A Time to Mourn A Time to Dance - A SciFi Paranormal Romantic Suspense Novella

Chapter Four

I yawned as I walked down the hallway toward the lounge. I'd actually gotten some sleep last night – but it still didn't feel like enough. Hopefully the morning sessions would be quiet and peaceful. I'd be happy to enjoy watching a gentle group of sauropods foraging along a quiet river.

Jason was in the lounge talking in low conversation with Anastasia. Jason held two mugs of coffee in his hands. He handed me one as I approached.

Anastasia confided to Jason, "So that's why I think Roger and Devon are having issues. A priest and a rabbi. It's not easy absorbing the actual foundational truth of your religion in a mere twenty-four hours. To learn just what lay behind your sacred texts and tenets."

Jason nodded. I could almost see him scribbling notes in a virtual journal.

I took a long drink of my coffee.

It was absolutely perfect.

A long yawn escaped my lips.

Anastasia turned to me. "You look like hell, Phuong."

I chuckled and took another drink. "Jeez, thanks a lot, Annie."

Jason looked between us. "Phuong worked twelve straight hours yesterday. Can't someone give her a breather?"

I could feel those journalist tendrils of his extending. I said, "There's only three crew members here. We're all overworked; it's just the nature of our jobs. I can handle my twelve hours. All things considered, I have the easiest task."

Anastasia nodded. "Speaking of which, I have to get going. You guys have fun today." She vanished down a hallway.

Jason turned to me with an intrigued gaze. "All right, then. Day two. After you."

We walked into the theater.

The entire group was, indeed, waiting for us. I closed the doors behind us. Everyone seemed to be sitting in the exact same seats as yesterday. I'd read studies about how that happened. People got comfortable in their space.

Well, if there was one thing these videos showed us, it was that our world was full of unexpected moments.

I smiled at the group. "Good morning. I hope you all got at least some sleep last night."

There were some bleary-eyed murmurs. I had a sense that certain members of our group had gotten caught up binge-watching and hadn't slept a single wink.

I nodded to them. "You know you'll have to sleep at some point. If you end up falling asleep in here, we'll just let you be. It's why we advised people dressed in comfy clothes. The chairs are certainly comfortable enough."

There were a few chuckles.

I went on, "If you're in your room and fall asleep, a buzzer will sound for you when your scheduled time approaches. But you could end up sleeping through it. In that case, whoever is present in the theater will vote on a placeholder viewing. If you show up part-way through, you can have whatever time is left. But in general our screen time is so limited that we'll want to use every moment we can to watch something. Does this make sense?"

Again, more nods.

"Any questions for me, before we begin?"

Sarah raised a hand. "Say something's in the video library, but it's seen from a certain point of view. Like the Battle of Bull Run but it's primarily from the Eastern flank. Can we re-watch it from another angle, to get more information on what happened?"

"Absolutely," I agreed. "Your time is wholly your own. Anything within the time and distance parameters is up for grabs. You can go to any place within the radius of our solar system. You can go to any time before 1966. It doesn't matter if someone else has taken a run at that event. Your time is your time."