Linkage: The Narrows of Time

Chapter 32

Homecoming





Lucas returned to thesilo through the portal and found Drew sitting in his wheelchair.Abby was sitting in a chair next to him, still wearing Lucas’shirt. He wondered if Kleezebee intended to find her some realclothes.

Lucas looked at thevideo screens and didn’t see any active energy fields. In fact,half the screens were turned off. Obviously, the crisis on Earth wasover.

“You said you hadsomething to tell me?” Drew asked.

Lucas checked to makesure Kleezebee wasn’t nearby. The professor was across the room,standing next to Bruno and talking with the white-robed elders fromhis home world. If he kept his voice down, the professor shouldn’thear him. “You know how you always thought your bio-mom wasimpregnated by anonymous sperm?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, as it turnsout, it’s wasn’t so anonymous after all.”

“What do you mean?’

Lucas pointed inKleezebee’s direction.

“Bruno?” Drewreplied.

“Not him . . .Kleezebee.”

Drew stared atKleezebee for what seemed like a full minute, then said, “No way.”

“Seriously, he ownsthe fertility clinic your mother used.”

Drew shook his headvigorously. “I don’t believe you.”

“Trust me, it’strue. Hey, at least Kleezebee didn’t knock her up the old-fashionedway.”

Lucas tried to stopDrew when he rolled his chair toward Kleezebee. Drew fought offLucas’ grip, sped across the room, and nearly smashed into the backof Kleezebee’s leg. He tugged on his mentor’s sleeve. “Excuseme, Professor, but I need to ask you something.”

“Sure, what is it?”

“Lucas told me thatyou’re my real father, is this true?”

Kleezebee glared atLucas.

Lucas shrugged andthrew his hands into the air. “Sorry, DL, I thought he had a rightto know.”

Kleezebee turned toDrew and replied, “Yes, it’s true. I’m your biological father.”

Drew looked stunned.“Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

“You already had afamily, and I didn’t want to butt in. I knew you were healthy andhappy, and that’s all that mattered to me. Besides, I get to seeyou almost every day.”

Drew’s face turned adeep shade of red, then he looked at Lucas as if he were searchingfor guidance. Lucas wanted to help, but didn’t say anything—not apeep. This was one of those times when Drew had to decide what to doon his own.

Drew turned back toKleezebee and wrapped his arms around Kleezebee’s legs, nearlyknocking the man off his crutches. Lucas could see Kleezebee fightingback tears, trying to maintain his self-control. The professor priedDrew’s arms loose, then knelt down to give Drew a reciprocal hug.

When the mini-reunion  was finished, Lucas realized Kleezebee hadn’t brought thefour-wheeled cart back from the Krellian ship. “Dr. Kleezebee,didn’t we forget something on the other side? What about the BioTexcanisters?”

Bruno laughed. “Theywere filled with spoiled milk from the mess hall. Only the firstcanister I carried was real.”

Kleezebee told Lucas,“You do realize that you two, with help from your father’smarvelous invention, saved billions of lives in both dimensions? TheRamsay men are transdimensional heroes. Congratulations!”

Drew replied with purejoy, “We have to tell Mom. . . . Dad finally invented somethingthat worked.”

“She’ll love that,”Lucas said. It would be good for her to get some vindication forsupporting John’s endeavors all those years. Even during the leanfinancial years, Dorothy never wavered despite constantsecond-guessing by her friends, her co-workers, and even herestranged father-in-law, Roy. Lucas wondered if Roy would apologizefor his pigheadedness. Wouldn’t the grumpy old man change hisperspective once he learns that his only son was not a dismal failureafter all?

“It’s a shame thegovernment will never know what we’ve done for them. They stillthink we’re mass murders,” Drew said.

Bruno replied, “Theminute Larson recovers from surgery, the first thing he’ll do iscontact General Alvarez and tell him you’re still alive. I doubt wecan fool them again.”

“He’s never goingto stop looking for us, is he?” Lucas asked.

Bruno shook his head.“No, I’m afraid not.”

Lucas asked Kleezebee,“I don’t suppose you’ll help us clear our name?”

“Sorry, can’t doit. That would require exposing our technology and our existence onyour world. But what I can do is offer you sanctuary on our world,where you’ll be treated as heroes and live in peace.”

“What about Mom?”Drew asked.

“She’s welcome,too.” Kleezebee turned to Bruno and said, “You should probably goget her and bring her down.”

As Bruno left the room,Kleezebee told Lucas, “You must decide soon. We’ll be leavingyour universe and won’t be coming back.”

Lucas pulled hisbrother aside to chat in private. Abby joined them. “I don’t seethat we have a choice, do you? I don’t want to live on the run asfugitives. Besides, after Kleezebee and Bruno leave, who’s going towatch our back? Plus, where would we work? The planet is in ruin andscience lab’s been destroyed. It’ll be fricken years before theybuild another one, if ever.”

“You’re right,”Drew said. “There’s nothing for us here. The future’s where weneed to be. Imagine what we’ll learn. Their science must be lightyears ahead of ours.”

“Plus we don’t haveto worry about Mom’s medical bills.”

Drew nodded, thenlooked at Abby. “What do you think?”

“My parents are bothgone, so there’s nothing to keep me here, either. I’ll go whereever you go, sweetie,” she said, planting another passionate kisson Drew’s lips.

“All right, then Iguess we’re going, as long as Mom comes with us,” Lucas said,trying not to stare at his brother’s make out session.

“What about GrandpaRoy?” Drew asked.

“What about him?”

“I know you’ve beensecretly talking with him.”

“Only just recently.But trust me, he’d never come. His military career is all he caresabout.”

“Don’t you think weshould ask him? After all, he’s family.”

“No. Mom would neverallow it. He blew his chance at that Thanksgiving.”

For the next handful ofminutes, Kleezebee took charge of the introductions between his crewand the diplomats from his home world.

Right after the portalclosed, the elevator’s bell chimed. Dorothy walked out of the liftwith Bruno holding on to her right elbow. She was grinning fromear-to-ear, obviously ecstatic that both of her boys were safe.

Lucas tugged on Drew’sshirtsleeve to direct his attention away from Abby. He whispered,“Mom’s here. You might want to save the spit-swapping ’tillater.”

Dorothy hugged Drew,then kissed him softly on the cheek. “I thought I would never seeyou again.” She hugged Lucas, too. “Oh, I’m so happy that bothof my boys are home safe and sound. I prayed all night for your safereturn. Thank the Lord almighty.”

Dorothy stared at Abby,who was sitting next to Drew, holding his hand. She was still wearingonly Lucas’ shirt, which left most of her legs and upper thighsexposed.

“Mom, this is my . .. friend, Abby,” Drew replied. “We just rescued her from theKrellian ship.”

“Are you all right,dear?” Dorothy asked her.

Abby nodded and thenstared off into space. She wrapped her arms around Drew with herright cheek pressed flat against his chest.

“She’ll be okay,Mom. She just needs a little time to recover.”

Lucas walked over toKleezebee and asked, “How long do we have before we need to leave,Professor?” He figured Kleezebee would need at least several daysto recall his people and gather up their advanced technology.Kleezebee probably wouldn’t want to leave anything behind thatmight cause a shift in the balance of power on Earth.

“It’ll taketwenty-four hours to evacuate our people and equipment. You haveuntil then.”

Twenty-four hours?Lucas thought. That’s not enough time. Shit, it’ll probably takeKleezebee that long just to clean out his office. “Okay, we’ll beready by then. I just have to clear this with Mom. She’ll probablywant to pack a few things.”

“That’s fine, butkeep it light.”

“Sure thing,Professor.”

* * *

Thefollowing morning, Lucas and Drew returned to the video surveillanceroom with their mother and Abby. Under Bruno and his security team’sprotection, they had returned home the night before and collected afew personal mementos, including clothes and the family photo albums.When they stepped off the silo’s elevator, two groups of personneland equipment were stepping through the portal. The rest of the roomwas nearly empty.

“Are you ready togo?” Kleezebee asked.

“Yes, we are,”Lucas replied, helping his mother toward the rift’s opening.

Drew and Abby were afew steps behind. Bruno was carrying two suitcases filled with theirkeepsakes.

“What about Trevor?”Lucas asked.

“He went through anhour ago with our inventory of BioTex,” Kleezebee said.

Lucas and his motherstepped into the rift. Once on the other side, they were greeted byTrevor and some of the elderly diplomats who had been rescued the daybefore.

Lucas turned around andwaited for Drew. A faint shadow appeared near the portal’smidpoint. It started as a fuzzy mass, then grew in size. After itsolidified, Bruno stepped through with the pair of suitcases.

“I thought Drew wasnext?” Lucas asked Bruno.

“Don’t worry. DLwill send him through next.”

“What does DL standfor anyway?”

“If I tell you, youcan’t let him know you heard it from me. He’ll have my head.”

“Don’t worry, mylips are sealed. Come on; tell me, what does it mean?”

“Drockmorton Leslie.”

Lucas broke into ahysterical laugh. “No shit? Drockmorton? No wonder he goes by DL. Iwould, too.” Lucas turned his attention back to the rift.

“How much longer?”Dorothy asked.

“Shouldn’t be longnow, Mom.”

The rift shimmered afew times, then a pair of faint shadows appeared. Lucas could see anoutline of a wheelchair and two people holding hands. “Here theycome,” he told his mother.

Just then, the portalflickered twice like a TV set on the fritz, then the rift suddenlycollapsed with Drew and Abby still inside.

“Oh, my God!” Brunoshouted.

“What the hell justhappened? Where’s my brother?”



# # #

Book #1 in the Narrowsof Time Series - Written by: Jay J. Falconer

Connect With MeOnline:

Website::JayFalconer.com

Online Magazine:IncursionMag.com

Twitter:twitter.com/jayjfalconer

Facebook:facebook.com/jayjfalconer

(continued on nextpage…)





COMING SOON! Books 2 and 3 in the Narrows of Time Series:

Visit www.JayFalconer.com

for more information on theNarrows of Time Series.

# # #

Book #1 in the Narrowsof Time Series - Written by: Jay J. Falconer

Connect With MeOnline:

Website::JayFalconer.com

Online Magazine:IncursionMag.com

Twitter:twitter.com/jayjfalconer

Facebook:facebook.com/jayjfalconer

(continued on nextpage…)



COMING SOON! Books 2 and 3 in the Narrows of Time Series:

Visit www.JayFalconer.com

for more information on theNarrows of Time Series.