This story is based on prompts: She - Argument - Mountains - Summer - Confusion
Span 86 B.E.A. (Before Echelon Age) / Year 1989 B.E.C. (By Earth Calculation)
California, United States
“Gail, wake up. You’ve got to see this!”
Gail sat up in her bedroll. “Mark! I was sleeping so well.” Grumbling, she stood up and nearly hit her head on a low hanging branch of an evergreen tree. She inhaled the piney smell of the dewy needles and stretched.
“You won’t regret it.” Mark grabbed her hand and started pulling her down the path through the trees.
When they reached a small cliff where the trees opened up, she could see the morning sun just visible over the mountains. But when she looked down in the valley, all she saw was fluffy white fog. She gazed, mouth agape, at the tops of the mountains peeking through the clouds. Overnight the mists had settled in the valley and evergreen covered mountaintops nudged aside the boundless, white ocean. She felt like she was stranded on a deserted island. She shivered.
As they watched, the rising summer sun melted the misty sea away. Gail felt Mark’s hand still in hers and the isolated feeling faded too. She squeezed his fingers.
“What now, Ke-mo sah-bee?” She straightened her shoulders and tucked a stray strand of her curly auburn hair behind her ear.
“Keemo-what?”
“It's a mid-20th Century pop culture reference. It means ‘friend.’”
“It never ceases to amaze me how much you know about the 1900s. I mean, I know you specialized in it, you are just so incredible. To make it as an Echelon desultor… I don’t know why you gave it all up for me.”
“The Echelon shouldn’t have a monopoly on jumping. I know it is dangerous and should be monitored, but the opportunity should be given to others.” Gail saw the sides of Mark’s mouth turn down. “Plus, I love you. I wanted to show you everything I’ve seen. I wanted you to know the wonders of the world.”
Mark smiled. “I know you do. I also agree with you, but for now, we are getting low on food. And these jumpsuits didn’t stick out at Burning Man, but hiking in Northern California? How are we going to find supplies? We need to decide where we go from here, too.”
“Okay.” Gail looked at the comm on her wrist. “There is an unguarded Echelon cache in a cave a few miles from here we can raid to get supplies. Then we’ll make some decisions”
***
The hike through Lassen Volcanic National Park was quiet and they arrived at the cave without incident. Unlike the lava tubes in the park, this cave was tiny. Pushing their packs in front of them, Gail and Mark crawled on their bellies to get through the entrance. Gail used her comm to light the way. Once inside, they could barely stand upright. Several rigid plastic boxes were stacked nearby and they each grabbed one and opened it.
“What is this?” Mark was holding up a stack of paper slips.
“They still used paper currency in the 20th century. We’ll need some. What you’ve got there should be enough for now.” She dug into her box and pulled out some clothing. “These will work until we can buy some that fit. We still need to find some emergency rations.”
Mark picked up another box. “Here.” He pulled out several tiny packages.
“I think that is all we need. Everything else we can buy.”
They repacked their bags and then made their way through the tight passage back out into the bright sunlight. They slung the packs on their backs and started climbing out of the depression. Gail looked back at the entrance to the cave and realized how grateful she was that it hadn’t been raining.
“Gail?”
Mark hadn’t spoken. Gail turned around and looked up. “Sharin?”
The woman in front of her had obviously been hiking for a while. She had a pack on her back and her normally sleek black hair was plastered to her head with sweat. Gail realized, after crawling through the tunnel, she and Mark must look much worse.
“What...what are you doing here?” Gail tried to get a better footing.
“What are you doing here? We’re looking for you. I should take you in.” Sharin mirrored Gail’s movement.
“We won’t go.”
“Don’t worry. I’m not the one you have to worry about. Greg is going mad trying to find you.” Sharin sighed deeply as she adjusted her pack.
Gail could feel herself relax a little. Mark had moved up beside her and she could see he had picked up a rock. She motioned for him to drop it. She heard it clatter against the other rocks on the ground. “He found us fast enough after our first jump.”
“Yeah. I shouldn’t tell you about that. But… Let’s move to more level ground. This pack is heavy.” Sharin waited for Gail and Mark to move alongside her before picking her way out of the ravine.
They found a spot with a fallen tree and several large rocks and sat down to talk.
Sharin started. “I’m not sure what is going on, exactly. Greg sent me to 2000 to see if my operative had felt a ripple anywhere near then. 2000 told me he felt a ripple in 1998. But somehow Mark was able to tell before he sent me that you might be then. Otherwise how would he have known to send me? There have been rumors in the ranks of some sort of supercomputer, but how could a machine feel a ripple? And across that much time!”
Gail raised an eyebrow. “A computer? Sharin, that doesn’t make any sense. I’m sure it’s just a rumor. You know how the troopers are. But I don’t know how the Echelon found us so fast.” With the last sentence, Gail’s voice faltered.
“Don’t you have a tracking device embedded in your skull?” Mark’s brow furrowed.
Gail nodded. “Yeah, the Echelon put it in before I learned to jump. But there is no way to track across time. They would have to be when we are to start tracking our location. I just didn’t think they would be able to find out when we are so fast. Maybe that’s what they’ve figured out? How to use the tracker to find us across times? I just don’t see how.”
Sharin shook her head. “I don’t know either. Please come back. Being on the run is no way to live.” Sharin looked intently at Gail.
Gail blushed. “Mark and I got married,” she blurted. “Greg interrupted the party after with those troopers. That was ridiculous.”
Sharin’s eyes widened only slightly at the news. “If you don’t come back now, don’t ever come back.”
Gail felt a sting in her eyes and a tightness in her throat. Mark spoke before she could say anything.
“I don’t like threats.” He stood up, his fists clenched.
“It wasn’t meant as a threat. Only a warning. Gail knows what will happen to you both if they find you.”