Historia, Part XX

Clifford awoke to the smell of acrid smoke. Above him, in fact, directly above in the nighttime sky, was the constellation Hendrix. Deep within his mind, Clifford considered the constellation an old friend. A reminder of life in Nostalgia. A life that he probably could never go back to.

He let his head loll from one side to the other. He was laying on a narrow cot with a soft pillow under his head. And he was in a courtyard. Memory came flooding back to him. He was in the courtyard of the sentry station that the cat’s had just taken. With memory came pain. He looked down to see his left leg bandaged, but some blood had seeped through. He heard meows and hisses and figured that the cats were finishing up their sweeps of the sentry station, making sure that the building was secure.

Clifford pushed himself up with his elbows. He needed to talk to someone.

“Ah, good, you’re awake.”

Clifford looked over to see a woman dressed in a lab coat. The front of her smock was splattered with blood (Clifford assumed it was his). Her hair was light blond, almost white, and was pulled back in a very tight ponytail, except for the few strands that hung loosely on the right side of her face, sometimes entangling in the glasses she wore. Clifford hadn’t seen anyone wearing glasses since his time in Nostaglia. His granpappy had worn glasses.

“I am awake,” he muttered, and at that moment a massive headache slammed hard into the front of his skull. “Ugh. Who are you?”

She leaned close to him, “I am your doctor. Sora Thii is my name, Clifford Jenkins. The mouse, General Schrodinger, has been telling me much about you. You’ve journeyed very far to get here.”

Clifford raised his eyebrows, the closest he could manage to a shrug, “Yeah, I guess. Sometimes I wonder just how far I’ve come and how long I’ve been gone. When I left Nostalgia it was full of people, but a man that died just a few hours ago said that it was a ghost town the last time he was there, which if my math is right was the day before I left. I am very confused and befuddled.”

Doctor Sora Thii smiled, and Clifford was struck by her beauty. She was the first woman he’d seen since Lithe, but that wasn’t the reason he found her so attractive. Something about her...

“Ah, Clifford.” Schrodinger scampered in along the top of a broken brick wall, “Glad to see you awake. You lost a lot of blood. I am truly sorry.”

Clifford nodded, “It’s okay. I had a feeling that something was going to happen to me. It could’ve been worse.”

Schrodinger nestled beside Dr. Sora Thii, “I see you’ve met the good doctor. She’s been with us for a long time. She was an operative that joined the Historian forces and infiltrated them, using her, shall we say “feminine” wiles to gain a post here at the sentry station.”

Clifford cocked an eyebrow, “You mean you knew we’d be coming here? So why did I have to get shot?”

The mouse shrugged (still funny if you’ve never seen it) and folded his hands across his mousy pot-belly, “You had to show your face tot he sentries, Clifford. It was how Doctor Sora Thii would know that it was us. By telling them that you knew Father Time, you were merely relating the password, if you will, to the good doctor.”

Clifford drew in a deep breath and slowly exhaled, “Is that all I am to you? A means to an end? I brought you across a desert. I got you through a war, all because of some gift you said I had. And now all you’re doing is using me to accomplish your goals.”

Sora Thii put a calming hand on Clifford’s chest, “Calm down. You’ve just been through a traumatic event.”

Clifford brushed her hand away, “I’m tired of the crap, Schrodinger. Be honest with me. Tell me, what is my purpose here? Why did I come to Historia? I know it wasn’t to be your gopher.”

Schrodinger’s hands dropped to his sides, “You want to know why you’re here?”

“Yes!”

“You really want to know?”

“Tell me!”

“It’ll ruin the surprise.”

Clifford threw his pillow in the general direction of the mouse, “Stop stalling and squeal!”

Schrodinger stood up to his full height, “Fine! Clifford Jenkins, you are here to replace Father Time.”