She was just about perfect, to my way of thinking.

  Chapter Four

  The six of us were back together, and Mina had given me the coordinates of both the colony world and her family country home, and I had them firmly in mind. When going for her mother in the first part of the mission we wouldn’t have a whole lot of time to pass information, so I had the coordinates for the house her mother was in during the attack, as well as their country home in Japan which was isolated and surrounded by nature and gardens.

  Mina said, “My mother’s name is Ayumi. My father is Eito, our surname Kurosawa. As you all know, my mother died before I was even created by father. She will have no more idea who I am than she’ll recognize any of you. We may have to force the issue. Father told me a lot about mother, and I’m sure it was all true, but it may have also been the words of a father to a daughter and slightly biased and skewed in his loving memory.

  “He says I’m a lot like her, in appearance as well as temperament. Warm reserve, and thoughtful before acting, but we’re going to a place whose defensive fleets have been destroyed, and the populace will be in a panic as they enemy moves their ships into orbit as they wait to die. I doubt I’d be calm under those desperate circumstances.”

  “Elegant, sophisticated, beautiful.”

  She smiled lightly, “Thank you, Jack. My only point is if our introductions don’t go well, we may have to grab her and go, and explain later. We’ll have five minutes from when we arrive to find her on the property and then time travel to my family’s country home. We can’t stay longer, or we’ll be killed in the attack.”

  Kristen said, “Don’t worry, we won’t miss the window, and I can calm her with hypno-kinesis if we have to, so we won’t have to resort to force.”

  I said, “I also have the life radar power, so I’ll be able to find everyone on the property quickly.”

  Mina nodded, “Thank you, Kris, Jack. She should be in her mid-twenties, where my father is, he’ll be in his mid-forties. He’ll look in his late twenties to you, but for anyone from my time that’s recognizably forty. So it will be quite a shock to both of them. For mom, my existence and dad’s aging, and for father my mother magically coming back to life. Which is why Jack and I decided to go two days before the lab incident. They’ll need time to find their center before we can talk to father about our plans, and I know father will want to focus on mother that first day at least.”

  I nodded in agreement.

  She added, “It should be relaxing for us. We have a Sento as well as hot springs in the garden area, which is beautiful. You’ll see for yourself. It’s a relaxing place, there’s some advanced tech there but you’re unlikely to even notice it. I think that about covers it, any questions?”

  Shannon asked, “We’ll all bathe together?”

  Mina nodded subtly, “If you wish, yes. We have a smaller and more modern bathroom as well if the idea makes you uncomfortable.”

  Julia said, “I’m up for a foursome bath, not sure I want to be nude in front of others. Especially your dad or another strange man.”

  Mina smiled, “That can be arranged, we can put up a privacy sign for the four or six of us. My father and one or two government guests should be the only ones there, from what I know of what he was up to those two days. He prefers not to have the government people in his lab, so when making progress reports to the council he meets them in our country home.”

  Yeah, hopefully it wasn’t really him having an affair or something. The man lost Ayumi twenty years ago, and even if the love still burned in his heart a man has needs. Needs he wouldn’t share with or explain to his daughter. I pushed that away, no need to borrow trouble, but meeting with government representatives sounded like a cover to me. Surely they still had Skype and e-mail or something like it in twenty thousand years.

  “What kind of government is it?”

  Mina tilted her head, “There’s a senate made up of all the worlds in the three galaxy clusters. The representatives stay on their planet, they meet virtually three times a week for floor discussions. They’re in charge of making the common human laws all worlds must follow. The worlds are otherwise independent, and like it that way, so they don’t make all that many common laws. The world’s governors or leaders all command the police and military, and each world has their own parliamentary and judiciary branches which can vary greatly in setup. It’s complicated.”

  “How does the central government press their laws, if the fleets are all attached to worlds?”

  Mina said, “Those are the defensive fleets. There’s also a joint offensive fleet, separate from any worlds dictates. An independent military, that answers to the senate, and prosecutes any wars against alien threats to humanity, or on rare occasion brings back any errant planets in line that refuse to follow the common law or dares to make a law that circumvents the common law.”

  “Huh, so just one human government, if light on the central level? And your father is a scientist working for the senate?”

  Mina nodded, then shook her head, “He’s working for the senate on the Cerberus Project, but my family is also highly connected to Earth’s government, and he has a lot of influence on the cradle world of humanity. In your culture, he’d be closer to a contractor than a direct employee of the senate, but that doesn’t exactly cover the subtleties involved in the relationship.

  “As to the other question there are some independent worlds not part of our central government. They are isolated however, and they’re not able to trade with us on any level, even communication. They’re also on their own in defending themselves, which quite often leads to independent colonies being wiped out by alien competition.”

  Lori raised an eyebrow, “Aliens?”

  Mina smiled, “Besides the Grexscil there are six other known intergalactic races, and we tend to ignore each other most of the time. At last count there were over three thousand sentient alien races, who have yet to leave their planet or solar system. We ignore them as a rule, there are plenty of inhabitable worlds out there without a sentient species on it for us to settle when population levels become strained.”

  I nodded, reading between the lines on that. Humanity may be more enlightened in the future, but they still weren’t perfect. If it’d been a choice between the aliens or us, we’d have stolen their worlds no doubt, but since it wasn’t necessary, we left them alone.

  It looked like the conversation had run its course.

  “Ready?”

  They all moved in and touched my back or grabbed my arm. I activated the time travel power with the coordinates provided. It kind of blew my mind, that we weren’t just travelling through time, but also several million light years to another damned galaxy.

  I gaped. Couldn’t help it, as we appeared on another planet, with a darker blue-sky verging on violet. But more than that there were flying vehicles the size of cars all around us in the sky, with no recognizable engine or exhaust, and the buildings around us disappeared into the sky, reaching the clouds themselves.

  Lots of glasslike materials in the construction, along with white or silvery metals, and no roads at all. Walkways and parking areas, surrounded by buildings and nature.

  I snapped out of it, we didn’t have a lot of time to mess around. If we didn’t get her mom in the next five minutes, chances were we never would.

  The building in front of us looked like a manor home, but with glass domes and spires. Like a palace in miniature. It made me wonder just how powerful and influential her family was, and obviously rich to afford something like that in the middle of a super metroplex.

  My radar told me there was fifteen people inside, all on the lower level and in the same room. Likely one with a television or the modern equivalent, as they all watched the progress of the battle being reported and waited to die.

  I ran forward and just tore through the locked gate and toward the house. We were moving at speed, me slowing down to five times as fast for the benefit of the others, which was still more than respectable. It wasn’t even a few seconds later when I reached the front door and hit the doorbell. I guess some things never changed, they still had doorbells in twenty thousand years.

  What was new was the door was interactive.

  “Who are you, and state your purpose.”

  I felt bemused, as I said, “Jack Walker, here to take Kurosawa Ayumi off world to safety.”

  The door said, “One moment, please… I have no records of a Jack Walker…”

  I cut the door off by kicking it in, and then raced inside the posh residence. It wasn’t far to the room they were all in, and Ayumi was extremely easy to pick out of the crowd. This world must’ve been where her mother’s side of the family was from, as save her they all looked to be of European stock. Mabye that’s why she’d been off Earth, visiting with relatives.

  Even without that, I wouldn’t have failed to recognize my Mina in her. Ayumi was half Japanese, so the exotic Eurasian was far more pronounced in her face, but other than that she looked like she could be Mina’s sister. With the same seductive dark chocolate eyes, long wavy dark hair, and a delicately and sophisticatedly beautiful face.

  Her body was also similar, if not perfectly proportioned, damned close, her hips only slightly too thin to make a perfect hourglass with her proud B cups verging on a C. Of course, perhaps she was perfect normally, and her breasts were only slightly larger than proportional because she was pregnant.

  Very pregnant. I mean, late in term.

  It looked like Mina was going to be a big sister, and by the shock on her face I could tell her father hadn’t told her Ayumi was pregnant with their first natural child when she died.

  All fifteen of them were also looking at the six of us in shock, while I was looking at what television was now in shock. The wall television looked to have depth, like there was extra space in there. Like holographic three dimensional but only in an illusory way. My mind was trying to figure it out, but I shook my head.

  “We’re here to evacuate you, Mrs. Kurosawa.”

  Ayumi frowned, “Any ships leaving the surface will be destroyed before getting far, and who the hell are you.”

  Mina said thickly, obviously overwhelmed by the moment, “Long story, and we won’t be using a ship. We’re going directly and instantly to Earth, to Eito at the family’s country home. We’ll explain on the other side, this world only has a little over two minutes before it will be destroyed by the Grexscil. We don’t have time to waste.”

  Ayumi looked from me to Mina, then her eyes widened in shock at the obvious and deep resemblance between them. Not just in appearance, but in carriage and voice.

  “Who are you?”

  Mina was frozen, obviously so she didn’t lose it in the emotions of the moment, and start crying. That would be rude in her culture, from what I understood.

  “She’s Mina Kurosawa, your and Eito’s daughter. It’s a long story, and according to history you died on this planet, twenty years ago. We can explain it all later, but we need you to come with us now.”

  Ayumi shook her head, “From the future?”

  I shrugged, “Your husband made the technology to make it possible, and I decided to abuse it for his and Mina’s sake when it fell into my hands due to… circumstances. Enough questions for now. We really are running out of time.”

  Ayumi waved, “My family?”

  I just nodded, there was no way I was going to say no to that question and tell her that her mother’s family had to die. For all I knew I’d be uniting Mina with her grandmother in the deal, there were a couple of women in the fifteen that could be Ayumi’s mother, if a little too young looking in their thirties, but apparently humans aged slower in the future.

  Ayumi looked around at her family with a look I well recognized from Mina, authority and poise that told them no one would object to her decision, or she’d be unhappy with them.

  Then she said, “We are ready.”

  Clearly, Eito was as lucky a man as I was, she was truly stunning.

  The six of us approached, taking her words as invitation into their space.

  “Everyone needs to touch.”

  They all moved in, not everyone was touching me directly, but they were all connected to someone who was. Then I focused on the second coordinates Mina gave me, and I activated the time travel power.

  We appeared in a flora paradise, all surrounding a large tree covered in pink blossoms. The place was truly verdant with life, and we were facing the back of a sprawling single-story house surrounded by nothing but lushly green hills and no other signs of civilization. It was simple and beautiful, looked like an old-style Japanese home from the past, not the future, but Mina had said there was a lot of technology in the place.

  Which explained why Eito ran out the back door a second later, no doubt some kind of house sensor system detecting our arrival.

  He looked at Mina with shock, as if trying to figure out why she’d left the lab, then me with confusion, then his eyes found his wife and went wide with shock as he let out a shocked gasp.

  His eyes rolled back into his head, and he collapsed in a faint. Fortunately, I was very fast even with just forty powers, and I caught him before his head hit the floor.

  Ayumi said with irony, “I half thought you were lying, he does look about twenty years older, and this is clearly our home on Earth. Is he okay?”

  He was already coming out of it, and I steadied him until he found his legs, then took a step back.

  “Who are you,” he glanced at his pregnant wife and back, “How?”

  “It’s a long story that Mina and I will be happy to share, though it isn’t a happy one. We need your help. Also, one word of warning for right now, don’t tell Mina we’re here, under any circumstances, or it will cause a serious timeline paradox that will mess everything up.”

  He looked at Mina, clearly confused.

  I waved to get his attention back, “Don’t tell younger Mina in the lab. This is older Mina with several more weeks in her timeline which includes the actual past, so she knows it all already, she lived it. Anyway, I’m being rude.

  “My name is Jack Walker. The other ladies with us are Julia, Kristen, Lori, and Shannon,” I used my whole hand to point them out, “We’re ready for you when you are, but first why don’t you get reacquainted with your wife. We picked her up on the way here.”

  He tilted his head, “Cerberus, you have his powers.”

  I nodded, “We have about twenty percent of them, including power control and restoration. We’ll explain it all later, what happened, or happens, in two days, and far in the past on twenty first century Earth. Anyway, I’m sure Mina can get us settled in, so you can greet your wife and catch up?”

  Ayumi said, “It’s true, Eito. They took me away minutes before the world was bombed, and I assume to the future to maintain the timeline, otherwise you’d have had no reason to build the technology that made it possible?”

  I nodded, and Eito echoed me with a thoughtful look, “That sounds right, but this is all wrong.”

  Heh, he had no idea how wrong, yet.

  I moved out of the way, and Mina gestured for everyone to follow her.

  “I’ll get everyone settled in. Father, it is good to be home,” she nodded, “Mother, I can’t wait to get to know you better.”

  She’d obviously regained her poise and aplomb, but there’d still been plenty of emotion just below the surface in her calm voice.

  Ayumi waved, “That’s your grandmother behind you, your father and I will talk to you all soon. I think I need to understand what he’s done since my reported death before I can make sense of what you’re going to tell us.” Then she bowed, “I also wish to thank you for the timely rescue. Our shock at this miracle is no excuse to show ingratitude.”

  I nodded my head, “Truly my pleasure, Mrs. Kurosawa.”

  Ayumi shook her head, “That won’t do. Given how my daughter, who I never met, orbits you so closely, you must call me Ayumi.”

  Mina blushed.

  She was frighteningly perceptive like Mina was, and more so than Eito who was suddenly looking at me like a protective father checking out a prospective son-in-law. I almost laughed.

  Her other point probably wasn’t a bad idea either, for her to catch up with Eito before hearing our story. Given the glint in Eito’s eyes when he looked at her, I expected that talking wouldn’t be all they did before they saw us again.

  Mina nodded and moved into the house, and the nineteen of us followed leaving the reunited couple behind.

  So far things were going to plan with a few easy adjustments, the only snag being saving fourteen extra people including Mina’s grandmother. I could do with more snags like that in life, I truly could. Unfortunately, we were about to hit the sticky part of the plan.

  I mean, I really had no clue how we were going to stop Cerberus in two days.

  Chapter Five

  Interlude

  Mina

  She sighed deeply into Jack’s chest. It was so entirely surreal to have him standing in her bedroom. Once she’d gotten the rest settled in the house to clean up before dinner, she’d taken him and Kristen here. Kristen would also be sleeping in her room, as was right with their triad, but at the moment Kristen was in the washroom so they were alone. She loved his new level of confidence, his plans no longer so diffident, but she wouldn’t allow him to run over her either. She could be just as stubborn, and quite clever.

  She also knew he was hiding something from her. That he did have a thought toward stopping Cerberus, and he’d dodged the question when she’d asked about it. She trusted him with everything, but she didn’t like being left out of the loop.

  Perhaps he just wanted to wait for what her father said, and he was reluctant to even mention it if it wasn’t possible. Whatever it was, she couldn’t think of what it could be. Still, she trusted him with all of her, had even embraced all her kinks for his pleasure and hers. Especially hers really, the lust and pleasure she took in being taken and dominated gave her so much pleasure it was unreal.