《Belegrade's Time》


 Grift in the Rift

    "Time travel used to be thrilling; every trip an adventure into the unknown, or rather the previously known. But it''s almost monotonous now. I guess it has been almost twenty years, though. Twenty years of twelve-hour shifts day after day is a steep price to pay, but after the next round of promotions, I''ll be in management, and I''ll finally afford a real¡ª."


    "Belegrade!" Hearing his name interrupted his thoughts.


    "Belegrade!" He turned toward the sound and saw Jeffon waving him down from his front porch. They weren''t exactly friends, but they knew each other from the lab. Belegrade walked towards him, and Jeffon met him halfway.


    "Belegrade, I heard you were up for a promotion to management. Congratulations! I don''t know how you got them to overlook your ancestral history, but I''m impressed. We all are. You''re the only one I know that''s never pulled anything through and always followed the rules." As he spoke, Jeffon''s eyes took on a sadder look before brightening again. "If you keep it up, you''ll be in corporate someday, making more than all of us. You''re proof that hard work and dedication can overcome even the facts of history." Jeffon clapped him on the back, "Anyway, I just wanted to be the first to say congratulations. It''s inspiring to see someone do it the right way. Have a good evening, Belegrade."


    Belegrade hadn''t said a word, listening to Jeffon. A horrible thought occurred to him, and he had heard little of what Jeffon had said after mentioning his ancestral history. Before crossing the street, he stopped again and turned around. He hurried back toward F.A.M. Labs. It had been an over-site on his part. After so many years of working at the lab, he barely even thought about his parents. F.A.M. Labs was all he knew.


    He sat, waiting outside his supervisor''s office. He knew that he''d never be able to sleep wondering if his parents'' crimes would affect his promotion to management, so he waited. After some time, they ushered him to the back office, where his supervisor motioned for him to sit.


    "Welcome, Belegrade. You must be tired after your shift. What can I do for you?" Trenyor had always been a fair and understanding supervisor. Belegrade needed the man to hear him out and support him.


    "As you know, I put in for management at the next promotion. I''ve been here so long and worked so hard that I don''t even know anything except F.A.M. Labs." Belegrade began explaining.


    "The decision isn''t up to me, Belegrade," Trenyor said.


    "No, I know. It''s just that, well, my parents were arrested and convicted thirty-five years ago of theft and corporate espionage on behalf of the EdenFire Empire." Belegrade said, deciding it best to just lay it all out there. "Sir, at the time, I was an infant and raised by my uncle until sixteen when I started working here. I''ve worked too hard, and if this is going to affect my chances at a promotion, I need to know."


    Trenyor sat looking somewhat shocked, staring at his desk for a few moments, "I can''t say it''s irrelevant." He looked up, "Belegrade, wait outside, and I''ll find out what I can."


    A couple of hours later, he was dragging his feet through the snow. He wouldn''t allow himself to think about what Trenyor had said. Instead, he focused on the sounds his feet made as he dragged them down the snow-dusted sidewalk. Eventually, he made it to his apartment building and stood in front of his door. Belegrade opened the door to his one-room apartment. He''d always appreciated what he had, but today everything looked different to him. He''d given twenty years of his life, and this was what he received in return. The curtain next to the bed fell off the wall when he opened it to use the toilet. From where he sat, he could see everything he owned. Without standing, he could touch his bed and spit on his front door if he wanted.


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    Jeffon had been right. This is what happens when you work hard and sacrifice everything for your work. For over two decades, he had worked documenting, recording, and scanning people''s lives from all throughout time and all over Living Space. When Foy Sciences announced the launch of "Forever''s A Memory," or F.A.M. as it quickly became known, they went from a relatively small, unknown tek company to the owners and operators of one of the largest businesses in Living Space.


    F.A.M. offered an ancestral history service that delivered, to the customer, a full breakdown of their family tree going back to the beginning of history. Complete with video footage and highlights from the past collected by employees like Belegrade and others. F.A.M. Labs would also replicate and include a small, handheld item from your history as a memento. For those with money to spare, nearly any item from one''s history could be replicated.


    Belegrade stood staring up at the house that served as a home for Jeffon and his family. If Jeffon hadn''t pulled items through time and sold them off at extremely high prices, he never would have been able to provide a home for his family. Especially after Seltra, his wife and mother of their children, died a couple of years ago, leaving Jeffon to raise the three of them alone. His frustration reached an all-time high as he walked up the steps and knocked on Jeffon''s door.


    As the door opened and Jeffon''s face appeared in the crack, Belegrade said, "I need to talk to you right now. Tomorrow is my last day at the lab. They''re sending me to Loading and busting me down to entry-level."


    "What happened?" asked Jeffon, stepping outside as he closed the door behind him.


    "I was worried about my ancestral history, so I went to talk to Trenyor and told him everything. He informed me that my lab clearance was being revoked, and after tomorrow, I would no longer be allowed inside F.A.M. Labs. They''re sending me to Loading with ''Do Not Promote'' on my file. But that''s not important right now. Talking to you earlier put things in perspective. And Trenyor really showed me a true perspective. I have a plan, but I need your help."


    The next day, Belegrade stepped onto the jump platform for the last time. The jump-slave''s weight around his wrist was a constant reminder of what was at stake and why his plan needed to succeed. He listened as the Tech on duty began reading off the checklist, preparing to initiate his last jump through time. The Tech finished reading off the checklist and asked for confirmation.


    "Confirmed, clear for travel," Belegrade said for the last time, before the world around him vanished. He was off on his last jump through time, well, second last. The landing was much more violent than usual. Jeffon had warned him, but it still hadn''t prepared him. The chip that he''d slipped into the console on his arrival at the jump platform had sent him on a little unauthorized detour. Belegrade looked around to check his location as he caught his breath. He was just outside the lab, close to the housing section, and the new wing of the lab was still under construction. It was three years in the past. He broke into a dead run toward housing, jumping up the three steps and nearly breaking Jeffon''s door down, knocking on it.


    Seltra opened the door, and Belegrade, still out of breath but also out of time, said, "Please, Seltra, put this on right now." He peeled the jump-slave off his wrist and handed it to her. She looked at it skeptically but reached out to take it.


    "Jeffon sent me. He said if you didn''t believe me to tell you, ''Please hurry, Hummingbird.''"


    Her eyes grew wide and filled with tears as she wrapped it around her wrist, and immediately the world disappeared again.


    Belegrade stood next to Seltra, gazing out on an emerald beach with beautiful crystal-clear water reaching out to the horizon. Belegrade took off his jump locator and turned to Seltra.


    "Here, trade me," he said, handing her his jump locator and taking the jump slave from her.


    Smashing the jump-slave on a large rock to his left, he stared back out at the water.


    "Put it on," Belegrade said. "He''s waiting for you." Without looking back, he walked down the beach. According to his research, these were the emerald beaches of FaeTrell. Not far from here, he should find the village of FaeTrell, a picturesque place from long before his time. The perfect place for an early retirement. The flash of light behind him told him Seltra had made it back to Jeffon. Belegrade took his shoes off and walked through the emerald sands along the beach, smiling.

 Belegrades Run

    Belegrade peered over his shoulder as he crouched at the trickling creek at the bottom of a vast rocky field, looking for whoever was blocking his sun. The field was, in fact, a riverbed. This time of year, or cycle¡ªas they called it on this little moon¡ªthe river was barely even a creek, but it was perfect for sifting the small yellow stones from the sediment washed in during the rest of the year¡ªor cycle. The river, or creek, had two states of being; a trickle during the dry cycle and a two-kilometer wide, fast-flowing body of water capable of supporting boats, ships, and various other craft that would bring goods and gear in and out of the area.


    Belegrade stood. He turned and stared at where the sun had been. He swore as he tossed the sifting pans into his hammock that he had secured between two rather large sections of broken tree washed in during the last storm cycle. Unhooking the hammock, with the pans secured inside, he draped it over his shoulder and began the trudge through the ankle-deep assortment of smooth-worn stones. The crunching and sliding sound the stones made annoyed him but not nearly as much as falling multiple times while trying to balance on what amounted to a pile of marbles annoyed him. Swearing, he stumbled onto the dirt as he climbed from the bottom of the river bed, gaining altitude as he ascended the trail up the bank.


    "Hey, bud. Mom send you to get me?"


    Jeno waited on the trailhead, the cabin directly behind him. He nodded, "She''s worried about the storm."


    "Yeah, the storms are really early, huh? Let''s get inside and check the sat-feed," he handed the clanking hammock off to his son, and they made the short hike to the cabin.


    <hr>


    Inside they found Minarin, Belegrade''s wife and Jeno''s mother, sitting at the hologram screen, watching the satellite feed of the moon''s weather patterns. She turned toward them as they shuffled and clanged through the door. Her eyes trembled, then her voice trembled, "It''s not good, Belly. Sat-feed shows the storm isn''t moving. It''s growing."


    "Well, if the flood side of the moon is shifting, there''s nothing we can do to stop it. Is everything ready to go?" As he asked, Seni came down the stairs from the loft, dragging behind her a large bedsheet that she had piled her and her brother''s clothes and belongings into.


    "We''re ready!" Seni said with a cheery smile as she stood next to her twin brother. The twins shared a look of excited apprehension. With her green eyes, set in deep sockets, above a small nose and wide mouth built for smiling, Seni was the spitting image of her father, and her relaxed posture only made the similarity more obvious. While her twin brother had their mother''s raven hair and dimples as well as her demeanor, Jeno shared his parent''s eyes: one green like his father''s, the other the same violet-blue as his mother''s.


    A frantic banging at the door broke the brief silence. Minarin took the bag from Seni and ushered the children through the back. A glance at Belegrade told him to hurry, get rid of whoever it was, and meet them at the dock up the hill. He gave her a short nod before turning back to the banging and waited to ensure they were out of the cabin before reaching for the handle. He drew the blaster from the belt hanging on the peg next to his heavy coat and opened the door, the blaster hidden behind it.


    Carden Holteff almost fell through the door as Belegrade opened it, and Belegrade, in turn, nearly blasted a hole through the middle of the man''s chest in a panic but caught himself in time to step back instead.


    "Have you heard?" Carden asked, stumbling through the door and pausing to catch his breath. "The whole place is going under! We have to get out of here! Everyone has to get..." He noticed the blaster still pointed in his direction, and his round, red face drained of color. Belegrade followed the man''s gaze and quickly shoved the blaster into his waistband.


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    "Yeah, we heard. Min''s taking the kids up to the dock right now. Shouldn''t you be at your place getting your boat ready?"


    "Well, see, that''s the thing." Carden Holteff crumpled his hat in his hands, avoiding eye contact.


    "You traded it, didn''t you?"


    When Carden offered no response, Belegrade shook his head, and pity came to him slowly. In the six cycles that they''d been on this moon, he''d seen Carden sell or trade everything he owned in one bad deal after another. He wasn''t a bad man, really, just impatient and impractical, with no common sense at all, and now it appeared that Belegrade was faced with deciding the man''s fate. Belegrade stared at him for several moments while pondering his options. Could he really leave the man here to die?


    I hope I don''t have to kill this man. Belegrade thought as he grabbed the blaster belt and, strapping it on, led Carden through the back door and up the hill.


    "Hurry!" Seni waved at them from the top of the hill before turning and disappearing back over the top.


    Belegrade took another step, and a loud crash followed by a deafening roar filled the valley. Looking in the storm''s direction, his heart sank and began pounding in his ears.


    "Run!" Belegrade shouted over his shoulder as Carden shot past him. In the distance, they could see a wall of mist and dust being pushed forward by the water as it escaped the canals. The roar escalated as the distance between them and the water rapidly vanished.


    As they topped the hill, Belegrade overtook Carden once again and bounded up the steps to the dock. He took a quick peep in the hold to check on Min and the kids. He found them stowing their belongings and anything else that wasn''t already tied down. Three faces stared up at him with nervous smiles. He smiled back, equally apprehensive, before nodding to Min and turning back toward the water that would be upon them any minute now.


    "Find somewhere to--" The sound was so loud that Belegrade couldn''t even hear his own voice. He shoved his finger toward the supplies stored above deck, and Carden, taking the hint, ran over and strapped himself to the netting that secured the barrels and boxes. Finally situated, he watched Belegrade close the hatch to the lower deck. Looking past Belegrade, his face paled as his jaw hung open.


    Belegrade didn''t have time to turn around before the water struck. They''d purposefully built the deck just above the highest projected flood levels. The thought should have calmed him. Instead, he experienced a moment of doubt and dread that seemed to slow time, but not enough. The force of the impact threw him into the center mast as the boat was propelled from the hilltop and out into the valley.


    <hr>


    He woke to a soft rocking and a soft, delicate voice calling his name. After several minutes he opened his eyes to see Min''s face in the twilight, twisted in worry before brightening as they made eye contact.


    "Are you okay?"


    "I don''t know, I think so. I can move my fingers and toes, but everything hurts. How are the kids?"


    Minarin took his arm and gently helped him to his feet; he wobbled but remained upright.


    "They''re fine, Jeno''s got a pretty good bump on his head, and I think Seni might have broken a finger, but we''re all in one piece and together; that''s what counts."


    He smiled at her, weakly but genuinely, as they limped towards the cargo hatch. Halfway there, Jeno emerged from below deck, sporting a large goose egg on his forehead, and just behind him was Seni holding her finger as the last of the tears dried up. Standing on the deck, Belegrade and his family let out a sigh of relief before smiling. The smiling led to laughter and a group hug as they celebrated their good fortune. Belegrade and Min shared an extra smile, knowing that as soon as they made it to a functioning spaceport, they would be off this moon and be able to afford to raise Jeno and Seni on an inhabited and civilized world. After all, they had several barrels filled with one of the rarest and most in-demand metals in the cosmos.


    "We actually did it, Belly!"


    He didn''t respond, only hugged them tighter and smiled harder as their passenger, hidden quietly among the cargo that had collapsed into a pile, pulled an Old-Earth style revolver from his boot and checked the cylinder. Looking back out at the family, his expression hardened, and his eyes narrowed as he steeled himself for the unpleasantness that was to come. He snuck out of the pile, revolver in hand, and circled around behind Belegrade.