~*~ “Josie, come help me!” Josina Clark rushed to her porch but was blinded by the headlights of Dora Partoe’s car. “Can’t see, you, Dora,” she yelled back. “Turn off the lights!” The sudden darkness hampered her vision as much as the previous light. Even at age sixty-nine, Josie ran with agility down the steps of her cabin to see what Dora’s problem was. “You’re late. Run into a trouble?” “You might say that,” Dora said, pulling her lanky frame from the confines of the old Toyota. “I’m afraid I’ve got a problem for both of us. Here…” Josie caught up with her as she proceeded to open the hatchback of the car. The woman gasped as she saw the unconscious form of a young man folded into the storage area of the car. “Dora – what on earth?” she exclaimed, dumbfounded by the sight. “Found him beside the road about five miles out from here. Darn near ran over him. At first, I thought it was a dead dear, but when I couldn’t see a tail – well, you know what I mean.” “Why didn’t you call someone? Why did you pick him up? You know what could have happened if he regained consciousness?” “Aw, look at him, Josie. He looks so sweet and pathetic; I don’t think he would hurt a fly.” “Nonetheless… we’d better get him inside and tie him up. Then call the authorities. Hurry, come on; before he comes to!” Josie was already dragging the limp lifeless form from the car, slinging one of his arms around her neck and grasping him around his waist. She continued talking while motioning to her friend to do likewise. “Here; together we can get him into the house.” The man’s boot-clad feet scraped the flagstone pathway as the two women heaved him towards the house. Funny how an inert body always seems heavier and more cumbersome than a ‘live’ one. Several times, Dora, the smaller but older of the two women, stumbled over the straggly barberry bushes that lined the path. When they got to the three steps leading into the house, Josie stopped. “Why don’t I take his shoulders and you take his feet? We can try to lift him up the steps.” Dora dropped the arm she was holding, panting as she talked. “Yes; good idea,” she agreed. The women quickly adjusted their holds. A low groan came from the man as they maneuvered him up the steps. They plopped him on the sofa in the front room. “I think he’s coming to,” said Josie, her eyes opening wide with fear. Dora’s eyes flew around the room. She moved almost as quickly. “Here – we can use these table runners to tie him up!” Josie smiled and nodded her approval. “Yes—that should hold him. Hmmm. You know, Dora, I haven’t had a chance to try my knot tying skills in years!” “Now’s your chance,” Dora grinned back. In tandem, they quickly secured his hands and feet – and not a minute too soon, as his eyes flitted open as they finished. The look in his eyes showed as much panic as those of the two women did. With as much strength and energy as he could muster in his incapacitated condition, he tried to sit up. “Who are you? Where am I?” he cried out, unable to contain his apprehension. Josie pushed him back down onto the sofa. “We were about to ask you the same thing, sonny. Dora here (she signaled the presence of her friend with her outstretched thumb) found you lying alongside the road a few miles back. What were you doing out here all alone at this time of night? Got any identification on you?” The young man shook his head, tousling his thick thatch of straight black hair. Some of it fell down into his face and he tried to blow it out of his eyes. “I’m not supposed to be here – wherever ‘here’ is. Where’s Captain Janeway? Where’s Lt. Torres?” “Who?” Dora asked. “Are you in the military or something? If you are, this is a pretty strange uniform you’re wearing. It isn’t even camouflage and here you are out in the middle of the wilderness.” “My… my name’s Kim… Ensign Harry Kim,” he said, determined to say no more. “Ensign?” asked Josie. “Isn’t that a naval rank? You sure don’t look like any navy person I’ve ever seen. Which navy? You look Asian – are you from some North Korean vessel trying to sneak onto our west coast? ‘Cause if you are, we’ll have someone here before any of your cronies can join you.” She jerked her head towards her friend. “Dora, call 911… the FBI… the CIA… anyone – we’ve got to get this guy to the authorities.” “I’m on it,” Dora answered, flying to the phone. “So – are you gonna tell us or do you want to wait until Sheriff Clooney arrives? I don’t think he’ll be as pleasant as we are.” Panic surfaced in the man’s eyes and face. “Where...where am I?” he cried out again. “I’m supposed to be on Voyager… in engineering working on the driver coil assembly. Where did you come from?” Dora came back. “Got the sheriff – he’s on his way.” She looked at the distraught man. “What’s Voyager? Josie – wasn’t that some sort of NASA probe that went to Jupiter a few years back?” Josie nodded. “Yeah; I think it was. I think I remember reading last spring that it’s now beyond Pluto.” She turned to the perplexed face of their guest. “You can’t be from Voyager, sonny; that was an unmanned probe. Just what are you trying to pull over on us?” The uniformed man appeared even more confused, as if trying to recall long-buried facts. “NASA… unmanned probes…” A light of recall lit up his face. “Uh… ma’am, could you please tell me what year this is?” “What year?” Dora asked. “That’s a strange thing to ask…” “Please – just humor me,” he pleaded. “It’s 2003,” Josie stated. “What year do you think it should be?” He leaned back onto the sofa. “2003. That’s just great. What’s happened to me this time?” “What’s that supposed to mean?” asked Dora. The man opened his almond-shaped eyes, their dark irises brilliant in the reflected light. “You say you found me alongside the road. When was that?” “About an hour ago,” Dora answered. “Anything else… any one else with me?” he asked. “Not that I noticed – and trust me – I wasn’t going to go looking for anyone else!” Dora answered. He closed his eyes, sighing and mumbling. “What’s that?” Josie asked. “What are you talking about?” “Did you see anything strange?” he continued. “Any bright lights or something like that?” Dora shook her head. “Nope, just you, laying there like a lump of roadkill.” Beads of sweat appeared scattered on his forehead. “Look, ladies; there’s no way I can explain this, either to you or to whomever you’ve called. It’s… it’s something that’s got to be fixed by my friends… my colleagues….” “I’m not calling any strangers!” Josie stated firmly. “You’re about all the excitement I need for right now!” “I’m not going to hurt you,” he pleaded. “Please – just call off anyone coming here; let me hide until my friends can figure something out.” The two women looked at each other. He really did seem to be just a very frightened – and confused – young man. “If we do,” said Josie, her voice taking on a low timbre, “I’m warning you – I’ve got several dogs who can be very protective of Dora and me.” As if on cue, several howls came from another room in the house. The young man jumped. “Ye…yes… I hear them. No trouble – please; I promise…” Another looked passed between the women. “Okay; I’ll see if I can catch Clooney,” Dora said, “I’ll tell him… um… that you’re a nephew of Josie’s who was coming for a surprise visit.” “Nephew?” Josie queried. “I’ve got a nephew?” “You do now, sweetie,” answered Dora, going back to the phone. “Wait until I get back to untie him – and maybe you should let Turnipseed out here to be with us.” “Good idea,” said Josie, going to the door that barricaded the canine troop from the room. She cracked the door, holding back several scrambling furry bodies. “Come here, TS; we’ve got a job for you.” She reached through the darkness of the crack and led a large mongrel out into the room. The man swallowed hard; the dog appeared to be about eighty pounds of muscle and brawn and bared his teeth in a snarl. “He won’t hurt you if he sees that you like us – and that we like you,” responded Josie. “I do like you,” the man gulped. “You’re my new best friends!” He tried to smile at the dog. “Good,” Josie answered. Dora came back from her telephone call. “Well, Clooney wasn’t too happy about being pulled away at this hour of the night and then being told he wasn’t needed.” “We’ll tend to Fred later,” Josie said, already loosening the ties. Freed from his bonds, the young man sighed with a little bit of relief, rubbing his wrists as he swung himself into a seated position. “Thanks,” he said; his voice sounded quite sincere. “No funny business now,” Dora said sternly. “No, ma’am!” he answered respectfully. “You thirsty – or hungry?” Josie asked. A wan smile spread across the man’s face. “Yes, ma’am; guess that I am.” “Want a ham sandwich and a coke?” “Coke?” he asked. “Cola… soda… soft drink…” Josie said. “Er… yeah; sounds good,” he said, still looking confused. “I’ll go to the kitchen and get it for you. Turnipseed will stay here with you and Dora.” The man’s face paled a bit. “I understand.” Josie disappeared. Dora decided to try to make him a little bit more comfortable and sat down beside him on the sofa. “So, tell me – where are you from? Where’s your family?” “Uh… my family lives in San Francisco,” he muttered. “My mom and dad, that is.” “Really?” Dora smiled. “So you’re just a couple hundred miles from home. What brings you up here? How did you get here?” She leaned in towards him, lowering her voice, thinking that she could coax more information out of him by using a more familial tone. “I… I really don’t know how I got here, ma’am; it’s like something just sort of transported me…” The older woman laughed heartily, slapping her thighs. “You’ve been watching too many TV shows and movies. Nothing like that ever happens in real life.” “Maybe not now,” he answered. She cocked her head. “What do you mean by ‘now’?” “I really can’t…” Josie opened the door, her hands full with a large filled plate and a can of soda. Suddenly, the area where the young man sat fizzled and sparked like a huge fireworks display. In unison, the plate and can fell with a crash and a splunk. The two women let out a duet scream and Turnipseed growled and ran towards the commotion. It all happened in less than two seconds and then he was gone. Nothing was left of him – he just disappeared. Dora’s eyes overtook the rest of her face. “Josie – did you see that?” “I didn’t see anything,” Josie responded, her eyes even bigger than Dora’s. “And neither did you.” “But we did! That young man that I picked up…” “…Was never here! Dora, not a word of this… to anyone!” “But… but…” Dora muttered. “It never happened!” Josie said firmly. “And that’s that!” Turnipseed kept sniffing the area, hoping to get one last whiff of the stranger who had been there. He whined as his tail wagged vigorously. ~*~ “Harry, Harry!” Harry Kim opened his eyes, looking up into the concerned faces of Captain Janeway and B’Elanna Torres. The captain’s warm hand felt good on his cheek. “Are you back with us? That was quite a scare!” “The EMH is on his way,” B’Elanna announced. “You must have taken at least a megajoule jolt.” Harry tried to sit up, but Janeway pushed him back down. “No, don’t try to get up. Let’s wait…” He blinked his eyes. “What happened? How long have I…” Janeway placed her finger across his lips. “Shhh; it’s okay, Harry. You were working on the driver coil assembly and must have cut into something you shouldn’t have. The charge knocked you unconscious and you’ve been that way for about a minute.” Harry’s head was spinning. “Captain, I don’t think I was just ‘out’; I think that I got tangled in some sort of time warp. I was… somewhere in the northwestern United States, almost five hundred years ago, and there were these two women who…” “Uh, uh, Harry; no more. We’ll talk later,” the captain said. “It was a dream, Harry.” Harry closed his eyes. Why did this kind of thing always happen to him? “It wasn’t a dream, Captain. It was quite real.” “Later, Harry,” she said again. He lay back, just as he heard the doctor and his team approach. WHY does this always happen to me? he sighed. ~ THE END ~ TT Home I B’day Party Home I B’day Stories I Sandrine’s Ask the Captain I Cursed by Q I Interviewing with the Commander J/C Slideshow I Favors & Prizes I Puzzles