James and the Time Patrol Agency – Headquarters

The car parked itself in front of a nondescript building. We walked in and there was a reception area, which we walked up to.

“Hello Judy,” Matthew greeted the receptionist.

“Hi Matt,” Judy smiled at Matthew, and then at me.

“This is James, he’s going to need security clearance, lowest level please.”

“No problem, give me a minute,” Judy then processed the request on her computer, and handed me a visitor’s badge. “Here you go, James.”

“Thanks.” I grabbed the badge and hung it around my neck.

Matthew and I then proceeded into the building and past the security guards, who confirmed our identities before letting us in. We reached the top floor and walked into the office of a Captain Mortimer.

“Agent Lam,” the captain greeted Matthew, and then me, “And you must be James?”

I shook him extended hand, “Yes sir.”

“Agent Lam tells me that you both have to make one more trip into the past to prevent another paradox. Do you understand what you have to do?”

“Um, I think so, sir.”

“Good. Here are some simple rules: stick on assignment, leave nothing behind, and don’t take anything.”

“Yes sir,” I said.

Matthew then pressed some buttons on the device on his wrist, opening up a time portal. We headed into what would be our first time jump together. It was a simple assignment, all we had to do was tell Matthew from the past where the criminal would show up and that was it. When we got back to report to Captain Mortimer, he offered me a choice.

“So James, you seem like you’d be a fit here, would you like to become a TPA agent?”

I considered the offer for a second, “Well sir, it looks like a good opportunity, but wouldn’t it be suspicious if I just disappeared from my own time?”

The captain chuckled, “See, that’s the type of thinking I like to see in my agents. No need to worry, you’ll be allowed to periodically visit. Of course, you have to visit the time after the period of time that you’ve spent away, to keep up the facade. And of course, you’ll have a chance to quit your current job, tie up any loose ends, things like that.”

I pondered about the offer again, “May I have some time to think about it?”

“Sure, Agent Lam will take you home and he’ll visit again in two days, how’s that?”

“Sounds good, sir.”

Previous Part — Next Part

This is part of the James and the Time Patrol Agency short story.