On Borrowed Time: Beginnings Series Book 26 Read online

  “Oh. That’s right. First.” Frank gave a thumbs up. “I’m still president. I won the election. Thanks, Hal.”

  Hal covered his eyes with his hand. “Father, please, go on before he can add anymore.”

  Joe did. “First the brain flu problem. Let’s resolve it, nip it in the bud. Dean, I have a town meeting in two hours, can you two conceivably come up with a placebo so these people think they’re cured.”

  Jason replied. “We could, Joe, but, your presence still has to be explained, simply returning and yelling at the female population is not explanation enough. Maybe if we have a good explanation they’ll understand they don’t have a brain flu.”

  Hal interjected. “Maybe we should have President Elite Frank make one of his wonder statements. They all seem to buy whatever he says.”

  Frank nodded impressed. “Good thinking Hal. I’ll get to work on that right away.”

  “You don’t have an old copy of your standard statement lying around?”

  Frank shook his head. “I don’t need it, I’m a writer I should be able to pop something off. Mark that off your list Dad, I’ll handle it.”

  Joe asked. “You’ll handle the brain flu thing?”

  “Yep. At the town meeting. I’ll prepare a statement. And I’ll handle your return as well.”

  “Ok.” Joe lifted his hands. “We’ll leave it up to Frank. But Dean.” He looked at Roy and Dean. “Get a placebo ready in case.”

  Roy and Dean agreed.

  “Moving onward. We had three things come though the machine. Elvis is secure for now in Containment, Frank? Our Killer Adolescents?”

  “You mean that pubes, call them what they are.”

  “I’m not calling them pubes.” Joe said.

  “That’s the name of their species.”

  “No, that’s the name you gave them, Frank.” Joe argued. “I’m sure in the future they don’t run around saying, ‘we have Killer Pubes.’

  “Actually.” Roy raised his hand slightly. “We do. That is the name of them in the future.”

  “Oh, yeah,” Frank grinned. “I knew that. He told me. I rock.”

  With slightly rolling eyes, Joe reluctantly nodded. “You’re the man and genius.”

  “I . . .” Before he could finish, Hal’s hand whipped over and covered his mouth.

  “Don’t. Do not say it Frank. I mean it.”

  Frank nodded.

  Hal pulled his hand down.

  Frank grinned. “I . . .”

  Whip! Hal covered his mouth again. “I knew you would do that. Please, big brother for just this once. For me, our father. Please. Don’t say it.”

  Frank nodded.

  Slowly Hal removed his hand.

  Frank said nothing.

  Hal smiled. “Continue father.”

  “Getting back to what’s important.” Joe shuffled to the next page.

  Pause.

  “I am.”

  Everyone grunted.

  Frank laughed, Robbie did too.

  “Enough!” Joe yelled. “Frank. What’s the situation on these Killer . . . Pubes?” Joe winced.

  “Ok, well, they’re deadly. Roy here says this is the age they are at their fastest. Unfortunately they are faster than me and the Killer Toddlers. Fortunately, the toddlers outnumber the pubes and they’re kicking their ass.”

  “Can we expect more?” Joe asked.

  “Killer Pubes. Yes, when our Killer Toddlers become Killer Pubes then we’ll have them. Right now, there aren’t enough of them to reproduce like our Killer Toddlers. Which by the way, have you seen the Killer Fetuses?”

  “Not yet.”

  “They’re cute. And, we may be able to stop them from being killer.”

  Joe blinked in disbelief.

  Roy added. “This is true. This is something both Dean and myself are working on. As a Killer Fetus they are not fully developed. What if we intercept the growth with some sort of human DNA sequence?”

  “Can that be done?” Joe asked.

  Dean answered “Theoretically, yes. We’re working on it. We want to take it one step further though, and be able to inject whatever it is into the nest.”

  “Why don’t we kill them?” Joe asked.

  Frank gasped. “You want to kill fetuses?”

  “They’re gonna be deadly Frank.”

  “Actually,” Dean said. “We want to start with Jenny.”

  “You want to kill Jenny?” Frank asked.

  “No!” Dean yelled. “Inject her.”

  “Jenny?” Joe asked. “How do we know she is carrying a LEP?”

  “We don’t.” Dean said. “We will in a few weeks.”

  Robbie finally spoke up. “However, it might not be the only thing she’s carrying. According to Dean and Ellen’s little trip to the future, we are sterile the reason, is a virus a human woman catches from having sex with an LEP. It could be Jenny. She could easily spread it.”

  Frank nodded. “Yeah, let’s face it, if anyone can spread an STD it’s gonna be Jenny. She’s the town slut.”

  Joe cringed then turned to Roy. “Do you know anything about this virus?’

  Roy shook his head. “That is far before my time. However, we can monitor Jenny’s blood and do pap smears to continuously watch. We’ll have to keep an eye out for up to three months postpartum, just in case this virus waits to emerge. We will be able to see a foreign strain in her blood. But to be on the safe said, we should tell her to refrain from having sex.”

  Frank laughed. “Telling Jenny not to have sex is like Telling Moses not to swim.”

  Hal looked at him. “What the hell does that mean?’

  Frank shrugged. “Sounded good.”

  “No it did not.” Hal huffed. “Back to Jenny. She’s going to have to refrain. Tell her why.”

  Joe nodded. “I agree. I’m sure she’ll understand.” He looked at Robbie who snickered. “And what is so funny?”

  “I was just thinking. If she had sex with some creature from the future, who went nine times.”

  “That’s impressive.” Frank added.

  “She’s not gonna have a problem giving up human men. She’s gonna seek this thing out, I’m telling you.”

  “Oh.” Roy said, “Then it will not be a problem if the only partner she has is an LEP.”

  “What?” Joe growled. “She was raped by this thing. Granted, she didn’t know she was raped.”

  Frank lifted his finger. “She never claimed rape. Dean and Andrea did. That’s why Jenny is so willing to help us lure this thing in.”

  “Better do it fast.” Roy stated. “If she is carrying an LEP, and he knows it, he may never let her leave his presence.”

  “This will be interesting.” Dean added. “If she is. Its part LEP and part human. So what will it’s genetic makeup and physical appearance be like. What do you think Roy?”

  Roy shrugged. “I don’t know. A thousand years in the future is far after my time. Danny may know.”

  Danny laughed. “How would I know?”

  Roy winced. “Sorry. I forgot you haven’t written the book yet.”

  “I wrote a book? When do I write it?”

  “About sixty years from now.”

  Danny peeped a shriek. “I live to be a hundred? Holy shit? How do I function?”

  “Very well. You have the body of a man in his sixties and your mind is still smart and fast.”

  “How did that happen?”

  “You are like my father; I invented the machine to keep you rejuvenated. Blood, organs, you name it.”

  “Is my hair gray?” Danny asked.

  “Danny.” Joe grumbled.

  “No, it’s important; I think Asian men look bad with gray hair.”

  “Danny! You’re over a hundred goddamn years old, what do you think?”

  “I think if he rejuvenates my body my hair is part. Is it gray?” He asked of Roy.

  “Yes.”

  “Fuck.”

  “But it looks nice.”

  “
Ok, cool.”

  Joe rubbed his temples. “What difference does it make?”

  “It does to me, Joe. How do I die?”

  Robbie answered. “You got tired of living and shot yourself in the head.”

  Quickly Danny turned his head to Robbie. “What?”

  “Yeah, little post author note from some other dude named Jack at the end of the book.”

  “You read the book?” Danny asked.

  “Little brother?” Hal joined in. “You weren’t supposed to read the book.”

  “I jumped to the end.” Robbie shrugged.

  Roy stood, maybe a little agitated. “While you tell tales about the end of Danny’s life. You should not have read the book.”

  “Easy.” Robbie laughed and held out his hands. “I’m lying; I didn’t even open the book.”

  “Then how do you know about Jack?” Roy asked.

  “There’s a guy named Jack in the book. Sweet. I’m psychic. I just made that up.”

  “Who’s Jack?” Danny asked. “Why are we wasting time? Why don’t we read the book?”

  “Cannot read the book.” Roy stated. “I came through and it is one of the things I brought from the future to show as evidence that Frank has to make the decision at the onset of the Great War.”

  “What’s in the book that can change anything?” Danny questioned.

  “Everything. It is like a history book,” Roy stated. “It is the entire history of the wars. One part is how you and Billy go into the future to see a world that is like Frank calls, Planet of the Apes. Only with LEPs. Plus, you detail the Great War and what will happen.”

  “So why not read it?” Danny questioned further.

  Jason decided to explain. “Because one thing, Danny, one thing can ricochet and change and ripple time. We must make changes without the knowledge of what we are changing. If you read the book, see that this happens, and plan on something else, we might make things worse. All we know now is Frank needs to make a decision. He has no foreknowledge of what occurs; therefore he can’t preplan a decision.”

  “How do we know what Frank decides to do will work?” Danny asked.

  Jason shrugged. “We don’t. We can sneak into the future to take a peak. We already know we’re on the right track because Beginnings returned in that one trip. So we keep going.”

  Frank stood. “The future LEP came through after you guys went and did a sneak peek? Right?”

  “Yes,” Jason answered.

  “Fuck.” Frank said with a twitch of his head. He ran his hand down his face hard.

  “What?” Joe asked. “What are you thinking?”

  “Dad. We may be changing this world for a better Beginnings, but we aren’t doing jack shit for the future.”

  “How do you figure, Frank? If Beginnings is here. And intact, we are doing for our future.”

  “Our future. Yes. But we aren’t seeing beyond the limit of our life.”

  Hal blinked several times. “That was very poetic big brother. Very insightful.”

  “I’m the insightful guy.” Frank stood, hands on hips. “What we’re doing is for the here and now, our kids, grandkids, but not much further. We need to go to the future to see what we’re up against.”

  Jason shook his head. “Again, Frank, we can’t influence.”

  “This is different. Hear me out. Go to the future. Not to interfere, but just to see. I want to see how far advanced they are in a thousand years. We may be working on the Great War, but we’re fucking up the world. The advanced LEPs were in the future Danny went to, when there was the Great War fucked up by my dad. No offense dad.”

  Joe shook his head. “None taken.”

  “We’re taking care of the Great War thing.” Frank explained. “That little sneak peek thing showed us that. But the advanced LEPs are still ruling the world, a thousand years in the future. Which tells me . . .”

  Hal wisped out. “The Great War has nothing to do with the LEP.”

  “Exactly.” Frank pointed. “It is something, here, now, soon, that we do that causes it or at least starts it.” He turned to Roy. “Can you at least tell me if I’m correct?”

  Roy nodded. “You and Danny, yes.”

  Danny squealed. “Oh my God. We do this?’

  “Inadvertently.”

  Robbie formed a ‘T’ with his hands. “Stop. Stop. Wouldn’t Frank and Danny now knowing that there is a future with LEPs ruling the world. Wouldn’t that make them think twice now about decisions they make in the future that could cause it?”

  Roy looked in debate.

  “Do you know what they did?” Robbie asked.

  “Yes.”

  “When they made the decision, did they have the knowledge then about the LEPs ruling the world?” Robbie questioned.

  “I don’t believe so, no.”

  “If they had the knowledge would they have made the decision they made?’

  “No.”

  “Problem solved.” Robbie lifted his hands. “They now have the knowledge, therefore they won’t make the decision.”

  Hal faced Jason. “I’m not the time expert, but it sounds plausible to me.”

  Jason agreed. “It does sound plausible.”

  Frank shook his head. “We still have to go. My gut is saying no. It’s still there.”

  Danny argued. “But Frank, you may, but I certainly will not make any decisions about LEPs, especially knowing what we do know.”

  “I think it’s out of our hands. I think things changed.” Frank explained.

  Dean stood in argument. “No, no, no. It won’t because you won’t change. In the Aragon window future, the LEP were out of control because you refused to kill them when they were toddlers and they grew and expanded, causing you to create special task force teams to take them out.” Dean paused, drew silent and sat. He turned to his clone. “You may not be able to tell about the future, but I certainly can.”

  Smug, Roy retorted. “Yes, but LEP on this century, of the Aragon window time frame and for as far as I know, do not wander, they are territorial. They do not leave their realm; therefore to be country wide, another act is done. So there.”

  Dean shook his head.

  It was Joe’s turn to speak. “Dean maybe right, Roy may be right, Robbie too. But I am starting to agree with Frank. Take a look a thousand years into the future. Just to see.” He turned to Frank. “You really think the world is still over run.”

  “Absolutely,” Frank said assuredly. “This thing came a thousand years from the future. It brought technology. Technology it created. If they are the advanced civilization with weapons and communication devices, how long have they been creating them? A few hundred years. Which tells me they advanced within their own civilization to the point they worked to make life simpler. It’s started already. Before this meeting. It’s the chicken and the egg effect of Planet of the Apes. We’re in movie three, time to do what they didn’t.”

  The faces in the room went from listening to dumbfounded.

  Joe smacked his lips together, held out his hand some, and spoke calm. “You had us Frank, made perfect sense until the Planet of the Apes thing. There is that point, I have to say, I was thinking, Frank is being Frank.”

  “I understand,” Robbie said.

  “No you don’t.” Joe replied.

  “Can I explain?” Frank spoke up.

  Everyone said no.

  “Well, I am. I mean I will.” Frank clarified. “Then after I’m done, everyone is going to be like. Fuck. He’s right. Fuck. Charlton Heston is a fucking psychic.”

  Hal asked. “What does Charlton Heston have to do with it?”

  “He was in Planet of the Apes.”

  “He didn’t write it.”

  “Ok.” Frank nodded.

  “He starred in it.”

  “OK, wrote, starred, same difference.”

  “No it is not the same difference.”

  “It’s still Charlton Heston.”

  “So what!”

 
; Frank gasped dramatically. “You Blaspheme. He is the apocalyptic world guru.”

  “Frank!” Joe blasted. “Tell your goddamn story!”

  “I’m trying! But Hal keeps correcting me.”

  “Tell it.”

  “Fine. Ok.” Frank touched his temple. “Listen to my whole story and pay attention as I go through this.”

  Joe waved his hand in ‘move it along’ fashion.

  “Planet of the Apes may be sci fi but we can still learn from it. It’s really not a chicken and the egg thing in this situation because man created LEP and man came first, but like in Planet of the Apes, the movies, it’s a fuckin vicious cycle that could have easily be avoided had someone had the balls. We will have the balls.”

  Joe groaned. “Frank, please.”

  “Ok. Well, in the first movie. Chuck lands on earth. He kinda knows it’s earth but doesn’t say anything. It’s three thousand years in the future, earth has changed, it’s not as packed. So he’s wandering right, and he discovers the planet is taken over by apes. Not just normal chimps, but walking, talking gun carrying thinking things. You gotta imagine Chuck’s thinking, ‘What the fuck, talking apes?’ And they are smart. Smart enough to put man back at the bottom of the rung. Chuck discovers that Man was there first, it’s New York, something happened and apes now rule the world.”

  “We know this Frank.” Joe said. “You’re point.”

  “I’m getting to it. Movie two.”

  Everyone groaned.

  “They send a Chuck Heston wanna be to rescue him, thus giving us the viewer some answers. The world was nuked. But how, why? We know it was recent. Recent as in the time Francisco went to the future to get Chuck. So, why did man destroy himself? Who was he fighting? The movie leaves us wondering if ape was the only surviving creature. Which very well could have been the case?”

  “That’s what I thought,” Joe said. “Then came movie three.”

  “Exactly. Doomsday bomb about to go off, three intelligent apes escape, go through time, go back in time land now. Or now which was then.” Frank’s hand moved about as he talked. “The world’s amazed, wow, talking apes. But there’s some guy, a scientist, thinking, ‘This isn’t fucking right’, Cornelius tells about how the world is in the future. If I would have heard that I would have been thinking then, just as I am now.”

  Joe nodded. “When they were on trial, the scientist was like; we have to stop this from happening.”