The Old Mine

32: Progress

                        Cal sat down still reeling over all this. "When was the last time Alfred was scanned?"

                         "I don't know," Midnight nodded at Recke "But we will find out." He left taking the group with him, leaving Recke and Cal alone. Recke sat down across from Cal "Take a moment and let your mind calm down" He placed his hands on her knees, just waiting for her to collect her thoughts.

                         Cal leaned back and took a deep breath, "I have no idea about anything right now..." She smiled at Recke who seemed no different than usual. "How are you so calm right now?"

                         "Easy, I already told you that I let her go." Recke smiled "I am a bit horrified that I fell for her Bullshit though." He rolled his eyes. "What are you thinking?"

                         "A simple conversation has become something else, something confusing and stressful. But one thing is certain, Mauve is an O'Horo and technically a bad guy." She groaned "And Astrid is only trying to find herself, so she might not be the bad guy. However she is going about it completely wrong... we have two bad guys trying to kick our asses."

                         "But why?" He smiled knowing she would instinctively know the answer.

                         "I don't know yet." She took a breath "A question for you, can we find her.... find them, and protect ourselves?" Cal looked at him, he smiled slightly, he knew he didn't need to answer because she would answer it herself "I am certain of a few things... Mauve left because she had already accomplished her goal here at the base. The attack that everyone thought ended her life or got her lost in time was supposed to end yours." The last piece fell into place "The first tribe is protecting us, until it's safe we have to trust them... they send word to me, so they can remain in hiding where they are safe... in whatever little piece of paradise they have made for themselves." She leaned forward and came nose to nose with Recke "We are the jumpers for them, we do this, so they don't have to." A thought struck her, she could see Mauve bouncing around in time at the base "She's the helper that Astrid is trying to find... I wonder if Astrid knows that the very person, she helped escape is actually who she is trying to find."

                           Recke smiled "I have an insight you haven't figured out yet." Cal frowned "Everyone believes the helper is the one that is the biological base of the maternal side of Astrids DNA."

                         "Wait, she's your age...the whole jumper thing made me forget that for a moment but...." Cal frowned "How is that possible? Have jumpers done this before, bounced around in time at the base?" Recke nodded and shrugged like the concept is no big deal. "You've done it to, haven't you?" He nodded and smiled.

                          "I have a bigger question, doesn't that mean Astrid would be half O'Horo?" Cal chuckled at the wide-eyed shock that crept across Recke's face.

                         "Um, I have a bigger issue; that means I made out with a woman old enough to be my grandmother." Recke took a deep breath and tried not to gag. Cal burst out laughing. "Okay, how is it possible... Is it possible?"

                         "Yes, just trying to plan out all the steps gives me a migraine. When I bounced it was far less complicated and mainly to go get training that they now think is irrelevant." Recke rubbed his temples "It wouldn't be the first time someone went back in time, and either became their own parent or nearly did... What do we do now?"

                          Cal wanted to know more about Recke's comment of becoming their own parent but opted to research about it later and leave it be for now. "What if we release the information we know so far to the Data-Block. I'm thinking that it will get Astrid's attention, maybe get her and Mauve to be each other's problem and leave us alone for a while so that we can make the base and the mine's completely untouchable to anyone but us."