jon
by nightshade The wind blew unceasingly and harshly as it had for a very long time. Swirling around the endless plains of dust and ruins, uncovering or burying the tangled masses of worn and rusted metal, playing the mindless game like a restless child. Then, a new sound came over the wind, a sound that had not been heard for ages. Footsteps. "Better make this fast, radiation levels are off the scale." the owner of the footsteps spoke. Clad in a thick suit and with its head covered by a helmet and smoked visor, it bent down to brush away a layer of dust, revealing an ancient skeleton. "Roger that, window will close in 30 minutes." came a reply over the figures radio. Thick-gloved hands carefully exposed and pried a bag clutched in the skeletons hands. "Alright, I've found it and I'm heading back." the voice said with a note of triumph. Straightening up, it stood a moment and looked out over the plains. "Such a waste." it said sadly before heading back the way it had come. The constant howl of the wind was broken again as a deep humming sound rose above it. A flash of blue light played over the skeleton as the figure vanished from the Earth of the year 2200. The figure stepped out of the decontamination chamber and was greeted by a voice over a load speaker. "Welcome back lieutenant." With a few clumsy movements, the clamps of the helmet were released and lifted off revealing a lovely vixen with fiery red fur. "Thank you sir," the vixen said with a voice sweet as honey. She patted the bag under her arm and stepped through as the door to the outer chamber opened. "Have a good trip Jin?" the technician behind a long window on the south wall said as she put the bag onto a small table near the door. "Hey Hal, a little time lagged, but no worries. Good to be back." she smiled as she slipped off the bulky anti-radiation suit, leaving her clad in only her bra and panties underneath. A long wolf-whistle came over the speaker and she stuck out her tongue at the technician. "Look but don't touch Hal." After a much-needed shower and change of uniform, the vixen strode down the corridor, her gray jumpsuit showing off her slim body. She placed her palm over a panel by a large silver door. "Lieutenant Jinace Whitetip." she said. The panel beeped and the door slid open almost silently. "Come in lieutenant." a fairly large lion called out. She did so. "Hey daddy." she smiled, hugging him tightly. He chuckled. "Welcome home Jin." She sat down in a chair in front of his desk and sighed. "Maybe I'm too soft for this job. All that devastation just broke my heart." The lion nodded and put a comforting paw on her shoulder. She patted it as she looked up and smiled. "Just like your dear mother, always out to save the world." her father purred. A comm. panel beeped and he answered it. "Yes T.I.M.S?" "The staff is assembled, general." a monotone voice replied. The lion nodded. "We're on our way." he replied and keyed a button to end the call. Jinace and her father entered a large conference room and sat down near the head of a long wooden table. "Ladies and gentlefurres," the general began. "The retrieval mission was a success and we have the necessary records to plan the incursion." An excited buzz came over the room broken by the steady hum of the main computer unit. "This is the trigger will shall need to use." A blue lens set into the wall by a large view screen lit up, highlighting the words Temporal Incursion Monitoring System on a small plague just under the light. As the assembled furres watched, the screen lit up with an image of a tall handsome equine. "This young male will be the agent to change the events. His name is Jon RedMane." 2033- "See you tomorrow." Jon smiled as he left the building. He straightened his jacket and walked down the road, the breeze ruffling his thick red mane and riffling his jet-black hide. As he passed an alley, he heard a jingling sound and a curse. "Damn." He perked his ears and looked into the alley. He slipped into the alley and saw someone bending down. "Excuse me?" he asked, seeing a young vixen bending over to gather up her spilled purse. She looked up at the new voice. "Do you need a paw?" She smiled and nodded. "Thanks." As Jon bent over to help her, she grasped the back of his neck. A flash of light behind his eyes, a grunt of pain, and all went black. After what seemed a long time, he began to stir. As he awoke, he gradually became aware of sounds. Then a painfully bright light in his face. He stirred groggily and struggled to sit up. A soft voice out of the air spoke, "Ah good, you're awake." Jon looked around seeing brushed steel walls and the long medal table he was resting on. 'this isn't the alley.' he thought fuzzily. A door irised open and the vixen from the alley entered. "Welcome." she said with a warm smile. The vixen led him down the hallway to a long room with only a table and a large wall screen along the sidewall. "Subject identify please TIMS," she said. The wall lit up at her words. "Confirmed: Jon Redmane. Offspring of Albert Redmane and Alice Wilson Redmane. Father: Equine, Mother: Human. Born 2005. Currently employed 'The Zoo' nightclub, security personnel." The vixen smiled. "I think the term is 'bouncer' TIMS." A soft beep sounded. "Acknowledged, new word added to lexicon." Jon just sat down in one of the chairs, completely bewildered. "Excuse me, but what the hell is going on? What is this place?" The vixen turned to him and offered her paw. "I'm Lt. Jinace Whitetip, and its not so much where, but when." He stared at her and she laughed softly. "This is a lot to take in I know, but we know you can handle it. This is the year 3000, and we need you to save the future..." The screen showed a tall human clad in black, holding a bible, his face set in a stony expression of disapproval. "This is, or was..." she paused. "Your tenses get mixed up in this job." Jon nodded and idly scratched the back of his head. "Go on." She cleared her throat and continued. "This was the Reverend Jebediah Fossbender, religious leader and hater of all furres. He is the catalyst for a war that occurs in year 2035." Jon sat upright at the year mentioned. "In 2 years?" The vixen nodded sadly. "The war will be caused by a speech the reverend makes that will stir up anti-furre hatred at a crucial moment." She pressed a button on the desk and the scene changed to the wasteland she had visited earlier. "By 2100, this is earth." Jon sat stone-faced and growing pale under his fur. "What can I possibly do to stop it?" She quirked a slight smile. "We'll discuss that tomorrow." He nodded and felt slightly dizzy sitting there. "Its time lag, nothing serious." She patted his shoulder. "Get some rest. I'll show you to your quarters and we'll talk more in the morning." She took him down a corridor and up a level to a fair size room in another area and they stepped inside. "Its all voice activated. If you need anything, ask TIMS." She left and he sat heavily on the bed, his mind a whirl with the stuck questions he had wanted to ask. He shook his head and cleared his throat. "TIMS?" he called out weakly. The calm computerized voice replied. "Yes, Mr. Redmane?" He lay back on the bed. "Dim the lights please." The lights dimmed slightly. "Goodnight." TIMS said and Jon nodded, eventually dozing off. Jon sat naked on a bench, feeling a bit self-conscious as one of the medical technicians, a female beaver, measured him in places and took scans of his body. She murmured under her breath as she looked over the results a moment and then smiled at him. "Look at this please." She called up an image on the wall screen. The image was too fuzzy to make out and he squinted trying to make it focus. There was a slight hiss and cool feeling on his upper arm as he was given an injection. "We're done here." He blinked and then nodded as he stepped down. "Umm, can I have my clothes back please?" She chuckled. "Ah yes, the old nudity taboo, so quaint." She handed him back his clothing and he dressed quickly. He left and then started walking around the building. It seemed to be like a small city, though he couldn't see any windows anywhere. He came to what seemed to be an indoor park area and stopped in his tracks. There were several families there and all were nude. Toddlers splashed in a small pond while their older siblings played tag and ran around doing other activities. On a large mat nearby, several adults were having sex, mixing and matching, switching gender partners, all quite happily. He watched and smiled to himself before moving on. "Must be really laid back here." He then walked into a large room full of tables. He saw Jin at one of them and waved. She smiled and beckoned him over. He sat down across from her. "Hungry?" she asked. "Ravenous." he replied. She giggled. "Time lag does that to you. The body isn't used to crossing the time fields." A furre came over to the pair and she ordered for them. Moments later, the food came and he ate hungrily. "What exactly do you do here?" he asked. She smiled and she explained as Jon ate. A century earlier an experiment in gravity research had created the worlds first time portal. After a decade of work, they had finally perfected it. In the course of several small trips, they had realized that old theories about multiple timelines were true. One could not actually change the past but you could steer the present into a different time track. He nodded sadly as he realized that meant the one timeline of the war would have to happen somewhere. She patted his hoofed hand softly as she explained that his efforts could make sure that his time wouldn't end that way. "In fact I'm sure of it." He tilted his head. "How can you be so sure?" Her eyes twinkled. "Because you've already done it." He stared, confusedly, and all he could think to say was... "Huh?" Giggling, she explained. They were able to scan time and had discovered that their time was a direct line from his. There had been a major branch off and the split had created both the war and this future of peace. Further research, along with records that she had personally recovered from the war ruins, had shown that Jon Redmane had been present in one case but not in the other. "So you see, it was you actually being there that stopped the war." He nodded slowly. "Okay, tell me what I have to do." Jon grunted as he hefted the weights in the fairly large gym. Jin walked in and smiled as she saw him. "You always work out?" He nodded and his spotter racked the weights. "It helps in my job." She smiled, her body clad in a skintight workout suit. "No girlfriends?" He shook his head. "No, not yet." A thought crossed his mind and he chuckled. "But of course you'd know if I have one eventually..." She giggled. "What? And spoil the surprise?" He whickered. "How about you?" She nodded and sighed a little sadly. "There was one, a fox like me. He..." She lowered her gaze. "He was lost on a mission." He touched her paw. "I'm sorry." She looked at him. "Thank you." There was a moment of awkward silence and then she brightened. "Well, it's time for evening meal, join me?" He nodded. "Sure." Over the next week, the pair grew closer and closer still. She explained what he had to do, where he had to be, and how the ability he had gained from his parents was so important. He learned fast and felt himself grow more attached to her with every moment they spent together. At last the time came... "You sure you remember everything?" Jin said as the technicians prepared the portal "You sound like my mother." He grinned and she gave his chest a light smack. "Smart alec." She giggled. She stood up on her toes and gave his cheek a kiss. "For luck." He smiled and stroked her cheek with his hoofed hand. "Thank you." All was ready and he stepped through the gate. 2035- "...And I say again, these are creatures of the devil!" The reverend Fossbender shouted as he held the bible aloft, his face alight with righteous anger. "For if a woman or a man lays down with a beast of the field they shall be cast out!" The massive crowd cheered as he came to his big finish and stepped down from the podium. Several humans gathered around him and a tall muscular young man with fiery red hair clasped his hands. "You inspire me reverend." The reverend smiled and shook the hand of the other "Thank you young man, carry on the faith." The man nodded. "I shall sir, I shall indeed." He moved back away from the reverend and back into the crowd. He made his way through the sea of followers into the shadows of a nearby alley. The man began to change. His form altered and in a few moments, Jon stood there, cracking his neck. "Thanks mom and dad." He said to himself, grateful for the form he had inherited. He watched as the reverend returned to the podium and began another tirade. The sound of the crowd's dull roar quickly grew silent as hair began to sprout over the face of the speaker and his ears grew long then longer still. Soon they all started to laugh as the reverends face elongated and his hands became hooves. His words grew hoarse and soon instead of a righteous leader of faith, but a donkey, stood on the podium. Braying and hawing. The moment of history was lost and the crowd dispersed, having seen the true form of the righteous reverend Fossbender, A true jackass. 3000- "Well done." Jin hugged Jon tightly after he passed back through the gate. He whinnied as he held her close in return. "The transformation virus worked perfectly." He laughed. "Did it work?" TIMS screen lit up. "Confirmed: Incursion was successful to a degree of 99.9 percent. The timeline has been properly realigned." His screen showed a scene of celebration and joy as humans and furres partied in the streets. "This is the centenary celebration of the Change in the year 2100. With the discrediting of Fossbender, the war never happened in that timeline." Jon nodded with satisfaction. "But what happened to him?" The image changed. "He was hounded out of the city by his former followers and lived the rest of his days in the wilds." Jinace kissed Jon full on the lips. "Thank you Jon." He smiled softly. "You're welcome Jin." he whinnied. "I did it for you. You see, I, I love y..." Her paw touched the back of his neck and he froze in place. Jinace sighed heavily. "I know Jon, but some things can never be." she stroked his cheek softly. "Be happy, my stallion." 2033- "...You." Jon said. His mind felt so fuzzy. He had the feeling that he had being saying something important but then it was gone. He shook his head. "Oh well, I must've been day dreaming," he said to himself as he left out the back of the club. That night as he sat by the bar, a gray furred young vixen bounced up. "Hi there! Want to like to dance?" He smiled and nodded. "Sure." As they headed out onto the floor, the vixen smiled. "I'm Jenice Foxtail." He smiled. "I'm Jon Redmane." 3000- Jin wiped her eyes with her sleeve as she looked at the screen. Her father put a comforting paw on her shoulder. "Some things can never be changed," he purred soothingly as she reached out to turn off the screen. "I know daddy, I know." Just before the screen went blank, a line of lineage could be seen, detailing the ancestry of Janice's family. Just below the top of the screen was the line. 'Jon Redmane and Jenice foxtail: Married 2035' the end * * *
authors note-time travel had always interested me and this was a good way to bridge the near future stories with later ones like 'new recruit'. and of course it's nice to see how the son of albert and alice of 'bareback riding' is doing.