Anubis Nights by Gary Jonas Read Free Book Online Page B

looked at his pocket watch. “There isn’t time.”
    “Well, I guess Captain Kirk never changed out of his Starfleet uniform, so blue jeans and tennis shoes will be the garb of the gods. Should we take something back to be more like gods, or will that cause problems in the time stream?”
    “Time is like a river the size of an ocean. Small changes will be absorbed. We’re only concerned about large changes.”
    “Right. Like in 11/22/63 by Stephen King, saving Kennedy might be a problem. Same with going back to kill Hitler, though I guess it depends on when you kill him.”
    “Right,” Brand said. “Kill him too late, and Martin Bormann would just step in. Kill him too early, some other raging psychotic would rise up.”
    “I love your faith in humanity,” I said.
    Brand shrugged. “Tell me I’m wrong.”
    I turned to Chronos. “Is he wrong?” I asked.
    Chronos gave me a sad smile. “Let’s just say history has been changed a number of times. But the changes have been either small or ineffective in the long run. If an ancient empire lasts an extra hundred years, that can be absorbed. If someone detonates fifty nuclear bombs, that might make some changes.”
    “And what are you worried about with our buddy Winslow?”
    “If he gets the Emerald Tablets of Thoth and he learns to use the magic contained therein, he will be essentially immortal, and if he lives those years from the fourteenth century BCE until now, there’s no telling what kind of changes he could make. What if he wipes out every Christian or every Jew or every Muslim before their religions get going? That sort of change will erase all of you.”
    “And you think he’d do that?”
    “We think he wants to be a god.”
    “I get all the fun jobs,” I said. “Be right back.”
    I went out to my car and gathered up extra magazines for my Beretta. I grabbed more ammunition for my Glock too.
    When I went back inside, Kelly stood beside Brand. She was clad all in black from her boots to her pants to her shirt. She had a sword strapped to her back. She saw me come inside and walked over to meet me. “I’m not wearing a dress. If we’re going to get this guy, I say we go in ready for action.”
    “You want a gun?” I asked. She rarely used guns, so I expected her to say no.
    “Yes,” she said, taking my Beretta. “If we can get him from a distance, that’s all the better.”
    ***
    Ten minutes later, I stood holding Rayna off to the side of the dojo. We shared long, passionate kisses.
    “We’ll be together again soon,” I said.
    “This could take months, Jonathan. For all we know, it could be years. And we have to admit the possibility that this could be forever.”
    “It won’t be forever.”
    “I’m worried you’ll forget about me,” she said.
    I kissed her and pulled her close. “You’re my reason for living,” I whispered. “You’re the one who saved me. I could never forget you. We’ll always be together.”
    “I love you,” she said.
    “Ditto,” I said because her favorite movie was Ghost.
    “Let’s go,” Chronos said. “We don’t have all day.”
    “For a guy who controls time, he’s an impatient bastard. Rush rush rush.”
    Rayna placed a hand on my cheek. “He’s trying to save the world. We’d better get going. You do what you have to do. I’m going to miss you.”
    “We’ll be together again soon. Nothing to worry about.”
    She gave me a sad smile. “Promise?”
    “I promise,” I said.
    ***
    Chronos had us all stand in a circle around him. Kelly and I had canvas packs strapped to our backs. Brand had a satchel. Rayna simply held a small purse. Chronos chanted in a foreign tongue, and while I could hear that, I could also hear the English translation on top of it when an English equivalent existed.
    Kelly and I held hands because without direct contact, I’d be stuck here in the present. Rayna frowned for a moment, but she knew I had eyes for only her, so she gave me another kiss then faced