Anomaly, Anomala

Episode 4: Staying in the Loop

The two pairs of Geeleks and Yoldris rushed out of the ancient battle dome and watched as a lander, identical to their own, touched down close by. The lander’s hatch opened and a third identical pair of travelers emerged.

“Do any of ... us ... know what‘s going on?” asked Geelek.

“We might.” said Geelek 3, “We were heading to our vacation in the….

“We know.” the others chimed in.

“Anyway.” said Geelek 3, “We barely steered clear of a temporal anomaly, but we were still pushed out of our timeline.”

“So can you give us a ride off this primitive world?” asked Yoldri 2.

“Primitive is relative.” said Yoldri. “Besides, where would you go? This isn’t your timeline or even your metaverse.”

“So what happened to the couple who shoved us into those stasis chambers?” asked Yoldri 2.

Upalnal’s sobs made all three couples turn around.

“I can explain.” she said. “And I’m so sorry.”

“You mean, you‘re ... Yoldri 0?” asked Geelek.

The elderly woman nodded.

“My Geelek accidentally created the anomaly.” she said. “He was experimenting with a temporal transfer device.”

“But you can’t be one of us.” said Yoldri 2, “you‘re humanoid.”

“Not really.” said the woman. “Disrupting space-time is a capital offense, and my Geelek was desperate to cover his tracks. When the first duplicate couple arrived, he locked them in stasis and built our disguises. This skull I wear is a holojector.”

Upalnal removed the skull from her head and flipped a toggle switch inside it. She now resembled the rest of the Yoldris, as they might look in late middle age.

“We scared the locals with our “magic“ technology and they made us their rulers. Trouble is, these people do love their banquets. My Geelek had a weak heart and I’m afraid he overindulged once too often.”

“I guess we’ll never get to the Velasga system.” said Yoldri 3.”

Yoldri 0 looked down at her moccasins.

“You might as well know the truth.” she said. “This is what became of the planet you were heading for, once the anomaly kicked in. And now it appears the anomaly’s spreading.”

“Couple 3 has a viable base ship.” said Geelek. “Maybe we can use its engine to set things right.”

“Wait a minute.” said Yoldri. “The people on this planet are part of Reality now. They have rights. You can’t just wish them out of existence.”

“True.” said Geelek 3, “but if we do nothing, more and more versions of us will arrive here. That can’t be good for ‘Reality,’ either.

“My Geelek’s experiments disrupted the normal cultural evolution of these humanoids.” said Yoldri 0. “Maybe we owe it to them to repair the damage. His equipment is still here, just hidden, as I was.”

She reached under the surface of one of the battle dome’s work stations and flipped a switch. Instantly, the interior of a lander appeared, which each couple recognized as its own. Except, that is, for a stack of unfamiliar devices to the right of the command console.

“Maybe, if we work together….” she said.

“Let me see.” said Geelek.

Geelek 2 grabbed his arm.

“Why you?” he said. “We’re the ones who’ve been stuck here the longest.”

“Hey, let go!” shouted Geelek.

Geelek 3 put his arms around their shoulders.

“Calm down,OK?” he said.

“Stay out of it!” the other two shouted.

“Why?” said Geelek 3. “I’m the only one who avoided the anomaly. I obviously know more about it than you losers. Besides….”

The sound of Geelek 2’s fist hitting his broad, reptilian jaw silenced his insults — and the three males tumbled to the floor, in a spasm of clumsy aggression.

“Guys, cut it out!” the four females yelled, then mixed into the tangle of arms and legs until they crashed into Geelek 0’s spatiotemporal modulators.

Their world dissolved in a flash of light and they were engulfed in silence, until, aboard a late-model Balordavon15….

“Hey, would you look at these readings?” asked Yoldri.

Geelek ran over to the display she was staring at and entered a few commands.

“The ship’s AI reports a spatiotemporal anomaly at close range.” he said. “Better steer clear.”

“And miss the scientific discovery of a lifetime?” asked Yoldri.

A burst of light on the view screen to her left made Yoldri turn her head.

“what‘s that?” asked Yoldri. “Looks like a ship.”

“It’s our ship, heading straight for the anomaly!” said Geelek.

The two of them watched, slack-jawed, as their twin was swallowed up in a dark shadow and disappeared.

“Seen enough?” asked Geelek.

“Looks like we beat ourselves to it.” said Yoldri. “And now, we can’t get to the Velasga system without heading right into that mess. Our vacation is ruined.”

“Ruined?” said Geelek. “From my frame of reference, I’m lost in deep space with a lovely female. Who needs a vacation when you‘re already in paradise?”

Yoldri burst into shoulder-shaking laughter.

“you‘re one lucky guy.” she said. “There was only a one-in-a million chance you’d ever get to use that line and it fell right into your lap.”

Geelek smiled and ran his hands through her bright orange hair.

“Can I help it if the universe loves me?” he asked.

#science_fiction, #sci-fi, #aliens, #space_travel, #stasis_chamber, #temporal_stasis, #spatiotemporal_anomaly

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