Archie, Casey, and the Whales

Archie, Casey, and The Whales

by Parker Webb

wc 1386

“I have a hundred questions. For one, Casey, how are you talking in my head?”



//What you're imagining is much scarier than the truth, Archie Cochran. We have to go. Survive now. Ask questions later.//



Plunged into a vast darkness. All five senses shut down. My imagination, however, was working overtime. I only met him two days ago and he had taken me to 2025 and back. What if Casey is really an alien?



//I heard that, Archie. I am not an alien. I am the last mermaid and the only time-traveler to ever exist.//



I could feel again. I was soaked. The water tasted salty. My head filled with a sound like Niagara Falls. Here it comes. The landing. “Ow. Ooch. Jeepers. I wasn't ready!”



//You're okay, Archie. These are the woods behind your house where you first found me.//



Casey always looked at me intensely and directly. His gaze calmed me somehow. Without talking, I asked, Tell me about the mermaids.



//My race is long vanished, I survive only because of a mutation that allows me to travel through time. But I need your help Archie. My body isn't getting any younger.//



"Can you explain time-travel? Do you have a time-machine somewhere?” I asked out loud. My voice sounded strange. I was starting to prefer talking in my head.



//No machine. No worm holes.//



“Worm hole?”



//Never mind. I forgot. You're from 1947.//



“And you. When are you from?”



//A millennia ago. And time-travel is done with the mind. Oh, and salt water. I was born with a mutation in my DNA. I understand the space/time/thought continuum. And I can manipulate the water molecules to protect me, to transform me. You, somehow, are different from other humans, otherwise, you wouldn't be able to hear me in your thoughts or to time-travel with me. Perhaps you also have mutated DNA.//



I was confused as if I'd been suddenly stricken with dementia. I couldn't understand what was happening to me. Two days ago, aliens were just characters in magazine stories and on episodes of Flash Gordon. Mermaids were no more real than Zeus or Medusa. Tell me about the aliens.



//Calm yourself. There is nothing strange about the aliens. They've lived on Earth almost as long as humans. Now, don't worry. You and I saved the world. Be proud.//



“When will you come back?”



//Soon, my friend. The holographic library is near Pt. Hope, Alaska. Be well.//



A single bubble formed in the air and hovered four feet off the ground. Casey jumped inside. The bubble began to spin, slow at first, then faster. Soon, Casey vanished.



What the heck does holographic mean, anyway?



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Childlike and gray with spindly legs on land, Casey was beautiful, super fast, and a shimmering color of blue-green in the water. He streaked passed a pod of silvery whales leisurely making their way to southerly waters.



When he reached the sacred area off the coast of Pt. Hope, Alaska, Casey dove straight down to the Holographic Library. The Watcher Whales had finished with the calculations. One, the eldest, touched the hologram and, half a second later, the time and location of the next adventure became imprinted onto Casey's mind.



Casey honored the great Whales for their service to the planet then went back to 1947 to get his companion.

#

“Elephants? I thought...you mean...elephants are intelligent?”



//Almost as smart as whales.//



“So we have to save them? I guess sabre tooth tigers weren't smart enough.” He didn't answer me.



//We have to go to 2034. I'll tell you the rest when we get there.//



“Hey, Casey? Does it really matter when we go? We're going to the future, right? It'll be there whether we leave now or in two years from now.”



//That's true, but, my body is not going to last forever. I have to do as much as I can with the time I have. There may never be another mutation like mine that allows time-travel.//



“I want you to help me find my birth parents.”



//How can I help you do that?//



“You could ask the whales. Right? The library has every birth and death of every creature on the planet.”



//It's not that easy. Besides, you should investigate. You should find them. I'll skip ahead and see you in a few minutes and you will have explored your origins. I'll see you in 1949.//



I didn't have a chance to react. The bubble appeared, Casey jumped in and he was gone within five seconds. I tried to wrap my head around the fact that Casey would be in 1949 in moments, but it would take two years for me to get there.



I could hear my parents, Roseland and Archibald Cochran, in the garden. My clothes dried quickly thanks to it being summer in Roswell. Mom saw me as soon as I came out of the woods.



“Archie, where did you disappear to?”



“Long story.”



It was time to ask the question. “Mom. Dad. I'm almost twenty. I'm old enough to know more about where I came from.”



Mom said, “We wish you would let it go, son. We raised you. We love you. What good will come from knowing the details of how you came to be with us?”



“What harm will come from my knowing? I've been told recently that I am different from other people. I need to know.”



“Different? Who told you you're different?”



“Am I?” They both looked as if searching for what to say next. “Tell me.”



It was Dad who answered. “Tell you what, son. If you're dead set on seein' this through, I kin tell you her name's Sarah Jenkins. You kin ask her 'bout your father your own self. Maybe, you can make sense of it.”

#

I imagined my mother, surrounded by pillows, a pitcher of water nearby, books stacked on a bedside table in a private room. That's the only experience I'd had with hospitals because Rosalind Cochran had recovered at Roswell General after a fainting spell a few years back. But, when the old three-story building came into view, it sure didn't look like a nice place to be. I parked the old truck and set the brake.



All of the sudden, water was everywhere. I tasted the familiar saltiness and I knew it was Casey. “Casey. What the heck?”



//I have to tell you something before you see your biological mother. I apologize, but when I came for you in 1949, you were gone. Something happened and I asked the whales if I could intervene.//



“Tell me what? Intervene how? By drowning me in my truck?”



//I should never have left you to face this on your own.//



“Face what?”



//Before I tell you, I want you to know that the whales put a stop to it. The aliens are being punished. They are no longer allowed to experiment.//



“Spit it out Casey. Did the aliens do something to my mother?”



//They impregnated her. You are a hybrid. You didn't take the news well. You were lost. This time, I'm going to stay with you. I won't let you be alone. Why are you laughing like that. Stop. Archie. It's going to be okay.//



“And I thought you were the alien. That's hilarious.”



//Archie. Archie! Please stop laughing.//



I did stop. The big laugh turned into wailing. I don't remember much after that. I was wet again. Floating. And I didn't care where or when we ended up.

#

//I made a mistake. It doesn't matter if I stay by Archie's side. He can't live with the knowledge of his origins. I have to take him back to July 3, 1947, before the aliens crashed, before he and I saved the world. Like everyone else, he'll be convinced that the alien crash was just a weather balloon. He won't remember our time together. He'll never know that he is different. Good-bye, my friend. Good luck, Archie Cochran.//

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