When the ginger-haired beauty showed up on Jim’s doorstep that evening in the spring of 2014, he couldn’t believe his eyes.
“I was beginning to think I’d imagined the whole thing – that I’d dreamed you,” he said, pushing open the creaky screen door and inviting her in.
They embraced, and he immediately asked, “What’s the deal? You look exactly the same. Did they not put you back in your own time?”
“Oh, they did,” said Anna, taking a seat on the faded brown leather couch. She wore a pair of pale blue jeans and a turquoise mock turtleneck. “It’s just that – well – it seems one of the ‘consequences’ of our little excursion has been that I no longer age.”
“What?”
“You’ve only been back for a few months,” she said. “You’ll probably haven’t noticed it yet, but the same thing will be the case for you. It was for Austin. And the others.”
“You’ve talked to Austin?” said Jim. “Where is he?”
“He’s back at headquarters.”
“Headquarters? What are you talking about?”
“There’s a lot to explain, Jim. Basically, you’re the next to last one of us. Only Greg, who will be returned to his native time – abduction date December 2, 2022 – has yet to be recovered. The rest of us, we’ve united. Well, sort of.”
“Okay, slow down. Explain to me like I’m just a dumb foot doctor.” Jim took a sip of his ice water and placed it on the cork coaster on his end table.
“There were fifteen of us taken. As each of us has discovered that we don’t age, we’ve sought out the others. We got organized. Six of us have formed a group. We each have other – strengths – we didn’t have before the abduction. We don’t know if it’s the result of being transported across time and space, or if it was a deliberate gift from the Yoo-Mynh. But the other seven – they also have strengths – only they have chosen a different path.” She looked away, a disgusted expression on her face. “They’ve chosen darkness and self-gratification.”
Jim sat there and said nothing, slumping a little in his chair.
“Our leader is Brant – the man abducted from 1887. He’s the oldest and wisest. I’m second in command, because when the Yoo-Mynh joined with me, they left me with the most ‘strengths’ of any of us. I can do things that no one else can.”
“And what is it you want to do now, exactly, Anna?”
“Jim, I’m here to recruit you. And in eight years, when Greg’s time comes, we’ll recruit him. In the meantime, we have a major battle on our hands. The six – they call themselves the Red Death - they’ve been wreaking havoc on the world. They do it anonymously, but we know it’s them.”
“Like what – what have they done?” asked Jim incredulously.
“Uh, let’s see,” said Anna. “Remember these events? Stock market crash of 1929? Pearl Harbor? Apollo 1 – the fire that killed three astronauts? World Trade Center bombing in 1993? Dot-com bubble burst? September 11, 2001? Any of those ring a bell?”
“Oh, come on!” said Jim. “You expect me to believe all those events were caused by some conspiracy of evil alien abductees with superpowers? Next thing you’ll tell me they made my wife leave me.”
“Actually, that was me.”
Jim’s glass slipped through his fingers and hit the floor, spilling over.
“I’m just kidding, Jim,” said Anna. “But not about the Red Death. They’re real. And we need you to join us. Are you in?”
Jim thought back to how Anna had “nominated” him to lead the group when they were stranded a gazillion miles from Earth. He considered how people had thought him crazy when he’d first returned and told his story, and how he’d eventually stopped talking about it and moved to a new town. He recalled how beautiful Anna had looked when he’d first met her, and how good she looked now.