Echoworld

Why does time change every time we travel to a different universe? It was night when we left my place, morning on Epsilon, dusk here. Explain?"

He laughed gently. "I thought you were going to ask me some deep, soul-searching question."

"I have one question left," she reminded him.

"Right. Anyway, the reason the times change is nothing more than the difference in speed that the universes, thus the worlds, spin."

"I see. Second question - do you have any close family?"

He shook his head. "Nope. I was chosen for my job as a baby and was raised as such. I was brought up in a camp. So I never knew my parents. And I was trained not to love." He averted his eyes. "So, no. No family to speak of."

"Why were you trained not to love?" she asked quietly.

"Emotions get in the way of finishing a job. Eric should be done by now." He spoke into his comtra as he stood. "Eric? Sierra Bravo. Beta?"

"Sure," the comtra answered. "Took you guys long enough on Gamma. Is she really that pretty?"

"Don't know what you're talking about," Shaun replied, blushing.

"Sure you don't. One minute and counting. Over and out."

Wren stood and moved closed to him. "So the whole story about him needing to work on the transporter was horse shit?"

He put his hands on her shoulders. "Basically."

"...and you will have an accident in the near future that will debilitate you for at least a month. But, on the good side, your wife will have a healthy baby boy in the next year. And every major event will turn out for the better from then until the end of the year."

The man nodded his acquiescence to the Fates. "Thank you, Wren."

"Don't worry about payment until your wife is home from the hospital with your son. But don't forget," she warned, "or evil will befall you." The man nodded eagerly and left.

Wren sighed and stood up, cleaning her small room. Short streamers hung from the ceiling and tiny sparkles covered every surface. "I hate threatening them," she muttered to herself. She wiped her hands off on her pants and went into a side room via an unnoticeable door.

Wren and Shaun had appeared in a dark corner. They weren't seen because of their clothing - Wren was dressed very casually for the bar and consequently her travels. She wore loose black cotton pants, and sleeveless black cotton shirt and her black tennis shoes. Shaun was dressed in loose black pants also, but his black shirt was long-sleeved. His shoes were much the same as Wren's. Together, they blended in perfectly with the deep shadows.

As soon as Wren disappeared into the adjacent room, Shaun and Wren bolted out the front door and down the sidewalk, not stopping until they reached the corner of the street.

Wren sat with her back to the tall brick building. A sign several feet above her head said, "Strong, Strong & Buttham - Attorneys at Magic." Right below that hung a sign that claimed, "No trespassing or soliciting."

Shaun studied the signs before sitting next to Wren. "The magicks are slowly seeping into this world too. They've prematurely gotten into your world," he said, looking to her.

"Hey, what are you looking at me for? I didn't do anything," she said defensively.

"Do you get these 'headaches' often?"

"Only when I'm really angry. Why?"

"There's a branch of magic that most people don't really consider magic. It' s called

telekinesis - the ability to do things with your mind. It used to be science, then medicine, and now magic. You can make things happen by concentrating on it.