A New Order Read online

  “And you are sure the enforcer trip didn’t reveal anything?” Jason asked.

  “Not that I know of. I don’t even know if the enforcer trip worked. Hell, for all I know, it may not have and I wouldn’t notice any changes.”

  Jason did his stock, “Hmm.”

  “What?” Joe asked. “You did that before.”

  “Only because I know you and something is up. Doesn’t matter, I’ll get the history disks from Henry and compare. He’s supposed to give them to me.”

  “Well, you let me know if you find anything.”

  “I will.”

  Without saying goodbye, Joe hung up the phone. He put it in his pocket and sighed in relief at the sight of his office door. He just wanted to go inside and hide. He really didn’t want any more surprises. Joe told himself, he doubted anything could be as surprising as the change he discovered earlier.

  Just as he thought that he opened the door. Upon seeing who was inside, Joe stopped cold, thought ‘scratch that’, closed the door and walked away.

  FOUR

  Whoever had said that if you stayed awake and sobered up you would not get a hangover was sadly mistaken, at least Henry believed that.

  He was tired, hungry and extremely hungover and he hadn’t even been to bed yet. He wasn’t in the mood to challenge Trish on why he was at History. Before even arriving he went over the discussion they would have, how he’d have to literally fight with her to get inside.

  She was the warden and let no one in as if History was a sacred building.

  Henry muttered in his mind what all would entail. He even added a slight feminine whine to his tone.

  ‘What are you doing here, Henry. You don’t have an appointment. You need an appointment. Don’t make me call Joe.’

  He hated that she was like that. Who gave her that much authority anyhow.

  Confident and ready for a verbal brawl, Henry opened the door to History.

  “Hi, Henry!” Trish said brightly.

  That just stopped him.

  “Um … hello.”

  “You’re late,” said Trish so chipped. “I was really worried about you.”

  “I’m late?”

  “You’re late. You had an appointment for an hour ago.”

  “I did?”

  “You did. I was wondering if you forgot. It’s not like you. Are you feeling okay? You look a little pale.”

  “Um, yeah, I’m okay,” Henry said. “Just a headache.”

  “There’s talk about a second wave of brain flu.”

  “In addition to the bacteria?” Henry asked. “Oh my God.”

  “Yes. So make sure you check in with Dr. Rayburn.”

  “I will. Right now I’m …” he pointed to the back.

  “You go right ahead. Would you like a sandwich?”

  Henry was going to say no, but then Trish pulled out a plate of sandwiches cut into triangles. “Don’t mind if I do, Trish.” Henry took a few of the sandwiches.

  “Gemma made egg salad. It’s amazing.”

  “Thank you so much. You’re very pleasant today.”

  “I’m pleasant every day.”

  Henry merely responded with a ‘hmm’ and went into the back room, locking the door.

  The sandwich was excellent and would help his rumbling stomach. It took him biting into it to realize how much he drank when in Vegas with that woman.

  The woman.

  She was amazing.

  Danny Hoi had created a history comparison software, while Henry uploaded the one he carried he pulled out his phone and looked at the pictures of her.

  As his thumb ran across the picture, he thought about how beautiful and funny she was. And he wondered if she survived the virus and was alive out there.

  She would be older.

  Instantly he gasped.

  What if she was actually Josephine. What if Barbara wasn’t her real name? He realized some when he figured out Barbara would be as old as Josephine. His mind spun while waiting. Did Barbara think of him? He wished he would have used his real name instead of some fake one.

  Henry glanced to the progress bar, it was at ten percent. He had a lot of waiting to do.

  He was so engrossed in staring at the selfies he took in Vegas, he jumped a foot in the air when his phone rang.

  He swiped to answer so fast, he didn’t even look to see who called.

  “Hello,” Henry answered.

  “Henry,” Jason said. “Did you make it to history?”

  “That’s what I’m doing now,” Henry answered.

  “And?”

  “And I’m at twelve percent.”

  “How long have you been there?”

  “Why?”

  “I want to figure out how long it will take.”

  “Why?”

  “Because Danny created that program and it makes a nice spread sheet of any variations.”

  “Okay.”

  “I would like a copy.”

  “Oh,” Henry said. “Sure, I’ll print you a copy.”

  “How long have you been there?”

  “A while. I’m estimating another hour and a half to two.”

  “Okay, that’s what I was thinking. Keep me posted.”

  “Will do.” Henry hung up.

  He knew there was no way it was going to take that long, but he was covering his bases. There was no way he was going to make a copy of the comparison for Jason without seeing and knowing what was on there first. And, if there were any differences, Henry needed to be prepared. But he highly doubted things changed.

  While he waited for the program, he went back to daydreaming and looking at Barbara’s picture.

  <><><><>

  Mike Manis was in charge.

  Even though Stewart was visually the one everyone deemed the ‘man’ while George unofficially relocated west, Mike and Bertha ran the military end of it.

  He had to admit, she was pretty brilliant on that aspect. She was George’s top military person before the society and Beginnings joined forced to prepare for the Great War.

  That was Mike’s main job, overseeing the training of soldiers for a war that may or may not be on the horizon.

  He had logistics, training, fuel and food to deal with.

  He really wanted Bertha’s help on this day, but she was preoccupied. He couldn’t figure out if she was on some sort of large phone or small tablet. She’d smile while looking at it, finger moving and swiping.

  Probably communicating with Mike’s son, Tigger. The Very tall and brawny woman was the love of his very small, growth inhibited son, Tigger’s life.

  Mike on the other hand was held up dealing with another Beginnings issue.

  “I’m sure,” Mike said on the phone. “And yes, she is alive.”

  Bertha looked at him.

  “No, he’s still dead.”

  Another glance from Bertha.

  “Yes, I did try to kill George. At one point he was a bad guy. Not sure he still isn’t.” Mike turned his head when he heard Bertha huff. “Okay. He had the right idea, wrong execution. Anything else?” He listened. “I don’t know how many Hoi Book friends you had two days ago and I don’t know if that changed. I don’t use it. Why are you asking me this? I doubt you have the brain flu. Why? It wasn’t real.” Mike grumbled softly. “It was all in people’s heads. Yes, I know the brain is in the head and … Is that it? Are there any other questions? Great. Have a good day.” Mike hung up.

  “Who was that?” Bertha asked.

  “Frank.”

  “Makes sense.”

  “What?”

  “He’s probably worried he changed something. You know since their time trip.”

  “No, I didn’t know about a time trip. How do you?”

  “George told me.”

  “Why is he still telling you stuff?” Mike asked.

  “Because he does.” She lowered her device. “And good thing for all of us he does or else we’d be in the dark on this half of the country.”


  “True,” Mike said. “What are you doing?”

  “Reading. It was a gift from Danny Hoi. See?” She showed him. “It’s my Dandle.”

  “Your … Dandle. That looks like a Kindle.”

  “Dandle. Pretty soon we’ll have more books to read.”

  “Don’t tell me,” Mike said. “He’s starting up Hoi-zon.”

  Bertha snickered. “Don’t be silly. It’s called Danazon.”

  “Oh my God.”

  “He is brilliant.”

  “If he is bringing back books, how do you have one?”

  “Oh, it’s a secret book. Roy brought back a book Danny wrote in the future that outlines the Great War, He didn’t want us to see it so Frank makes the right decision.”

  “If he didn’t want anyone to see it, why do you have it?” Mike asked.

  “George was reading it and suggested Danny give me a copy for my expert military opinion.”

  “And?”

  “Well.” Excitedly she walked over to him, pulled out a chair and said down. “I have been dying to talk about this. In this version of history George is dead. You killed him. Beginnings had no inkling of the Great War so they had no need to protect him. No George, no scanning system. The scan system is vital now so we see an attack coming.”

  “So having the book is helpful?”

  “Very because the attack coming in from the Gulf was a feint. The ships carrying men, women and children, sailing across the Atlantic were hiding the true attack. Now we know. However, George thinks that maybe the Great War has changed, that it isn’t a ground war but rather a virus.”

  “Our bacteria?” Mike said.

  “If you look, the first casualty of the war in this book was Robbie. He died the exact same week in the book and now. Only this is from the bacteria.”

  “Jesus.”

  “There’s more.”

  “More?”

  “Oh, yeah. There’s an infertility virus that strikes. I don’t even think they’re worried about that yet. But we have a heads up.”

  “Just having that.” Mike pointed. “Changes the future.”

  “Exactly. So you can see what Frank is worried about.” She stood up and, eyes on the Dandle, walked off.

  Bertha was engrossed, Mike could see that. He also really wanted to see what that book predicted. Hopefully, she would let him.

  <><><><>

  It was a combination of slightly leaning forward and the shock that caused the chair and Harry to topple to the floor with a loud BANG.

  “Oh my God,” Henry said with a gasp. “Oh my God.’

  Trish flew into the back room. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, yeah. I … “

  “Fell asleep?”

  “Yes, I dozed off.”

  “Henry,” Trish said pacifying. “You are too overworked. Can I get you a tea?”

  Henry cocked an eyebrow. Why was Trish being so nice? What in the world could they have changed that made her nice? Henry saw one thing and it rattled him. It was a big one and could only guess how many more there were. Hopefully not many.

  “Henry?” Trish called his again.

  “Um, Yeah, tea sounds great. Thank you.”

  “I’ll be back.”

  Once she had left, he fixed the stool and sat down.

  Jason couldn’t see it. No way, no how, could Henry give him the comparison print ups. Not until Henry went through it and then spoke to Frank and Dean. As a matter of fact, he knew he had to do it right away before Frank and Dean discovered things.

  No matter how hard they would try, there was no way they could pretend to not know a difference.

  His hand flush against his forehead, Henry stared at the screen. He had to figure out what to do.

  “Oh, boy,” he said, slowly blowing through his slightly parted lips. “How did this happen?”

  FIVE

  Speaking through an exhausted groan, Ellen leaned back in the small office chair and rubbed her eyes. “Oh, God … how did this happen, huh?” She shook her head. “How? Another repercussion of messing with time.”

  “I don’t think.” Danny Hoi replied, sitting in the small office with her. “Time tinkering or a ripple had anything to do with this. This was our arrogance, that we have become infallible since we survived not one, but two extinction level illnesses.”

  “Third times a charm.”

  “Let’s hope not. How are you feeling?”

  “Eh, tired, I have a headache. But I’ll keep going. I know something is going to give. It has to right? Now we have you in here.”

  “Yeah, how about that?” Danny lowered his head some.

  “I’m sorry you’re stuck in here.”

  “Better here than out there and I won’t get sick.”

  “True and you might be a means to a cure,” Ellen said.

  “Yeah, after I was a means of infecting a ton of people.”

  “How were you to know?” she asked. “You weren’t. You were doing what you always do. Running around being Danny. You can’t blame yourself. I won’t let you “

  “I can take responsibility for leaving. I did that. I shouldn’t have.” Danny, too, leaned back in his chair. “I get so head strong. I always have. This place brings back a memory of my youth.”

  “Oh, yeah, how so?”

  “When I was fourteen, I hated working in my family’s restaurant and at that time, my uncle owned it. Man, he was tough. And when you work for family labor laws don’t apply.”

  Ellen laughed. “That’s not true.”

  “It is true. Anyhow, I used to get down in the dumps before work or after working a long shift and I didn’t want to get up for school. My father would tell me to leave my room, and I’d tell him, I was depressed. And he’d say,” Danny deepened his voice to imitate his father. “'Daniel, it is not depression you feel it is laziness because you do not want to go to school,’; or ‘Daniel, the best cure for depression is to take pride in ones work.’”

  “He didn’t want to hear it.”

  “Nope, and I got mad and told him one day that he was ignoring my mental illness. And he said, ‘Daniel, you are right and I am wrong.’”

  “Then what happened?”

  “He had me put in a psych ward.”

  “Oh my God,” Ellen laughed.

  “Yeah, it was pretty fun the first couple days, I was like the man,” Danny said.

  “I bet.”

  “Yeah, then it got old. Same food, all bad, arts and crafts lacked creativity. I got out and never complained again. We don’t have arts and crafts here, do we?”

  Ellen shook her head with a smile.

  “I’m sorry you’re sick, El,” Danny reached out and grabbed her hand. “Does Dean know yet?”

  “Not yet. Last I heard no one could find him.”

  “No one could find him?” Danny asked. “Wasn’t he supposed to bring back …”

  “Yep. And he’s not checked in.”

  “Where could he be?”

  Ellen just shrugged.

  <><><><>

  Hours.

  Dean was aware he had been missing for hours. Well, not at first he didn’t until he looked at his watch. His phone was on silent and he couldn’t believe how many missed calls he had.

  He had things to do.

  First and foremost after Joe’s, “What did you three do to time?” question, Dean went home. He went to the house to see and confirm the existence of all of his children and to make sure there weren’t any new ones.

  After he confirmed that, he started thinking about the bacteria and how they moved the kids away to ensure their survival. But beating the bacteria was foremost because it would always be in existence, attaching itself to something.

  They were working on a ‘now’ solution, Dean just wanted to have a plan B, C and possibly D. Which led him to the cryo lab and he got lost in work and theories.

  When he realized how much time had passed, and he saw at least two dozen texts from Roy and Johnny, he flew up to the c
linic lab. Of course he hadn’t a clue why Johnny was there.

  Maybe Johnny’s presence was one of the quirks of the time ripple.

  “Sorry. I’m so sorry,” Dean apologized, dropping his man case on the counter. “I didn’t realize the time.”

  “Doctor Dean,” Johnny looked at him. “I usually don’t care but this is important. You knew this.”

  “Yes, Dean,” Lars stated. “You were to come straight here.”

  “I know. I know. I had this idea. Where’s Roy I want to run it by him,” Dean said.

  “He’s looking for you,” Lars told him. “And I am slightly perturbed as well. I don’t care what you do and want to work on, by all means, do so, but you are well aware your presence right now, after the trip can greatly influence everything. Especially since I know you’re upset about Ellen.”

  Dean was just nodding his head, listening with a half ear until he heard Ellen’s name. “What about her?”

  “Lars, he doesn’t know,” Johnny said.

  “Know what?” Dean asked.

  “Maybe he should,” Lars said.

  “What should I know?”

  “We didn’t tell him because we didn’t want it to effect the Vegas trip.”

  “Tell me what!” Dean blasted. He thought about his children and not once did he check to see about Ellen if she were still around. “Oh my God, is Ellen dead?”

  “What?” Johnny said. “No. Shit. What the fuck Doctor Dean.”

  “Ellen is in the ward,” Lars said.

  “Yeah, I know,” Dean said. “She is caring for patients.”

  “Ellen is a patient.”

  “What?”

  “She has the bacteria,” Lars told him.

  Immediately, Dean started to leave.

  Lars reached out and stopped him. “You can not go up there. You can’t. Not now. She must be a motivator for you in this.”

  “I have to see her,” Dean said.

  “Okay, but after you give us the samples so we can run testing,” Lars said.

  “What samples?” Dean asked.

  “From the future?” Lars asked. “You were supposed to go to the convention and get samples of antibiotics to bring back.”

  “No, that wasn’t the plan. We didn’t go near the convention.”