The Best of Both
Lives, a story written by Tarana and me. :D
You can find the first chapter
of our story, here.
The second chapter of our
story, here.
And the third chapter of our
story, here.
The Best of both Lives
Chapter 4: Suspicious Minds
Greg and Liam felt a little
uncertain about John and the way he has been behaving. They felt that something
wasn’t quite right with him. That morning, was being a quiet one; Greg was
silently reading the paper, not talking at all about last night; Liam was
standing by the device, looking at it intently, while reading a book he hoped
it would help with the research.
John came into the room and
noticed the shift in the air. It was not like the way it was before, everything
changed; everyone was silent and did not talk. John walked over to where Liam
was and looked at the device. The more they both looked at it, silently, the
more it felt awkward for the both of them.
“I’m going to go and make some
coffee,” John said glumly and walked out of the room. Liam looked at Greg; they
both exchanged looks and nodded towards the front door.
“John, Liam and I are heading
to the university earlier; we have a few things we need to do.” Greg said.
“Yeah that’s fine. I’ll chat
to you guys later,” John replied although he felt upset knowing full well that
the guys actually didn’t have anything to do at the university; they were
avoiding him and they were sending him a clear message of that.
John decided that he had to do
something. He absolutely needed to figure out what was happening to him and
fast. He walked to the table, where they had spread the documents with the
embedded writing, and he started looking at it once again, as if he would be
passing an UV lamp over it. The embedded writing, that couldn’t be visible to
the naked eye, was in front of him.
“John, the time has come, we
need you to return,” he read.
“What the...” He said out
loud, although there was no one around to hear him.
John, instinctively, grabbed
the device and entered a code. Suddenly a whooshed sound was heard, followed by
a very bright light. When John opened his eyes, he was no longer in their
apartment.
“Welcome home.” A smiling face
greeted him.
John was feeling a little bit
confused and disorientated, but at the same time, the surroundings seemed
somewhat familiar. “Taylor?” Her name escaped his lips.
“That’s right!” The woman’
smile broadened. “It worked.”
How did he know her name? A
chill ran through his body, opening up a flood of emotions, and in a blink of
an eye, he remembered everything.
“Elizabeth!”
“The kids made contact with
her.” Taylor reported.
***
Taylor handed John the reports
they had gathered during his absence. She looked up at him feeling concerned.
“Are you sure you don’t want
to take a break? I mean you just travelled through time, and we practically
used the most advanced technology we have to wipe your memory and even though
you managed to break down that barrier instantly.”
“No I’m fine; I had a bit of
an headache for a moment but as soon as I remembered Elizabeth and the kids,
the pain went away; I seem to have no pain at all now. I’m just worried about
them and all I can think about right now is how to save them.” John said
feeling completely determined and looking intently at the reports. Taylor
smiled, impressed at the strong bond between John and his family. This
extraordinary individual has just gotten even more extraordinary. “Elizabeth’s
firewall seems to be quite exhausting for the kids. I fear they might soon find
themselves too mentally drained and as a result they won’t be able to hold
their position for much longer; we need to get a move on. The Sarusans have no
idea that I’m back, do they?”
“No, I think now will be our
best chance to get to their planet and rescue Elizabeth and the twins.” Taylor
responded.
“Excellent, send the incognito
alert to Lizzy and James letting them know that we’re on our way. Make certain
that it’s discreet and that no one else has any knowledge of it; this is
absolutely vital to our plans.” John instructed Taylor and the team, he wanted
to make sure that the twins would get the alert.
They waited patiently for a
response. Two minutes later, an alert message arrived. It was from James:
PLEASE
HURRY NOT MUCH TIME, ENEMY IS VERY ALERT!
This was the answer they were
waiting for; they needed to know if they were still alive and still able to
make contact. John and the rest of the team immediately started with the
preparations that would take them to Sarusa.
John entered the office that
was both his and Elizabeth. He set his eyes on the few holograms on the left
that portrayed several moments spent with his family. “Happy memories,” he
thought.
“I’m sorry to interrupt.”
Taylor said entering the room.
“No, come in.” John motioned
for her to a seat opposite to him. “I was actually going to call you.”
“I’m guessing you want to
discuss our next strategy.”
John nodded. “I want you to
assemble a team and I would like you to lead them on a small trip back to
Earth.”
“What’s the mission?”
“I want you to bring my
Earthling friends here. They might be able to help us infiltrate Sarusa.”
***
A few hours later, Liam and
Greg were still trying to figure out how exactly they had moved to that strange
world once again. The only thing they knew so far was that John had disappeared,
as well as the device they were studying. So how in the world could they have
gotten back to that place again?
They were looking around at
their surroundings when someone entered the room they were in.
“How are you feeling?” The
woman asked.
“Fi... Fine.” Liam stuttered.
“You know our language?” Greg
said a little bit astonished.
Taylor nodded. “Would you
please follow me?”
They did as asked and after
walking by a few hallways, they entered in, what seemed to be, a conference
room. Taylor left them there.
“Well, if they were going to
hurt us, they would have done it by now, right?” Liam asked a little bit
apprehensive.
“No one is going to hurt you.”
They heard someone say, someone that sounded like,
“John!” They both said at the
same time.
John entered the room and once
he did that, the scenario around them completely changed. It seemed like if
they were inside a fish tank, like if they were the fishes and they were seeing
other people walking around them from inside the tank. “This will give us some privacy.”
“You think?” Greg said.
“I forgot you guys aren’t used
to this. I mean, well, we’re inside a cloaked room, we can see what’s happening
outside, but they can’t see us.” The scenario changed once more. They seemed to
be on a beach now; nothing but sea and sand in front of them.
“How do you do that?” Liam
asked.
“I’m projecting my thoughts
into the room.” John laughed. “You will understand everything in a bit, if you
will just let me explain it to you.”
“Would you like to drink
something?” A young lady asked, coming apparently from nowhere.
“Wow!” Greg was beaming.
They didn’t have to say
anything and suddenly, and once again out of nowhere, their favourite drinks
were being served.
John laughed at their
expressions that had a mix of confusion but of amazement as well. He then turned serious, memories of Elizabeth
and his kids flashing into his mind.
“These are Elizabeth, Lizzy
and James.” A hologram with their images could now be seen in front of them.
“Who are they?” Greg took a
sip of his drink.
“My wife and kids,” Liam
almost choked on his drink, after hearing John’s revelation.
“They are being held on
another planet and I need your help to save them.”
John paused for a few moments
to allow his friends to digest what he just had told them.
“How’s that possible? Who are
you after all?” Liam asked suspiciously.
“Well, it’s bit of a long
story, so what about if I just start from the beginning?” John smiled.
The scenery around them
changed once again. In front of them was the Universe, like if they were seeing
it from inside a space ship, or then like if they were adrift in space.
“Wow, this is cool!” Greg was
all excited.
“I’m glad you like it.” John
said. “Here is Sarusa.” He pointed to a planet. “Sarusa, many millennia ago,
was my Ancestors’ home planet.”
“Okay.” Liam said crossing his
arms in front of him. “Greg, can you believe this?” He was sounding
incredulous.
“We’re here on... where are we
exactly?” Greg asked.
“You’re in Sittlan.” John said
pointing at another planet. “But if you allow me to explain.”
“Explain? We’ve been kidnapped
from our own planet.” Liam was feeling restless.
“Liam, let us hear what John
has to say first, before jumping to hasty conclusions, okay?” Greg tried to
calm Liam down.
Liam and Greg fell quiet, the
scenery around them changed to the calmer view of the beach. They knew right
away, it was John projecting his thoughts again of the time they spent together
at the beach.
“Okay, so as you are aware
Sarusa used to be my Ancestors’ home planet, now due to many conflictions with
the Sarusans it’s become difficult to work with them, so my Ancestors departed
from Sarusa and settled on this uninhabited planet that is now Sittlan. We’ve
tried to make peace with them many times but each time they refused to listen
to what we have to say.” John watched his friends; he can tell this was
overwhelming for them. “Why don’t we take a little break?” John suggested.
“No. I want to hear what you
have to say.” Liam said, he felt that he was being punched with multiple
revelations and he needed to face them right now whether he liked it or not.
Liam could notice that John definitely knew this was overwhelming for them.
However, he did not want to give him the benefit of the doubt just yet.
John stared at Liam, this
wasn’t going to be easy that much he knew, but he needed to be honest with them
no matter what.
“Very well I’ll continue,”
John said and continued with the story. “Sittlan is a planet that has many high
tech features and facilities, it’s how I was able to develop myself and be able
to do what you see before you.” The scenery around them changed, this time it
was of a planet with many civilians going about their day. It looked like Earth
but people were hovering, and there was a lot of communication with
transmitters and holograms everywhere. “As you can see, Sittlan is just like
your planet Earth, we’re pretty much the same with a few alterations here and
there.” Greg looked fascinated by this new found lifestyle.
“Wow!” Greg said excitedly, he
was not expecting half of the things that were happening, but it looked
incredible and beyond their imagination.
“My Ancestors developed this
planet in what it became today and I’m still working on developing and
improving it more with the help of my team.” The scenery changed again to a
more basic and simple room, much like the flat they were sharing back on Earth.
“However,” John fell quiet; he started to remember Elizabeth and his kids. “My
wife, Elizabeth, has been kidnapped by the Governor of Sarusa.” Both Liam and
Greg gasped in shock at the revelation, “They’ve wiped out her memories of me
and our kids, Lizzy and James. We’ve tried many things to bring them back but
nothing worked. Right now, my kids are trying to break into her firewall; but I
actually don’t know how long they will be able to last before being discovered.
My mission was to find people on Earth that would be able to help me. That’s
why I went to Earth.”
“But how did you come to the
conclusion that it was us?” Liam questioned.
“That’s because when I was
sent there I was programmed to collide with two beings that would have the most
extraordinary minds of that world. You two happened to fit in that equation and
that’s why I was able to find you.” John said feeling really helpless and
hopeful at the same time. “I know it’s kind of farfetched, but that device we
found was created using some of our best technology here. You two, although not
being able to understand it fully, were able to understand most of its
functions in just a few moments. I just need you to believe-“
“No way!” Liam said, feeling a
little hurt and used, “how can we? John, you don’t seem to understand
something, we were your friends, yet you kidnapped us from our own homes and
brought us here, and then you want us to help you?”
“Look, I’m sorry for the harsh
measures I took but it was necessary.” John tried to explain.
“No John, it wasn’t. We were
your friends you don’t do that to friends.” Liam repeated.
“That’s true,” Greg said, “I
mean, how do we even know if you’re telling the truth? You basically did
exactly what this governor person did to your wife.” John fell silent. What
they were saying was true and it hurt him a lot. But he needed to get them on
board.
“Greg, I would never lie to
you.”
“If this is true, why haven’t
you told us anything about it before? You should have been able to, you had
many chances, and I mean we practically hung out every day working on so many
projects.” Liam said feeling hurt. John took another pause.
“Ok,” he said after a moment,
“how about this. I will let you go, but before you go, I will like for you both
to watch something. It’s going to show you if I’m lying or not. After this I
want you to decide on your own.”
***
John showed them the footage
of everything up until this point. It was like John was a camera and everything
was recorded, right from how he met Elizabeth, and his happy life with her and
their kids, to the point of her being kidnapped; of John being sent to Earth
and how his memories were erased so he wouldn’t be traced.
Liam and Greg both looked at
the footage, still feeling doubtful.
“I’ll leave things with you
guys here and I’ll send you back to Earth. After one week on Earth time, I will
bring you back here. You can tell me your decisions then. How is that?” John
asked. Both the guys nodded.
End of Chapter 4.
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