chapter 61
YEAR: 2097
Mitch looked out the open bay door of B Hangar at the people seated in an array of white folding chairs. He estimated that at least another fifty people stood at the rear, with cameras, he frowned, like media… Mitch sidled over to the PR director who stood among the media.
“Ally, what is all of this? I thought this was a closed ceremony?” whispered Mitch, leaning toward her. It had been unanimously decided that the details of the operation would never go public. Announcing to the world that a large government organization had released thousands of maniacal robots intent on world domination would undoubtedly tarnish the country’s reputation, whether it happened in an alternate time or not.
Allison smiled at him innocently. “They’re here for the ceremony.”
“How do they know about the op?”
“They don’t. They just know there was an op. All they know is that a brave group of people have just returned from a dangerous, six-month op and that they’re all heroes.”
Only a small number of attendees were expected at the ceremony, mostly families of the team members as well as several top NRD officials who insisted on attending after being read in on their mission. Mitch had brought the highest ranking officials at the NRD up to speed with the details of what time had written out of society’s collective consciousness. He shared with them the contents of the metal box he had carried with him when he sent himself back those two seconds in time. The box contained all of the data, pictures and videos as proof of what they had been dealing with. Convincing the sceptical board members and executives had been difficult at first, but after they saw videos of themselves telling their story, they quickly came around. As only Mitch and the three teams had gone back in time, only they remembered what life had been like before the timeshift. The lives of everyone else on the planet had been rewritten, leaving them blissfully unaware of the havoc the robots had wreaked.
The unusually warm September sun beat down on the captive audience as they listened to Mitch. Generally a man of few words, he had much to say on this occasion about the virtue of the team members, their efforts and their unselfish sacrifice.
Cameras flashed as Mitch talked and Riley looked around. “I’m surprised by how much media is here,” she whispered discreetly into Owen’s ear. She saw her grandfather a few rows back and smiled. Beyond him, she saw a woman and two kids, a little girl she guessed to be around four or five and a toddler. The little girl fidgeted and her mother looked haggard. “I wonder who that is? She’s obviously not press.”
Owen turned to see the woman about whom she spoke and shrugged. The pair refocused their attention back to Mitch.
“Without further ado, I’d like to introduce each member to you. Lexi Grant: In addition to being dedicated and hard-working, her keen and analytical eye led to the discovery of an intruder during the operation.” Lexi walked to the podium and shook Mitch’s hand. He pinned a medal on her dark grey dress uniform and the crowd applauded politely. Her eyes looked like she had been crying, but she smiled appreciatively and returned to her seat.
“Ben Taylor kept all of the equipment working in top-notch condition and worked through the pain of injuries sustained on the job.” Ben, confined to a medical-grade hover chair, negotiated the chair toward the podium. Mitch met him part way and pinned a medal on his jacket.
“Darren Roy,” started Mitch, but he was interrupted by applause and catcalls from his teammates. “Darren Roy kept his teams fed, and I can only assume from that round of applause he did a bang-up job.” Mitch pinned the medal on Darren’s uniform.
“Maya Navaros not only ran an impeccably tight ship as the Sitespace Manager for six months but juggled those onerous duties with those of a medical aide. Her quick thinking kept her teammates in one piece, and one of them is here today only because of her.”
“Tyler Davis’s experience and versatility enabled him to take over a very technical position part way through the project. In addition, his forethought and quick thinking saved the life of one of our leads. We are deeply indebted to his heroic actions.” Tyler blushed.
“Clint Nelson kept the operation interesting from what I understand.” The team chuckled. “His excavation experience proved invaluable and his quick thinking after a rock collapse ensured that all of his team members lived to tell the tale.” Clint accepted his medal and smiled sheepishly at his teammates.
“Finn McLaren,” Mitch looked thoughtful for a moment. “Finn kept the team amused on this operation, and I think that might be putting it lightly. Anyone who has worked with him will tell you that his love for life and practical jokes are a close second to his true love, which is his job.” Finn stepped forward and Mitch affixed the medal to his jacket. He shook Mitch’s hand and turned to walk away, but Mitch held a firm grip. “Today is also special for Finn as his performance during this mission levelled him up to level three. He will now be able to run his own Level C Ops.”
Finn smiled and pointed at Riley with surprise as Mitch pinned a second medal on his jacket. She smiled back and gave him a thumbs up.
“Logan Grayson was an asset to his team, picking up the slack for his team members when they needed help. Without his support, his team would not have been able to accomplish what they’d set out to do.”
Logan leaned over to Spencer. “What he really means is our Golden Boy would have starved to death if I hadn’t been your errand monkey.” He smiled as he rolled his eyes, stood and walked up.
“Asher Grayson also proved to be a phenomenal support system for his team, and, in the process, devised a new technology that changed how the world looks at robots—or more appropriately, how robots look at the world.”
From the back, a woman’s voice cut through the applause. “Mr. Grayson, can you comment on how you think the deployment of your latest product, EagleEye, the optics system that can identify an individual from ten city blocks away based solely on the person’s facial features, will fare on the market?”
“Asher, is it true that the federal government has commissioned a special order of EagleEye robots specifically for the national police force? Is it true they’re putting twenty-five in each jurisdiction?” asked a male voice from the back.
A man stood up in the crowd. “Any questions for Asher can be answered by me after the ceremony,” said the man who, as Asher had been shocked to learn, was his business partner. Asher, taken aback by the unexpected attention, completely missed Mitch pinning the medal on him until Mitch took his hand to shake it.
“Spencer Grayson is one of the brightest stars at NRD. Under his leadership, the team accomplished a nearly impossible goal with what turned out to be a far more slippery adversary than any of us had ever expected. In the end, his hard work paid off and the goal his team achieved has made the world we live in a much, much safer place. Spencer temporarily jumped two levels during this operation, owing to the unforeseen accident of a co-worker. We plan to keep Spencer at this level, making him the youngest level six the NRD has ever seen. In addition to this medal of honour, I’d like to present you with something else.”
Mitch pinned the Op Achievement medal plus two Level Advancement medals on Spencer’s shirt and handed him an envelope. “As Spencer is about to become a father, I think that this gift would be the most precious of all. Congratulations.”
Spencer returned to his seat and opened the envelope.
Spencer,
As a token of appreciation for your dedication to Operation TimeShift and the countless hours you put in prior to the operation, we hope that you will accept this bonus cheque and an additional two months of well-earned vacation.
Kindest regards,
Mitch Campbell and the rest of the NRD Executives
“None of you know Owen Taylor. You could say he’s pretty new in town, and I dare say he’ll be spending a bit of time here. He’s travelled a long, long time to get here. Without his knowledge, resourcefulness, bravery and selflessness, it’s likely that
none of us would be here today.”
The audience clapped as Owen walked to the podium and Mitch placed his hand over the microphone. “This is your new life. There’s also something in there I found when I was getting you set up. Looks like you’re already a landowner.” He slid a large manila envelope into Owen’s hands. “Have you thought about my offer? Full benefits, Level Six AstroGeology Consultant?”
Owen looked down at Riley clapping along with the audience, “Absolutely. There’s nothing I’d like more.” He smiled, thanked Mitch and returned to his seat.
“Not many people on this base know Riley Morgan personally, but there probably isn’t a single person who hasn’t heard of her. Her catalogue of accomplishments is longer than I can list. Her strong leadership has led her and her teams on countless successful operations. Her fearlessness, strength and energy know no bounds. She is the only woman I know who can take down a swarm of eleven armed men in less than one minute.” Mitch smiled at her as she walked toward Mitch holding up nine fingers. He pinned a medal on her jacket, completing her third row of medals.
“And finally, there is one last person that I would like to honour here today. Unfortunately, he can’t be here with us. He made the ultimate sacrifice to ensure that his team got home safely.”
As Mitch spoke, Teams One and Two deflated, remembering their grief. Lexi cried softly into Finn’s shoulder.
“Jake Anderson was a level six lead from Mechanical and Infrastructure Recovery. This operation was far different from his typical duties, but he volunteered nonetheless. He was a great leader. He always took the time to help his subordinates learn—to become better at their jobs and grow as people. He was an invaluable asset to the NRD, and we’re going to have a hard time getting on without him. He was an inspiration to…”
Without warning, Jake materialized in front of the podium. Startled by surroundings that were far different from what he was expecting, he stumbled backward, knocking the podium over. Mitch jumped out of the way and the microphone squawked with feedback as the glass podium fell over and smashed on the concrete. The crate that materialized beside him knocked over the flower vases beside the podium and they smashed at the feet of his teammates in the front row.
Jake’s materialization took the audience completely by surprise. Except for the team members, no one present was accustomed to seeing people appear from thin air and several people screamed in shock. His frightful appearance startled everyone. His pants were torn and the gash on his forehead had bled down his face and congealed in his unruly beard as well as on his t-shirt. The expression on his face registered surprise equal to that of the crowd.
“Jake?” Riley was the first of the dumbstruck crowd to speak. “Jake?” she asked again, this time standing, her voice louder, higher. She smiled and the two teams swarmed him like he had scored the winning goal for a championship hockey game. The group laughed and cried, as did Jake, ecstatic to see both his team and 2097. He looked at the audience and he realized he had entered the wrong date. He showed up at 11:00 A.M.—the right time but the wrong day. He saw the media at the back and the cameras flashing and wished he had thought to clean up first. Then his eyes fell on something that made his heart stop. He pulled out of his team’s embrace and stepped toward the crowd. The group turned to see what had caught his attention. A woman in the audience had stood, and was staring at him.
“Jake?” she asked, softly.
Jake remained speechless, his mind doing somersaults, his heart pounding in his ears. Finally, he spoke. “Brit? Omigod, Brit!” Jake ran to her, unable to believe his eyes. He pulled her into a hug, spun her around in the air and kissed her hard. He felt little hands tugging on his pant leg in the region of his knees and looked down.
“Daddy! Daddy!”
Jake had tears streaming down his face as he knelt down to hug the little girl and the toddler at her side. He picked up his little boy and flew him through the air like an airplane and the little boy giggled with delight.
Mitch concluded the ceremony amid the confusion. He knew that the media was going to have a field day. He saw Allison jockeying the shouting mob of media away from the ceremony site and into the hangar where she would somehow skate over what they had just witnessed.