78.

Mandy Anand has been transported to a place and time where she is not only enlisted but also serving in the military, or more precisely training within the military. At a loss for what is happening for she knows she has never been in the military at any time while back on Earth, so she is not replacing a former version of herself. Where it is she supposedly belongs in space and time Mandy knows there will be no actual return to Earth. She is here for there will ultimately be a task for her to perform.

An inspection of the facility where she has come to be based is about to occur and Mandy is at a loss for what to do. The lady from the bunk to Mandy's left sees how lost and confused Mandy appears to be. Looking back and over towards Mandy, this other lady speaks.

'Follow my lead, you will be fine. Move to the end of your bed and stand to attention. Look straight ahead and do not alter yourself unless instructed. If you are spoken to, answer "yes sir" or "no sir" and do not directly acknowledge a commanding officer visually. Do as I say, and you will be fine.'

Mandy does as instructed. A commander and three male soldiers enter the barracks. The commander begins to walk up and down the center of the room while the soldiers inspect lockers and beds. The commander moves to one of those who is standing to attention and looks her directly in the eyes then moves to do the same to another and then onto Mandy.

Her heartbeat accelerates though she manages to keep herself completely still. She does not flinch. One of the three soldiers reports that all is well and soon they line up behind that commanding officer who gives an at ease command and the four of them march out of the room. Not being entirely sure as to if it is safe to move, Mandy is taken by the arm and led to the side of her bed. She sits and attempts to calm herself down.

'You are a little lost, aren't you?' asks the lady who had given her instruction as she now sits alongside Mandy.

'Can I breathe now?'

'You sure can ...'

'Where am I?' asks Mandy.

'This does not matter right now. It is where we will be going in a little over eight weeks' time that counts.'

'And where will that be?'

'A town south of Kabul, Afghanistan.'

'The date ... what is today's date?'

'... March 20th, 2086, ...'

'Who are you? How and why are you helping me?'

'None of that matters ... we all have a part to play ...'

History records that a certain Andre Michaels had been shot dead by a sniper in a village south of Kabul on the 26th of May 2086. Sure, a fifteen-year-old Mandy Anand seen it occur in a dream she had in the moment it happened and there had been no way she could have known at the time that her dream was a real event, an event she is destined to place a serious part in.

It would appear that Mandy has made herself a friend, a friend who will help guide her through all she needs to know for Mandy Anand is who she is, she is who she has always been, she is where she needs to be, and she is going to be in this space and time for some time to come. It is not a moment which will pass quickly like two previous moments she has already experienced. Her friend, in this time, simply goes by the name Sophie.

Eight weeks pass, eight weeks of preparation and training. The training is both physical and mental, it is brutal and tough and Mandy, along with her colleagues, if they can be thought as such, are taught in the handling and firing of weapons along with survival techniques and the likes. Indeed, Mandy has a task to complete away from this place. She may feel alone at times though it is clear to her that there are those who are watching out for her.

Are these others, others the likes of Sophie, are they like her? Have they got tasks in time to perform? The hell if Mandy knows. She just gets on with things the best she can. Early on she feels such a failure, there is no way she can pull off what it is she needs to do. Her early failings on assault courses prove this to her to be true though she never gives up and to her own amazement over the coming weeks she masters the assault courses, she masters all put before her.

How odd a thing time can be ... The eight weeks end with a feeling that they have passed in an extended blink of an eye as they also feel to Mandy that she has always belonged to it and it is soon time for transit, weather permitting. Military aircraft to a degree is equipped to travel tough weather for who knows what may be encountered from one end of a trip to the next. The journey to Afghanistan is a tough one and both Mandy and Sophie, amongst others, are strapped on board a dull grey vessel.

Oddly enough the weather on arrival to Kabul is relatively serine though forecasts for upcoming hours have it looking not all so good. Mandy and Sophie exit their plane one behind the other and this is where they are to part company.

'You are not coming with us' Sophie tells Mandy.

'Wh-what?' Mandy is caught off guard despite knowing what she is destined to do.

She is handed a package, directed towards a jeep and without delay Mandy is being shipped away from those with whom she has spent the last eight weeks with. By the time a destination is reached the weather has indeed taken a turn for the worst. Again, there is no time to be wasted and Mandy is directed up on top of a one story building. She opens her package on top of this building and finds out via a photograph who her intended target is or at least what he looks like.

There is a rifle set up for her, loaded and ready to fire. Everything is ready to go. All there is for her to do is to aim ad pull the trigger when the time comes, the word all ... it is as if killing someone is the easiest thing in the world to do. Of course, it isn't, especially for Mandy. She can't do this even though she knows she must. She gives the rifle the once over while thinking of words Sophie once told her.

'Your gun is but a tool, a tool necessary to do what must be done.'

The photo really brings it home. Mandy cannot kill a person though the lives of all mankind depend upon her ending one. This is Brandon's son ... this is who she is meant to take out, a person who surely does not deserve such a fate. This doesn't happen then The Pathfinder's will be dust before it even leaves Earth. Eight weeks ago, Mandy Anand never even seen a gun and now she has been trained to use one.

Weather conditions are going downhill and nearby hustle and bustle have begun, military personnel have arrived, and the time is now. Eight weeks training is just that, eight weeks training. Can she make the necessary shot, can she shoot at all? Any bullets to be fired do not have all so large a distance to travel. There is the weather to take into consideration too. She can do this, she must.

Mandy looks through her scope first to identify her target, to identify Andre Michaels, he is here, he is as close as he possibly ever will be. A local has caught sight of Mandy for she has seen her fair share of death throughout her life. She loudly offers her warning and, in the moment, where she is discovered ... Mandy fires.

Andre is hit in the upper torso, towards and below his left shoulder, a spot uncovered by his protective clothing. His body twists upon impact and he falls to the ground almost immediately. The sky darkens, it has darkened, and it soon begins to rain lightly. Mandy has hit her target though she is still in the present moment. If the job is done, shouldn't she have returned to The Pathfinder?

The target Andre Michaels has taken cover. Two men have come to his aid. Mandy may not be ala so far away though she still needs to use the scope on her rifle to get a better view of what is going on. Those two men who have come to Andre's aid, is one of them ... Stanley Holmes? This is as surreal as anything else that has happened to Mandy. Doctor Stanley Holmes is dead in the timeline Mandy belongs to, and at that, he looks so well in the here and now, he looks to be in the prime of his life, and not as frail as he came to be.

As it is, it certainly appears that Andre Michaels is still alive. Mandy may need to fire again. If she does and accidentally hits Stanley, then wouldn't that completely mess up that timeline she belongs to? How is Mandy's nerve? How good has that eight-week training period been? Only one way to find out.

She takes aim and waits. Andre is out of view; he has taken cover. If Andre shows himself then the job must be and will be completed. The other man accompanying Stanley is Andre's good friend Cormack Rhodes, the same Cormack Rhodes whose goes on to cause so much mayhem in the future, a problem sorted before Mandy has come to where she is.

Patience pays off to a degree for Andre does show himself. Stanley and Cormack try to aid Andre indoors. Mandy doesn't waste time and fires. She completely misses her target, grazing Cormack's shoulder instead. Damn Mandy thinks as her rifle jams. She gets no further shots off. The sky darkens further, and it isn't long before the rain begins to come down heavy.

The three men manage to gain cover indoors and Mandy must now vacate that roof top she is on. She has failed, she is sure of this. She has not returned to The Pathfinder, not yet anyhow. She does not know that history shows that Andre Michaels does not out live the ensuing storm. What she had seen in a dream occurred so long ago and it occurred in a manner she could not comprehend so she has no knowledge that Andre is soon to die. The moment his life does come to an end, Mandy indeed is returned in time, she has been returned to The Pathfinder.

Mandy is returned to the command center of The Pathfinder. Everyone who has ever meant to be on The Pathfinder has been on The Pathfinder including Stanley Holmes and of course Brandon Michaels. History has remained intact. Mandy lays on the ground, soaked to the bone. What has been a little over eight weeks for her has been only seconds for everyone else.

Samar aids his grandmother to her feet, how odd a thing that too is. Maria turns her look from Mandy to Sheila to Brandon. If it isn't strange enough to be able to see the ghost of Brandon Michaels, then seeing his ghost cry in the knowledge that his son does and has died in Afghanistan on an afternoon in the May of 2086 when opportunity could have altered such.

The Pathfinder is exactly where it is meant to be only now, what lays ahead is the challenge to close a wormhole which could give them access to a place which very well could be the future home for all mankind ...