“You got me there for a minute. Is it April first?”
“Jack, you are his great, great, great grandfather.” Tom’s eyebrows shoved together and he turned to view Adams with just one eye.
“I call bull shit.”
“I call another ancestor on his paternal side as Honey York.” Tom’s throat squeezed tight and
“You’re not insinuating what I think you’re insinuating, are you? Because, no, that’s not ever gonna happen. You’ve just made a mistake, Doc, that’s all.” Tom stood up and shoved the chair out of his way.
“Jack, it’s going to happen. His body is proof of that.” Tom started to shake, his hands quivering.
“It’s not going to happen. He’s about to disappear now that you told me.”
Adams stood and came around to Tom’s side. Putting one hand on his back the doctor led him to the laboratory where at least a dozen different genomes were on display. Tom stared from one to another without any understanding of what he was looking at. Adams picked up a small pad and started pressing icons.
“These are the Commander’s gene sequences. This sequence is a perfect match from you,” Adams said. On the screen two curled waves of DNA merged and matched in shape and color before his eyes. “They’re an exact match for thousands of base pairs. The number of matches generally show how far back the ancestor is.” Tom slowly shook his head in disbelief. “These over here, the database search found a match in Honey York.” They turned to look at a different image floating before them and with a press on the icon, an infinitely long strand paired up exactly with another. “Thousands, Jack, thousands.”
“Where’s Zalara? Where’s her DNA in this guy? It’s all back asswards like Rianya’s, they would be easy to find. Honey’s… I’m old enough to be Honey’s… grandfather! What you’re saying is not only a crime, it’s abhorrent.”
“There is no Kinnae DNA. His entire genome is homochiral. Nothing from Zalara, nothing from Rianya. Just you.”
Tom stomach tightened up so small he thought he might vomit his coffee on his own feet. It was simply impossible. He refused to believe what the old man was saying.
“You have to be wrong on this. You’ve made a mistake, mixed up some DNA, everyone on this ship has a biological sample available.”
“Thomas, I have to ask you a question and I want an honest answer.” Tom shrugged. What else would he give but the truth, especially at this moment. The doctor lowered his voice. “Did you ever sleep with Cat York?”
“No! Hell no.” Tom jerked back from Adams half a meter. “Come on, Phil, who do you think you’re talking to? I never even met her before this mission. Holy shit, Doc, I know myself. You made a mistake.”
“Well, I suppose the timeline doesn’t add up,” Doc said wrinkling his mouth. “I’m looking for answers. She was pregnant when she died; you knew that?”
“I knew no such thing!” Tom stumbled back a step and found a chair. His knees didn’t want to support him anymore.
“I only know because she told me that morning, wanted to know if going on a shuttle, no gravity, would be a problem. I don’t have any fetal DNA on file, so, we’ll likely never know…well, unless a father comes forward. I assumed he’d be the most distraught man on the ship since she died…and that’s you.”
“I don’t care, I don’t know, I don’t want to know. I’m gonna be sick. Where are those pills you give me when I’m gonna be sick?” He looked around for a place to deposit his churning stomach contents.
Adams turned around to the pharmacy, pulled an antiemetic off the shelf then handed a capsule to Tom. He popped it without any water.
“You know, now, why I didn’t want Rianya to come down with you this morning.”
“This is a damn nightmare. Just when I thought the next few weeks would be smooth sailing something like this comes out of the sky!” Tom buried his face in his hands and leaned forward to put his head between his knees.
“We’ll figure it out, Jack. Don’t have a meltdown.”
“I’m not a robot; I have a breaking point, believe it or not.”
“Hi, Papa!”
Tom looked up just in time to catch Zalara as she jumped on him. Honey was right behind her, considerably less exuberant, and content to stay on the floor.
“Hi girls,” he said, giving Zalara a kiss and Honey a smile. He’d never paid a lot of attention to his daughter’s friend before, but at the moment he could do nothing else. “How are you, Honey? Is everything good at Bailey’s?” The girl nodded, but said nothing. “I want you to tell me directly if you need something, don’t be afraid.” She nodded. Tom put Zalara off his lap, but he couldn’t stop looking at the blond girl.
“Why are you girls here?” Adams asked.
“I wanted to take Honey home to play. Mama said to ask you.”
“That’s it? Sure, go!” he said with a halfhearted smile and a push on Zalara’s behind. The two scurried out of sick bay holding hands. Tom looked up at Adams. “It’s like they’re both my daughters.”
“Have you ever considered that you might have more children before you die? I have two myself.”
“You said the mummy has all homochiral DNA.”
“Yes,” Adams said.
“Why did you tell me this? Damnit, Doc!” Tom stood up and paced around the sick bay. “This future time stuff I don’t want to know. It’s dangerous.”
“It could be a dozen different scenarios, Jack. Just keep an open mind about it, that’s all you should do. Not all children are created the same way anymore.” Tom stopped pacing and leaned up against one of the exam tables, folding his arms across his chest. “Best thing to do is put it out of your mind.”
“That’s impossible.”
“You better make it possible. I’ll keep your wife away from these DNA results. You forget I told you.”
“She can almost read my mind.”
“A good reason to forget all about it, don’t you think?”
“Now every time I look at that little girl--”
“No, you won’t. I didn’t want you to be surprised by this down the road, or have Rianya stumble across it.”
“Now that I have a secret in my head she’ll know it. She has a sixth sense or something.”
“She’s a woman. Need I say more?” Tom swore he saw little sparkles in the doctor’s eyes that mocked him, but more likely it was his own conscious reflecting back on him. “I’ve got just the thing for you, Jack.” The sprightly old man trotted back to his office and returned momentarily with two glasses and a decanter of amber fluid.
Adams served two shots of the anonymous scotch. The gurgle from the bottleneck filled the otherwise silent sick bay. Tom threw back the shot and clunked the glass in front of Adams for a refill; he obliged.
“We stopped a pandemic. We deciphered a human treasure. What else can you ask of one mission?” the doctor remarked.
“No casualties?”
“Go spend some time with your family. You all need it. And stay off the bridge for the rest of the day. That’s my doctor’s order to the ship’s captain.”
“You realize you just broke every rule ever made about time travel, telling me what you told me.”
“Jack, his body didn’t disappear. On Earth, if you were flying along going home for dinner and you saw someone coming into your air-corridor against the merge, and you slowed down to avoid a collision, did you see into the future that you’d otherwise crash? You messed with the future by slowing down, didn’t you?”
“Okay, Doc. I don’t really get it but I’ll take your word for it.” Tom snatched his hat and turned without ceremony, headed for his quarters as ordered.
Adams turned around to the pharmacy, pulled an antiemetic off the shelf then handed a capsule to Tom. He popped it without any water.
“You know, now, why I didn’t want Rianya to come down with you this morning.”
“This is a damn nightmare. Just when I thought the next few weeks would be smooth sailing something like this comes out of the sky!” Tom buried his face in his hands and leaned forward to put his head between his knees.
“We’ll figure it out, Jack. Don’t have a meltdown.”
“I’m not a robot; I have a breaking point, believe it or not.”
“Hi, Papa!”
Tom looked up just in time to catch Zalara as she jumped on him. Honey was right behind her, considerably less exuberant, and content to stay on the floor.
“Hi girls,” he said, giving Zalara a kiss and Honey a smile. He’d never paid a lot of attention to his daughter’s friend before, but at the moment he could do nothing else. “How are you, Honey? Is everything good at Bailey’s?” The girl nodded, but said nothing. “I want you to tell me directly if you need something, don’t be afraid.” She nodded. Tom put Zalara off his lap, but he couldn’t stop looking at the blond girl.
“Why are you girls here?” Adams asked.
“I wanted to take Honey home to play. Mama said to ask you.”
“That’s it? Sure, go!” he said with a halfhearted smile and a push on Zalara’s behind. The two scurried out of sick bay holding hands. Tom looked up at Adams. “It’s like they’re both my daughters.”
“Have you ever considered that you might have more children before you die? I have two myself.”
“You said the mummy has all homochiral DNA.”
“Yes,” Adams said.
“Why did you tell me this? Damnit, Doc!” Tom stood up and paced around the sick bay. “This future time stuff I don’t want to know. It’s dangerous.”
“It could be a dozen different scenarios, Jack. Just keep an open mind about it, that’s all you should do. Not all children are created the same way anymore.” Tom stopped pacing and leaned up against one of the exam tables, folding his arms across his chest. “Best thing to do is put it out of your mind.”
“That’s impossible.”
“You better make it possible. I’ll keep your wife away from these DNA results. You forget I told you.”
“She can almost read my mind.”
“A good reason to forget all about it, don’t you think?”
“Now every time I look at that little girl--”
“No, you won’t. I didn’t want you to be surprised by this down the road, or have Rianya stumble across it.”
“Now that I have a secret in my head she’ll know it. She has a sixth sense or something.”
“She’s a woman. Need I say more?” Tom swore he saw little sparkles in the doctor’s eyes that mocked him, but more likely it was his own conscious reflecting back on him. “I’ve got just the thing for you, Jack.” The sprightly old man trotted back to his office and returned momentarily with two glasses and a decanter of amber fluid.
Adams served two shots of the anonymous scotch. The gurgle from the bottleneck filled the otherwise silent sick bay. Tom threw back the shot and clunked the glass in front of Adams for a refill; he obliged.
“We stopped a pandemic. We deciphered a human treasure. What else can you ask of one mission?” the doctor remarked.
“No casualties?”
“Go spend some time with your family. You all need it. And stay off the bridge for the rest of the day. That’s my doctor’s order to the ship’s captain.”
“You realize you just broke every rule ever made about time travel, telling me what you told me.”
“Jack, his body didn’t disappear. On Earth, if you were flying along going home for dinner and you saw someone coming into your air-corridor against the merge, and you slowed down to avoid a collision, did you see into the future that you’d otherwise crash? You messed with the future by slowing down, didn’t you?”
“Okay, Doc. I don’t really get it but I’ll take your word for it.” Tom snatched his hat and turned without ceremony, headed for his quarters as ordered.
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