Head For The Mountains

Posted on Sun Jul 19th, 2015 @ 12:51pm by Commander Ehlana Winter & Lieutenant Commander Earl Crane

Mission: Further Challenges
Location: Bozeman, Montana

* Bozeman, Montana - December 12, 2084

Earl and Ehlana materialized in a grove of trees just behind the administration building on the campus of Montana State University. The campus was blanketed with snow and in the early twilight, the lights all around made it appear a perfect image for a Christmas card. Ehlana shivered and fished two pairs of gloves from her pockets. She passed a pair to Earl and pulled on her own.

“You weren’t kidding. It’s cold!”

"Yeah, I recall the season matching my grief," Earl looked around as he pulled on his gloves. "Hey, let's stop for hot chocolate at the commissary. I always liked theirs."

“If they have heat, I’m all for it.” They began to walk, moving around the building and crossing the mall. Soon they entered the commissary and the heat enveloped them as they followed the scent of coffee and hot chocolate to the main food court. It was mostly empty. Ehlana recalled that final exams had ended a week ago and most of the students were gone. “This place always seems strange when it was empty.”

"Yeah," he hurried to the chocolate dispenser, "but I liked it. It meant I didn't have classes, no office hours, no students whining at me. I had all the time in the world for you and little Jules." He got two cups of the stuff, handed one to her and then took a sip. "Oh... wow... Okay, my taste buds have changed. I thought this was good?"

“Your tastes have expanded, dear.” She smiled at him then drank some of her own. “Was it always this thin and watery?” She drank some more anyway, to warm up.

"Hmm... I don't recall," he tasted it again, made a face and then dumped it in the nearest trash bin. "Blehh. Okay. Now that that particular stroll down memory lane is spoiled, where should we start?"

Ehlana turned her attention to a tv screen on the wall that showed the current campus news, including the commissary hours over the Christmas holiday. The time and date scrolled across the top and she grabbed Earl’s arm.

“It’s December 12th. That means we only have a day and a half to figure this out. I don’t think we will get more than one shot, Earl.”

"How about we just go... kidnap him? Hide him for the next day and a half?" He looked at her, knowing she'd say no.

She shook her head. “If it were only that easy. We have to do this with minimal interruption to the timeline and to ...ourselves who are here already. What did we do on the 12th? I remember you had turned in all your grades by noon, and then...was it one of the labs? Did you see James that day?”

"Ah... No, I didn't," Earl paused a moment then suddenly grinned. "Oh, it was my lecture podium... Remember that? You promised me if I got my homework done, you'd reward me anyway I wanted. Mamu watched Jules while you came here and we spent some time studying anatomy on that podium. I bet if we peeked in the window, that's where we are."

Ehlana’s laughter echoed through the empty food court. “Do you really want to see us doing that?” She dropped her cup in the trash, then took his hand. “The faculty party is tomorrow night and then the day after….we….it was the museum! He disappeared at the T-Rex exhibit!”

"Oh, yeah! He always loved those old bones!" He laughed then sobered and frowned. "That's where I lost him."

“We should go there tomorrow and get familiar with the layout again so we are ready. The party is in the ballroom of the student union so we should be able to watch if you want. Whoever it is likely is skulking around watching us….the other us.”

"Then we'll skulk around and watch the watcher. Ehl, who would do this? Who would kill a child? And why?" He looked at her, as if she knew the answers any better than he did.

“I don’t know.” Her tone was as bleak as the expression in her eyes when she looked up to him. “Things like this, I should know! I am always the one with the answer, but this time I’m clueless. It wasn’t a natural occurrence and everything’s all messed up.” A man entered at the far end of the room and seeing them, began to walk in their direction. It was one of Earl’s colleagues.

Earl saw him, glanced at Ehl with big eyes and stooped over a touch. As the fellow drew closer, he smiled at Earl and Ehlana. "Hi you two! I thought you were off to do some shopping. Ehlana, beautiful as always. Earl...?", he finally took a better look at Earl and was confused.
"No, no, I'm not Earl. I'm his grandfather, Erich Crane," Earl made an expression that was half-smile, half-wince.

"Oh, you two look so much alike! Just... You know, you're older," the professor said, laughing at his own awkward.

Ehl smiled. “It’s alright Harold. Earl is out shopping actually. I made a detour to pick Erich up at the airport. He made the last flight in. They have closed the runway to de-ice it.” She had just seen the notice scroll by on the news screen on the wall. “He’s in for the holiday.”

"Well! Welcome to Bozeman! And... Is it also welcome to Earth? You're that grandfather, right?"

Earl/Erich grunted, "Yeah. I am that grandpa, from far away planet," he turned toward Ehana and asked, in a very poor German accent, "Can we go now? We should go now, before my ...what you call it? Spastic colon? Yeah, that, acts up."

Harold's smile turned into a rictus of fear.

Ehlana fought back a smile. “We’ll see you tomorrow night, Harold.” She took Earl’s arm and the two began to wander their way to the nearest exit. Once they were outside, she gave in and began to laugh. “Spastic colon? Really?”

He laughed, too, and said, "What? It was the best I could think of on short notice! Woo... Got us out of there. Oh man, what am I going to say when Harold asks me about my grandpa?"

“You and I have done this jumping back and forth long enough that you..your other you...will figure out we’re here somewhere and just smile and nod.” She took his hand and led him down the side of the building. “Come on, the shuttle is about to get here. It can drop us at Columbo’s for dinner.”

"Oo! I loved Columbo's," he enthused then stopped, looking horrified. "What if that food is like the hot chocolate? Ugh... All my memories will be ruined!" He followed her anyway.

“Let’s hope. At least the food isn’t coming out of a dispenser. Those things don't even use real milk. I’ve spoiled you I think...I’ve been making yours at home with Betazed chocolate for years.”

"Ah, yes. I'm so having some when we get home," he replied, rubbing his arms as they waited for the shuttle. "I don't recall it being this cold, either. Perhaps because you kept me so hot?" He leered at her and took her in his arms. "Yep... That's the answer."

“Earl!” She exclaimed, but she was still laughing. “What if Harold comes out that door? This would be a little difficult to explain. Then again, he knows younger you, he might not be surprised at all.”

"Huh... Yeah, but that'd be pretty icky. You know, my grandpa cuddlin' with my wife? Ew." He put space between them. "I hope my colleagues wouldn't have thought you'd be okay with that." The shuttle arrived and they boarded.

Five minutes later, they stepped off the shuttle and entered Columbo’s. The student behind the counter greeted Ehlana as ‘Mrs. Crane’. It took her a moment to recall him, but she smiled. “Good to see you, Ian. How did your finals end up?”

“All good, even though Dr. Crane’s was a beast. Oh, don’t tell him I said so?” He picked up two menus and led them to a table.

“Your secret is safe with me. Thank you.” He hurried off and they sat down, The aroma of food was mouth-watering and she realized they had skipped dinner back home.

Once they were seated and had ordered the largest possible goat cheese, tomato and basil pizza and a couple of beers. Alone again, Earl whispered, "Seriously? I've aged that much?" Earl sounded a bit offended. But, then, he had had over three hundred years of aging. Ehlana? She was regressing somehow. "I'm so going in for cosmetic surgery when we get back. Who do you think would do better at that? Harding or Solis? Maybe Isi?"

“Hmm…” Ehlana considered that. “Maybe you need two of them,” she teased.

"Hey!" He laughed. "Some of the work, I could do myself."

“Oh no you don’t,” she replied. “Solis only. Or Will, but it’s like a haircut. Never do your own, trust me.” The pizza arrived and they dug in. It had been way too long since Ehl had tasted this wonderful culinary concoction. "So? Still as good?”

Around a mouthful of pizza, Earl said, " Oh yeah. This is awesome. And are you saying you don't like my self-bowl cuts?" He ran a couple of fingers through his hair.

She took another bite and moaned with pleasure. “Oh my, I’ve missed this. And when we get home, if Solis is working on you, have Ophelia send you to whomever she uses for her hair. Deal?”

"Only if? So no cosmetic surgery, no special hair person?" He grabbed two more slices of the pizza and proceeded to attempt inhaling them.

“Slow down or you’ll choke.” She watched him a moment, then reached across to touch his free hand. “Try not to worry. When we leave here, we need to go to the house. This killer likely is watching and --” A faint beep sounded from Ehlana’s pocket and she instantly began to look around the restaurant casually. “Someone’s here, Earl,” she murmured. “Someone out of time.”

"A contact for us or who we're looking for?" Earl drank from his glass and used the moment to glance around.

“I don’t know but maybe once we get home, I’ll have a better idea. We’ll see who’s watching and who isn’t.” A frown crossed her face. “I don’t see Tomas sending someone this quickly. So maybe whoever it is was watching for us to come back.”

"Oh. And we walked right into that, didn't we?"

“We had no choice did we?” Ehlana finished her beer and wiped her mouth. “I’m stuffed and I don’t want dull wits while watching.”

"You alliterated," Earl chuckled. A sudden thought chilled him: what if Julian wasn't the only one this killer was targeting? What if it wanted to kill Ehlana, too? Draw her back in time and... "Let's get this to go, shall we?"

“Good idea. We can watch for a while, then have Mamu let us in the back once everyone is asleep, yes?” Ehlana signalled for the waiter and requested a box.

"Yeah. It's a good thing she never asks questions. Watch this: she'll be waiting at the kitchen door when we get there," he said.

He was right: Mamu was waiting by the kitchen door; she let them in, let them see little Julian as he slept and then put them in a guest room. "Wake you early, I will," she spoke quietly.

“Thank you, Mamu.” Ehlana closed the door and quickly filled her in on the current issue, though she suspected the tiny woman already knew. “We’re going to be in and out tonight, looking for someone watching the house. If you notice anyone, come get us.”

"No. I will be sleeping," Mamu said and shook a finger at Earl when he started to argue, "Shush, child. I wake if I hear anything."

Earl shrugged and murmured to Ehlana, "Light sleeper. Seriously light. Pain in the ass when I was a teenager."

Mamu gave him an evil eye look and left them.

Ehlana nodded. “Let’s get back outside and out of sight. I want to see who’s looking for us.”

"Baby, it's cold outside," Earl whined. He quickly recalled just why they were there. "I know. Let's go."

When Earl and Ehlana returned outside it had begun to snow once more. Lights from nearby houses reflected off the myriad tiny flakes in the dark, turning the world into a snow globe. Ehlana led the way to the sidewalk out front and then began to move down the street. “We’ll circle back,” she whispered to Earl. For now, it appeared they were simply out for an evening walk.

Earl held her hand and recalled the time they'd spent here in Bozeman. Despite being well aware of why they were there now, he was able to enjoy a few moments and pretend he wasn't frightened out of his skin about losing Ehlana as well as their son. "I have always loved you, Ehl."

“How many years?” She smiled up at him. “1989….far from here. I never told you this but after that first meeting, I begged Tomas to let me come back.”

"I'm glad you did," he said, "I can't imagine my life without you." They walked in silence for a moment before he complained, "Even if we stop this event, there's nothing to prevent another attempt. We don't even know why this was done."

“That’s part of why we are here. If….when we find them, we can take them back with us and find out why and if there’s others working with them,” Ehlana answered.

"I know," he nodded. As he did, a dark figure flitted between houses on the left. "I'd say we're being followed, but it seems the follower is ahead of us."

Ehl slowed her pace and squeezed Earl’s hand. “So far, the timeline is undisturbed, so at least our appearance hasn’t made them move up the timetable. Which way are they going?”

"To the left," Earl said and pulled her to a stop. He turned them to face that side of the street, looking up and gesturing as if they might be discussing the street lamps.

Ehlana caught movement in her peripheral vision and nodded slightly. “Let’s move on down the road and see if he’s tracking us or going to the house.”

Following her lead - she was, after all, the sneakier one; he was just a doctor - Earl kept an eye out for the figure. They made it to the end of the block and around the corner without seeing it. "Perhaps the house, then. Maybe Mamu ...scared it off."

“Let’s see if anyone is lurking and then get some sleep. It may be the last chance we get for a couple of days.” She slipped her hand into Earl’s and they turned back towards home.

******************
Lt. Commander Earl D. Crane
Commander Ehlana Winter
On The Prowl