Chapter No.53 Question.

I had spent a lot of time going through the NASA mission data when I found something that changed everything. I waited until the women gathered at the command station before I revealed it.

"We're definitely not in the same timeline we were in when we came out of hibernation," I told them.

"How do you know that?" Janet asked.

"Because our mission is listed as traveling to the Alpha Centauri system, not specifically to Proxima-b. In fact, the description specifically indicates that Proxima-b is not habitable."

"So, what difference does that make?" Sharon asked.

"If we're not in our original timeline, then there could be habitable planets in this timeline that we thought were not in that timeline."

"So, what are you suggesting, that we go check them out again?"

"Well, not all of them, just the ones we think may be habitable."

"If we do find a habitable planet, will we live on it?" Natale asked.

"Not necessarily live on it, but we could enjoy it. Think of it as being shore leave. In this case it would be planet leave."

"That would be wonderful, sir," Bridget said, her eyes beaming imagined joy.

"I agree. It's up to you ladies to find a wonderful planet."

"Gee, thanks, sir!" Janet quipped.

"Does this mean that you don't need me?" Kali said.

"On the contrary. I'm sure we'll run into cranky aliens and maybe even evil humans."

She laughed.

"Oh, by the way, sir, I found something that might interest you. There was a fourth mission that launched in 2052 and it has your girlfriend listed as being in its crew."

"What was their destination?"

She gave me a disgusted expression. "Tau Ceti."

"That's the planet with grumps," I said.

"That's right."

I sighed. "I suppose we should go there to check it out. Maybe grumps are not in this timeline."

We strapped into our G-chairs for an engine burn that put us into hyperspace.

"Who was your girlfriend?" Kali asked me.

"Her name was Megan Version. She was a cadet at the academy when I was there."

"She's listed as an astronaut first class on her mission," Kali said. "You said that she died in a shuttle accident,"

"Yes. It was devastating to me because she was carrying our child."

"Evidently, she wasn't pregnant in this timeline."

I shook my head. "That would be true."

The burn ended and we gathered at the command station.

"We should be able to obtain orbit in three days," Janet said.

I stood up. "Good. I think I'll go for a run."

Kali joined me.

"So, do you think you'll find your girlfriend on the Tau Ceti planet?" she asked as we ran together around the wheel deck.

"Don't know, but if I do, it definitely means we're in the wrong timeline."

"We're you planning to get married?"

"We had discussed it, but we never got the chance to do anything about it."

"I almost got married," she said as she kept up with me. "Unfortunately, I caught him cheating."

"I suppose it wasn't to be for either of us."

She didn't reply, but I could see the sadness in her eyes.

After several cycles around the deck, we stopped at the shower unit. Kali promptly removed her clothing and smiled before entering the unit. I just shook my head before picking up her clothing and depositing it in the clothes cleaning unit. After several minutes, she emerged and nonchalantly walked to her bunk and obtained fresh clothing.

"Your turn," she said with a grin, gesturing to the shower unit.

She stood there watching me strip and enter the unit, but she was gone when I got out of it.

Other than that, nothing of note occurred before we assembled to do the burn that took us out of hyperspace.

"The planet appears to be the same as when we came here before," Janet said after she activated the astronomy station. "I'll be able to get better observations when we get closer."

The next day, she had more to report. "The planet is more or less the same as when we visited it. There's not much in the way of activity down there but there is definitely a large metropolis."

"I wonder if the grumps are still down there," Bridget said.

"I don't know, but both Kali and I will be armed with rifles. In fact, she and I will be the only ones to go down there."

The others didn't object, and I could appreciate why they didn't.

Kali flew the shuttle down to the surface and landed it in a large empty plaza. When we emerged from the shuttle, we both had the powered-up rifles in our hands.

A man and a woman approached us. The woman looked a lot like Megan. The male wasn't familiar but definitely young. Both were young looking and dressed in black suits.

"Who are you?" the male asked.

"We're survivors from the first missions to Proxima-b. This is Kali and I'm Ryan Taylor."

Megan didn't react to my revelation. Obviously, she didn't know me in this timeline, definitive proof that we're in a different timeline compared to my origin.

"Why are you here?" Megan asked.

"Actually, it because of you."

She tilted her head and her face twisted with confusion.

"I'm sure you're familiar with hyperspace."

"Yes," she said.

"It turns out there are nodes in hyperspace that can allow one to enter alternate timelines. The timeline that I was in before leaving on my mission is not the one that we're in now. In that original timeline, you and I were friends, but you died in a shuttle accident and took our child with you."

"I have no way of relating to that. I never saw you before now."

"I understand. I came here to find you and now I can go with the realization that I'm in a different timeline."

"Are you threatened by grumps?" Kali asked.

"What is a . . . a grump?" the man asked.

"It's a raptor like carnivorous creature."

"There's nothing like that here."

I turned to Kali. "Looks like we won't have target practice today."

She chuckled.

"How many people are here on this planet?" I asked.

"There's only a few hundred of us. We came here to escape Earth's problems."

"I understand. Earth isn't very habitable now." I paused before taking my leave. "We'll be going now. Thanks for the information."

They simply smiled.

Kali and I turned and went back to the shuttle. Kali flew it back up to the ship. When we got down to the crew deck, we joined the others at the command station.

"What did you find down there?" Janet asked.

"My girlfriend is there, but she doesn't remember me. That's proof that we're not in the correct timeline. You may as well go back to Earth."

We strapped in for the burn to take us into hyperspace, but Janet noticed something that wasn't right, and it changed everything.