Galactic Marshal III
by
Hilltopper

CHAPTER 12

“Before we go find Gina, you need to read this.”

Tinker handed me an electronic tablet. As I read it, my eyes grew wide. I looked up at Tinker.

“You mean to tell me that Jonnie has been suspended down there in a pod for three years.”

Tinker just nodded. I shook my head.

“I can’t believe this. It is impossible.”

“I would have said the same thing three years ago.”

“So all the time John and Jonnie has been with me, she has also been here asleep?”

Once again Tinker nodded. I looked hard.

“OK, what’s really going on. We both know there can’t be two Jonnie’s running around.”

Suddenly something horrid occurred to me.

“Is Jonnie dead? Did you kill her using that damn machine?”

Tinker looked stricken.

“No, no, we just tried to keep Gina’s future intact. It was the only way.”

“You mean Jonnie really is down there in suspended animation?”

Tinker nodded.

“I must be going crazy. Maybe I’m dreaming. That’s it, this is all a dream.”

Karen held me.

“Mary, if it’s a dream, we are having the same one. Look, let’s just go down there and see for ourselves.”

I shook all over.

“I ---- I’m afraid to.”

Tears came fast and hard. Karen held me tighter.

“It will be all right. I would know if Jonnie was dead. She’s alive and well. We just need to awaken her.”

Tinker nodded and Bell stepped forward.

“We are not monsters. Gina volunteered to help save our planet and she succeeded. We owed it to her to save her future. Of course, it’s our future as well. Time travel is not something we are familiar with either. We had just as hard a time as you with this.”

I looked up.

“I’m sorry, it’s all so ------- I don’t know ------ unbelievable I guess.”

I turned to Karen. She nodded.

“OK”

We got into Tinker’s shuttle and went to the surface. A crew was already there opening the ruins. We entered and walked through it. The place was just as described in Jonnie’s journal. When we went into the hanger room Jonnie had talked about, Tinker pointed to a sealed door.

“Is Jonnie in there?”

Tinker nodded and a couple of the aliens forced open the door. We walked through. Along the far wall was a medical unit with several power supplies attached.

“We had to make sure the pod stayed active. Even though we wanted to come back and check on Gina, the risk of damaging the future was too great.”

Tinker looked solemn.

“I hate to say it but her death would be preferable to that.”

I was shocked but knew Tinker was right. This time travel Jonnie had taken could have totally altered the future. In fact, it may have. We would not be aware of it.

“How will we know if Jonnie has altered our future?”

Tinker smiled.

“That’s easy, we ask her.”

“Huh”

“If our future has changed from what Gina experienced, she will still remember it as it was for her.”

I shook my head to clear it.

“This can make one crazy!”

Tinker nodded and motioned to two other aliens. They went to the pod and started the process of waking Jonnie up. Bell led Karen and I back into the big room.

“This will take a while. She has been suspended far longer than anyone has before. We need to take it slow.”

“Can you tell if she is still alive?”

Bell nodded.

“She is.”

I felt weak and sagged to the floor.

“How long will it take?”

Bell shrugged.

“That is unknown. We will just have to wait.”

“I’m still having trouble believing the fact that Jonnie has been here for three years.”

Bell nodded.

“You are not alone.”

Karen looked pensive.

“Do you know how the device went back in time?”

“No, we were afraid to mess with it too much. That could have done something to change the future. Besides, it was inactive without Gina. We did confirm its purpose. Now that it has been used and Gina rescued, it’s gone.”

I thought a minute.

“You know, it’s probably just as well.”

Bell nodded.

“I agree but you know how scientists are.”

Just then Tinker walked in.

“I have been told that it will take several hours to awaken Gina. How about we go to the shuttle and eat?”

We agreed and went to it. I was really too nervous to eat, however. At least here we could sit down. I turned to Tinker.

“Did I here you say that your planet is out of danger?”

Tinker nodded and smiled.

“Yes, we believe the crisis is over.”

“Are you still planning to put a gate on Fledora?”

“Probably not, it would involve going through the Planetopolis government now. We would prefer to stay away from them. Frankly, we do not trust Humans!”

I nodded.

“We are an unstable bunch.”

Karen laughed.

“Speak for yourself. So, what are you going to do with the gates?”

“Oh, I imagine we will place a few about. This is definitely a leap in space travel. It’s just that we are not that used to traveling.”

We talked for a while about this and that. Basically, passing time until Jonnie is awake. Finally, a call came in. Tinker went over to answer it. I couldn’t understand what was said but it didn’t sound good. Tinker walked back to us.

“The pod is now open. Gina is alive and well only -----.”

I panicked.

“Only what?”

“She has not awakened.”

“Why not?”

Tinker sighed.

“We don’t know. It is probably due to the length of time she has been suspended. She should wake up in due time. Our people think it will be best to transport her back to our planet.”

I grew angry.

“Well, I don’t!”

I looked at Karen. She nodded.

“We will take Jonnie with us back to Fledora.”

Tinker looked at Karen then me.

“Alright, we will take her to the shuttle.”

We went into the pod room. Jonnie was still in the pod but the door was open. I went to her side. She looked so peaceful and beautiful. It was hard to believe she has been lying in this thing for 3 years. Tears flowed freely and I touched her face.

“We will care for you, my love.”

She was taken to the shuttle and we went back up to Tinker’s ship. We then loaded her into the marshal cruiser. Tinker and Bell looked on sadly.

“She is a special person. Take good care of her.”

I nodded.

“Don’t worry, we will.”

Tinker nodded.

“We will be in touch.”

They went back into their ship and were soon off. We put Jonnie into a medical unit to be on the safe side and headed back to Fledora. On the way, we received a call from Sam.

“Have you heard from John yet?”

“Not exactly.”

“What does that mean?”

“Well, Karen and I picked up Jonnie at Prowhiness and we are heading for Fledora.”

“Hmm, what about the aliens?”

“They have gone home.”

“I get the feeling you are not telling me something. Put John on. Wait a minute, you said Jonnie. Does this mean John is posing as a female again?”

“Not exactly.”

I could tell Sam was getting frustrated.

“OK, I’m ready. Give me the bad news.”

I sighed.

“Actually the news is good. Jonnie helped the aliens stabilize their planet so they will not be moving any of their people off planet.”

“That is good news. How on earth did John accomplish that?”

“It’s a long story.”

“Just put John online please.”

“Uh, the process wore her out and she is still asleep.”

“How long has he --- she been asleep?”

I hesitated.

“Three years.”

There was silence for over a minute.

“Forget Fledora, you turn that ship around and head here ASAP! Out!”

I looked over at Karen.

“Ouch!”

“Yeah”

Gina, the AI, spoke up.

“I have received orders to fly to and dock at the marshal station orbiting Earth.”

I laughed.

“Sam’s making sure. OK, Gina, carry on.”

Karen frowned.

“I sure hope Jonnie wakes up before we get there.”

“No kidding. I’m going to check on her and then I better tell the council that we have been diverted to Earth.”

Upon checking the med unit, it appeared that Jonnie was indeed in the process of waking up. I guess it takes a while to waken after sleeping for 3 years. Jeese! I put in a call to Margaret at the council.

“Hello, Mary, I hope you have some good news for us.”

“I sure do, the aliens have canceled plans to bring some of their people to Fledora. The alien planet has stabilized and it is no longer necessary to move anybody off their planet.”

Margaret smiled.

“That is wonderful news. How did they manage it?”

“Actually, Jonnie helped them so she deserves all the credit.”

“OK, when will you arrive?”

“Well, we were on our way but the Planetopolis has diverted our ship to Earth.”

Margaret frowned.

“I sometimes think we made a mistake joining them. Nothing for it now though. Just keep me informed.”

“Will do.”

I signed off. Well, that went better than I expected. I went back to the med room. Jonnie was stirring so I opened the pod. Soon, Jonnie’s eyes opened. She spotted me and a big smile broke out.

“Mary, thank god. I was afraid I would never see you again.”

She sat up and I hugged her tightly.

“Don’t you ever do this to me again. You had me worried sick.”

Jonnie kissed me and we both broke down. After the emotions were brought under control, we separated.

“I’m having trouble realizing you have been asleep for 3 years.”

Jonnie nodded.

“Yeah, this whole time travel thing has thrown me for a loop. I hope you are waking me up after I left the alien planet.”

“Yes, Tinker says they have been carefully following your journal notes for what to do when. They are very worried about your travel back in time messing up the future.”

Jonnie nodded and looked around.

“I see we are on my ship. Where are we headed?”

“Well, we were going to Fledora but Sam has ordered the ship to Earth.”

“Does he know the whole story?”

I shook my head.

“No, just that you have been asleep ---- for 3 years.”

Jonnie laughed.

“Oh boy, I guess I’m in for it then. Did Tinker leave a copy of my journal?”

I nodded.

“Yes”

“Send a copy to Sam. That way he’ll know what’s happened by the time we get there. Are Tinker and Bell still with us?”

I shook my head.

“No, they went back home. They did say they would be in touch.”

Karen walked in and rushed over to Jonnie.

“Welcome back sis!”

She looked at Jonnie hard.

“Are you OK?”

Jonnie laughed so hard she was crying.

“You’ve got to be kidding! I’ve gone where no man has gone before.”

“You mean woman.”

Jonnie looked down at herself.

“Shit!”