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Short Fat Stubby Finger Stories PRESENTS

Episode 7 

Location: London

Time: 11.58.30 am

The first two tasks completed, Joseph’s eyes quickly scanned past the wall clock before performing a quick reconnaissance of the heading of the request for the third order as it appeared on the screen, and upon reading it he felt confident that everything was going to plan – and reasonably on time, estimating five to six minutes should be sufficient for the job providing there were no hidden complications.   He would only be around ten minutes late for his restaurant booking and decided he would be happy with that considering the circumstances.

   ‘FORM Q8A – LOCAL IMPORT: AREA CODE CCC TO TRENTHAMVILLE.   Priority1′            ATTN:  J. Jacobson’, the form read.

   ‘Middle East import,’ Joseph noted, ‘fairly straight-forward, probably farm equipment or crops for ingredients.    Not a regular, though … must be a new customer.  I should easily knock it off by lunchtime.’

Without thinking, Joseph double checked the time, and as his eyes passed over the wall clock for the second time in just under one minute – a minute flash on the lift level indicator caught his eye and he immediately became infatuated by the flickering lights as they flashed on and off like a machine gun dispersing empty shells as the lift flew in apparent express mode past the various floors on its journey down the thirty one levels to the bottom.

The lifts were located in a foyer just off the side of Joseph’s station and he was the only member of the staff who could observe all that came and went on the lifts on level three, and what had attracted Joseph’s attention to this particular movement was the fact the light had indicated the lift was departing the penthouse, something he had never observed in his twelve of so years with the company, all at the same desk, though the tasks had changed constantly over the years as he had had been promoted several times during those years.   As promised, Joseph was steadily moving up the ladder and gaining valuable experience with the changes.   But what was surprising him was the fact that the C.E.O. was in the building.   As far as Joseph had understood it, the C.E.O., who was the sole occupant of the penthouse when in residence, was an extremely rare visitor to the building.

Joseph had no idea who the C.E.O. of Johnson’s actually was because the name was never bandied about in conversations in the office as far as he was concerned, nor in any other form such as office memos, or the like, and he was fairly certain that when the interviewer had mentioned that the C.E.O. had already included Joseph’s bizarre request in the contract all those years ago, he had only referred to the C.E.O.’s title, not his name.    But Joseph was now too mesmerised by the light as it zipped down the thirty one levels at a speed equal to a ride at an amusement park; and then even more surprised by the fact that the lift suddenly stopped at level three, to care about the man’s name.   If indeed the C.E.O. was, in fact, a man.

For Joseph got the shock of his life when an unaccompanied woman emerged from the lift, not the gender of the C.E.O. he had been expecting, but a pleasant surprise, never the less.

   ”Pretty lady,’ he noted in admiration of the unexpected arrival when she first stepped out of the lift, his thoughts tempered, however, by a feeling that he recognised her, and as she turned and walked towards the office he suddenly realised that he did … and he felt a little embarrassed that he hadn’t recognised her immediately.   It was Mary Cunningham, the third floor manager … and his boss in a manner of speaking.   Although Joseph worked independently of the other workers on the third floor, company policy decreed all internal correspondence and requests dealing with senior management went through the floor manager which meant that he had limited dealings with her on a daily basis, but they did communicate from time to time in a more social environment such as the office Christmas party and farewells to staff moving on to greener pastures.  And although Joseph believed he should have realised who she was straight away, he strongly felt there was something about her that had caused him to fail to recognise her.   Not her clothes, he thought, accepting that she was dressed similar to how she clothed herself every day as far as he was aware, her hair appeared to be the same …   then it hit him, it was her face.   It was glowing; absolutely glowing.   He had never seen anybody look so radiant; so fresh; so full of life as she did at this very moment.   It was as if she had won a million pounds, or been given a new lease of life.    He had no idea what was going through her mind at the moment, but Joseph realised whatever she was radiating, it was causing him to really notice her for the first time since she had arrived at the office a year ago.

Not someone he would have expected to hob nob with the mysterious chief executive officer of Johnson’s Import and Export, and for a moment Joseph wondered if something had been said or happened in the C.E.O.’s office that had affected her mood.   However it was not Joseph’s concern, this seemingly unusual meeting between Mary and the C.E.O., if indeed it was the C.E.O. she had been with.   She may very well have had a liaison with another member of staff … or had simply been doing something in the room on behalf of senior management for all he knew.

Joseph was mildly curious, but before he could give the situation any further thought he was distracted by the unexpected arrival of flashes of memory that began thundering into his head.

Unsolicited memories that were forcing themselves into his mind.   Memories that he instinctively knew were from somewhere in his past, but still enshrouded in the soft grey fog that always made them indecipherable.    Then with a flash the apparitions suddenly ceased, disappeared from his mind as fast as they had appeared, but Joseph knew they were the same images that had tried to resurface earlier that morning.   Phantoms that were becoming stronger and stronger in their attempts to arrive and drag him screaming back to the time of their origins.

But Joseph knew, deep within his heart,that there were no memories other than those he did remember.  The things that he saw and recognised were from his past.   They were real.   There was no unknown past.   The things that he couldn’t see clearly were products of his overactive imagination trying to persuade him that something exciting had happened to him once upon a time.  ‘Once upon a time’ Joseph laughed to himself, ‘that’s all they were … fairy tales.  Perhaps Rowena’s action had been more damaging to my mind than I had originally believed.

   Perhaps I am just lonely, but I’m not quite old enough for dementia.   Not yet, at least.    Perhaps I need a good holiday, I’ve never had one so … or perhaps a psychiatrist?  This preoccupation I have with my impossible past is becoming rather tedious.   These memories are not real … they do not exist.  I really have to get over it before I send myself crazy.   And as far as becoming involved in the paranormal … it’s time to get back to the real world, I think.   Definitely, time.

Location: Garogia

Time: Earth time: 11.58:30 am

“We must prepare for the worst, Johann,”   Arkerious’ words caught Johann P Biggs off guard, “the battle is about to begin.    The first of the seven chances of entry is all but upon us.   We have but mere minutes to go.   The seven points in time we have identified where the creature can change the future that has already happened.   His first chance to destroy Joseph is within the next forty eight hours.   And with such a wide time zone it is a very dangerous time for Joseph.   We can only hope and pray that he is protected, because we cannot approach him until it almost the end of the forty eight hours.”

“Protected by whom?” Johann asked in astonishment, his eyes moving from the screen he had been watching to look enquiringly at his friend. “I thought that was our job?   That was why we are here in this dark and dingy dungeon on this god forsaken planet.”

Johann waved his arms around the room in order to amplify the reality of his claims.   They were in Arkerious’ cave-dwelling office-of-sorts, a room that confused Johann’s mind as to whether they were in a room that had glass windows surrounding it in order to create the impression that the cave wall was part of the office, or the office actually was a part of the cave.   And what made it even more difficult to decide was the lack of light in the room.   Outside of the single, high voltage light from the ceiling that surrounded them in a circle that extended outward in a fifteen foot perimeter, it was pitch black in every direction on the other side of the black and light boundary line.   The only other light in the room was that which emitted from the screen that had been displaying images of Joseph sitting at his desk at Johnson’s Import and Export … and even that disappeared when Arkerious turned to face him.

“It is not forsaken, Johann, of that you can be certain,” Arkerious replied, a rare smile upon his face, “and please don’t mock my decor.   Remember, what you cannot see does not necessarily mean that it is not there.   There is as much connection to life here, as there is on Earth.   In answer to your question, however, I cannot give you that answer.   All I can say at the moment is that there is a third party involved who have similar reasons to be involved.   I will explain more when it becomes necessary.”

“Well, if the creature can attack him at any stage of the forty eight hours then why can’t we help him?”   Give him a warning, or a suggestion on what to do?”

“The creature will come into this time zone only if it intends to take action to destroy Joseph at this stage of the timeline; it may not have any reason to enter this zone.   It may not even be possible for it to enter.   We have no way of being certain it had actually entered this zone previously, so it may not even be able to enter if it had not been here before.   For that matter it may not enter any of the time zones at all, though we would be surprised if it didn’t.   And although I have been in this zone, it was not until the very end of the forty eight hours … and that is when I will enter and make the first contact with Joseph on a one to one basis.

During my previous observations of this zone I have seen why it is important for Joseph to be here in this time zone.  This is when his quest begins in earnest.    This is where he becomes physically integrated into the long term battle with the creature.    Should we cause any intervention at this point which results in Joseph’s not completing this event in the same way as he did the first time, the rest of the viewing will probably be unnecessary.   The fate of your planet may well have been sealed forever because Joseph won’t be connected to it.   We have no way of knowing what would happen in this situation, nor do we really want to.

Time zones, timelines, cracks in time and observing events from the past that could be changed as you watched by a creature that could travel back into time were beginning to wear Johann down.   Not because he was finding it all too to hard to believe, but because he did believe it.   He had seen the beginnings of the events that were now occupying his life many years earlier – and even then it had threatened to do his head in.   The Earth already had enough problems with the odd world leader losing the plot and threatening to further fracture an already unbalanced world to want to have aliens to deal with as well.

He shook his head in dismay as he released a sigh, acknowledging that getting a simplified answer from Arkerious was a rare thing to happen, and a waste of time in pursuing it when it didn’t arrive … far better to change tact if one wanted an answer somewhere close to their concerns, he thought.

“Is it safe to trust his ability?” Biggs finally asked, “He doesn’t seem ready to me.   In fact he looks kind of neurotic to me.   Are you sure we are looking at the chosen one all grown up?”   I know that he has been monitored practically from birth till the present moment … and well into the future, I daresay, but you have not been able to show me anything about him that gives me confidence that he is who you think him to be so far.   Perhaps the wrong child was collected by accident.”

“No, Johann,” Arkerious replied calmly, “He was the right child.    The chosen one is not a description that I would have chosen to bestow on Joseph because he came into the frame not by a prophecy, but by his actions … though there are those that may disagree with me.   The chosen one was initially applied to him in retrospect, but as time is being forced to replay itself it may now apply, I suppose.

Johann simply looked at Arkerious in confusion, so Arkerious continued.   ‘The concept of time travel may feel strange to you, my friend, perhaps too hard for you to grasp just yet.  However, you really have to try to understand that Joseph has already done what we are watching.   He has already defeated the creature in this timeline.   And he has progressed on for many years until he finally completed the task he was perhaps ordained for.

It is you and I that have travelled back in time to witness the steps he took – as he took them.  You cannot think that he is not qualified for the task – he has already completed it … successfully!   But someone, or something, has refuted his claim for victory by interfering with time and given the creature a second chance to achieve victory*.

Our information is still sketchy at this stage; however we do know for certain that what we have been told is accurate.   We know for certain that somebody or something has caused cracks in Joseph’s timeline on Earth.    What we do not know is who, why or when.  Who has corrupted the time line?   Why they did what they did, and when the time can be used?   The only other thing that we are certain of is that the timeline in each zone will close the instant the event takes place, regardless of its conclusion.”

“If the creature enters in the corrupt time zone won’t there be two of them?   Surely they would defeat Joseph between them?”   Biggs asked with concern as the thought crossed his mind.

“No”, Arkerious replied, “The one single rule that we know for certain that applies to the compromised time zones is that they must be entered at the same time that they were originally entered by both protagonist and antagonist.   This means that the creature can only enter the zone around the same time Joseph is arriving there.   The compromised zone is only open for roughly the same time as the events previously took place, so the creature can’t just be hanging around in wait and when it enters it becomes the first incarnation of itself in the time zone.

The cracks are a series of points in time that have been compromised so they are no longer closed.   In other words they are points of time still awaiting Joseph to pass through them.   They are points of time when something of consequential importance has taken place, in this instance involving Joseph and the ongoing battle with the creature.    In reality these events took place many years ago, but the creature has found an ally that has the ability to somehow reopen the time zones where it failed to eliminate Joseph.   Now, with the foresight of how the battle played out, the creature believes it has an advantage because it will be ready for whatever Joseph throws at him.   Whether he has an advantage or not remains to be proven either way.

You and I, Johann, have travelled back in time simply to observe.   Should we come across a zone where things are altered then we may be required to take action, but what action that will be … we will have to wait to see.   Have a look at this timeline chart and you will see what I mean.”

Arkerious turned on his heels and walked into the darkness and Johann was literally left in the dark as the light coming from above his head disappeared and the room became enshrouded in blackness.   However, within a split second, light from another overhead down-light spilt its brightness over a huge desk some distance from where Johann was standing.   As his eyes adjusted to the brilliant light, Johann found himself fascinated by the sudden appearance of a huge desk with dozens, perhaps hundreds, of rolled up and laid flat pieces of paper messily covering the length and breadth of the wooden bench, hanging down from the five levels of shelving connected to the rear of the desk, or laying on the floor

“I see what you mean by your invisible décor, Arkerious,”   Johann noted,   “What else do have hidden away in here?”

Arkerious smiled as he replied, “Nothing that is needed, or of concern, at the moment.    But please come closer so you can see the chart.   As he spoke Arkerious began rummaging through the papers and as Johann arrived at the desk Arkerious managed to get so close to his friend it was almost as if they were joined at the hips.   Johann, feeling slightly uncomfortable at the closeness of the two men began to shift slightly to side, but Arkerious’s softly spoken words stopped him in his tracks.

“Do not move, my friend, read the page and do not react to it, even with a gasp.”   As he spoke, Arkerious slipped a folded sheet of paper from the bottom of the pile of papers, placed it in front of Johann and bent forward as if to read it, beckoning Johann to do the same.

Uncertain what was going on Johann never-the-less leant forward as instructed, their two bodies, with the aid of the shelving at the rear of the desk, cutting off any hope for anybody observing the two men to see the content of the chart.

But it was not a chart, but a long note that Arkerious had unfolded in front of Johann;

‘We may be bugged, as you earthlings would say,’ the note began, ‘both visually and audibly.   If someone can corrupt timelines, then a little espionage would not be beyond them.   It is not a chance that we can take as it would greatly reduce our advantage.   Read this, but it is imperative that you show no signs of reaction to what it written.   No reaction whatsoever.

‘Unless we are mistaken in our findings,’ the note began, ‘it would appear that there are no cracks during three very decisive battles.   We have no idea why these crucial zones were not included, but we do know this factor should be in Joseph’s favour because it is just possible that it is there to indicate that Joseph will defeat the creature during all encounters, including the final battle.    We wonder if the time changers were forced to do the creature’s bidding, but weren’t prepared to go all the way.   If the creature can’t change things in these zones it almost means that Joseph survives each of the other open time zones to arrive at these points.   However, there are other possible factors as to why the cracks are not showing in these time zones … including the possibility that it could also be a trap, or perhaps mind-games to lull Joseph into a false sense of security.   We just have to keep on monitoring and hope it is to Joseph’s advantage.

Mind you, should Joseph be killed at any stage prior to these events taking place, the fact that there are no cracks at these particular points will be totally inconsequential.  The Earth will be in dire straits … and that is why we are involved the way we are.

There are certain things that we can do to help Joseph, but you and I can’t discuss them at the moment for fear of being overheard.   I will find a way of communicating with you on updates as they occur, but for the moment please refrain from asking too many questions because I will be unable to answer you … and we don’t want any listener to become suspicious of us because I keep rebuffing the questions.   It will possibly destroy our advantage, should it really exist.   We can only hope that the creature is unaware of the three time zones that are not open.    But it is only a hope at this stage.’

“Perhaps there will be nothing we can do,”   Arkerious remarked as he began folding up the sheet of paper and slipping it back below the pile before bending his tall, thin frame upright and moving away from the desk,   “We will just have to wait and see.

Shortly I will begin to give Joseph the information that he will need to do battle, but remember this won’t be the ‘me’ that you are here on Garogoia with.   It will be the ‘me’ that existed in Joseph’s timeline.   I will appear like my own doppelganger.”

Again Johann shook his head and rolled his eyes.

“Joseph is unaware of the situation as it now exists and, therefore, he is not trying to defeat the creature for a second time,”   Arkerious continued, “at this stage he is not even aware that he is on a quest.  Joseph is simply living his life as it happens, and his reaction to anything that he now comes in contact with is purely reflex and that includes the decisions in life that he makes, and sometime in the next forty eight hours fate will initiate his introduction into the events that will change the future of Earth for many years to come.   Regardless of whether Joseph actually does battle with the creature during this forty eight hour zone, or some other event takes place, is irrelevant.   If the creature can enter the zone it will have its first opportunity to strike – because the opportunity is open to it.

It is a live performance that we see as events unfold during these time zones … not a replay.   What you have seen so far is a combination of the the past and the present.   What we are about to watch is as it is happening, not in retrospect.   You have been watching a screen, as you would on Earth when watching a video transmission, but this image is not coming from a broadcasting system located somewhere nearby, it is coming from my mind.   I am able to lock into timelines and observe them and I have the ability to transfer the image to the screen so you can also view it.   What you are seeing on the screen is one such observation.    The monitor is not active in the true sense; it just works better for your eyes because it is what your eyes are used to.   It is not plugged in to a power unit, it didn’t need power – just a screen.   I could just as easily place the image on the wall, but the picture wouldn’t be pure enough.   The quality of the image would distract you from the story that was unfolding.   Perhaps if I gave you a demonstration of my power you will have a better understanding of what is going on.

Without warning, inside Johann’s head a noiseless explosion fused lightness and darkness together, momentarily blinding him.   For a second or two he felt unstable, confused and slightly ill.   Then suddenly the air around him rose several degrees, it was warmer now, he felt – warmer than it had been but a second earlier, but comfortable.   As his mind began to settle down his eyesight returned with unbelievable clarity, and for some reason his mind thought of the abrupt change to one’s eyes when they changed from analogue to high definition, for this was how clear he now saw the environment as it lay before him.

And as his newly returned vision scanned his surroundings Johann began to realise that the room had changed.   As he looked around he was surprised by the the sudden brightness that surround him – then he realised that he was no longer inside the cave on Garogia that housed Arkerious’ office.

He was in an office; a building he recognised  – and he was standing some short distance from Joseph Jacobson sitting at his desk at Johnson’s Import and Export.

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