I climbed a purple mountain surrounded by a blood red sea chasing after the girl who floated away from me on a warm breeze.

She was wearing a silver and gold skin made of small oval-shaped scales with multi-colored feathers spreading winglike under each arm. Laughing, she swooped down to hover above me with those wings slowly wafting back and forth as I stared up at her as I tried to catch my breath.

“Well, look at you,” she smiled, “Alive again.”

I took a step towards her as she watched me. Her body was lush and compact. Full teardrop breasts curving into inviting hips leading to a long pair of sculpted legs that seemed to go on forever. She was like some elusive phoenix as the pale yellow sunlight reflected and sparkled on her outfit as she floated just out of reach.

“Who are you?” I asked.

A sudden gust ruffled her windswept auburn hair that curled and curved around her face as she considered my question staring at me intently with those sea blue eyes of hers.

“I’m the girl who came across time and space to save you, Harry Watts,” she said softly, “My name is Kira J.”

Kira J.

Finally.

“Save me?” I asked her, “Why?”

The girl slowly descended until she was standing in front of me.

“Because you are mine,” she replied simply, “And I am yours.”

***

The ship emerged into a snowstorm like the girl had expected.

“Open please.”

The time machine had already surrounded itself in a protective null zone as the cockpit unlocked and slid back into its slot. Its pilot got quickly out and ran to where the man lay in the snow.

The girl blinked away her tears as she knelt over him watching as his life slipped away knowing that he was scared and afraid but there was nothing she could do to comfort him. He had to go as he was always meant to go.

She needed to be absolutely sure he had died so she reached up behind her ear to activate the device strapped around her right arm over her flight suit. Pointing her hand at his chest, a beam of light pierced the gloom as it sliced through his heavily padded jacket and shirt to reveal his bare skin.

Quickly, she tugged it open and grabbed the small square shaped biomonitor that had been hovering to her right and pressed it down on his exposed torso. The device beeped and data began to stream vertically across its surface as it checked for any signs of life. The digits flickered briefly between two and one before it finally settled on zero emitting a long tone.

He had gone. The man she had crossed time to save was truly dead.

Now she could do what she had to do.

She took the four gee clamps that were attached to her utility belt and secured one under each shoulder with the other two fastened either side of his hips. Then she turned to look at her ship as it maneuvered above her waiting for her instructions.

“Open bay,” she shouted above the wind and snow, “Prepare evac.”

The ship rose another two feet and its auxiliary pod slid forward from underneath with the front opening up for its dead passenger. The girl watched intently making sure the pod had deployed correctly as the falling snow melted on her heated outfit.

“Lift,” she said out loud and stepped further back in the snow as the man slowly emerged from where he had fallen to hover there in front of her, “Rotate horizontal 180. Forward. Stop. Pod access ready. Pod plus three. Plus two. Plus one. Clamps one to four descend. Hold. Insert. Release. Close Pod. Internal Pod systems activate. Returning to ship.”

Making sure the pod was secure, she climbed back into her cockpit. She took one final look around as the snow and wind swirled around the machine. What was that? She frowned as she peered into the darkness. She could hear someone calling in the distance. Then she saw the light. Someone was coming.

Quickly, she dropped down onto her seat and strapped herself in. “Canopy closed.”

She had to go. There had to be no witnesses.

“Return sequence initiate,” The black panel in front of her lit up and she could feel the engine charging up behind her, “Go, go, go. Jump!”

The time machine disappeared and began its journey back home.

The girl closed her eyes and slumped back into her padded seat. She had done it. All the research and study had been worth it. She had taken him from his time and he would live again in hers. Far, far into the future.

***

“WATTS!!”

Mitch Wade stopped and stood gasping for breath as the snow began to turn into a blizzard around him as he made his way along the route his friend had surely taken. He held up his industrial torch and scanned the landscape with the wide beam slicing through the darkness. His WT crackled as it hung from his belt and he grabbed it pressing it to his right ear as he struggled to hear the voice on the other end.

“Roger that,” he shouted into it, “I’ve nearly reached fifteen and no sign of him so far. What’s the ETA on backup? Air Rescue ain’t gonna cut it in this weather. Need boots on the ground, Over.”

Thirty minutes. 

Fuck.

“Understood. Will continue to do a wide sweep around fifteen, Over,” he responded, “Tell the guys to haul ass pronto. Out.”

The wind was picking up to make matters worse. “Where the hell are you, Harry?” he muttered to himself. This was some serious shit and no mistake.

It was then he saw something in the distance. Was that a light? It looked like a light. Maybe his Boss had some sort of an accident and managed to set up a beacon so Air Rescue could find him. But something wasn’t right. The light was moving around as far as he could tell through the snowstorm.

“HARRY!!” he shouted. But there was no reply as the wind began to howl amongst the trees.

Suddenly there was a brief flash and the light disappeared.

What the hell? He set off again and fifteen minutes later he arrived at the spot where he thought he saw it. He shone his torch around where he stood and realized he was about twenty feet from the pole. He directed the beam upwards and saw that the top had been sheared and splintered leaving only a blackened stump remaining with the junction box looking completely destroyed.

“Lightning strike,” he muttered. Holy shit. Where the fuck are you, Watts?

If his friend had been up top when it hit then he’d have been blown back and fallen to the ground. He stumbled around looking for any signs of him. But there was nothing.  He pointed the light up into the dense forest in front of him and felt the dread clutch his heart as every possibility ran through his head. Bears? Coyote? Had something like that taken him?

It was then he noticed something lying in the snow a short distance from him. He turned awkwardly and trudged to where the object was. He bent down to pick it up noticing that the snow looked like it had been disturbed in some way which made his animal theory much more likely.

It was a leather wallet. He flipped it open and saw various credit cards still in their slots along with a hundred bucks give or take in cash. There was also something else in there. It was a photo. An old photo of a young boy, a girl of about eighteen, and an older woman that looked to have been taken at the beach with the sea lapping around their feet. Turning it over her saw some writing on the back.

It said, “She’s real.”

In the distance, the mournful wail of a siren could be heard approaching.

***

I opened my eyes.

And immediately shut them again for everything was a bright white light.

Then I drew my first breath and groaned out loud as the oxygen expanded my lungs against my rib-cage making every muscle stretch and ache. It still felt like I was floating.

My mind was a complete blank. But there was something flickering in the dark and I realized that my memories were tantalizingly just out of reach for whatever reason. It was as if everything to me was new. Like starting afresh. 

Start from the beginning. The basics. Try to remember who I am. Who I was. I could feel my heart pounding in my chest and gasped at the effort it took to do such a simple thing. I felt lost. Somewhere else. Somewhere very different. I could hear a soft throbbing behind my right ear like a faint heartbeat. Don’t rush this. Let my mind wake up in its own time. Slowly, things were becoming clearer to me.

My name is Watts. Harry Watts. Harry Watts was born in 1965. Harry Watts was twenty-five years old. Harry Watts died. I am dead. I remember my death. 

But where was I? Where had I gone?

I am here. Somewhere else.

Had I passed over?

Too many questions. Think slower.

Wake up. 

My eyes opened. Everything was white again as I tried to focus on where I was and what was around me. I was on my back. Looking up at a white ceiling. With a grunt, I slowly raised my head a couple of inches and tried to look around as best I could. There were four white walls. I was in a room. My arms were either side of me resting on what felt like some sort of bed that seemed to mold itself to my body.

It was then I saw the numbers floating in mid-air just above and to the left side of my face. Next to the final number of six was a small yellow pulsing light and I realized it was in rhythm with the beating of my heart. I was being monitored. So I was in some sort of hospital room.

I was also naked.

I eased my head back and closed my eyes again. There had been an accident. The faint memory of it flickered inside my head with a sudden flash of light then I felt myself falling backwards. But then nothing as the memory faded away.

It was then I realized someone was here. In the room with me. I opened my eyes to see the girl standing to my right with a smile on her face.

Wait. Where had she come from? There was no door I could see. It was if she had suddenly appeared out of thin air. She was dressed in all white which was in sharp contrast to the color of her long rustic hair that had been pulled over her left shoulder. She looked as pure as the driven snow standing there in a long-sleeved blouse, trim plain skirt, white stockings and white slip-on shoes.

She didn’t say anything but let her gaze slowly wander over my nakedness as I lay there hardly able to move or speak for embarrassment. I swear a faint smile crossed her lips as her eyes lingered for a second on my sex before they returned to my face. Her attention turned to the numbers floating next to me. She reached across and sort of swiped her right hand over them and the display suddenly rotated towards her so that she could see them more clearly.

I stared at her as she read the stream of data that, to me, appeared to come from thin air like magic. Noticing that I was watching her, she gave me a nod of recognition and then she said something that I didn’t understand.

Suddenly, I felt this strange but wonderful surge of something washing over me that eased the aches in my muscles and bones. The girl took my right arm and turned it over to look at it intently. Then she placed a hand just above my breastbone and began to lightly press it all over my chest and stomach before she let it rest just above my penis.

Uh. Lady. What are you doing? No, wait. You don’t have to do that.

She glanced at me and there was the merest hint of a blush on her cheeks as her hand slipped lower and she took my limp member carefully between her fingers so she could examine it and the sack underneath. I gritted my teeth and with a huge effort managed to raise my head slightly so she could tell I was looking at her.

“Look,” I rasped, “Lady..”

Her face turned towards me and she whispered something in that strange language she spoke. I shook my head. No go. Houston we have a problem. She let go of my limp dick and reached over to press something behind my right ear then took a step back and looked down at me.

“Hello,” she said, “You can understand me now?”

I blinked with surprise and nodded. “Yes.”

“Good, that is good,” she smiled, “I sometimes forget. Are you thirsty?”

Totally. I nodded.

She turned to her left and a white beaker appeared suddenly in her right hand. She carefully slipped her left under my head to support it as she brought the container to my lips.

“Water. Drink slow. Feel better,” she said as I felt the cool liquid in my mouth. That tasted so damned good and I could feel myself starting to wake up properly both physically and mentally. It felt like I had been in a deep sleep on the longest journey ever.

Once I was finished, she said something and removed her hand from behind my head. To my surprise, it didn’t fall back but remained where it was and I could feel the bed shifting to support me as I sat up properly.

The girl sat beside the bed and took my right hand in hers. I turned my head and looked at her as she smiled at me. This girl who had appeared throughout my life but who remained a complete mystery. Now, finally, maybe I would get some answers to the questions that had always been there.

“Kira,” I said.

The girl smiled and nodded.

I knew her name.

She had told it to me in a dream.

“How?” I frowned.

She reached over and brushed the hair away from my eyes before she looked back at me in silence for a moment as if she was considering what to say next. As if she had to explain something to a small child.

“Even though you had returned physically,” she explained slowly, “You were still lost inside your head. I came to guide you and show you the way back to being the person you were before your event.”

I stared at her. “The purple mountain.”

She smiled and nodded. 

“Am I dead?”

“No,” said the girl, “But you were.”

I turned my head and looked around the room.

“This sure as hell isn’t Kansas,” I murmured.

She shook her head and I could see she was trying not to laugh.

“So if I’m not dead,” I said, “And this isn’t heaven. Then where am I?”

The girl stood up from her chair and walked to the end of what I had imagined to be a bed. “For you,” she began,” You are in a place yet to be. For me,” she smiled, “I’m in a place that used to be. This place is somewhere for you to heal and the place from where your life begins again. You are safe here, Harry. Think of today as the first day. Our first day.”

 The future. I was in the future.

In my head. In a dream. It had to be a dream. Or a coma. That was the only rational explanation for this whole crazy thing. The lightning. The fall. I died. Now I’m apparently not dead. In a room without windows or doors talking to the most stunning woman I’d ever seen. Dream. Or a coma.

“Can I call you Kira?” I asked her.

“Of course,” she smiled nodding, “That is my name.”

I raised my right hand. “Hello, Kira. Whoever you are.”

She looked at my hand for a moment then slipped hers into mine. She was warm to the touch and her skin was as smooth and soft as silk. She seemed amused at our little introduction.

“And a hello to you, Harry,” she grinned as she let go of my hand, “Now that you are awake,” she continued, “Shall we begin your new life?”

Sure.

I wondered if I was going to meet the Wizard of OZ again.

***

“Lucy will take good care of you, Harry,” said Kira.

We were still in that white room and I was still flat on my back naked as the day I was born floating on that strange bed. At least now I was thinking straight. Thinking logically in an illogical situation.

I blinked at the girl. “Lucy?”

Kira spread her arms. “Lucy is all around you. She is the reason you are here speaking to me now. Think of her as your own personal life support. Her task is to be there for you at all times. Say hello, Lucy.”

“Hello, Harry,” said a feminine voice suddenly from out of thin air, “I am so very pleased to meet you. I am sure we’re going to get along just fine.”

Kira laughed at the surprised look on my face. “Lucy, rotate 90.”

The bed suddenly flipped forward until I was floating upright as if I was held there by an invisible hand. What I thought was a bed obviously wasn’t. It was the most extraordinary feeling and I gasped as I felt “Lucy” molding herself around me to keep me in place.

Kira stood in front of me smiling. “How do you feel now, Harry?”

I could feel my whole system composing itself after the initial rush of blood to my head. I glanced to my left at the numbers floating in mid-air as the indicator pulsed slower as my heartbeat returned to normal. I raised my right arm and held it out in front of me slowly turning my hand over and wriggling my fingers. Then I did the same with my other arm as I winced at the sudden ache in every bone and muscle.

“How long was I,” I hesitated as I tried to come to terms with what had happened to me, “Gone?”

Kira watched as I raised each leg and twiddled my toes. “From your perspective?” she answered, “About a week. Once we had returned, you were brought here in the lifepod where Lucy was assigned to you. From there it was only a matter of bringing you back and stabilizing your physical and neural functions in a coma state until you were ready for the awakening.”

I stared at my hands. “These had serious burns.”

Kira nodded. “Most of your neck and upper chest was the same. You also had severe internal injuries to a number of vital organs that required quite an extensive repair. Isn’t that right, Lucy?”

“Indeed, Kira J,” said the voice.

The girl took a couple of steps back. “Stream please, Lucy,” she said, “Status. Diagnostic. Apply stims for initial physical tests.”

She reached over to the floating panel and moved her hand across it with her fingers looking like they were tapping invisible buttons. Suddenly a ream of numbers and data appeared in a small hovering twelve-inch square screen with Lucy making various comments at certain points of interest.

“Excellent,” nodded Kira, “It appears that you have recovered enough to take your first steps into a whole new world.”

I looked at her then down at my naked body where everything was hanging out on parade. “Uh, what about,” I coughed and indicated my lack of clothing, “You know, all this.”

Kira stared at me blankly. “All what?”

I crossed my hands over my crotch.

“Oh,” she said finally, “It bothers you that you are naked?”

It sure did. A LOT. 

“A little,” I nodded as I turned red as she looked me up and down.

The girl put a hand up to her right cheek. “Of course!” she said, “Sometimes I keep forgetting the times and the way things were back then.”

She was standing in front of me and then, to my complete shock and surprise, she reached up behind her ear and everything she was wearing disappeared in the blink of an eye leaving her stunningly naked as my eyes nearly popped out of my head at the sight of her.

“There,” she smiled, “Now we are alike so there is no need to be embarrassed about your nakedness in front of me.”

Embarrassed? That was the last thing I was. More like awestruck. I couldn’t move or speak as I just stared at the girl. Talk about having all the best things in all the right places. Everything about her was perfect. From her long reddish brown hair to her high firm breasts to her firm flowing thighs to her beautifully shaped legs and that hairless slot between those glorious thighs.

She seemed oblivious to my rapt attention as she went to the far side of the room and touched a specific spot on the wall which immediately changed into a larger version of the floating panel with different aspects of information about me appearing in dedicated sections as Lucy kept a constant update of my condition.

“Is something wrong?” asked Kira when she realized I was staring at her bare ass as she stood looking at the screen. She glanced down over her shoulder and put her hand on her right butt cheek.

I shook my head. No. Nothing was wrong. Far from it, Future girl. I could stare at that bare ass of yours for forever and a day. But if she wanted me to take my first steps into whatever world I now found myself in then doing it naked wasn’t going to get me very far.

“No,” I said as she came back to stand in front of me again. Holy hell, this girl was beyond beautiful in every way, “We’re going to need something for me to wear or else this is all going to get a little awkward.”

She looked a little puzzled but smiled happily and nodded. She did that thing again where she reached behind her right ear. “Everyone has a small implant here. Simply touch it and think about what you want. You will only see the personal things that belong to you and you alone. Everything from your own private data to the clothes that you wear. As you have only just arrived, you will only have access to basic outfits that are supplied by this facility.”

I watched as she blinked and there she stood again as if by magic fully dressed in the same type of outfit only this time it was a light yellow in color.

“Go ahead, Harry,” she urged, “Try it.”

Leaning slightly forward, I carefully reached up behind my right ear and felt for this implant device. There was a small round flat ridge just under the skin and I tentatively touched it causing it to beep in my ear. My vision was suddenly overlaid with what I can only describe as some sort of digital layout that had options listed down either side with various functions accessible along the bottom with what looked like the time and other strange numbers across the top. 

What had she said again? Think about what you want. I closed my eyes and the layout was still there. Alright. Clothes. I need clothes. Think clothes. A second later, two sets of different colored tops, pants, and what looked like slip-on shoes appeared in front of my eyes with the instructions on how to select them. This was totally awesome.

A moment later and I found myself wearing a sky blue top, a darker blue pair of pants with matching shoes. One second I was naked and the next I wasn’t. Everything fit perfectly with even the “boxers” fitting snugly around my unmentionables. I was finally good to go.

“How do I look?” I asked Kira.

She looked me up and down as she stuck her hands into the pockets of the tunic she was wearing. “I think I prefer you naked,” she smiled as she looked me up and down, “Lucy, activate remote tracking and switch to auto background scanning please.” The girl raised her hand and urged me to come forward, “Step out of the pod, Harry. Time to see your new home and to answer some of those questions I know you want answered.”

Taking a deep breath, I did as she asked and felt the bed release me. I was now standing on my own without any help. That truly was one small step for a man but a huge fucking leap for me into the unknown.

***

We were sat at a table. Still in the same room.

Kira was opposite me and I had the impression she was intensely interested in how I was going to react to the things she was going to tell me and the answers to the questions she knew I was going to ask. The first question was the most obvious.

“Am I in the future?”

She nodded. “Yes.”

“So this isn’t a dream?”

She smiled. “No. This is real.”

Well, there goes that theory. 

“So I died.”

“Yes.”

“And I’m alive again.”

“Yes.”

I nodded. “And it was you who saved me.”

Kira blinked. “Yes.”

My mind was starting to race. This was insane. Ridiculous, terrifying and amazing in equal measure. I knew in my heart she was telling me the truth. Holy fucking shitballs just about covered it. Okay, the next most important question then.

“Can I go back?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

Kira sat back in her chair. “Because to save you I had to make sure you died. That the life you had been living had come to an end. It was only when I was sure you were dead that I could remove you from that timeline.”

Alright. Okay. That made sense. Sort of. “Why can’t you just take me back to before I died. Take me back before the accident happened and make sure I wasn’t even there when it did?”

The girl didn’t say anything and I could see she was trying to make me understand how the things she had done worked in the world she lived in.

“Harry,” she began to say, “Please understand, I literally took you out of time to save you. The moment the ship jumped there was no going back for you because it is physically impossible to go back onto oneself. It is impossible to exist with more than one of you in the same time. That theory has been thoroughly tested along with so many others to make sure those of us who travel in time understand the nature of what we do and the universal rules about what is and isn’t possible. Travelling in time is the most incredible thing the human race can or will ever do but it can only be done when everything about it and all possible outcomes are calculated and completely understood.”

“I guess Doc Brown was wrong,” I muttered to myself ruefully as I imagined more than one Harry Watts running around the universe and turning the laws of physics upside down for the sake of getting his Mother and Father together. I frowned suddenly at the thought of my Mother.

“What happened to me?”

Kira licked those perfect lips as she still stared at me as I sat there trying to take it all in.

“You were never found,” she revealed, “The records show you listed as missing presumed dead back in 1990. The official speculation was that you had an accident and been taken by an animal of some sort. No trace of you was ever recovered except for one thing.”

I looked up. “What was that?”

“Your wallet,” said Kira, “It must have slipped out of your inside pocket when the gee clamps picked you up. The wallet was eventually given to your Mother.”

The wallet. With the photo.

Of her. Of Kira and me. Taken by my Grandfather when I was six by the seashore. The photo I had scribbled “She’s real!” on the back of when I was eighteen and first shown it by my Grandmother. That had been the day I had chased the girl into that blind alley where she vanished into thin air. It had also been the day when I realized that the girl was in my life for a reason.

And now I knew why.

She had come across time to save me.

***

I had so many more questions for her.

“So, you’ve always been there throughout my life?”

Kira nodded. “Yes.”

“Why?”

She smiled and shrugged blushing slightly. “Mostly research. Sometimes curiosity.”

“I saw you in a dream.”

There was a slight pause then she nodded again. “Always follow that yellow brick road, Harry.”

“How is that possible?” Time travel I could get my head around but to be in an actual dream?

“Research. This was a test to see if your consciousness could accept another voice inside it. I was in your bedroom,” she said quietly, “Watching you sleep. I waited until I knew you were dreaming. A really deep and intense dream. Then I came to say hello for the first time. I remember asking you how old you were.”

“I was twelve.”

“And off to see the Wizard,” she smiled as a glass suddenly appeared on the table in front of her and she took a sip from it.

“How could you be inside my dream?” I asked her, “Inside my head?”

“Magic.”

I didn’t know how to respond to that. Everything was going to seem like magic from now on. There was one final question I had to ask. The question whose answer would hopefully explain this whole adventure even though it might be an answer I didn’t want to hear.

“Why?” I asked her as our eyes met and we stared at each other, “Why all this? Why did you do all this to save me? What am I to you?”

She placed her hands over mine and sat forward. Her eyes were bright and intense as they searched my own.

“I have known all about  you since I was the age of five,” she whispered, “There are some things I can’t tell you simply because they haven’t happened yet but I need you to know that what does happen is something that has been destined to happen for thousands of years ever since I discovered who you were and what you were going to mean to me in my life.”

Thousands of years?

How far into the future was I?

A hundred years? Five hundred? A thousand? What was the world going to be like beyond these four white walls? One thing was for sure; the world that I knew was probably long gone. It was then there was a soft bell-like chime that broke the silence that had fallen between the pair of us.

“Come,” said Kira as she turned in her chair as I looked up wondering what else was going to happen, “I think you need to see as well as listen now.”

***

“Uh,” I said, glancing at Kira as we stood before the far wall, “There’s no door.”

She tilted her head to one side to look at me. “Take my hand, Harry,” she told me, “And imagine that there is.”

Imagine that there’s a door? An imaginary door to another time. I closed my eyes and heard that soft beep from that thing behind my right ear. When I opened them again a door had appeared right in front of us to reveal what looked like a long white corridor which ended with another white wall.

Kira stepped through the opening still holding my hand as I followed her. “One step at a time, Harry,” she smiled as we walked slowly together hand in hand, “You need to get used to your new surroundings. It should only take a short time for you to adjust.”

As the end of the corridor got closer, I began to notice the small details. At various points along both sides of the wall, there were what looked like small plaques with writing on them. Maybe these were similar rooms with other patients in them. Maybe some of those patients were like me from another time going through what I was going through.

Kira kept glancing up at me as if she was enjoying my reactions to what I was experiencing and she squeezed my hand to reassure me.

“Alright?” she asked.

I nodded. “Now I know how Buck Rogers felt,” I replied as my heart began to beat faster as we stopped at the end of the corridor and another plain white wall.

She looked at me blankly and shook her head.

“Long story,” I shrugged with a smile, “For another time.”

Kira grinned at me and I felt her hand grip me tighter. Like before, the wall dissolved away to reveal another opening and what looked like some sort of platform with clear blue sky beyond it. The girl stepped through the door into the bright light of day and turned to look at me.

“Don’t be afraid, Harry,” she said.

Staring at her, I stepped into the future and stopped. It looked and felt like a warm Summers day with a gentle breeze wafting gently around us. Kira let go of my hand as I stood there wide-eyed and open-mouthed as I looked at this new world with tall white towers and spires as far as the eye could see glistening and gleaming under the light from a huge tangerine sun that sat high in the sky above us. 

But it wasn’t the Sun that I was staring at. It was the pale blue half crescent whose dayside was illuminated by the light from that sun. That wasn’t the Moon. It was something much more than that. Kira came up behind me.

“You were right. You’re not in Kansas anymore, Harry,” she said wistfully as she slipped her arm through mine, “You’re not even on the original Earth. This is Sirius Alpha Three. The third planet in the Sirius A system which is eight point six light-years from Sol prime.” 

I stood there trying to take everything in.

“Harry?” said Kira as she pressed herself against my side.

“I guess this isn’t the twenty-fifth century either then?”

She shook her head. “No,” she said, “This is the forty-first century based on the astronomical Earth calendar.”

I turned to look at her. “Forty-first century, huh,” I repeated softly.

Kira kissed me on the cheek. “Welcome to the year 4047, Harry Watts.” 

I was over two thousand years into the future and eight point six light years from home. Holy fucking shitballs. Eat your heart out, Buck Rogers.

***

The blue sky above us ripped apart with a loud “Whup whup” crack as the Star Liner emerged from curved space with its black and yellow wasp like exterior gleaming in the sun.

I stood there staring at it as the vessel slowly passed overhead on its way to dock at what I imagined to be some sort of spaceport.  It was as long as the longest ocean liner that had sailed the seas back in my old time. Along its sides were various markings and what looked like spikes sticking out near the black colored front who’s humpbacked shape reminded me of a Buffalo with its low slung head and higher shoulders. As it continued over the city casting a dark shadow as it went, smaller insect like ships rose up to meet it and help guide it towards its destination.

Kira slipped her hand into mine.

“When I visited your time I already knew and understood what I was going to see,” she said as we both stood there watching the ship begin to descend in the far distance, “But for you seeing these things for the first time must be such an amazing experience.”

Amazing was right. 

“Who are they?” I asked.

Kira smiled. “Travellers. I think you called them tourists in your day.”

“Tourists, huh,” I laughed. Sure. That was one trip I was definitely going to take,”From Earth?”

She shook her head. “No,” she said, “Local system. You can tell by the insignia either side of the front command center,” She glanced up at me, “Sorry,” she blushed as she realized everything was gibberish to me right now.

I gave her hand a squeeze. “I’ll learn.”

“We walk?” she asked.

“Okay,” I nodded as she looked at me hopefully, “We walk.”

I was about to turn and go back into the building but the girl shook her head and began to lead me towards the edge of the platform. It was then I noticed there wasn’t any safety barrier along each side. Uh. Wait. Where are we going?

Kira stopped about six feet from the edge and turned to me with an impish smile on her face as she bit her lip trying not to laugh. I frowned at her because we were way too close to the drop for my liking. I was okay with heights but there’s dumb and then there’s reckless.

“Watch,” she said as she suddenly began to walk backwards.

What the hell? I took a step forward to grab her hand but she merely smiled and laughed as she quickly turned and fell face first over the side of the tower and disappeared as I stood there in shock with my heart pounding in my chest.

“Kira?!” I shouted. What was she doing? Was she crazy?!

A moment later, the girl floated up in front of me and hovered there like a hummingbird with her arms spread wide and her clothes flapping in the breeze. She was grinning and laughing as she looked down at me and I saw the look of understanding in her pure blue eyes.

“We walk in the sky,” she said, “Do not be afraid for Lucy will take care of you.”

Was she kidding? I took another step and leaned forward to look over the edge. Holy shit. It looked like were at least fifty plus floors up with another twenty or so above us.

“Harry,” called the girl again, “Trust me.”

Kira held out her hand.

We stared at each other for a moment as the breeze picked up around us. Trust her. Take a leap of faith to be with her because we were meant to be together. Together with the girl who had brought me back from the dead.

I stepped off the platform.

And found myself rising on a thermal as I heard that soft beep behind my right ear again. It was like I had just jumped out of a plane before the parachute deployed and I could use my arms to guide me. Except there was no parachute. I really was flying as the girl glided over to be by my side.

She was laughing and giggling as she took my hand. Her long hair billowed around her face like a glorious flame as she lifted us both high into the deep blue sky and soared above the city below. Needless to say, this was the most amazing thing ever as I let go of her hand to float on my own as I got used to the sensation of using the air around me to control where I went.

Down far below, I could see what looked like small sleek oval shaped pods of various sizes zipping around on different levels with people like ourselves flying around to wherever it was they were going. So this was what getting from A to B in 4047 was like. A man could definitely get used to this.

It was then I looked up and saw her.

Kira was watching me with those blue eyes that seemed to look deep into my soul. She was floating gently on the breeze with her arms slowly moving back and forth to hold her still. The girl came closer until we faced each other without saying anything for a long time.

“Harry,” she whispered as she came into my arms and I held her against me. She lifted her face to mine as my lips found hers in a kiss that deepened as we floated away together on a warm spiral into the deep blue beyond.

“I love you.”

***

End of Part 4.

Continues in Part 5.

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