Time Virus

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Date: Launch minus 30 months
Location: Quintana Roo, Mexico

There are those that say “There are no such things as coincidences.” They may be right but one afternoon in Quintana Roo, Mexico, at a camp table during lunch, coincidences solved a problem that centuries of science could not.

As Doctor Kirby sat down for lunch with her crew, she was joined by Associate Professor Linden, a young man whose boyish features were in stark contrast with his prematurely graying hair. They, in turn, were joined by three undergraduate students. The students were visibly excited.

Allison enjoyed the company of the undergrads. This was their first expedition, never mind that they didn’t know what they were looking for. Their enthusiasm for all things “not classroom” was infectious. To them this was just a government sponsored field trip. As they took their seats around the table, one of them proudly placed a jar in the center of everyone.

“What in the world is that!?” asked Allison, instantly terrified by the large, hairy ball of legs moving slowly around its glass enclosure.

“It’s a Mexican tarantula,” the student said. “We found it over on that tree, just past the edge of the camp. They are all over the place.”

This was not on Allison’s list of things she wanted to hear. “That thing is huge. I have never seen such a big spider in my life.”

Josh, one of the students said, “If you think it’s big now, you should see it when it’s full grown. This one is just a baby.”

“How can you tell?” Allison asked.

“I did a paper on spiders last year in Biology. These are black when they are born and as they grow up, they take on a black and orange color. This one still has black legs so it is sort of like a teenage spider,” Josh said, completing the trifecta of coincidences.

Lunch was served and the scientific team ate with the gusto of campers. This was the hottest time of the day so no one was in a hurry to head back out to look for “You’ll know it when you find it.” After about an hour, Allison glanced over at the tarantula and a strange look crossed her face.

“Josh, didn’t you say this was a teenager because it had black legs?” she asked.

“Yes, that’s right. See… hey…” Josh stopped mid-sentence as he bent over to get a closer look at the spider. It was almost completely black.
“That’s weird. I could have sword it had more orange. It’s as if it was getting younger.”

By itself, this didn’t seem like anything more than a slight misperception. Five minutes later Allison noticed that her lily, which was in full bloom earlier, had somehow contracted back into itself. Allison turned to Linden to see if he knew anything about plants. That was when the circle of coincidences was completed. Associate Professor Linden didn’t have a single grey hair on his head.

Five minutes later, Allison was on the telephone to project headquarters. When the call was finally put through to her boss, she simply said, “We found it.”

Date: Infinity
Location: Everywhere

Jason looked over the handlebars at his parents. The feeling of pride at being able to ride his tricycle by himself was as real as the wind blowing across his face.

His neo-Jason self had been pushing for awareness for some time. As Jason played the leading role in scene after scene, his subconscious mind struggled to make sense out of what was happening. Everything was familiar. He remembered making the cave drawings as clearly as his wedding vows back in 1789. Faces and events overlapped, all occurring simultaneously even as he flitted from one to the next.

In the end, the solution had been to partition his awareness. The Jason personality was blocked off from the analytical neo-Jason, who then went off in search of comprehension. That had all just happened, or maybe it was an eternity ago. It didn’t matter; he had all the time in the world.

As Jason squatted behind a large boulder with a spear in his hand, a large boar came wandering down the trail. Already tasting the meal, he stood up and let the weapon fly. His alternate self chose that moment to give him a virtual tap on the shoulder. The scene vanished and Jason found himself floating in a dense fog. Neo-Jason spoke to him.

“Jason, we have someone here that wants to talk to you. Someone that can help you/us to understand where we are and what is happening to you/us.”

Word count 772
Running word count 3771

http://www.jimdillingham.blogspot.com