Saturday 16 January 2016

Dark side of the Drake 1.4

~~~Continued from~~~

232 AO, September 4th

How do you track a wizard? No one even believes they exist, so I suppose they'd be as hard to track as Nergworm Monster. Cryptozoology is terribly unfruitful. Despite my determination to get this wizard's help, I had no idea how hard it would be to find her. Fortunately it wasn't. It turns out that when someone leaves a planet before space exploration begins, they don't expect to meet any other humans. I topped a ridge and spied Jikana picking berries in a ravine. It was perfect. I was easily able to approach her from behind without her becoming aware of my presence - which was good considering her abilities. I positioned myself at the only exit she would be expected to take, and waited until she was finished to ambush her.

She picked up her basket, and began her trek - well, the first few feet of the trek. As soon as she passed me, I stepped up behind her with the barrel of my loaded gun pressing into her back. I could see her mind racing as she panicked.

I threatened her, "Don't twitch. I know your abilities, and I will kill you rather than lose you. I need your help."

"Funny way-"

"Don't be so cliché."

"What do you want?"

"I need to go back in time."

Jikana turned incredulously, "Are you insane?"

"Quite possibly yes."

The comms static clicked in, "Possibly? I'd suggest definitely, considering the fact you're now listening to a dead man's voice."

"Shut up, Merty."

"Who's Merty?"

I answered her, "Mertabhai is..." my eyes glistened, but I suppressed the feeling, "... was, my brother."

"And now you talk to him?"

Ignoring her, I said, "He was killed by a stranger when I was a child. He and my parents were all killed by that man. I was asleep in our room, and I awoke to hushed arguments. Merty was arguing with this man when my parents came into the room, my mother carrying a bat. He grabbed the stranger's gun, who yelled something and then Merty tried to stop the stranger, but missed and hit our father instead. Then the stranger shot Mertabhai, killing him. My mother screamed and tried to stop the stranger, hitting him with the bat, but he turned and disemboweled her. Then he left like nothing had happened.

"I lost my entire family that night. I cannot let that happen. I will have them back."

Jikana said, "I can't help you."

"Listen lady, I know your powers. I've done my research."

"No, you misunderstand me. I can send you back but it won't help," she answered. I tilted my head to the side questioningly. She continued, "No matter what you do, you can't change the past - not really."

"Why not? You know what," I shook my head, "It doesn't matter. I don't want to hear you try to convince me not to do this for any reason. I don't want to hear that I'll blow up the universe, or cause a paradox that implodes everything. I don't care what your excuse is. Send me back, or I kill you. It really is that simple."

"If you will not listen to reason, then I am sorry. You'll only have one chance to get back. When the Portal opens, it will only open near you, and only be open for 30 seconds."

"I'll only take it if the deed is done."

She closed her eyes.

"What are you doing?!" I shouted.

"Shush! Creating these portals will require far more energy than you can possibly imagine."

"What do you mean, 'portals'?"

~~~To be continued~~~

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