Chapter 19: Connections and Re-Connections

"You've got a lot of nerve showing up here after everything you pulled, Laarusk."

"I don't understand, Andy. We've done everything we promised, and then some."

"Yes, I admit you have gone above and beyond what you promised to deliver, but you've also hurt people. Emily had to go through losing two people to the point where she killed herself. You've got the local villagers so scared of me I am not even welcome to visit or trade with them. And you send people here after you told me I couldn't bring anyone with me. I ought to..." I drew my fist back.

Emily held me back. "Andy, STOP! You are getting mad over things that have already happened. There's nothing we can do to change them. We have to work on what is going to happen from now on." She turned and faced Laarusk. "So, you're our friendly alien. It is good to finally meet you. I'm sure you already know who all of us are, so we'll skip our introductions. You are ... Lairusk ... is that right?"

"It is pronounced la-a-rusk, but your version is acceptable. It is nice to finally meet you again. I know that sounds strange, but we have all spent a great deal of time together while you were being repaired and prepared for surviving here. Others you have met are Aaka, Wizah, Hazah, and Leeu. We are all ... members of the same team, tasked with relocating people from your earth to other variations in different dimensions, and then studying them."

Johnny the adventurer piped up with a few questions. "So what race are you? What planet are you from? Can you take me to visit?"

"Well, Johnny. I hate to disappoint you but I'm from the same planet you are, just not the one than you grew up on."

Johnny frowned. "So you're not really alien aliens?"

"I'm afraid not. There are other lifeforms out there though. Mallie is one of them."

"Really? That's awesome! Will you tell me about your planet sometime, Mallie?"

"I'd be more than happy to, Johnny, but not right now. I believe our guest had something to say. Should I have Karen come in?"

Oh damn. I had forgotten to let Karen know the kids were here. I guess I should get it over with. "Yes, I think Karen should be here. Can you ask her to come up."

"I would prefer if she didn't bring the natives. I have no desire to become the basis for a religion." added Laarusk.

That struck me as a rather odd statement, so I had to ask, "What makes you think something like that would happen?"

"Because it happened to our in ... supervisor, Aleria. About thirty years ago, by your calendar, she relocated someone from your planet and was observed by the natives while she set up the compound. It took years before talk about how she caused the earth to move and made the sun shine at night quieted down. We sometimes still hear stories about 'Reeree and Bet' when we monitor groups in that area. It seems they didn't do a very good job with Beth's psychological reprogramming either, so she never integrated into the life of the girl she replaced. Aleria's whole team was almost expelled from the program because of all the screw-ups they made."

"I'm surprised she ever managed to become a supervisor."

"Every team has made mistakes, including mine. We gave you too much leeway in gathering your assets by allowing you to make general requests. Once it was allowed, we could not disallow it. Except for the weapon. That was revoked by someone way above Aleria. Anyway, everything is working out, now. Ah, here comes Karen."

Karen seemed quite cheerful as she entered. "Hey Everyone, Mallie ... WHOA! Who is that?"

"It's good to see you too, Karen. I know you don't remember our previous meetings. I am Laarusk, and I am the one responsible for your being here."

"I know that voice. You're the one that told me to find Andy, aren't you? And what do you mean..." She stopped suddenly as she recognized the others in the room. "Johnny? Jenny? What are you two doing here? Are you ... dead too?"

The kids ran and hugged Karen. "No, Johnny and I didn't die like ... the rest of you. Oh Karen, I'm so glad to see you!"

"Yes, I am the one who sent you to rescue Andy. Since he had saved your life, you were linked to him. We simply picked you up a few microseconds before you died. As for the young ones, allow me to try to explain. It seems that they decided to explore one of Andy's shipping containers just as my team was about to pick them up. One of my team members didn't think to check inside of an open container, but instead just latched the door and transported it. Once it was on board, it was immediately placed in a stasis holding area until it could be processed and decontaminated. It was only when the container was opened that we found them. Due to circumstances, it was decided to process them along with the rest of the contents and send them here."

"If they aren't dead, then why didn't you just send them back when you found them?" asked Karen, "Their parents are probably worried sick."

Laarusk shook his head. "It's not as simple as that. By the time we found them, almost two years had passed on earth. And while we can manipulate time to a degree, our control is not that good. We can use stasis fields to stop time, and we can slow time down for short periods. Moving backwards is a bit more complex and we cannot do it accurately."

"But Tony told me you moved him back forty-five years."

"That's true, but we only wanted to move him back five years."

"Oh, yeah, I guess you kind of overshot the mark."

"So, if we had returned them two years later, they would have had no memories of that time." He held up his hand. "Yes, it could have been explained away as amnesia, but how could they account for not aging? No, we decided to just process them and make them useful here."

"Useful how? We're only twelve, you know." retorted Jenny.

"While you were being processed, you were given skills that will help you. Unfortunately," he looked at me, "I am not allowed to tell you what they are."

I caught his hint that it was up to me to let them know. I wondered how to do it when I remembered an earlier conversation. "Jenny, You said earlier that you and your brother couldn't remember some things from last night and that you had almost the same dream. What was the dream about?"

"Well, when it started we were running down a hallway when we got to a room with a boy on an operating table. He looked like he had been run over by a truck or something. Karen was there and she was holding the boy's hand. We made everyone leave the room and we operated on him like we were super doctors, trying to fix him up. He had a lot of broken bones and we had to put them back together. Sometimes I was doing the work and other times it was Johnny. We used all kinds of weird tools for a long time before we finally closed him up with some kind of ray gun. The next thing we knew we were waking up in our rooms and being told to get dressed and come down here."

"It sounds to me like you dreamed that you were doctors and surgeons. So tell me doctors, did your patient live?"

Jenny laughed, "I don't know, I hope he did. But it was just a dream so maybe we'll find out when we go to sleep tonight."

I looked over at Karen who was sitting there looking at her two cousins. "I don't think Karen can wait that long, so why don't we find out right now."

"How can we do that? Like my sister said, it was just a dream ... Wasn't it?"

"Mallie, what is the status of Jenny and Johnny's patient?"

"Their patient, Takim, is resting comfortably under sedation. All injuries are healing and he should be on his feet around lunchtime tomorrow. He will still be sore for a few days and may need assistance getting around for a short period. Projected recovery at 92 percent of pre-injury condition. Good job doctors."

Karen had her face in her hands and was crying and muttering softly. "Thank goodness he'll be alright."

Jenny looked around at everyone before she spoke again. "You mean it wasn't a dream? We actually did all that stuff? Why did it feel like a dream?"