Chapter #4Visit from the Future by: bejjinks   Ben and Jason hike through a forest. The day is peaceful and they are far away from any cities or noisy machines. Suddenly, a nearby tree explodes. It's far enough away that the boys aren't injured but close enough that the boys jump from fear and duck behind some rocks for cover. They look at what exploded.
They see a weird machine. It looks like it's made out of styrofoam but it is covered in weird lights. Several of the lights appear to hover above the machine. A man steps out of the machine wearing the weirdest clothes. His clothes keep changing colors. There are more lights hovering above the man and they move when he does. The man speaks but it isn't in any language the boys recognize. All they can tell is that, from his tone, the man is cursing as if his machine is broken. The man bangs on the machine, throws a few tools, and reaches inside the machine.
Then all Hell breaks loose. Almost everything disappears: the rock they hid behind, the trees, the hiking trail, the Earth. The boys float in nothingness while swirls of every color in the rainbow explode around them. The man and his machine are still there along with all the tools the man had scattered everywhere. The hovering lights are also still above everything.
The boys scream. The man pulls his head out of the machine, looks at them, and puts his face in his hands. "Grukti nger kuktinuo?"
Jason asks, "What have you done? Are we dead?"
The man turns a dial, "There, my computer has identified your language as English and implanted translaters in your ears. Sorry. I did not mean to catch you in the warp field and drag you with me."
Ben asks, "Warp field?"
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Paul Ralston, historian. I travel through time studying history. I was heading back to look for the first person in North America to find out where he came from but I hit a zbeing which caused me to crash. I didn't know there was anyone near where I crashed or I would have been more careful with the warp field. These hovering lights can usually tell what ought to be in the warp field and what ought to be left out but they can sometimes mistakenly assume that all humans within twenty farths are passengers."
Ben asks, "So you are a time traveller and you can return us to where we came from?"
"Unfortunately, it's not that easy. I will return you eventually but I can't stop mid stream and turn around. If I even try, she'll dump us at whatever place and time we happen to be at that moment. It would be like hitting another zbeing but worse."
Jason asks, "Aren't you afraid of altering history?"
"Not really. There are forces that protect history. The zbeings for example. Certain critical moments in history are surrounded by zbeings that prevent us from getting near those times and places. We've mapped the coordinates of several zbeings. For example, there are forty zbeings surrounding Adolph Hitler. We've tried several times to assassinate Hitler but the zbeings keep deflecting us."
Ben asks, "So Jason and I aren't protected by zbeings. Does that mean we are historically insignificant?"
"Let me find out." The man consults his computer. "No, one of your descendants annhilates all people who speak English. We've mapped some zbeings guarding him. But there are other ways that history is protected. Sometimes, history opens up an alternate timeline so that even if you die outside your own timeline, there will still be a you in your timeline to continue living."
Ben asks, "One of my descendants annhilates people? Now I feel like I have to kill myself to stop him."
"Didn't you hear me? It wouldn't do any good to kill yourself because even if you return to your own timeline, the moment you kill yourself, history would move that into an alternate timeline and you would still live in your timeline."
Jason asks, "Does that mean that everything is predestined? We can do whatever we want without consequences because history repairs itself?"
"No, you still have choices and free will about how you live your life and God will judge you based on your decisions. The only thing you don't have a choice about is how your life influences the future. If you kill someone that history protects, history will keep that person alive but you would still be guilty of murder."
Ben says, "All this timey wimey stuff gives me a headache."
"Don't worry about it. Just enjoy the ride."
Just then they heard a squeal like a thousand fingernails on a chalkboard. The man frantically checks his machine. "We just lost steering. I don't know where we're going. You better change into clothes like mine. They can change to look like the clothes others wear so that you can blend in."
The following is a guide to the options of time and place where this story can go:
Recent past
Woodstock 1969 AD
Vietnam 1965 AD
More options
Brisbane, Australia 1915 AD
Philadelphia 1884 AD
San Antonio, Texas 1868 AD
Far past
Hannibal, Missouri 1840 AD
France 1540 AD
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Papua New Guinea 1540 AD
Rome 120 AD
Olympia 500 BC   indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
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