Chapter 9

“So, the time traveling thing is bullshit!”

“No, the time traveling thing is real. I did have breakfast with the wives of all of your forefathers before I came here.”

“So, explain the ships and the 150-year trip they took.”

“They did travel for 150 years. One of the things that we learned was that time travel can take time. There is an issue with the mass of the thing traveling. I and all of my Angel Corp members are all small women. We can travel almost instantaneously. The ship’s mass causes it to travel through time at a slower rate.”

“That makes no sense.”

“Not to you. Your physics haven’t been changed yet. Mass was the missing part of the equation when time travel theory came into being. It was brushed off as a silly dream until a certain Doctor Mick O’Dell came up with the mass effect theory.”

The only reason that there was no sound when my jaw dropped was because I was still on the bed and it hit the mattress.

“Doctor Mick O’Dell?”

“Yes, and before you ask, yes, you are his forefather and don’t ask which number is after his name, let’s just say that it is higher than the tenth. We are his grandparents and don’t ask how many grands go before father or mother. Now you understand why a few generations ago the Angels began teaching reading, math, physics, and finally quantum mechanics. Physics became a family thing, along with good science fiction. A few years ago, someone said that for science fiction to be good, you needed two things, good science, and good fiction. They tried to give your family a grounding in both.”

“I think that was Harlan Ellison,” I said.

“The result was that way down the genetic path this Doctor O’Dell became the one who looked at physics sideways and came up with the theory of time travel that worked. He also found that traveling in time took time based on the mass of the traveler. Some, like myself, who was under ninety pounds when I traveled, took only about eleven minutes to travel from my 30th century timeline to yours.”

“A two-hundred-pound man would have taken about three weeks and a ship weighing many thousands of tons... 150 years. So, the ship and the androids and your clothes really are 150 years old, because it took about 150 of their years to get here. Now do you understand why it had to be androids that piloted the ship?”

“Yeah. I understand. It sounds just fantastic enough to be correct.”

I was scratching my chin, partially because I was amazed and partially because I hadn’t washed my beard that well this morning.

“What else do you want to know?”

“Angel, maybe this is just my own personal paranoia coming out. But you ARE an alien, right?”

“I guess by your definition I am. I’m alien to Earth.”

“And yet you are compatible with Earth human DNA or you couldn’t have our children. My mother could not have had me, right? Or was there a little package of pre-made Earth goop inside the Angels waiting for human sperm to hit it?”

“Wow! Where did THAT come from? Mick, I, we Angels, are human. We are not from Earth, but we are descended from Earth humans.”

“Look, I told you I was feeling a little paranoid. All right, you’re human. You were saying that a piece of Earth is going to hit your planet. Why not just destroy it when it gets close like we are going to do with the asteroid?”

“Because, Mick, we live in a portion of space where the deployment of this weapon would ignite the gases in our system and cause an explosion that would be an ending event for our planet and the others planets in the system.”

“Wait! The next question then has to be what is your planet?”

“New Earth.”

“New Earth?

“Yes, New Earth. Old Earth was a mess. After World War Three and then the Genetics War it just wasn’t livable. After we developed faster than light speed ships, we went exploring. New Earth was discovered and colonized.”

“World War Three!?”

“Yes. It was a holy war they say. Some extreme Muslims launched a nuke attack on Russia. Russia nuked them. Sensing the weakness, China nuked Russia. Russia nuked China.”

“Wait! I thought everyone launched their nukes.”

“Everyone did. Then they rebuilt them. The new ones were smaller, but with higher levels of radiation.”

“Neutron bombs,” I said quietly, remembering the horror they had started a few decades ago. Bombs to kill people but leave the majority of buildings and the infrastructure intact.

“Yeah, only the radiation was supposed to be less, but it wasn’t. It turned out to be really bad. In an effort to use genetics to heal the damage done to the planet’s DNA strains from the radiation, scientists created mutated people. That was REALLY bad. Cities went up in flames, riots started as the mutated people rebelled.”

“Angel, was it an O’Dell that discovered the breakthrough on breaking the light speed barrier?”

“No. It was a team of scientists. I don’t know if an O’Dell was on the team. They picked up some work that was started before the World War. I’ve heard that they were looking at FTL as a drive for weapons.”

“My God. Do we really need to save these people?”

“Mick! These are your people! You’re an Earth man.”

I stopped my train of thought and looked at Angel. She had a horrible look on her face. I realized that I had asked if we should let the entire Earth die.

“I’m sorry, Angel. People can just be so horrible. People invent the wheel and others use it to roll over their neighbors. Someone invents gunpowder for fireworks, and someone turns it into a bomb. People are horrible.”

“Not all people, Mick. People invented wonderful things and we are going to save the planet because even though they will ruin the planet eventually, before they do, they will create wonderful things that New Earth has today.”

I looked into her eyes and then down to her large belly.

“I guess it is like birthing pains. Hurts like hell but the result is usually wonderful.”

“Yeah. You keep thinking like that.”

“So, how many people went to the New Earth?”

“About two million.”

“Is that all?”

“There weren’t many left after the wars, and out of those who were around, many didn’t pass the medical screening. Mick, after the Genetics War, we needed to leave the altered people back on Old Earth. There was a very strict screening process. Both physical and psychological aspects were screened. They weeded out the violent and the mutated. They screened for the women and men that would be most fertile. They also prioritized a lot of farmers and farm animals.”

“It was all based on genetic and psychological markers. People with a DNA strain that contained anything having to do with cancer were eliminated. People who were violent or pathological were eliminated. If you were to walk down a street in New Earth, you couldn’t tell the difference between here and there, except for the size of things. New Earth gravity is a bit less than Old Earth, so the people living there are generally smaller and there is much less crime and much less craziness. I mean people will be people, but we got a cleaner slate to begin with.”

“How long did it take to get to New Earth?”

“It was a few years at light speed plus. The planet had already been scouted and tested. It was as close to Earth as was possible, a miracle really. There were edible plants and animals. A lot of resources that were usable without having to mine or go into heavy industrialization right away.”

“So, what do we do after we save the Earth?”

“We live here and have babies until you don’t want any more. Then we walk away like your parents and grandparents and great grandparents and so on, did. Then we will time travel back to my time and live out our lives in a commune with all of your forefathers and their Angels.”

“What? I get to see my mom and dad again?”

“And you get to meet your grandparents and all your forefathers. The sad thing is that there won’t be any more babies because the trip will leave you sterile.”

“So, we can fuck like bunnies and not worry about you getting pregnant?”

“Yes, Mick, we can.”

“I’m in! ... WAIT!”

Now, understand that I am a guy. Sometimes I think of things that no intelligent woman would ever think of. All of a sudden one of those random bits of genius popped into my head.

“If you and the Angels are clones, how will I tell you apart? I don’t want to accidentally have sex with my mom.”

Angel looked at me. It was the kind of look one would give something with two heads. She closed her eyes and shook her head. After several seconds she looked at me with that evil smile she sometimes has, especially when I have been supremely stupid.

“Good grief, Mick! Where did that come from? You know what? I’m not going to tell you. It’s going to be a surprise.”

“A surprise? What if I come home and jump the bones of what I think is my wife and find out that it is my great, great, great, great grandmother?”

“Nope, uh, uh. I’m not going to tell you anymore,” she smiled and walked away.

“Angel! WAIT!”

The next day we made our way to the broadcast room and I took my place. This time it was going to be audio and video. If there was going to be a shit storm, it would come after this. Once my face was out there, the facial recognition software around the planet would scope in on me. We walked, naked, into the studio and I put on the nice tan polo shirt I’d brought, so that I would look as normal as possible. Of course no one would know that I was sitting there wearing nothing but that shirt.

“You look good, Mick. Ready, my love?”

“I could use a good luck kiss.”

After an hour or so, I was the luckiest man in the history of the planet.

“Not ... sure ... I ... can ... talk ... Blood ... rushing ... to ... my ... cock.”

“Goof!”

“That’s a new word,” I said enthusiastically.

“I know, I found it while reading. I looked up its meaning and found out that it fits you perfectly!”

“Wonderful. That’s a great way to build my confidence before the big moment.”

“I’ll tell you what. If you do good, I’ll let you have my butt,” she turned and wiggled at me.

“Ship! I’m ready when you are!” I sat up straight as Angel just shook her head and stepped out of the picture.“Just a moment Mick ... Ready in three ... two ... one.”

“People of Earth. May I please have your attention. People of Earth. May I please have your attention. Yesterday I told you that we were here to destroy the asteroid and save the Earth. I am here today to do several things. First, as you can see, I am human. I was born and raised right here on the Earth. I’m showing you my face, so you know that you are not being saved by little green men.”“Second, I want you to know what is going to happen, so you aren’t shocked. There are currently eight ships buried around the northern hemisphere of our planet. They were placed there without the knowledge or permission of the governments of those countries. I guess in the minds of those who are going to save you, they figured it will be easier to get forgiveness than it would have been to get permission.”

I smiled at Angel.“Third, in nine days the asteroid will be at optimum range for our weapon. At that time the eight ships will rise, take positions well outside of the Earth’s atmosphere, and an arc of energy will connect them. The light will be brighter than daylight. I do not suggest that you look at it with your unshielded eyes. If you want to watch, I suggest that you do the same things that you would do if you were to directly watch a solar eclipse.””After the wheel is stable the weapon will fire a beam of energy at the asteroid, reducing it to dust. The aftermath will be spectacular as the dust particles burn up as they enter the atmosphere over the following few weeks. After the weapon fires, the ships will leave and go home. From that point on, you will be on your own again. We will be waiting among the stars to welcome you once you progress to that point.”

“I know that there will be many questions. I don’t know if I can answer them or not. The weapon will not harm anyone on Earth unless someone looks directly at the flash without protecting their eyes. Blindness WILL result. When we leave, we will leave nothing of our visit here. I’m not going to tell you who I am because I will remain behind. I was born here, and I don’t want unwanted visitors after the ships have gone home.”“That is all I have to say. I will be back on the air in nine days, just before we fire the weapon. Have faith and let not your hearts be troubled.”

The ship closed down the communication and I looked at Angel, before addressing the ship.

“Ship let me know if anyone tries to track the broadcast. If they can find us, they will be here fast. Also, are you and the other ships prepared to defend yourselves? Once you take off, some countries may try to shoot you down.”

“Why?” Angel asked.

“As I told Angel before, governments are not to be trusted ... ever! If one feels that its sovereignty has been challenged, I wouldn’t be surprised if they took a shot at the ship in their airspace.”“Mick, we have the ability to travel at faster than the speed of light. If our shields can stand hitting anything at that speed, it can handle any weapon an Earth power can shoot at us.”

“Thank you Ship. I suspected that was the case, but I wanted to be sure. Do Angel and I have to do anything to help you?”“No Mick.”

“Angel, I think my work here is done for the time being. I would like to go for a walk around the farm. I need to smell the air.”

“It’s raining.”

“Then I need my rain gear first.”

“Can I come along?”

“I would love to have my wife with me. There aren’t going to be any sudden bolts of lightning are there?”

“Not that I know of lover. Not that I know of.”

We dressed for the weather and walked hand in hand out into the rain. The air smelled clean and fresh. I had been in the ship for three days and I missed the smell of ... the Earth. I wondered what New Earth smelled like. I was having two sons, would there be places to fish? Wait! Were the kids coming with me? No! They weren’t. My sons were being left behind.

So many things to think about and to come to conclusions over. Angel would squeeze my hand every few minutes and check to see if the water on my face was rain or tears. I was going to leave my sons. Had my father known he was going to leave me behind? I’ll have to ask him how he dealt with that.

There was another squeeze of my hand. I guess she was trying to keep me grounded. I think she could feel it when I was starting to freak out. And I was freaking out.

We were supposed to take off and fire the weapon in three days. I had been spending a lot of time working the farm in place of my replacement android. It just felt better to be doing something outside. It felt even better to be doing it with Angel. She and her growing belly were always there for me.

We made love in the morning and then showered. We had breakfast and dressed before going to work the farm. Angel was in contact with the ship via the psychic link they had. I was checking the blades on the tiller when I heard Angel screaming out my name.

“Mick, hurry!”

I dropped my tools and took off running to my wife. I saw her enter the house and I flew into the door. I was thinking that the baby was coming early. When I entered the door, Angel’s little butt was heading for the basement and looking back to check on me I saw the worried look on her face.

“Mick! The ship says that it has spotted incoming aircraft.”

“Let’s get downstairs and into the ship now,” I demanded.