Co-Written by Maren Kaye. Something a little different this time. Enjoy.
“How'd you get in here?” President Madeline Winters asked the man standing in front of her. A moment ago she had been alone in the oval office, reading the day’s briefings. She had been specific about not being disturbed. This issues of the day were too important to her to let anything slip by.
“Please, don't be alarmed. We're here to save you,” the taller, darker man said.
“I'm not alarmed,” the president said, pressing the silent panic button on her wrist.
“We are here from the future, to save you,” the other one, the blond one said.
“I see,” she said, pressing more urgently.
“It won't work. We're blocking the signal,” the first man said, holding up a pen like device. “Please, if we were going to hurt you, we would have done it already.”
They had a point. And, since armed guards hadn't stormed in, they must be telling the truth about blocking the signal. They also hadn't made a move to get any closer. They remained standing in front of her desk.
“Tomorrow, at your 'spontaneous' stop in Virginia, you will be assassinated.”
Madeline couldn't keep the surprise from her face. Almost no one knew about that stop. It wasn't on any agenda.
“I know you don't believe us but just let me show you something.” He carefully placed what looked like a clear marble on the center of her desk. He tapped the center and the area above the device filled with a flawless holographic image. She couldn’t stifle a slight gasp, the quality and definition were identical to reality. She swayed a bit as her mind worked to organize and make sense of what her eyes saw. She couldn’t resist putting her hand through the image and as she did, it responded like liquid glass. Was this possible? Time travel?
Her thoughts were interrupted by the images in front of her. It was news coverage of her being shot and killed in Virginia!
“But this is... it's impossible.”
“It's completely real. I wish we had more time to explain, but we don't. There are people coming right behind us. They tried to stop us. To keep us from warning you.” He looked behind him, like he'd been startled by a noise.
“Please listen,” he said turning back to face Madeline. “They are your enemies. They came to power after you were killed and they don't want that to change.”
“You must not listen to them!” the second man said.
They both closed their eyes and two women appeared, one behind each man. The women were tall and lean with hard muscles. Combat muscles, not muscles from a gym.
They had the men on the floor, hands restrained, before the president could even process the fact that people had just APPEARED in front of her. The taller woman pushed a button and the two men evaporated. This wasn't real. It couldn't be!
“Madam President, it's an honor to meet you, a great privilege,” the first woman said.
“Stay back,” Madeline said, picking up a letter opener. “I may be old but I will defend myself.”
“We are well aware of your history, Madam President,” the taller woman said. “Ten years military, a decorated war hero, six years as a Senator. Even with a minority in the Senate you were able to push through sweeping reform for women's rights, the best negotiator of your time, elected President in a landslide.” Genuine admiration filled the woman’s eyes as she spoke. Madeline recognized the look from her most ardent supporters. She relaxed slightly.
“Then what is this? Why are you here? What has happened and who were those two men?”
“What did they tell you?”
“They said I would be assassinated tomorrow, in Virginia. They said someone would come and try to stop them. Someone who came to power because of my death.”
The two woman looked at each other, then back at Madeline.
“They were lying? But they showed me footage. Oh,” she said sitting back down, “of course. If you can travel through time, you could doctor some video footage.”
“I'm sorry Madame President, but what they told you was one hundred percent true.”
“But, I don't understand. You are here to stop them from stopping my assassination?”
“You're so beloved. You have no idea,” the woman said with a pained expression.
“My death...Oh,” the President said, the truth crashing down on her.
“Yes, I'm sorry. But after your assassination, there was so much outrage from women of all stripes. Conservative, liberal, religious... even the Amish women broke with tradition and marched in protest. No one dared fight your platform. Sweeping reforms were passed for women and family rights.”
The president couldn’t help smiling as she pictured the hooded Amish women arm-in-arm with atheists, and baptists alike. She had often been baffled as to why so many women were complacent in their own repression.
“Your death leads to an equality, never before seen,” the woman continued. “But... unfortunately...”
“Not everyone was thrilled with the changes,” Madeline said, finishing the sentence.
“That’s right, Madam President. Men lost a lot of power. And it turns out, a lot of them don't like it.”
“Like the two that preceded you.” The two women nodded somberly.
“I,” Madeline swallowed hard,” understand.”
“We know you'll do the right thing.”
“The good of the many...I will go to Virginia.”
Maren and I don't write Science Fiction but if you like the style of the story why not check out The Devil's Game; a psychological thriller about what happens when a stalker stalks a stalker. Just 2.99 at all major ebook sellers.
