The Quantum Connection

Mike, are any of these quarantined planets locations with isolated abductees? 

That is a very interesting question, Steven. The answer is yes. All of the planets in the quarantined regions have isolated abductees in them. 

Do any of the nonquarantined planets have isolated abductees in them? I held my breath for an eternity during the millisecond it took for Mike to process the data and return with an answer.

No, Steven. Only the planets with quarantines have any of the isolated abductees. 

My God, Mike, what does that mean? 

I do not have enough data to give you an answer, Steven, sorry. 

One thing was certain. It was time to come clean with the W-squared folks and with Tatiana, but in what order? I owed it to Tatiana to talk with her first. Besides, I loved her and I could no longer justify hiding this from her. After lunch I went to find Tatiana. She had been out on a routine patrol with 'Becca and several other soldier types. In the weeks that had followed the battle between us and the W-squared people Tatiana and 'Becca had made amends and had actually become friends. She had also befriended 'Becca's sidekick, Sara Tibbs. Apparently, Sara was an original member of the warp drive development team. Sara and 'Becca were a pair, much like a younger sister/older sister arrangement ('Becca being the oldest).

Tatiana, 'Becca, and Sara had completed a Solar Focus Telescope survey and were now hanging out on the patio of the Luna Grill by the lake. I knew this because several times during the mission Tatiana and I had tested the link between the SuperAgents. We never even had a fuzzy connection or a time lag even with more than six hundred astronomical units separating us. It was cool.

Obviously, the signals were noncausal and we began discussing temporal paradox issues. Soon after heading down the horrid path of temporal mechanics I got a headache and gave up.

What if you traveled toward me at warp speed and I thought to you to turn your vessel to the right? Would I see you travel to the right before I thought the message to you? Could we devise a way to send a message back in time that would be useful? Tatiana asked

Let's leave time travel alone for now, what do you say? I thought to Tatiana.

Suits me, it hurts to think about it. But maybe one day we'll try to make use of it, she thought back to me in Russian.

Maybe, but let's stop the alien abductions first. 

Okay. 

On the way to the Luna Grill I bumped into Jim and Anson and they decided to join me. The two of them were wearing karate outfits, were very sweaty, and seemed tired.

'Anson, you guys do martial arts, I take it?' I asked.

'Yeah, some of us around here ain't nanomachine enhanced and must maintain our fitness levels as best we can.' He laughed.

'Yeah, we mere mortals have to stave off death the old-fashioned way,' Jim added.

'You know, there is no reason for you to be getting old. I could repair any ailments you have and even reverse and stop the genetic deterioration of aging. I've done this with myself and it doesn't take the nanomachines to maintain. Actually, I have to give Tatiana the credit for the idea. She came up with it.' I shrugged my shoulders and raised my eyebrows as if to ask if they were interested.

'Are you serious?' Anson asked.

'Of course I am,' I assured them.

'Well, shit fire boy, why you waiting so long about telling us this?' Anson asked in his deep Alabama drawl.

'I guess I thought you might think it to be unnatural?' The truth was, it had taken me a while to trust them enough to enhance them to even a limited extent. It had been a good tactical idea for me and Tatiana to remain the only ones so enhanced until we got to know everyone better.

'Listen, Steven,' Jim started in on me. 'I know you are a Californian turned Ohio . . . Ohioan . . . Ohian . . . whatever the hell, and you might think of things a little more, uh, emotionally . . .'

'Hell, Jim, why you beatin' around the bush about it?' Anson said. 'He's from California; he knows he comes from a liberal and utopian-minded background. Steven, we are more logically minded here. If a man comes along and offers me the fountain of youth you better believe I'm gonna take a big-assed swig from it. Morality has no play in it.'

Jim laughed and punched Anson on the shoulder. 'I agree with the old codger.'

I chuckled and placed a hand on Jim's shoulder and one on Anson's. I instructed Mike to implement the fountain of youth program and to pull twenty years off Anson's appearance and ten off Jim's.

'Aggghhh! That stings!' Anson yelped.

'Oh, you big sissy, it only tickles,' Jim said.

'There, it's done. You guys are somewhere between twenty-five and thirty now and will remain like that until you get hit by a truck,' I said.

'Can't be, son,' Anson said. 'My pants still fit. I was four inches smaller in the waist when I was twenty- five.'

'I had the clothing adjusted as well. And be careful for a bit because I thought you guys might like a bit of extra strength and speed as well.'

'Are you serious?' Jim asked.

'Of course he is,' Anson replied as he blurred, zipped to the edge of the lake that was a hundred meters away