Jay's Story

Jay lay in the long grass, staring up at the clouds, his wife, Katrina, lay alongside him, resting her head on his chest, one arm lazily draped across him while Jay’s right arm wrapped around her.
Jay reached to one side with his free hand and picked up the juiciest red apple from the basket that lay next to the picnic basket that sat on a large red and white sheet next to the couple.
Jay lazily lifted his head idly as he took a bite, making his wife murmer and look up at him lovingly. The couple then looked off to one side over towards where Jayne, Vanessa, Tara and Phil were gleefully tossing a Frisbee between them.
Jay sighed blissfully. This, was happiness. Sure, being dead was a bit of a bummer, but the afterlife was pretty damn nice. (although Jay still hadn’t worked out if he was allowed to say “damn” here.)

He lay his head back down, itched a spot on his chest then, lazily toyed with Katrina’s hair with his fingers, and closed his eyes.

“Welcome back Mr Chrysler”
“whu…what?” Jay asked, as the unfamiliar voice spoke. Groggily he opened his eyes, the figure of a gruff looking gentlemen blurred into focus.
“I trust you enjoyed the simulation?”
“Simulation…where am I? Who are you?” Jay asked, looking around. He was no longer in the field he’d been laying in just moments before. He was in a room, with stark white walls. Above him bright lights shone down, and he appeared to be in a hospital bed.
“My name is Chronos. You have been here in our care for the last six months Mr Chrysler. While we managed to save you from the nuclear explosion, you’d still suffered extensive burns from the explosion, not to mention massive internal bleeding from the gunshot wound inflicted on you moments before you detonated the nuclear warhead. Needless to say, you’re good as new now, without a mark on you.”
Jay looked down at his chest, one of the last things he remembered before detonating the bomb was being shot, roughly in the spot he’d been itching just now actually, the wound was now completely healed.
“Saved me from the explosion? I died in the explosion! I was…I was in the afterlife!”
“I’m afraid that that was just a computer simulation, generated by your own subconscious. A kind of…holding suite…while we repair your body.”
“Katrina?” Jay asked sharply, “Vanessa…everyone else?”
“All dead I’m afraid…they were part of the simulation…”
Jay slumped his head back on the bed, and squeezed the bridge of his nose.
“How did I survive?” Jay asked solemnly.
“We pulled you out, exactly one nano-second before the moment of your recorded death.” Chronos said “You were supposed to die Mr Chrysler, we gave you a second chance…”
“Why?...and…how? WHO THE SMEG ARE YOU?” Jay was getting angry now, his entire world had just been shattered. He’d never really been reunited with his loved ones, it was all a charade. A thought crossed his mind.
“…was…” he said more calmly. “..was the mission a success….are they gone?”
“Yes” Chronos said. “You defeated the Hymenoptera once and for all. The galaxy owes you a great debt…but your work isn’t done..”
"What are you talking about..." Jay snapped. "I'm bored, either get to the point or I walk out the......" he looked around, there was no door...
"Mr Chrysler, I represent a sub-division of what's known as the 'Time Agency' the organisation that...'keeps tabs' on the entire multi-verse. We're special branch of the agency, we're the...'enforcement' wing. We are the Space Time Continuum Police, or...STCP."
"STCP? I've heard of you.....two of your agents lived aboard the Blue Dwarf years ago, Zack and Cubie Richards...."
"Yes, quite right." continued Chronos. "We enforce the timeline, we keep things on track, and something is....amiss....we step in. We exist outside of time, travelling to different points in history and putting things right..."
"What's all this got to do with me?" Jay asked.
"Well....you've just been recruited..."
"recruited?"
"Welcome aboard....Enforcer. Here's your first mission...." he handed Jay a datapad displaying an image of four people, a long-haired human, a hologram, a series 4000 mechanoid, and a man with large teeth. "These four are, from your perspective, 3,000,000 years into the future. We need you to find out what they're doing in Dallas, 1963....."


****back on Blue Dwarf****

"For me, that was 608 years ago. I had no choice but to do what they said...." Jay told Seymour. "Sure, I could refuse, but then I'd go back to where history said I should be....dead. And wheres the fun in that?"
"I say..." seymour said "So why choose now to return?"
"I didn't." Jay said "Truth is, I've been trying all this time to find you. The STCP prevent travel within ones own timeline. I can't travel to any point in my own lifetime, to any direct ancestor, or to anyone I knew in life in case I pollute the timeline. I was in this sector, at this point in time on a mission when the Blue Dwarf appeared on scanner....as far as I can tell, you shouldn't be here...as soon as the STCP learn I'm here, I'll be pulled out..." he pointed to device on his left wrist. "This" he said, "Controls the time travel. SO long as it's functioning, the STCP can track me, and remove me from time...but, at the same time it keeps me and my ship in sync, without it, my ship will be returned to the Time Agency and I'll be stranded, ..."
Jay removed the device from his wrist. "My time drive can't be used to get Blue Dwarf back where it came from, it exists out of phase with reality so can't be reverse engineered...so seeing as it's useless to you...theres only one thing for it..." and with that, he smashed the device under his foot.
In the hangar bay, his ship shimmered out of existence.
"I'm back" Jay said "And I'm here to stay....."

<Tag! Don't we have exploring to do?>