OWNERSHIP WITH A CAPITAL O

With several days until nightfall, the sun shone as it almost always did, bathing the landscape in its red light. His GLIMPSE showed him nothing out of the ordinary anywhere around the lake. Cassius had said something about the evidence landing in his lap in this particular place. Why? He frowned as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. Horqinum weren’t allowed communicative implants, no matter the convenience. He quickly tapped an eight-digit number on the illuminated keys and waited. A man with a bored voice picked up the phone on the other end of the call. “Hello. This is Barney with Astral Watch Two. How can I help you?” “Barney, my name is Jabari Alasa. Today’s code is a red kitten.” Barney responded with a moment of shocked silence before excitement set in. “Yes, sir. You’re an Owner. I mean—you know that, of course. How can I help you, sir?” Jabari ignored Barney’s exuberance. “Is there anything strange going on out there?” “Strange, sir? I don’t follow.” “Any odd objects falling toward Shiraki? Asteroids or meteorites or anything else?” “Uh—I think you mean meteoroids. And no, sir, none of those. We’re tracking Stepanov now, but that’s ordinary.” Jabari frowned. Something big was about to happen under his nose, and he needed intel to prepare for it. “Can you point one of those sensor scopes at me?” “Well,” Barney began hesitantly. “They’re all in use at the moment, but—” “Barney, you’re doing an excellent job. I know you can’t just repurpose valuable resources on a whim, but—” “It’s done, sir. I’m looking down on you right now. You’re standing by Lake Phinom. Are you a fisherman, sir? I could probably tell you where the hotspots are.” Jabari smiled despite the interruption. He looked up in the direction he knew the station orbited. “Tell me if you see anything out of the ordinary on your monitor. Anything at all.” “All filters look clean. No inconsistent signals. Sir, I’m sorry, but I don’t see anything. What exactly should I be looking for?” “What about magic? I know it’s invisible, but can those scanners pick up on anything when it’s used?” “Not that I know of, sir.” “OK. I guess it’s nothing. Thanks for checking.” No closer to finding the truth, he decided to sit at a lakeside pub to chew on thoughts and peanuts for a while. Though he had hours to wait, sleep was out of the question. As far as business and school hours were concerned, it was legally night. But a bright and shiny three a.m. brought a crowd to the small pub. Jabari ignored the onlookers who goggled at a horqinum sitting at the bar eating peanuts. Instead, he used his GLIMPSE nonstop, scanning a large portion of the lake and the city surrounding him. “You want a drink of some kind with those peanuts Keeper—” “Alasa,” Jabari supplied. “Yes, I’d like some water, please. Anything strange happen in the last few days around this area?” The bartender looked nonplussed at the request for water. “No,” he answered brusquely. Jabari sighed and tapped the man next to him on the shoulder. “What’re you drinking?” “Omadian moonshine.” Jabari nodded at the barfly before making eye contact with the bartender. “I’ll buy a glass of Omadian’s finest.” This seemed to cheer up the man behind the bar. Once he served the half-full glass, the scowl lessened on his face, and Jabari slid the alcohol to one side, elbowing the man next to him. The man took the hint, snatching the glass with a smile. “And I’ll have another bowl of free peanuts, mister, uh—” “Ward. George Ward.” Jabari smiled and held out his bowl. As it was being filled, he continued his odd version of recon. “So, George, you bartend every day?” “Most days, yeah, while we’re shorthanded at least. You know anyone who wants a job?” “I’ll think on it,” Jabari lied. “You own this joint?” “Yeah. It’s not much, but I make a living.” Jabari nodded. “Any of your employees report anything suspicious in the last few weeks?” “Nothing whatsoever. Business as usual. No ruffians. No complaints. Nothing.” “You mind if I question the guys in the back? I promise to buy something for breakfast.” “Knock yourself out.” Jabari spent a couple hours asking questions, getting nowhere in the process. His body ached and his eyes drooped. At five in the morning, he made his way to the hotel rooftop. Frank landed looking refreshed and Jabari envied his non-sleep-deprived wakefulness. “Jabari—hey, you’re not late for once,” Frank quipped. “It’s 5:20 in the morning.” Jabari groaned in return. “My alarm clock at home isn’t even awake yet.” “Sorry, buddy,” Frank said, clapping him on the back. “You find anything yet?” “Nothing. I had a satellite repositioned.” Jabari yawned. “Did I mention I haven’t slept?” “I assumed,” Frank said wryly. “Did Cassius ever say anything about being alone in order for him to visit?” Jabari blinked. “I don’t think so. But he’s only visited when we weren’t being watched.” Frank nodded. “Yeah, let’s get off the roof.” As they entered the hotel elevator, Cassius appeared suddenly. “Hello, gentlemen.” Frank jumped and swiveled his head. “Man, that never gets old.” “I didn’t want to appear without you guys being alone. But I’m here now. We can talk anywhere convenient for you,” Cassius said just as the elevator doors opened. “Perfect timing, we were just heading outside,” Frank said, pushing the button for the ground floor. “My original calculation for this occurrence was for ten days from now. Then it changed to six days, then four, and now it appears to be happening today.” Cassius spoke as the three of them exited the building, walking toward the water. “I wish we had more time for this, but reality tends to interfere with our desires.” Cassius strolled around the edge of the water on a concrete walkway. He pointed. “Usually, it happens over there, halfway between the middle of the lake and those big trees.” “What usually happens? The evidence of—something?” Jabari asked, his tiredness slowly ebbing. “Yes.” “Something about a bus arrival?” “Yes.” “The closest city bus is in another district. And the closest school bus is miles away,” Frank added helpfully. “I think you know that’s not what I’m talking about. Now, listen. I’ve explained the grapes, and I’ve proven to you that the essence of time can be fungible. Now to show you the Water Warrior. In the next ten hours, a bus will appear out of nowhere and land in this lake. As I said previously, it usually lands over there somewhere, though not always. On this bus—” “Hang on a second,” Frank interrupted. “What does ‘usually’ mean? You make it sound like this has happened before.” “Yes.” Cassius frowned. “It has happened before. On other worlds, or other grapes, to stick with our analogy. Remember that other worlds move in different time currents. Some worlds that are essentially identical to this one might be decades behind or decades ahead. Just like individual grapes within a cluster.” Cassius looked at the pair, obviously waiting for some kind of acknowledgment. Frank nodded. “Please continue.” “Now, if I’m wrong and no bus appears, you can take me in for questioning. But since I’m not wrong, allow me to educate you as much as possible before I’m forced to leave.” Jabari scowled. “Who’s forcing you to leave?” “The arrival of the bus is an intrusion into this space-time continuum. These people have a machine they once thought to be a time machine. They’re learning now that its actual function causes them to leave their universe and pop into a different one. When that happens later today, I’ll be pulled back through the hole I made to get here. It’s like hydraulic displacement. Imagine you’re sitting on a giant balloon, and someone jumps onto the other side of it from a high tree branch or something.”