Part 14
You wake up early the following morning and lie for long minutes in your bed. Your room here on the Trig is quiet in a way that's difficult to describe until you realise that the low level damping fields around you are giving you your first really quiet time since you broke out.
You have a lot to think about as you lie in your clean white bed. Your time as a Tomorrow Person has been far from uneventful and many of your recent memories are not ones you plan to cherish. You're adrift in time and space, you ought to feel frightened and alone. The thought that you may never see your home and parents again is a wrench that leaves a tight knot in your chest. Despite that, you realise, in a strange way you are happier now than you have been for years. You've never fitted in at school or at home. You've always assumed that no one out there would ever understand your isolation and sense of difference. Now you've found people who understand you completely. Their dismissive reaction to your self pity after all that's happened helps prove that. The other Tomorrow People are not making light of anything that's happened but they have made it plain that as long as you learn from your mistakes you'll always be welcome amongst them. The thought gives you a warm glow inside and you're smiling when the chiming of the room's alarm reminds you that it wont be long until breakfast.
With John leaving for Earth after the meal there's a sense of regret in the air but it's one that everyone is careful not to voice. Tyso, Carol and her tall and willowy alien husband, Narcissa, all manage to join you for a long leisurely breakfast and together with John, Stephen and Mike they form a group which you know seldom gets a chance to meet together. Despite that there is no discomfort between them. Stephen is still a little pale and you have a slight nagging headache but the travails of the last few days are set aside. The conversation is the easy banter of people totally comfortable in one another's company and, you realise, that includes you.
It's almost a shock when a polite cough announces the arrival of his Excellency Timus Irnok Mosta at the doorway. The tall man is wearing long purple robes, his hair combed back from the distinguished, if a little weathered, face. Everyone stands in greeting and you follow their example quickly. Timus acknowledges your courtesy with a nod of his head as he joins you on the circular sofa. At first you assume that he has just come to see John off but then you become aware that the conversation has come to an abrupt halt despite Timus's pleasantries. Mike shares a confused look with you but the older Tomorrow People are exchanging frowns. In the end it's John that speaks up.
"Alright, your Excellency. We know that something's wrong. What did you have to say to us?"
"Has anything happened to one of the others?" Carol adds anxiously. Timus reaches out absently to pat her hand in reassurance even as Narcissa slips his hand around her waist.
"Nothing like that, my dear child! Indeed, I believe your compatriots are thriving wherever they are."
John and Stephen exchange frustrated looks.
"Then what's the matter, Timus?" Stephen asks.
"Is ... is it about me?" You ask timidly
In answer Timus looks directly at you.
"I am very much afraid that it is, young man." He tells you. "Jay, our scientists can find no explanation for your arrival or origins. The things that you and your fellow Tomorrow People have told us of the world from which you originate make little sense. It is not clear to us why you have no knowledge of the current generation of Tomorrow People on Earth. It is not clear why your abilities vary so radically from theirs."
You feel vaguely guilty at his words, as if you are personally responsible for the confusion of the Trig's scientists. You don't like the way Timus is heading either.
"Timus," John leans forward intently. "Have you tried to contact the Time Guardians? Surely they must ..."
"The Eternal Order of Time Guardians has no knowledge of this situation." Timus cuts him off regretfully. "It seems that Jay's arrival here has no noticeable effect on the time lanes. Either the time interval which has been transitted is too small, or Jay's absence from his own time is a natural event, or possibly Jay's presence here cannot influence his own time lane and has become a natural part of ours."
"What are you saying, your Excellancy?" You ask with a dry mouth.
"I very much fear that we have no idea how to return you to your own place and time, young Jay. And with no hint of how your initial transition was accompished we have no starting points from which to begin the process of research."
"You mean I'm stuck here." You say flatly, all your mixed feelings rising to the surface. Feeling the compassion and companionship of these Tomorrow People while you believed it was temporary was one thing. Knowing that you are stuck here forever, that reassurance seems a little thing.
"Oh, Jay!" Carol says, her voice filling with regret for your sake.
"Jay, you know that you are always welcome amongst us." John tells you urgently. "You're a Tomorrow Person."
"You're one of us, Jay." Stephen adds quickly.
You nod, numbly. You know it is true but it seems small consolation for now.
*****
"Unless..." The Ambassador hesitates.
Timus shifts a little awkwardly in his seat. The Ambassador's dignified posture and elaborate clothing makes his uncomfortable expression faintly ridiculous. John has fixed Timus with a genuinely puzzled look and, glancing around, you realise that everyone in the room is hanging on the Ambassador's next words.
"There may be a way."
"What?" You and Mike shout simultaneously. John shoots you a quelling look but he is leaning forward too.
"Our scientists have suggested that it might be possible to recreate the conditions that brought Jay here in the first place. With a sufficient energy boost it may be possible to return Jay to the region of hyperspace from which he may return to his own space-time coordinates."
"You want to put Jay back in the middle of an explosion!?" John seems about to explode himself.
"It should be possible to simulate the conditions with a boosted jaunting beam." Timus corrects, looking at you. "But, I must admit, the procedure would not be without considerable risk. And, if it were to be performed, it must be performed soon. The drift in local hyperspace reduces the chances of success with each passing hour."
You look from face to anxious face, knowing that this may be the decision that decides your entire future. You are welcome here and loved, but you've left so much behind
Do you:
a) decide to return to Earth with John?
b) take the chance to get home?
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