Justice assumed a grim demeanor as he walked the path towards the rear, where the cave tapered down to about an eight foot tube. Checking his wounds, which were many, he found that he was sticky with thick, red blood over most of his upper body. He disappeared into the aperture, leaving his subordinates behind.

“So…” began a worried Praggin the rock man. “What … what happened, do you think?”

McKinley rummaged about in the rubble of the cave, finding crystals, broken stalactites and other samples in abundance. The problem was making sure there was enough variety. “Hm?” she grunted, so engrossed in her task that she didn’t hear.

“Come on, McKinley. Michaels is gone. Commander Haymaker was soaked in blood when we arrived. No explanation. I looked down there and I see two piles. One has an arm in a sleeve like mine poking out, the other looks like some sort of robot or something is smashed in it.”

“Yeah. Michaels is down there, I know it. I said so.” McKinley didn’t look up as she spoke. “The other thing, obviously, the Commander killed it after it killed Michaels. I’m sure we’ll get more information in the debriefing.” McKinley was clearly a little traumatized by all she’d seen.

Derglabin, visually more absorbed by the rocks than the other two and not at all bothered by what he’d seen spoke up. “Clearly the Commander was engaged by some sort of cybernetically enhanced duplicate of himself. A clone or some other doppelganger.”

Praggin scoffed. “How the hell do you know that!?”

“I just remembered,” said McKinley. “I’m supposed to raise the Undertaking. Oh my stars, how do I explain…?” She wandered off, dropping the rocks she’d been examining.

Derglabin watched her go. “She has seen little in the death of her kind. Kind of pitiful how it’s affecting her function. She is medical, after all.”

“Focus, man. Clone?”

“Oh, yes, that. As a R’seth my eyes can see more than many races, clearly more than yours. I was able to ascertain at a superior distance, right as we crested the path into this wider section of cave here, the strong similarity between the two men.” Derglabin, to illustrate, licked his own eyeball, giving it a nice, wet glossy shine.

“No, I … I couldn’t see anything until we were well into this section. All I really saw was him throwing someone down in that pit. I … I just assumed it was Michaels. Thought we were all just playing along so he wouldn’t turn on us!”

“So … to be clear…” Derglabin turned one massive green eye towards Praggin, peering deep into him. “You believed that Michaels and the Commander engaged in a mighty battle wherein Michaels wounded the Commander before he was murdered.”

“Well, I don’t know about mighty.”

“No? The Commander is severely injured and Michaels is dead. You said yourself that there are two piles in the pit, one of which contained much metal.”

“Right. True.”

“And we heard what sounded like the Commander screaming for mercy right as he dropped a massive stalactite at about where the metal is.”

Praggin threw his hands up. “What’s the point of all this!?”

“I am attempting to formulate a line of explanation that fails to offend. How do I say this?” Derglabin held his chin.

“Just come out and say it…”

“Very well. You … have poor reasoning faculties. Your interpretation of any given situation is likely to be the wrong one. The Commander’s reputation as being strong, tough and aggressive has led to you ignoring what you see and imagining threats. The doppelganger complicates things somewhat but not enough to excuse you effectively spreading rumors about the Commander.

“Whoa whoa now!” Praggin raised his arms defensively. “I’m not spreading rumors.”

“Objectively; you are. To me it’s clear that Michaels was killed by the cyborg who was then killed by the Commander. The only question now is why he’s chosen, while injured, to plunge the remaining depths of the cave alone.”

—

“Really could put a city down here.” muttered Justice. There were a great many rooms chiseled out of the sides of the cave is it wound through the rock beneath the surface of this planet. No doubt the Captain would want this all investigated but, for now, Justice just followed the blue glow.

He’d figured it out, what the glow was, why it was everywhere; he was looking for a time machine. The presence of Metal Justice was a dead giveaway. As he continued on his path he followed wherever the greater glow was. Whatever these rough stones were they absorbed the chronal radiation given off by the Flex Dynamo and the more radiation the more of these rocks lit up. Since it was more rocks and not just a brighter glow from each rock Justice assumed that they were basically filling up and, when they could hold no more, would start to shed the radiation still flowing into them.

A quarter mile back into this section of the cave Justice finally found the dead end in which his doppelganger had made camp. There was a primitive workstation, made of what looked like slabs of slate and stone tools. “Like a fuckin’ caveman. After all that shit we went through the other me honestly went full caveman. Unbelievable.” It appeared that he was making bite-sized rations by mashing up the soft-bodied bug-sized things and tiny fruit before wrapping them in leaves that would be giant by the standard of this world. “Kinda looks like … oak.” Popping one of the rations in his mouth he chewed, curious. A mix of savory and sweet. “Hm.” he grunted, approvingly.

Then there was the bundle of wires and glowing blue artifact; the power supply to the Chrono Car itself. “Wondered what the Flex Dynamo looked like.” It wasn't’ anything more than a pile of scrap parts, mostly rent in two or rusted beyond recognition. There certainly wasn’t a complete Chrono-Car here. Conversely there it was, the Flex Dynamo. It seemed almost to breathe, blue light ebbing and flowing in pulses, the rock around it pulsed along with the Dynamo. If any doubt remained the light this thing emitted was the clear source of the unknown blue mineral they’d found. “Man, ain’t that some shit? This thing is all that remains of he Chrona Car. Guess it’s the engine or whatever.”

Behind Justice there was a familiar sound, like massive capacitors charging up, and something flashed behind Justice. He didn’t have to look to know. “Justice! Thank God we’ve found you.”

Switching his attention to the junk spread out Justice identified the screen from the Chrona Car. Looking at it wasn’t so mystifying now as before this whole odyssey began. “Do tell?” he said flatly.

Doc Black paused briefly. “Well, yes, we returned to our original target and it had worked. We even saw you, married, mere months after the Civil War ended. But when we returned to our time it was … madness. We traced it all, found a lab where they’d bonded prions, human protein folds, to an amoeba that attacks higher brain functions. The people, worldwide, they were becoming–

“Zombies.” Flatly, again.

That shocked the Doc. “That’s right. How … how did you know?”

“Call it a hunch.” Justice shook his head.

“You look … well, Justice. What’s that uniform you’re wearing for?” asked Doc Black.

Finally turning to face the Doc and Matty Justice scowled. The larger gashes on his head, upper chest and sundry smaller ones from his fight were on full display. “Oh I look good do I? You mean not bad for a man left to die in the depths of space?” He knew full well his injured state would look terrifying to the old man.

It was Matty that reacted first, however. “Holy crow, Doc. Forget about this savage. There’s gotta be a better way!”

“Hey there Matty. Nice to see you too.” Justice sneered.

“Please, Justice, believe me, we didn’t know that would happen. You, outside of the Chrono Car like that, it threw everything off. We were actually caught outside time and space for a short time after that.”

“Yeah, must’ve been hard for you. So sorry.” said Justice, dripping with sarcasm.

The Doc wasn’t getting it. “While we were able to return to our own time, when we got there, it was overrun with the undead. It was unbelievable. The source was unknown.” Doc Black got out of the Chrono Car.

“Doc, wait a second.” Matty got out as well, drawing his pitiful little .22 pistol. He still wore his western disguise but it was dirty, as if he’d had it on a few days.

Black ignored the kid. “But our instruments, looking at the timestream, I believe that if we just jump to correct without you and Glen, that nothing will change. But with you with us, if we return you both to your timeline at the moment of our last departure, it should fix everything.”

“Doesn’t work.” Justice shook his head.

Shock overtook Black’s face. “What? How … how do you know?” the Doc’s voice was so rough, even for him, like he’d been screaming.

“Ignore him, doc! I told you he can’t help us. He’s not smart enough.” Matty squared up his pistol, all too ready to open fire on Justice. The kid was not using trigger discipline and clearly felt like he could end Justice with the little pop gun.

“Funny thing, Doc. Met the older me. The me that came along with you the first time you came in here, trying to get me to come with you. I’m an officer in the Spacefleet now, y’know. Near as I can tell you snatched him up, not sure how you grabbed Glen but he didn’t make it into the loop.”

“Loop?” rasped the Doctor. “There was a loop? A time loop?”

“Man called it a loop. Also said cycle. Sumbitch done gone crazy. Apparently, after you cut him up and made him a cyborg to stop him turning zombie you died and he came here to warn himself. When he touched himself the two of them became one guy. Then he started goin’ ‘round and ‘round, eatin’ himself. Tried to eat me…”

If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

“Paradoxical collapse. I knew it was possible but … trying it always seemed so dangerous. Like it could destroy the timeline. Maybe it did!”

“Yeah, no, you don’t get to put the blame on anything else, Doc. Don’t you get it? You try to drop me off in my original reality, where most people’re dead, it doesn’t change a damned thing. Then all of us wind up on Zombie Earth where everybody dies except me.”

Doc Black blinked several times, seemingly disturbed by Justice’s words. “Justice, assuredly you don’t blame me for what’s happening?”

“You’re damned right I do you dumb sumbitch!” Justice shouted. “I just had to kill myself to survive! I could never’ve done it but … I done got weird memories from the life I should’ve lived and from the loop! Before they were dim, like echoes. Now that I’ve done it the memories are clear. I came in with this girl helpin’ me, the cyborg me kills her without gettin’ hurt. So I brought this poor dude, just a kid, kinda like the way you drag Matty around. He managed to hurt the other me or I would’ve died! Again!”

“You … you have multiversal memories? That’s incredible. How…” The Doc fell silent, seeing that Justice had his destabilizer in his hand.

“Unlike your little shit sidekick Michaels was good people. He didn’t deserve gettin’ smashed to bits like he was. No matter what though that cyborg, what you would turn me into, was gonna get whoever helped me. Doc, you gotta get some perspective, man. I’m just a cowboy, a soldier with a rifle; I ain’t the man wreckin’ the multiverse. I ain’t no mad scientist! You are!”

Eyes huge, Doc Black’s mouth fell open and he had to break eye contact. Looking down at his hands, at the second Flex Dynamo mere feet from Justice, his eyes traced the glowing blue streaks that led out of the room; clear evidence of his actions. “I … never imagined. I don’t know what I’m doing! It’s not working because … I don’t know!”

“You son of a bitch!” shouted Matty, fumbling with his pistol, which he fired madly. “Ahhh!” he screamed, emptying the clip. He hit Justice three times in the chest and grazed Doc Black’s head. The Doc fell to the cave floor and Matty cried out in fear. “Doc! I didn’t mean to!”

Weapon already out, Justice discharged his future weapon and the energy bolt dissolved him utterly, spraying carbon on the wall behind him. “Shit. The cyborg … he said we killed Matty. Didn’t think … I was just gonna arrest y’all…”

Head bleeding, Doc Black rose to his feet. “Small caliber rounds. Still, it could’ve punched through my skull if it hit direct. Guess I should’ve known better than to arm a teenager with ADHD. He … he worked for me. If he failed his history class though, his parents, they were going to end his internship. I was killing two birds with one stone; he’d learn history by talking to historical figures and I’d test my Flex Dynamo.

His anger not subsided but, still, empathizing with the old man, Justice shook his head. “Doc. I’m sorry.”

“Ah, I understand. You’re a soldier, he attacked you. But you’re something more now, aren’t you? Already wounded and three bullets to the chest have no affect whatsoever. You do feel them, right?” The Doc was oddly calm.

Looking down Justice saw the lumps and the blood leaking from his pectorals and abdomen. “Not … not really.” Experimentally he pushed in around a bullethole, found the back of the bullet, and was able to pop it out easily. “I guess I really have changed.”

“You really have. And so have I. It really is all my fault. An old man, using drugs for inspiration, daring to tamper with forces beyond my ken. Heh. And I involved a child. What’s wrong with me?” The Doc started fiddling with his overcoat, looking for something.

“Look, Doc, just … c’mon. I got a shuttle outside. I gotta arrest you. Spacefleet’s gonna want to pick your brain. Just … what you got there?”

Drawing forth an oversized, pistol-shaped object with an oscillating light moving within, Doc Brown aimed it at Justice. “My way out, Justice; A Multiphasic Scatterer. It spreads matter across dimensions. Based off the same principles as the Dynamo but without the safeguards required for travel.”

“Put it away, Doc. C’mon now.”

“Alas, I don’t have the fortitude to turn it on myself. The problem we have here though … do you really think it’s wise for your scientists to have my knowledge?”

“Doctor Black. Put your weapon away. Now!”

But, instead of putting down the pistol, Black smoothed down his duster and mirrored Justice’s posture. “Not quite the same as a quickdraw contest but this is like the duels our founding fathers had, minus the three paces and turning. I’ll count it down, shall I? Three…”

The formidable energy weapon was trained on Justice’s head. He had to take this seriously. “Put it down, dammit! You don’t gotta die!”

The Doc, however, seemed beyond words. “Two.”

“You ain’t got a chance, dammit! Stop–”

“One!”

The weapons went off simultaneously. The good Doctor’s weapon, perhaps because of his level of skill or, perhaps, it was never tested for accuracy, missed. Justice, however, scattered the Doc’s ashes over the Chrono Car and the cave wall before the wall behind himself exploded from the Scatterer’s blast. He fell forward, gasping for air, aware that the near miss had still caused a shallow burn over most of his back. Reaching to feel the area, he found his uniform’s fabric was now fragile, shedding mass as dust. Justice touched his forehead to the floor and grit his teeth. Feeling impotent, he pounded a fist on the floor. “Dammit! At least the cycle’s broken now. Last time he’s gotta die…”

“Commander?” Justice flinched. A female voice. McKinley.

Rolling to a seated position with some effort and obvious pain he turned to face her. She covered her mouth and regarded him with shock. “I … is the Undertaking made aware?” he gasped out. The burn, he was suddenly aware, was in his lungs too. He coughed.

Yes, sir, I… A heavy equipment shuttle is dispatching now so we’ll have the equipment necessary to dig out Michaels. You had a firefight after all that … and won?”

“Reckon I did. This was a fight I didn’t want though.” His expression was grim. “Would you take a ride with me, McKinley? There’s some stuff I want you to know.”

“A ride? You mean in the shuttle?” Her brow knitted up in a cute way. She seemed so innocent.

He chuckled. “No, darlin’. In a nineteen-eighty-somethin’ station wagon. Truth be told I looked it up, tryin’ to figure out what the Chrono Car was back when I found out what the Ultranet was. Don’t know the actual year, make or model. Maybe there’s a manual in there, huh? Pretty cool, right? Like an antique.”

“But … there’s carbon from the firefight on it.”

“Not the passenger side.” Justice painfully hobbled into the driver’s seat. “Get in.”

McKinley did as she was told, curious to know more about this car. “So … why is this twentieth century antique in this cave?”

“What can I say, kid? I’m just a caveman.” chuckled Justice, shaking his head, wry smile twisting his face. “Oh. Hold on.” More pained movement out and back in again. He snatched up the second Flex Dynamo, tossing it in the back seat of the Chrono Car before getting inside. On the touchscreen, an device he was now very familiar with, Justice saw a readout that illustrated the planet they were on, other smaller bodies and the Undertaking. “Okay. So … the previous owner teleported in here. See anything that’d make that happen?”

“Teleported!? Using an antique? How?”

“You’re in a bona-fide time machine, honey. It’s how I got to your time in the first place.”

“You’re … a time traveler?” McKinley stared at Justice, mouth agape. He studied those pretty lips. For a moment he remembered his other life, the one he was supposed to live, and saw the daughter of a freed woman and her former master. In that other reality she had been his wife.

Fighting a tightness in his throat, a feeling of loss, Justice drew her attention to the screen. “Here, check this out.” The readout showed the system to be in “space jump” mode. Tapping experimentally, he selected a spot on the screen near the Undertaking before noticing there were two readouts, one reading “X,Y” the other “X,Z”. 3D, like the board game Glen had taken up that was like chess.

“Hold on, Commander. So it’s in … three-dimensional mode? And there are controls for fourth … for time! Oh my! And what’s this? Space mode? Spacetime? Stars, this is amazing. It looks like Space mode is for alternate planes of existence. Real five-dimensional travel. Remarkable. Uh … here, I think I can place us right next to the shuttle bay. Oh, wait, zooming in… Interior!?” A second tap, then McKinley hit “engage” and, in a (very very overly bright) flash they and the Chrono Car were off the planet and hovering just above the floor in the shuttle bay.

“We’re upside down!” shouted Justice!

“The yoke! Uh, grab it … turn!” McKinley was panicking as well. It didn’t matter though, as the Chrono Car hovered after transport by default. “Down … oh wow. Okay.” They touched down.

A tap of the badge and he spoke. “Away team, you read?”

Static was all that resulted. “I don’t think your insignia is functioning, Commander. Here, use mine.” She removed and handed her insignia over to Justice.

“Away team, report.”

A few seconds and then the voice of Praggin. “Ah, yes, sir. We’re in the shuttle just waiting on you. McKinley’s with you, right? She was bringing you back.”

“Ayup. She’s with me on the Undertaking right now. Y’all just come on back just like you went down. No need to wait because I’m already gone.

On the right side McKinley noticed a terrified young man with a cleaning cart. The bay attendant. She waved. He ran. She shrugged.

“McKinley, listen. I got a lot to unload and we only got a couple minutes before they get here. Then we gotta report to the Captain.”

“I’m listening. Please. Whatever you have to say, sir.”

“None of that sir, shit, please. Just … call me Justice.” And he spoke as quickly as he could, telling her about how he fought the rebels in the Civil War, protected the Utah territory, killed Brigham Young to end his possession, how he was pulled from space, experimented upon, why he fought Docker and everything that had happened out of view on their mission. Throughout it all the memories of lives unlived and how Michaels had taken her place without anyone knowing consciously. “And the Doc … he made it a duel. It was kill or be killed.”

Staring, enraptured, McKinley covered her mouth. It was so much, almost too much to follow. “But … during the loop … I was dying over and over?”

“Oh … yeah. That’s what the other Justice said.”

“And you … remembered this. Vaguely. Teased Michaels so he’d be afraid and want you to protect him.”

“I could barely remember but, yeah. Because, in those memories, another time, another place, there was another you. And, and … we were together–” She cut him off with a kiss, pressing in with force, shocking Justice. He’d never had a woman come to him. Tease and run, yes, ask for money, yes, but not like this.

Suddenly she pulled away, grimacing. “I … so coppery?”

“Oh shit.” Putting a finger in his mouth Justice came away with a good amount of blood. “I didn’t realize. That Scatter-thing the Doc fired at me hurt me quite a bit. Shuttle’s comin’ in maybe before debrief I should hit sickbay.”

“Sickbay, yeah.” McKinley spoke simultaneously.

“Guess I’ll see you at the debriefing then.” Said Justice as he stood up out of the Chrono Car.

“No, Justice, I’ll be coming with you.”

“Really!? I mean … you don’t have to if you don’t want to.” he said coyly, taking a stiff, limping step.

“Really. I’m medical, remember? Besides–” Justice fell down, body rigid. She bent to pick up her insignia, tapping it once. “You can’t walk. Yes, we need a gurney to Shuttle Bay Six.”

“Sh-shit…” he muttered, face down on the floor, and waited patiently for the gurney to arrive.