"The Time Keeper"
“Rob, where did that voice come from?” I asked.
“Voice was generated by the life-force.”
“A life-force, am I?” came the voice.
“Larry, I’m scared,” confided Lisa.
“Scared? I love scared,” replied the voice, “but not in you. Maybe I should reconsider my choice.”
“Who are you?” I demanded, “and what choice?”
“Tch, tch, tch, tch, tch,” came the sinister voice, “you really should temper your anger little human.”
“Who are you!?” I demanded again.
“Who I am is not important. Why you have violated my time continuum is.”
“Your time continuum?” questioned Melissa.
“You are the bright one,” came the condescending voice, “that is why I took over the other one.”
“Took over?” questioned Lisa.
“Yes,” he laughed, “your mind put up quite a fight. But that was a challenge that I loved so.”
“Rob, how far are we from the top the tornado?” I asked.
“Oh, scooting out the top of my tornado will do you no good. I have sealed it off. You shall leave when I have finished with you and not a moment before.”
“What do you want with us?” I asked.
“I am the Time Keeper. I control all who enter and leave my continuum. You have already traveled through my domain—oh, let us see—eight times I believe—without any form of permission. And, free of charge, I might add.”
“We didn’t know anything about a fee,” stated Melissa.
“No, how could you have. But that is not my problem now, is it?” There was a period of silence.
“Rob, can we bust through the side of the tornado?” I whispered.
“Whispering will do you no good!” whispered the Time Keeper, mimicking me, “I can hear everything you say. You shall leave here when I have gotten due payment for your travels.”
Melissa found a sheet of paper in her pocket and quickly jotted down a note. She handed it to me and placed her finger to the lips to indicate that she didn’t want me to read it out aloud.
“Besides,” added the Time Keeper, “without the final word of that blasted Continuum Disrupter Vortex Spell, you are at my mercy. Only I can ensure that you get to where you want to.”
Looking at the slip of paper, it read: “Will the protective field keep him out?”
I shrugged my shoulders, then said aloud, “If you are so all powerful, why has our Multi-Purpose Protection Field stopped you?”
“You question my abilities? How dare you!” replied the Time Keeper. There was a hint a hesitation in his voice as he continued, “I stay out now, for I choose to stay out. But be assured; I can destroy both your silly little field and your puny little ship without any problem whatsoever—and I shall do so...in my own time.”
Lisa grabbed the paper from me and quickly scribbled: “He’s bluffing.” I nodded my agreement.
“What do you want from us?” I asked.
“I require the services of an epidermal structure.”
“A what?” asked Cindy.
“He needs a body?” replied Melissa, half questioning.
“That is right. I shall now take possession of one of your bodies so that I can leave the time continuum and walk among the peoples of the universe,” explained the Time Keeper. “I had originally chosen the one you call ‘Lisa’ for I felt she was physically the strongest of your puny group. But due to that freak earthquake, and that cursed Suspended Animation spell, I lost control of her!”
“No! I refuse!” Lisa stated emphatically.
“Not that you had a choice, but not to worry—I have changed my mind. I will now take the one you call ‘Larry’ for I see that he is the stronger and that he is the one who is truly in charge.”
Lisa glanced over at me, “don’t let it go to your head.”
“And what if I refuse to go?” I asked.
“Oh, you also have no choice, as I have already demonstrated. Now that we have that clear, I will now take you.” We felt the ship start to shake as if he had grabbed us.
“Rob, what’s your analysis?” I asked, hitting the stabilizers. As the rockets went off, the Time Keeper screamed out in pain.
“The life-force appears to be unable to get through the protective field. Advise placing an individual Multi‑Purpose Protection Field around each of us for extra security.”
“Useless,” came the mocking voice of the Time Keeper, “I can get at you any time I like.” Regardless of this statement, I did as Rob suggested and placed us all into individual protective fields.
“Is this spaceship equipped with any sort of weaponry?” asked Lisa, glancing around the control panel, “Photon torpedoes, laser beams, anything?”
“Affirmative. It is equipped with an anti‑matter beam.”
“Anti‑matter? Hah! That will not protect you,” shouted the Time Keeper, speaking in an uneasy tone, “do not even bother with it.”
“Well, at least you remembered some protection,” chided Melissa, patting me on the back.
“Rob,” I said, ignoring Melissa’s lack of confidence in me, “power up the anti‑matter laser and fire when ready at the side of the Time Tornado.”
“No! You cannot!” shouted the Time Keeper. There was now an urgency in his voice.
“What’s wrong, Mr. Time Keeper?” I asked, “I thought the anti‑matter would do no good?”
“Anti‑matter beam powering up,” stated Rob, “once fired, there will be a 20-second until the circuits increase to the necessary power levels.”
“Fire when ready,” I replied, calmly.
“Circuit activated,” stated Rob, lifting a clear protective cover. Under that was the red firing toggle switch. Rob flicked the switch up.
“Anti-matter beam fired. Time to actually blast, 20-seconds and counting. Nineteen, eighteen...”
“Too late, puny humans. I have warned you!” laughed the Time Keeper nervously, “It will not work! The Time Tornado will reflect the beam back at you! You will be the ones destroyed!”
“Rob?” asked Lisa, “can it be reflected off the tornado?”
“Unknown, twelve, eleven, ten...”
“Larry! What did you do?” asked Cindy, panicking at the thought of instant death.
“I did what I thought I had to do,” I replied.
“Five seconds to full power,” stated Rob.
“You have signed your own death warrants, little puny human! Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha! Ha! Ha, ha, ha, ha!”
“Not just yet,” I replied, yanking at the controls of the Starship Jupiter, “hang on, everybody.”
Quickly turning the ship on a downward angle, I watched as the brilliant green, anti‑matter beam exploded out of our ship and shot straight out toward the bottom of the tornado. I had hoped it would shoot harmlessly downward to the center of the earth, through the gaping crack that had been made by the earthquake. I say ‘harmlessly’ because on the long journey downward, I figured it would lose its mass and actually never get to the center of the earth.
Unfortunately, the angle of the ship was not quite right and the green beam shot out from us and struck the side of the Time Tornado near its base. It ricocheted upward, bouncing numerous times off the sides of the tornado.
Rob’s arm quickly reached out to the controls, seizing it from my grasp. Pulling it to the left, he threw the ship clear of the beam. We watched the bright green beam whiz past us and strike the top of the Time Tornado.
There was a loud scream from the Time Keeper and a shower of colorful sparks—like fireworks going off. The accompanying sounds of the explosion rocked the Time Tornado. Rob, still at the controls, steered the ship upward toward the now opened vortex.
“Don’t leave!” shouted the voice of the Time Keeper, “I need an epidermal structure!”
“Rob, keep going!” I instructed.
“Affirmative,” he replied as we maneuvered out the top of the Time Tornado.
“You shall never return to your own time!” shouted the now fading voice of the Time Keeper, “I will get you the next time you enter my continuum!”
The sight of the Time Tornado grew more faint as we watched the viewscreen. We now had no idea what time we were in and no idea where we were headed.
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