The Anachronite

[phase four]

Uncertain Origins

In the previous episode, Morley is thrust through time to a familiar place.

By C.T. Zappe

The crimson glow of the evening sun painted the ceiling in soft patches. A soothing breeze washed over Morley’s face as he sank beneath the sheets of an old familiar bed. He was home somehow, but this environment seemed more bizarre than comforting. His mind swam against the tide of impossibilities. How was he here?

The disbelief throbbed in his head as Katherine appeared at his side. The wife that he’d lost two years ago stood by him now with her arms crossed over her chest and a worried furrow on her brow.

“How are you doing?” she inquired. Morley groaned as he attempted to sit up. The spike of pain in his shoulder had dimmed to a muted throb but his arm was still weak.

“You popped your shoulder out pretty good, honey,” she said, kneeling down at the bedside. “I personally can’t figure out how you managed it but Camina is still a little shaken up.” Morley listened with cautious curiosity to the sounds of his daughter playing outside the room. Someone else was with her.

“Jennifer Gehen stopped by while you were out,” Katherine said, picking up on Morley’s divided attention. “She’s in the living room playing with Cami now.” Morley stiffened with apprehension at the mention of Jennifer’s name.

“Don’t worry about it,” she said with a laugh. “Get some more rest. I’ll save some dinner for you whenever you’re ready for it.” Ruffling his hair as she stood, Katherine smiled and walked out. Morley lay still, his mind racing.

He was almost sure he wasn’t dreaming. The details of his old room were too exact. His key chain hung on a peg by the door. The carpet on the far end of the room was stained from an earlier chemical spill. The nightstand still had his old ceramic lamp with the cracked base. But something else was there that didn’t belong. His Seer goggles, wound neatly in a small bundle, lay on the nightstand. The wide lenses reflected the last rays of the setting sun. There was one way to be certain of what was going on.

......

Six-year-old Camina found her father in the kitchen with the lights out. He was standing by the table, anxiously moving about like he was looking for something. Flipping the lights on, she shuffled towards him.

“What are those?” she asked, pointing at the strange glasses on his face.

He turned slowly to acknowledge her, pulling the goggles off. His eyes had a wild look to them as he answered, “An anachronism, Cami.” Her face lit up as she took in the new word and her hazel eyes stared, awestruck, at the device in her father’s hands.

Morley’s memory of the day only went back to the kitchen. He had traced his own path back through time, hoping to learn how he had come here, but the Seer goggles had shown him the impossible. He really had just appeared in the kitchen. His timeline began abruptly at that point as if he’d materialized from nothing.

“Daddy?” Cami asked, tugging on Morley’s pant leg. “Can Aunt Jenny stay for dinner?”

Morley stared blankly at the wall. “Jennifer isn’t your aunt, Cami.” Was he reliving the past? His answer seemed to have been programmed through repetition. How many times had he given his daughter that answer before?

Jennifer walked in beside Camina and put a hand playfully on her shoulder. “No, kiddo. I think I’m just going to head home. You tired me out today.” She looked up at Morley with a grin on her face that dissolved quickly against his cold stare. “Hope you feel better tomorrow, Morley,” she offered. Jennifer gave Cami a friendly pat on the head and walked out the front door to her car.

“What’s an anachromosome?” Cami giggled.

The streetlights flickered to life outside as Jennifer drove away. The familiar buzzing sound stirred memories inside him that he fought back. He was not really home. The circumstances were all wrong.

Lying in bed that night, Morley began piecing together a plan of action. The last thing he remembered before waking up in his kitchen was the struggle with the chronowalker back at Seer. The walker’s face was burned clearly in Morley’s mind. Morley had been shot and then somehow — he gazed up at the ceiling — somehow had ended up back home. He was certain that he wasn’t dead.

Anachronite.

A new face jumped suddenly into his thoughts. There had been another walker at Seer that day. She had tried to talk her way out of an arrest. In an instant, he recalled the mysterious paper on the office desk.

“Jennifer Gehen,” Morley whispered, thoughtfully.


Illustration by C. T. Zappe