Chapter 23

Wednesday, June 2, 3109, 9:00 p.m. Rebecca paced restlessly before the gate. Gudrun had used a rinse on her hair last night, adding the remembered touch of gray, and then expertly applied makeup that made her appear 10 years older than her actual age. In a few minutes time, once Siri sent the gate to December 18, 2014, at 9:24 p.m., Young-Rebecca would tumble through backwards and whack her head on the floor. She would discover Rebecca in the detested purple lounge wear that was as close as she could remember to what Leda wore in the palace 20 years ago.

She’d never seriously considered the ramifications of an encounter with Young-Rebecca, simply because it didn’t appear possible with the gate disabled. But the surprise discovery of the TTM, and her realization that Young-Rebecca must come through to ensure Arma’s continued existence, forced her to reevaluate the situation, and her own motivations at the beginning.

Why had she defied Leda and resorted to subterfuge 20 years ago? Was it outrage at Leda’s perceived arrogance, her ruthless subjugation of the surviving human population? Of course, it was. Youthful idealism had driven her to thwart Leda at all costs, even without a coherent plan. Truthfully, with no plan at all.

Yet, what proof existed that Leda was in fact a merciless tyrant? Rebecca had met only a handful of Arcadia residents, including Frieda, and Arma. She’d experienced nothing of Arcadian life, and virtually nothing of life within the palace. The only locations she’d visited during her visits were The Hall of The Gate, Leda’s extravagant suite, and the guest accommodation in between. The palace grounds were nothing but a blurred remembrance. So, it all came down to this: Young-Rebecca in her various iterations must come to regard Leda as the loathsome dictator that Rebecca had thwarted 20 years ago, ensuring continuity of the timeline. Everything collapsed otherwise, condemning mankind to extinction, including Arma.

Desperate, Rebecca had spent the past week recreating the palace of her memory. Holger instructed the villagers to remove all structures within sight of the balcony, returning the palace grounds (within sight of the balcony, at least), to the meadowlands and woods of her recollection. Quite an undertaking, considering 20 years progress. Procurement proved of great assistance here, deploying photonic-manipulators to conceal the power-transmission lines and towers, and other, non-removable structures on the grounds.

Since Rebecca had never ventured beyond The Hall of The Gate, the connecting passageways, and Leda’s suite, the only alterations undertaken in the palace were to those spaces that Young-Rebecca would encounter on her visit. The Hall of The Gate was stripped of the few items added over the years: twin storage cabinets, a workbench and two long tables used for sample collection and such, (all, coincidentally, out of sight of the gate viewer, explaining why the hall had appeared deserted during her flight (and banishment) to 3089), also the benches erected during her repair work. Since Young-Rebecca would see only the one guest bedroom during her overnight stay, only that room was emptied. The remaining accommodations along the two passageways remained as-is, although as a precaution, the occupants were temporarily lodged elsewhere, mostly on the level below. All palace residents were given explicit instructions to avoid Leda’s young guests at all costs.