In the City of Tomorrow: Chapter 10

The twins stared at the anomaly, horrified. “Steve!” Amy screamed.

“He’s gone,” Amanda replied.

“What do we do?” Amy asked. “Do we go in after him?”

“Of course not! Who knows what’s on the other side of that thing? We wouldn’t stand a chance!”

“So what do we do?”

Amanda stared at the anomaly. As she watched it started fading away. It was soon almost impossible to see but it did not disappear entirely. “Look – I think it’s closing.”

“But what if it opens again?” Amy asked.

“I guess we could always destroy it,” Amanda replied. “Now that it’s quiet we can just suspend it in a stasis field and then collapse it. The Sentinel said that would destroy it once and for all.”

“But Steve’s in there!” Amy protested. “Didn’t he say that this was the only portal left? If we do that he’ll be trapped in there forever! Then how are we going to get to the future to see our parents again?”

“We can just go to the future ourselves,” Amanda pointed out. “After all, we know what date he was aiming for.”

“But do you know the location?” Amy asked. “There are billions of stars out there. How could we ever find the right one? And what about all those fighting machines that are running around everywhere? The future is a dangerous place. Without someone who knows what they’re doing we wouldn’t last a day!”

“I guess we do need Steve, then,” Amanda said. “But we can’t exactly go in after him.”

“Couldn’t we wait for him to come out?”

“But what if he never comes out, Tiger? We can’t wait forever!”

“But we can wait a while,” Amy pointed out. “I don’t see how that could hurt anything.”

“I guess you’re right,” Amanda said at last. “If nothing happens then we can come back, destroy the portal, and take our chances with the future. I don’t really have any other ideas.”

Amy looked around the cargo hold. Hundreds of crates had been shattered, strewing valuable machinery all over the floor. “This place is a mess.”

“The Poneri destroyed the ship,” Amanda agreed. “We need to fix it – or, at least, turn it back into the mess that it was before the Poneri attacked.”

“Wouldn’t it be easier just to fix it completely?”

“And how is the crew going to explain that?” Amanda asked. “They left with a ruined ship, and so they need to arrive with a ruined ship. It just shouldn’t be this ruined.”

“All right,” Amy grumbled. Working together, the two girls closed their eyes and opened their minds. After they had a mental picture of the ship they created a cloud of nanites and dispersed it throughout the vessel. The twins then used the nanites to repair the damage. It was not long before power was restored and the ship’s engines came back to life.

After making sure all of the crates had been repaired and restacked the girls opened their eyes again. “That was a lot of work,” Amy commented.

“But at least no one died,” Amanda replied. “I guess we’re done here.”

“Almost. I promised that preacher we’d talk to him before we left.”

Amanda sighed. “Do we have to? I really don’t think we should be doing this.”

“He already knows we’re here,” Amy said. “Besides, I think he’s nice. Maybe he can help us.”

“Where is he?” Amanda asked.

“Over there,” Amy said, pointing. Karen and Charlie were sitting on crates at the far end of the cargo hold. Reverend Knight had just walked into the room.

“C’mon, Atzi,” Amy said. She turned off her cloaking field and her sister reluctantly did the same. The girls then walked down a narrow passageway between crates and approached the small group.

Karen looked at them and smiled. “Thanks for the weapons! And thanks for putting my equipment back together.”

Charlie was astonished to see them. “Why, there’s two of you! Are you related?”

“They’re twins, actually,” Reverend Knight replied. “Allow me to present Amy and Amanda Stryker.”

Karen frowned. “Are you telling me that they’re the Stryker twins – the famous ones?”

“We’re famous?” Amy asked.

“Of course you are!” Charlie said. “I should have recognized you right away. The Empire assassinated you just a few hours ago. Everyone’s heard of you.” He then froze. “Wait a minute! That doesn’t work. You can’t be those twins – they’re dead!”

“Actually, we are those twins, and we’re not dead,” Amy said proudly.

Amanda shook her head. “We really shouldn’t be here,” she told her sister. “This is not going to end well.”

“We are very fortunate to have both of you,” Reverend Knight replied. “You saved our lives and this ship. I may be able to keep the Poneri at bay but I can’t recreate damaged electronics. I am very thankful for your help.”

“They’re the ones that recreated all this stuff?” Charlie asked, amazed. “How is that posible?”

“It’s complicated,” Amanda said reluctantly.

“You don’t have to explain,” Reverend Knight replied. “I just have some questions about the Poneri.”

“Actually I would love to hear an explanation,” Karen said. “If you two really are the Stryker twins then how are you still alive?”

“The Sparrow wasn’t actually destroyed,” Amy explained. “The Emperor sabotaged it and it would have been destroyed, but Steve saved us. Then to keep the timeline from being messed up he made it look like we had been destroyed. Then he sent the Sparrow into the future and we came here to fight the Poneri.”

“Steve?” Karen asked. “Who’s Steve?”

“He’s the Sentinel,” Amy replied. “He’s an artificial intelligence from the future. He was sent back in time to save us and then bring us into the future so we could save mankind.”

“Ok,” Karen said slowly. “I guess it really is complicated.”

“Exactly my point,” Amanda exclaimed. “We’re supposed to be dead right now. We don’t need to be letting everyone and their brother know that we’re still alive! After all, who knows what that might do to the future! It would just create a big mess.”

“Well, I’m sure not going to tell anyone,” Charlie said. “No one would believe me anyway, especially if I told them that you had superpowers and battled ghosts.”

“The Poneri are not ghosts,” Reverend Knight said. “They are ancient beings, greatly powerful and greatly evil. Amy, were you able to defeat them?”

“Not completely,” Amy replied. She explained what the Sentinel had done and how the battle had turned out.

“So the anomaly is still there,” Reverend Knight said. “At least it is dormant for the time being.”

“You’re not just going to leave it there, are you?” Charlie asked.

“We’re going to give Steve a chance to escape,” Amy explained. “If he doesn’t come out in a couple weeks then we’ll destroy it.”

“Then I am getting off this ship the second we land,” Charlie said. “I’m not about to stick around and see what happens next.”

“You’re going to be getting off anyway,” Karen pointed out. “Alpha Mensae is the end of the line for both of us.”

“Actually, I highly suggest that everyone get off the ship there,” Amanda said. “This ship needs to be abandoned as soon as possible. It’s much too dangerous to use.”

“I agree,” Reverend Knight replied. “I will spread the word. I fear, though, that there are some here that will not heed the warning.”

“If they stay on board they’re asking for trouble,” Amanda warned. “This is the wrong place to be.”

Charlie spoke up. “I hate to ask this, but could the two of you stay on board until we land? I mean, I know we have these guns and everything, but I think I speak for everyone when I say that we’ll feel a lot safer if the two of you stayed with us.”

Amanda looked at Amy, who shrugged. “Sure. I guess that’s a good idea. We were going to hang around and wait for Steve anyway.”

“We are not going to stay in this part of the ship, though,” Amanda said firmly. “We’ll stay out of sight but we’ll be on board until the ship lands. If you use the ship after that – well, all I can say is that we warned you.”

Reverend Knight nodded. “Agreed. I do have one question, though. If the Sentinel does not return then what are you going to do?”

“I’m not sure,” Amanda said. “I guess we’ll go visit our brother and say hi to him. Then we’ll need to find a safe place to hide for the next five thousand years.”

Charlie’s eyes widened. “Steve is from five thousand years into the future?”

“October 10, 7239,” Amy said. “That’s our expected arrival date. We just don’t know the place.”

“But we’ll figure it out,” Amanda said. “I’m sure we can find a hiding place that will be safe for five millennia. There’s got to be something.”

“And then you’re just going to sit around for five thousand years?” Charlie asked.

“Of course not!” Amy exclaimed. “We’ll just suspend ourselves in time. It’s not a big deal.”

“If you say so,” Charlie replied.

The twins looked at each other and stood up. “Well, it’s been nice meeting you,” Amy said.

“Thanks again for these guns,” Karen said. “And for saving our lives.”

“Sure thing,” Amanda replied. The two girls then vanished.