Road to Tar'tron

Original artwork by Rounnac Masoudi.
image credits

On this page: Part 2 of "The Zal Intervention".
 
Day 2 in 1895 (back to day 1)
By the time when Zal checked into the Palace Hotel in San Francisco she had already "appropriated" sufficient funds to pay the rent for a week in advance. When Zal handed over a 50 dollar bill, the front desk clerk immediately took it into the back office in order to check if it was counterfeit. "Excuse me one moment, Miss."

Zal looked at the row of ornamental mirrors along the wall behind the reception desk. In the nearest mirror, she could see herself: it seemed odd to be disguised as an Earthling. Zal reached up and felt through her hair, briefly running a finger along the top of her bobbed ear. With her Kac'hin physical features now hidden, she was free to move among the people of Earth.

The clerk returned quickly and checked Zal into the hotel, registering her as "Miss Green". With her nanite-augmented senses, Zal could tell that she was being watched by someone on the other side of the nearest mirror.

The receptionist called forward a porter, handed him a key, and instructed the young man to carry Zal's bag to her suite. Zal had already bent down to pick up the garment bag and objected, "That won't be necessary." She tried to motion the porter away. "I can carry this myself."

The porter took the bag from Zal's hand. "Please, Miss, I insist." Zal did not care to argue so she meekly followed the porter across the hotel lobby. She was alarmed by the elevator that took them up to the top floor of the hotel. The elevator made a series of thumping noises while carrying its passengers and the elevator operator seemed to be listening intently for new creaks and groans that would portend doom. A moment later Zal was alone in her suite, puzzling over the events of the past day during which she had traveled back through time to arrive in Oakland in the year 1895. She had then crossed the Bay to arrive in San Francisco.

Oakland crime scene

Deep in thought, Zal was relentlessly probing into the new memories that she had, courtesy of the infites she had received from her future self. Upon being sent to 1895, Zal had struggled to understand why it was necessary that she be stranded in the past, following mysteriously cryptic mission instructions that directed her to do inexplicable things such as breaking into someone's house and steeling their hidden stash of money.

Most Reality Changes were accomplished quickly, so why must she now live for decades on Earth? Indeed, her Intervention to prevent Jack London from developing an interest in science fiction had been accomplished within just a few minutes of her arrival in 1895.

While it was frustrating to know no details of her mission, the general scope of the mission and the direction of Zal's future life on Earth was clear enough in her mind: she must soon travel to Europe and stay there through the troubled times of the early 20th century. However, what she might accomplish in Europe and how her presence there might benefit the future of Humanity was not apparent to Zal.

Now established in a luxury suite on the top floor of the Palace Hotel, Zal was feeling more at ease; she allowed herself relax a bit. I'm now a Time Technician, on assignment... I need to stop asking 'why?' She decided: I might as well try to enjoy this visit to Earth.... I'm going to be here for a long time... Why not have some fun?

The evening of her first day in America, arriving in a dark and foggy San Francisco, she had stayed at a much cheaper hotel across the street from the noisy Gold and Silver Saloon, two blocks from the ferry terminal, up Sacramento street. On that first day in town, Zal had briefly explored the San Francisco waterfront and she had experienced rain-slicked streets, gangs of rats, bed bugs and a drunken next door neighbor who had sung bawdy sailor songs late into the night. That first night on Earth, being confined inside a tiny, dirty hotel room had been something of a nightmare for Zal. When the sky brightened upon her second day on Earth, Zal had wondered: What have I gotten myself into?

Then, within minutes of stepping outside into the new bright day, she had quickly gravitated towards the tall buildings along Market street and that had seemingly triggered the release of a new cascade of memories from her infites. Suddenly she remembered having stayed at the Palace hotel. Leaving behind the unsavory dinginess of old decaying structures along Sacramento street, Zal found in her infite-generated memories the image of a middle-aged man with graying sideburns. His name, Henry, popped into Zal's mind. She knew that she would meet Henry at the Palace hotel.

The Repair of Time

Mahasvin

Zal had been looking out the window and was lost in thought, diving down deep into her artificial memories of the future, wondering about the identity of the mysterious Henry who darted and tumbled through her memories of the future. Suddenly, Mahasvin teleported into Zal's hotel room. Hearing a sound, Zal turned, saw Mahasvin and a wave a relief surged through Zal's body. I have not been abandoned! Now somewhat limp, Zal sank down into a chair and said, "Welcome to Earth, old friend." Zal told herself: I should have known that Mahasvin would somehow be involved in this journey to the past....

Mahasvin walked to the window and gazed out into the gray afternoon. Mahasvin spoke without turning towards Zal, "I'm glad that you are adapting to local conditions so smoothly." Mahasvin had not bothered to dress like an Earthling and her alien facial features had not been disguised. A sly grin twisted her lips and she said, "Your skills as a thief are very refined."

Zal chuckled. "As they say, like taking candy from a baby." Her nanite prosthetics had made it easy to break, enter, and leave the empty mansion in Oakland with her loot, erasing all signs that she had been there. Then Zal had used some of the stolen money to buy passage on the ferry boat that took her across the Bay to San Francisco.

Mahasvin turned and pulled a small purse full of money out of her pocket. She tossed the purse to Zal. "You are going to have to replace the money that you stole yesterday. That theft, if left uncorrected, will alter the shape of Time, all the way into future millennia."

temporal momentum

Zal shook her head in wonder, opened the purse and flipped through the bundle of paper bills that were inside. How was it possible that her theft would have serious consequences? And if steeling that money would have serious effect on Earth's timeline, then why had she been instructed to steal it? Why hadn't she been given a supply of money before being sent into the past?

From her perspective as a time traveler, the great thing about Earth was its intricate system of replicoids that generated a powerful temporal inertia. It was not easy to change the course of Earth's historical timeline.

Zal had been trained to think of the temporal structure of human civilization as a complex network of high-tension steel cables. Each cable had a thin end that represented a new technological advance. At those narrow ends were vulnerable nodes in the history of Earth where relatively small changes in the life of just one person might trigger the sudden release of vast amounts of temporal energy, initiating a Reality Change that could propagate centuries into the future. The trick was in finding those sensitive nodes, a challenging task that could only be successfully accomplished with the aid of powerful quantum computations.

Trysta Iwedon

Why should the theft of a few hundred dollars from the house of a recently diseased man derail the entire course of human history? Zal told herself: Well, without access to my Reality Viewing equipment, there is no sense worrying about such mysteries.

Mahasvin had no trouble following Zal's thoughts. Zal would be useless as a long-term agent on Earth unless she could monitor the effect that she was having on the future. And after years of planning the future of Earth, Zal would not be comfortable operating on Earth in a state of ignorance about how her actions might be changing the timeline. Mahasvin told Zal, "I've been studying the portable Reality Viewing equipment that R. Gohrlay developed for use by her time travel agents like Trysta." Hidden in among the money that Mahasvin had given to Zal had been some zeptites. They had quickly migrated into Zal's body and were now ready to function as a link into the Sedronic Domain. Mahasvin held out a hand close in front of Zal's face, "Close your eyes and imagine that you are back in your workshop, using your Reality Viewing equipment."

She closed her eyes and suddenly Zal found herself inside a virtual reality environment where she was physically embedded in the middle of a complex on-going differential analysis of the Reality Change that had been caused by her recent act of theft in Oakland. She was at the root of a high-potential part of Reality, a powerful current in Time that was related to the impending development of electronic computer technology in the 20th century.

The Zal Intervention

Mahasvin was there inside the simulated reality with Zal, showing her a thin temporal wire that originated in San Francisco. Mahasvin pointed to a highlighted part of the graphically represented timestream and said, "See here? Your theft leads to a change in the development of slot machines and a change in the invention of a few electromechanical systems that will, in the next century, find their way into the first computer memory systems."

The Reality Viewing equipment that Grean had been trained to use for her work in planning Reality Changes would automatically rule-out possible Changes that required back-tracking and pesky corrections. However, in this case, she had been instructed (by her infites) where to quickly find some cash in Oakland, even though her theft of that money had serious consequences for the course of human civilization. Mahasvin explained, "The need for this little temporal adjustment, your need to return the stolen money, was a planned part of your mission on Earth... training for your new existence on Earth. This little corrective exercise will give you experience using your new Reality Viewing equipment. You will see how it is possible for you to correct any minor temporal imbalances that you create while living on Earth."

Zal quickly determined that the optimal time for her to return the stolen money would come the following day. Favorably impressed by the ease of using this new Reality Viewing system, Zal opened her eyes and said, "Wow... I am now permanently endowed with this built-in Reality Viewing ability?"

Reality Chain

Mahasvin nodded, "For the duration of your visit to Earth you will make use of this ability. All I've done is adjust your zeptite endosymbiont to give you access to a special purpose Reality Viewing system which is located within the Sedronic Domain. As you've just seen, this particular RV system is functionally limited, without any capacity to examine extended Reality Chains. All you will need for your mission is a few tools for basic differential analysis. Use your access to these tools to help you keep the timeline of Earth moving smoothly towards the Final Reality, a temporal trajectory which is already well-planned and which will require no further modifications by you. Your future self has carefully planned out the role that you will play here on Earth making sure that the Final Reality comes into being. "

Zal complained about an aspect of her mission that she had glimpsed while using the virtual reality Viewer, "It is annoying that I was instructed (by my future self!) to steal counterfeit money." She looked at Mahasvin in dismay and asked, "Now I have to go back downstairs and retrieve the money that I just used to pay my rent?"

Mahasvin giggled. "Well, it is not really counterfeit money. That's just the excuse that you will use when you exchange the old money for some of the new cash that I have now supplied you with."

Zal reflected on what she had seen while in the virtual reality system and realized that she had not taken enough time to explore the details of her near future. She briefly reviewed the temporal chart for her future, paying close attention to how she would retrieve the 50 dollar bill that she had given to the front desk clerk. She quickly discovered that she did not actually need to close her eyes in order to use the new Reality Viewer. "Ah, I had missed that fine detail." For a minute Zal more carefully Viewed and explored the details of her immediate future, watching a ghost-like image of her future self acting out future events. "Well, I better go perform this money swap before the wagon from the bank arrives to pick up the money that the hotel collected today."

Mahasvin said, "There will be no wagon. A platoon of guards simply walk across the street from the Wells Fargo building and pick up the money."

Using her Viewer, Zal scanned into that part of the coming day. "I see. Still, they will arrive soon. Do you mind explaining what is so special about that particular 50 dollar bill?"

With an impish grin, Mahasvin replied, "You'll figure that out for yourself later this evening. You can't be allowed to understand everything right this moment. Too much knowledge of your future would trigger temporal paradoxes." Mahasvin then disappeared, teleporting back to Many Sails.

Zal took most of the money out of the purse and hid it in the secret spot (under the bottom drawer of the big oak bureau in her bedroom) where she had previously stashed her stolen money. In with the money she had found a hand-written note with the number 166211 on it. She returned to the reception desk of the hotel, avoiding use of the elevators. Zal did not trust the primitive design of the hotel's elevators, partly because she was thinking about the fact that the city was close to the San Andreas fault and Zal knew that a great earthquake that would hit San Francisco near the turn of the century. With Grean's sensitivity to claustrophobia, it would be most unpleasant to be trapped in a broken elevator. At the front desk she asked to see the hotel's manager.

The manager appeared, introduced himself as Mr. Crandle and then he said, "I hope you have not discovered an inadequacy in our facilities, Miss Green."

Zal knew immediately that this was the Henry of her future memories. She shook her head. "Your facilities are excellent and your staff is efficient and polite. I have no complaints." Zal guessed that the manager was about fifty years old, close to her own age. However, she had lived her life defended by medical nanites and her facial nanites were actively generating Zal's disguise; she could easily be mistaken for a twenty-year-old. "However, I do have a small personal problem that I hope you can help me with."

The manager was examining Miss Green with great care. Earlier, when he had glanced at her through a one-way mirror, he had decided that she was exquisitely pretty in an exotic way. Now he was intrigued by her accent and was wondering where she was from. "I am at your service, madam!"

"I'm afraid I inadvertently involved your hotel in an unsavory affair. I just learned that the money I used to pay my rent is counterfeit. I don't want you passing it on to your bank." Zal opened the purse, pulled out her new money and held it out towards the manager, along with a small piece of paper with some numbers written on it. "Please take this money and retrieve the counterfeit bill from your vault. The serial number of the bad bill is there."

At the Palace Hotel.

The manager counted the new money, five ten dollar bills. He placed the money on his desk, neatly fanned out like a hand of playing cards. He well remembered the earlier transaction and he had personally examined the 50 dollar silver certificate that Miss Green had handed to the front desk clerk at check-in. Crandel asked, "How do you know that the 50 is a counterfeit bill? I examined it quite carefully and noticed nothing unusual, so we eagerly used your funds to pre-pay one week of deluxe accommodations and establish a meal and service account for you here at the hotel with the balance. We are happy to have you in residence, Miss Green!"

Zal managed to force a small tear to her eye. She pulled a soft little cloth from the purse and dabbed her eye. "I do hope there will not be too many questions. I'd hate to involve the police in this matter."

The manager lied, "My dear, the thought of involving police in this matter never crossed my mind. I'm sorry that my rude questioning upset you. Please understand my position! Someone might be tricking you by telling you that your money is no good! I only want to protect you."

Zal tried to look surprised. "Why would someone falsely claim that I was passing counterfeit bills?"

The manager gave a forced chuckle, "There are many scam artists, my dear. In my position, I am always wary." He glanced at the little sheet of paper he had received from Zal. "In this case, I can't help wondering how you happen know the serial number of this particular 50 dollar certificate."

Zal explained, "When I sold my house in Virginia for 2,250 dollars, the bank paid me in large bills. They knew of my plans to travel to the west coast and they warned me about the danger of theft. They provided me with a list of the serial numbers for all of the large denomination bills. Today, shortly after I checked in here, I received a telegram from the bank, notifying me that one of the bills I had received from them had been discovered to be counterfeit."

The manager sighed in relief. All seemed to be explained. "Please wait here for one minute, Miss Green." He went to the vault where the hotel accountant quickly found the 50 dollar certificate, number 166211. Returning to his office where Zal waited, he held up the bill to a bright electric light. "Quite remarkable, Miss Green. I still don't see anything wrong with this bill. It might be best to let the police..." He let that word hang in the air.

Zal sniveled, "Please, let's not. All I need do is mail this bogus bill back to the bank and they will wire me replacement funds."

"Of course, my dear! I apologize for upsetting you. If there is anything I can do to make amends..." Henry felt a strange connection to Miss Green. He was impressed by her mane of red hair and her unconventionally pretty face. He imagined that she might be an actress. He suggested, "Perhaps you would allow me to buy you dinner this evening." He handed the 50 dollar silver certificate back to Zal.

Zal tucked the certificate into her purse and stood up. "That is a kind offer, Mr. Crandel, but I could not presume to impinge any further upon your time. I've already disrupted your day. Surely your wife will object if you do not arrive home for dinner."

The manager laughed, "No such thing, my dear Miss Green. I have never been married. I almost always take my meals here at the hotel. Please do me the honor of eating with me tonight."

Zal batted her eyes at the manager and smiled, "Ah, so you live here in the hotel along with your guests?"

"For many years I lived here, but recently I moved to my own house. I do still dine here regularly, and it would be my pleasure to introduce you to the specialties of the chef."

Zal stepped towards the door and then turned back to face the manager, "In that case, how can I say no?" In her mind, Zal could see an infite-generated memory of having spent a week being romanced by the gallant manager before she took a steamer out of San Francisco bay. Reflecting on that memory, Zal giggled.

Crandel nodded and said magnanimously, "Exactly! You cannot refuse!"

Zal held up her hand, "I will refuse, sir, unless you grant me one concession. Since you will be acting as my guide to the chef's works of art, you must allow me to pay for our meal this evening."

"But Miss Green, you can't be serious! I could never allow-"

Zal turned abruptly and said, "Then the answer is no, Mr. Crandel." And she walked away.

The manager came running after Zal and said, "You drive a hard bargain, my dear. You win. I will reluctantly allow you to pay. Shall we meet at seven?"

Zal stopped walking. "I'm already hungry. Let's dine at six." She leaned close to the manager and kissed his cheek. "Thank you for not calling in the police." She walked out of the hotel and down the street to a dressmaker's shop called Diana Dresses. There, she bought a new dress to wear to dinner.

For years Zal had listened to dramatic stories told by Trysta about her decades of living on Earth. Now, peering into her new memories that showed the path of her future life, Zal felt certain that she would herself have great fun living in disguise as an Earthling for the next fifty years.

That evening, Mr. Crandel was a perfect gentleman until the chef appeared with their dessert and set it aflame at their table. After the chef returned to the kitchen, Zal said, "That was quite a performance. Are you trying to impress me, Mr. Crandel?"

"Yes, of course I am, my dear Miss Green. I want everything to be perfect this evening, including the entertainment." For a minute he described the dance orchestra that was assembling at the far end of the room, near the dance floor. "I suspect that you are a wonderful dancer... am I right, Miss Green?"

Zal winked at the manager and replied, "I know many forms of dance. My favorite one is performed under the soft light of a candle, by two eager lovers dancing between two silky white sheets."

Crandel laughed. "Are you trying to impress me, Miss Green?"

Zal explained, "I'm just trying to have fun, Mr. Crandel. When my parents died, I liquidated their assets and now I'm on a trip around the world, in search of adventure. Of course, when I grow old, if I find a nice place, I might eventually settle down."

"Ah, a world traveler. I must say, you are a real mystery lady."

Zal batted her eyes and spoke in a husky, sultry voice, "Do you find me to be fascinating and mysterious, Mr. Crandel?"

"Yes, I do. And the porter was convinced that your one suitcase was empty when he carried it up to your room today. Hardly what one might expect for a world traveler who just got into town from Virginia."

Zal laughed, "It is a new suitcase that I bought this morning. I plan to have it full of clothing by the time I leave town."

Henry was tempted to ask if Zal had lost her luggage while traveling, but he decided against asking such a delicate question. "I wish you the enjoyment of your shopping project. I sometimes find dealing with tailors to be an annoying task. I value comfort and despise the feeling of being sewn into binding clothing in the name of high fashion."

Zal asked, "Is there a nearby clothing store that you would recommend?"

Crandel had been critically examining Zal's dress. "If I'm not mistaken you have already met Diana Devers, our neighbor from just down the street."

"I did. Do you like this dress?"

Crandel shrugged. "I'm not sure. I think my judgement is being clouded by the lovely nymph who is inside the dress."

Zal giggled. "You are sweet." She looked down at herself. "I also have doubts about this dress. I plan to end up in Europe and I'm looking for a shop that deals in the latest European fashions. Diana seems devoted to fashions of the frontier."

"True. We have our own California fashions and I must say, in that dress you look like a dauntless frontier lady. Are you part Iroquois?"

"Not that I know of, but who knows?" The orchestra started to play and for a moment both Zal and the manager listened to the music.

Crandel leaned closer to Zal and speaking over the music said, "You have an exotic loveliness that reminds me of another lady who claims to have ancestors among the Iroquois. Like her, you seem well spoken and well educated."

"My parents took great pains to make certain that I got a good education. Who knows... after I've seen some of the world I might settle down and become a writer."

"Wonderful. The lady who I just mentioned is a poet. Sometimes she is in town and stays with us a few days. She pretends to be part American Indian. Often she has read a poem to us after dinner, right here in this room."

Obsidia of Tar'tron

Zal recited, "Poetry is the road to my heart, That is where my dreams wend, All roads lead to Tar'tron, And that is where all stars end."

Crandel asked, "Is that your creation?"

"No, that is very old... and well known among the poets where I grew up. So old that the author is lost in the mist of Time."

"You grew up in Virginia?"

"No."

Crandel laughed. "You are mysterious. Don't you want to tell me where you grew up? Usually I can guess, but I can't recognize your accent."

"I have no accent."

"Not a thick one, but it is there." He had been trying to determine if Zal's beautiful red hair was real or a wig. "You don't sound like you are from Virginia."

Zal used her voice nanites to shift to a mid-Atlantic accent. "Are you sure of that, Mr. Crandel? Perhaps I have learned to hide my original accent."

Surprised by her ability to speak with a drawl, he asked, "Were you trained for the theater, Miss Green?"

Zal now shifted to her best Shakespearean English. "In a sense. All the world is a stage and I was trained for this world."

Crandel assumed that Zal did have training and experience as an actress. He mused, "I can almost believe that you are from a far world." He gazed speculatively into her unusually large eyes. "Maybe a red-haired princess from the red planet Mars."

Zal giggled and was tempted to tell Crandel that she had been born on a planet of a distant star system. Rather than try to startle him, she made a simple statement of fact: "I do have a special interest in planetary science."

Crandel asked, "Have you seen the new book about Mars, by Percival Lowell?"

from the Writers Block

Zal wondered how openly she could speak without upsetting the flow of time. From the perspective of her infite-generated memories, which were many decades old, Zal remembered using wild abandon in her flirting with Mr. Crandel, although the details of their conversations had mostly slipped away. She returned her voice to the bland Californian speech pattern and replied, "No, but I've read his book Mars As the Abode of Life."

"Really? I've not seen that one, but our selection of books is probably not as good as what you can get on the East coast. I believe that Mr. Lowell grew up in Massachusetts. Now he is in Arizona for better success with his telescopes." Crandel reached out and placed his hand on top of Zal's. "Do you believe there might be life on Mars?"

Zal replied enigmatically, "Every life is a miracle. Miracles belong to the far past or the far future. The riddle is how to make life last."

Crandel suggested, "I believe you just mangled the words of your namesake, Robert Green Ingersoll. I myself suspect that there could be life on other worlds. What does Mr. Lowell say about this matter in his book?"

as told by Zal

For Mr. Crandel's entertainment, Zal mischievously concocted a fanciful imaginary version of Mars As the Abode of Life that included fragments of every science fiction story about Mars that Zal had ever heard of. Mostly she drew upon stories that had been invented by members of the Writers Block back in the Ekcolir Reality. When she was done weaving her tale, the dazzled Mr. Crandel said, "I will have to find a copy of that book."

Zal said, "I think you will enjoy it."

Crandel gently squeezed Zal's hand. "I like this music. Won't you dance with me, Miss Green?"

Zal rose to her feet, "Very well. Just don't get angry when I step on your toe." Zal activated the ballroom dance algorithm that was stored in her endosymbiont and let it take control of her movements.

After a minute on the dance floor, Crandel pulled Zal close and spoke into her ear. "You are a great dancer, Miss Green."

Zal tried to ignore the stink of Crandel's cologne. "I'm pleased to have won your good opinion, sir." She used her nanites to close off access to her olfactory epithelium. "Earlier today, I was worried that you might turn me over to the police."

"It may yet come to that, on the charge of criminally good seduction. I believe I am becoming infatuated with you, my dear. In the eyes of an old man like me, you are thrilling, like a gold nugget sparkling in a mountain stream."

"You are kind, sir. I'm sure that I do not deserve your gallantry. Do you treat all of your young single female guests this well?"

Crandel laughed. "Only those who throw around 50 dollar bills."

"Even when they are counterfeit 50 dollar bills?"

"I'm certain that you did not tender us a counterfeit. The mystery is why you insist on pretending that you did."

"Maybe it was all just a trick to get your attention." Zal had come to realize that this was the truth.

"Well, if so, you were successful." The song ended and they returned to their table. "Thank you for the dance, Miss Green. Now that we have shared the intimacy of the dance floor, I need to know; what is your first name?"

"You may call me Zal."

"Sal? As in Sally?"

"Zal with a Z. It is a kind of nickname."

"How mysterious. Very well, Zal. And I would be pleased if you now use my first name: Henry." He took hold of Zal's hand and they listened to the music of the next song that the orchestra played.

Zal was having fun and she could see by looking deeper into her infite-generated artificial memories that she would have more than just fun with Henry during the coming week. And why not? Zal thought of the future Summer of Love that San Francisco would become famous for. She told herself: I don't have all summer, but I can grab something... maybe it could flame up into love.

Henry moved his chair beside Zal's and put his arm around her shoulders. She leaned her head against him. Zal realized that this day was a boundary between her past life and a new life. She had so far lived her life according to a plan that had been devised long before she was born. She had trained for her mission to Earth and then, working systematically, she had achieved the goals of that mission. Zal told herself: Well, almost. She still had to make one two more small adjustments to the timeline of Earth and then her work would be done.

Time and Time Again

Making use of her infites, Zal allowed herself to look into the future, to the point in Time when she would return to America from a war-ravaged Europe in the year 1947. At that time, Zal would have to make sure that the people of Earth could become aware of time travel and how it had been used to shape the course of human civilization. But for now, Zal imagined that she was on vacation. She wondered: What role could Henry play in her training and preparation for her impending mission in Europe?

Zal turned her head and found that Henry's eyes were upon her. She smiled and winked at him. He bent closer and brushed his lips against her cheek.

Zal thought of the lonely man who was waiting for her arrival there in the future, in 1947. Another Henry. She also thought of her own long-standing plans for deflecting and delaying thoughts of family and children until her work on Earth was complete. That was still a viable plan for Grean, where she resided in the future. It was different for Zal. She would grow old here, on this planet. I may not get a summer of love, but I can start building up my sum of love right now, here on Earth.

Zal and Henry danced several more times, but mostly they sat together and talked. Zal learned the shape of his life and how he had come to be the manager of the hotel. "I was one of the first students at the University of California Medical School. Of course, it was just the Toland school back then. But then I got a job working here at the hotel and became fascinated by the endless stream of travelers and celebrities. I quit school and worked my way up to become manager of the hotel."

Zal talked for a time about her wish to travel to Europe. When the orchestra was done playing for the night, Henry introduced Zal to the musicians. Then Henry suggested, "In the morning I'll show you where the best dress shops are. Some of the best are now over on Van Neis avenue."

Zal shook her head. "I would be grateful for your help, but not tomorrow. I'm going over to Oakland to visit an old friend."

by ferry to Oakland

"Very well. You will be back here by tomorrow evening?"

"That is my plan."

The tryp'At

"Then I insist that you let me buy you dinner tomorrow. And you can teach me some more of your fancy dance steps."

Zal put her arms around Henry and he kissed her nose. She said, "It is a date, Henry. Thank you for taking care of me. I feel like I am becoming a part of the San Francisco community."

"I'm hoping that you do come to feel at home here in San Fransisco. Maybe I can convince you to forget about your absurd idea of abandoning America and running off to Europe."

"How would you manage that?"

"This weekend I have a day off. Friday evening you should come see my home. I'm one of the first people commuting from San Mateo county via the electric rail line. On Saturday we can go down to Lick Observatory. California is a world leader in astronomy."

"I'll think about it, Henry."

He whispered in Zal's ear, "I'll have silk sheets ready and waiting for you at my home."

Zal laughed and pulled herself away from Henry. "We all have our dreams. Good night, Henry."

Grean the Kac'hin

He insisted on escorting her to the elevator. Zal safely, if nervously reached the top floor of the hotel and her suite of rooms. It had been a long, eventful day and Zal was tired. When she went to get into bed, Zal found that Mahasvin was there, waiting. Mahasvin said, "I thought you two would never stop talking."

Zal searched through her memories, but could not remember this meeting with Mahasvin. She asked, "Why can I only remember some parts of my future?"

Mahasvin explained, "The infites with memories of your future were carefully edited in order to avoid the creation of any Time Paradoxes."

Ayash Shipdesqi

Zal got into bed with Mahasvin. "I have the feeling that you are responsible for sending me here to 1895."

Mahasvin did not deny it. "Well, I was trying to find a way to thank you for your service, and there were a few last minute details here on Earth that needed to be attended to..."

"But why strand me here on Earth for fifty years and force me to live disguised as a human? Surely there were other options."

"You'll enjoy your time on this world, pretending to be a woman. I want to make use of your Kac'hin gene-editing ability to help me introduce a new person into the timeline of Earth history."

Zal giggled. "So that's what is going on. I've been amazed by my feeling of connectedness to Henry. Is he an Interventionist agent?"

Asterothropes: the females
are larger than
the hermaphrodites.

Mahasvin replied, "He is not, but he does carry an interesting combination of Asterothrope-derived genes. You and he have a subtle telepathic connection, which both of you were feeling this evening. I need you to mix some of Henry's genes with your own and build me a new person, a secret agent who I can use in the next century to shape events on Earth."

Zal asked in wonder, "You sent me here so that I would have a baby?"

"Why not? I know you have been intrigued by Trysta's adventures on Earth and her strong Asterothrope drive to have children. As a Kac'hin. you don't share that reproductive compulsion, but you will be a good mother. And I'll get the results that I need."

"You'll use my daughter. In what way?"

"Sorry, but you cannot know the details. Trust me: your daughter will help us shape the future, help you complete your work on Earth."

Interventionist

"Will she be human?"

"In a sense. I need you to craft her genes so that she will function as a tryp'At. Oh, and I should warn you: there will also be a ready source of some Ekcol genes, so you will have all the raw materials for assembling a tryp'At genome."

Somehow Zal had always imagined that when she had children they would be Kac'hin. Zal asked, "Why tryp'At?"

But Mahasvin was gone, teleported back to Many Sails. For a few minutes Zal's thoughts swirled, but she could not find an answer to her question in her infite-generated memories from the future. However, she did find a memory of the method she would use to collect Henry's genes.

Next: Zal in San Mateo county

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