The Collection (short story)

The Collection was the seventh story in the Bernice Summerfield anthology A Life of Surprises. It was written by Peter Anghelides.

Plot
Jason disappears whilst excavating the Small Trianon and, three months later, there is still no sign of him and Benny goes to Braxiatel, but he is of no help. As Braxiatel has just closed the Pons Asinorum to everybody, Benny wonders if she will find her answer there and sneaks in whilst Dokien is supposedly on his lunch break, accessing the Gossetrez archive and finding a diary in which Jason writes that he is 2,407 years in the past.

Benny uses her time ring and some Gossetrez equipment to travel back in time and finds Jason in a damaged spacecraft, having travelled back there himself with his own time ring after finding a similar entry in Benny's diary at the Pons Asinorum. They rewrite their diaries and destroy the originals, after which Braxiatel travels back with Dokien's help and tells the two of them to use their time rings in tandem to return home. Braxiatel informs them that Dokien was the one who gave them their time rings and that he found their diaries.

Dokien leaves the Collection on a shuttle and Braxiatel orders Oscarby Stendurp to destroy the two diaries. Although Stendurp sends him a memo confirming that this has been done, the two diaries are auctioned off at Brandeltnark Auction House Catalogue a thousand years later.

Characters

 * Bernice Summerfield
 * Dokien
 * Jason Kane
 * Irving Braxiatel

Worldbuilding

 * Braxiatel let slip several months ago that he is approaching his 1,500s.
 * Benny takes an OS-flyer to look for Jason.
 * Oscarby Stendurp works in Allocations and Disposals.
 * Brandeltnark Auction House Catalogue is known for fencing stolen goods.

Continuity

 * Dokien gave Benny and Jason their Time Rings. (PROSE: Happy Endings)