Trapped in Time-Extinction (26 page)

• • •

Andy watched the twins pick up the dishes and clean them in the sink. He looked at Melody and she lifted an eyebrow telling him to be patient. He sat back in his chair and stared at the twins. They were so beautiful and grew prettier every day. Harmony said, “Thank you, Daddy. That’s sweet.”

Linnae looked over her shoulder, “We know you want to talk with us and we’ll join you as soon as we finish the dishes.”

Andy’s eyes widened slightly and he saw Melody smile. How long had this been going on? Harmony put the last plates away and turned toward the table, “It was sporadic until we were six, then it started happening all the time.”

Linnae put the utensils away and dried her hands on a towel, “It really developed a year ago when the distance increased dramatically.”

The twins were sitting in their chairs and Andy looked at Linnae and said, “So you hear everything I think?”

“If I focus on hearing you, yes.” She looked at Melody and smiled, “You as well, Mom.”

Melody nodded, “You haven’t been sounding like children for a while.”

Harmony smiled, “It takes most children a long time to learn everything they’ll need to know as an adult. We’ve had access to the minds of so many people that our learning happened very quickly.”

Andy nodded, “Sporadic is not a word most eight year olds would use.”

Linnae smiled, “That’s why we don’t talk a lot around others. We keep our sentences simple and try to keep a low profile.”

Melody looked at Andy as she said, “Why do you do that?”

Linnae looked at Andy, “We know how much you love us but you’re freaked out of your minds right now. How do you think others might feel if they knew we could hear their thoughts?”

“Do you hear them all the time?”

“If we choose to hear them. However, most of the time we just don’t listen to the noise.”

Melody nodded, “You mentioned something about distance.”

The twins looked at Melody and Harmony looked at Linnae. Linnae sighed, “I’ve been talking with Deuce for more than a year now.”

Andy’s eyebrows went up, “You’ve what!?!”

“Relax, Dad. We both know that we’re years from being ready to really have a close physical relationship. But we do feel strongly for each other and Deuce has also grown from seeing all that we’ve learned. He’s really remarkable.”

Melody put her hand on Andy’s arm and said, “I’m sure the two of you are close. Please keep us in the loop as to how the two of you move forward with your feelings.”

“That’s part of the reason we decided to discuss this openly with you. Deuce feels bad about not telling his parents he talks with me. I hope I can tell him to go ahead and let them know.”

Melody’s head tilted, “Why would we not want them to know?”

Linnae looked at Harmony, “I’ve found the one for me but Harmony hasn’t. What are her chances if every male in the community knows she can see their thoughts?”

Melody saw Andy frowning but she said, “I suspect that the right man for her will not care. This is not something to worry about now.”

The twins stared at her and listened to her thoughts. They then looked at each other and nodded. Andy said, “Can you hear the thoughts of those living in the new communities?”

Both twins said at the same moment, “Yes.” They looked at each other and Harmony said, “You first.”

Andy nodded. “Are you able to communicate with them?”

“Sure, but we’ve seen no reason to do it.”

Andy nodded again and Melody’s brow furrowed, “What are you thinking?”

“I’ve been at a loss as to how to contact all of our people when the critical time comes. This is a Godsend.” The twins looked at Andy and after a moment they smiled. Andy looked at them and Linnae said, “I really don’t know the limit of how far we can hear other’s thoughts but we’re able to hear those furthest away clearer with each passing day.”

“Could you hear thoughts that aren’t human?”

“All of the animals on the planet have thoughts but we just don’t focus on hearing them. We listen for thoughts with higher intelligence.”

“Could you hear if another species is approaching our planet?”

The twins looked at each other and shook their heads. “We don’t know. I guess the only way to find out is to wait until they arrive and see.”

Andy nodded and smiled, “I’m going to use you to start communicating with our new communities.”

“Dad, I really think that we can just send your thoughts to anyone you want to contact.”

Andy lowered his head, “You do?” Linnae nodded. “See if you can send my thoughts to Harvey.”

Linnae looked at Harmony and blew out a breath. She found Harvey in the cave talking with a priest and she said, “I’ve found him. Go ahead.”

Andy suddenly heard Harvey’s thoughts in his mind and he thought, “Harvey, do you have a moment.” Harvey stopped speaking in midsentence and looked around. He knew he heard Andy but he wasn’t anywhere around. “Harvey, I’ve had the discussion with my daughters and Linnae is connecting our minds at this moment.”

Harvey’s eyes glazed and he raised his hand to wave the priest away. “Am I going crazy?”

“No, they have mental abilities that still have me stunned. Linnae just told me she could connect my mind with anyone I chose. I asked her to connect us.”

“Where are you?”

“Sitting in my dining room.”

“I’ll be right there!”

The connection ended and Linnae smiled, “I expected him to be shocked speechless but he surprised me. Harvey is a remarkable person. Most of what we’ve learned came from him.”

Andy looked at Linnae and said, “Tell Deuce that he can tell his parents about you. I suggest he wait until both of them are together and ask him to tell them I’ll be contacting them shortly.”

Linnae stared at Andy and he smiled, “We’re going to need your talents. We built our community with honesty as a foundation. That is not something I’ll compromise. Let him know.” Linnae took a deep breath and nodded.

Harmony looked at Andy, “We will start our warrior training tomorrow.” Andy jerked his head around to her and frowned. “I know you’ve stopped warrior training but Linnae and I, as well as Tyler, are going to be with you when the aliens arrive. I will not go into that confrontation defenseless.”

Melody looked at Andy, “Rory will start their training tomorrow!”

Andy looked at Melody and then turned to Linnae, “Tell Olivia to turn the glider around and to bring Deuce back.”

Linnae pulled her head down into her shoulders and grimaced, “Uhhh, maybe you might be the one to tell her.”

“Connect me with her.”

Linnae closed her eyes and quickly thought, “I’m sorry, Deuce. Dad wants you to be brought back here.” She looked at Andy and nodded.”

Andy thought, “Olivia.” Olivia jerked fully upright in her chair. “Don’t get panicked. I’m contacting you through a mental link Linnae is providing. She’s been talking with Deuce for years. Why don’t you ask him about it and then we’ll continue this conversation.”

Olivia looked at Deuce with narrowed eyes and he looked at her and nodded, “I have been talking with her for a long time.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“For two reasons, Mom. First, if I told you, you would have told Andy what was going on and Linnae didn’t want it known that she was telepathic. Second, would you have believed me if I did?”

Olivia stared at him and then heard Andy again, “My daughter has just told me something that I didn’t really consider.”

“What is that?”

“She said that she and her sister were going to start warrior training immediately.”

“Why would they do that?”

“Because they rightly believe that they will be here to confront the aliens when they arrive. They have chosen to not be defenseless when that happens.” Andy paused, “Olivia, they aren’t the only ones that need to be prepared for that meeting. We need to start training the warriors we’ll be using against them and I’m pretty certain that if Linnae is there, your son will demand to be there with her. He needs to be trained as well.”

Olivia looked at Deuce who was listening to the conversation through Harmony. He lowered his head and nodded slowly and deliberately.

“Who are you planning to train them?”

“I’m going to ask Rory.”

“I’m not going to turn around now.” Deuce’s eyes went wide and he shook his head. Olivia put her hand on his shoulder. “I’m going to send Gordon with him to assist in the training. I’ll find someone in the community to take our place as the leaders and I’ll be coming later to train with you.”

Andy smiled, “Your husband is one if the best warriors we have.”

“Tyler saw that originally and you’ll need him to get your force ready.”

“What about the community?”

“There are at least twenty people there that can do the job. They’ll understand why we’re going.”

Andy smiled and saw Linnae beaming. Deuce was coming to live in her community. “I’ll start choosing the ones we’re going to use. If you have any warriors that you think are qualified to join us, bring them with you.”

“How many are you going to need?”

“In order to make this work, about two thousand.”

“Why that many?”

“We have to make it look like a real settlement. Fewer won’t work. We need an equal mix of males and females.”

“Contact me in two days after I discuss this with Gordon.”

“I’ll talk with you then.”

Linnae and Harmony rushed forward and wrapped their arms around Andy’s neck. Melody smiled as they left him and ran to her.

H
armony sat on the wall and stared up at the stars. She had spent many evenings watching the heavens as she listened to the thoughts of other intelligent beings out in the universe. She and Linnae had discovered when they were sixteen that if they focused on a part of the sky that a huge jumble of thoughts would inundate their minds. If they closed their eyes and focused harder on one particular thought stream, they could separate it and listen to what was happening to that being. It didn’t take long to discover that war was rampant among the stars.

Andy had joined them for a while and they fed what they were hearing to his mind. He stopped after a few months. The last time he listened in he left saying, “So much needless death and destruction. I really thought the Time Takers were bad but they’re nothing more than all the others out there.”

Harmony had to agree. The Time Takers just found another means of destroying a civilization by manipulating their past. She felt Linnae laugh at Deuce and smiled. They were married the day she turned eighteen. Both of their parents agreed that to wait was foolish. Harmony felt happy for them but missed the time she had once spent with her sister. She had not found anyone that touched her heart…yet. She looked up and wondered at the stars shining down on her. She saw something out of place and stood up. There was an object she was just barely able to see that looked…odd. She immediately heard Linnae in her mind, “What’s bothering you, Sis?”

“There’s something in the sky that hasn’t been there before.” Linnae looked at what Harmony was seeing in her mind and said, “That looks like what the first Andy described as a comet in his writings. That elongated light might be its tail.”

“It’s still too small to really see.”

“I’m coming out to the wall.”

Harmony stared at the object and it looked like it was unmoving…but it wasn’t there the night before. This was something new. Linnae and Deuce ran up the steps to join her and Harmony saw Linnae brought the small telescope that the Community’s scientists had built a year earlier. Linnae held the telescope and tried to focus on the object. She shook her head, “I can’t keep it in view. The image is jumping around.”

Deuce looked up at the sky and jumped up on the wall, “Lay it on my shoulder. I’ll try to keep still.”

Linnae put the four-foot long telescope on his shoulder and moved it several times before she managed to get the object in focus. Harmony watched the view in Linnae’s mind and the long tail coming off the object was now easily seen. Harmony sent a thought to Andy, “Dad, I think you should come and join us on the north wall.”

“What’s going on?”

“I’ve seen something in the sky that wasn’t there yesterday. The telescope reveals it to be what Andy called a comet.”

“I’m on my way.”

Linnae sent what she was seeing to Deuce and he shook his head, “I’ve never seen anything like that.”

Harmony shrugged, “We haven’t really examined the night sky before now. Linnae and I have been staring at the stars for a couple of years and have come to know them. There could have been others and we just didn’t see them.”

“Well, it doesn’t appear to be moving.”

Andy and Melody arrived and Andy said, “Contact Harvey and tell him to come here and bring the writings that were done by Andy about comets and asteroids.” Harmony nodded and sent the message telepathically to Harvey. Andy and Melody took turns looking at the object until Harvey arrived. They allowed him to look at the object and he opened a book that was written by the original Andy.

He ignited his cutter and turned the pages until he found what he was looking for, “That is a comet.” He turned the book around and pointed at the hand drawing of a bright spot with a long tail following it.”

Harmony shook her head, “The thing on the back of that object is nowhere near as long as that drawing.”

Harvey turned the book around and read for a moment. “Andy said that the tail gets brighter and longer as the comet moves closer to the sun.” Harvey looked at Andy, “This year marks two hundred and seventy years.”

“I was just thinking that. This might be the year.” Andy looked at the twins, “I want one of you listening to that area of the sky from now on.”

“Even during daylight?”

“Yes, Linnae, even during daylight. If this is the object that is coming to hit us, I believe the aliens that are coming will be coming in ahead of it. I want to know if you hear anything.”

Linnae shook her head and said, “Harmony, do you mind if I take the day watch?”

“No; I know Deuce shouldn’t be made to suffer. I’ll keep track for the rest of tonight and you can start at daybreak.”