me. Her voice was smooth and melodious. "It is a pleasure to meet you. Please take a seat." She gestured towards a gorgeous settee. "Feel free to help yourself to anything on the platter."

I stared at her. And then I stared at the platter. It was filled with delicious foods. "I'm sorry," I said as I turned back towards the woman. "What was your name again?"

Her lips quirked up into a smile. "I never told you it."

Damn. My little trick didn't work. "What am I doing here?" I asked.

"Please," she said, as she sat down, "take a seat. Be comfortable."

I stayed standing. "What am I doing here," I repeated.

"We get such few visitors," the woman explained as she helped herself to a strawberry. "Mmm, always my favourites. It's such a disappointment when people ruin them with chocolate or sugar, isn't it?"

I nodded. I had always said something similar whenever I had strawberries. I once knew somebody who dumped vinegar on their strawberries. It was ridiculous. Vinegar was for chips not strawberries! "The woman at the anomaly was nowhere near as… polite."

"Kaesia takes some getting used to," the woman agreed. She looked up at me. "Well since you are not going to take a seat," a small smile played around her lips and her eyes looked misty, "I'd better get right down to business."

I took a step backwards. This wasn't sounding terribly good.

The woman reached into a bag next to her and pulled out a small square object. "Take this," she said.

I made no move to walk forward. "What is it?"

"It is something that will help you in your travels through the anomaly."

"My travels?" I repeated. "I'm planning to go straight home."

She nodded. "Of course you are."

I wasn't sure whether it was my imagination or if she sounded rather sarcastic.

"It will help you go home anyway," she continued. "It's my own invention. It's quite interesting. It'll pinpoint any anomaly within a few hundred kilometres as well as giving a general idea of where each anomaly leads. As such, you can travel anywhere you want. Or rather, anywhen."

"So why are you giving it to me?" I couldn't help it. I was rather suspicious.

"Let's just say I've taken a liking to you. Anyway, I believe there is an anomaly appearing any minute now very near here that will lead to England, eight years after you left. I suggest you take it." She stood up, walked over and pressed the device into my hands. "It can play up a bit, but it can generally be relied upon. It's better than going through the anomalies blind anyway."

-*

I stood in front of the anomaly. The one the woman had told me should lead me back home, or at least approximately home. In my jacket pocket, I had the device she gave me. I was still rather wary of her intentions, but I figured that there was no harm in taking it. I just hoped that this anomaly wasn't going to lead to some sort of horrible era instead by mistake.

I took a deep breath and stepped through.