Chapter No.51. Unexpected.

The next morning after we had determined that we were in a different timeline than the one we were born into and that going through a hyperspace node right after our mission launched put us into that different timeline that brought us together, we decided that it was time to go down to the surface and check it out. We decided to kill two birds with one stone and take in water, but there was a problem.

"We've detected boats on some of the great lakes, sir, especially Erie and Michigan," Janet said.

"We've also detected activity, albeit minimal, in some of the large cities like New York, Chicago and Detroit," Sharon said.

"Okay, we need to find a fresh lake that's not near any possible human habitation."

"How about Lake Superior, sir. There's landing spots near the south shore that are not inhabited."

"The weather is not too bad there, sir," Janet said. "It's just getting into the Fall in that location."

"Sounds good," I said. "We all go down. Bridget will go with me in the tank shuttle and the rest of you will go down with Kali in the other shuttle."

"Isn't that risky, sir?" Natale said. "What if both shuttles can't get back up to the ship?"

"That's where we have an ace up our sleeve. There's a spare shuttle that can be launched from the Engineering deck. COMA can fly it remotely down to our location."

We waited until the next morning for the location we intended to land in. Bridget and I found an open area on the beach of Lake Superior. We wasted no time in getting the intake hoses out and oriented to suck water from the lake.

Kali landed in a location that was away from us and nearer to a forest of trees. They walked over to where we were.

Kali had a laser rifle slung on her shoulder and all of the rest of us had laser pistols strapped to our equipment belts.

"This is nice," Natale said looking around and taking a long breath. "It's a bit chilly but refreshing."

"It's twelve degrees centigrade," Janet said. "That's a bit on the chilly side. We're used to a constant twenty-two degrees on the ship."

Bridget and I made sure that the water was being filtered correctly while Sharon took readings on the atmospheric gases and contaminants, Natale measured the radiation levels, Janet kept watch with Kali.

I didn't expect any interference way up here out of the hub bub, but that wasn't to be.

Two males in a rowboat approached and came ashore.

"What are you doing?" the older male with a beard asked. He looked to be in his late fifties and was dressed in old jeans, a dark jacket and boots. The younger cleanshaven male was dressed mostly in black.

"We're taking on water," I replied in a calm voice but with my hand on my laser pistol handle.

"Where are you from?" he asked.

I pointed up. "We're from space. We've been all over the place since we launched."

"You had better watch out. The enforcers patrol around here and they don't cotton to strangers."

"Where might they be located?" I asked.

"They have places all over," he replied.

"Do you have much in the way of trouble up here?"

"Not really. They just like to harass people."

"Hey!" Janet yelled. "There's a vehicle approaching!"

I drew my laser pistol. "If I were you two, I would take cover."

They turned and ran to their boat, pushing it into the water and rowing like crazy to get away.

I saw Kali and Janet moving around to take up a defensive position near a rise. I had Bridget and Sharon take cover behind their shuttle.

The vehicle stopped and two men got out holding what appeared to be weapons. As they approached, I noted that Kali was keeping them in her sight.

"Who are you?" One of the men demanded.

"We're the guardians of the galaxy, pal."

"Wise guy, huh!" he quipped.

"Look, we're here to take on water. We don't want a confrontation. I would advise you to get back in your vehicle and leave."

As soon as the one guy raised his weapon, Kali nailed him. I pulled my pistol and took care of the other one.

Kali and Janet ran up and surveyed the damage.

"Let's get the hell out of here before more of these crazies show up.

Kali ushered Janet, Sharon and Natale into her shuttle while Bridget and I got the hoses pulled back into our shuttle and prepared to return to the ship.

We had no sooner got airborne when what looked like a fighter craft showed up and began firing at us, but I immediately flew a zig-zag avoidance course to avoid getting hit, but I couldn't outmaneuver the fighter jet. It looked like we were going to get shot down, but that's when something I hadn't expected happened.

Kali maneuvered her shuttle behind the fighter and fired a laser blast that blew it out of the air.

We made a bee line to the ship, followed by Kali, who maintained a protective stance before she got her shuttle into the hanger.

After we got the water lines attached to our tanker shuttle, we went back to the crew deck and joined the others at the command station.

"I didn't realize that the shuttle had a laser weapon," I told Kali.

"Yeah, it's not something they wanted to make obvious, but they all do."

"How convenient," I quipped.

"Why did they attack us?" Bridget asked.

"I don't know, but this illustrates why we cannot live on Earth. We don't belong here and it's obvious that feral humans have become paranoid and are dangerous."

"Does that mean we're never going down there arain?" Janet asked.

"No, but at least we'll be prepared the next time."

Kali smiled. "You have something in mind?"

"Yes. I want to find out just how distorted this timeline is compared to what we knew in our timeline of origin. We should be able to locate historical records that would give us an idea of how different we are."

"What difference does that make?"

"If the differences are slight, we can remain in this timeline and just find a friendlier habitable planet to enjoy. Otherwise we would try to get into our timeline of origin."

"That could require repeated changes, requiring a lot of time."

"We seem to have unlimited time," I said. "We need a mission to keep us sane. Besides, I'd like to know what the records say about missions like ours."

"Ha, ha!" Kali said. "I think I know what you're thinking. You're looking for us in the records."

I smiled. "Yes. I want to know if we, or our doubles in this timeline, existed and whether they went on missions like ours. If we existed in this timeline before we were dragged into it, are our doubles still here."

"That would constitute a paradox."

"I agree, but it would be interesting to know if that's even possible."

"It would suggest that we're in many timelines that are not too different than this one.".
"That's the way I see it."

"Hopefully, the survivors on Earth are not all crazy in other timelines," Natale said.

"Our problem is that we have to deal with them in this timeline," I said. "The way it's going, we have to act like combatants every time we go down to the surface."

"I doubt that all the human colonists are as paranoid as those we've just encountered," Kalie said. "As long as we go down and apply standard protocols, we should be okay,"

"Spoken like a strike force commander," I quipped.

She laughed.

"But it wasn't funny. The fact that we had to go down in a military posture is ridiculous. It doesn't speak well for human development.