Chapter 16

When one thinks of time travel they think of aliens, complicated machinery and heavy electrical usage ... that's how it works in the movies. Boxes bigger on the inside than the outside ... Watch? ... HA! A watch doesn't work for that ... and a windup? Time travel has to be complicated. Only high dollar physicists and engineers using quantum mechanics can do time travel.

When a reader of Stories on Line thinks of time travel they think of CMSIX, thunderstorms and silver men from dimensions unknown setting up fantastic Reality Television Shows for the multitudes of the Universe ... So...

April started collecting the fruits of disaster and terrorism ... victims snatched from the brink, altered to suit and transported to the Southern Continent ... there to live out the rest of their lives in contented bliss ... or not.

Detachments of SASNZ (Special Air Service New Zealand, comprising 240 officers and other ranks, and SASAU (Special Air Service Australia, with like numbers of personnel were requested by the Queen to form a combined operations group to clear certain areas of terrorists.

Since the SAS is a Mine's Bigger group, there was a period of adjustment ... a sorting out ... of sorts. The two outfits trained in the Mount Cook/Lake Pukaki region of western South Island New Zealand ... giving many of the Australians their first taste of snow ... and in the southeast corner of the Northern Territory of the great Australian Outback ... allowing the New Zealanders to acclimatize to desert warfare. After a year of combined training and sorting, the newly named ANZAC SAS loaded up, lock, stock and barrel, in a chartered United Arab Emirates 777-300. Vehicles to follow.

Being sneaky ... rather than flying directly to the Great Sandpit ... they flew east ... the intent was to confuse the enemy. Distance flying is quickly boring; the troops were mostly asleep.

The 777 was crossing the International Date Line and the equator at 40 thousand feet when the bomb in the fuel tank turned the fuselage into a crematorium. The heat crystalized the metal and the wings were the only part of the aircraft found. No DNA evidence was found.

There was no DNA because the soldiers weren't on the aircraft at the time of the burning ... they were present up to a millisecond before and then they were in Mother ... those judged acceptable were offered new and longer lives ... those few who couldn't or wouldn't adapt were deposited in a parallel Europe ... with nasty people. Those few are no longer our concern.

The chosen many were seated in a great auditorium when paper and pencil appeared in front of their seats.

"Your job, is exploration and protection. Very exact surveys have determined that this entire island continent is actually devoid of sapients.

"Gentlemen ... and sergeants ... there is a questionnaire in front of you. You might take a moment to read it through before filling in the dots."

The Girl I'd like to Marry ... or the girl I'd like for other things.

The four food groups, Blonde, Brunette, Redhead, Other.

The races, White, Black, Yellow, Brown, Red and Freckles.

Heights were from 140 cm to 180 cm and other.

Weight ... a write in box

Eye color ... a box.

And a few other selections ... feisty, submissive, dominate, world mother, next door.

"Be honest, gentlemen. In another auditorium are a great many girls and women who are filling out a similar questionnaire. Most of them are hormonally charged.

"There is no one who doesn't want to be here."