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I wasn’t quite sure I understood all the ramifications from what Tarum was telling me. To be more blunt, I knew I didn’t understand all the complications. So I buzzed Cajun and said I needed her. A few minutes later she knocked and walked in, smiling the beautiful French-Asian smile. I hated to have to change that smile into a frown...
“Know anything about time?” I asked.
“I know it’s creeping up on me, as it is on all of us.”
I had Tarum repeat his story. Cajun, by the millimetric lifting of her eyebrows and the slight twitch of her lips, appeared more fascinated by his story than annoyed. I was more annoyed.
“Tarum, before this happened, did your race go through time? Have members of your race gone into the past before your planet was invaded?” Cajun asked.
“Yes, a selected few. Historians, scientists, a few writers. No one without a legitimate reason for traveling to the past was allowed to do so. We knew the danger. We had no official police on the planet. We didn’t need any. But we created a special security service to make sure the timeline would not be disrupted. They proved efficient and effective.”
“Tarum, when you left the past to return here, what was the status of your race and the status of the Soltarians?”
“Good question. I should have asked that,” I said.
“What is left of my race is scattered on the planet. There are a few pockets of Cappnids on the southern hemisphere. The Soltarians seemed content to leave us there. As they populate the planet it’s only a matter of time for us. Right now they’re engaged in more important matters than hunting down the last of my race.”
“But if they had taken over the planet and launched into space, our time would be different. Everything would change, which it hasn’t, at least for now.”
“A time paradox that, at the present, I cannot explain. It may be because we have manipulated time we ourselves are, for a while, standing outside the time stream. But I doubt that will last long. We must act quickly.”
Cajun still looked fascinated, but I grew more annoyed. “That ‘we’ is not all-inclusive, Tarum. You mean Ryvenbark’s Raiders must act quickly.”
He nodded. “If you do not want your race and the galaxy as you knew it destroyed, you must return with me to the past and annihilate our enemies. Only then will the past and the future be safe.”
A long silence followed.
It was broken by Cajun.
“I think he’s right, Logan. We need to go back in time and defeat the Soltarians before the timeline can be altered. We don’t know how much time we have, but I’d guess the sooner we go, the better.”
“And how do we return to our time?”
“I can help you with that,” Tarum said. “I can devise a time belt that each of you will wear. I will show you how to work it. It will bring you back to the present time.”
“Come to think of it, we don’t have to go. Couldn’t we just send a vial of the toxin back? Release it in the atmosphere and our problem is solved.”
“Unfortunately, that is not possible. Our scientists released our complete supply of the toxin. There is no more.”
“Well, shucks,” I said.
“You’re saying that a lot lately, major,” Cajun said.
She gave me a playful slap on the shoulder. “You do have a way with words. I couldn’t have said it better myself.”
“Yea.”
She looked at me. “Seriously, major, I suggest we begin packing. We have a long way to go.”