Open Writing

The Hermes II
Deep space

“Coming up to lightspeed, Cal!” Joe said.

Cal glanced at the counter, then back at his control board. “Okay, buddy. Everyone stand by for temporal displacement.”

The calculations for the final jump had been made, speeds and times had been computed and courses set. Now, there was nothing left to do except do it.

The stars elongated, then they were in the silver–gray tunnel of hyperspace.

“How long will it take, Cal?” Arnold asked from directly behind Cal.

“Only about seven minutes this time. When we come out, we should be somewhere around 26AD or so.” He turned in his seat to address the others.

“This is a touchy maneuver, folks. We have to arrive at a time before the crucifixion, but not too much before. If we do, then Jonathan may feel he has more work to do, and won’t want to come back with us. On the other hand, he may be playing a larger role in all this than we know, so we can’t be too late, either.”

“What if we are?” asked Joe. “Can’t we just do this again until we get it right?”

Cal shook his head. “No. I don’t understand the science, but it seems that once we’ve visited a particular time period, we can’t do it again, since we’ll already be there, and we can’t meet ourselves.” He shrugged apologetically. “As I said, it’s complicated; we just have to get it right first time.”

“Coming out of lightspeed in three, two, one…” Joe said and with a suddenness that never failed to startle, the stars were back.

Cal turned to Joe. “Okay, where are we?”

Joe grunted. “Give me five, Cal,” and busied himself at the computer and his calculations.

“Cal, what if he says he doesn’t want to come back? What do we do then?” Karen asked.

Cal shrugged. “Well, I guess we do our best to persuade him, but ultimately we have to respect his wishes. It’ll be hard, I know, but if it’s what he wants…well, we’ll just have to abide by it.”

They were quiet, then Joe said, “Okay, it looks like we’re right on the money. Going by star positions and such, I make it August, 26 A.D.” He turned to Cal and grinned. “Close enough?”

“Close enough,” Cal grinned.

“I’m no theologian, Cal, but I think that was about the time that Jesus got his call, and began his ministry,” Arnold said. “All the signs we’ve been able to glean from the scriptures say he was 33 when he was crucified. If he was born in 4 BC, which was when Herod conducted his campaign against the first-born, according to the historian, Josephus, then that puts the crucifixion in 29 AD. His ministry lasted three years, so, well, even I can do that math.”

They all sat lost in their thoughts, then Cal said. “Okay, folks, lets find out where we are and get to Earth, then we shall see what we shall see.”

All busied themselves to plotting courses, checking personal telemetry, monitoring engines, and calculating inventory. They were going into an unknown environment, and would need to be as prepared as possible. None of them spoke any of the languages they might encounter, an issue they would face when the need arose.

* * * *

Jonathan stood at the water’s edge, gazing out across the gentle waves at the far shore, hazy in the distance. This is where he’ll do it, he thought. Just walk right out there to his friends in their boat, ignoring the danger always present when the Sea of Galilee whips up in a frenzy of white water. Was it really a miracle? Did He really walk on the water?

Jonathan sighed, and turned away from the shore. Well if he did, he thought, then I might just get to see it happen. After all, I’m a local, now. I live in the neighborhood, just up there, third cave from the left. He chuckled, wondering just where his newfound skepticism had come from.

For all of the time that he had been a committed Christian, Jonathan had known that the scriptures were very much open to interpretation, and no sensible, thinking person took them as, well, gospel. Most of them had been written many years, even decades, and in some cases centuries after Jesus’ death, and had been handed down by word of mouth, since almost none of the original disciples could read or write. Probably only Matthew the tax collector, as a former local government official, had enjoyed that skill; Peter and his brothers had been fishermen and most likely had no education. What it came down to was faith; belief in something simply because of the fact of one’s belief, with no direct evidence of any kind.

Jonathan stood watching the water for several minutes more, then turned away and began to walk towards the low hills in the distance. Beyond them, the land sloped gradually up to the Golan Heights. Before he reached them, he would find his cave, and the people he had left behind almost 30 years before. Would any of them still be there? Would the village even exist? With nowhere else to go, Jonathan walked on.

* * * *

They had brought the Hermes II into orbit, and Cal shut down all but the essentials before turning to the others. “We’ll wait here until dawn, then take the shuttle down for a look, then take a short sortie out to the 10-mile limit. If anyone sees us, we head back to the ship, pronto.”

“Cal, mightn’t that be potentially disastrous? If we’re seen, won’t that violate the paradox principles you mentioned?” Julia asked.

Cal shrugged. “Who’s gonna believe anyone who does see us? Worst case, we’ll be taken for angels.”

The others smiled. “Even so, we’ll try to avoid any contact and keep a low profile.”

The others nodded, and began preparing for the following morning’s exploration. Some of them would not be going, but there was plenty to do, not the least of which was sleep. They worked quietly, alone with their thoughts, and opinions.

Dawn was gray on the eastern horizon when Cal, with Joe assisting, brought the Hermes shuttle in for a landing. The engines in quiet mode were a whisper, and but the shuttle exhaust blew up a cloud of dust. They landed close to where the alien spacecraft that had borne Cal and Karen and Jonathan back to Earth had landed. Cal recognized it and glanced at Karen, who nodded, then they turned their attention to the viewscreens.

* * * *

Jonathan climbed the familiar hillside, his sandals scraping on the shale. This time, there were no shepherd boys to assist him, but he found the going easy enough. Thirty years of walking the country had toughened the frail academic he had been. Suddenly he saw a black hole in the rock wall and he knew he had reached the cave that was his former home.

He stood in front of it, listening for sounds of occupation, heard nothing, and with some misgivings, stooped to enter the cave cautiously. He remembered vividly the demise of ‘tau and the 10th planet, and the birth of the Messiah in the night with the star in the east.

Well, he mused, if I’m interpreting God’s instructions accurately, my part in that is over. He walked into the cave, stooped to pick up a dry branch, wondered what kind of animal dragged it in there, reached into his sack for the firestarter he had brought with him from the Hermes so long ago, and touched it to the wood. Immediately, it flamed, and by its light, he saw that the cave was empty. He walked to the back of the cave, stored his pack and returned to the front, stepped outside, and sat with his back against the hillside, as he had that fateful night.

He looked up at the stars, wondering, Now what?

* * * *

“Looks like Arizona, Cal,” said Joe from the Hermes II, looking intently at the screens. Huge and orange, casting long shadows over the dry land, the sun rose over the Golan Heights and behind the shuttle. The travelers saw they had landed in a shallow depression, deep enough to ensure they were out of sight.

Cal nodded. “Yeah. I’d almost expect to find the Broken Arrow tavern just over that hill.” He turned to Arnold. “Any life signs?”

Arnold shook his head. “None, Cal. There seems to be nobody within a 10-mile radius.” Cal and Karen were scheduled to conduct the first search. They didn’t know where Jonathan was, but it was as good a place as any to start looking. They wore jeans, tee shirts, boots, and wide-brimmed hats to ward off the sun. They took no weapons; no one they met was likely to be carrying any, and they didn’t intend to get that close, anyway. If they met anyone, they would simply walk away and hope residents would be too startled to pursue them.

They lowered the exit ramp and walked out into the early morning heat.

They looked around, then Cal pointed to a low range of hills about two miles east. “I guess that way’s as good as any.”

“I suppose.” Karen nodded.

They set off in that direction, squinting against the sun. After about 15 minutes, they approached what looked like the remains of a camp. They proceeded cautiously, but saw no-one.

* * * *

After only a few minutes in the sun, Jonathan returned to the relative cool at the rear of his cave, glad to be out of the heat. He sat on his spare robe and pondered about what he should do in the absence of further instructions.

He had no doubt he was where he was supposed to be, just not why. Also, he had to do something about food, since he’d used the last of it on the journey north, and had virtually nothing left.

With that in mind, he picked up his walking-staff, rose and moved to the front of the cave. As he approached the entrance, he heard the unmistakable sound of a footstep just outside the entrance. Jonathan froze, and took an involuntary step backwards when a large silhouette filled the mouth of the cave. Raising his staff, he prepared to defend himself.

* * * *

Cal and Karen approached the cave cautiously, and stood to one side of the mouth. Then Cal stepped in front of the entrance, and was confronted by a wild-looking, smelly man with long hair and beard, dressed in rags and brandishing a long, wooden walking staff. They stared at each other for a moment, then Karen, standing beside Cal said, “Oh my God, Jonathan!”

They stared at each other for a frozen moment, then Karen threw her arms around Jonathan, and Cal hugged them both.

“What are…?”

“How did…?”

“My god, is it really you?”

The embrace went on for some time, the exclamations and questions giving way to tears of joy as the three were reunited over a distance of two millennia. It was some time before they could speak.

* * * *

Later, sitting in the cool of the cave, they caught up on each other’s news. Jonathan explained some of what he had been doing, and his adventures as John the Baptist left Cal and Karen speechless.

“My God,” breathed Cal. “John the Baptist? And you really met him? Jesus, I mean?”

Jonathan nodded happily, and Karen asked, “What was he like?”

Jonathan gazed into the small fire he had lit, and chewed thoughtfully on a second chocolate bar from Cal’s rations. The first had gone down in an enraptured minute of sheer gluttony, accompanied by moans of ecstasy; now, he took his time and savored something he had not tasted in 30 years.

“There are no words to describe his intensity, his fire. The most charismatic man I have ever met.” He smiled. “No surprise, there.” He paused, then went on. “I believe God has decided that my work here is done,” a small smile, “as the Lone Ranger used to say.”

“But Jonathan,” Karen interrupted, “didn’t Salome demand…”

“…My head on a silver platter, yes, as proof of my death. It seems He has decided to change that, too.”

They were silent, then Cal said, “Well, professor, I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t mind getting back to where we came from; you know, another time, another place. What do you say we all go together this time?”

Jonathan was silent for a heartbeat, then nodded. “Yes, Cal. I believe it’s time for me to go at least part of the way home.” He offered no explanation for his enigmatic statement, but stood and kicked sand over the small circle of rocks containing his fire. When he was certain it was out he picked up his sack and staff and headed for the cave entrance.

Cal and Karen followed him, knowing that they had some way to go before the old Jonathan was back, if ever. They noticed the strength in his embrace, in his handshake, and in his whole demeanor. This was not the same man they had left behind all those centuries ago, and yet, it was. There was an intensity in him that had not been evident before, but Cal suspected it had always been there and that life in this harsh environment had brought it out, made it the dominant aspect of his personality.

Cut it out, he thought, as they went down the hillside and headed off in the direction of the shuttle. Enough with the psychoanalyzing. Against all hope, we’re all together again, except Bill. Nothing would accomplish that. No miracle would return to them their friend who had given up his life to save theirs. Cal put the thought out of his mind. No point in dwelling on it; be happy to have Jonathan back.