Jenny was walking down the halls. She heard a small amount of female laughter from C. K.’s room. When she entered, she found him, Ruth, Brooklyn, and Alpha sitting around a green table. Alpha was wearing a dealer’s cap, and shuffling a deck of cards.

“What’s going on here,” she asked.

Ruth turned to Jenny. “We’re getting ready to play a simpler version of poker. We have an extra seat if you want to join us.”

“No, thank you. I’m terrible at poker.”

“That’s what you said about swordplay.”

“I’ll just watch.” She sat down.

“Sometimes I wonder if he’s just stacking the deck,” C. K. said.

“I assure you, C. K.,” Alpha answered. “The cards are sufficiently randomized.”

“I hope so,” Brooklyn said.

Alpha began dealing a facedown card to each player. Then, he turned a card and dealt it to each player in a clockwise direction. “8. Ace. Queen. Dealer receives a 4.”

Brooklyn, having the Ace, was allowed to look at his facedown card. After looking at it, he said, “No bet.”

Alpha began dealing again. “10. 7, no help there. A pair of ladies for the magician. Dealer receives a 9.” No one spoke.

Alpha looked at Ruth. “Ruth,” he said. “May I remind you since you hold the highest hand, you control the next bet?”

“Thank you, Alpha. I’ll bet ten.”

Everyone else responded to the bet appropriately. Alpha began to deal the cards again. “Jack. 4. Deus. Dealer receives a 6.”

“Twenty,” Ruth said, tossing two silver chips into the center.

Alpha also placed in two silver chips. But C. K. removed seven chips from his. “Your twenty, Ruth,” he announced. “And fifty more.”

“Fifty,” Brooklyn asked in shock. He began to mumble something in his own gargoyle language, sending Ruth and Jenny into a small giggle in unison. Brooklyn placed five chips into the center.

“I’m in,” Ruth said, placing her five chips.

“I will also see the bet,” Alpha finished. He dealt the last part of the hand. “7, and possible straight, for C. K. Jack, still no help for the gargoyle. 5. 9 for the Dealer.”

Ruth still had the highest hand, since C. K.’s hand was only possible, not certain. “Twenty.”

“Too rich for my blood,” Alpha said. Everyone giggled. Even though Alpha was only making a joke, it was an expression specifically for poker.

C. K. placed the two silver chips in as well as a red one. “Your twenty, one hundred more.”

“I’ll fold,” Brooklyn said. He turned over all his cards.

Ruth placed in three red chips. “Raise to two hundred.”

Now, Jenny was interested. What will happen? Who will win?

“Your two, five hundred more,” C. K. said.

“He does NOT have a straight,” Brooklyn said.

Ruth remained in eye contact with C. K., even though she heard Brooklyn. “Well, we’ll soon find out, won’t we? I’ll call; let’s see your card.”

C. K. turned over the facedown card. He needed a 9 to get a straight; he got an Ace. “You win.”

Ruth gave a soft giggle as she collected her chips.

“How did you know that I was bluffing,” he asked.

“I just had a feeling.”

“Maybe it’s better to be lucky than good.”

“It’s the way your left eyebrow raises when your bluffing.” Jenny and C. K. were confused. “Just kidding.”

Suddenly, communications turned on. “Candy Spice to Magic Spice.”

“Go ahead, Hallie.”

“Fulgore needs you in the infirmary.”

“On my way.”

“At first, I thought my receptors were spinning. As it turns out, it was just me. I was lucky that Ashley was there to pull me away from the engine core. If it wasn’t for her, I would have been a toasted toaster.”

Ruth was giving him and examination. She giggled at the joke. “Yeah, you would have, Fulgore. You have all the symptoms of an inner ear infection, even though you are a cyborg. That would explain the headaches and dizziness. But, there’s no physical evidence. My guess is that you’ve been working too hard.”

“Well, I have been putting a few extra hours to catch up with you guys.”

“I know what it’s like to be new in this war. I was, once. I’ll give you a hypochondria-suppression. That should clear up the headaches and dizziness. But finding time to relax is up...to you.” She finished her sentence with a little unsureness.

“What,” Fulgore asked. “What is it?”

“Fulgore, have you ever had these symptoms before?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yeah, I’m positive. Why?”

“It’s strange. I feel like we’ve discussed this before, and I remember giving you a suppression spray.”

“Well, I’ve never had these symptoms before today. You must be thinking about another patient.”

“No, I’m sure it was you.” She gave the medication to him. “Well, try to get some rest and avoid dangerous places for a few days, just in case.”

Fulgore chuckled. “Thank you.”

“Good night.”

“Good night.” Fulgore left the infirmary.

Ruth took a sip of a warm liquid from her mug. It always helps her relax in preparation for sleep. She placed her mug next to her bed. She turned out the lights and crawled into bed. Carlos was with some of the male Spices on a BNO, Boy’s Night Out, on the SimuDeck.

She had only been in bed with her eyes closed for several seconds when she heard something. It sounded like voices. She quickly extended her hand to the light activator. As she turned on the light, she accidentally pushed the mug off and it broke on the floor. She listened for the voices. She heard nothing.

The next morning, Ruth entered the bridge. The Rangers and several of the Spices were there.

“Andros,” she said. They all looked at her. “I have something I would like to report. Last night, I heard voices in my room. I was alone, so I thought I was imagining things. But this morning, 10 other people reported hearing voices at the same time as I did.”

“What were the voices saying,” Carlos asked.

“I couldn’t make them out.”

Andros thought. “Alpha, did the sensors pick up anything unusual last night?”

“No anomalous readings were detected.”

“When we’re done here, recheck the sensor logs.”

“Andros,” Marvin said. “We’re picking up something 1,000 kilometers off the starboard bow (right side).”

“It is a highly localized distortion of the space time continuum,” Lexington said.

“Let’s see it,” Jenny said. The screen turned on. A blue-colored, two- dimensional object was displayed and making a small amount of movement.

“Let’s back off,” Zhane said. “Nice and slow.”

A moment later, Cassie said, “Maneuvering thrusters are not responding.”

“The distortion field is fluctuating,” Marvin said. Indeed, the movement of the distortion was increasing.

The lights dimmed and a “power” sound was lowering.

“All main systems just went down,” Ashley said. “Power levels are dropping rapidly!”

“There is an energy buildup in the distortion,” T. J. said.

Ruth felt like she had seen that distortion before. She sensed something terrible. “We have to get out of here, now,” she said.

“Andros, something is emerging,” Lexington said. A space ship came out from the distortion. It was moving fast and headed in their direction!

“Shields up! Move to port (left),” Andros ordered.

“Shields inoperative,” Carlos informed.

“The helm is not responding,” Brooklyn said.

“The ship is on a collision course,” Alpha said. “Impact in 36 seconds.”

“Contact them,” Andros said.

There was a pause. “No response,” Lexington said.

“Suggestions,” Andros said, asking for advice on what to do.

“Decompress the main shuttle landing,” Ruth said. “The pushing reaction may kick us out of the way.”

“Andros, I suggest we use the tractor beam to disrupt the ship’s projected path,” Brooklyn said.

Andros made his decision. “Use the tractor beam.”

The tractor beam was put to use. It helped a little, but not enough. It struck the ship on the right side. The entire ship began shaking.

“Damage report,” T. J. asked for.

“Casualty reports are coming from all over the ship,” Demona exclaimed.

“The starboard bow has been struck,” Marvin reported. “Small amounts of the exterior surface has been broken off, releasing oxygen into space.”

“Initiating emergency core shut down,” Brooklyn shouted.

“Inertial dampers are failing. We are losing energy control,” Jenny exclaimed.

“The is the bridge, everyone to emergency escape pods,” T. J. shouted using communication.

“The core shut down was unsuccessful. We are losing antimatter containment,” Lexington informed.

“We’ve got to eject the engine core,” Demona shouted.

“Ejection systems are off-line. Core breech is advancing,” Marvin said.

“Everyone, abandon ship,” Andros shouted. “Repeat: everyone abandon...”

Fire entered the bridge, and Andros was interrupted. A few seconds later, the ship exploded.

"I hope I'll be in better luck this time," Brooklyn said. "I can't believe that you guys persuaded me to play again after what happened last Tuesday night. I'm going to make better decisions in this game."

Ruth gave a small amount of laughter. Then, the silence was broken, surprisingly yet quietly.

"What's going on here," a familiar voice asked.

Ruth turned to the voice. It was Jenny. "We're getting ready to play a simpler version of poker. We have an extra seat if you want to join us."

"No, thank you. I'm terrible at poker."

"That's what you said about swordplay."

"I'll just watch." She sat down and sighed.

"Sometimes I wonder if he's just stacking the deck," C. K. said.

"I assure you, C. K.," Alpha answered. "The cards are sufficiently randomized."

"I hope so," Brooklyn said.

Alpha began dealing a facedown card to each player. Then, he turned a card and dealt it to each player in a clockwise direction. "8. Ace. Queen. Dealer receives a 4."

Brooklyn looked at his facedown card and said, "No bet."

Alpha began dealing again. "10. 7, no help there. A pair of ladies for the magician. Dealer receives a 9." No one spoke.

Alpha looked at Ruth. "Ruth," he said. "May I remind you that since you hold the highest hand, you control the next bet?"

Ruth was silent. *Where have I heard that before,* she asked herself.

Jenny noticed her silence and the confused expression on her face. "Is there something wrong, Ruth?"

"No. Umm, I'll bet ten."

Everyone else responded to the bet appropriately. Alpha began to deal the cards again. "Jack. 4. Deus. Dealer receives a 6."

"Twenty," Ruth said, tossing two silver chips into the center.

Alpha also placed in two silver chips. But C. K. removed seven chips from his. "Your twenty, Ruth," he announced. "And I'll raise you fifty."

Then, he turned his smile into a frown. Everyone noticed this. "You're going to call my bluff, aren't you, Ruth," he asked. She gave a surprised look. "I think I'll quit while I'm ahead," he said.

"How did you know that I was going to call your bluff," Ruth asked.

"I just had a feeling."

"Me too."

Suddenly, communications turned on. "Candy Spice to Magic Spice."

"Go ahead."

"Fulgore needs you in the infirmary."

"On my way."

She giggled. "Yeah, you would have, Fulgore. You have all the symptoms of an inner ear infection, even though you are a cyborg. That would explain the headaches and dizziness. But, there's no physical..." She suddenly stopped, a little confused and unsure.

"What," Fulgore asked. "What is it?"

"Fulgore, have you ever had these symptoms before?"

"Come to think of it, I think I have."

"Do you recall when?"

"No, I don't."

"We've had this discussion before, and I know that I've given you this examination. Let's check the medical logs."

Both she and Fulgore went to a computer. She turned it on and typed a few commands into the keyboard. The screen displayed the medical logs in a calendar form.

Ruth nodded. "You've been treated several times for headaches related to your receptors, but there is no mention of dizziness."

Fulgore sighed. "Must be, what you call, deja vu."

"Both of us? About the same thing?"

She had only been in bed with her eyes closed for several seconds when she heard something. It sounded like voices. She quickly extended her hand to the light activator. As she turned on the light, she accidentally pushed the mug off and it broke on the floor. She heard no more voices.

But she was more concerned about the mug. She felt like she had broken that mug before. She turned on communications. "Magic Spice to Black Ranger," she said in a scared and unsure tone.

"Yes, Ruth?"

"I'm sorry to interrupt your BNO, Carlos, but I need to talk to you."

"Is something wrong?"

"In a sense."

"I'll bring Andros with me."

Ruth smiled. "Thank you, Andros." She took a smell, and gave a pleasing groan. "It smells like nutmeg." She took a sip. She liked the taste. She gave an approved nod to Andros.

"I've tried to perfect the recipe," he pointed out. "I thought I still had adjustments to make."

"It was the eeriest feeling. When the mug broke in my room, it triggered the sensation even more intensely that I've done it before."

"You know, Ruth," Carlos said, picking up a Christian rock group on CD. "Earlier today, I bought this CD for the BNO. And we all had the distinct feeling that we've heard the songs before. But we assumed that we heard the songs on cassette or something, and have forgotten it."

"I've had this feeling for hours, and then I heard the voices," Ruth said, fearfully. Carlos hugged her in comfort. She continued to drink the tea.

"Well, it could be nothing more than the result of a sleepless night, but let's be sure," Andros said. "Have Marvin, Lexington, and Alpha run a ship- wide diagnostic. Concentrate on the time and place you heard the voices. And we'll discuss the results tomorrow morning at 7:00."

"Thank you, Andros," Ruth said.

"No, thank Aunt Jeannette." Ruth and Carlos giggled. After finishing the tea, she returned the mug to Andros and left for the engine room. A short while later, Carlos and Andros returned to their BNO.

"The internal scans were negative. There was no evidence of audio anomalous readings," Lexington reported.

"As far as the sensors are concerned, nothing unusual happened last night," Alpha informed.

"10 other people reported hearing voices at the same time I did," Ruth said.

Communications were turned on. "Martian Spice to Red Ranger."

"Yes, Marvin?"

"Andros, we're picking up something 1,000 kilometers off the starboard bow."

Ruth began to think. She remembered hearing that before, but when?

"On our way," Andros answered.

They left the meeting room and entered the bridge where Marvin, Jenny, Demona, and Brooklyn were waiting.

"Report," Andros said.

"We didn't detect the phenomenon until we were almost on top of it," Marvin informed.

"It is a highly localized distortion of the space time continuum," Lexington said.

"Let's see it," Jenny said. The screen turned on. A blue-colored, two- dimensional object was displayed and making a small amount of movement.

"Let's back off," Zhane said. "Nice and slow."

A moment later, Cassie said, "Maneuvering thrusters are not responding."

"The distortion field is fluctuating," Marvin said. Indeed, the movement of the distortion was increasing.

The lights dimmed and a "power" sound was lowering.

"All main systems just went down," Ashley said. "Power levels are dropping rapidly!"

"There is an energy buildup in the distortion," T. J. said.

Ruth felt like she had experienced this occurrence before. She sensed something terrible coming up. "We have to get out of here, now," she said.

"Andros, something is emerging," Lexington said. A space ship came out from the distortion. It was moving fast and headed in their direction!

"Shields up! Move to port," Andros ordered.

"Shields inoperative," Carlos informed.

"The helm is not responding," Brooklyn said.

"The ship is on a collision course," Alpha said. "Impact in 36 seconds."

"Contact them," Andros said.

There was a pause. "No response," Lexington said.

"Suggestions," Andros said, asking for advice on what to do.

"Decompress the main shuttle landing," Ruth said. "The pushing reaction may kick us out of the way."

"Andros, I suggest we use the tractor beam to disrupt the ship's projected path," Brooklyn said.

Andros made his decision. "Use the tractor beam."

The tractor beam was put to use. It helped a little, but not enough. It struck the ship on the right side. The entire ship began shaking.

"Damage report," T. J. asked.

"Casualty reports are coming in from all over the ship," Demona exclaimed.

"The starboard bow has been struck," Marvin reported. "Small amounts of the exterior surface has been broken off, releasing oxygen into space."

"Initiating emergency core shut down," Brooklyn shouted.

"Inertial dampers are failing. We are losing energy control," Jenny exclaimed.

"The is the bridge, everyone to emergency escape pods," T. J. shouted using communication.

"The core shut down was unsuccessful. We are losing antimatter containment," Lexington informed.

"We've got to eject the engine core," Demona shouted.

"Ejection systems are off-line. Core breech is advancing," Marvin said.

"Everyone, abandon ship," Andros shouted. "Repeat: everyone abandon..."

Fire entered the bridge, and Andros was interrupted. A few seconds later, the ship exploded.

“I assure you, C. K.,” Alpha answered. “The cards are sufficiently randomized.”

“I hope so,” Brooklyn said, a little unsure.

Jenny noticed this. “Is something wrong, Brooklyn,” she asked.

Alpha began dealing a facedown card to each player.

“I’m experiencing Reipawn: the feeling I’ve done this before,” Brooklyn said.

“Yeah,” C. K. said, trying to remind him of something. “Last Tuesday night.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

“I’ve been having the same feeling,” Ruth said. Then, she looked at Alpha. “Keep dealing, Alpha.”

He turned a card and dealt it to each player in a clockwise direction. “8. Ace.”

“A Queen,” Ruth said, suddenly. “You’re going to give me a Queen.” Alpha turned the card and handed it to Ruth. It was, indeed, a Queen. To be specific, the Queen of Spades.

“And you’re going to get a 4,” she finished. Alpha turned the fourth card. It was the exact card Ruth had predicted. “Deal, Alpha!”

“But no one has bet, Ruth.”

She sighed in frustration. “Forget the bet; just deal.” Alpha began dealing. She predicted what the card would be the moment before it was shown. “10. 7. Queen. 9.”

Brooklyn, remembering, joined her in prediction. “Jack. 4. Deus. 6.”

C. K. and Jenny also joined in. “7. Jack. 5. 9.”

Alpha realized that everyone was correct. “This is highly improbable,” he said.

“Then, how did we know,” Jenny asked.

“Wait a minute,” Ruth said.

“Candy Spice here,” Hallie responded.

“Is Fulgore there, Hallie?”

“No, Ruth; he’s not.”

The doors opened. Hallie looked to see who entered. She was surprised to see who it was. “Wait a minute,” she added in confusion. “He just came in.”

Fulgore looked at her in surprise.

“Yes, Andros. Did you have the feeling that you’ve experienced certain things before, like a sense of repetition?”

“Yes, recently, during the BNO. Why do you ask?”

“Similar incidents have been reported all over the ship. Everyone, except Alpha, has had a sense of dée;jéa vu of different fashions.”

Andros nodded, indicating that he understood what she was saying.

“I had a premonition that Fulgore was going to come here. A few seconds later, he did, with the symptoms of an ear infection, even though he’s a cyborg. I was going to run the standard test, but somehow, I had the feeling that they would turn out negative.

“So, I ran an optical diagnostic, which traced the problem to Fulgore’s receptors. His dizziness is caused by a phase shift in Fulgore’s eye components. It’s causing him to see images that aren’t there.”

Fulgore added into the report. “They’re like blurry afterimages.”

Ruth continued, “I ran a scan to see if I could detect what he was seeing. A found a small mount of distortions in the surrounding deceon field. Somehow, his eye components are translating those distortions to visual impulses.”

“It could be a malfunction in the engine field generator. I’ll ask Marvin and Lexington to check it out.”

“And ask them to run a localized space scan to look for anything else,” Andros said.

Fulgore nodded. He, Ruth, and Andros left the infirmary. Fulgore was going to the engine room, Ruth was going to her room, and Andros was going to the SimuDeck.

She turned off the lights. A few seconds later, she heard the voices. She quickly picked up a walkman that had the capabilities of recording. She recorded the voices for several seconds. When she turned on the lights, the voices stopped. She stopped the walkman before turning on communications.

“Magic Spice to Martian Spice.”

“Yes, Ruth?”

“Marvin. I just heard what sounded like voices in my room, but there’s no one else in here.”

“Sensors just picked up something strange, too. We’re checking it out.”

“I’m on my way!” She excitedly ran across the room. Her right hand struck the mug, sending it to the floor. The moment that it broke, Ruth turned to it. There’s the déjà vu again. Then, she left for the engine room.

She met up with Marvin, Lexington, and Alpha in the engine room. She gave the walkman to Lexington, who placed the cassette tape into a cassette player connected with Deca. They placed it in. The recording of the voices was heard, just like Ruth hoped.

“You were able to record 6.4 seconds worth of those voices,” Alpha said. “Let’s see if I can filter the signal and clear this up a little bit.”

“Then, I wasn’t just hearing things,” Ruth asked.

“The sound itself appears to have been real,” Marvin answered. “However the acoustic energy reading does not correspond with any of the ship’s systems nor to any voice communications set at the time you heard it.”

“Then, where did the sound come from?”

“Well, you heard the voices at the same time our localized space scan picked up a deceon field distortion,” Lexington answered. “The two could be related. Let’s give another listen.”

He turned on the cassette player, and the recording of the voices was heard.

“Deca,” Alpha said when it was done. “Perform a narrow bandwidth analysis and eliminate all non-vocal waveform components.” They listened again. The sound of the voices seems to be a slight bit lighter than the first time.

“Can we isolate the voices, figure out what they’re saying,” Ruth asked.

Alpha spoke again. “Deca, continuous playback, please.” He listened very carefully as the recording was played over and over again. If Alpha had facial expressions, the others would know that he was confused.

He stopped the recording. “There are approximately 40 voices overlapping. The voices are of those on the Astro Megaship; our voices!”

The three Spices standing there were shocked.

“I’m sorry to call you all here so early, but we couldn’t wait until 7:00,” she said. “We might have an explanation of the occurrences here. Marvin?” She sat down.

“This is going to sound pretty wild,” Marvin warned. He turned on the screen, which displayed a large half-circle. There was a red dot on the edge of it, and when it reached the end of the curve, the dot zoomed on the straight line to begin the curve again.

“Somehow, we entered what seems to be a temporal causality loop,” Marvin continued. “We think we’re stuck in a specific fragment in time, and that we’ve been repeating that fragment over and over again.”

“Is this what causing our deja vu,” Jenny asked.

Ruth answered, “Yes, but it’s more than that. In deja vu, you only think you’re repeating events. In this situation, we actually are.”

“Our theory is this,” Marvin continued, “every time the loop begins again, everything resets itself and starts all over. We don’t remember anything that happened before. So each time through the loop, we think it’s the first.”

“You mean we could have come into the room, sat down at this table, and had this conversation a dozen times already,” Cassie asked.

“A dozen, a hundred, a million; it’s impossible to tell unless you know you’ve never done it before. We could have been trapped in this loop for days, weeks, maybe years.” Marvin turned off the screen and took his seat.

Ruth said, “If what we’re saying is true, the voices I heard in my room last night might be echoes from previous loops.”

“It’s the same with the phase shift in my eye components: afterimages in time,” Fulgore added.

“If you’re right about this,” Andros started, “how did it happen? How did we get there?”

“I have a hypothesis that may explain that,” Alpha said. “I have analyzed the recording Ruth made. Most of it is quite ordinary. But there is evidence of a disaster aboard the Astro Megaship, severe enough that the Red Ranger ordered everyone to abandon the ship. I have isolated three segments of this recording that are crucial.”

The recording started. First, Lexington’s voice was heard. “...a highly localized distortion of the space time continuum.”

Then, Alpha’s voice. “...collision course. Impact in 36 seconds.”

Then, Andros’ voice. “Everyone abandon ship! Repeat: everyone abandon...”

Alpha spoke. “Lexington refers to a distortion. If this was a temporal distortion, and if we were close enough to it, its possible that a large enough explosion disrupted the space time continuum. We collided, exploded, then got caught in this repeating loop of time.”

“If you’re right, then we might escape the loop by avoiding the collision,” Zhane said.

“That’s our guess,” Lexington said.

“Perhaps we should reverse course,” T. J. advised.

“For all we know, reversing course might be what leads us into the crash,” Jenny said, shaking her head.

“We can’t afford to start second guessing,” Ashley pointed out. “I advise that we stay on this course until we have reason to change it.”

“I agree, Ashley,” Andros said. “But in the meantime, we have to try to do everything we can to avoid a crash.”

“Andros,” Lexington said. “We might not know how this accident happens until it’s too late. And if the loop begins again, we’ll forget everything we learned this time around.”

“What do you suggest,” Cassie asked.

“If we do figure a way out, we might be able to send that information into the next loop.”

“Is that possible,” Ruth asked.

“We know that echoes or afterimages from previous loops appear as distortions of the deceon field,” Alpha said. “We might be able to send a deliberate echo into the next loop.”

“Like a message in a bottle,” Jenny realized.

“Exactly,” Marvin said. “We might be able to create a deceon emission, and send ourselves a message. Not a long one, probably only a few characters. Maybe even one word.”

“How do we know that we’ll pick up that word the next time through,” Carlos asked.

“If the deceon emission is modulated correctly, it will set up resonance in my positronic subprocessors, as well as Deca’s,” Alpha said. “The two of us will receive the information on a subconscious level.”

“Now, there’s the catch,” Marvin warned. “We don’t have any way of knowing how the information will be perceived by Alpha and Deca. It might be like a post hypnotic suggestion or something.”

“Even with all these uncertainties, we have to try,” Andros said. “Take whatever steps necessary to send a message. Dismissed.” Everyone got up and left. Marvin, Alpha, and Ruth went into the engine room.

“Do you have the feeling you’ve done this before,” Ruth asked.

“Nope.”

“Neither do I. Maybe that’s a good sign.” She smiled at her joke.

“Let’s test the emitter,” Marvin said. He started working with Alpha. “Particle accelerators are at full power. Deceon field is active. We’re in business.”

“All we need now is a message,” Ruth said, as Marvin activated Alpha.

Communications turned on. “Ruth, Marvin, and Alpha; report to the bridge,” Jenny said.

“On our way,” Ruth responded.

Ruth, Marvin, and Alpha entered the bridge. Alpha went to work immediately with Deca and finished the first part. He needed to figure out a message.

“Let’s back off,” Zhane said. “Nice and slow.”

A moment later, Cassie said, “Maneuvering thrusters are not responding.”

“The distortion field is fluctuating,” Marvin said. Everyone looked at the distortion as its movements were increasing. The lights dimmed and a “power” sound was lowering.

“All main systems just went down,” Ashley said. “Power levels are dropping rapidly!”

“There is an energy buildup in the distortion,” T. J. said.

Ruth knew they had experienced this occurrence before. She knew something terrible was going to happen. “We have to get out of here, now,” she said.

“Andros, something is emerging,” Lexington said. A space ship came out from the distortion. It was moving fast and headed in their direction!

“Shields up! Move to port,” Andros ordered.

“Shields inoperative,” Carlos informed.

“The helm is not responding,” Brooklyn said.

“The ship is on a collision course,” Alpha said. “Impact in 36 seconds.”

“Contact them,” Andros said.

There was a pause. “No response,” Lexington said.

“Suggestions,” Andros said.

“Decompress the main shuttle landing,” Ruth said. “The pushing reaction may kick us out of the way.”

“Andros, I suggest we use the tractor beam to disrupt the ship’s projected path,” Brooklyn said.

Andros made his decision. “Use the tractor beam.”

The tractor beam was put to use. It helped a little, but not enough. The other ship struck the Megaship on the right side. The entire ship began shaking. Alpha looked at Ruth, and realized what the message could be. But he couldn’t type in the command to Deca, for he was losing his balance.

“Damage report,” T. J. asked.

“Casualty reports are coming from all over the ship,” Demona exclaimed.

“The starboard bow has been struck,” Marvin reported. “Small amounts of the exterior surface has been broken off, releasing oxygen into space.”

“Initiating emergency core shut down,” Brooklyn shouted.

“Inertial dampers are failing. We are losing energy control,” Jenny exclaimed.

“The is the bridge, everyone to emergency escape pods,” T. J. shouted using communication.

“The core shut down was unsuccessful. We are losing antimatter containment,” Lexington informed.

“We’ve got to eject the engine core,” Demona shouted.

“Ejection systems are off-line. Core breech is advancing,” Marvin said.

As Andros gave the order to abandon ship, Alpha was finally able to type the command to send the message into the next loop. He did it quickly, for he knew that time was running out, fast! Suddenly, fire entered the bridge. A few seconds later, the ship exploded.

“I assure you, C. K.,” Alpha answered. “The cards are sufficiently randomized.”

“I hope so,” Brooklyn said, a little unsure.

“Is something wrong, Brooklyn,” Jenny asked.

Alpha began dealing a facedown card to each player.

“I’m experiencing Ripawn: the feeling I’ve done this before,” Brooklyn said.

“Yeah,” C. K. said, trying to remind him of something. “Last Tuesday night.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

“I’ve been having the same feeling,” Ruth said. Alpha was about to deal the first part of the hand when she stopped him. “Wait! An 8. An Ace. A Queen. And a 4. Deal the cards, Alpha.”

He dealt the cards. They were as she predicted, but no! All the cards are red. She remembered getting a Queen of Spades before. C. K. noticed something different.

“Look,” he said. “All four cards are hearts.”

“I was positive that there were also some blacks,” Ruth quietly complained.

“I was also sure,” Brooklyn added.

“Deal the rest of the hand, Alpha,” Jenny said. When he finished dealing, Jenny looked at each hand carefully. “Look at this. Everyone has 3 hearts. Except you, Ruth, you have four.”

“This is strange,” Ruth said.

Suddenly, communications turned on. “Candy Spice to Magic Spice.”

“Go ahead.”

“Fulgore needs you in the infirmary.”

“I’m on my way.”

She giggled. “Yeah, you would have, Fulgore. You have all the symptoms of an inner ear infection, even though you are a cyborg. That would explain the headaches and dizziness. But, there’s no...” She suddenly stopped, a little confused and unsure.

“What,” Fulgore asked. “What is it?”

“Fulgore, have you ever had these symptoms before?”

“Come to think of it, I think I have.”

“Do you recall when?”

“No, I don’t.”

“We’ve had this discussion before, and I know that I’ve given you this examination. Let’s check the medical logs.”

Both she and Fulgore went to a computer. She turned it on and typed a few commands into the keyboard. The screen displayed the medical logs in a calendar form.

Ruth nodded. “You’ve been treated several times for headaches related to your receptors, but there is no mention of dizziness.”

Fulgore sighed. “Must be, what you call, déjà vu.”

“Both of us? About the same thing?” She looked at the computer again. “But look at this. These logs indicate when you came, but the shaded days form the border of a heart.”

Fulgore looked. “Yeah, you’re right.”

“Let me try something. I’d like to run an optical diagnostic.”

“For an ear infection?”

“I have a hunch.”

She positioned him onto a chair. His head was in between something, and the ends were about an inch away from his eyes. “Now, hold still,” she said. “This light could be a little intense.” When the light turned on at the ends of the object, he gave a small groan. Ruth continued with the examination.

“Have you made any changes to your eye components recently, Fulgore?”

“No, why?”

“I’m detecting a small phase shift in your visual receptors.”

Suddenly, communications were turned on. “Magic Spice to Red Ranger.”

The music was turned off and Andros responded. “Yes, Ruth?”

“Can you come to the infirmary, Andros? It’s urgent.”

“I’m on my way.” He got up. “I’ll be right back.”

He entered the infirmary. “You wanted to see me, Ruth?”

“Yes. Andros, did you have the feeling that you’ve experienced certain things before, like a sense of repetition?”

“Yes, recently, during the BNO. Why do you ask?”

“Similar incidents have been reported all over the ship. Everyone, except Alpha, has had a sense of déeja vu of different fashions.”

Andros nodded, indicating that he understood what she was saying.

“I had a premonition that Fulgore was going to come here. A few seconds later, he did, with the symptoms of an ear infection, even though he’s a cyborg. I was going to run the standard test, but somehow, I had the feeling that they would turn out negative.

“So, I ran an optical diagnostic, which traced the problem to Fulgore’s receptors. His dizziness is caused by a phase shift in Fulgore’s eye components. It’s causing him to see images that aren’t there.”

Fulgore added into the report. “They’re like blurry afterimages.”

Ruth continued, “I ran a scan to see if I could detect what he was seeing. A found a small mount of distortions in the surrounding deceon field. Somehow, his eye components are translating those distortions to visual impulses.”

“It could be a malfunction in the engine field generator. I’ll ask Marvin and Lexington to check it out.”

“While you’re at it, ask them to run a localized space scan to look for anything else,” Andros said.

Fulgore nodded. He, Ruth, and Andros left the infirmary. Fulgore was going to the engine room, Ruth was going to her room, and Andros was going back to the SimuDeck.

“The space scanners are active,” Lexington informed.

“Alpha, would you run a level 2 diagnostic on the engine field generators,” Marvin asked. After the commands were entered, most of the black squares were blank. The rest formed a pattern. “Hearts? That can’t be right.”

“I have encounter the heart shape a number of times in the past two hours,” Alpha informed.

Suddenly, a beeping sound was heard. Marvin went to a control panel to check it out. “We have a deceon field fluctuation on Deck 9, Section 28.

Communications were turned on. “Magic Spice to Martian Spice.”

“Yes, Ruth?”

“Marvin. I just heard what sounded like voices in my room, but there’s no one else in here.”

“Sensors just picked up something strange, too. We’re checking it out.”

“I’m on my way!” Suddenly, the others heard what sounded like glass breaking.

“Ruth! Are you all right,” Marvin asked, concerned.

“I’m fine. I only broke my favorite mug, the one with heart designs.” She sounded stressed. This was because she knew that she broke that mug before.

Alpha noticed that Ruth said, ‘heart.’ There’s another example of the heart.

The recording started. First, Lexington’s voice was heard. “...a highly localized distortion of the space time continuum.”

Then, Alpha’s voice. “...collision course. Impact in 36 seconds.”

Then, Andros’ voice. “Everyone abandon ship! Repeat: everyone abandon...”

Alpha spoke. “Lexington refers to a distortion. If this was a temporal distortion, and if we were close enough to it, its possible that a large enough explosion disrupted the space time continuum. We collided, exploded, then got caught in this repeating loop of time.”

“If you’re right, then we might escape the loop by avoiding the collision,” Zhane said.

“That’s our guess,” Lexington said.

“Perhaps we should reverse course,” T. J. advised.

“For all we know, reversing course might be what leads us into the crash,” Jenny said, shaking her head.

“We can’t afford to start second guessing,” Ashley pointed out. “I advise that we stay on this course until we have reason to change it.”

“I agree, Ashley,” Andros said. “But in the meantime, we have to do everything we can to avoid a crash.”

“Andros,” Lexington said. “We have been seeing the heart shape all over the ship. In scans, in a poker game, in medical logs...”

“To date, we have encountered the heart 695 times,” Alpha said.

“All of these hearts can’t be coming up by accident,” Marvin said.

“Maybe someone is trying to tell us something,” Ruth suggested.

“We came to the same conclusion, so we ran a ship-wide diagnostic,” Lexington said. “The only unusual things we found are deceon field modulations in Alpha’s and Deca’s sub-processors.”

“What could be causing it,” Cassie asked.

“I don’t know, but if I wanted to send information from one loop into the next, I might use a method like a deceon emission.”

“Do you think we sent ourselves a message,” Jenny asked.

“It would make sense,” Marvin answered. “Maybe we are trying to tell ourselves something.”

“If that was true, what would a heart indicate,” Andros asked.

Communications were turned on. “Demon Spice to Red Ranger.”

“Yes, Demona?”

“Andros, we’re picking up something 1,000 kilometers off the starboard bow.”

“On our way,” Andros answered.

They left the meeting room and entered the bridge where Demona and Brooklyn were waiting.

“We didn’t detect the phenomenon until we were almost on top of it,” Brooklyn informed.

“It is a highly localized distortion of the space time continuum,” Lexington said.

“Let’s see it,” Jenny said. The screen turned on. A blue-color, two- dimensional object was displayed and making a small amount of movement. Jenny looked at Andros. “How do you think we handled this before?” Andros paused and shrugged.

“Let’s back off,” Zhane said. “Nice and slow.”

A moment later, Cassie said, “Maneuvering thrusters are not responding.”

“The distortion field is fluctuating,” Marvin said. Indeed, the movement of the distortion was increasing. The lights dimmed and a “power” sound was lowering.

“All main systems just went down,” Ashley said. “Power levels are dropping rapidly!”

“There is an energy buildup in the distortion,” T. J. said.

Ruth knew she had experienced this occurrence before. She sensed something terrible happening. “We have to get out of here, now,” she said.

“Andros, something is emerging,” Lexington said. A space ship came out from the distortion. It was moving fast and headed in their direction!

“Shields up! Move to port,” Andros ordered.

“Shields inoperative,” Carlos informed.

“The helm is not responding,” Brooklyn said.

“The ship is on a collision course,” Alpha said. “Impact in 36 seconds.”

“Contact them,” Andros said.

There was a pause. “No response,” Lexington said.

“Suggestions,” Andros said.

“Decompress the main shuttle landing,” Ruth said. “The pushing reaction may kick us out of the way.”

“Andros, I suggest we use the tractor beam to disrupt the other ship’s projected path,” Brooklyn said.

Andros made his decision. “Use the tractor beam.”

Right before Andros made that order, Alpha looked at Ruth. She was leaning forward on something, causing her pendant to act with gravity. The front side of the pendant was facing towards him, showing the ruby heart on it. Alpha knew what to do.

“No! Don’t use the tractor beam; it will not be successful! I am decompressing the main shuttle landing now.” He did as he said he would, and the tractor beam was not put to use. The Astro Megaship moved out of the way, just before the other ship could cause any damage.

The lights turned back on, and the power was restored. “We are clear of the distortion,” Demona informed.

Andros faced his robotic friend. “Alpha, what happened?”

“At the last moment, I speculated that the shape ‘heart’ we were seeing might refer to the Pendant of Love that Ruth was wearing. That indicated to me that her suggestion might have been the correct course of action.”

“Alpha, you must have picked up a message we sent from the last loop and stacked the deck in the poker game without realizing it,” Jenny said.

“That is possible.”

“Marvin, try to access a time base beacon. Let’s see how long we’ve been caught in this causality loop,” Carlos said.

“Time base confirms that our chronometers and clocks are off by 7.8 days,” Marvin said.

“When we’re done here, reset them, Alpha,” Andros said.

A beeping noise was heard. “Andros, we are being contacted by the other ship,” Lexington said. “It is identified as a ‘Universal Star Ship (USS) Bolshevik,’ a Russian spaceship.”

“Bolshevik,” Jenny asked. “That ship was missing for over 20 years.”

“Open a communication channel,” Andros said.

The screen turned on. There were several people wearing black and gold uniforms. The man in the center spoke, “I am Captain Lenin of the Russian USS Bolshevik. Can we render assistance to you?”

Andros got up. Jenny had advised him on what to do and say in a situation like this. “I am Andros, ‘Captain’ of the ‘American’ Astro Megaship. We were going to ask you the same thing.”

“Captain Andros, your ship is not familiar to us.”

“Captain Lenin,” Andros responded. “Do you know what has just happened?”

“Our sensors detected a temporal distortion. Then, your ship appeared. We nearly hit you.”

“The Megaship had been caught in a temporal causality loop, and I suspect that the same has happened to you.”

“You must be mistaken, Captain. We left Moscow only 2 weeks ago.”

Hanim went to Andros and whispered in his ear. “The USS Bolshevik had disappeared 2 weeks after taking off from Moscow. I going to ask him a simple question.” She turned to the screen. “Captain Lenin, do you know what year this is?”

“Of course I do, miss. It’s 1976, the 200th anniversary of your country, America.”

Ruth turned around to keep her laughing smile from being seen.

Andros smiled, but in an assuring way. “Captain, perhaps you should come aboard our ship. There is something we need to discuss.”

The End... for now