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  Minutemen: Parallel Lives

  DAVID DANFORTH

  Antioch, California

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  MINUTEMEN: PARALLEL LIVES

  Copyright © 2020 by The Story Inside Press

  All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Printed in the United States of America

  First Printing, April 2020

  Cover design: Angie

  Edits: Vicki A

  www.daviddanforth.com

  This book, like most of my books, has a couple of themes winding through it. If I could boil it down simply, though, I’d say it’s a prelude to war, and about finding your way home no matter the cost.

  We are in a real war now, us humans. But the enemy isn’t fighting with guns. It didn’t arrive on a spaceship. But it wants to wipe us out just the same.

  This book is dedicated to those who are on the front lines of our real war: Doctors, Nurses, Essential Workers, Volunteers. This one is for you.

  Yes, this journey will be long, but we WILL find our way home again.

  CONTENTS

  PREFACE

  PROLOGUE

  EARTH PRIME

  EARTH 2

  EARTH 3

  EARTH PRIME

  EARTH 156

  EARTH 2781

  EARTH 5249

  EARTH PRIME

  EARTH 10359

  EARTH 24307

  EARTH ORIGINAL

  EARTH PRIME

  EPILOGUE

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  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  PREFACE

  G reetings! this is book four in the Guardians of Time science fiction/time travel/dystopian series. The series tells the story of Kaylan Smith, recruited to form a group of young adults, called the Minutemen, who could travel through time and space. Their mission was to stop a madman who wanted to destroy the universe in order to stop an invasion of Earth by a brutal alien race.

  Kaylan and her team were able to defeat the madman, who turned out to be her own grandson, but they were unable to stop the invasion. The Guardians dispersed the team throughout time. Kaylan and an older version of her best friend, Jessica Waters, landed in the year 865 and watched a band of Vikings approach them.

  For the full history, you can pick up The Guardians of Time Omnibus: Minutemen Books 1-3. There's also a special edition containing short stories set in the Minutemen universe.

  PROLOGUE

  875.

  Kaylan Smith peered out of the open window of her dwelling and breathed in the salty sea air. The wind was swift and brisk, but for the third day in a row, she saw no fog or low clouds. The sky was clear. Perhaps they were finally free of winter for the year.

  “What are you doing awake? Come to bed.”

  Kaylan smiled as she heard her husband’s voice. She slowly closed the window and walked toward their bed. Jon lay propped up on his elbow, naked, the sheets thrown off him. He was tall with dark blond hair and a long, scraggly beard.

  “The sun is up, my love.” Kaylan spoke in the Norse dialect that Ulf had taught her the first year she was here. “Get your lazy ass out of bed.” She went around to his side and kissed him.

  “The sun will stay in the sky for many hours,” Jon said as she walked to her wooden trunk to grab her clothes. “What is so pressing that you need to leave our house first thing in the day?”

  Kaylan froze, holding her brown bearskin pants.

  “Just want to get a swim in before breakfast,” she lied. She kept her voice light and springy, but the fact was, today was a very special day.

  She kissed her husband again as he dressed. She had long ago gotten used to the smell he developed when he didn’t wash himself every day.

  She walked the half-mile to the beach. On the way, Kaylan looked up at the cliff on her right, to the patch of grass where she and Elder Jess first spotted Jon and his party of Vikings making landfall ten years ago.

  The wind was stronger on the beach. The waves coming in had noticeable whitecaps, but she didn't care. She needed it to blow the guilt off her. She stripped naked and dove into the sea, letting the water welcome her. The instant blast of cold cleared her mind. Kaylan swam parallel to the beach for about a half-mile, then turned and swam back. She completed ten laps in just under an hour without stopping. When Kaylan was a child, she stunk at swimming. Her father used to joke that she had all the skills of a rock.

  Kaylan slowly emerged from the sea back onto the beach. She let the sun dry her enough to put her clothes back on, and she slowly walked toward Ulf's dwelling. Her sore muscles reminded her of their last training session two days before.

  “You are late,” Ulf growled as she entered.

  “It's a special day,” she replied in Norse.

  “Every day is a special day.” Ulf walked toward a row of spears, grabbed two, and tossed one to Kaylan. She knew what came next. She could walk through this routine blindfolded. Her mind flashed on six years ago—four years after the Guardians dropped her here and the Vikings came ashore—when Ulf finally conceded to training her, shaping her to be a fierce Viking warrior.

  “Are you ready for today's lesson?” Ulf asked.

  “A warrior is always ready,” Kaylan answered.

  “What are you hunting?” Ulf asked, twirling his spear.

  Kaylan let her hands run over the etched symbols in her spear before slowly twirling and thrusting the weapon.

  “Nothing in particular,” she said and slowly stepped clockwise around the hut.

  Ulf's face soured. “A warrior does not feel the need to hide behind lies like a coward.” He began to match her stride around the room, keeping the distance between each other the same. “Combat. Noncombat. A warrior always hunts something.”

  Kaylan focused and bit her lower lip. In the six years she has known him, she had never felt the need to tell him he was training her to fight tall reptilian aliens.

  Still a lie, her mind taunted. Just like the lie you told your friend about her brother—

  That's not a lie, she answered her conscience. I just...didn't tell her anything.

  A lie of omission is still a lie.

  Her hands felt a sharp pain as Ulf's spear came down hard upon hers.

  “Where has your mind gone?” he barked. “A warrior's mind does not wander off to sightsee—”

  Kaylan almost knocked him to the floor with her thrust. Ulf blocked it at the last moment, deflecting it enough so it jabbed his shoulder. Kaylan smiled as he winced.

  Then he came after her. Three quick thrusts that she blocked. Then they were dancing. Parry. Block. Thrust. Different combinations. Intricate footwork. Dancing around the hut. Kaylan felt a pang of guilt every time she trained with Ulf. Jon respected her enough not to ask why he couldn't teach her. The fact was, every member of the Viking settlement would have been adequate to train her, right down to the older women who cooked the food. They were all warriors, deciding not to bring any Thralls—Viking slaves—with them on their journey. But Kaylan needed the best among them because she needed to do the imposs
ible. Defeat the alien race that would defeat earth in just over twelve hundred years from now.

  Still, it wasn't just the training that made her feel guilty. When it started to feel this way, rhythmic, like dancing, she felt as if she were cheating on Jon.

  Ulf’s spear thrust inches from her left cheek. Kaylan felt the spear’s quick, whistling breath on her face. Her hands along with her spear absorbed the impact as she instinctively raised her weapon to block the blow. She was surprised her spear was still unbroken.

  She used the momentum to pivot on her left leg, catching Ulf by surprise. She thrust her spear at his upper body, and for the first time in six years, Kaylan caused a Viking warrior two feet taller than her to lose balance and tumble to the ground.

  Kaylan quickly thrust her spear at Ulf’s face, stopping two inches from his cold blue eyes.

  “I won,” she said, smiling.

  She felt Ulf’s spear connect with her ankles a moment before she fell hard onto the dirt floor.

  “You did not,” Ulf said, getting to his feet and standing over her. “A warrior does not show mercy when hunting prey.”

  But he couldn’t erase her smile. “I won,” she repeated. Ulf rolled his eyes.

  “We are done training for today,” Ulf said, walking away. “Go eat your breakfast.”

  Kaylan took her time walking toward the settlement longhouse. It was a beautiful day, and she wanted to take it all in. She stopped by the edge of the rise overlooking the settlement. Most of the Viking tribe had already taken their share of the meal and sat down at the large oak table to eat the feast. She could see Jon and an empty spot next to him.

  “He saved me a seat,” Kaylan muttered, smiling, and walked toward the hut.

  “Another lesson in combat from Ulf,” Hilde, the elder cook, said with a smile. Three of her upper teeth were missing.

  “I won,” Kaylan said, leaning in as if she were spreading town gossip. She took a large amount of boiled deer meat.

  “Strange, that is not how Ulf tells it,” the Viking elder said, but she was smiling as well.

  Kaylan brought her bowl to the table and took her seat next to her husband. They laughed when she told her tale of victory this morning, and she laughed as they shared their tales of past conquests. Outwardly, she took great care to look as she always looked these past six years.

  She couldn't fool her husband though.

  “What is troubling you, Sejdvinna?” he asked as the group broke to get on with their day.

  “Hmm? Nothing,” she answered. “Just taking in the day, and I told you, I'm not an oracle.”

  “And that answer may have satisfied someone who has barely known you, but I am your husband.” Jon’s tone turned serious. “The fact that you chose to give me a lie is more cause for my worry.”

  Kaylan rose to return her empty bowl, but Jon grabbed her arm. She sighed.

  “She's close, Jon,” she said. “I’m going to visit her now. You know how I’ve been lately.”

  “Your companion is readying herself for Valhalla.” Her husband stood next to her. “That is no reason to be sad. It is what every warrior hopes for. It is why we exist.”

  “We are not like you, husband,” Kaylan snapped. “You seem to easily forget that.”

  Jon stood rigid. “For someone who is not like us, you take great pains to try to be like us.” He strode off, leaving her with, “Give Elder Jessica my hopes for a speedy journey.”

  Damn it, Kaylan thought. That was not how she wanted that conversation to go.

  Although the Viking settlement respected Jess, thanks to her age but more because of her attitude, she kept her distance from them, living on a rise far from their settlement. It took Kaylan a good walk—farther than her morning trip to the ocean—to reach Jessica’s dwelling. Kaylan remembered when Jon taught them how to make dwellings, making hers with a stone foundation; walls of peat, sod, and wood; and a wooden roof. When Kaylan arrived and stepped inside, her breath was finally taken from her.

  Jess had not gotten out of bed, and it looked like she hadn’t in more than a few days. Her eyes were barely open, the light in them all but gone. Her skin hung over her face and body. Her thin, brittle hair had lost its bright blond color. She smiled, but her lips were so thin, they were almost nonexistent.

  “That’s what you get when you don’t visit in almost a month.” Her voice was barely above a whisper.

  Kaylan rushed to her bedside. “Is there anything—”

  “Of course there isn’t, stupid. I’m dying,” Jess answered. She looked at Kaylan. “Look at you,” she said, smiling. “A true Viking warrior. Can I tell you again how stupid you’re being?”

  “My mind is made up, Jess.”

  “I know it is.” She sighed. Kaylan could hear her breath tail off into a rattle. “You have made a perfectly good life here, Kay. Good husband, good life. Far from brutal reptilian aliens who want to kill you. Why do you want to abandon this and go back to certain death?”

  “They’re my friends, Jess,” Kaylan answered. “I can’t leave them to that.” The cold air made the tears burn her cheeks. “I can’t leave you to that. Besides, you would do the same.”

  “Really?” Jess propped her head up. “Look at me. I’m not the one playing happy Viking homemaker to what's-his-name. I know you love him. How can you leave him?”

  “I can leave him because I’ve seen what comes from our union, Jess.”

  “Goddamn it,” Jess spat. “I wish I’d never told you I recognized him.”

  “I stay with him, and history repeats itself.”

  “That's not—”

  “Children, then our children’s children,” Kaylan pressed. “Kyle. Heartbreak. Sorrow. Death.”

  “I’m sorry, who am I talking to again?” Jess raised her voice. “Maybe senility has finally taken over. You are Kaylan Smith, right? You do realize that the moment the older you came to pay you a visit, your timeline—your Earth—became different than hers. Hell, when you came into contact with that dipshit grandson of yours, that happened. Why am I explaining theoretical physics to you?”

  “I can’t take that chance, all right?” Kaylan yelled. “Okay, so maybe I met Jon under different circumstances. It doesn’t matter. I can’t take any chance that this cycle will ever start again.” Kaylan rubbed her eyes. “Not again,” she muttered.

  The dwelling fell silent for a minute.

  “So, did you finish it?” Kaylan asked.

  Jess nodded and pointed to the nearby table.

  Kaylan walked over and picked up the small device Jess had used to whisk them away from the space shuttle, just as her mother had sacrificed herself to kill Kaylan’s grandson, Kyle. It had been so long since she had seen the device with her own eyes—partly because Kaylan didn’t want to see it. Seeing it meant her plan was real. That she was leaving. And Jess was right; she did have a good life here.

  “Turns out the Guardians brought us to this time using their device. If they hadn't interfered, we would have returned to 2075 just fine. The components, the circuitry, it’s all fine. I just needed to make a few adjustments to comply with your...request.”

  Kaylan studied it. So small a thing—shiny black, just a little larger than the antique iWatches her father used to wear. Only three buttons, but it could do oh so much more.

  “Touch the top button first,” Jess said. “It will take you to the places we discussed in order. Then press the second button when you’re ready to hop from Earth to Earth. It will take you to 2075 in each instance. When you’ve finally amassed your ‘army,’ press the third button. You will all return to your Earth in 2075. About a week, give or take, from the time we left.” Jess suffered through a coughing fit. “You realize by the time you’re finished with your grand plan, by the time you see your friends again, who you want to save so badly, you’ll most likely look like me?”

  Kaylan stared at the device for another second, then closed her fingers around it, and shoved it in a pocket she had sewn inside
her pants.

  “If I’m lucky,” she answered.

  Jess nodded. “Just remember, when you're ready, press the bottom button. It will take you to TPC a week after we last left and grab your army from their respective timelines. To TriPharmaCorp, your Earth, in 2075. That's the best I could do.”

  Kaylan thought about what damage the Guardians could do in a week. Too much. Maybe she should just go back now and...no, stick to the plan. I need an army first, she thought.

  “My Jess will still be alive,” Kaylan said. “She’s too smart to die.”

  “Oh, God, if you could only hear how stupid you sound,” Elder Jess said. “You’re going to end up just like my Kaylan. Sacrificing herself just so I could live out my days in this place.” She suddenly suffered a coughing fit that shook her frail body almost off the bed.

  “Is there anything I can do for you?” Kaylan said, returning to her bedside.

  “Two things,” Jess said. “One, bring me a rag.” She opened her hand to show Kaylan. Blood covered most of it. Kaylan looked at her mouth, which was now smeared with blood.

  “Oh, my God,” Kaylan whispered.

  “Started coughing up blood last week,” Jess said. “Don't know what I have, of course, but it’s a good bet there’s nothing in this time that can cure me.”

  Kaylan reached into her pocket.

  “Don’t even think about it.” Jess seemed to know what Kaylan was thinking. “Don’t waste that thing on me. I wouldn’t survive the trip. Which brings me to number two. There’s a bowl on the table. I need you to bury it out back.”

  Kaylan scrambled to get the rag, and as Jess wiped her mouth and hand, Kaylan took a close look at the bowl. It contained the crushed red skin and juice of a berry. Kaylan’s eyes widened.

  “Jess, that isn’t what I think it is.”

  Jess nodded.

  “Those berries are...” Kaylan's voice trailed off as she realized what Jess had done.

  “I’m not going to wait here, wasting away, becoming a burden, Kay,” Jess said, staring at her. “I'm exiting on my own terms. Honestly, Kay, I was worried you’d figure that out and keep me under close watch. Am I really that much different than your Jessica?”