The Dragon's Cure - Shaun

Chapter 66

Shaun laid his hand over each chamber, where his brothers, their wives and Mandy slept, before walking to the main console and the time machine. He scanned the small devise attached to the console and wondered how Dastiel managed to replicate the technology into the chamber he used to travel through time. That would be something best left to Chezlin to decipher.

Beeps and chirps echoed through the silent chamber, as he tapped the consoles and entered the codes for their departure. A screen appeared and he selected the route for the AI to take and frowned when a red light flashed over an alternate route.

"Amy, what's the problem? Why can't I take the route I've selected," Shaun asked the computer.

"The wormhole exits at the exact time you will be entering in the future. Neither vessel will survive the collision," the robotic female voice said.

"Thanks for the heads up. Will the alternate course take us to our departure point? I do not wish to land at the same spot we took off from. Could you ensure that we land on the opposite side of the planet, please? Preferably where there are no dragons or any humanoid beings that could spot us," Shaun asked.

"The alternate course will direct us to the bottom of the planet. I will need assistance to guide us around the planet. I will wake you thirty minutes prior to reaching our target," she said.

"That will be fine with me. Gives me time to find my legs before I have to help you steer," Shaun said.

"You will have exactly twenty minutes after decompression, which is sufficient time to expell all excess fluids and clear your airway. We will need the additional ten minutes to get to the new location. Please enter the authorization code displayed at the bottom of my screen so I may plot the new coarse," she said.

Shaun did as she requested and when prompted, he entered the date into the time machine.

"Please step into the chamber," she prompted.

"Before I do, can you confirm that we will arrive exactly an hour after we left the planet," Shaun asked.

"The date entered does not correspond to the departure date. I will adjust the date to ensure arrival at exactly one hour after departure," she said.

Shaun frowned as the year clicked backwards until it stopped exactly 150 years before they originally left earth. Shaun frowned and tapped the device, but it blinked the date back to him as its final answer.

"Amy, is this correct? How could we have arrived on the other planet, before we left Earth?" Shaun asked.

"Master Barlow connected the device to my console, when we found the planet he had been seeking. I do believe, Master Luther suggested the date. I have a record of every conversation held inside of this craft. Would you like me to play it back to you now?" she asked.

Shaun's blood boiled as he listened to the recordings. Several hours later, he sat tapping his fingers against the frame of the console, thinking through the plan they had devised.

"Amy, keep to the new course and please wake me if anything goes wrong. Activate our shields and keep us hidden from anyone that might be out there watching for us. Send the signal to Emily as soon as I am asleep. We need to get home in one piece. I have a bone to pick with some elders." Shaun said.

He stepped into his chamber and tried to relax his mind as the door closed and the gas enveloped him.

"No one is touching my family," was his last thought before the gas knocked him out.

***

Shaun felt like he had a bad case of gastroenteritis as liquid spilled from everywhere it possible could. When he finally stopped dry heaving, he stood under a hot shower. He wished the vessel had a real shower to massage his aching back, but the mist cleaned and warmed him, so he couldn't complain too much.