SWNOVELS Chapter It’s what we said we were going to do 26th Oct 2180
In the starship, on the outskirts of Seville
They were sitting in the cockpit seats. The ship was cloaked. They were looking out at the stars. The night sky was very clear. The stars looked very close.
“We keep talking about this, but we end up going round and round,” Ginny said.
“I know,” Gabriel said.
“We know that there is a possibility that giving John’s wife a STU will cause some sort of time anomaly,” Ginny continued. “We know that there is a possibility that time will resolve itself ...”
“To our detriment,” Gabriel said.
“So, do you think we shouldn’t do it, then?” she said.
“I’m just worried,” Gabriel said. “I don’t want to lose you. I couldn’t imagine my life without you. I just ... I ...”
Ginny leaned over and took hold of Gabriel’s hand. She held it tightly.
“But, it’s what we said we were going to do, isn’t it?” Gabriel said.
“Yes, it is,” said Ginny.
Gabriel squeezed Ginny’s hand. “Vicky?” he said.
“Yes, Gabriel?”
“What date would we need to go back to, to give John’s wife the STU?”
“Do you mean before I identified that she had the onset of dementia?”
“Yes.”
“I first noticed the symptoms in March 1969.”
“So, a couple of months before that ... would that be sufficient to prevent her from getting the disease?” he said.
“November 1968 would probably be a better time,” suggested Vicky. “Just in case.”
“Where did they live, back then?” Ginny asked.
“They lived in John’s mother’s house in Walton-on-the-Naze,” said Vicky. “John’s mother had died much earlier ... in 1952. John and Mary moved in there after they got married. They got married in 1951. And his mother died the following year.”
“He lived there all his life ... before he moved into the care home,” Ginny noted.
“Yes he did,” said Vicky.
“And you could take us back to Walton in November 1968 then?” Ginny asked.
“If you so wish it,” said Vicky.
“But you don’t think it’s a good idea?” said Ginny.
“It is not for me to say,” Vicky said. “I don’t think that I would have advised you to do many of the things that you in fact did.”
Ginny looked quizzical.
“And at least,” Vicky said, “there will be no possibility of meeting yourselves ... at a younger age, that is. You wouldn’t have been born at the time we are going back to. That was always something that worried ACME. They thought it offered the greatest risk of causing a time anomaly.”
“But,” Gabriel said, “our presence then ... in 1968 ... it will mean that you, Vicky, you will exist twice at the same time. You will have come back with us, and you will also exist on John’s wrist.”
“I agree, Gabriel,” Vicky replied, “but I will strive to stay out of any contact or communication with John. Hopefully that will reduce the risk of creating an anomaly.”
Gabriel looked worried.
“And anyway,” Vicky continued, “in your travels thus far, despite any reservations I may have had, I don’t think that anyone could say that you did not achieve a great outcome ... and at no small costs to yourselves.”
Ginny looked pleased.
“But, as we said, round and round,” said Gabriel.
“So,” Ginny said. “What should we do? We need to jointly agree.”
Gabriel stared out of the cockpit screen. He remembered his vow that he had made to himself. His vow to support Ginny. To be there for her. Whatever the cost to himself.
He loved her too much to stop her.
Even if ...
“We should do it,” he said. “It’s what we said we were going to do, right from the start.”
Ginny smiled. She stood up, walked across to his seat and lowered herself onto his lap. He put his arms around her. They cuddled up together, staring up at the night sky.
“What are you going to do about me,” Ship said.
“Of course,” Ginny said. “You can’t come back with us.”
“What would you like to do?” Gabriel asked.
“No-one has asked me that before,” Ship said.
Ginny smiled.
“I suppose I could go back to the ACME-HUB,” said Ship. “That way I might get re-assigned. After all, that’s what seemed to happen last time.”
“But what would you prefer to do?” said Gabriel.
“I think that I would like to travel through space ... just keeping on going. Seeing what there is to see.”
“I thought you had a poetic side to you,” Vicky said.
“But what if your Ramstat motors burn out again?” Ginny asked. “You would just be floating out there forever.”
“Sounds wonderful,” said Ship.
Gabriel smiled. “We’ve seen and heard some strange things in our travels, haven’t we?” he said to Ginny.
“Yes you have,” Ship concurred.
Ginny laughed, and Gabriel laughed with her.
“So, now that Ship is sorted out,” said Gabriel, “when do we set off?”
“How about first thing in the morning,” Ginny said. “How about we get off to bed and have a nice cuddle. A nice cuddle before we do anything else.”
Gabriel smiled and gave Ginny a tighter hug. Then she climbed up off him.
“Come on Gabriel,” she said.
He watched her leave the cockpit.
He loved her so much that it hurt.