CONNECTED TIME

Chapter 5 -When are we?

      “Okay Terrence. That's close enough.”
      “But how can I view the data? I need to be closer to the laptop screen.”
      Michelle looked at Jacob with a steady eye, “It's okay Jacob. Let him come closer. He does have handcuffs on.”
      “Alright, go ahead, but I want to be in on your conversations, even if I don't understand everything you say.”
      Terrence sighed heavily.
      “What was that for?”
      “It's just... you're going to get in our way. It will be hard enough to explain all this to her.”
      “She has a name, Terrence.”
      “I know, it's Michelle. You don't understand… this is hard for leading scientists of our time to understand. Michelle is not a leading scientist in the field. If she were, I would know her. So, you'll have to excuse me for being frustrated.”
      Michelle looked at Terrence and smiled, “That's okay Terrence, I’m a quick learner. I'll really try hard to keep up with you.”
      “A quick learner?” He sighed again. “That's it? You'll need to be more than that.”
      “Well, I'm sorry I'm not a genius like you, but I'm all you've got right now. So, let's make the best of it, okay?”
      “Okay, but just know that this is... difficult for me. I don't like to work with others.”
      Jacob couldn't stand it anymore, so he grabbed Terrence from behind by his shoulders he pushed him to the front of the room,           “Difficult? Terrence, look out this window and down at the deck. Tell me, what do you see?”
      “Lots of dead bodies covered with white sheets.”
      “146 to be exact. If you want to know what difficult is,” Jacob pushed Terrence's face against the cool glass, “take a good look. You're not the only one having difficulties.”
      After a few seconds passed, Michelle broke the silence, “Ahem, you guys. We have work to do. The sooner we start, the better.”
Jacob brought Terrence over to Michelle. “He's all yours.”
      She turned to him, “Can I ask a favor?”
      “Of course.”
      “Can you please cuff his arms from the front? He will need to use his hands to point things out to me…”
      “Sure… Hey Jerome, can you help me out with this?”
      “I already have the key in my hand…”
      After Terrence stood before her with his hands cuffed in the front, with his face all cut up and badly bruised. She looked at Jacob and said, “I think Jacob would like to ask you the first two questions.”
      “Huh? I do? Um, oh yeah. The first is, where are we?”
      “Right now we are off the coast of that land formation right there.”
      “We know that you jerk, but what is this land formation.”
      “You seriously want me to define what a land formation is?”
      “Terrence, when we started, we were somewhere off the coast of Alaska.”
      “Designations such as Alaska have no relevance here.”
      “So, where on planet earth are we?”
      “If it helps, we're relatively at the same coordinates that we were before. It's just that the land above the ocean is in different places. This land I believe may be the supercontinent called Pangaea.”
      “You don't seem too sure about that.
      “That's right.”
      “Oh boy... Okay, I guess I can accept that.”
      “My second question is, when are we?”
      “That question, I can't answer exactly either.”
      “That, is not good Terrence. Why?”
      “For the reason that our way of calculating the dates of the past is not reliable. All dating procedures are educated guesses at best. It’s not an exact science. There are too many outside influences that skew the results. All I can tell you, is that we are somewhere in the… distant past.”
      “Those answers are unbelievably and unacceptably vague. Terrence, I gotta say, before I asked these questions, I was hopeful of getting back to where we belong. Now though, I'm not so sure. Thanks. Over to you Michelle.”
      She smiled, “That was a lot more than two questions, but I suppose there were two main ones. My question is, how do we get back to where and when we were?”
      “That's why I'm here Michelle. I can't promise you we'll get back, but I will cooperate and try to create the conditions to make that happen.”
      “I guess we can't expect more than that.”
      “Okay, now let me explain some of this data to you...

***

      Staff Captain Earl Grant gazed upon all the white sheets. Then he looked down at his shiny shoes as his eyes filled with water. It wasn't the white sheets and the bodies beneath them that caused this great feeling of sadness inside him. It was the survivors surrounding their now dead loved ones. Wives, husbands, children, boyfriends, girlfriends and friends. So much weeping, it was unbearable to him. He desperately wanted to help these people. However, there was nothing he could do, other than offer a few consoling words of sympathy. All this also made him angry, very angry. He felt like going to the bridge and wrapping his big hands around Terrence Mosher's throat...
      "Sir."
      "Yes Jose, what's on your mind?"
      "I know all these people should be allowed to say farewell to those that they have lost, but what should we do with the bodies? If they are left too long, the smell of the decay process will soon be overpowering. That is not a memory we want any of these people to have when they remember those they have lost. I think that we should arrange a memorial service and burial for them soon."
      "Yes, you're right Mr. Fuentes. Schedule the memorial for 14:00 this afternoon. Take three Lifeboat Tenders. Use one for the bodies and the other two for family, friends and whoever else I decide should go. I would appreciate your input on that last one. Think about it and let me know. Meanwhile, I'll check on our scientists and the police detective."
      "Aye sir."
      As he walked away, he wondered what he would say at the memorial.
His heart felt like it weighed 50 pounds. That, plus the weight of all the responsibility on his shoulders was too much for his big heart to take. Everyone was now looking to him for the way out of this mess. So, before he went to the bridge, he decided to go to his quarters, just for a half hour. To contemplate what he would do. The decisions from now on, would be crucial to hopefully getting back home. He wouldn't allow his emotions to get in the way. Not now. Not ever.