Personal journal entry.
"I can feel it for sure now. Death is awaiting me. About time,
too. After almost 120,000 years, my final retirement awaits. It's
so hard to get about now. So many of my friends, family, and
associates are gone- only Raven, Christian, Penny, Schuyler, and
a few others remain with me here. The children run the Guild
now. Not as good as when we did, but, Aliera is a competent
replacement for her grandmother and Christopher Robin is doing
well as Co-ordinator. Not as intuitive as Darren, but very able
nonetheless. I only wish that Percival would be less of a buffoon
as CMO. I am proud of him for choosing to follow in my
footsteps, and proud of his choice of a name. Andohar. Nice
Pernese-style name. Shortened version of my own Pernese name,
Stroanar.
"Only one more chore to do before I sleep. One more jaunt
before I can see Jolene again. I've missed you so much these past
few centuries, my beloved. The treatments have just about worn
off. Now, to do my last back-time jaunt. I wonder why the old
bird's mate is so insistent that I go on this last job. I guess I'll find
out when I get there. End journal."
Doctor Stephen Roger Andrew Harris, former CMO of the
Transiteer's Guild, put the microphone down. It was heavily
padded, so his gnarled, arthritic hands could grip it easily. With
an effort, he got up out of the chair, leaning heavily on his canes.
One of them is an old friend, a multipurpose device that he
purchased on one of his first Guild missions. It was not only a
cane, but it concealed a sword, an umbrella, and a portable
Mulander node. The other cane is ornately carved rosewood, a
gift from the boss when he retired for good, after he decided to
end his antigeria treatments.
He shuffled to the mirror, to check his appearance. He has
long since stopped wincing inwardly at his stooped posture, his
snow-white hair, his arthritic hands. But, one thing that has not
changed was his dignity. That still showed, despite his advanced
age.
He examined his good suit as it hung on his shriveled frame-
it was cut well enough to hide many of Time's ravages. "Proper,
as always." he thought, remembering how much needling he took
about his desire to be neat and proper, even here, in a time and
space far removed from his native London, circa 1979.
Putting on his bowler, he activated the dimension-crossing
device concealed in the hatband. His room faded, to be replaced
by a darkened room, the old bird's painting loft.
"Who's there?" a voice called from above.
"Who do you think it is?" Stephen said testily. The time jaunt
played hell with his arthritis. "Get down here, my dear, and turn
on a light!"
First one, then another old-style gas lamp brightened,
revealing a young boy sleeping in one of the overstuffed chairs.
Raven landed in front of him. "Doc, what's wrong with you?" she
asked, shock and disbelief in her voice.
"I'm just old, my friend. You know I have decided to retire.
This is my last back-time mission." Stephen said.
"Why have you come back?"
"To see if I can talk some sense into you, you old bird! How
could you be so foolish as to allow yourself to do what you did?
Are you that stupid, to hurt those you love, and who love you,
because you won't care for yourself? You never did, or will!
Somebody always has to look out for you- if not Christian, then
me!" Stephen snapped, then broke into a fit of wheezing.
Raven quickly went to support him, wincing inwardly at the
feel of his aged body. She knew that he was not only old, he was
dying- and he does not have long to live at all. She guided him to
a chair, where he sat, recovering his breath. "Doc, you're ill! Let
me help you!" she said.
"My dear, there's no help for me. I've made this choice.
Soon, I will be with Jolene again." he panted.
"How soon?"
"Maybe a year. Thank you." he said as she put her arm
around him, holding him upright enough to breathe easier. She
knew he was lying- he only had a few days, at most, before he
died of simple old age.
"Doc, you need to rest. Let me show you to a bed."
"All right, Raven. These time-jaunts are draining on me
now." She helped him up, took the rosewood cane from him, and
walked him down to a spare bedroom in the basement, one that
she lets the fang gang use when any of them come to stay. She
was mindful enough of his dignity not to carry him, and he was
polite enough not to notice that she was supporting most of his
weight.
Once he was placed in the bed, Raven came to a decision.
"Stephen, there is no need for you to die." she said quietly.
"My dear, I have no desire to live as an aged, invalided,
immortal vampire." he said weakly.
"Doc, you will be rejuvenated, returning to the peak of
health and vitality. You can start a whole new life, with me, here,
without the Guild interfering." she said.
"Let me think about it- I've lived so long- do I want to start
again?" he whispered as he fell asleep.
"Please, Stephen, let me help. You've been such a friend to
me." she said, looking at Stephen's frail body on the bed. She
remembered how, many years ago, an alternate version of
Stephen from another timeline brought her the tool she needed to
help her aged father, Enki. He had brought her the Minyan
Regenerator that night, back in 2028, at the cost of his own life.
She remembered holding his burned, blasted body that night,
back in her hole in Phoenix. "Just point this at your father and
push the button. It will regenerate his body, back to a youthful
form. There are three charges left in it- it takes too much power to
recharge, so, use it wisely." he said weakly, his life force ebbing.
"Let me get you to the medtube now!" she exclaimed.
"No. Let me die. The penalty for finding the Minyan
Regenerator is retroactive excision from all history, if caught.
Hide it well, and let me go. I have always loved you, from when
you came forward to succeed your father as Director One. I've
been proud to serve with you on the Directorate. Just hold me,
please. It's so cold now. I love you, Annanaya." he said in a very
faint voice, using her real name, which surprised her.
She held him as he died, realizing that she loved him as well.
After he passed on, she hid the regenerator, then disposed of his
body.
Raven snapped out of her memory, looking at his frail, aged
body on the bed. "I'm not going to lose you a second time, love."
she whispered.
Raven looked at the rosewood cane she had put next to the
bed. She picked it up, looking closely at the carving. To her
surprise, she recognized some cuneiform writing. "To my dearest
friend, with love." she read. Then, she saw another symbol- her
personal rune.
"I gave him this- but I haven't- not yet." she said, grappling
with the twists of time. Coming to a decision, she went to the one
place she could turn when she needed to talk, other than Salem,
who tended to be rather sarcastic. She did a site-to-site transport
to her father's office in Gila Bend, Az., despite the fact it was 2
A.M.
When she arrived, he was there to greet her, as usual.
"Something wrong?" he asked. Raven sat him down and told him
about what was going on back at her house.
When she finished, he said, "I'll talk to him when he awakes.
Now, you better get back home before Robin wakes up. And, put
Stephen's stick back."
Raven smiled sheepishly, only now noticing that she still
held the rosewood cane tightly in her left hand. "I love him as
much as I love any of my children, or even Chris." she said.
"I know. I'll talk to him. Goodbye, Raven." he said as she
transported back home.
When Stephen woke up, he saw a strange man sitting next to
his bed- a young, somewhat Arabic- looking person. "I know you
from somewhere, sir." Stephen said, in Arabic.
"Not from somewhere, but some when. You're in need of
some healing yourself, sir Doctor!" the man said. "You took care
of me for centuries. Now, it's my turn."
"Forgive me for not rising, Founder One." Stephen said.
"Forgiven. We need to talk, young man." for almost an hour,
the two talked. Finally, Enki talked Stephen into letting Raven
bring him across, becoming a vampire.
"I know how much the two of you have loved each other, all
this time, but you were too proper to ever show it. She knew,
despite your efforts. She loves you enough to do this." Enki said
at last.
"When she is ready, I will accept. I've been so lonely these
past few centuries, after Jolene left."
"You will never be lonely again, Stephen. This, I can
promise." Enki said, rising from his chair. "Rest now, old friend."
Stephen fell back asleep.
Enki got up and quietly walked to the door. Raven was just
outside. "Are you ready?" he asked her.
"Yes." She went to the bed, looking long at Stephen's
sleeping, shriveled form. Then, baring her fangs, she sank them
deep into Stephen's neck and drained him until his heart started
to flutter, signifying that the transformation had begun.
Stephen began reliving portions of his long life as the change
began. He remembered his childhood, on timeline CFK 412,
being born in Khartoum in 1949. His father was a Foreign Service
official for the Crown. They moved to Hong Kong in 1955, to
Singapore in 1961, to Ottawa in 1963. Stephen did not see Great
Britain until 1965. He entered Oxford Medical in 1968,
graduating with honors in 1976, joining the Royal Navy,
submarine force. He remembered his first ship, the HMS Revenge.
He remembered the incident with the crazed sailor, who
threw acid in his face, destroying Stephen's left eye, left ear, and
much of the left side of his face. He lived through the pain again,
both the physical pain, and the agony of never being able to
perform surgery again. He went through the rehabilitation,
changing fields from cardiology to general medicine. Retiring
from the Service in 1992, he became the doctor at a boys' school
outside of Manchester.
Then, in 1996, his life took a bizarre turn. In exchange for
saving the life of the grandfather of one of his students, he was
given a wondrous black bag, one that contained medical tools of
an advanced time, which enabled him to practice serious
medicine again! It turned out that the old man is a Chronomaster,
and he took Stephen on many adventures in time and space, his
black bag at his side.
They went together for about a year, then Stephen was told
that he had to stay on Earth while the old man took care of
personal business. They never met again.
Then, at a medical conference in Colorado, Stephen
encountered another Chronomaster, one who inducted him into
the Transiteer's Guild. There, his previous experience paid off,
working with his new associate, Lefty, the larcenous little hobbit.
He remembered the adventures they shared, both on missions and
at the clock shop.
Stephen was then assigned to study a new branch of
medicine- metahumanics, the biology of metahumans. Sometimes
with Lefty, sometimes alone, Stephen went to dozens of timelines
where metahumans flourished, learning how their powers worked.
He found how to open his bag in a new way, revealing a compact
surgical suite, where he could operate on the injured, using tools
that compensated for his lack of depth perception. Two shars
passed while he and Lefty studied and learned and stole their way
across time and space.
Stephen also had other assignments, improving medical
practices on dozens of timelines. Then, he was assigned to Pern.
There, as Masterhealer Stroanar, he successfully re-introduced
lost surgical techniques. He also met the love of his life, Jolene.
They had two children- Ilsenka, who became a noteworthy
healer, and Bondaren, who became a harper. When his chores
were complete, Stephen successfully lobbied to have his wife and
children brought to the Guild. There, the women joined him in
the medical wing, while Bondaren, renaming himself Darren
Bond, went to work in Operations. It turned out that he is simply
the best deductive and inductive specialist that the Guild has ever
found, outperforming such notables as Sherlock Holmes and
Baron Darcy.
While Stephen reviewed his life, outside, Raven was getting
worried. Calling on her father, she asked him, "It only takes three
days to cross over- it's been five, and he's still not awake! What's
wrong with him?" she asked.
"One thing you did not consider, child. Stephen is well over
100,000 years old- it takes longer to reset the odometer than if
you bit a fifty-year-old! Relax- he will be all right. In fact, we can
try an experiment- call Horace and tell him to bring three quarts
of his blood- maybe we can make Stephen a daywalker." her
father suggested.
They tried the experiment, giving him the blood through a
chest tube. Meanwhile, Stephen kept on reviewing. He lived
through his assignments to this timeline, designated Primeline. He
and Lefty helped the Sagan organization get started. They were
there when the final confrontation between Enki and Enlil took
place on Mars. He remembered Lefty's wedding to Melissa, the
Steel Bitch.
He remembered his other pleasing assignments- his
assignment as President Robert E. Lee's personal physician on
timeline HT 516, his 50+ years as a Starfleet medical officer,
where he helped five civilizations stave off disease and eventual
eradication, his 30 years as a physician for the Rangers on JMS
010, but, most of all, his duty as CMO of the Transiteers. While
he loved Jolene, he found himself falling in love with Raven, after
she was dragged uptime to assume her father's position as
Founder One. They would have arguments that would rock the
tower, but, he never lost his poise while arguing. He helped her
through her pregnancies, both easy and difficult. He was proud of
his association with the Inner Circle, only telling his wife of his
pride.
He and Jolene had three more children- Lessa, Jordan, and
Janira. They led successful lives in the Guild, Janira eventually
marrying Gareth, one of Raven's boys. One of their children,
Percival Galahad Harris, followed in his grandfather's footsteps
and became a physician, soon becoming his grandfather's equal.
He and Jolene also suffered the loss of many of their other
children- Ilsenka on a desert world, endeavoring to gather the
Universal Panacea; Lessa falling in ship-to-ship combat on ADF
118 [she was an excellent small spaceship pilot]; and Jordan died
on a world where dinosaurs lived- he was swallowed alive by the
local equivalent of a T. Rex. [he was an animal specialist].
He slowed down his activities as Raven did, the advancing
shars creeping up on them all. Then, Jolene announced that she
had lived enough, and had decided to end her antigeria. She aged
rapidly, soon dying peacefully in Stephen's arms. He retired
officially then, only seldom being consulted. He gave his precious
black bag to Percival, or Andohar, as he named himself. Living
with his friends and family of long standing, he waited for his
own death.
In all, it took Stephen seven days to complete the
transformation to a vampire. He woke up, physically whole,
restored to a youthful age. Raven was there to greet him, and
coerced him into feeding from her, to stabilize him.
One incident of note- on the fifth day, while Raven was
sitting at Stephen's bedside, a silver glow filled the room. When it
faded, Robin was standing there, with his hands on the shoulders
of two young red-headed children, about eight years old or so.
What startled Raven was that Robin was huge- well over 8 feet
tall and heavyset. His hair was silver-streaked, as well. He looked
at Raven and gestured for silence. The two children went to
Stephen, one to each side, and each took a hand. They stood
silently, apparently praying.
Robin went and knelt down next to his mother. "They're just
saying good-bye to Grampy Stee." he spieked.
"Who are they- your grandchildren?"
"No- my great-great-grandkids. Well, two of them. I'm not
exactly breaking the laws of time, but I am bending them a
little." he spieked with a little laugh, as if repeating an old joke.
"What happened to you? You're gigantic!"
"Oh, this. It's a side effect of my immortality- I never
stopped growing. It's real slow now, but, after 100,000 years, it
adds up. Alex is a good cook, too." he spieked ruefully, patting
his ample stomach.
The children let go of Stephen's hands and came up to Raven
and Robin. "And who are you?" Raven asked in a low voice.
"I'm Lapis Lazuli..." the one on the left said.
"...and I'm Lorelei Lee. We're glad to see you, Ancestress,
but..." the one on the right continued.
"...it's time for us to leave. Ready, Grandpa?" the one on the
left completed. When they spoke, Raven saw the little fangs in
their mouths showing from under their upper lips.
"Just a moment, girls." Robin said. He kissed Raven, then the
girls did. Taking them by the hands, they stepped back.
"Goodbye, Mom." he spieked as the silver glow surrounded
them, the girls waving goodbye. Then, they were gone.
Raven stayed near Stephen after he woke up- he needed to
feed from her often, early on, to 'fix' the change. The first
weekend after his awakening, she brought him over to Louisiana,
blindfolded, to begin testing his vampiric abilities. Many of her
relatives, of both types, were there- Remmy, Horace, Gomez,
Sophie, Casey, Leo, Mike, and Gary, just to name a few. He kept
on surprising himself- after having been invalided for centuries,
just moving without pain would have been enough for him. He
began exercising his newly rejuvenated body, exulting in his new
abilities.
Some surprises- he found that, unlike Raven, Casey and
Sophie, he couldn't fly, but he could glide safely down from a
high place. The addition of Horace's blood did give him a partial
immunity to sunlight- he wouldn't burn immediately, and he
would 'switch off' 20 minutes after sunrise, 'waking up' 20
minutes before sunset.
Several months later, Raven and Christian decided to go
forward to the Guild. They called Stephen to the pit, to monitor
their departure and return.
Raven gave Stephen a small device, something that looked
like a portable lantern. "Do you know what this is?" she asked
him.
"I most certainly do, my dear friend." he said, holding it like
it was a live tarantula. "Where ever did you get one of these? This
is the most illegal device in the multiverse!"
"You brought it to me, years ago. When we return, hit us
with it, one charge each. There are only two left. Don't worry,
you're protected- I won't let you be hurt for owning this. We'll
be right back." Raven said as she broke the white stone tablet her
father had given her. She, Christian, and Salem, who had come
trotting in while they were talking and had leapt up into Raven's
arms, all vanished in a flash of light.
One minute later, they returned. They had all aged
immensely- Raven's hair had gone from blue-black to steel-grey,
and her skin was baggy and wrinkled. Christian was also grayed
and stooped, leaning heavily on a thick cane. Salem was asleep in
Raven's arms, the old cat now mostly gray instead of black.
Stephen first flashed Raven, then Christian with the regenerator.
When they were restored to health and youth, Stephen set
the device down. "I can use that as a paperweight now." Raven
said, stretching her now-youthful body.
"Not really. It can be recharged, but, it will take the entire
output of Powersats One and Two for three full hours to charge
the energy cell enough for one flash." Stephen told them.
"Really. Well, better take it apart and hide it again, love."
Christian said. Just then, Shawn came charging through the doors
to the pit, looking as agitated as he would ever permit himself to
look while 'on duty'- meaning that only his pace and stance
belied his outwardly calm appearance.
"Grandmother, come quickly. Robin is unconscious. Just
before he passed out, he sent an image of you and Grandfather
Christian and said the words 'Chronal Shock'. Brett says it is
imperative you come to him immediately." Shawn reported
calmly.
Salem grew instantaneously to the size of a large tiger, with
faint violet stripes pulsing on his hindquarters. "Get aboard- both
of you!" he snapped.
Raven immediately sprang on Salem's back. Chris took a bit
longer. Noting Salem's impatience, he quipped to his wife, "Hold
that tiger!"
Raven grimaced at the joke, then hauled Chris up rather
roughly as punishment. A bright lavender glow surrounded the
three, and Shawn, who was leaving the room.
They all vanished from the pit, appearing in the basement of
Marty's house, where the kids were staying. Raven yelled to
Shawn to stop, putting enough voice control in her shout that he
did stop in his tracks. But, his momentum led him to take a
pratfall that would make Buster Keaton turn green with envy.
Stephen watched the people leave in a flare of violet light.
"Hmm. Looks like the old fuzz bucket managed to get finer
control of the lavender. Good for him." he thought as he
disassembled the now-empty regenerator.
"Now, where to put this?" he mused. After some
deliberation, he put the power cell in the blood rack, behind a
bottle labeled 'Heartburn Express'; the control module he buried
in the talcum powder box; and the emitter he put under the sink
in the small bathroom.
"I should leave her a note, but why bother? She'll find them,
if she applies herself." Stephen said to himself. Picking up his hat
and cane, he stood in the center of the Pit. He tapped a code on
the side of his bowler, then, after putting it on his head, rapped it
once smartly. Stephen dissolved in a flare of sparkling light,
heading for his new home, smiling.