Ethan
knocked on Duncan’s door. “Ethan. Come in and have a seat. What can I do for
you?”
“Well,”
he began, “as you know, Ryan and I are going to be married.”
“Yes,
I know. Congratulations.”
“Thank
you. I was wondering if it would be possible to bring my brother Troy, his
family, my sister Alicia and my best friend Jordan Harrison forward to attend
the wedding.”
“Honestly
Ethan, I don’t know what effect it will have on the timeline. If I recall
correctly, Chris has been here before, but Troy, his family, Alicia and this Jordan person have not. Let me think
about this and talk with Liam. He knows more about the timeline and what causes
the aberrations than anyone. I’ll let you know either this afternoon or
tomorrow morning.”
“Thanks,
Duncan.”
After
Ethan left his office, Duncan picked up his comp-com. He didn’t want any record
of this call showing up in the internal communications log. He knew the Tribunal
could and sometimes did monitor all internal communications as well as the
timeline status. Even though the chief magistrate had been dismissed and
charged with abuse of her power, he still didn’t trust them completely. The
situation with Ryan shouldn’t have happened in his opinion.
Duncan
contacted Liam and asked him to come to his office after telling him to have
Colin take over. “What’s up, boss-man?” He asked taking a seat.
“We
have a problem I need your help figuring out. As you know, Ryan and Ethan are
getting married. They want Ethan’s brother, his brother’s family, sister and
Ethan’s best friend to be there. The question is, how can be bring them forward
without triggering a paradox?”
“Hmm.
Interesting situation. Chris being here hasn’t created any problems other than
the allergy thing, but the others might.” He was silent as the considered how
to resolve the situation. “We can - no that won’t work.” He was silent again. “Wait
a minute. We can - no that won’t work either.”
“Will
you stop doing that?” Duncan demanded in frustration.
“Wait!
I’ve got it. I feel stupid not thinking about having me simply hit the emergency
return.”
Duncan
grabbed his comp-com and summoned Ryan and Ethan to his office. As soon as they
were seated; both slightly nervous at being called into the boss’s office
together, Duncan began to tell them the plan. “Liam’s come up with an idea on
how to bring everyone forward without having to worry about a paradox.”
He
addressed Ethan. “You and Ryan are going to have to go back with beacons for
everyone and explain everything to them before bringing them forward. Does your
brother have any kids?”
“Yeah,
two.”
Duncan
rubbed his chin as he thought for a minute. “Okay. You both go back. Ethan, you
come forward with your sister and your friend. Ryan, you bring the rest. I
think seeing Ethan, your sister and his friend dematerialize will help assuage
their fears. Seeing Ethan alive and well once they rematerialize them will make
them less fearful of what had just happened to them.”
“And
if the paradox alarm doesn’t go off?”
“Liam
will be watching the timeline closely for any aberrations. If nothing changes
with the timeline, we’ll go ahead with the wedding as planned. Afterwards we’ll
start sending everyone back, one at a time. Before your brothers and sister
leave, we’ll provide training on how to preserve the timeline.
If
there are no ramifications to Chris remaining here, he will of course be welcome
to stay. I understand from Dr. Korotas that he’s a quick study and a valuable
asset to the infirmary, so he’ll have a job.
“If
neither your brother or your sister, or your friend cause an aberration we can
discuss bringing them forward as well so you will have your entire family with
you. We’ll have to do an exhaustive records search to make sure their
disappearance from their time won’t cause any problems.”
“I
don’t know what to say. When I was here before I missed Alicia and Troy and
Jordan so badly, I considered returning to my own time and never leaving it
again.”
“This
is your time now, baby,” Ryan tried to reassure him.
“Unfortunately,
that remains to be seen. You and Chris were an invaluable asset, and I for one
want you back. Let’s see how things go. I suggest the two of you prepare for
the possibility of everyone staying. They would need housing and employment.
What do they do now?”
“Alicia’s
a lawyer and Troy flips houses?”
“Flips
houses?” Duncan asked.
“That’s
when someone buys a house that’s in bad shape, fixes it up then sells it.”
“Hm.
Interesting concept. Unfortunately, I don’t know if there is anything he could
use those skills for.”
“Before
he started flipping houses, he was a real estate agent.”
“What’s
a real estate agent?” Ryan asked.
“That’s
someone who helps people buy and sell apartments, houses, etc.”
“Now
that’s a skill he could probably make use of.”
“So,
we can bring them here for the wedding?” Ethan crossed everything he could possibly
cross in hopes that Duncan would say yes.
“You
know the nature of this business. All I can promise you is that we’ll try. Do
your sister and brother know about all of this?” Duncan asked, pretty sure he
already knew the answer.
Ethan
could not meet Duncan’s eyes because he knew that telling them would get him in
trouble. “Yes,” he said in a very quiet voice.
“You
know you could get into serious trouble for telling them.”
“Yes,
I know, and I will accept any consequences. We’re all very close and I couldn’t
be deal with them not knowing what happened to Chris and me.”
“I’m
afraid something like this can’t be overlooked, especially since you are part
of this organization. Fortunately, as you know the chief magistrate was
relieved of her position, so we have no Tribunal. So, it’s up to me to
determine the appropriate disciplinary action.” Ethan decided that this would
be a good time to examine his shoes. “So, I have decided that…”
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