CHAPTER 3: The Time Change – Month 3

  SHIP TIME: MONTH 3

  Samir paid attention in a way most people didn’t; that focus made him a strong biologist. He caught things others missed. A faint change in the colour of a tissue sample. A shift in how a penguin colony moved around its nesting site. And more recently, the fact that Maureen Willoughby’s hair colour hadn’t changed in the last three months.

  He watched her across the community garden; it was one of the projects that had sprung up in the second month. It came about by accident. They were testing if the impenetrable flooring was beneath a large patch of grass. Disappointed at the confirmation, someone had suggested they build a community garden as a fallback food source. The next day, seed packets had mysteriously appeared.

  Maureen was showing a group of younger people how to harvest some of the ripened radishes, her movements efficient and precise. She'd told him she was sixty-five during the census. Retired military, medical corps. Nicknamed “Colonel” by the villagers to specify the Maureen from England versus the other kidnapped Maureen from Hawaii.

  Samir had met enough people in their sixties to know what that age looked like, and when he commented how youthful the Colonel appeared, Maureen confided she had been on her way to her hairdresser’s for a touch-up when she was taken.

  “I’m completely white, not salt and pepper. Guess you’ll see that soon,” she told him during the first month.

  But in three months, none of it had changed. Not even slightly.

  Samir pulled out his phone and scrolled back through photos. The community had started documenting everything in the second week. This was Ian's idea: create a visual record of their captivity. There were dozens of photos of Maureen. He zoomed in on one from their third day, then pulled up one from yesterday.

  Identical.

  But these were three months apart. Maureen’s hair should have grown out at the roots, showing her natural colour. There should be some change, however subtle.

  Unless she wasn't aging.

  Samir's hands started to shake. He put the phone down carefully, took several deep breaths, then picked it up again. He scrolled through other faces of the few villagers around Maureen’s age. No change. He checked photos of the younger villagers. Ian, Jing still looked the same. Lisette and her daughter Josie…He stopped and zoomed in on Josie’s face.

  She looked different: taller, her cheeks losing the last of their baby softness. She was growing fast, the way four-year-olds always do.

  But the adults. The adults looked frozen.

  “Why do I feel you’re two seconds away from a ‘What the fuck’ moment?”

  Samir twitched, nearly dropping his phone. Ian stood beside the bench, two cups of coffee in his hands. He held one out.

  Samir put his phone down and took the cup, hoping his shaking hand wasn’t noticeable. They'd fallen into this routine over the past several weeks. After a jog, Ian would find him in the mornings, bring coffee, and talk until his brain settled the patterns. It was... nice. Comfortable. Samir tried not to think too hard about why he looked forward to it.

  “You’re staring at people like they're research subjects.” Ian sat down, his leg brushing Samir’s. “There’s something we’re missing.”

  “The food?” Samir asked before taking a sip of his coffee.

  “Well, your tests confirm it’s regular food. No one’s been able to see it replenished. But if you leave your fridge or cupboards alone for a few hours and come back, they're restocked. Usually at night, or when you're not paying attention. Other things too. My weed.”

  “Also, trash disappears,” Samir continued. “Garbage bins empty themselves. Someone suggested they're collecting it at night, but I stayed up watching. It just... vanishes. Between one moment and the next.”

  They sat in silence, sipping coffee that tasted suspiciously perfect. Samir had been stationed at McMurdo. He knew what coffee made from recycled water tasted like. This was too good. Too perfect.

  “Have you noticed Maureen?” Samir asked quietly.

  Ian looked up at Maureen. “Yeah. Her hair.”

  “You've seen it too.”

  “Yeah. She told me she was on her way to get a touch-up when she got taken.”

  “There are a few of the older folk, some who dye their hair, and again, no change.” Samir pulled up the photos on his phone and showed Ian the comparison. “Three months. No change. But Josie is growing normally.”

  “Okay, that’s…that doesn’t make sense. If Josie is aging, then Maureen and the other elders should be changing too. And yes, I get it—we need more time before we can say for sure. Hmm… time…” Ian’s voice dropped as he closed his eyes, thinking.

  Samir's mind was churning through implications. “I can modify the fluorescence microscope to test telomere length on the DNA samples I obtained during that first week. It’ll take time for me to reconfigure the equipment.”

  Ian’s eyes opened, and he turned to look at Samir. “Telomeres…if I remember correctly, they shorten as time passes…time…time…time. Why does it come back to that? There’s something I’m missing.”

  “You have an idea?”

  “The internet,” Ian began, letting his mind free associate. “Timestamps on news articles were frozen at the time we were taken, same with our networked devices and computers, but over two weeks, we switched over most of those devices to the local network. Their internal time displayed then matched the analog clocks. The internet remained frozen; we assumed our captors gave us a read-only internet wherever ‘here’ is,” he paused for a longer breath. “We could download data, videos, and movies, but we couldn’t stream them and…” He stood up suddenly. “Oh, shit!”

  “Ian, what is it?” Samir asked.

  “Come with me. My place.” Ian walked off in a rush without waiting to see if Samir would follow.

  As they stepped inside Ian’s house, Ian closed the door. “I turned off my work phone because it didn’t make sense for me to have two phones networked locally. And it was work, so fuck them.” He sat at his desk in the living room, pulling open a drawer. In a moment, he’d found his work phone and plugged it in. The phone took a few moments to turn on.

  “What is this going to prove? The internet is still read-only, last we checked.” Samir pulled a chair over and sat beside Ian at his desk.

  “I’m kicking myself for not noticing this. When I got here, my phone and laptop were stuck around 930ish on Tuesday, October 7th. A few weeks later - when I was downloading some movies - I thought the timestamps on some downloads were slightly different, but I didn’t make note of it.” Ian’s work phone chimed, and they both looked down at the time displayed on the phone.

  10:24 AM. Tuesday, October 7th.

  Ian's face had gone pale. “Samir. Something bad is going on here. This phone should be stuck at that same time, which I remember was 9:31 AM.”

  Samir felt a cold fear grab his heart. “We need more data,” Samir said. He was already standing, mind shifting into research mode. “We need more technology that hasn’t been connected to the local network.”

  “I'll get Jing and Wei,” Ian said. “I think they might have some phones or laptops they’ve kept in reserve.”

  Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

  He ran off and out the door. Samir watched him go, then looked down at the phone. October 7th. Three months ago, by their reckoning.

  Are we aging? he thought. Three months’ worth. What if the time on my work phone is the real time?

  He pulled up a calculator. If three months here was less than a day there...

  His hands started shaking again.

  Fifteen minutes passed before Jing, Wei, Maureen, and Priya followed Ian back into his house. Priya was a software engineer from Bangalore who had been helping Wei and Jing for the last few weeks. They crowded around Ian’s desk and plugged in the laptops, tablets, and phones they’d brought. Ian had informed them of the discovery but told them to keep it quiet until they confirmed it.

  As the devices powered on, Maureen was the first to speak. “Is it possible this is just related to the daylight to standard time change?”

  “I thought of that, Colonel,” Wei stated. “Ian’s cell phone and your older mobile come from countries with the time change, but the rest of these devices come from countries where we stay on one time year-round.”

  “Wait!” Ian blurted out. “We didn’t all arrive here at the same time, remember? It was a two-hour period or so…”

  “For now, you’re our initial test point. If your work phone is correct,” Wei said. “All other devices should be showing twenty-four minutes past the hour, regardless of time zones and the time we were taken if they are still networked as they were before our capture.”

  The machines pinged as they finished their startups. One by one, they checked the time stamps.

  7:24 PM.

  8:24 PM.

  10:24 PM.

  1:24 PM.

  Samir cursed quietly in Hindi.

  “Well. This is terrifying. Now what?” Maureen asked quietly.

  The room was quiet for a few moments. “I’ve a thought,” Samir stated. “Ian, your work phone has the same apps as your personal phone, right?”

  “Sure.” Ian reached into his pocket, brought out his personal phone and placed it on the desk beside his work phone.

  “That won’t work,” Jing protested. “It’s synced to the local network.”

  Samir held up a finger. “The stopwatch app. They usually show hundredths of a second. Maybe if the work phone is running on the slower time, so is the app.”

  The room was unnaturally quiet as Ian opened the application on both phones. His fingers hovering over the two start buttons, he looked up at Samir. Samir placed his arm around Ian’s back and nodded.

  Ian’s personal phone ran the stopwatch as normal, the seconds and hundredths of a second passing by. His work phone was frozen at 00:00.00. They watched the seconds pass by on the one phone while the other remained frozen. Finally, after 30 seconds, the other phone changed to 00:00.01.

  “We need to get everyone together,” Samir said, standing. As his arm moved from Ian’s back, a small, quiet gasp escaped Ian’s mouth.

  Twenty minutes later, the villagers gathered in what had become the unofficial meeting hall. A large open structure that looked like a covered pavilion at the center of the village, where all the avenues and pathways intersected.

  After they laid out the problem, Priya, Wei, and Jing set up the non-networked computers on a table near the front of the pavilion, while Samir, Ian, and Maureen waited off to the left. There were panicked murmurs in the crowd. Jing spoke first.

  “We have a theory. Please hold questions until we’re ready for them. Wei and Priya are going to check the static web for news articles, social media posts, and anything with a time marker to see if the Internet has been updated.”

  “What will that prove?” a voice in the crowd called out.

  “It will prove we are running at a faster time than Earth,” Samir stated. He looked around at the faces - shock, denial, the beginning of horror. Then the crowd exploded in questions.

  Ian gave Samir a look that said You really should have phrased that better before holding up his hands and shouting, “EVERYONE SHUT THE FUCK UP! We’ve made it this far by not giving in to panic!”

  As the crowd's outbursts died down, two things happened. First, Ian heard Karen state, “They have no fucking idea what they’re doing!” The second thing he noticed was a strong smell of cannabis. He quickly leaned over to Maureen and whispered, “Colonel, do you smell that?”

  “Yes. The smell of cannabis just got a lot stronger,” Maureen said quietly in his ear.

  “I’m getting something from CNN,” Jing said, then gasped.

  Samir stepped over to the computer and began reading the news article.

  “Mysterious Object Appears in Earth's Orbit - Published: October 7, 2024, 12:24 PM Eastern. A massive spherical object, estimated at approximately 1 kilometre in diameter, has been observed in low Earth orbit at an altitude of roughly 100 - 200 kilometres, according to multiple independent astronomers and skywatchers worldwide.

  The highly reflective sphere, visible to the naked eye in certain regions and appearing roughly half the size of the moon, was first reported early this morning with streaks of light seen flashing from its surface. Social media has been flooded with images and videos of the object, with many users expressing concern and confusion.

  NASA and the Department of Defence have not yet issued official statements. CNN has reached out to both agencies for comment but has not received a response as of publication time.

  ‘We're aware of the reports and are monitoring the situation,’ a White House spokesperson said in a brief statement, declining to provide further details.

  The object's origin, purpose, and composition remain unknown. Astronomers note its highly unusual reflective properties and precise orbital positioning. This is a developing story. Updates to follow.”

  There was complete silence for about fifteen seconds, then a man in the front row spoke up.

  “Still Tuesday, October 7th…but later? I don’t understand,” Marcus said. He and his family were from South Carolina and had been taken when they were out at a school event with his children.

  The crowd started talking again, but Samir held up his hands. He looked over at Ian, who mouthed, “Careful.”

  “We need to be very thorough before we jump to conclusions. I need anyone who has any technology - laptops, cell phones, computers, tablets - which you have NOT networked locally to bring them back here. We need as many people checking the static internet to confirm this information, and we need to do it calmly without panicking.” Several people departed, promising to return with devices.

  Karen spoke up. “What are you not telling us, Samir!” Intentional or not, she emphasized his name with a bit of attitude.

  Ian barked back. “Well, Karen, if you insist. We can probably confirm we’re on that spaceship. And the time on Earth is going a lot slower for them than for us.”

  The crowd was silent except for a few utterances of either “what” or “what the fuck!” Ian stepped over to Jing, Wei, and Priya and leaned in close. “Keep searching, but I want you to nod if you can smell a slightly skunk-like odour in the air.”

  Three heads nodded.

  Ian rejoined Samir and Maureen. “So,” he said in the same quiet voice, “we have several mysteries to solve. The time difference, the aging issue, and now I’ve just confirmed with three non-cannabis users that the atmosphere is apparently pre-danked.”

  “I can probably rig up something to test for that, but--” Samir paused as Marcus walked up to him.

  “Does this mean we’re aging faster than every other human?”

  Maureen, Ian and Samir exchanged looks.

  “What?” Marcus pressed.

  A few people had returned, handing equipment to the trio sitting at the table.

  Samir stepped forward. “That’s not the only news we have. Marcus pointed out the practical issue with the time difference: aging. For those in the village over 65, I need you to accompany me back to the clinic.”

  “Oh hell,” cried a voice from the back. “Now what?”

  Maureen stepped forward. “We suspect the adults are not aging. We’re going to start testing the DNA of the seniors, and then the rest of the population.”

  Lisette called out from the side where she was sitting with Josie. “What about the kids? Are they stuck at this age?”

  “I don’t think so,” Samir said in a measured voice. “Josie has grown about three months' worth. But that doesn’t mean she isn’t affected. That’s why I’ll need to set up regular testing on everyone’s DNA - it can be used to approximately confirm aging.”

  Maureen spoke next. “I know this is a lot to take in. But for right now, I suggest we go back to whatever we were doing before this meeting, unless you’re assisting Jing and her team or are coming with Samir and me to the clinic for testing.”

  The crowd mostly dispersed except for Karen and her group: Chad, Neil, and Rashid, the Palestinian Imam and refugee. Karen had a look of steely determination, and she marched up to Ian.

  “So that’s it? Tests? Fucking around with technology while we age to death?” she demanded.

  Maureen and Samir slid away, but not before Samir rolled his eyes at Ian and smirked. Ian took a breath, then another. He'd been ready for this: the anger, the demands. But yelling back wouldn't help. And honestly? He was too tired.

  “Karen,” he said, voice level. “I'm listening. What would you do?”

  She blinked, momentum broken.

  “I…well, obviously, we need to organize. Set up proper leadership, assign roles, create accountability.”

  “We are,” Ian said. “That's what this is. Samir's coordinating the science teams. Maureen is handling medical. Jing is working tech. We're assigning roles based on skills and availability. That's organization.”

  Karen opened her mouth, then closed it.

  “And leadership?” Ian continued in a calm voice. “We're trying not to create a hierarchy. Decisions get made by the people doing the work. If you've got expertise in something, step up. Lead that area. But we're not electing a president or whatever you're thinking.”

  “But someone needs to be in charge!”

  “Why?” Ian asked, genuinely curious now. “In charge of what? We’re a small group; we're all stuck here. We all have the same information. If you see something that needs doing and you know how to do it, do it. If you need help, ask. That's the system.”

  Karen's jaw worked. “That's... that's not how things work. There must be structure. Rules. Accountability.”

  “There is,” Ian said. “You break something, you fix it. You hurt someone, you make it right. You need something, you ask. It's not complicated.”

  She stared at him, deflating visibly. “But what if people don't cooperate?”

  Ian shrugged. “Then they don't. But so far, everyone's cooperating. Except maybe your group, which keeps demanding we create problems that don't exist yet.”

  Neil shifted uncomfortably. Rashid looked away. Chad crossed his arms but said nothing.

  Karen's mouth opened, closed again.

  “If you've got a specific problem that needs solving,” Ian said, softer now, “bring it to the relevant person. Samir for science stuff. Maureen for medical. Jing for tech. Me, if you can't figure out who else, or keep asking until you find the right person. But we're not creating a command structure just because it makes you feel safer and in control.”

  Karen's shoulders sagged, and she slowly turned and walked away.

  Her group followed, quieter now.