Time Never Waits

I woke up feeling some where between Heaven and Hell. I blinked my eyes clear. Looking around, I saw it was dark out. The clock showing 0300. Several facts were apparent. First, I was thirsty beyond belief. Second, I was starving. Third, I seemed to know some things now that answered some nagging questions, more or less.

First things first. Water. I picked up my tea glass sitting on my night stand and went to the bathroom. I filled it up and chugged it down. Then again. My thirst slaked, I turned on the shower and stepped in, letting the cold water shock my senses. Then I turned on the hot and leaned forward, letting it cascade down my body. I soaped up, and rinsed. Then shaved and splashed on the Bay Rum I had found.

I went and dressed. Looking around, I felt almost human again.

'Well, time to go out into the world.'

I walked down the hallway. The soreness leaving my body with each step. Arriving at the kitchen, I found it empty. I went to the walk in cooler and found a ribeye roast. I cut a thick steak off of it and fixed myself a glass of tea.

I headed out to the courtyard. I found Angela and mother there. They were sitting at a table under the watchful eyes of two security guards. The guards spotted me and got up quickly, running to me. Mom and Angela followed them.

The first guard took my tea and plate with my steak on it,

"Sir, please, sit down."

Mom grabbed me,

"Oh, honey, are you ok? We've been so worried!"

Angela all but pushed mom out of the way. She hugged me, kissed me. Tears streaming down her face.

"Well, it's about time, Travis Miller! I swear, laying up in bed and sleeping while I'm forced to hold everything together."

I looked around at everybody.

"You gonna cook that steak or am I? I'm fucking starving."

The guard headed to the Gaucho grill and sat it down. He turned to the other guard,

"Go wake up Slim."

He turned back to me,

"Sir, I'm not sure how to operate this thing."

"Well, ok, I'll show you. First, who's hungry? And where's my people at?"

Angela cut back in,

"The night crew quit after the second day. I've been waiting on you before I replaced them."

"Sabrina?"

"She's in bed. Still here."

I nodded. Then got a big bag of lump charcoal out and dumped a healthy portion in the screen box and shoved it in the starter box and lit the gas burners.

Gerald arrived on scene. He was accompanied by his mother. Angela came back with Sabrina.

Sabrina just stared at me a long moment, then ran up and hugged me.

"Damn, I'm glad you're back, I was about to make a deal with either God or the Devil to bring you back. Something like I'd go straight or some shit like that."

"Ok, question stands, who's hungry? I'm starving and not answering any more questions until I eat."

Everybody agreed they could eat, so I went back to the kitchen and got out the ribeye and a bunch of pre-baked potatoes wrapped up in foil. I remember Consuela kept them handy for times like this when they're needed fast.

Grabbing a knife, the taters, and the meat, along with sour cream, butter and cheese, I headed out. I got to the grill and dumped the coals on the bed under the grill and added a few big chunks of Mesquite wood. I lowered the grate down and laid out potatoes to heat up while the wood caught.

I went and sat down at my table. I saw Gerald go to the grill and take over. Cutting up the roast into steaks and seasoning them.

He laid them out on the grid and started cooking. When they were done, he proclaimed,

"Medium rare steaks, come and get it."

Angela brought me mine. We all dug in.

My hunger finally sated, I leaned back and addressed the issues nagging at my brain.

First, what happened to me the past three days? The answers seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere all at once.

First, the 'meld' had became complete. My continued existence here no longer depended on my existense in 2022. That timeline no longer existed. The only reason I was still here under these conditions was the fact that there was only one of me here. Granted, that singular entity contains the memories of the future because they are now a part of me. My mind absorbed them like an update file, so to speak.

You can download files into a computer, destroy the original source of those files, but they still exist in the new location.

"Ok, everybody gather around that's interested in what I have to say."

Everybody did, so I began.

"First let me say this. I know I've been asleep for three days, I also think I know why. No, I'm not going to explain it. I don't pay you to understand why I do things the way I do them."

"I'm making a few changes in my life. First of all, those changes involve only myself. You've all figured out by now that I possess a certain ability. I feel I've abused that on a grand scale. From this point forward, I'm not following the same path as before. I don't expect all of you to fully understand what I'm talking about here, but, as I said earlier, I didn't hire you to understand me."

"I expect each of you to do your job. As of now, any meetings I take will be by appointment only. I've had too many problems with people showing up out of the blue. I have a plan, a plan that took a lot of time and resources to put into motion. I need to focus on that. Anybody relevant to my plans get automatic access. Beyond that, they can contact Sabrina or Carol for an appointment. I need to be immediately notified of appointments. I need to know what they pertain to. I don't ever want to be blindsided again. I want it made clear that if I agree to an appointment, and they are late, they will need to reschedule. Right now, I'm not scheduling any appointments outside of the work I have going on. Everybody clear on that?"

Nods all around.

"Ok, first of all, I was under the impression I wanted the lake, runway and hangar on a 24 hour schedule. I don't hear any equipment running out there. Anybody care to explain why?'

Sabrina answered,

"We weren't sure if you were coming out of it or not."

I nodded.

"Ok, so when can I expect work to continue?"

"I'll contact the contractors in a little bit and find out when they can come back.'

I shook my head. "No. I'm not interested in when they think they might come back. I want them all here, right now. I paid them a premium rate, in advance. Either they return immediately or they will return all the money I paid them, beyond work already completed and we'll find replacements. Go wake them up and lay it out to them."

"Ok, any questions?"

Gerald asked, "So, we stay on under the previous agreement?"

I nodded, "Yes, unless my new approach is unacceptable to you."

He nodded.

"So, we good or do I need to find new security?"

"No, we're good."

"Anybody else?"

Sabrina spoke up,

"What about Marilyn Fowler?"

"What about her?"

"Are you still interested in purchasing her company?"

"No. Not any longer."

"She was requesting an appointment. I told her you were on vacation for a few days."

"If she wants an appointment, she can schedule it. I'm probably unavailable to discuss any purchases of that sort for a while. I may make the time in six months to a year. Most likely closer to a year."

She looked at me like I'd lost my mind.

"Is there a problem with my scheduling, Sabrina?"

"I think she was hoping for something sooner."

"Ok, I'll tell you what. Since it's you asking, I'll schedule her for today at three. For thirty minutes."

"Um, what about next wee..."

"Today at three. Thirty minutes."

"Ok, I'll tell her."

I looked around, "That it?"

No more questions were forthcoming.

"Ok, everybody, let's go to work."

Sabrina came over and sat down.

"About the replacement night crew. Are you still offering the same benefits, pay, etc?"

"Yes, as long as they're qualified."

"Sabrina, do you think I'm a bully?"

"No, you're way to generous to qualify as a bully. You pay way more than anybody else. You provide all the benefits and pay for them. You provide free employee housing, food, utilities, vehicles, generous expense accounts. Paid facations with paid accommodations anywhere they want to go."

"I guess the only thing I see that could remotely be considered bully like would be how you deal with certain people who want something from you and offer you nothing in return. Or with arrogan't parasites like the cops, or that little dweeb you made walk in the pool. They intruded into your business. You made them pay the price."

"As far as the rest are concerned, Marilyn, for example, I think you fuck with them too much."

I nodded. "Why, because I tell them what I want. Then they refuse that, then want me to offer what they want? She offered me her company. I made several offers. Finally wound up doubling what we agreed on. Then offered her a salary of double the national average with full benefits. But she still wasn't happy. I don't have time for that shit."

Sabrina nodded her head, "Yeah, I can see where you're coming from. Ok, so what about the sex thing?"

"What about it?"

"You force women to have sex with you with your mind thingy."

"The hell I do! I quit doing that a long time ago. I admit, at first, it was fun in a way. Then I started thinking about just how wrong that is, and I quit doing it."

"Ok, granted, but there's the pheromone thing, too."

"Ok, so what am I supposed to do about that?"

"Hell, I don't know. I just want to jump your bones whenever I'm around you. like right now for instance. I want you to take me in there and fuck me mindless."

I nodded "I'll tell you what. You go and get those contractors back out here today. Then gather updates on my other projects. You know, my pipeline, desalination plant, my warehouse, you get the picture?"

"Yes, I'll get right on it. So after that you'll fuck me mindless?"

"No, but you won't be jobless."

"Wow, and I thought I was a fairly attractive woman."

"You are. You're also a lesbian."

"Yeah, well, I could be bi, too."

"No, you would have told me that at the time you told me not to get any ideas."

Then I stared off into the sky.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to remember something."

"What?"

"The part during past five minutes where I said I wanted to discuss this."

"Ok, ok, chill, I'll go handle it."

"Well, thank you for doing the job I pay you to do."

"You are such a fucking ass hole at times."

"Yep, and you're a loopy cunt, so I guess it all kinda evens out in the end."

She walked off, then turned and came back, bent over and whispered in my ear,

"I sucked your cock while you were out."

She stuck her finger in her mouth, then stuck it in my ear before running off giggling.

What could I do but just shake my head.

"Ok, who's next!"

Angela came over. It was starting to get light out.

"Hey baby. You gave us quite a scare. So, what happened?"

"Well, as best as I can figure, my brain finished downloading its update."

"Huh?"

"Ok, how do I explain this. The technology doesn't exist yet for a comparison. So bear with me. Now, your brain is a computer. It functions on input, or, the operating system and the software that contains the instructions you want it to be able to access, ok? So, when you're born, you have a basic entry level model. Then as you grow, you add updates. That expands the algorithm which allows your brain to make decisions and choices. When you do a massive download for it to process and upload, it will struggle with the information. My body needed to finish the installation, so it shut me down to eliminate the competing instructions."

"So, what about the time travel thing?

"It doesn't exist. Time itself is nothing more than a linear unit of measure we created as a species to help us be more productive. In other words, we're not passing through time. We are stationary. Take away everything we use to measure the passing of time and we still exist. Everything in the entire Universe is comprised of a fundamental energy source. You've molecules, protons and electrons. It's how they come together that determines the shape we take. Our bodies are comprised of the same thing the entire Earth is comprised of. The same thing that chair is made of."

"Right now, I'm in my 18 year old body. When I figured out how to access that segment of my brain, I was able to transfer, in a condensed file, everything that I have experienced between now and the year 2022. I didn't really travel through time. The brain that I have now is the same exact brain I have then."

"So, follow me here. Say in 1997, you buy a computer. You take it home. Crank it up. Establish an online connection. Then, you turn it off and forget about it. Twenty years later, it's now 2017. You remember that old computer. You go turn it back on. Reset the internet connection. Then the shitstorm starts. That fucking thing will start downloading updates until you're ready to chew your wrists open. Thats what I did. I developed the formula to establish a type of internet connection with my brain."

"Ok, so where are you at in 2022?"

"2022 hasn't happened yet. It no longer exists for me outside of the information contained in my brain. Look, say you write a code, put it on a disc. Take it and download it on an earlier version hardrive. Then you destroy that disc and everything you used to create it. Now, it only exists in the one computer. Did destroying the computer you used to write it eliminate the code? No, because it's information saved somewhere else."

"Ok, I think I get the jist of it. Enough to know I don't want to deal with it right now. I want us to go on a date. I need some romance from my man."

"Ok, you want me to set it up, or do you want to?"

"You do it. Surprise me."

I nodded, 'Ok, baby, let me get caught up and I'll take care of it."

"Good!" She stood up and kissed me.

'Ok, where to take her. It has to be some place memorable.'

Anyway, I'll deal with that after while.

I got up and went to Sabrina's room. She was on the phone when I got there, arguing with someone. She looked at me. Shaking her head.

"It's the runway contractor. He's refusing to come back until he finishes a job he just started yesterday."

I walked over and took the phone from her.

"This is Travis Miller. What seems to be the problem?"

"Well, Mr Miller, you disappeared on me, so I started another job I had contracted."

"I see. So, the other day when you came wanting more money on top of our agreement, which you were paid, in cash, up front, and I authorized an additional five million on top of the three already paid, making it eight million in cash I've paid you, means nothing? Do you happen to recall my last words to you at that meeting?"

"No sir, I don't believe I do."

"I told you, you have your money, your people and your equipment. No more excuses. So, I'll tell you what. Either you and the rest of the crew and equipment is back out here today. Or you can keep a million. I want the remaining seven returned before close of business today. Those are your only two options. It's not open to discussion, or negotiation. The only thing I want to hear out of you, is yes, you will show up and do the job I paid a premium in advance for you to do. Or, you will return my money. And I assure you, you do not want me coming after it."

I handed her the phone back. "Let me know what he decides."

I went back outside. I heard more trucks arriving. The guards brought the contractor in to meet with me.

He held his hand out. I ignored it. You treat me like a punk, you get no respect from me.

I motioned to a chair. He sat down.

"How much are you giving me back?" I asked him?

"Giving you back? For what?"

"For abandoning the job."

"Now look. You disappeared, and I couldn't reach you, and..."

I held up a hand.

"You got our contract handy?"

"Yes I do." He opened his brief case and extracted it.

"Good, now show me where it stipulates I must be present in order for you to work. I know it can't be because you couldn't get paid. I authorized ten million for you. Our original contract there is for five. Which I paid you, in cash, in advance, to extend my lake to 1,000 surface acres. Have you completed that job?"

"No, but..."

"Save it. You owe me for 72 hours of lost production. At $10,000 an hour. $720,000. Pay up."

"But, I don't have that kind of money laying around."

I shrugged. "We all make choices. You and the runway contractor both split on me. What am I supposed to do about that? Let you get away with it, then everybody figures they can waltz in here and fuck me over without consequences?"

"Look, I'm back, ok? I'll complete the job as agreed. No more bullshit."

"Oh, ok, so his fucking highness has spoken, so that's the end of it?"

"Well, hey, what else do want from me? You keep this shit up, I'll pull my crews and equipment and get back to you whenever I fucking feel like it. How about that?"

"Sounds like a plan to me. I'll tell you like I told the other one. You keep a million. Repay all above that that I've paid you. Then go about your business."

"What? Are you out of your fucking mind?!"

"Most assuredly I am. So cut me a check. $720,000 and you stay, or $9,000,000 and you can go."

"You know what, fuck this job and fuck you. I'm out of here. You can sue me if you want your money back."

I just smiled, nodded, and went to the bar for a drink. Then went and sat back down.

"I thought you were leaving?"

"I am!"

I nodded again.

"Well, leave then."

He tried to stand up, but couldn't.

"What the fuck is going on here?!"

Angela came over.

"Babe, I think he gets the point."

I looked at him.

"Do you? Get the point, i mean?"

"How are you doing this to me?!"

"What am I doing to you?"

"I don't know, but you're doing something.!"

"What do you want to do?"

"Look, I'm sorry for my outburst earlier. That was uncalled for. I want to complete the contract. If you'll let me."

"Ok, then let's go to work, shall we?"

He pulled out his checkbook.

I waved it off.

"Forget that. I was just making a point."

"Thanks."

"Forget it."

I stood up and shook his hand.

Sabrina came out. She shook her head.

"Wait, how would you like to finish the runway and hangar, too?"

"Hell yeah, I'll take that job. The concrete work is done. All that's left is tarmac, paint and the metal work. Well, lights and shit, but, yeah."

"Ok, how much?"

"Tell you what. To make up for my end, I'll do it at cost. Just pay my people. I'll eat my profit on it."

We shook hands. He left.

Angela looked over at me.

"What did you do to him?"

"Told him to forget the can't stand up part then to tell me what he honestly wanted."

"Quit fucking with people like that."

"So, what about the runway contractor?"

An hour later, I was in his office. Ten minutes later, I was walking out with an agreement to purchase his company. For what I've already paid him, plus a million cash.

It included a 25 acre yard, shops, and equipment. I had him call in his people. Thirty employees were standing outside when we got out there.

"Ok, all shop and office employees stand over here. This doesn't apply to you."

"The rest of you, listen up. I want you back out there working with the other crew already out there. Every employee here gets a fifty percent raise starting today. So, let's get to work, shall we?"

Everybody was smiling when they started loading equipment.

Ok, problem solved and everybody happy.

What next? Since I was out, I went to the warehouse site. They were moving right along. The building was made out of prefab concrete panels, so that expedited completion time. HVAC contractors were on the roof installing cooling units. The electricians and plumbers were done. People were inside installing doors and other equipment.