In the City of Tomorrow: Chapter 29

When the Stryker twins left the governor’s office they transported themselves straight to their brother’s apartment. As they stood in the dimly-lit hallway outside the apartment door they noticed that Natalie was there.

“Looks like they’re working on wedding preparations,” Amy remarked, as she stared through the door. “I think they’re trying to pick a photographer.”

“Don’t spy on them!” Amanda exclaimed. “That’s not nice.”

“I was just trying to tell if she was about to leave,” Amy protested. “I think Natalie’s going to be there a while.”

“Well, it is only 8 PM,” Amanda replied. “I guess we’ll have to come back later.”

“Why not just knock on the door and say goodbye to both of them?”

“That’s crazy! We don’t need to drag Natalie into this. In fact, even letting our brother know was a big risk. I’m still not sure we did the right thing.”

“But she’s family! I mean, she will be family, anyway. Besides, do you really think Tim hasn’t already told her? I bet she knows everything about us.”

“Why would he tell her? I mean, she’d never believe him. Even Tim had a hard time believing us. It wasn’t until you brought him to the Starfire that he changed his mind.”

“But he might have told her.”

Amanda shook her head. “I guess anything’s possible. But why not just wait until she leaves? It’s really not that hard and it would be a lot safer.”

“Because I’d kind of like to meet her. Tim’s the only brother we have and Natalie is going to be his wife. It would be nice to say hi to her before we disappear forever.”

Amanda sighed. “Fine. I really don’t think this is a good idea, but since your heart is set on it I guess we’ll try it and see what happens.”

Amy smiled and immediately rang the doorbell.

“Why did you do that?” Amanda asked, surprised. “Can’t you just walk through the door like last time?”

“He’s got company! It’s not polite to just barge in on him.”

“You’re weird,” Amanda replied.

A moment later Tim opened the door. He was startled to see his sisters standing in the hallway. “Oh – um – hi there,” he said weakly. “I wasn’t expecting you.”

“People keep saying that,” Amy replied, smiling. “Anyway, we just wanted to stop by and say hi to you and your fiancee. We’ve heard so many great things about her!”

Natalie got off the couch and walked toward the door. “Who is it?” she asked. When she got to the door she gasped. “Are those your sisters?”

Tim sighed. “Yes, they are. Girls, since you’re here and have decided to make my life even more complicated than it already is, why don’t you come inside and introduce yourselves.”

“Thanks,” Amy said.

“I tried to stop her,” Amanda muttered. After they were both inside Tim shut the door behind them.

Natalie could not take her eyes off of the girls. Before she could say anything, however, Amy spoke up. “Hello! You must be Natalie. It is really nice to meet you! I’ve been looking forward to this for months. I’m Amy and this is my sister Amanda.”

Natalie shook her hand, a look of confusion on her face. “I don’t understand. Tim, what’s going on?”

“It’s a long and complicated story,” Tim said. “The bottom line is that some things you’ve heard about the Sparrow may not be entirely true.”

“I think I’d like to hear the whole story,” Natalie replied.

Tim shook his head. “That’s what I thought, too, until I actually heard it. It’s one of those things that will give you nightmares.”

“It’s not that bad,” Amy replied. “It just takes some getting used to.”

“Does that mean that the rest of your family are alive too?” Natalie asked.

“They are,” Amy said. “They’re just not available right now.”

“Where are they?” Natalie asked.

“They’re on their way to the future. We’re about to join them but we wanted to stop and meet you before we left.”

“Why are they going to the future?”

“It’s really complicated,” Tim replied. “Let’s just say that the future needs them and leave it at that.”

“Oh. Well, are they going to be at the wedding?”

“Probably not,” Tim said. “They’re going to the distant future. It’s a one-way trip.”

“Oh,” Natalie said. She was quiet for a moment. “That’s too bad. I’m sure you will miss them.” She turned her attention to the girls. “We’re going to miss both of you. I hope whatever you’re doing turns out well.”

“Thanks,” Amanda replied.

“You did get everything finished, didn’t you?” Tim asked. “Did it all work out?”

“More or less,” Amy replied.

“What do you mean, ‘more or less’?” Tim asked suspiciously. “Do I need to be worried?”

“No, you don’t,” Amanda replied. “Just ignore her. Everything is fine.”

“Great,” Tim said, relieved. “I am so very, very glad.”

“I guess this is it, then,” Amanda said. She looked at her brother. “I’m going to miss you. It’s going to be funny not having you around anymore.”

Tim suddenly realized that his sisters were about to leave and would not be coming back. After they were gone he would never see any of his family again. He didn’t know what to say. “I’ll miss you,” he said at last. “Be sure to tell that to Mom and Dad. I’m glad everyone is alive but I wish you had been able to come and live on Xanthe.”

“We won’t forget you,” Amy replied. “We love you.”

“I love you too,” Tim said. He gave each girl a hug.

“Well – goodbye,” Amanda said.

“Bye,” Amy said.

The two girls then vanished, leaving Tim and Natalie alone.

Natalie was the first one to speak up. “Was that really your sisters?”

“It was,” Tim said sadly. “I wish I could tell you everything but it’s probably better for you not to know. They’ve got a big challenge ahead of them. I’m just glad they’re not going to be facing it alone.”

“Do you think we’ll ever see them again?”

“Not in this life, I’m afraid. They’re on their way to tomorrow now and that’s one place we just don’t have access to. But there is one thing we can do for them.”

“What’s that?”

Tim smiled. “We can build them a tomorrow that’s worth living in.”

* * * * *

Amanda was startled to find them back on Amy’s construction planet. “Hey! What are we doing here?”

“Well, we needed to stop somewhere while we came up with a plan. This place seemed as good as any.”

“Isn’t the plan to go to the future?” Amanda asked.

“Of course it is! But how are we going to get there? Are we just going to stand around here for the next five thousand years and hope for the best?”

“I guess not,” Amanda admitted. “What do you think we should do?”

“We could go to the Infinite Room. That would be safe.”

Amanda shook her head. “I just don’t think that’s a good idea. What if something goes wrong and we end up stuck in time? If we’re in the Infinite Room then no one can rescue us. We need to be at a place where Mom and Dad can easily find us.”

“I guess you’re right,” Amy agreed. “But we also want to make sure that no one else can find us.”

“What about the Artilect?” Amanda asked. “He certainly survived for all that time and nobody ever bothered him! That would be a safe place to be.”

“I guess that would work, but he doesn’t exist yet and Steve didn’t tell us when he was going to be built. Besides, won’t the Artilect notice if we’re hiding on his home planet?”

“Not if we’re well-hidden. And we can always just jump forward a century at a time until he exists. That can’t be that hard.”

“I guess that would work,” Amy replied. “But do we have to jump a whole hundred years?”

“Why not?”

Amy hesitated. “Well, I was kind of hoping to attend Tim’s wedding.”

Amanda sighed. “Don’t you think we’ve caused enough trouble as it is? Do we really need to show up at his wedding and cause even more?”

“We could remain hidden somewhere,” Amy argued. “Think about it. We could even jump ahead and see our brother’s children – our nieces and nephews! It’s the only chance we’ll ever get to meet them.”

“And then we can jump ahead again and attend Tim’s funeral,” Amanda pointed out. “Then we can watch his wife die, and his children, and his grandchildren, until everyone that ever knew us dies and the world had changed beyond recognition. Is that really what you want?”

“That’s terrible! How do you think of these things?”

“I’m sorry, but that’s what going to the future means. If we stick around and watch time pass it will just make it harder to let go. This is going to be a lot easier if we get to the future as fast as possible. We don’t need to linger in the past.”

“I guess you’re right,” Amy said reluctantly. “I was just really hoping to attend their wedding.”

“We’ve got more important things to do, Tiger. It’s time we rejoined Mom and Dad.”

Amy nodded. “All right. Let’s go.”