“Yes, right over there,” Edwards said. On the far side of the office stood a tall mahogany bookcase with imposing books about land surveys and ancient land titles. Edwards pulled several books off the top shelf revealing a brown box behind them. He handed it to Connor. “Here you go, all safe and unopened as requested.”
Connor inspected the tape sealing the box. Edwards wasn’t lying. Nothing appeared out of place. “We can go whenever you’re ready,” Connor said.
“No time like the present, right? Let’s be on then,” Edwards said. Soon they were driving towards the chalk plain and the ancient stones of Stonehenge.
***
When Connor squeezed the Arc device his vision whirred past like traveling in space. The sudden motion almost made him lose his balance. The jarring way it brought visions to his head still made him sick after using it for close to five years. When he thought he was about to blackout from the extreme movement everything stopped and the grainy film ran in his head.
Giant creatures dragged stones with ropes thicker than a human body. The ropes were a dense material like interwoven grapevine. The giants pulled on the ropes, their muscles bulging. Their skin was greenish and other than their immense size, they appeared humanoid. Connor watched as the giants drug deep lines in the earth pulling the stones from the west. Close to twenty giants worked on the circle. Some erected stones in a circular pattern topped with other large stones. As they placed the huge stones with ease Connor marveled at their strength.
To the east a vehicle appeared. “No,” Connor thought, “it’s a room.” Doors opened and inside sat four beings the size of humans. They wore bulky spacesuits. Large glass bulbs covered their heads and their white suits had hoses that went to a pack on their backs. They walked out of the room towards the giants. Inside the room were four seats and monitors along the walls. Connor looked closer and read numbers and words in English. One monitor showed numbers that read “Destination: -3,504” and another read “Present: 2087.”
“What the hell?” he thought as the vision flooded his brain. Nothing made sense. Aliens he understood. But this? Time travel? “That’s impossible.”
Connor followed the four beings as they made their way to the giants. On their left shoulder they had a patch that appeared wrong. It was the stripes of the American flag with the blue field of stars replaced by the Union Jack of the British flag. The beings marched towards the giants, one white-suited being holding a rod. When the giants saw it, they stopped working and knelt as if in the presence of gods.
One being raised the glass canopy and revealed a human face. The man raised the rod higher in both hands and spoke.
“Great giant ones, continue your work. This monument must remind us when you are long gone that you once existed. We look upon your work as everlasting. We will not forget. Keep working and finish before the next moon. You must complete your masterpiece.” The giants grumbled and replied in voices that sounded like boulders grinding together, none of it intelligible. The giants stood when the man lowered the rod and went back to their work.
Connor was dumbfounded at the scene before him. It was assumed that it took a gigantic effort to erect Stonehenge, not that real giants did it.
Then one of the men in white pointed at Connor.
“Look sir, the One. He’s the One!” he said. The other three humans whipped their heads in his direction and removed their visors. Four sets of eyes, three men and one woman, looked at him. Their expression was like someone looking into the face of the divine. One man held his hands to his face and wiped away tears.
“The One! We’ve sought you over the centuries. We’ve been looking for you so long!” one of the men said. The giants paid no attention to the four visitors and continued working on the monument.
Connor didn’t know what to say. He wasn’t sure he could say anything. When watching visions using the Arc, he never tried. He assumed the visions were one way, not interactive.
“What, what do you mean?” he said. To his surprise he heard his voice.
“The One! The bringer of change. The One who made all of this possible!” the man said with a flourish of his arms. “Surely you recognize your handiwork.” The four visitors stepped closer and Connor read names on their suits. The one that spoke to him had the name “Anderson” on his left chest.
“But how—” Connor said when the vision winked out. He fell to the ground almost crushing the Arc device. When he opened his eyes rat-faced Edwards peered down at him.
“You all right? Took quite the tumble there.”
Connor moved his feet and hands to make sure everything worked. Panic crept in when he didn’t feel the Arc but moving his hand along the ground he bumped into it and clutched it tight.
Edwards helped Connor sit. The sun hung above the horizon.
“How long was I out?” Connor asked.
“You stood with that phaser-thing for near four hours. What does it do anyway? Get a radioactive reading or something?”
“Four hours?” Connor said. He rubbed his legs as cramps started. “That’s longer than I’ve ever done before.”
“That so?” Edwards said. He pulled Connor up and the two men stared at the Arc for a while before Edwards broke the silence.
“Well, learn anything?” he asked. Connor didn’t reply. “Connor, can you hear me?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. I can. Umm, yeah I learned something.”
“What is it? How’d this get built? Tell me!” Edwards said. Spit flew from his mouth as he pled with Connor.
“Giants. Like the stories of old. Giants built this,” Connor said waiving toward the stones.
“Are you serious? Giants? Bah! What rubbish! I should’ve known better than to trust a Yank with something like this.” Edwards stormed off, jumped in his car, and sped away leaving Connor at the site.
***
Many years later when Connor was an old man, a historic and horrific war brought the countries of the United States and the U.K. together as one nation. Dreamland received extensive funding. Soon a team of researchers hunted for a device that translated artifacts into truth, a remnant of the early extraterrestrial contacts made in the 1950’s. In their attempt to find it, they created a machine that took advantage of technologies the British acquired from the Germans in World War II that were held in secret until the two nations merged.
Their first attempt was unsuccessful. That team never returned from wherever they went. The second team, lead by Joseph Anderson from Boulder, CO made the first ever time jump. On their third visit, they reported seeing the One. They’ve been searching for him and the Arc device ever since.
About the Author
Originally a Cleveland, OH native, Jason currently lives in Southern Illinois with his wife, son, and small zoo of cats and dogs.
His previous collection of stories titled (Almost) Average Anthology is available on Amazon. He’s written four unpublished novels and worked as a writer for The Status Quo video game and S.U.M. Magazine.
He can be found regularly writing on his blog almostaverageblog.wordpress.com where he offers essays and occasionally new original fiction.
Jason spends his leisure time as a loyal Cleveland Browns and Cleveland Cavaliers fan and works as a promotional products sales rep.
To sign up for his spam-free newsletter and stay up to date on new books and projects, please visit jasonjnugent.com.
Moments of Darkness Page 7