Communism Without Coffee
Copyright© 2026 by A duck named TEF
Chapter 9
“Standing over me is not going to magically fix anything!” It was rare for Donovan to speak out so, but then tensions seemed to become worse the longer things went as they were. It was bad enough that Denver and Georgia had escaped, but now the machine broadcasting their mind-controlling signal was weakening for some unknown reason.
Giovanni de Sorona scowled as he watched the screen that was broadcasting from the outer territories his council controlled. Riots were beginning to break out. Foreign forces were beginning to move in. It was becoming a terrible fiasco. The scale of the whole mess was getting too much for the militant forces they had.
The man with too much on his plate already held a hand to his forehead and looked to the ceiling. How the hell was it all going so wrong, so quickly? The storms and earth-quakes were a minor inconvenience as far as he was concerned but this? He was actually banking on an apocalyptic event. At least in this underground complex he and his brethren would be perfectly safe. Once everything settled they would re-emerge as the dominant race.
However, the machine at the center of the room, the one in need of a particular form of radiation only generated by one who had command of time travel, would be useless no matter what Donovan promised unless they retrieved the traveler who escaped.
“Do you think our egotistical older brother ever has these kinds of problems on his side of the world?” Giovanni asked no one in particular. He looked up to see the flag of the very brother he spoke of. “Speak of the devil. Of course he would take this opportunity to establish control in my territory.” All he needed now was a war.
“I’m going to the closest broadcasting station. If any of the others need me, point them in that direction.” Giovanni hissed as he turned to leave. That was fine with Donovan, though he hoped not to run into any of the other members of Giovanni’s counsel of the higher Eschelons.
Donovan looked up at the same screen Giovanni had been looking at, “Oh, Mr God-complex himself is there in person. He really does despise us.” It was actually a welcome break with everything else going wrong. To be completely honest, Donovan had been considering defecting to their older brother’s territories. Of late Giovanni had become less tolerable. Between the two, Donovan was finding the theocratic ruling on the other side of the oceans to be far more tempting a society to live in.
He knew already that Lilith was a sleeper agent of sorts for their infamous brother, she had covertly passed the idea of defection his way once years ago, if she knew it was him she had passed it too he was unsure. He also knew that Giovanni had a sleeper agent in those territories. Perhaps she would be somewhat useful as well. The real problem was the lab. He quite enjoyed the mechanical marvel he had established here. Defecting would be a certainty for relocation, and he was not yet ready to part ways with his beloved machinery.
No one at the table was speaking. Denver sat next to Georgia and kept looking between her and the other four people. It felt like an awkward family holiday with mommy and daddy on the precipice of divorce.
Among the four others were the two who brought them to this place. A man who looked like he spent long days working manual labor, and the rather small older woman who had been under the cloak now hanging from her chair.
The other two were a younger man, no more than mid-twenties and still in a somewhat dirty uniform from working in a mine, and a red faced, somewhat robust woman they would later learn to be the older man’s wife.
The tension only grew, and it was making Denver itchy. He had to do something, so he did the first thing that came to his mind, he asked a question most men know not to ask of a woman.
“How old are you, mystery girl?”
Slowly Georgia turned her head and shot her brother a look that could have easily killed someone of a weaker resolve, Denver just happened to be too annoyed by the tension to care.
May, the woman who had been in the cloak, tried to stifle a laugh but failed. The gazes of the other three went between her and the siblings.
“Didn’t your mother ever tell you not to ask a woman her age? Well, I’m younger than you, I can tell you that much Traveler.”
Now Denver laughed, though only a short burst, nowhere near the robust laughter of May. “I doubt that. You look like you’re closer to your sixties, pretty sure I’d know if I were so old.”
“Oh my, you don’t know much about time travel do you? Are you aware of just how the radiation you accumulate actually affects you? You have a damned psychic with you and you don’t know shit!”
“In his defense, he only recently found out that I’m a psychic.” Georgia pipped in sheepishly.
Robert’s wife murmured something to Robert, who sighed heavily and brought a palm to his face.
“Hey, no fair! Share with the whole class please.” Denver, trying to change the subject away from his apparent ignorance of his own ability, called out the couple.
“She’s just worried that you’re not ready, which obviously you’re not ready for any of what’s going on, let alone what’s coming!” May replied.
The room went silent again. The son shifted uncomfortably in his chair, and it seemed to be a Mexican stand-off of staring.
Loathing the continued growing tension, Denver asked, “So ... how old am I?”
“If you’re monitoring things, please, PLEASE for the love of all things good and pure, DO NOT answer him!” Sweat began to bead at Georgia’s forehead as she stared, wide eyed, at May.
May arched a brow and stared right back at the other psychic in the room. “Edwards family,” she began in a flat tone, “Please take the Traveler to another room, get something to eat. I need to speak with the Mouse alone.”
The three Edwards’ shared a look and quietly shuffled out, Robert led Denver with a tight grip on his shoulder. Georgia watched as they moved and mouthed to her brother it was okay while trying to send a comforting mental vibe his way. He nodded as he was led out, his understanding, going against his usual protesting nature by following along without a fight.
May inhaled sharply and paused, letting the tension build some more purely out of aggravation towards Georgia. Finally she spoke, “What the hell? Why is he so incredibly ignorant of what a traveler is and what a traveler can actually do?!”
“Well,” Georgia cleared her throat and thought about her answer. She had made a rather comprehensive promise to her mother years ago, and she didn’t want to betray that promise. “I’ll be honest,”
“I’d know if you weren’t.”
She glared briefly and continued, “Put simply, our mother, the first known traveler not from one of the six bloodlines, had me make a rather ... specific promise.”
“That woman and her convoluted thinking...” May grumbled.
At the grumbling Georgia arched a brow, did this woman know her mother?
“Yes.” She inhaled sharply again, “I know her. You and I are half sisters.”
Shaking her head, Georgia let out a slow laugh, “No way. I know my other sisters. Virginia, Cali, and Flo. The United States doesn’t have a ‘May’ anywhere.” She often wondered why her mother named her and her siblings after states and USA metropolitan cities. Of course right now it served to prove that the other psychic was trying to lie to her.
“Same father. My god you’re just as ignorant as your brother aren’t you?”
“How is that-”
“Even possible? You’re mom never told you huh? There’s a reason that the six bloodlines have never produced a grand traveler, and a reason that your mother and Denver aren’t the only anomalies. It ties into our relationship too.” For the first time since meeting the siblings, May smiled tenderly. She could see now that, despite her grasp of the situation and the grand scheme of things, there was still much for Georgia to learn too.
Seldom would Donovan leave his lab, but the situation was just so that he had. The presence of Giovanni’s lingering energy in there was a contributing factor to this decision as well. As he walked down the corridor he stopped once or twice to take a closer look at one of his beloved ‘augmented’ slaves. He did enjoy admiring his handiwork.
Finally he made his way to Lilith’s chamber, he knocked softly, still on the fence about the prospect of defecting. “Sister, are you in there?” He asked in a voice that easily spoke of his apprehension.